Chapter 13: A chance encounter.
“Like maggots they now pick through the corpse of a once proud bird of prey.”

A snake stood erect and hissed in warning as I ran past it. It didn’t see me but it felt my hooves drum on the ground as I ran silently. Every now and then I had to pause and take in my surroundings. It wasn’t due to a fear that I would get lost; no I had to stop and listen as well as observe the jungle before me. In a place with foliage this dense I have to be alert for any signs of movement and any sounds that clash with the regular clamor of the wildlife.

My breath caught for a moment and I quickly pulled out my rifle and pointed it at a nearby shrub, a branch swayed strangely. I observed carefully for a moment, nothing else had moved. Because it was a single branch rather than the entire shrub it must have been an insect or a frog leaping away from it that made it move like that.

I silently breathed out. At any other time I might have considered reaching for my rifle like that to be an overreaction, but I was dealing with the Remnant now. There was no such thing as being too cautious.

Sounds of muffled gunshots reached my ears, they were coming from somewhere to my right. I was on the right trail at least, now the trick was to go headlong into danger and get out alive… It really sounds horrible when I put it like that.

I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride as I navigated the jungle with relative ease. It was thanks to Zaeryl’s teachings, not to mention all the time we went out in search for ingredients. Fortunately for me this particular part of the jungle was relatively safe in terms of wild animals. There were poisonous snakes, even the occasional panther, the normal ones, not their mutated counterparts which live in the deeper jungle. An involuntary shiver ran down my spine at the recollection of the shadow prowlers.

I should also be safe from Ripper beasts. They are much too bulky for the dense parts of the jungle like the one I was in right now. The northern area is more to their liking, fever big trees, more grassy meadows… things like that.

The sounds of gunshots grew ever louder as I moved. Slowing down from a trot to a quick walk I moved close beside the trees, they were the only real cover available. I was invisible, but that doesn’t make me immune to random gunfire. It would be wonderful if it did though.

Following the sounds I was definitely getting closer to their source, slowing down to a crawl I readied my rifle. Why would the Remnant suddenly take an interest in Navarost? Who were they shooting at right now? Was it a villager who went out to hunt or forage?

All of these questions rolled around in my mind an only added to the anxiousness I felt. The possibility of having to abandon the village grew with every careful step I took. Where were they supposed to go? Dear Celestia there were foals there too! How many would die braving the jungle in search for a new home?!

Anger gnawed at me but I realized that I was carelessly making more noise than I should, brushing up against leaves and stepping on branches. I couldn’t allow that, I needed to stay calm. Taking a few deep breaths to compose myself I carefully trotted on.

I can’t allow myself to get distracted; I’ll just have to push those thoughts aside for now. Fighting the Remnant was out of the question. I have no idea how many of them were out here, and even if I killed a few of them, others would wonder what happened and investigate.

Not hearing any new sounds of gunfire for a while, I paused and perked my ears up. Had I taken a wrong turn somewhere and moved away from the shooting?

‘BANG!’ Guess not.

A shot went off and struck a tree near me, the bark exploded away from the place where the bullet buried itself. I was so badly startled that I immediately dropped down flat on the ground. My thoughts raced and my heart hammered in my chest as I tried to make sense of what had happened.

How did they know that I was here? I craned my neck and looked at myself; sure enough I was still cloaked and invisible. More gunshots were fired, but these didn’t hit anywhere near me. I could hear rustling now, as well as the crunching sounds of trampled vegetation from somewhere ahead. Cautiously I got back to my hooves and started moving again.

“It was just a stray bullet.” I muttered to myself. A stray shot and I got lucky that it missed me. What would be the point in shooting at something else if they knew where I was? I just hope my luck holds.

The jungle started thinning out and sloping slightly upwards. Still going, I soon found myself on the top of a small incline framed with trees and bushes. An irregular beating of hooves drew my attention, so I slowly pushed away the foliage to see what was happening.

Half limping, grunting and cursing, a pony ran not thirty meters ahead of me to the left. I caught fleeting glances of colored hide as it appeared between the tree trunks and shrubs. It was a mare I knew well. I started moving again, trotting directly after her. It was only when I heard other voices shouting directions to each other in zebra that I decided to slow down and keep to the side rather than run directly behind the mare.

A few more shots were fired at the fleeing mare and then I saw zebras dressed in sleek black armor passing me by. My heart sank and I nearly tripped on a root. The Remnant WERE here. Seeing the already trampled plants being stepped on by invisible hooves only added to my despair. Regular soldiers weren’t enough; they had cloaked assassins as well, maybe elite fighters.

Right now if I was alone I would have turned around and tried to get away, but there was no way I was going to leave a friend behind.

I kept to the side and out of sight while I tried to think of a plan or something. There were about five zebras, two of whom had battlesaddles, but there were at least two cloaked zebras as well, they were my biggest concern. I don’t like stealth cloaks, except for my own that is.

A sudden and unexpected spray of bullets coming from up ahead forced me to stop and hide behind a tree, but just before I did, I caught a glimpse of the pony leaping over a fallen tree and staying there, using it as cover.

“Hold here!” One of the zebras shouted, a mare I think. “Spread out! I want snipers behind cover and ready!” She shouted in her native language.

I was lying close to the ground besides the roots of a tree not twenty meters away and to the side of the Remnant group. From here I had a perfect view as the zebras spread out in search for cover behind nearby trees and rocks. I ignored the regular soldiers and focused on finding out where the cloaked snipers were headed. Once they got into position and stopped moving it would be nearly impossible to spot them again.

One of the cloaked snipers took position to the far right of the group and a few meters ahead, the other hung back behind his friends.

Very carefully I put my rifle aside and readied my silenced sniper. The assault rifle is too noisy and the distance is just big enough that I don’t dare risk missing a single shot with my pistol.

The zebras fired a few shots at the fallen tree; they weren’t really hoping to hit anything. Those were just shots meant to make the pony nervous and fire back, exposing herself to the snipers. Luckily she stayed hidden and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I brought my sniper up and took aim at the cloaked pony who was behind the rest of the Remnant squad. Looking through the scope at the invisible zebra, I marveled at how good the cloaks actually hide their user. If I hadn’t been following the subtle shimmers and the depressions in the ground, there would have been no possible way for me to know where the zebra was. Now looking right at him and through the scope I can almost see an outline. As if the gently swaying leaves from the background were moving slightly slower when viewed through the cloaked assassin.

The barrel of the assassin’s rifle poked through his cloak as he prepared to fire. The appearance of the barrel helped me guess where the head should be. I really hoped that I aimed at the zebras head rather than just a bunched up part of his cloak, or his ear.

I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. A muffled ‘pfft’ came from my sniper and I saw the grass and leaves on the ground being flattened under and invisible force. The barrel of the assassin’s rifle was on the ground too, looking like an out of place severed pipe.

“Oh shit!” One of the zebras cursed and I froze in place just as I was about to move to a better position to shoot the other sniper. They saw the growing pool of blood appearing around the dead Remnant and his failing stealth cloak.

“Enemy sniper!” Shouted another. Shit.

My heart hammered in my chest as I tried to move to the right and circle the Remnant soldiers. A small patch of earth and leaves exploded right in front of my hooves. My jaw dropped as I turned to look to where the other sniper was. He was at the same place where I last saw him, for a moment his hoof came into view as he loaded another round into his weapon. He was aiming at me!

No longer caring to remain unseen I leapt forward hoping to hide behind a tree. A barrage of bullets was fired at the tree I was hiding behind. My tail twitched with every ‘thud’ the bullets made as they sunk into the trunk I was leaning on.

It took several deep breaths to calm myself. That sniper spotted me exactly the way I had found his friend. It was only through dumb luck that he missed me. Celestia or Luna must be watching over me, or maybe they both were.

Okay, I need to think. The Remnant will most likely try to surround me, so I should backtrack. Maybe I can lead them deeper into the forest and away from…

‘BANG! BANG! BANG!’

A pistol sounded and I heard one of the zebra mares curse, daring a peak from around the tree I saw that the zebras were moving back into their original position with the exception of two who stayed to guard their backs.

They were forced to split their attention now, possible enemies from both sides. Still my biggest concern was the cloaked sniper, but at least now I should be able to remain hidden.

I took a few carful steps back, away from the tree I was hiding behind, and started moving to the right. The zebras were still occasionally exchanging fire, but the missed opportunities from their sniper gave me hope for saving my friend, it also meant that the sniper was most likely hunting me.

I had managed to completely circle around the zebras as they were now to my left and the last known position of their cloaked assassin was right in front of me. Moving closer to an expertly trained sniper might not seem like a smart thing to do, and it wasn’t, but in this case it might be necessary. The zebra had sharp eyes, so instead of poking my own sniper from underneath my cloak and risking being spotted again, I readied my pistol. A pistol was far easier to keep under my cloak and I had magic, no need to hold it with my mouth.

There was a good chance that he’ll expect me to act like any other sniper and just find a place far away to shoot from. He won’t be expecting an attack from up close.

Carefully I kept moving and taking note of my surroundings. A slight shimmer to my left drew my attention. Immediately I spotted the barrel of the sniper, it was aimed at where I took cover after he had almost shot me.

Good, so he didn’t know how close I had gotten. I gripped my pistol with my magic and approached the sniper. Slowly I unholstered the weapon, now only a couple of meters away. My eyes were solely fixed on the near invisible shape before me. If I had to guess the sniper was sitting on his haunches and holding his weapon with both forehooves, it was the preferred way for most zebras.

‘SNAP!’

I felt a small branch give way under my hoof. A single driving thought literally exploded in my mind ‘MOVE!’ At that moment I dashed and leapt right at the raised sniper, tackling the zebra just as the weapon started moving towards me.

My left forehoof connected with the barrel of the sniper, I felt the bullet pass through the barrel as it fired harmlessly out into the jungle. The zebra was quick to act and lashed out with his left hoof, but I caught and stopped it with my right. Not wasting a moment I levitated out my pistol and aimed for the head just as the hood started to slip off.

The sniper turned out to be a mare. She stared at the floating pistol with an expression of utter astonishment and fear. She didn’t understand, my face was still hidden and the only things she could see were my hooves and part of my chestplate. She saw a Remnant pinning her down and a floating pistol aimed at her head. I pulled the trigger.

The bullet went into her left eye and exited out of her right ear. I stepped away from the lifeless body and holstering my pistol, once again preparing my sniper. Hastily I aimed at one of the battlesaddle wielding zebras, gritting my teeth I fired.

Something gnawed at my chest; I was angry, angry at the mare I just shot. She was perfectly willing to kill me without hesitation, so why do I feel so bad about killing her first?

The zebra using the battlesaddle was a stallion that had a look of pure rage on his face as he bit down on the firing bit before him. My aim was steady and true, blood gushed out in a neat little stream from the other side of the stallions head when the bullet passed through his skull.

Why wasn’t I bothered by killing this zebra? Was it because he’s a stallion? No, it’s the fear. It’s far easier to kill someone who wants nothing better than to rip you to pieces, but the look on that mares face. She was afraid and she didn’t know what was happening. The realization that she was about to die and was helpless to do anything about it… A shiver ran down the length of my back, it took a genuine effort to keep myself from shaking.

Taking a deep breath I aimed at the next zebra, a mare that had just ducked down behind cover to reload her rifle. Her face betrayed no emotion, she was focused and calm. They didn’t realize that they no longer had a sniper watching their backs. Well they did have a sniper watching them, but unfortunately for them that sniper was me.

I preferred using a sniper. It’s quick and most of the times the one you’re shooting isn’t even aware of it. The worst possible thing, for me at least, is to see the realization in another’s eyes that they are about to die. Those images stay and haunt me, they are a terrible reminder.

The mare had finished inserting a fresh magazine in her rifle and was about to rise from cover. I had a somewhat good angle but I didn’t want to risk missing, so I waited for her head and rifle to poke above cover. The moment she rose I fired and her body slumped back down to the ground. The three who remained fired wildly in my direction and it forced me to hide behind a nearby tree.

“Shit, shit! Pull back!” One of the zebras shouted.

If they were raiders or just by themselves, I would have had no problems with letting them go, but they weren’t. I couldn’t allow these Remnant to escape only to have them come back in greater numbers. Killing them will at least buy some time until they send someone to investigate.

I didn’t like what I had to do. It was slaughter and it was all too familiar to what I had already done once. Swallowing hard and pushing away the gnawing feeling in my chest I took aim at the other battlesaddle wielding zebra.

It was another mare and she was backtracking and occasionally firing a couple of times to provide cover for her two friends. The mare wore heavy armor and she had a helmet which only left her mouth unprotected in order for her to fire her battlesaddle. Helmet or no, my sniper should have no problem punching through.

I took aim and fired, almost instantly as a sudden barrage of bullets struck the mare in the chest forcing her head down and causing my well placed shot to ricochet off her helmet. I blinked a few times just to be sure I wasn’t seeing things.

The mare fell to her knees and tried to rise only to have a second volley of bullets tear into her muzzle. The zebra twitched a few times before slumping face first to the ground where she remained unmoving.

Quickly switching targets I took aim at the two fleeing zebras, breathing in I steadied the scope and fired. The bullet hit the zebra in the back of the head and the body went a few more steps forward before crumpling into a lifeless heap.

The last zebra glanced back at his dead companion and charged on. He was quite far away now and I doubted that I have long before he completely disappears amongst the trees. It was already getting hard to keep an eye on him.

This is where Zaeryl’s training helped immensely. No one can outrun a bullet. The most common mistake a sniper in training makes is panicking and shooting wildly when his target is about to get out of range, the key is to remain calm, one well placed shot is all I need.

“I have all the time I need.” I muttered to myself in order to suppress the urge to fire. The zebra was fleeting behind trees now; if I don’t concentrate the only thing I’ll be hitting was the jungle.

Once again I fell into the well practiced routine. I breathed out and pulled the trigger the moment I had a clear shot. The zebra fell to the ground and remained there.

I took a few moments to gather my thoughts and look around, just in case if there were more Remnant about. There weren’t, or at least I hoped. Slowly I made my way to the fallen tree and as I approached a muffled voice reached my ears.

Going around the tree I spotted the mare I knew so well, Saw. The nagging question of what she was doing here was momentarily pushed to the side by the relief I felt seeing her alive.

*** *** ***

Saw had her back pressed against the fallen tree trunk, pistol in mouth. Awkwardly she had her saddlebags in her forehooves and was digging through them. Her mouth was fixed into a scowl around the pistol and I could see her tongue move against the mouthpiece of the gun. No doubt she was muttering a litany of curses. As I came closer I noticed she was bleeding from a wound to her side and flank.

“Saw, are you-“

‘BANG!’

I fell to the ground flat on my stomach; the bullet missed me by a good three hooves. “Stupid!” I berated myself as I hurriedly pulled my hood down.

“Saw! It’s me, Mist!” I said from my prone position on the ground, and hoped that she wouldn’t shoot me for startling her.

Saw looked at me for a moment as if not understanding what’s going on and then with a ragged sigh her pistol fell from her mouth.

“Celestia fuck me with her blazing horn…” She cursed and smiled, resting her head on the tree trunk.

“Are you alright?” I asked walking up to her and levitating her saddlebags away. No she wasn’t alright, she had several wounds on her side and there was a lot of blood pooling around her.

“I’ll be fine.” She said encouragingly as I levitated a potion to her. “Fuckers just got me a few times.” She took the offered bottle and drank deeply.

I couldn’t really tell because of the coat and armor she wore, but the relaxed look that spread over her face told me that the potion was helping her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Saw asked while tossing away the empty potion bottle and wiping her mouth.

“Me?” I asked taken aback. “I live here… well not here, but near a village here in the jungle.” I explained. “What are you doing here? Where are the others?” Please Celestia let them be alright.

“Well what do you think happened? We got attacked and I got separated.” Saw answered irritably. That was what I was thinking actually.

“Alright, but what are you doing here? Why didn’t anyone tell me your next contract led you to the jungle?” We could have traveled together if I had known.

“Hey, I only found out about it yesterday.” She answered. “And besides it’s not a contract this time. We’re here because Razorwing said so.”

Wait, so they weren’t here on a contract? “Well, what does she want?” Something serious must have happened for her to send out Talons into danger if it didn’t involve a contract.

“All I know is that after the crap that went down with the Vipers, she’s been pissed. The Remnant want something here in the jungle.” Saw shrugged. “My guess is Razorwing just wants us to fuck up their shit as payback, and find out what happened to the last group of Talons that worked with them.”

“What does Razorwing want?” I doubt she’d just send them out blind without any idea of what to expect.

“You’re going to have to ask IronClaw if you really want to know, I just go where they tell me.” Saw said as she stood up and started looking around. “Shit.”

“Where are the others?” I asked following her gaze, trying to figure out what she was looking at.

“Somewhere, I don’t know… fuck. This damn jungle looks the same.” She sighed. “Wish to Hell that I have a PipBuck right now.”

“Do you have any idea where they are?” I asked.

“Umm… there.” Saw pointed in the direction where the zebras tried to flee. “Or maybe there.” She moved her hoof a little to the left. “Hell, I don’t know.”

We could probably backtrack her steps to where the fighting began. I could help her, but what about Navarost, I said I’d be back with information? Heading back to Navarost first might cost us precious time and make it more difficult to find IronClaw and the others, not to mention that they might be in trouble.

“Mist what’s wrong? You have that constipated look.” She said walking over to me.

“I have a what?” I shook my head. “No I was just thinking if we should go to Navarost first and let them know that the Remnant aren’t planning an attack, but by the time we get back finding IronClaw and the others might be impossible especially if they moved.”

Saw scowled and was about to say something but I cut her off.

“I know, I know. Navarost is safe, our friends on the other hoof might be in trouble, and we’ll go find them first.” I quickly told the mare and Saw nodded approvingly.

Saw and I hastily looted the bodies of the Remnant, replenishing our ammunition and finding a couple of potions as well as some caps. I was surprised to see the yellow mare taking one of the rifles off of the dead.

“I need something with a bit more punch. My pistol just isn’t cutting it.” She said in answer of my puzzled stare. “And Mist.”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for sawing my flank.” She added with a grateful smile.

“Sure, no problem.” She’s my friend; of course I’ll help, but what should I do once we find IronClaw?

Should I help them with their mission? As crazy as it sounds part of me was excited at the prospect of going on another adventure with them, even considering I almost died last time. I was also curious to find out just what this thing was that had the Remnant so interested. Again the same curiosity nearly got me killed, but what if it was some kind of weapon?

In my opinion it was worth the risk, anything to keep the Remnant from hurting anymore ponies.

*** *** ***

Saw and I moved slowly at first, but increased our pace once we made sure there weren’t any enemies nearby. We were lucky, the path was easy to follow and it gave me hope for finding the rest of our friends.

“You know it’s damn impressive watching you do this.” Saw commented suddenly, stirring me from my thoughts.

“Do what?” We were just backtracking and hoping that we run into IronClaw along the way.

“This.” She repeated, gesturing vaguely at the jungle with a hoof. “Following tracks in this huge-ass jungle. I’m not saying that you were incompetent before, but now you seem surer of yourself.”

“Thanks, it’s not that hard really.” I know I’m not the most skilled tracker out there, especially compared to the Remnant, but I am proud of my skill and the knowledge Zaeryl imparted.

“Look there.” I told Saw while pointing at the trees before us. “See the prints in the ground, the crushed leaves and twigs?”

“Yeah.” Saw answered squinting.

“And the broken branches and leaves of plants that stood at about chest height?” I asked and after some careful scrutiny on Saw’s part she nodded.

“Animals rarely make this much of a mess well maybe a charging Ripper beast would.” I mused.

Saw snorted. “Yeah well I was running for my life, a little too busy to worry about stepping on a fucking flower.” She finished irritably.

“No I wasn’t comparing you with one.” Crap, I was actually. Ripper beasts are generally careless, and the only time they were ‘stealthy’ is when they’re asleep. I really hope that she didn’t think I implied that she looks like one of the creatures.

“Look there.” I pointed at a few bent and broken branches, hoping to smooth things over.

“What? Did my fat flanks snap a tree?” She barked. Shit, she really did think I was comparing her with one.

I shook my head. “No it’s too wide to be made by a single pony.” Crap! Saw gave me a dirty look and I could see that she was straining not to hit me.

“Look at all the hoof marks on the ground.” I said quickly. “The Remnant aren’t carless like this. If they had to abandon stealth just to keep up, then they got more than they bargained for.” I turned to the yellow mare and smiled. ”You didn’t make it easy for them to follow you. Not many can say that.”

Saw’s scowl vanished and she looked at me oddly before chuckling. “Nice save, you’ve got a quick tongue.”

“Wha… I was being honest!” I protested. It was true! The Remnant train expert trackers, everything I know I learned from Zaeryl, who in turn learned from them.

“Heh, yeah I know, come on.” Saw gestured to me to go on. I felt like arguing some more, she has to believe me!

I started moving slowly. “I really was being-“

“Honest, I know. Don’t worry about it, come on.” Saw said again and prodded me with a hoof to continue.

I studied her face for a moment before deciding to turn back to following the tracks. We moved in silence mostly, only stopping occasionally so I could get my bearings. Saw didn’t particularly like the jungle. She was muttering curses under her breath and swatting at the insects from time to time. She also didn’t like snakes, a point she made perfectly clear when she pulled a pistol on one hanging from a branch.

I managed to convince her to not shoot the snake; it wasn’t going to drop down on her head the moment she passed under it. I didn’t care so much for the snake, but I did worry about the sound of gunfire attracting unwanted attention.

“So, did you do what you came here to do?” Saw asked after awhile.

“Yes.” I nodded.

“And?”

I sighed. “I came to see a friend and Zaeryl. So much has happened recently… I guess I just needed-“

“Closure?” Saw offered and I nodded. I told her what I’ve been doing since I left Vostoris. Saw listened quietly, she seemed to get that sad faraway look in her eyes.

“Must be nice having someone visit your grave.” She shook her head and looked sadly at the ground. “My daughter would probably spit on mine.” The mare said quietly while looking at the ground.

“I’m sure she wouldn’t.” I remembered what Saw had told me, how she lost her filly, it was an accident. Try as I might I still couldn’t help imagining myself in the fillies place. Would I blame my parents if something like that happened to me? I was a slave, but at least I wasn’t alone, I had my family with me.

“Well she should!” Saw shouted and I immediately perked my ears, listening to the jungle. Saw realized her outburst and lowered her voice. “I fucked up Mist.” She said and I could see the beginnings of tears in the corners of her eyes.

I didn’t want to see her like this. I approached her but before I could say anything she continued.

“I’ll be honest, the first time I met you and you told me of what happened to your real parents I secretly hoped that that zebra had screwed you up somehow.” She said angrily. “But no, some zebra out there finds a foal and raises it as her own and teaches him right from wrong. Don’t you get just how crappy a parent that makes me in comparison?” She asked.

I didn’t know what to say to this. Was she jealous of Zaeryl?

“Saw I was with Zaeryl for only 6 years. She taught me many things, but my parents had a hoof in raising me too.” Honestly Zaeryl was as much my parent as my real ones were, but she didn’t teach me everything.

“Yeah, but your parents are dead and look at how you turned out.” Saw continued. “Running around saving lives and mopping up bastards wherever you find them. What’s my excuse?”

“I’m sure she still loves you and she doesn’t blame you for what happened.” I said gently walking over to the distraught mare. “Is this why you don’t like zebras? Because you thought Zaeryl somehow mistreated me?”

“Maybe… It’s part of it.” Saw murmured and rubbed her nose with a hoof. “All our lives, back in Equestria, we’ve been told of how bad zebras are. Sure one or two could be found working with a gang, but all the rest were Remnant fucks and they hate ponies.”

Saw cleared her throat and continued a lot calmer than a moment ago. “Like I said when I met you I thought what a joke it was. I thought this zebra filled your head with how great they were and how you should always help them, do what they say and other crap like that.” She paused and looked right at me. “But she didn’t, did she? She told you exactly how the world was and let you decide on your own.” She shook her head sadly. “I told my daughter to only trust herself and me.” A mirthless chuckle escaped from the mare’s mouth. “Well at least she can trust herself.”

I put my hoof on her shoulder, I didn’t know what else to say or do. I couldn’t fully grasp the depth of her pain because I’m not a parent, but now I saw a little bit clearer why Saw was so depressed. She still held a great deal of guilt over the loss of her foal and she blamed herself for it. On top of that a zebra, someone belonging to a race that she’d been thought was evil since her own foalhood, had raised me and shown me love. It shook her world and made her question her own beliefs.

Saw patted my hoof with her own and smiled. ”I’m fine, let’s keep moving. Not a word of me almost crying to Cog, you hear?” Almost?

It was my turn to smile now. “Of course not.”

“Do you plan on staying in that village of yours after you help me?” Saw asked as we started moving again and I couldn’t help noticing that she was taking more care now to leave less of a trace of her passing.

"Actually I was thinking about staying and helping you with your mission." I might actually be of use now, not just fumbling around like I was back in the desert.

"What about your village? You're their shaman right?" Saw asked raising an eyebrow.

"They've done alright without me. I'm sure they'll survive another day or two." Besides, this thing that the Remnant want might threaten Navarost as well.

"Alright, but you're going to stay there, you're not coming back to Vostoris with us?" She asked.

"No, I'm not. While the villagers might not ‘need’ me, I can still help them." And it's my home. I found a certain measure of peace there. Gardening, brewing potions, talking with Joram and helping out around the village was a routine that gave me… stability. “There is also the whole trial waiting for me there because… you know, breaking into an embassy.”

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Well Shrapnel will be sad and I know IronClaw loves having capable ponies under his beck and call, so he won’t be too happy either." Saw mused.

"What about Cog?" I asked, knowing their relationship I could guess what she was going to say.

"That moron is just going to bitch about needing to be more careful because you won't be around to save his sorry flank." Saw quickly said. It was about what I had expected.

"And you?" I asked and flashed a smile when she turned to look at me.

"Well shit, you have a way of getting under the hide. Like worms." She said.

I looked at the mare and blinked a few times with my mouth slightly open. Worms? Seriously?

Saw bumped my shoulder with a hoof and smiled. I shook my head and smiled back at her. This was payback for comparing her with a ripper.

"You're a fine young stallion and I will miss you. Aside from IronClaw, you're the only one I can really talk to." Saw explained. "Cog's a jackass and Shrapnel is... Shrapnel. Look.” Saw said and stopped. “If you have a chance at a normal life in that village, then you should stay there.”

I nodded. She was right, it’s about as normal as you can get in a world like this.

"You talk to IronClaw about your daughter?" It occurred to me that I never actually saw them have a discussion before. I suppose she doesn't talk with Shrapnel because of her demeanor. It's obvious why she wouldn't talk about such things with Cog, but the sad thing was that Saw would never believe that Cog can be a good listener and is actually more mature than he shows.

Those two can curse and claim how much they hate each other all day, but I know that when things go bad Saw would trust Cog with her life, and he would trust her with his.

"Sometimes I talk with the boss." Saw grimaced. "It's just that he'd seen and survived so much crap that me complaining about my fuckups would look like whining and bitching about a scuffed hoof by comparison. That’s Cog's job." She quickly added.

“Just what did happ-“ I tried to ask but Saw raised a hoof cutting me off.

“I’m gonna stop you right there because I don’t know. You hear stories and you just know some of them are true. All I know is that he lost a lot of friends; you want more you’re going to have to ask him yourself, or Razorwing. The two of them go way back.” Saw said quickly and turned her attention forward. She didn’t seem upset; she just didn’t want to talk about it.

I knew how IronClaw lost his right talon, but just how much did he lose on those missions? Maybe asking Razorwing wasn’t such a bad idea as long as I’m careful, I’ve seen griffins get angry and I don’t want to be on the receiving end.

A sudden burst of gunfire followed by a deep reverberating roar had both Saw and me ducking for cover. The sudden noise sent the jungle birds flapping in every direction and making a cacophony of squawks and chirps. Instantly my magic found my rifle and pulled it out. Heart pounding and mind racing I tried to make sense of what I just heard. I know the calls and roars of many of the jungle predators, but this one I never heard before. What was ‘it’ and who was it that was shooting?

I turned to look at Saw who was hiding behind a nearby tree. With a wide-eyed look she mouthed ‘What the fuck?’ I could only shrug to her question, I had no idea. Motioning to Saw to stay hidden I pulled my hood up and tapped the gem clasped around my neck. Just as I was about to step out of cover, more gunshots sounded off followed by a very heavy ‘thud’ which I felt rather than heard.

I stood there for a moment, mind still trying to fit an image to the roar I heard. It was big that’s for sure. Taking a deep breath I stepped forward. There were some bushes before me, obstructing my view so I carefully wiggled through them. I was cloaked so if I accidentally do cause a rustle, whoever was on the other side will most likely think it’s just some small animal, I hope.

The patch of bushes I was in looked sort of hollowed out, trampled and squashed twigs lay all about the ground beneath my hooves, in fact there were a lot of hoofprints here. If I had to guess I’d say that the Remnant chased Saw through here. At least we were still on the right trail, too bad it now lead to Celestia knows what.

Slowly I pushed away the branches which were obscuring my vision with my rifle and I peeked through. My jaw dropped at what I saw.

The thing was huge. It reminded me of a Ripper beast, similar build but nearly twice its size. Instead of hooves it had paws; built like a mountain it had broad shoulders and a thick neck. Its hide was black and cracked with greenish liquid oozing out of places where it had been shot. Looking down at its paws I swallowed a lump in my throat as my mane stood on end. From what I could tell, the gory mess the creature was standing on had once been a zebra.

It… stepped on the zebra; it just stepped on him… or her. What was this thing? Some new kind of creature, or simply mutated beyond recognition?

The beast let out a low rumble as it sniffed at its blood smeared paw. I noticed that its hide wasn’t completely bare. Its backside and back was covered by shaggy white fur that reached to its short muscular neck. Its head looked very strange, a long muzzle almost like a dog’s. The most frightening part of the creature were its glowing green eyes. They just seemed so unnatural and yet I felt as if I had seen them somewhere before…

“Oh fuck.”

I heard a voice to my right and I almost stumbled backwards while trying to turn my rifle around. I was about to fire when I noticed that it was Saw, sitting near me and holding the branches apart so she could peak through.

“Saw!” I hissed through gritted teeth, pulling my hood down. How can she be so careless? I nearly shot her! Saw just ignored me and continued her observation; I stepped beside her and joined in.

“That’s a big fucking bear.” She whispered.

“That’s a bear?” I asked looking at the huge creature again. It didn't look anything like the bears I remembered seeing in pictures. "I didn’t know bears could get that big."

"I don't think the normal ones do, but look at the eyes on that fucker." Saw said in awe. "He's been messing around radiation for sure, and what’s up with the white fuzz? Bears are usually shit brown or black."

Radiation? At that moment something clicked in my mind.

"That’s not just a mutated animal, it's a ghoul." That’s why those eyes looked so familiar to me, the ghouls at Prometheus; at least one had glowing eyes like that. Can animals be called ghouls? The creature honestly looked like a corpse the more I looked at it.

"You're shitting me." Saw looked at me, hoping that I was just joking. I wasn't, it fit so well. The horribly burnt looking hide, the wounds which oozed green... stuff, glowing eyes.

"Well what in sweet Luna's nethers is a white bear doing here? I didn't think zebras had them?" Saw observed.

"They don't. Bears aren't native to Zevrass, I've only read about them in books." Now I got to see a real one. "How did it get here?"

"It looks like it’s lost." Saw said and nodded towards the beast, which was now busy sniffing the air.

This could be bad. "Or maybe it’s found our scent, we should-"

"Mister Fuzzums!"

"The fuck..." Saw cursed and I reached for my rifle as a little filly stepped out from the jungle and into the clearing, she was heading right for the bear. I saw the creature’s massive head turn to face the approaching filly and once it saw her, it charged right at the filly.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Saw cursed as she fumbled with her newly acquired rifle. I already had the sights trained on the bear and was regretting not having drawn my sniper instead. Right now I needed all the stopping power I could get and I wasn't sure rifles would be enough.

The bear was very close to the filly and I was ready to open fire right before something strange caught my eye. The filly was an earth pony; she was wearing an old, badly torn and dirty dress that was undoubtedly beautiful once. The highly impractical clothing wasn't the strangest thing either, no, the reason I hesitated pulling the trigger was the filly herself. She too was a ghoul!

The bear started slowing down as it approached the filly and then stopped only a few steps from her. Saw had just managed to raise her rifle only to have me push the barrel down to the ground. The yellow mare scowled at me but I just motioned for her to watch.

"Where have you been?" the little filly ghoul demanded, managing to sound surprisingly authoritative despite her tiny voice.

The bear rumbled in an almost apologetic way as it watched the filly. Saw and I watched this slack jawed. Was the bear actually listening to the filly or was it just thinking about whether it should eat her or just stomp her?

“You know you’re not supposed to run away like that.” The filly scolded, pouting.

Normally I would think of a pouting filly as cute but in this case I was unnerved. Her own glowing eyes seemed to bore into the bear and make it behave. The more I watched the two of them the more details about the filly I started noticing. One of her eyelids was completely peeled off, leaving bare bone beneath. The skin on her muzzled looked dry and crumpled, a faint green glow emanated from a few cracks on her hide.

While Saw and I watched, I raised a hoof to my mouth and bit it. Nope, not dreaming, this is real. A part of me kept stubbornly insisting that weird and messed up things like this only belong in my twisted dreams, and yet it was happening right now and I was awake. A little filly was scolding a bear and both of them were ghouls.

"You know how I worry about you. What if some scary monster gobbled you up?" The filly ghoul continued with a motherly tone, and the bear avoided her gaze. "Alright, come here." The filly said and in an instantly the bear perked up and bent its head down to nuzzle the filly affectionately.

The filly patted it on the nose and then they both turned around and disappeared into the jungle, the only sign of their passing were the gory remains of the crushed zebra.

Saw and I stayed in silence for a while, partly out of shock and not wanting to risk being heard.

"Well it looks like it's time I started drinking again." Saw muttered and started rummaging through her saddlebags. "Good thing I brought booze."

She pulled out a bottle and took a couple of sips before passing it to me. I accepted without a word and drank deeply. It was whiskey, good to. The warmth it spread through me helped shake me out of my daze.

"That was weird." I commented.

"Definitely going on my list." Saw said as I gave her back the bottle and she took another drink from it.

"List?" I asked. She has a list?

Saw nodded. "Yep. It's my list of fucked up shit I've seen."

"What’s the strangest thing on that list?" I was curious how high she'd rate what we just saw.

"Cog of course." She said with a grin.

Of course. She must really miss him.

*** *** ***

“Both of them are ghouls, maybe they came here before the war.” Saw suggested as we walked.

"It still doesn't make sense. Why would anyone want to bring a bear with them? Why would they even have a bear?" I asked and at the same time carefully observed the jungle around me.

Saw shrugged. "If there is one thing I learned in life, it's that shit in the wasteland rarely makes sense. Guess the same goes for the zebra’s home too."

Saw and I started thinking; well we tried to make sense out of what we saw earlier. She was right, both the bear and filly were ghouls, so they probably got to Zevrass before the war, or just after it started. Still it didn't make sense, but it didn't matter. We have more important things to worry about anyway.

"How far did you run?" I asked the yellow mare. We were following the tracks for well over an hour now.

True we were moving slowly, trying to remain hidden and being careful that we stayed on the right path, but still we should have run into the others by now.

"When the bastards attacked it was just bad luck that we were apart at the time." Saw explained. "Made it easy to get separated. I tried getting back to the others, but zebras started popping out of every Celestia damned place I turned to, so I just ran. Can't really tell you how far, but I did make stops, trying to find cover."

"Why were you separated?" She's in charge of keeping the rest of her squad healthy, why would they separate and let her go on alone?

Saw's face reddened a little. "I had to take a piss." She said and shook her head. "Stubborn mule. IronClaw told Shrapnel to go with me, but I had an argument with Cog and was pissed at the time. I snapped about not needing help and stormed off."

The Remnant must have been observing them and chose to strike when Saw went to do her business. The more I thought about it the more worried I got about Cog, IronClaw and Shrapnel. Just how many Remnant were there? There were seven less now. Only two possibilities.

The first is the one I hoped was true and that there were only seven of them and that they choose to eliminate their targets one by one, starting with Saw.

The second, the possibility I hoped wasn’t true is that there were in fact more Remnant, a lot more, enough that they could spare seven zebras to catch a single pony.

"Something bugging you?" Saw asked.

"Just thinking." No reason to worry her, we'll find out what happened soon. I just hope my friends survived.

"Bullshit, you have that look again." Saw said. "Come on, tell me." She insisted.

"I'm just worried they moved and we won't be able to find them." It was one of my concerns. The thought of them getting killed or captured... I just couldn't think about it. My heart would start to race and I would unconsciously increase my pace and pay less attention to my surroundings. I couldn't allow that, not now.

"Well I'm not worried. I've got you here to help me find them again." Saw said and smiled warmly. I appreciated her confidence in me, I really did. Still I couldn't help but feel anxious at what we might find at their camp.

There was slight tremor beneath my hooves. It was hard to tell if I had imagined it or not, so I stopped and tried to feel for it again.

"Mist, what’s wrong?" Saw asked stepping beside me, looking around for signs of danger.

"I thought I felt something in the ground." Just as I said it, there came a rustling from ahead.

"MIST!!!"

A hit right in the chest had knocked me to the ground, I could barely move, the pressure on me made it hard to breathe. Looking up I saw a familiar grey suit of armor.

"Mist! What are you doing here? I thought you went home. Did you change your mind? Are you going with us?" The armored mare let out in a rush.

"Shrapnel... can't breathe..." I managed to stammer out.

"Oh, sorry about that." She apologized and released me from her iron grip.

"What about me?" Saw asked feigning being hurt by the lack of attention.

"I'm sorry Saw." Shrapnel apologized sincerely and started moving to the yellow mare.

"No, no, no that’s okay. Shrapnel I... hurk!" Saw sat back on her haunches and tried to wave away the armored mare but she was already being embraced in a tight hug.

I caught my breath and smiled as I watched them. It warmed my heart seeing the hyperactive mare alive and well.

"Damn it Shrapnel are you trying kill me? Almost squeezed a lung out of me." Saw complained when Shrapnel released her.

“Shrapnel how did you find us?” She just popped out of nowhere, not really all that strange for somepony like her, but still.

“EFS.” The mare said simply tapping the side of her helmet with a hoof. Right, I forgot about that.

“What about IronClaw and Cog? Are they alright? What happened?” Saw asked anxiously. I too was interested in finding out if they were alright.

“We’re fine Saw.” A familiar and fully welcomed gruff voice sounded from the direction Shrapnel charged out of. The gleam of a metal talon came into view as IronClaw pushed branches aside and walked out, with Cog following close behind him.

"Mist?" Cog looked at me and blinked in confusion a few times, and then turned to Saw. The relief was obvious on his face, but he quickly pretended not to care.

"You've made it. Guess Mist saved your flank." Cog said disinterestedly and Saw glowered at him.

"Enough, at least wait a while before you start bickering again." IronClaw commanded. Even though he said the command with his usual authority, I couldn't help but notice a hint of relief in his voice. His eyes seemed to light up a little when he looked at Saw and me. "Do you see any enemies around?" He asked both Shrapnel and Cog.

"Nope!" Shrapnel chirped after glancing about.

"It's clear." Cog said after he too looked around for a bit.

IronClaw nodded and approached me. He looked from Saw to me and then back again. "I take it you ran into Mist?"

"You could say that." Saw nodded. "I got shot when the striped bastards caught up to me and had to take cover behind a tree. If it wasn't for Mist coming along..." Saw trailed off when she saw Cog sniggering and then she started glaring at him.

Well it certainly didn't take them long to go after each other. But again it's all play, they were friends and, to me at least, it was obvious how glad they were to see each other again.

IronClaw turned to me and I saw the corner of his beak twist up into a grateful smile. I knew he appreciated me saving Saw and I nodded in acknowledgment.

"What were you doing in the jungle?" The griffin asked. "Was it something shaman related? I find it hard to believe that you just went out for a walk."

"Isn't it obvious?" Cog interrupted. "He changed his mind and came to join us again."

"Yay!" Shrapnel exclaimed clapping her armored hooves together noisily.

Not quite. "I was investigating something actually." I said and immediately drew everyone’s attention.

"What?" Cog asked as they all gathered near me. Great, story time. I was more interested in finding out why they were here.

Figuring I’d probably get a chance to ask IronClaw about it later, I told them what happened at Navarost and the reason I set out into the jungle.

"That villager must have came across the ones chasing Saw." IronClaw mused. "A stroke of luck that you ran into her." He said.

"And saved her." Cog added.

"I didn't know you cared." Saw said in mock appreciation.

"Of course I care." The green stallion replied without losing a beat. "You have most of our medical supplies." He finished then quickly ducked out of the way of Saw's incoming hoof.

Alright they do almost always act like this, but this time they actually did look angry at each other.

"What happened between those two?" I asked Shrapnel quietly.

"After you left we met with the council again." Shrapnel said and scratched the side of her head. She was still wearing her helmet so it seemed pointless, does she just forget that she has it on? "Cog was joking and then he said something." The armored mare continued.

"What?" What could he say in front of the council that would get Saw mad at him?

Shrapnel shrugged. "Dunno, but Saw turned red and the moment we left she started yelling and running after Cog. I think she was blushing."

"They will cool off. What interests me is you." IronClaw cut in. "Are you coming with us?"

"Yeah!" Shrapnel chirped and I was certain she was smiling behind that grim helmet of hers. "I was so surprised when I saw you I just-"

"Tackled and almost crushed me?" I offered.

"Aha!" She nodded vigorously in agreement, oblivious to the overreaction I was implying.

"IronClaw doesn't seem surprised to see me?" I observed the stoic griffin.

"I was counting on it actually." IronClaw stated flatly.

"You-You were?" What is going on behind those golden eyes of his?

"Seriously boss?" Cog asked, overhearing our discussion.

IronClaw nodded. "Before the whole... 'incident' with the embassy." I felt a little embarrassed at the way he said it, like a foal would when its parents recalled him doing something stupid and getting into trouble for it.

In my case I felt a little like when Zaeryl talked with Joram about me doing something I'm not supposed to. Because I don't really remember being scolded for being bad while I was with my parents, the Remnant don't exactly tolerate misbehavior.

"Razorwing gave us another mission. A possible Remnant weapon being hidden in the jungle." IronClaw went on.

"Yeah and it still doesn't make sense to me why you waited for Mist to leave before you told us." Saw said looking up at the griffin.

"For once I agree with the boozer. Mist knows these jungles. Why not ask him for help? He probably would have agreed to stay with us if he had known." Cog observed and I had to admit he was right.

If IronClaw told me that their next mission was in the jungle then we could have went together. Maybe stop at Navarost for a few days, it would certainly give me time to do what I had Intended.

"That’s exactly why." The griffin said and got confused looks from all equine members present. "If I told Mist where the next mission was supposed to be he would most likely have stayed with us." He turned to me then. "You had something that you had to take care of; it was clearly troubling you and I need you focused."

So he deliberately let me leave so I could sort out my problem and then gambled on us meeting in the jungle?

"But how did you know we would run into him?" Cog asked scratching his head with a hoof.

"I took a chance, and given the way he tends to show up when there is trouble, especially when the Remnant are involved, the odds were in my favor." IronClaw stated simply.

To say that we were speechless would be an understatement. Only the buzzing of insects and the occasional bird was heard over our silence.

I shook my head. "I'm helping you with this because it involves the Remnant." Anger simmered in my chest but I kept my voice normal. "I'm not becoming a mercenary." The griffin was still set on recruiting me, hoping that I might change my mind after I did what I needed to in Navarost.

Seeing the confident griffin frown gave me a measure of satisfaction. I don't like being manipulated like this. "You are my friends." I said solemnly. "I'll help you anyway I can, but I have a life here, a home. I'm not going to just leave it behind. You should have told me."

IronClaw closed his eyes and pinched the root of his beak between his eyes with his left talon. The tension was palpable as Saw, Cog and Shrapnel looked from me to the griffin, waiting for one of us to speak.

IronClaw sighed. "Yes. Well we do need help. Thanks."

Relief washed over the faces of my friends, and I too was relieved at IronClaw's response. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the veteran mercenary and value his friendship highly, I wasn’t trying to upset him on purpose.

"We could have gone with Mist and visited his village." Cog observed and earned a glare from the griffin. A remark like that usually might go ignored, but right now I ruffled some feathers.

"I was considering it before Mist decided to go on a personal infiltration mission." IronClaw snapped and Cog immediately closed his mouth.

"What is this mission you are on? What are the Remnant up to?" I quickly said to change the subject.

IronClaw picked up on the question immediately, glad to have something work related to talk about.

"The first mission was to find out what kind of weapon they might be developing, but it turns out they are actually searching for it rather than making it." The griffin said. "Lieutenant Lizura brought back some very useful information before she set out into the field again."

"Lizura?" I don't think I met anyone with that name.

"You know, Lizzie." Shrapnel nudged my shoulder. "You met her and her friends tight before we went to Vostoris."

"Oh, right." I nodded recalling the griffiness now. "What did she find out?"

"That whatever it is they're after is worth setting up an outpost in the middle of the jungle." IronClaw said and looked at me intently. "Any idea what they're up to?"

"How would I know?" But he's right whatever it was, its definitely bad. If the Remnant are building an outpost that means that they're having trouble and will need time, which is all the more worrisome given how quick and effective they tend to be.

"You've been to their embassy. Does any of what I just said ring any bells?" IronClaw asked. "Did you find some documents there, anything mentioning an outpost or the jungle?"

"No." I shook my head. Thinking back, I hadn't really discovered anything aside from Charon's nightmarish experiments. I did overhear something about a project, but no mention of needing an outpost.

"Then we'll just have to see for ourselves." The griffin mused.

"Where is this outpost supposed to be?" I can probably help them find it, but I need to have at least some idea where it is.

"South-East from where we are now." Cog said checking his PipBuck. "I don't have an exact point just the general area."

"But first we have to take care of something." IronClaw added.

Of course we do. It's never as simple as only having one problem to deal with at a time. "What would that be?"

"You know that the Remnant have been offering us contracts to help them sort out some problems in the jungle?” IronClaw asked and I nodded. “You also know that they’ve been specifically requesting we send them teams that have Pegasus members, well we now know why.”

I nodded and thought about how strange those specific requests were. Thinking back to the Viper’s hideout and the Pegasus mare Autumn Wind, it really got me curious. Why were the Remnant so interested in them?

"As it turns out from our interrogations, there is a piece of pre-war tech somewhere in the jungle and the Remnant have been working on getting it with little success." IronClaw explained although I still didn't understand.

"Wait, you captured a Remnant and interrogated him?" I wondered and hoped if it was the same one that killed Barrel. I wanted it to be the same one, and I hope the Talons weren't gentle.

"No, but one of the Vipers overheard a few things and was happy to tell us what he knew so long as we don’t geld him." IronClaw continued. "Lieutenant Lizura was investigating it before you decided to sneak into the embassy; she is long overdue on returning. After you snuck into the embassy and confirmed that the Remnant were killing us off and trying to capture our pegasi-"

"Razorwing got really pissed." Cog interrupted. "And I mean REALLY pissed."

IronClaw nodded. "The first part of our mission is to find Lieutenant Lizura and her squad, after we do that we'll move on to the weapon that has them setting up an outpost."

"Alright, but what is this pre-war tech?" It's going to be something dangerous I just know it, explosive too most likely.

"It’s a downed Enclave Raptor." IronClaw said simply.

"You're shitting me?" Saw looked at the griffin slack jawed.

"I keep telling you, you need to pay more attention during briefings." Cog scolded.

I felt the need to scratch my head, but resisted. “Ummm…”

“Heehee…” Shrapnel giggled. “Mist has no idea what you’re talking about boss.”

IronClaw blinked a few times. “Right, well a Raptor is a flying machine developed by the Pegasus Enclave.” He tried to explain. “Think of it like a flying tank.”

Oh wow… yep definitely dangerous. I tried to imagine what I’ve just been told. So not only is it an armored vehicle with weapons, it can also fly? I knew the Remnant used dragons during the war, but I guess now I know why ponies didn’t, they had flying tanks.

“But I don’t understand. If it’s been there all this time, how come they still haven’t managed to get to it?” Two hundred years is certainly enough time.

“They only found it two or three years ago.” Cog said. “And it didn’t help that it is infested with bloodwings.”

“Alright, but that still doesn’t explain the interest in pegasi.” Were they hoping that just because they were pegasi they would know more about this Raptor?

“Heh, here’s the thing.” Cog started. “Enclave tech probably has the most secure method of protection… ever.” The green unicorn paused for effect. “Cloud terminals.” When I didn’t react the way he expected he continued. “They’re terminals made from clouds.”

“Clouds?” He can’t really mean clouds as in-

“Real fluffy, puffy clouds!” Shrapnel exclaimed happily.

I looked at each of my friends in turn. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.” Cog said with a smug smile.

I… Wha… How? That’s just… I really tried hard to believe and understand what I’ve just been told, I really did. “So how does being made out of clouds, if it’s even possible, make for the best security?” It doesn’t make sense! Clouds are just water, right?

“Only pegasi can use could terminals, if an earth pony or a unicorn try it, their hooves or magic just go through them.” Cog explained and his grin grew.

“Griffins can use them too. Don’t think about it too much; simply accept it as a form of natural magic.” IronClaw told me.

“But why haven’t they tried to take a griffin then? Why only go after pegasi?” If Lizzie went to investigate and hasn’t returned yet, then we might be in trouble.

“They probably don’t know that griffins can touch cloud terminals and clouds in general too.” IronClaw reasoned. “We can’t manipulate them like a Pegasus can, or make it rain, but we can land on them and push them slightly.”

“Besides the cloud terminals were invented by the Enclave. The Remnant probably believes that they made it so only a Pegasus could touch them.” Cog said.

“Griffins only played a minor role in the war. Mostly as professional hired soldiers, and since Equestria was our home you can guess who we generally accepted contracts from.” IronClaw explained.

I nodded. Zebras never really had much contact with griffins, why would they think that the same applied for them as it does for pegasi.

“Alright you’ve been briefed now.” IronClaw said. “First thing, find the lieutenant and her squad. Poke around the Raptor if possible and then figure out what’s going on at this outpost the Remnant have built.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard now that you’re here.” Cog hung a hoof around my neck and grinned.

Saw rolled her eyes. “Just try and stay with us this time.” She looked at Cog. “Your luck is shit and the last time you two were alone a megaspell went off.”

Hopefully that was the first and last megaspell I’ll ever see.

*** *** ***

“Mist, you don’t think that those ghouls we saw came here in that Enclave Raptor?” Saw asked suddenly as we made our way through the jungle to the vehicle in question.

"It's possible." Though not very likely. "Why would they bring a foal and a bear with them?" This Raptor was a military vehicle; it wouldn't make sense to bring them along.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Saw mulled it over. "Still that was one weird-ass sight."

On that we can agree, disturbing too. The first time I saw a ghoul at Prometheus was frightening, but it unnerved me more seeing a ghoul foal.

"You guys met ghouls?" Shrapnel suddenly asked and came a few steps closer.

All five of us moving together made a lot of noise, a lot more than if I had been on my own. But I suppose stealth won’t be too much of a problem. We had both Cog and Shrapnel looking out with their EFS. They should be able to spot incoming danger before it gets to us, so we have time to hide if need be.

"What happened?" Cog asked with just a hint of apprehension in his voice.

"We were on our way, looking for you." I started explaining. "Then as I went to scout ahead I saw this huge beast which I never seen before."

"Turns out it was a bear, a huge one. Irradiated and ghoulified." Saw added.

"Wow!" Shrapnel exclaimed. "What did you do?"

"Hold on." Cog interrupted. "You've never seen a bear before?" He asked me.

I shook my head. "I've read about them, but I never actually saw one, until today." And I'll be a very happy pony if I never see that behemoth again. "Zevrass doesn’t have bears, or at least it's not supposed to."

"So it was brought here." IronClaw suddenly added himself to the conversation. "He could have been a stowaway on some ship. You did say it was a ghoul, who knows how old it is."

"Maybe it's a pet." Shrapnel said and we all turned to look at the mare. Saw and I exchanged worried glances. "What?" The armored mare asked tilting her head.

"Well the filly ghoul seemed to be able to control it." I offered. Maybe Shrapnel was right, even as strange as it sounded it’s possible.

"I thought it was just because they were both ghouls, but now the more I think about it..." Saw pondered.

"What are you two talking about? What filly ghoul?" Cog asked looking confused and a bit frightened.

"Well." I attempted to explain. "The bear ghoul listened to the filly, almost like a dog would. It was-"

"Fucked up." Saw said with a bemused look on her face as she recalled the meeting of the filly and the bear.

"Fucked up or not, it's not important now. We have bigger problems to worry about." IronClaw said with an edge of urgency in his voice which didn't go unnoticed. "How close are we?" He asked turning to Cog.

The green unicorn sat down and looked at his PipBuck. "We should be there any moment now, if the coordinates are right." He tapped the faintly glowing screen. "I still don't have a clear checkpoint, just the general area marked out."

"It'll have to do." The griffin said determinedly.

From then on we moved quietly, or as quietly as we could. I smiled every time I saw Shrapnel try to be stealthy while crushing everything under her armored hooves and occasionally scraping the bark off of trees with her shoulder. Saw on the other hoof seemed to have learned how to walk more silently. She still made noise, but she was careful to avoid most of the patches with dried leaves and branches.

Speaking of the jungle, I started noticing the trees around us growing less dense, indicating that a clearing might be nearby.

"Hold it." IronClaw commanded and we stopped. "Cog, Mist, you two come with me." He ordered. "Shrapnel, Saw you two stay here, we're just going a little bit ahead. Shrapnel will still be able to see us on her EFS." The griffin turned to the armored mare. "If you see anyone coming from the rear, let me know."

With that he nodded to Cog and me and we quietly went ahead with the grim griffin. We've only cleared a couple of trees before we paused at the edge of a clearing. Looking past I could see more trees and thick wines and... something. There was definitely something here. A part of the Jungle ahead of us was considerably darker than the rest.

Focusing on the clearing before us, the more I looked, the more I started noticing things in the grass. I wasn't exactly sure what they were though. Saw and Shrapnel were out of sight, obscured by the jungle’s dense foliage. My heart started beating faster and I felt a mix of excitement and apprehension. I think both IronClaw and Cog felt it too.

"Cog, do you see anything?" IronClaw asked.

"No. My EFS is clear." The green unicorn answered but still kept looking.

There was just a general sense of danger here. Maybe because we knew we might be facing bloodwings, a lot of them. Horrible mutated bat-like creatures with an insatiable thirst for blood. The thing that worried us the most was probably that they could fly. Not only will this make them harder to hit, it also gave them an advantage which I think, among us, only IronClaw could truly appreciate.

"Cog, go get Shrapnel and Saw." IronClaw ordered not taking his eyes off of the clearing. "Mist, get your sniper ready and help me scope this place out."

I did as I was told and readied my sniper while Cog headed back.

"Over there, do you see anything?" IronClaw asked pointing at a somewhat misshapen shrub.

I raised the sights to my eye and looked. There really was something there. It almost looked like a body, and IronClaw spotted it only with his eyes. I had to admit I was a bit jealous of how incredibly sharp the griffin’s eyes were.

"It looks like a body." I said, and then before the obvious question came I answered. "I'm not sure if it’s a pony or a zebra, but it certainly isn't a griffin."

I opened my left eye, which I would normally keep closed so I could focus on what I was aiming at in order to see IronClaw's reaction. He was still grimly focused and sat still, but I saw him breathe out in relief.

I kept looking at the body and had to resist shuddering. It was in partial shade so I couldn't tell the color of the coat, but the way the skin was stretched over the bones left no doubt in my mind that bloodwings were to blame.

"Boss, what’s wrong?" Saw asked as both she and Shrapnel walked to us, closely following Cog.

IronClaw gestured to the clearing. "Shrapnel you'll come with me. Cog, Saw, stay with Mist." The griffin turned to me. "Mist, give us cover. I'll signal you to join us when I'm sure it's safe." He said and slowly started walking out of cover with Shrapnel closely following behind him.

"Mist, what’s going on?" Saw asked in a whisper.

“We found a body and I think we’re close now.” I answered just as quietly.

As they got farther and farther away from us, Shrapnel continually looked around and IronClaw had unholstered one of his SMG’s. I alternated between looking with my left eye and looking through the scope, trying to take note of everything before me.

Both IronClaw and Shrapnel came to a stop when they reached the place with the corpse. IronClaw had his SMG pointed at it as he reached out with his steel talon. I slowed my breathing and aimed at the corpse, just in case. With one swift motion IronClaw’s steel talon gripped the body and lifted it up.

The griffin held the body up by the throat and had it turned towards me. The corpse was that of a zebra and the sight was not pretty. The zebra in many ways reminded me of a ghoul, except that her hide was mostly whole. I could easily see her ribs through the flesh stretched out over them. Her stomach was just a misshapen lump. The thought of all the organs simply being held in there like in a bag almost made me throw up, thankfully the smell of the jungle plants was thick in the air and I was able to keep my thoughts on them instead of the sight before me.

"It's a zebra. The corpse I mean." I explained to Saw and Cog, they probably couldn't see it clearly from here.

"You alright?" Cog asked concerned.

I swallowed hard. "Yeah, it's just not a pretty sight." It set my mane on edge. Simply the gruesome way bloodwings killed their pray was terrifying. They can drain a full grown pony or zebra of blood in moments.

A part of my mind wondered if it was a painful way to die, or do they drain you so fast that you don’t even notice? I shuddered and quickly shoved the thought away, I don't want to think about it and I certainly have no intention of finding out.

IronClaw simply released the lifeless corpse from his grip and it crumpled into a heap on the ground. He turned to Shrapnel and told her something. I don't know what, but I could see his beak move. The griffin pulled out his other SMG and started moving to the side while Shrapnel did the same, but in a different direction.

"What's going on now?" Cog asked as he strained to get a better view.

"I think they're making sure it's safe." That's what it looked like at least.

IronClaw and Shrapnel appeared to be circling the clearing before us. Every couple of steps the armored mare would pause and wave her hoof, getting my attention instantly. She pointed at the ground in front of her, but I couldn't really see anything. The process was repeated a few more times, and even IronClaw stopped occasionally to examine the ground before him.

"They are stopping because they keep finding something, but I can’t tell what it is." I said when I looked back to Saw's and Cog's confused faces.

"Great, a minefield is just what we need. Bloodsucking monsters weren't enough." Cog muttered more to himself than anyone else.

"Would be a real shame if you stepped on one." Saw replied.

Even though I was still looking through my scope and was focused on making sure IronClaw wasn't attacked by surprise, I could hear Cog breathe in and prepare to argue some more with Saw.

"This is not the time." I said a bit irritated. I needed to focus, we all needed to focus and their arguing was distracting. They must have noticed the seriousness in my voice because I didn't hear any remarks from Cog.

Once he was sure the area was safe, IronClaw motioned for the rest of us to approach.

"Alright, it's safe. IronClaw wants us to go to him." I told Saw and Cog and they followed close behind me without a word.

"Shit." Cog cursed the moment we stepped before IronClaw. Both Saw and I turned a questioning look towards the green unicorn. "My EFS, I'm seeing a lot of red dots over there." He nodded ahead towards the darker part of the jungle.

“It doesn’t seem like they know we’re here yet, so we might be able to sneak past them.” IronClaw said, but he didn’t seem too hopeful and neither did I. Bloodwings have incredible hearing, possibly the best sense of hearing of any other animal. Maybe if I went alone I could sneak past them, but together like this… we were bound to attract attention.

“Mist, you have silenced weapons?” IronClaw asked.

“Umm… my sniper and my pistol have silencers.” I answered. Those two weapons certainly weren’t enough for all of us.

“What about your rifle?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I broke the silencer for my rifle back in Vostoris. When we were fighting the Vipers.” I recalled the chaos I’ve seen there, and how I wedged my rifle between the armor of some zebra in order to stop her. The images of those events were still fresh in my mind.

Cog raised an eyebrow and looked at me curiously. “How did you manage to break a silencer?”

Well when he asked like that, it did seem odd. “We were attacked by this heavily armored mare and I had-“

“It’s not really important right now.” IronClaw cut in. “I want all of you to watch your fire.” He said sternly. “Don’t shoot unless you absolutely have to.” He turned to me then. “Mist, if any bloodwings get too close I want you to take them out with one of your silenced weapons.” I nodded. They all were going to rely on me to keeping us safe and relatively hidden… no pressure right?

“And if things go to shit and we end up getting swarmed?” Saw asked.

“Then shoot at whatever isn’t us.” The griffin answered simply. “And watch your step; this place is full of corpses.” He added.

Wonderful…

*** *** ***

As we made our way through the clearing and into the shaded part of the jungle again, we came across the bodies IronClaw mentioned. Still no ponies or griffins thankfully. From the torn armor it was easy to tell that these were Remnant soldiers. They probably tried to retreat when they got overwhelmed.

Most of the bodies we passed were armor wearing skeletons with bits of hide here and there. The jungle had set to work on their remains and I knew that in a few years even those skeletons will be gone. I noticed the concerned way Cog looked at some of the corpses and I understood. Drained and skeletal looking the fresher bodies could pass for ghouls. Even though he had faced his fears at Prometheus, the sight still touched him on a deeper level. I guess some things you just can’t get over; like I can never forget the night I lost my parents and the smell of charred flesh, that always seems to follow me.

Scavenging proved to be almost impossible, the rain and exposure had rusted most of the gear. Saw picked through a couple of bodies and only found one potion and a few bullets that were still usable.

Cog had found something and stopped. His horn was enveloped in a green glow as he levitated a rifle from the ground. It was an old rifle. The leather belt which you used to carry it was falling apart, held together only by a small scrap. The wood along the barrel was rotted and filled with holes. The gun itself was badly rusted and completely unusable now.

"This place is a graveyard." Cog muttered as he lowered the rifle back down to the ground. "And an old one at that."

It got darker as we continued; luckily the trees weren't growing so thickly here, the stars and Luna’s Moon helped us navigate. It would have been a really bad idea to use Cog's PipBuck light or my gem now when we were doing all we could to stay hidden.

Shrapnel suddenly came to a halt and looked up. There was no need to ask her anything, I readied my sniper and started searching the canopies.

"Don't shoot unless it attacks us." IronClaw said quietly.

A flutter of wings sounded to our left and we all turned our heads. I could vaguely make out shapes in the shadows.

"Shit." Saw cursed. "How many?" She asked as she nervously looked about.

"You don't want to know." Cog said gravely.

I thought I saw a shape that didn't fit that of branches, so I aimed at it.

"Keep moving. Slowly." IronClaw urged and I realized that we had actually stopped.

Were they just observing us? Maybe they won’t attack us if we keep going slowly. I honestly had no idea what would set them off. From books I knew what they looked like and how dangerous they were, but I never faced a bloodwing before. I didn't know how they behaved.

"Do you hear that, or am I going crazy?" Saw asked in a whisper as we moved.

"Well you are crazy but I hear it too." Cog answered.

In the near deathly silence of the jungle I too started hearing this strange chirping sound. Were the bloodwing making it?

"Oh shit! There it is!" Saw gasped and tried to keep her voice low.

I tore my attention from the canopies and saw what she was looking at. Before us lay another clearing which we seemed to have entered diagonally. There was a slight downward slope in front of us, boulders and overturned tree trunks lay everywhere, some half covered in moss. The entire clearing was far longer than it was wide, it’s almost like a river used to pass through here before it dried out. And then I saw it at the far end of the clearing, in the darkness it just looked like a massive black structure whose appearance left little doubt that this was in fact something that had been made rather than a natural rock formation.

I was broken out of my stupor when an armored hoof poked me in my side.

“Mist!” Shrapnel called and I turned around to see a shape, no many shapes, moving in the canopies.

No one said a word, we were all quietly waiting. With a flap of leathery wings, one bloodwing leapt and silently glided towards us.

It just looked like an elongated dark shape outlined by the slightly brighter night sky. I took aim with my sniper at its center and fired. In an incredible stroke of luck I must have shot the beast in the head, because it dropped out of the air and hit the ground hard remaining there.

For a moment we stood there in silence then chaos erupted as the rest of the bloodwings started lunging from their perches straight at us. I aimed my sniper again and started firing.

“Luna fuck me silly…” Saw cursed breathlessly.

“Everyone open fire and make your way to that Raptor! Go, move it!” IronClaw shouted and the whole jungle erupted in a cacophony of gunfire and screeching.

Shrapnel’s heavy rifle roared and sprayed bullets before her as she steadily backtracked. Even in the dark I could see the flying beasts getting torn apart and lifelessly fall to the ground, but there were too many of them! I aimed and fired my sniper, but after only two more hits and three misses I switched to my combat rifle. There was no way I could use my sniper effectively when my enemy was flitting left and right.

Cog determinedly waited with his shotgun beside IronClaw, blasting any bloodwing that got past the griffins SMG fire.

Too late I realized our mistake. We were moving into the clearing, we’re going to be completely exposed! “Stay with the trees!” I yelled. “Keep moving, but stay with the trees!”

IronClaw understood what I meant. “Cog, you and Saw go ahead with Mist! Shrapnel and I will cover you!” He called out.

I levitated my rifle and opened fire on the incoming bloodwings. One took the shots full in the head while the other two veered off to the side. Keeping the clearing to my left I stood beside a tree and waited for Cog and Saw to run past me before I turned after them.

Every twenty meters or so I would turn around and fire at the bloodwings, helping out IronClaw and Shrapnel as they made their way at a slower pace. I was right about staying with the trees. It limited the bloodwings flying, but it also made them harder to hit as they flew behind the very same trees that we used for cover.

“Oh shit!” Cog cursed and I turned around to see even more bloodwings coming from the jungle, pushing us out into the clearing.

“Go for the Raptor!” I yelled and hoped that we would find some sort of cover there.

Running out to meet the oncoming bloodwings I opened a short burst from my rifle then ducked behind a tree. Quickly I pulled my hood up and activated my cloak. In the darkness of the jungle it was easy to see the flaming buckshot from Cog’s shotgun as it collided with a bloodwing. The wretched thing hit the ground in flames and screeching in agony. This seemed to give the others pause as they lessened their attack somewhat.

‘BOOM!’

I turned to the source of the explosion only to see a tree with a big part of its trunk missing and a few unlucky bloodwings, or parts of the bloodwings, falling to the ground. From the smocking grenade launcher on Shrapnel’s side it was easy to guess what happened.

I turned my attention back to protecting Saw and Cog, firing then moving and firing again. Never staying too long in one place I hoped to confuse our attacker. One bloodwing caught my eye as it flew rather close to me. I ignored it and focused on harassing those chasing my friends.

Saw had taken out the rifle she picked up and unskillfully held it in her mouth and fired. Her shots went everywhere. The rifle she had, like mine, was made to be held with your hooves. I had my magic, so it wasn’t a problem for me, but she was having a hard time with it.

Just as I moved again to get into a better position, I felt the wind tug at my cloak, except it wasn’t the wind. The bloodwing that had flown dangerously near me landed on a branch, repositioned itself and leapt off heading right for me.

I stood there looking at it for a moment. Was the thing actually after me? I had my cloak activated, how could it… Shit! It wasn’t changing its direction; I raised my rifle and opened fire. The beast screeched in pain, but still kept coming! I cursed and turned to leap out of the way when I got the air kicked out of me.

I couldn’t see anything, my head was spinning. All I could feel was the ground and the bloodwings claws scratching and tugging on my armor as we tumbled on the jungle floor. I gritted my teeth and kept my eyes closed, hoping and praying that I survive this. Just how painful would it be to have all my blood sucked out? No! Not thinking about that!

We must have hit a tree or something because I was finally free of the damn thing and I breathed fresh night air again. I kept my hooves tucked in close to me, allowing myself to roll with the momentum until I finally ended up on my stomach.

I looked ahead and saw the thing rise clumsily from the ground. Its long forelimbs arched backwards as it moved, shrieking in anger and pain. I’ve done some damage to it with my rifle and the creature was bleeding badly.

Even though I knew what a bloodwing looked like, seeing it in person unnerved and disgusted me. Short almost flat muzzle, split lip, tiny black eyes and huge pointed ears. I shivered and pulled out my pistol.

The bloodwing started shambling towards me, but didn’t get very far. Screaming in pain and flailing its leathery wings, it tried to escape as I sent bullet after bullet into its horrible face.

Finally it slumped to the ground and I reloaded my pistol. I was surprised at how hard I was breathing, my heart was pounding in my chest and I realized that I, probably unnecessarily, emptied a whole magazine of pistol rounds. The bloodwings face was now truly a mess, a bullet ridden bloody mess.

As I calmed down certain parts of my body began to ache. My flank and sides hurt, the joint in my hip felt sore and stung as I moved. I noticed that my cloak had gone back to its normal state, must have touched the gem accidentally. At that moment I remembered that the bloodwing knew where I was despite the cloak, somehow it saw me.

I shook my head, as worried as I was about my cloak being useless against the flying beasts, I was more concerned for my friends right now. Quickly I found my rifle and headed towards the sounds of gunfire.

I ran into four more bloodwings as I tried to rejoin my friends, but killed them without too much trouble. Since they could see me regardless if I was cloaked, I didn't bother trying to sneak past them. I fought only those that got in my way as I moved from cover to cover.

Strangely there seemed to be less of them now. Did some of them decide to leave us alone?

I pushed back to the edge of the clearing and realized why I thought some of them had left. They didn't, they just moved. The sky was full of them, and yet there were still more in the nearby trees.

From my position I had a relatively good look at what was happening, and I didn't like what I saw.

Saw and Cog had fortunately found cover near the Raptor and would hold out. IronClaw wasn't so lucky. The griffin had to fly low to keep away from the bloodwings nipping at his tail. He couldn't fly higher because of the sheer mass of the beasts that were up there.

My heart leapt into my throat when I saw Shrapnel buried under a mass of flapping wings, but she was still alive. In fact I think the bloodwings were only annoying her. They scratched and bit, but they couldn't get through her armor. One of the beasts got behind her and it got bucked so hard that it didn't rise again once it hit the ground. A couple of them were biting the barrel of her rifle, so it was of no surprise when one got its head blown off.

Shrapnel was alright, she can deal with them. I turned my attention back to IronClaw who was less protected. The griffin had landed and was carefully backtracking to where Saw and Cog were. I readied my sniper and fired, hitting a bloodwing in its side. IronClaw quickly noted the shot and glanced my way. He gestured to where Saw and Cog were shooting from cover. I was closer to them than he was, so I started moving.

It looked like the Remnant had managed to make some sort of small camp right beside the Raptor. A twisted sheet of metal that looked like it got halfway peeled of the Raptor offered protection from above, while a fallen tree made good cover against anything that might attack from the ground. Still there was a big area left exposed between the tree trunk and the Raptor.

Dead bloodwings were piled around the cover as they stubbornly tried to reach the two ponies, Saw and Cog kept them at bay. Still awkwardly holding her rifle Saw shot at the incoming bloodwings while Cog blasted all those who got too close. The moment they saw me running towards them they focused on firing at the bloodwings that had broken off from their normal circling and began to swoop down at me.

As my hooves tore at the ground I began noticing bodies around me. Was I imagining this, or going crazy? Just like the others we found, skeletons or drained corpses with dried hide stretched over their bones.

"Stop sightseeing and move your damn flank!" Saw shouted angrily before putting the rifle back into her mouth.

Her urging and the fact that I could hear angry screeching from close behind me, spurred me on to run faster. I ignored the bodies and just focused on getting behind cover as fast as I could.

‘BOOM!’

An explosion sounded somewhere behind me. It was Shrapnel I'm sure of it. Already I started gulping air through my mouth as my hooves started aching. With a final burst of speed I jumped over the fallen tree and landed into a clumsy roll.

"Good to see you in one piece." Cog said with a smile once I got back to my hooves.

"About fucking time you showed up." Saw grumbled while she reloaded her rifle, but I definitely saw relief in her eyes.

"We… need to help IronClaw… and Shrapnel." I said breathlessly while preparing my sniper.

"Shrapnel is doing alright." Cog said looking over to where the armored mare was making her way towards us.

The bloodwings seemed to have given up on trying to get through her armor. They were just harassing her.

"Keep em off of IhronCaw." Saw mumbled through the rifle she was holding in her mouth. She was right, IronClaw was in greater danger.

I saw the griffin running towards us, whenever a bloodwing got too close IronClaw would flap his wings and jump away a short distance. They may have greater numbers, but it was obvious who the better flyer was.

I aimed at the bloodwing closest to him and fired. The bullet completely missed its mark. I tried to hold my breath and focus as I aimed, but I couldn't. Only now did I realize how shallow my breathing was and how hard my heart was pounding. I needed time to rest and catch my breath, but IronClaw doesn't have that much time!

The griffin was fighting ferociously. He saved his ammo till the last moment, unleashing a barrage into any bloodwing foolish enough to come near him, but he can't keep it up forever. He needed cover in order to get to us.

An idea popped into my head and I'll berate myself for not thinking of it sooner when we're safe. Quickly reaching out with my magic I pulled out one of the clear vials from my saddlebags.

"I really hope this works." I muttered as the vial reached my lips.

It felt cold going down, but other than that nothing happened. I cursed and brought my sniper up. It didn't work; I must have gotten some part of the recipe wrong... My vision blurred suddenly. Oh no, did I just poison myself? I closed my eyes and when I opened them again everything had changed. Despite the overall darkness, what I could see, I saw in incredibly sharp detail.

Looking through my scope I could actually see, with a little help from the starlight that got through, IronClaw's individual feathers. As the bloodwings moved closer to the griffin, I saw them a lot clearer. Leathery wings, a pair of three digit claws growing out from where the wing bent, pointing ahead, grasping.

Not only did I start noticing more details now, but time itself appeared to be slowed. The brass casings from Saw’s rifle glimmered in the faint light as they fell turning in the air slowly. There was a certain beauty to it. All of the things that would normally go unnoticed were suddenly clear to me.

I aimed and fired at a bloodwing which was trying to bite IronClaw on his paw. The bullet hit the beast in the eye and tore deep inside its head. Not wasting any time I aimed at another coming from the side. The angle wasn’t good, but I felt like I could make the shot. I fired and the bullet passed ten inches from IronClaw’s outstretched wing and hit the attacking bloodwing in the shoulder. I could see the entire wing shudder as it lost its strength, no longer able to keep the bloodwing in the air.

"Fucking piece of shit!" Saw cursed, even her voice seemed slowed and had an echoing effect to it.

She was holding a rifle propped up with a forehoof and hitting it with the other, trying to unjam it. A bloodwing took the opportunity and attacked while she was busy. Cog was quick to act; he blasted the beast back with his shotgun. I noticed how quickly he turned towards the attacking bloodwing. The action strangely didn't appear to be slowed like everything else.

Was the effect of the potion starting to wear off, so soon? I better make use of it while it lasts. I turned my attention once more to IronClaw. He was no longer shooting at the bloodwings, instead he was fully focused on getting behind cover with us.

Taking aim with my sniper I fired and another bloodwing went down. I've lost track of how many we've killed, and now running out of ammunition was a very real possibility.

‘BOOM!’

Another one of Shrapnel’s explosions sounded off. I was tempted to look, but I kept focused on protecting IronClaw. The bloodwings seemed to be even more determined to catch the griffin. Almost like they know that they'll have little chance once he joins us.

I watched as the griffin came out of his glide and touched the ground a few meters away from us. It was the worst possible moment for him to stop because I needed to change magazines for my sniper. I pray that Luna watches over him in these brief moments that I needed to reload. The world around me seemed to be returning to its normal pace which meant that the potion was almost done too.

It can never be just one thing, just one problem, can it? Something else has to go wrong too.

I was about to raise my sniper when I saw IronClaw, while I was still under the effect of the potion, slowly go into a crouch on all fours as he touched the ground. As soon as his hind paws landed, the griffin raised himself and leapt, not unlike a cat, into the air and spread his wings.

It was thanks to the potion that I could truly appreciate the action. It was an incredibly fluid and graceful move that left me stunned for just a moment. A moment in the slowed effects of the potion was very brief; I raised my sniper again and aimed.

Three bullets and three dead bloodwings, the moment I pulled the trigger I already searched for a new target. The action felt almost trance-like. Aim, fire, find a new target and repeat. There was no time for any thought, I just acted.

"Cog, find us a way inside!" I heard IronClaw shout.

The steady shotgun blasts were replaced with rapid SMG fire as the griffin took over Cog's role in holding the bloodwings back.

"Here she comes!" Saw shouted and the accompanying roar of Shrapnel's heavy rifle sounded off.

Good, with Shrapnel we just might make it. I aimed at another bloodwing and blinked to clear my blurred vision. At the very last moment the bloodwing seemed to move away just as I fired. The shot had completely missed its mark. At this point I had to pull away from my sniper and rub my eyes, I was seeing double. When I tried to aim again, my breath caught in my throat. When did they get so close? I tried aiming again, but the bloodwings moved too quickly, all I could do was pray that I hit one of them.

It was hopeless, miss after miss and they were getting closer. I tried holding my breath, focusing, but that wasn’t the problem anymore. The sniper was steady, the bloodwings simply moved too quickly, appearing and disappearing from my scope.

“Mist! Damn it!” IronClaw shouted out and I felt like I was falling backwards.

My magical grip on the sniper winked out and I dropped the weapon. I didn’t feel anything; the only indication that I had hit the ground was a slight jarring in my sight. Looking up I saw IronClaw stepping in front of me, face grim and talon extended, SMG firing.

I looked for my sniper and reached out for it with my magic, a sudden enraged cry came from the griffin, I looked up and froze.

A bloodwing had latched itself onto IronClaw and it pushed the griffin down to the ground, kneeling. The look on the griffins face wasn’t that of fear or even shock, he merely looked irritated and I realized why. The bloodwing was desperately trying to bite his talon, his steel talon. With utter contempt, IronClaw raised his other SMG and leveled it right in front of the attacking bloodwing’s face and fired. The upper part of the beasts head was blown off leaving the rest of its body to crumple to the ground.

“Come on!” Cog shouted from somewhere.

IronClaw looked at me with concern. “Get him and get inside! Move!” He shouted to his left.

As soon as I had the sniper’s leather strap around my neck I was lifted off the ground and all of the sudden the world started bouncing up and down.

“Hold on Mist.” Shrapnel said as she trotted with me on her back.

Everything happened incredibly fast once Shrapnel had placed me on her back. IronClaw was firing from both of his SMG’s, alternating his attention from one gun to the other as he kept them spread wide apart. Saw ran beside Shrapnel and I caught her casting concerned glances at me.

“Come on, get in!” Cog shouted and then everything got darker.

I realized that we had gotten inside the Raptor, but I couldn’t see anything except the doorway and IronClaw as he stepped inside before the door slammed shut leaving us in complete darkness.

*** *** ***

Feeling slowly returned as I rubbed my hooves together. It was a strange sensation, not like when your hoof falls asleep. You can still move it, but you just can’t feel anything with it.

Saw was sitting next to me, holding my head in her hooves and turning it this way and that. As soon as we were safe from the bloodwings, IronClaw told Saw to check on me while he and Cog looked around. Shrapnel stayed back with Saw and me as protection in case something attacks us. The light from the armored mare’s helmet was pointed right at me in order to help Saw with her examination. I squinted and tried looking away but Saw kept a firm grip on my head.

“Just had to drink some zebra mumbo-jumbo crap didn’t you.” Saw muttered and finally let go of me.

“I told you I’m going to be fine. Just a little side effect.” I protested. “Look, the numbness has already worn off.”

“It has?” Saw asked and I nodded. With a swift flick from her hoof she cuffed me on the back of my head.

“Ow!” Really, was that necessary? I know she was worried, they all were, but I had to do something. If I hadn’t taken the potion IronClaw would have been overwhelmed.

"Are there any permanent side effects I should know about?" Saw asked raising an eyebrow and giving me a stern look.

"No, I told you the only side effects are temporary blurring of vision and numbness." I repeated.

She asked me that already, as soon as we got inside, but I do appreciate her concern. If there was something wrong with the potion it probably wouldn't have worked at all or I'd be completely blind.

"So you're good? You can see alright? No dancing firesprites?" Shrapnel asked while shining her head-lamp right at me.

"Barely with you blinding me." I answered and raised a hoof to block the intense light. Firesprites?

"Oops, sorry." Shrapnel turned her head slightly to the side. "Better?"

"Much better, thanks." The light was still pretty bright, but at least it wasn't blaring right at me.

"We've got bad news." Cog announced when he and IronClaw had approached.

“Is there any other kind?” Saw muttered and rolled her eyes.

“There’s terrible news.” Shrapnel offered and drew looks from all around. I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.

"What did you find?" I asked, for the first time taking a good look at our surroundings.

The room we were in wasn't too big yet it was specious enough. Opened lockers lined one wall and they were mostly empty. Those that couldn't be unlocked had their doors forcefully torn off their hinges. Various items were strewn about; it was hard to tell what they were. Clothes, maybe?

"We may be safe from the bloodwings in here, but..." Cog started explaining.

"We're not alone." IronClaw said gravely. "There are zebra and pony bodies in the room ahead, relatively fresh."

"And they still have blood in them. Well some of it." Cog tried to explain. "You know what I mean, bloodwings didn't drain them."

"So, someone killed them? This is fan-fucking-tastic." Saw grumbled.

IronClaw looked to the side, his face contemplative and grim... Well grim-er than usual. He caught my look and turned his attention to me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. The effects of the potion wore off completely." I assured the griffin.

"Saw?" He asked turning to the yellow mare.

"Yeah he should be fine." The mare waved the griffins concerns away with a hoof. "He's lucky that he is skilled with mixing potions. From what he told me it could have been a lot worse."

"What does the potion do anyway?" Cog asked.

"It..." Hmm, how best to explain it? "It makes it appear like everything is slowed down. You also see things in greater detail, everything is a lot sharper." Come to think of it, is my eyesight really this bad normally? Compared to how I saw while the potion was still running through me, this was a step back.

"It improves reflexes." I added when I noticed Cog's contemplative look.

"So it's like Mint-als?" He asked. Oh dear Celestia, no! Thankfully the potions weren’t addictive, they were dangerous if overused, but not addictive.

IronClaw raised an eyebrow and turned to me. "If it's anything like those tablets, you better be careful. They are very addictive." He cautioned.

"They taste great though not as good as gumdrops." Shrapnel said and earned yet another look from everyone.

"Where would you even find..." Cog tried to ask the armored mare but gave up with a sigh. "Never mind."

"It's not like Mint-als." Saw said. "It improves reaction time and reflexes, but it doesn’t affect you psychologically. Of course it strains your nerves and you need time to recover afterwards. Mist is smart enough to know not to overdo it. Right?" She asked looking at me with just a hint of warning in her tone.

"Right." I answered immediately. I had no intention of going blind, or losing my sense of touch.

“How many do you have left?” IronClaw asked and extended a talon.

I hesitated for a moment, but levitated out the two vials to him. He didn’t seem to mind that I had used the potion, so he wouldn’t take them from me. I mean he did trust me not to overdose right?

IronClaw carefully picked up one of the vials and brought it close to his eyes. His brow knotted and he uncorked the vial and tried smelling it. “Colorless and odorless.” He murmured before giving the potions back to me.

“Perfect for precision work, no wonder the Remnant have such deadly snipers.” He said. “But next time don’t use them unless I tell you to. If you were perched far away from battle than you can use it and safely wait out the aftereffects, but in the middle of the battlefield it could get you killed.” The griffin warned and I took his words to heart.

He was absolutely right in that regard and I should have thought it through more, but then again IronClaw might not have made it if I hadn’t used the potion.

“Did you cook up something else?” Cog asked with sudden interest.

“Well I have made three potions that suppress fatigue.” I explained. ”They don’t restore stamina, just make you feel… not tired.” I clarified when I got interested looks from my friends.

“So you drink it and don’t feel tired, but…” Cog scratched his head.

“But you’ll keel over, or die from exhaustion if you’re not careful numb-nuts.” Saw finished.

“Always a catch.” Cog muttered dejectedly.

“Come on, break’s over we’ve got a job to do.” IronClaw called and we snapped to attention. “Shrapnel you cover the rear. Mist, stay in the middle with Saw, Cog and I will take point.”

“Here.” Saw nudged and presented rifle ammo to me.

“What about your rifle?” I was pretty sure she scavenged the ammo for her own gun.

“I’ll sell it as soon as I can. The damn thing loosened a tooth and nearly dislocated my jaw.” She said and pointedly rubbed her cheek.

“Because it would be so bad if you couldn’t talk.” Cog teased.

“Keep it up and I’ll loosen a few of your teeth.” Saw warned, but the threat was lost in the rising tension.

Bloodwings outside and Luna knows what’s in here with us. Only a couple of steps in and already I could smell the all too familiar reek of death. Cog had his PipBuck light, Shrapnel had her helmet lamp and I had my brooch. Together we had more than enough illumination to get a good look at the gruesome scene before us.

Zebras and ponies lay dead all around us. Moving a bit closer to the bodies I could see numerous bullet wounds all over the corpses. There was a massive firefight here. Even the room didn't survive unscathed. The metal plates that made up the walls were badly singed and torn up, revealing a whole mess of wires behind them.

"What the hell happened here?" Saw asked quietly as she moved from body to body, examining them.

"They used bombs." Shrapnel observed shining her light over a pony that was missing a good part of its upper left side.

"Boss!" Saw called out, from where she was standing next to some rubble, a partially ruined wall and table. Grim and silent, IronClaw walked over to the mare and I could hear a heavy sigh from the griffin.

"What’s wrong?" Cog asked. I think I knew what Saw had just found.

Without a word, IronClaw gently pulled out a griffin from beneath the rubble. I recognized him, we met at that village called Firth. He was right; it wasn't smoking that killed him in the end.

"He died quick." Saw tried to console us. "I know it looks bad, but he died the moment they punched through his chest."

It wasn't an easy thing to see. The griffin's chest had been torn open by high caliber gunfire. His chestplate had hoof sized holes on it which were made from continuous fire in the same area, not from single shots. I avoided shining my light on the body; there was no need to see exactly how bad his insides were ground up.

IronClaw lifted his gaze from the dead griffin and looked over all the other dead Talons. There was a mix of anger and sorrow in his eyes and weariness which I’ve only seen a few times before in the otherwise hard and composed griffin. We all waited in silence, a moment to honor and pray for lost friends.

Saw slowly approached the griffin and spoke up in a quiet voice. “Do you want us to-“

“We need to keep moving.” The griffin cut in, his voice was steady and he regained the look of grim determination. “Cog, Mist. You two start going slowly, don’t take any chances. If you see someone get right back here.” He then turned to Saw. “Help me check how many we lost here.” Lastly he turned to Shrapnel. “Shrapnel, make sure no one sneaks up on us.”

I watched silently as IronClaw and Saw went about the grim task. Every new body found was like a fresh stab of pain clearly seen on the veteran mercenary’s face. I had no doubt that he recognized every dead pony and griffin here. He might not have worked with them directly, but he knew them, they were all part of the same family.

I’m ashamed to say it, but I’m glad I didn’t get to know these ponies well. It’s a strange thing to say I know. It pained me to see that so many good ponies and griffins have died here, but how much worse would it have been if I knew them, really knew them.

“Come on Mist, let’s go.” Cog said as he nudged me with a hoof. I hadn’t realized that I’ve been just standing, looking at nothing in particular.

I nodded and followed the green unicorn as he slowly made his way to the door, levitating his shotgun before him.

“Awww crap.“ Cog cursed when he reached a body mere moments after we had walked in. “Must have been trying to slip away when he got cut down.” He commented on the dead zebra lying sprawled before us.

“Where are we?” I asked looking around carefully. The room we had just entered was just as bad as the one we came from. Fewer corpses, but more exposed wires and smashed tech everywhere.

Cog scratched his head and looked about, shining his PipBuck light at the damaged wall panels. “Umm… Let’s see.” Well that sounded reassuring. “The room we just came from was… close to the… chariot hangar, I think.” The unicorn had sat down on his haunches and brought his PipBuck close to his muzzle.

“Well do you at least know who else might be in here with us?” After all he did say that we weren’t alone. I didn’t like this place, it reminded me too much of Prometheus, all the wires and metal, and the dead bodies of course. At least these ones weren’t moving, Cog was no doubt grateful for that.

After a few more turns on his PipBuck wheel Cog frowned at the device. “We really should have brought a Pegasus with us.” He complained. “No I don’t know who or what might be in here. Could be radroaches.” The unicorn shrugged.

“Or Remnant.” I said and levitated my rifle closer to me.

Cog sighed. “Or them, yes.” Looking around a bit more he got back to his hooves. “If I had to guess, I’d say we were in maintenance. Just look at all the circuitry and loose bits and pieces lying around.” He gestured with a hoof.

Well I’m no expert. I can hack a terminal if I get lucky and pick a lock, but machines I knew next to nothing about. Casually I nudged a cylindrical object with wires sticking from it with a hoof. It rolled slightly before stopping when it hit a larger square piece of debris. For all I knew it could have been used as a light switch, then again it could be some vital part needed to keep the rest of the Raptor functioning.

A half closed door caught my attention. It wasn’t like a normal door with a knob, but one of those that open automatically to the side. This one seemed to be stuck halfway between opening, or maybe closing I’m not sure.

Carefully I placed a hoof on it and gently pushed it open, all the while holding my rifle in a firm magical grip. The door groaned and squealed almost as if in pain as I pushed. I cursed myself for being such an idiot and not expecting this. If whoever was in here wasn’t aware of our presence before, well they sure are now.

I heard a muted ‘thud’ from behind me, when I turned around I saw the look of dismay on Cogs face as he held a hoof to his head. Yes I AM a moron, I know. There wasn’t much choice now, so I might as well go in and see if it was worth the trouble.

“Stop!” Cog shouted suddenly and I froze midstride.

“What?” I asked as he came to stand beside me, his shotgun ready and pointed into the room beyond.

“There is someone in there.” He warned. “I’m seeing a red bar, but…” The unicorn stopped and scrunched his face up in confusion.

“But what?” I pressed. Red means enemy right?

“It’s flashing.” The unicorn blinked and shook his head. “It’s appearing and disappearing?” He turned to me with a puzzled look on his face. How was I supposed to know what that meant? That the enemy was appearing and disappearing maybe? Uh oh…

“You can’t see cloaked Remnants right?” I asked.

Cog was about to answer but I saw his eyes grow wide as realization dawned on him. There was nothing more that needed o be said, we came to a silent understanding. Somewhere in the room in front of us was a Remnant with a damaged cloak.

Cog gestured to my own cloak and motioned pulling the hood over his head with a hoof. I nodded and activated my cloak.

“I’ll go in first.” I whispered and silently trotted in.

I kept my rifle by my side, hidden; it would only take me a moment to pull it out. The Remnant would probably be waiting for someone to enter first, a visible someone. Maybe I should use my pistol. It did seem kind of pointless with the amount of noise I’d made, but still this Raptor was old. Who’s to say that some parts of the structure haven’t finished settling yet and were still letting loose the occasional groan.

I crept in silently and looked around. I couldn’t see anything, but I expected as much. Patiently and slowly I let my gaze pass over the small room I was in. I had turned off my brooch before I activated my cloak, so now I had to wait a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the dim light from Cog’s PipBuck in the other room.

A desk with a damaged terminal stood a few meters before me, the most likely place the Remnant would be hiding behind. I regarded it carefully and kept my rifle steady. The walls were lined with metal lockers, a few of which were open. Some of them had clothes that still hung from hangers, while others lay crumpled on the floor.

There were dark patches and smears on the floor, blood no doubt, leading to the table. Wounded? A smile spread across my face. Good, it will make this all the more easier for me, but... Maybe I should try and catch the Remnant though, we needed answers. Interrogating a Remnant won’t be easy, but I shouldn’t pass op on an opportunity to capture one.

Suddenly I remembered what IronClaw had told me, the lecture about not letting my feelings interfere with the mission. He was right; it is the sensible thing to do, so then why do I feel angry? Why do I want to simply throw sense to the wind and kill this Remnant, especially after remembering the griffin’s words?

A sound between a cough and a groan came from behind the table and it pushed all other thoughts aside. If I believe that I can capture the Remnant I’ll try, if not I’ll shoot and be done with it.

Slowly I circled the table and froze once I had a clear view. It wasn’t a Remant at all! Forgetting about stealth and caution I dashed right to the prone form.

“Cog! Get in here!” I shouted and heard him trotting into the room.

“Mist! Where…?” He asked in a panicked voice, I could see his PipBuck casting shadows all over the room as he no doubt looked around fearfully.

“Behind the table.” I answered and threw off my hood and turned on my brooch. Ever so gently I pressed my hooves on the talon which was still gripping a rifle tightly. “Easy, it’s me, Mist.” I levitated a healing potion from my saddlebag. My heart was pounding and I was on the verge of panicking, but I had to keep calm for the griffin’s sake.

“Dear Clesetia…” Cog said letting out a breath. “Lizzie!”

“Here, drink this.” I levitated the potion over to her beak. Merciful Luna! I couldn’t even touch her head to lean it into a better position to drink the potion. I didn’t dare! The entire right side of her head, neck and shoulder along with her wing was torn up. Blood had already dried and crusted over most of it, but I think I could actually see the white of bone showing in places where the wounds were deepest. My eyes kept darting everywhere; I was having trouble taking in all the wounds. “Go get the others, hurry!” I told Cog while desperately trying to find some way to help the pore griffin.

It was terrifying how much flesh was missing from her body. The only thing I could do was pour a potion down her partially opened beak and pray that she swallowed at least some of it. Bending over slightly I strained my ears to keep listening to her shallow ragged breathing. She was breathing, thank Celestia. The smell made my mane stand on end, how long had she been here, a day, more? There was no doubt about it; rot had begun to set in. I just hope we weren’t too late.

Damn it! Celestia, Luna, please don’t let her die now. She held on this long, it would be too cruel for her to die now that we were finally here.

Lizzie’s left talon feebly clutched her rifle as she drew in raspy breaths and stirred slightly. Her left eye opened just a crack, the right one was caked in congealed blood and I wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to see through it again. Bending over more I tried to put my face in her line of sight.

“It’s me, Mist. I’m with IronClaw, Shrapnel, Cog and Saw.” I said gently, probably too fast for her to follow. “We met in that burned down village. Do you remember?”

Her eye moved slightly and met mine; she didn’t seem to be aware of where she was. Confused and afraid, she gurgled and tightened her grip on the rifle, holding onto it as if for protection.

“It’s going to be alright.” I cooed trying to keep my voice steady. Celestia I hope she survives. “IronClaw and the others will be here soon.” Where were they?!

Her grip on the weapon loosened and she seemed to relax. Maybe it was me mentioning IronClaw, but more likely she just didn’t have the strength to keep her hold on the weapon any longer. Louder and louder I heard the sounds of hooves and metal clanking against the floor.

From the edge of my vision I saw Cog’s PipBuck light illuminate the room, or maybe it was Shrapnel’s head lamp.

“Mist?” IronClaw called out.

“There behind the table!” Cog answered quickly. I raised a hoof and waved it above my head.

“Oh shit, oh fuck!” Saw cursed as she came to a stop beside me. Immediately she started looking through her saddlebags and began pulling out potions, gauze and bandages.

“Is-Is she going to be alright?” I heard Shrapnel ask quietly.

“Back away.” IronClaw instructed. “Give them room to work. Cog, keep watch near the door.”

I looked up from Lizzie’s prone form to look at the grim griffin. His eyes were fixed on the unconscious griffin. His inner struggle was obvious, he wanted to help, but he’d only get in the way.

“Mist I’m going to need your help here.” Saw told me in a steady focused voice. “If you have anything aside from potions, any disinfectants or Med-X give them to me.”

I didn’t have any Med-X, but without a word I started pulling out everything I had from my own saddlebags. Salves, a small bottle of medicinal alcohol, but Saw had a few of those already. I had antidotes for poisons, but those won’t help much, Lizzie needs something to prevent blood poisoning from flesh that had died off. Fortunately I had a mild purgative, not ideal but it should help, I just hope that the strain on her kidneys won’t be too much.

“Well shit. You’re not squeamish are you Mist?” Saw asked as she pulled out a scalpel. I shook my head. It sure as hell won’t be something I will enjoy, but I’m not turning away from this.

I couldn’t help but wince as the blade descended and Saw started cutting off the dead flesh away. A whimper escaped from the griffiness and her talon started grasping for her weapon again. I had levitated it out of reach and all she caught was empty air.

The sight was profoundly heart-wrenching; all I wanted to do was make her better. I just wanted to get her into a clean bed and cover her with a blanket somewhere away from this place, somewhere safe.

Saw worked and I helped by levitating blades, bandages and potions to her. I also helped by keeping Lizzie restrained, if you can call it that. She barely had strength to whimper let alone move. With a nod from Saw I kept softly reassuring Lizzie that we’re helping her and that she’s safe with friends. I looked up at IronClaw, hoping that he’ll say something. Lizzie seemed to react more to his voice, after all they knew each other longer and it’s obvious the griffiness admires him.

No words came from the stoic griffin. He kept his silent vigil over Saw and me, his expression blank, his eyes fixed. I thought about asking him out loud, but thought better of it. Right now he was doing his best to remain composed and calm.

“Boss! I got movement!” Cog warned from the door.

“Shrapnel, stay with Saw and Mist, keep them safe.” IronClaw snapped in an instant. “Cog, you’re with me.”

I heard hooves, metal-clad and otherwise, along with the distinctive tapping of a steel talon as Cog and IronClaw exited the room and Shrapnel took her post by the door. My eyes didn’t leave the injured griffiness for a moment.

*** *** ***

Gunfire echoed off a few times while Saw and I worked, it was hard but I ignored them and focused on finishing up the dressings on the last exposed wound. I didn’t believe it possible, but Lizzie had survived the ordeal. Saw and I did what we could; now it’s up to her to get well again.

“Good work Mist.” Saw said as she pulled a bottle out of her saddlebags and took a long drink.

She was tired; I could see it plainly on her face. I have no idea how long we’ve been working, it felt like hours. Saw was doing most of the work though, I assisted. With these kinds of injuries I had the general idea of what we were supposed to do, but Saw had actual experience.

“Is she going to be alright?” Shrapnel asked after she saw that we had stopped working and moved away from the griffin.

“We did what we could.” Saw said wiping her mouth. “Potions can’t replace lost blood.” She gently reached out and placed a hoof on the bandaged side of the griffin’s head. “It’s up to her to hold on now.”

It’s a miracle that Lizzie had survived and I was happy that she was resting peacefully now, but how were we supposed to get her out of here? We barely made it going in, now we’ll have to carry her out somehow while keeping the bloodwings at bay. The best thing I could think of right now was to wait for morning, when the beasts were less active and try our luck then.

At least we’ll have some good news for IronClaw when he comes back and… IronClaw and Cog, how long have they been gone? I had no idea how much time Saw and I had spent working. Desperately I tried to recall how long it’s been since I last heard the sounds of gunshots. I couldn’t, at the moment I was just too focused on what I was doing.

“Shrapnel do you see any enemies?” I asked the armored mare. She promptly started looking about, pausing occasionally.

“Huh, I don’t see anyone. They must have moved out of range.” She said standing up and going back to her post by the door.

“I’m going to see if they’re alright.” I said getting off my haunches. Shrapnel said she doesn’t see anyone, so there is a good chance they’re alright. Besides, I was confident in my friend’s abilities, they’ve been at it longer than me and I’ve seen them both in action.

“Hold on Mist, the hell are you thinking.” Saw scolded getting up herself. “IronClaw knows we’re here and he knows that Lizzie is hurt, he’ll come back once he’s sure we won’t get attacked. Sit your flank down!” She commanded.

“Saw, they might need help and we’re not going to be able to go anywhere without them.” I explained. “It’s not like we can get out and take Lizzie somewhere safe then come back.” At this point I was more concerned for the griffiness. We need to get her somewhere safe now that she’s stable.

Saw opened her mouth to complain, but considered for a moment. “We have no friggin clue what’s in here with us.” She said at last and sighed. “Fine, just be careful and tell them to get back here.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” Shrapnel offered and before I could say anything Saw interrupted.

“Shrapnel, you need to stay here and help me keep Lizzie safe.” The yellow mare said exasperatedly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.” I said and did my best to give them an encouraging smile before I pulled my hood over my head and tapped the gem around my neck.

Was it dangerous leaving the two mares alone to look after a badly wounded griffin? Of course, but what choice did I have? Celestia forbid something happened to IronClaw or Cog and the chances of all of us getting out of here alive were that much slimmer. We need to be at full strength to even attempt leaving.

If Saw could hear me now she would have no doubt taken a swipe at my head. It’s not like I was leaving two defenseless mares. Saw was an experienced mercenary and has killed her fair share of ponies and zebras. And Shrapnel, well she’s quite literally a physical obstacle in the same sense that a mountain would be. If said mountain had a high caliber machine gun and grenade launcher, and was able to move.

I made my way swiftly through the room we came from all the while being careful not to step on any loose metal bits and pieces, doing my best to be as quiet as possible. It’s ironic how now that I could actually use a gunshot to orient myself, everything was quiet. Choosing a different door this time I continued moving through the old and rusted Raptor.

Like I did in the jungle, every so often I paused and listened. Really any sound would be of help now, but nothing could be heard. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought about how if I had a PipBuck right now, I’d be seeing red dots, or bars or whatever, everywhere in front of me.

I had my brooch turned off, yet from somewhere, I couldn’t exactly be sure where, faint light still made it into the inside of the Raptor. It wasn’t much and shadows certainly played tricks with my mind, but it was enough to see. I simply had to trust in the fact that I was invisible and that it would buy me the necessary time to make sure that what I was seeing was actually something I should shoot, rather than a shadow cast by some bent wiring.

A sound from somewhere ahead made me stop and listen. I couldn’t be sure, but I think it was the sound of hooves. The fact that I heard them was comforting since elite Remnant agents wouldn’t make any sound, this could only mean that Cog and IronClaw were ahead or at least a regular Remnant soldier.

Continuing without pause, my ears moved beneath the hood as I tried to hear any other sounds. As the sound of hooves steadily grew louder I had to keep reminding myself not to get too excited. Finally I stopped when I reached a staircase leading up, there was another short hall beside it and now I wondered if which way to go. The sounds of hooves above me made my decision clear.

‘CREEEEEK!’

“Oh crap…” The sound of hooves stopped the moment after I had stepped on the rusty stairs. No matter how lightly I walked, my weight was enough to make the stairs creak and groan.

There was a pregnant pause as I waited for the sound of hooves, but none came. If I was sure that Cog was the one behind the hoofsteps I wouldn’t be too worried, but I just didn’t know. Taking in a deep breath and readying my rifle I trotted up the remaining distance. There was no one waiting for me at the top fortunately. If I get lucky, the noise I made might attract whoever is up here and I’ll be waiting. I don’t think I can put into words how much I loved my stealth cloak right now.

My ears perked up as I heard the much quieter sounds of hooves tapping on the metal floor, there was definitely more than one equine about. Quickly I ducked into one of the side rooms; from there it would be easier to surprise and ambush the Remnant when they pass by. I waited by the open door patiently as my heart beat steadily faster as the sound of hooves grew louder. Whoever it was, they were trying to be quiet, but in the otherwise near dead silence of the Raptor I could hear them.

One of my ears kept tugging my head to one side as it picked up on the louder set of hooves from somewhere farther away. I was going to have to take care of the first Remnant quickly before the others come.

I heard the zebra pass and I held my breath and stood as quietly as possible, then ever so slowly I crept out. My rifle was held firmly in the grip of my magic, but I started to consider that my pistol might be a better alternative.

The Remnant was in my sight.

I couldn’t really tell what, but something seemed odd about this zebra. The first thing I noticed were the guns carried on either side, a battlesaddle. The armor was black or a very dark color, it definitely wasn’t designed for stealth, it was much bulkier. My rifle was halfway drawn and out from beneath my cloak when I spotted something familiar. There on the hoof, a PipBuck!

My thoughts grinded to a halt. What would a zebra be doing with a PipBuck? Was it Cog’s?!

Before I could think of anything else, the zebra turned around with speed I didn’t think possible and opened fire. My reflexes saved me as I instantly ducked low to my left.

“Fuck!” The mare cursed and fired again in the general direction where I was standing.

I raised my rifle to return fire, but again the mare seemed to have spotted me and we fired at the same time!

I rolled away from the incoming fire and heard the mare grunt as my bullets hit their mark. She didn’t stop firing however and I dashed into the opposite room for cover as I heard a shotgun fire. Aberrantly she had both a rifle and shotgun mounted on her battlesaddle not to mention the fact that her PipBuck was helping her aim! Damn it, unless I’m completely covered by my cloak she’ll be able to spot me! I’ll have to wait until the right moment and shoot as soon as the barrel of my gun was clear from my cloak, or I could shoot through it, but I had no intention of tearing my cloak.

The waiting game began; she was waiting for me to make the first move. I’ll have to get some distance from her first. In a crowded place like this, she has the advantage with her shotgun.

‘Thump, clank!’

I looked at the floor as spherical metal object rolled and came to a stop before me.

“Oh no…” I breathed and wrapped the explosive with my magic and threw it right back out.

“Oh shit!” The mare cursed again. Wait… That wasn’t a curse in Zebra. Could she be a pony?

‘BOOM!’

So much for stealth. The explosion was followed by a cacophony of loud metal groaning and the sound of shrapnel pelting the walls.

I bolted out of hiding as soon as the ringing in my ears lessened. Raising my rifle I looked over the mess and tried to find the pony. Who was she? What was a pony doing here? Celestia I hope she wasn’t part of Lizzie’s team!

An urge to call out welled within me, but then I felt a great weight collide with my side, not unlike when Shrapnel greeted me if only slightly less jarring. What was it with Earth ponies and tackling?

The rifle from the battlesaddle was aimed right at my head, but I managed to twist away enough to escape the oncoming fire. Training took over and I shoot a hoof up directly in front of me, where my attacker’s neck should be. My hoof had already connected by the time I realized that I might have delivered a potentially killing blow, the regret I felt was instantly washed away and replaced with trying to stay alive when a firm kick was delivered to my side.

Even though the mare wore armor my hit had done some damage, if the choked coughing was any indication. It still didn’t stop her from going right back and biting down on the trigger-bit before her and firing her shotgun. Again the shot missed, but I felt the heat and the pellets bounce off my armor after they had ricocheted off the floor. It will be a miracle if I survive this without losing my hearing.

This was it. She fully intended to kill me, so I had no choice but to reach out for my pistol. Before I could do that the mare reared up on her hind hooves, determined to stomp me. While this might be effective against others, I on the other hoof knew what to do. I kicked out with one of my rear hooves into the rear hooves of the mare. This threw her off balance and she crashed into me with much less force.

Instantly I wrapped her right forehoof with both of my own, getting ready to dislocate it or use it as leverage to push her off of me.

She had other ideas and she was persistent. With a cry of rage she pulled back her left hoof and struck out. I dodged it easily but she clipped my hood and it slid off.

“What the…” The mare said in a surprised tone.

How many times has the fact that I was a unicorn dressed as a Remnant saved me? How many times did the confusion buy me time to get the upper hoof? It didn’t matter; I counted myself fortunate that it had. Not wasting the opportunity I reached out with my magic for my pistol.

“Sunny, wait! Don’t shoot him!” A strangely familiar mare’s voice sounded off to the side. Both the mare that had attacked me and I turned our attention to this newcomer.

“Autumn… ?” My attacker voiced what I was thinking.

“Don’t shoot, I know him.” Autumn repeated as she hovered towards us. “He saved me from the Vipers.”

*** *** ***

The Earth pony looked at me suspiciously, at least she wasn’t trying to kill me anymore, but she didn’t seem to want to let me go either. Slowly the faint gray-ish color of my magic faded from around my pistol and I released her from the hoof-lock I had her in.

The mare was still suspicious, but slowly and carefully she backed away from me. “He saved you? Are you sure?” She asked the Pegasus who only nodded quickly before landing beside me looking concerned.

“Are you alright?” Autumn asked as I got up.

“Him?” The earth pony protested while rubbing her throat. “What about me?”

“I’m alright.” I answered the Pegasus and smiled reassuringly. “You were trying to kill me, I was just defending myself.” I told the earth pony. Now I had a chance to get a good look at the mare. Her coat seemed to be a really light orange as opposed to Autumn’s darker shade and her mane was brighter still.

“Yeah, because I thought you were a Remnant! Why would you even wear their armor?” The mare continued, but I ignored her and turned my attention to Autumn. I half expected the Pegasus to be wearing bug-like armor like I’ve seen on Skyfall, but she just wore light leather barding. She did have a strange boxy looking weapon at her side.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “How did you even get in?” How in Celestia’s Sun did two mares manage to slip past all those bloodwings?

“Well we’ve actually been here before, but we ran into a little trouble with the bloodwings and we had to retreat. That’s when the Vipers caught me.” The Pegasus began while the other mare desperately made panicked faces and drew her hoof across her neck. “We sneaked in early while most of them were sleeping, but it took us more time to get what we needed so here we are.”

The other mare slapped herself across the face with a hoof.

“Don’t worry Sunny, I told you that we can trust him. He’s with the Talons.” The Pegasus reassured her companion and smiled brightly.

“That actually doesn’t make it any better. We’re trying to keep a low profile here, from everyone.” The mare, Sunny, muttered making a cutting motion with her hoof.

“Alright, but why would you two come here? What are you looking for?” More importantly do they know anything about the dead Talons? I did my best to hide my suspicion, but that mare Sunny, had mentioned that they didn’t want anyone finding out about them being here, including the Talons.

“Oh, it’s not just the two of us.” Autumn said quickly.

“We’re looking for salvage, and I’m guessing you didn’t come here alone either.” Sunny cut in, I shook my head. “Right, then let’s join up with the others so we don’t end up punching each other in the throat by accident.”

I wanted to argue the fact that she had shot at me first, but the mare had a point. In fact thinking back to the gunshots I heard earlier made me worried that just such a misunderstanding had happened.

I trusted Autumn well enough, she seemed genuinely happy to see me again. It was that other mare that concerned me. “We should look for IronClaw first, he’s in command and-“

“Relax.” Sunny cut me off. “It doesn’t matter who we find first and besides, if I wanted to kill you I would have already done it.”

I stayed silent as all three of us started moving. She really wasn’t aware of how close to death she had been. If she wants to underestimate me that’s fine, it will only work in my favor.

“What are you doing here?” Autumn asked after an uncomfortable pause.

“We’re trying to find out why the Remnant are so interested in this Raptor and what happened to the Talons who’d been sent here before.” There was no harm in telling them. Everyone already knew that the Talons were mercenaries; it’s pretty easy to guess that they wouldn’t come here to scavenge.

“Oh.” Autumn exclaimed, her ears dropped as she looked sadly at her hooves. “It looked like there was a big fight with the Remnant.”

“Yeah, we found a few dead Talons when we arrived… sorry” Sunny said in a genuinely remorseful tone.

“So you don’t have any idea what happened here or if any Talons are still alive?” It looked like they had come right after the slaughter was over.

“We did run into a few zebras, Remnants. They were already in bad shape so they didn’t give us too much trouble.” Sunny told me with a shrug. “The Talons probably softened them up.”

That was pretty much what had happened, but I wanted to know what had caused it, when did things go wrong. It looks like Lizzie might be the only one that can give us the whole story.

“Alright I see somepony up ahead, they’re not hostile.” Sunny told us and Autumn visibly relaxed.

Soon the sounds of hooves striking metal and the murmur of different voices were heard. A smiled tugged at my lips as I recognized one of the voices. Steady and gruff accompanying a somber tone. Autumn, Sunny and I didn’t bother to be quiet and our own hoofsteps must have been apparent to the oncoming group since they stopped speaking. We were nearing the end of the hallway when five figures walked from behind a corner.

“Mist? What are you doing here?” Cog asked taken aback. “Is Lizzie alright?!” he started to panic but I reassured him with a smile.

To the left of Cog and IronClaw stood three other ponies. Two Earth ponies, a stallion and a mare and one unicorn mare.

“Well thank Luna you’re alright.” The stallion muttered looking at Sunny and Autumn.

IronClaw nodded. “Looks like you avoided shooting each other.”

“Almost.” Sunny said and trotted up to the unicorn mare, Autumn and I followed.

I turned to Cog and IronClaw, the other ponies likewise started talking among themselves. “Lizzie is going to be alright.” I told them first to wipe away their concerns. “But we need to get her somewhere safe to rest and recover, soon.”

IronClaw nodded gravely. “We might be able to work something out.” He said and cast a glance at the other ponies. “They are going to need help getting out of here too, and together we might have enough firepower to succeed.”

“Who are they?” I asked the griffin quietly. IronClaw obviously knew more about them and I remember hearing that Autumn was a member of some group.

“They’re mercenaries… sort of.” IronClaw tried to explain.

“They’re not fighters like the Talons.” Cog said. “They do odd jobs to get by.”

“One of those jobs involves transporting goods and passengers.” IronClaw added.

Passengers? “To where?” Like caravans?

“To Equestria and back.” The griffin said calmly.

So definitely NOT like caravans. My mouth worked soundlessly for a while until IronClaw continued.

“Their captain, Jade, maintains one of the few ships that actually travels between Equestria and Zevrass. I can only guess that they’re here to scavenge parts for their ship. They’ve been docked a few months now.” The griffin mused.

“You knew about this?” He sure talked like he did.

“I’ve met with Jade, we tried to recruit them, but they refused.” There was a hint of irritation in his voice and the glance he sent my way.

“They actually have a few pegasi working for them.” Cog added. That was no doubt the reason IronClaw was interested in recruiting them. With the Talon griffins and pegasi, Vostoris had protection from the sky and an advantage against attackers.

“So have you asked them about working together to get out of here?” I asked IronClaw whose brow furrowed in thought.

He shook his head. “Not yet, I think the white unicorn is in charge of their group, I wanted to wait until we were all gathered before-“

“Umm excuse me.” An unfamiliar mare’s voice cut in.

It was the unicorn mare IronClaw was just talking about. Was she eavesdropping on us? How much did she hear?

“Hi, my name is Ivory.” She said happily. “Sorry for interrupting, but my friends and I were talking and well we could actually use a little help.” She smiled hopefully looking up at us. Even in the darkness and with the armor she wore, I could plainly see how pure white her coat was. It was in stark contrast to her black mane.

Well this was fortunate. I exchanged looks with IronClaw and Cog. The griffin cleared his throat. “And what do you need help with exactly?”

“There are a few special terminals and we’ve got Autumn, but we could use your help too.” She said looking up at the griffin. Could it be that they’re after the same thing the Remnant were?

“I think we can help you out with that, but we came here to get information. Information on why the Remnant were so interested in this wreck.” IronClaw claw said calmly and watched the white mare.

The unicorn considered what IronClaw had said. “Well you’re welcome to anything we find on the terminals. We just need them to unlock the seals to the engines.”

The mare waited nervously for IronClaw to say something, but the griffin just nodded, still it was enough to put a smile on her face.

“Come on I’ll introduce you to the others!” She said excitedly as she trotted back to her friends.

The first time I saw these ponies they seemed nervous, some of them still did especially around IronClaw, but then again that could be just because he tended to look so intimidating.

“This is Lugnut.” Ivory said pointing at the stallion who silently nodded. “This is-“

“Sunny Rays.” Sunny cut in and introduced herself.

“Autumn.” Ivory continued as she walked over to stand beside the Pegasus. “And Flower Basket.” She said motioning to the other Earth pony mare.

“Hey.” The mare waved a hoof and smiled.

“I’m IronClaw and these are Cog and Mist.” The griffin said as he motioned to each of us as we flanked him.

“Oh wow. One of the top Talons himself.” Sunny said surprised. It’s not really that strange that she’d heard of him, most living in Vostoris have.

“Shuffle, Gears and One Track stayed behind to guard the parts we already found.” Ivory added.

“We have a few of our own that we left below as well.” IronClaw said. “One is badly injured; we need to go get them first.” Ivory nodded without a word.

Her friends shared a concerned look, but didn’t complain otherwise. They were friendly if still cautious of us. I can’t blame them, I’m still wary of these ponies myself. It was like an unspoken agreement that we wouldn’t try and hurt each other. Both sides knew that chances of survival were better if we all work together. Alone I think me and my friends could make it, but not with Lizzie in the shape she was in.

*** *** ***

“You know there are safer places to get tech.” Cog commented as we made our way back to Saw and Shrapnel.

“Not the kind we need.” Flower answered.

“How bad is your friend hurt?” Ivory asked IronClaw worriedly.

“Very.” IronClaw answered simply. “Don’t count on her helping out, she is likely unconscious and we will need to carry her.”

“Oh! I’m sorry.” The white mare’s ears dropped. “Shuffle is a good doctor. I’m sure she can help.”

“We have a medic, she and Mist did everything they could, but thank you for the offer.” IronClaw told the mare and she seemed to wilt even more. I know IronClaw didn’t mean to sound harsh, he wasn’t deliberately doing it. I can only imagine the stress he’s under right now, planning a way for us to escape, getting Lizzie somewhere safe…

“Are you alright?” I asked Cog. The green unicorn was looking more haggard than usual. “I heard gunshots before I came looking for you.”

“Oh that, well there was a misunderstanding.” Cog said sheepishly.

“Actually we were to blame.” Lugnut cut in and smiled apologetically. “When we got in we were still on edge after running away from the bloodwings, then we ran into these Remnant. We got a little itchy around our triggers.”

“They thought that whoever they might run into was probably going to be a Remnant.” Cog added. Which explained why Sunny was so eager to blow me up.

“When did you realize that they weren’t zebras?” It might be good to know for avoiding this in the future.

“I can’t believe we didn’t notice that the big guy was a griffin sooner.” Flower Basket shook her head.

“Cursing.” Lugnut told me.

“What?”

“When I started cursing, your griffin friend noticed that I was speaking in Equestrian, not zebra. He then shouted that he was a Talon. We stopped firing and then started trying to convince one another of who we were.” The stallion said.

“Ivory was the first one who decided to trust the griffin and she stepped out of cover, once he walked out too we realized how stupid we were.” Flower added still shaking her head in disbelief.

Cursing. In another time and place I would have laughed, but right now I was just too relieved that we found some way of identifying each other, even if it was via profanity.

“What about you?” Lugnut asked me and I hesitated for a moment.

“Well Sunny tried to shoot me and she threw a grenade at me.” Both the stallion and the mare winced.

“Hey!” Sunny protested. “You shot back and you punched me in the throat. Besides no one can blame me, you look like a Remnant and you fight like one too.”

“Heh, he doesn’t just fight like them he-“ Cog stopped when he caught my look.

I shook my head slightly, knowing what he was about to say. Right now isn’t the time to be telling them anything more like me being trained as a shaman. They didn’t trust us fully and honestly I don’t know how they might react.

“Oh sweet Luna!” Autumn gasped.

We all snapped to attention, grabbing our guns and looking about for signs of danger, but there wasn’t any. We had just gotten to the room where corpses littered the floor. IronClaw, Cog and I had already seen this, but the rest were shocked and speechless.

“It’s worse than in the rooms we looked through.” Sunny commented quietly, her gaze slowly moving from one torn corpse to the other.

“Come on, we’re close.” IronClaw’s somber voice helped move the others from their daze.

“Oh shit!” Lugnut cursed.

“What the…” Sunny’s words caught in her throat.

“Wow, I thought my EFS was broken or something when I started seeing so much green.” Shrapnel said to herself as she trotted out to greet us. “Hi!” She chirped in her usual tone and waved a hoof. The scene seemed so out of place especially when you consider the grim visage of her helmet.

“Hey Shrapnel, how’s Lizzie doing?” Cog asked as he trotted right over to the armored mare.

“That’s a fucking Steel Ranger.” Flower whispered to Lugnut, but not quietly enough for me not to overhear.

While the rest of the ponies looked at Shrapnel with a mix of fear and awe, Ivory’s reaction was completely unexpected. The white unicorn ran right up to Shrapnel, wide eyed and slack jawed.

“A T-45d set of power armor!” The unicorn gushed excitedly. “Appears worn but still in remarkably good condition. Battlesaddle layout set for heavy weapons, high caliber rapid fire machine gun and grenade launcher.”

“Hello, my name is Shrapnel, nice to meet you.” The armored mare said completely unfazed.

“Sorry, Ivory is sort of our resident gear-head.” Sunny apologized when she saw my confusion. “She and her brother take care of most of our gear and repair work.”

Not wasting a moment, IronClaw headed straight to where Lizzie was. Ivory had finally calmed down enough and properly introduced herself to Shrapnel and Saw, needless to say all the new arrivals were shocked at Lizzie’s condition.

“I don’t know if we can help the poor thing, but if you need anything, extra potions or bandages we’ll gladly give them to you.” Ivory told IronClaw, clearly it was hard for her to see someone so badly hurt.

Carefully we managed to place Lizzie on Shrapnel’s back, the armored mare with her boundless strength and energy didn’t even seem to notice the griffin. Saw and Autumn hovered near the griffin in case something went wrong and to make sure Shrapnel doesn’t jostle her too much.

“As soon as we meet up with the others we can start looking through the terminals, then it should only take me a two or three hours to get the parts we need.” I overheard Ivory talking with IronClaw.

Cog and I slowly walked up and joined them as the others were getting ready to move out after some last minute looting. IronClaw had given them permission to take any ammo and weapons from the fallen Talons seeing as how they won’t need them anymore, but the ponies were more interested in tech. They only found a small amount of usable scraps, the rest was too badly damaged.

“We’ll still need a plan for getting out.” The griffin commented with his usual steady voice.

“Actually we have a plan sort of…” The mare looked up at the griffin uneasily. IronClaw just raised an eyebrow and waited for the mare to continue.

“Sunny has an audio log in her PipBuck.” Ivory began. “My brother and I worked out this tone that should be painful for bloodwings and scare them off.” Now this was interesting. It would certainly explain how they got here.

IronClaw just silently observed the mare. “Is that how you got past them when you came here?”

“No, the speaker on her PipBuck is too weak, but the PA system in the Raptor should be enough.” Ivory explained.

“Do you understand any of this?” I asked Cog hopefully; maybe he could explain it to me.

“Yeah.” Cog nodded. “They intend to use a frequency, a loud and painful sound that should be able to drive off the bloodwings. It’s genius.” The unicorn looked at the white mare with admiration.

“But what about us? Won’t we go deaf or something?” Do they want us to plug our ears or something?

“Oh don’t worry about that.” Ivory reassured me. ”We tested it and it’s out of equines range of hearing.”

“Eh-hem.” IronClaw feigned coughing and drew up a good point. What about griffins?

“Oh, well griffins should be safe too.” The mare tapped her chin thoughtfully. “If not we can always wrap something around your head.” She offered hopefully.

Cog stifled a giggle, IronClaw didn’t seem thrilled by the prospect, but he didn’t say anything, likely he realized that this was a good alternative to having to fight our way out.

As we made our way back to the upper levels to rejoin with the rest of Ivory’s team, spirits were unusually high. Autumn talked quietly with Saw and Shrapnel, Ivory and IronClaw took the lead with the rest of us following closely behind. If there was any apprehension or uncertainty, they were gone now, we were all in this together and we were committed.

“Oh yes, I remember the first time I got on board.” Sunny was telling us a story of her exploits and adventures. At the moment Cog had asked her how her first trip by sea went. I was also interested and kept an ear cocked. “It wasn’t so bad. In fact it was fun!”

Lugnut snorted. “That’s not the way I remember it.”

“What are you talking about?” Sunny protested. ”It was fun.”

“If by fun you mean screaming: ‘Get me off of this thing! I’ll pay you double just let me get off!’ and puking over the whole deck, then you’re right.” Lugnut teased and looking at the mare growing flushed in the face and huffing, I suppressed a chuckle myself.

“What are you laughing at?” Sunny glowered at me. “I’m sure you’d lose your lunch on a bumpy caravan ride.”

“Oh I don’t know.” Cog cut in before I could get a word in. “Mist and I have been on a pretty bumpy ride a while ago in the desert.” He said nonchalantly rubbing his hoof on his barding.

“It was exciting wasn’t it?” I took up his lead and smiled smugly. The whole thing was a nightmare, but I think it says something good that we can both joke about it so easily now.

“Oh yeah?” The mare raised an eyebrow. “Care to share?”

I wasn’t sure if we were allowed to discuss our past missions-

“Oh you know. Infiltrating an enemy outpost, stealing a weapon of mass destruction, escaping on a stolen vehicle and blowing up a giant worm with said weapon. You know, the usual Talon contract.” Cog’s mouth had run off before I could even say a word.

Sunny looked at us with her mouth hanging open for a moment and then she flashed her teeth in a broad smile. “Yeah right, and I bet you two fought off a horde of ghouls, a bunch of other smaller monsters and rescued a princess before your heroic escape.”

“Well I wouldn’t say princess exactly.” Cog said and winked at me.

I suppose there is no harm as long as we’re being vague, but joking aside, I was interested in seeing their boat and sailing. I tried imagining the endless blue expanse stretching out everywhere I looked with the fresh sea air filling my lungs... It must be amazing.

*** *** ***

“Well this is boring.” Sunny muttered as she lazed on the floor.

“Stop whining. Be happy that you have time to rest.” The unicorn, One Track scolded.

I hated to admit it, but it did get a little dull. Once we were all together we made our way to a room with a couple of functioning terminals. If I hadn’t tried it myself I would have never believed it. The cloud terminals looked ordinary, except when I tried to touch one, my hoof just went right through. It was baffling, but like IronClaw suggested I tried not to think about how such a thing was even possible.

At the moment IronClaw and Autumn were using the terminals with Ivory and Cog advising by their side. Saw and the unicorn mare Shuffle looked after Lizzie. There was brief moment of unease when the two mares met, but their shared profession gave them something to talk about and now they were chatting animatedly.

This didn’t leave the rest of us with much to do. Shrapnel was amusing herself by making… I’m not sure what from useless scrap. Lugnut, Flower and Gears took the opportunity to get some sleep, probably the smartest choice. One Track was cleaning her rifle, Sunny was complaining and I was reminiscing.

I was tired and I knew I should try and rest, but I just couldn’t sleep, I felt restless despite the protests from my body.

“Well there’s good news and bad news.” Ivory suddenly said and everyone turned their attention to her, those who were sleeping stirred and regarded the white mare groggily.

“The good news is that we unlocked the seals and Gears and I can start working right away.” A small round of cheers erupted except for a groan from Gears who had just woken up and apparently wasn’t too keen on working.

“The bad news is that the PA system is damaged, we can’t access it from here so we’ll need to find another way of getting out of here when we’re done. Umm… any suggestions are welcome.” The white unicorn finished and looked around hopefully.

Really would it be too much to ask that things went our way for once? The solution was simply too good to be true, something had to go wrong.

“The command deck is connected throughout the whole Raptor.” Autumn spoke up. “We might be able to try there although there is another problem…”

IronClaw sighed and pinched his beak in a familiar fashion. “And that would be?” I completely empathized with the griffin.

“Well.” The mare shifted her hooves and wings. “The command deck is to the front and its well… exposed.”

“Exposed as in…” One Track asked.

“Exposed to the outside. Bloodwings can get in.” Autumn explained and murmurs erupted all around the room.

“It’s still our best chance.” IronClaw said after a moment consideration.

“The command deck was blown open when the Raptor was shot down.” One Track said. “There’s no guarantee that the terminals there will work at all.”

“Either they’ll work and we’ll have an easier way of getting out, or they won’t and we’ll have to fight anyway.” The griffin stated and looked to Ivory who nodded in agreement.

“IronClaw is right, we should try.” Ivory said and ponies grumbled, but they agreed.

“Ivory still needs time to get her parts, so eat, rest, reload and prepare until she’s done.” IronClaw told all of us as he stepped away from the terminal.

"Did you find out what the Remnant want with this Raptor?" I asked the griffin. Weapons probably, but what kind of weapons.

"There was some interesting information in the terminals, but nothing that really stands out." IronClaw told me and his brow furrowed. "This Raptor wasn't specially armed; it doesn't have any weapons the Remnant haven’t seen before. I must be missing something."

"Maybe they want the guns mounted on the hull?" Cog offered joining us.

IronClaw shook his head. "They're useless. Damaged during the crash and all useful parts have been stripped clean."

Cog looked about and shrugged. "I really have no idea then. If the Raptor was carrying anything, it's not on record. Ivory and her ponies didn't find anything either, this place was stripped clean of everything that wasn't locked or bolted to the floor."

"Could the Remnant have been after the engine parts?" They needed a Pegasus to access the terminal, just like Ivory.

"It’s possible." IronClaw murmured, but he didn't seem convinced.

Cog's eyes widened suddenly. "You don't think the Remnant were trying to build their own Raptor do you?" Celestia I hope not!

"Maybe Lizzie knows?" I knew she was unconscious, but at the rate we're going she might be the only who has some idea of what happened here.

With a heavy sigh IronClaw nodded. "I don't know why they'd bother since they already have dragons, and they'd need pegasi to operate it."

“Boss maybe you should get some rest too.” Cog said gently looking up at the griffin.

I agree. ”It hasn’t been easy for you.”

“It’s not easy for any of us.” The griffin told Cog and me before heading to where Saw and Shuffle were looking after Lizzie.

“Excuse me.” Autumn called out timidly to Cog and me, Sunny and Lugnut were with her. “We were thinking of stopping by the armory to see if we could find any weapons and ammunition. Do you want to come with us?”

Cog shrugged. “Well it’s not like we have anything better to do at the moment, right Mist.”

If I couldn’t sleep then we might as well do something useful. “Sure, we might find something to help us out with the bloodwings.”

It was only a short trip and we soon found ourselves standing before a sealed door with a cloud terminal. Autumn went to work right away, while the rest of us waited patiently. With a hiss and groan the rusted doors slid open. I don’t know if we were expecting piles and piles of guns with boxes overflowing with ammo, but what we saw was honestly a little underwhelming.

“Well it was kind f stupid on our part to expect too much.” Lugnut commented on our reaction. “It was the middle of the war, right? They would take as much as they could with them to battle.” He had a point.

Because most of the boxes and lockers were bolted down to the floor and walls, the place wasn’t a mess. What did stood out were the bodies, well skeletons actually, of two pegasi. The head of one of them stuck out in an unnatural angle, no doubt crashed into the wall when the Raptor hit the ground. The other wasn’t much better off, it was missing a hoof, the wings were clearly broken and the rib cage was crushed. Looking over at a few of the nearby crates, their edges seemed to indicate what had happened.

Now that I think about it, this was the first time I’ve seen any sign of pegasi being here. Strange since they built the Raptor, right? It’s hard to believe that only these two remained in here.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me this creeps you out.” Sunny asked when she noticed me looking at the corpses.

“It’s not that.” I told the mare. “This is the first time I’ve actually saw any signs of pegasi here aside from Autumn.” I wasn’t exactly sure why, but it bothered me. It was like a hard to reach itch.

The mare seemed to consider the bodies more worriedly now. “Yeah it is weird, isn’t it?”

“Oh wow!” Cog exclaimed. “Mist, come check this out!”

I walked over to where Cog and Autumn were standing before large pony sized… cylinders I guess. They lay horizontally rather than propped up vertically. The bottom of the cylinders was metal while the top was dust covered glass. Before I could ask what they were for, Autumn approached one and swept away the layer of dust that covered the glass.

I took a step back once I got a good look at what was inside. “Are those pegasi in there?” I asked once the shock had worn off. Inside the cylinder, standing statuesque was a Pegasus wearing that sleek bug-like armor that I had seen on Skyfall. This one was in much better shape though.

Autumn shook her head. “No, the pods are just used to hold the power armor.” Looking further down at the row of ‘pods’, I noticed that a few were open and empty.

“These two probably came in to suit up before they got tossed about.” Lugnut commented gesturing at the corpses.

“Must have been one hell of a crash then.” Cog mused while tapping the glass of one of the pods and trying to pry off one of the metal pads near the bottom.

“You kidding?” Sunny snorted. “Did you see the grove this thing made when it plowed into the ground?”

It was hard to believe that anypony could survive such a crash. When we first got in, I assumed that the damage we found on the inside was due to the fighting, but now when I consider how violent the crash might have been its lucky the Raptor managed to stay in one piece at all.

“There!” Cog said triumphantly. “Got it open.”

There was a ‘hiss’ as air leaked out from the pod and the glass slid back. We looked at the black carapace armor in silence. It was intimidating all by itself, even without a Pegasus wearing it.

“I don’t think it’s your size.” Lugnut commented.

“What?” Cog shook his head. “Of course not, but I couldn’t help noticing what Autumn was wearing.” He pointed at the Pegasus mare.

Autumn became terribly conscious about her ragged leather armor and she started fidgeting nervously.

“The Vipers did take your old armor.” Lugnut commented. “Why not take this one?”

“Alright.” Autumn nodded and approached the armor, Sunny helped her out of her old barding.

“I don’t understand. Why can’t each of us take a suit and just not use them for flying?” I asked the gathered ponies. It’s not my preferred type of armor, but if sneaking isn’t an option we might as well get added protection.

“Ehh… power armor is kind of finicky.” Sunny made a face. “I tried wearing it once and fell flat on my face; it’s not as simple as putting on clothes.”

“You have to be trained in order to use it properly.” Cog explained. “Shrapnel let me take a look at hers once. It has a bunch of spell matrices and servos…” Cog stopped when he caught my blank look. “It’s more machine than armor.”

“Oh.” Well that’s unfortunate. It’s for the best then, I don’t think I’d be comfortable with wearing a machine.

“There is a lot of ammo left, most of it is for MEW’s but I found a few regular magazines and some specials too.” Lugnut told us as he picked through one of the opened boxes.

“Any shotgun shells?” Cog asked as he began walking over to the stallion.

“Alright, now just wiggle in.” Sunny instructed and I caught a glimpse of Autumn as she ‘wiggled’ into the armor and Sunny tightened the protective plate.

I could already feel heat rising in my cheeks. Okay, I’ll go see about that ammo! Quickly turning around I started heading towards where Cog was busy picking a lock on a locker.

“Are you blushing?” Sunny called from behind me. “Oh my gosh, that’s so cute!” She snickered. Just ignore her, she wants a reaction, don’t give her the satisfaction.

“Oh leave him alone.” Autumn scolded.

“Hey Mist, why don’t you get started on those chests there, while I look through this locker?” Cog asked as soon as he saw me approach. “You alright? You look a little flushed.”

“I’m fine.” Now where was that chest? It’s been a while since I picked a lock; I wasn’t even sure how many bobby pins I had left.

After some digging I found the screwdriver Cog had given to me long ago. Was it really long ago? It seemed like it, yet the memory from that time was still very fresh in my mind.

Carefully I inserted the pin and wedged the screwdriver, the action became more familiar as I slowly turned the lock. I hit a snag and stopped pushing; I didn’t want to break the pin so I moved it slightly upwards and tried again. This time the lock turned more and I knew I was close. It felt good to know that I haven’t forgotten how to do this.

‘Snap!’ Damn it.

“What’s wrong? Can’t focus, distracted, hmm?” I gasped as Sunny suddenly appeared behind me. I could feel her breath on my face and neck.

“What’s wrong with you?!” I snapped perhaps louder than I meant to, but she was really annoying! Seriously what’s wrong with her?

“Me? I’m not the one ogling a mare while she’s getting dressed.” Sunny snapped back.

“Mist? Were you really-“ Cog began but I cut him short with a glare. He raised his hooves defensively. “Alright, alright.”

I was glad he had at least some sense and knew when to shut up. I turned my attention back to Sunny when a hoof stomped loudly on the floor.

“Stop it Sunny.” Autumn commanded, and with that armor she definitely looked more threatening. ”Leave Mist alone.”

“Whatever.” Sunny huffed and stormed out of the room grumbling to herself, and I couldn’t help catching ‘throat punching’ and ‘zebra wannabe’.

Autumn went after her but slowed near me and lifted up the part of the helmet that covered her face. “Sorry.” She apologized sincerely and continued after Sunny.

I felt a hoof on my shoulder and when I turned around I saw Lugnut looking at me with a friendly smile. “Sunny can be a pain in the ass.” No, really? “But she’s really a nice mare once you get to know her.” I find that hard to believe.

Cog, Lugnut and I stayed in that room in order to gather as much ammo as we could and some weapons. I tried to pick the locks a couple more times unsuccessfully; it’s possible I was still a little upset. Cog looked at me every time I snapped a pin, but he didn’t comment which was smart. Eventually I gave up and left the lock picking to the two of them while I sorted through the chest they had already unlocked.

There wasn’t as much as we had hoped, mostly ammo for magical energy weapons, we did take some of it since Autumn and One Track used those kinds of guns. The regular bullet type of ammo we would split with everyone. Much to Cog’s joy, we found shotgun shells and those blue striped grenades. After everything was packed we headed back to wait until Ivory finishes what she needed to do.

*** *** ***

“Everypony listen up!” IronClaw shouted. “You all know that our plan involves going to the command deck. We’ll need to protect those going in from bloodwings while they upload the file.” Concerned murmurs went up throughout our little group.

“Saw, Shuffle, Gears, Flower Basket, Lugnut, Cog and Ivory will stay with Lizzie.” The griffin said. “Shrapnel, Sunny, Mist, One Track, Autumn and myself will go up to the command deck.” The griffin focused on me. “Mist, I want you near the door. You’ll pick off any that get too close with your sniper and whether the plan works or not, you’ll give the others the signal to get going.” I nodded and breathed in deeply, this was it. “If this plan doesn’t work, we’ll try and buy you time and keep their attention on us.”

While Cog, Lugnut and I were in the armory, Saw and Shuffle had made a kind of harness for Lizzie in order to make carrying her easier. While IronClaw was coming up with a plan with Ivory I suggested that we make our way to Navarost. The others were skeptical of the kind of welcome they’d receive in a zebra village, but together IronClaw and I assured them that they wouldn’t turn us away.

“Alright, let’s go.” With that IronClaw headed straight for the command deck with those he selected following close behind.

Out of all of us One Track seemed genuinely excited to be here. He was looking forward to the fight I could see it in the unicorns eyes.

We paused at the door; IronClaw had unholstered one of his SMG’s and rested his left talon on the terminal by the door. He turned to each of us, golden eyes digging into our own. Hooves shuffled and shoulders were rolled and nods were given, we were ready. With a final nod from the griffin he quickly hit a few keys on the terminal to enter the password Autumn had given him and the door slid open.

Everyone filed into the room smoothly and quickly. I was the last one in and what I saw when I entered took my breath away.

The command deck was spacious, filled with various terminals; those that were farthest away, closest to the edge were completely destroyed. The roof was almost completely gone, save for a small jagged part which jutted out only a few meters above the door. And as I looked out through the gaping hole ahead of me I saw the canopies of some of the tallest jungle trees and I saw Celestias Sun dawning on the horizon.

The quiet was soon interrupted by the sound of hundreds of flapping leathery wings, but bloodwings or not I had hope that we’d make it out of here.

‘BOOM!’

Shrapnel drew first blood as an unsuspecting bloodwing took a grenade and was torn apart. Gunfire erupted all around, no one held back, the bloodwings started diving at us, but bullets and magical energy blasts were all they got for their trouble.

I raised my sniper and patiently picked my target. Any bloodwing that lingered too long or landed received a bullet to the head. Shrapnel opened fire from her rifle, it was almost impossible for the armored mare to miss. Green bolts of magical energy flew from Autumn’s energy rifles and where they contacted they melted flesh and bone alike. IronClaw stayed with Sunny, his steel talon gripping an SMG and blasting any bloodwing that got too close while with his other talon he typed what Sunny was telling him into one of the still functioning terminals.

One Track ducked behind the rows of damaged terminals and used them for cover while his energy rifle hissed angry red beams that burned and blackened the bloodwings that tried to get at him. I think I actually saw the crazy unicorn smile, he really was enjoying himself!

Another blast from Autumn caught a bloodwing in the wing causing it crash on the deck with us. The thin leather of its wing was melted off but the creature wasn’t dead yet. I fixed that with a well placed bullet in the eye.

“Alright I’m uploading right now!” Sunny shouted.

IronClaw did his part with the terminal and now fully turned his attention to the bloodwings. They had started massing in earnest now, partially blotting out the Sun. One was clambering on all fours atop of what remained of the roof, I spotted the beast and shot it before it could swoop down.

No matter how many we’ve killed they just kept coming. Slowly Shrapnel, Autumn and One Track gave ground as the sheer mass of the beasts pushed them back. I practically didn’t need to aim at all in fact I had to try in order to miss, but that didn’t mean that I could kill with every shot, I still needed to be precise.

One of the bloodwings dived right for Shrapnel, she riddled it full of holes from her machine gun but the beast crashed into her nonetheless. This gave the others the opportunity to focus their assault in that area. I did what I could and narrowed my focus there.

Come on, what’s taking so long?! We can’t keep this up forever.

One bloodwing swooped down from the side and headed straight for the hovering Autumn, I took aim immediately.

“Watch out!” One Track shouted and Autumn heard. She snapped her wings close to her body and dropped to the floor like a stone. The bloodwing continued its flight except this time One Track was the target. The unicorn managed to get off one shot, a miss and then the lover claws of the beast caught on the unicorns barding. For a moment it looked like it had intended to carry the pony away! I breathed out and pulled the trigger.

I was aiming for the back of the creature’s neck, but hit it in the shoulder. The momentum was still enough to carry them both over the edge.

“No!” Autumn screamed and spread her wings. I just sat there and looked on at what happened, stunned.

“Stay put!” IronClaw shouted at the Pegasus.

It looked like the mare wanted to ignore the griffin, but her wings reluctantly folded back and she turned to attacking the other bloodwings with renewed ferocity.

My thoughts were consumed with the image of the falling unicorn. He didn’t even cry out, he looked just as confused as I was right now. Not understanding what just happened.

“Done!” Sunny shouted.

A strange crackling noise was suddenly heard and then nothing. The shout was enough to snap me back to reality; I looked at IronClaw who just nodded.

Without wasting another moment I turned around and galloped back inside.

“Go! Go!” I yelled as soon as I saw the other ponies and they took off like a bullet down the stairs and out.

For a moment I stood there before deciding to turn back and return to the command deck, the oncoming drumming of hooves and the appearance of IronClaw, Autumn, Sunny and Shrapnel however promptly changed my mind.

It was time to get out and we all dashed as quickly as we could. Soon we caught up with the other ponies and together we barged out of the Raptor.

Outside and in the open we beheld the chaos we had made. The bloodwings were screeching madly and crashing into one another and then falling to the ground. Those that tried to rise were swiftly shot as we ran by them.

“South! Head South into the jungle!” Cog yelled.

We moved as a heard, Lugnut was carrying Lizzie while Saw and Shuffle remained close by their side in the middle of the group. Ivory and IronClaw took the lead with Cog beside them. Sunny, Flower, Gears and I were covering the rear with Autumn helping as she hovered a few meters above us.

As we entered deeper into the jungle and the number of bloodwings lessened, we slowed down and finally stopped. Panting for breath, but still very much ready to continue fighting we looked at the jungle all around us. A rustling from nearby bushes drew all of our attention and we all pointed our weapons at the disturbance. Preceded by many curses One Track stumbled out and nearly tripped on a root.

“You’re alright!” Autumn shouted happily and proceeded to hug the unicorn.

“Not completely alright.” He muttered and raised one of his hind legs. “Chafed my flank something fierce when I slid down that Raptor.” He told us with a smug smile.

“How did you survive?” The Pegasus asked when she released the unicorn from the embrace.

“Well after I hit the ground I finished off that bloodwing and the next thing I know they started going crazy.” The unicorn explained. ”That must have meant that the plan had worked, so I headed south, just as we planned.”

“Ugh… can we keep going?” Shrapnel asked scratching at her covered ears. “I think I can still hear that annoying whistling.”

“I don’t hear a damned thing.” Flower commented quietly, and we all looked at the armored mare still desperately trying scratch her ears, despite the fact that they were covered by her helmet.

“You know, somehow it doesn’t surprise me.” Saw observed lazily.

We took a moment to catch our breath now that the rush of battle had somewhat worn off. Saw and Shuffle took this opportunity to check on Lizzie and thank both Celestia and Luna, she was alright.

“How long do you think it’ll last, the recording I mean?” Cog asked as we got ready to set out again.

Ivory tapped her chin thoughtfully. “A few days, maybe more. Why?”

“Oh just wondering. Maybe it will be enough to permanently drive the damn blood suckers away.” Cog said hopefully. Oh yes, I certainly hope it lasts, they deserve it.

“They certainly had a good nest set up there.” One Track observed. “The Raptor was good bait for scavengers.”

“Until we came along.” Sunny added proudly and received a round of nods in agreement.

“Alright let’s keep going.” IronClaw spurred us on before we decided to take a nap.

Miraculously we reached Navarost without incident… and nearly started a riot there, but luckily I was able to calm the villagers down with Joram’s help.

“We were worried. A couple of hunters went out looking for you and when they came back they told me how they found dead Remnant soldiers.” Joram said. “We thought you set out to hunt them all down by yourself.”

“Is that why they’re so… excited.” The villagers were crowding around us, this was what had startled Ivory’s group in the first place and nearly caused them to open fire.

I can sort of understand why. They had just survived and assault on a nest full of bloodwings only to come to an unfamiliar village where all its inhabitants’ charges right at you, all the while shouting in an unfamiliar language.

The villagers were looking at me strangely, more so than usual they were almost in awe. I wonder what kind of stories about me slaying Remnants had spread. Probably something how I impaled them with my own horn or other such nonsense.

The village accepted the ponies fairly quickly, especially when caps became involved. Ivory had planned for her group to set out for Vostoris only after a few hours rest, and they were in need of fresh supplies in terms of food. Joram also made a nice profit from buying excess gear and selling food and drink. I think his entire stash of Sparkle-Cola got sold.

I talked with IronClaw and he agreed that we take Lizzie back to my house since he didn’t want to let Ivory take her and we couldn’t go because of the mission. I don’t think it has anything to do with trust, although that might be it, likely he’d just be more comfortable with having Talons looking after Lizzie.

I looked at the griffin as he talked with Ivory; we had all said our goodbyes and were just seeing them off now.

“Umm… Look Mist.” Sunny approached me and awkwardly scratched the back of her head. “I’m sorry for being such a jerk earlier… and for nearly killing you. You and your friends helped us out and well… sorry.”

I studied the mare carefully, she was being sincere. Now in the light of day I saw her bright orange coat clearly. Her mane was a brighter shade still nearly yellow with just a few red-ish highlights near the tips. Her name made a lot more sense now actually. “It’s alright don’t worry about it.” I said and smiled. We were all under a lot of stress and some of us deal with it differently, honestly right now I was just happy that everything turned out alright.

The mare sighed. “Would it kill you to say you’re sorry for almost killing me too?” She grumbled as she started turning around.

What? I thought I did. I did, didn’t I? Is this why she was acting like an idiot? It was my turn to sigh. “Sunny wait.” I called out and the mare paused. “I really am sorry about almost killing you and punching you in the neck. The moment I saw that you weren’t a Remnant I wanted to call out, but you turned and attacked me before I could say a word.”

“Yeah well to be honest it was a lot harder for me to find out that you weren’t a zebra.” She said and I nodded. “Alright then, water under the bridge. See you around.” She smiled and trotted back to her friends.

“It’s good that you two worked it out before you chewed somepony’s head off.” Cog commented as he came to sit beside me.

“Sorry.” I apologized. I did kind of snap at him for no reason.

Cog and I waited for IronClaw to finish talking with Ivory, Shrapnel was waiting for us with Lizzie in Joram’s shop. The mare was still uncomfortable around so many zebras, but she knew I trusted Joram so she decided to give him the benefit of a doubt. Shrapnel was as happy as she could be. The mare had become very popular in a very short amount of time with the village’s foals. They crowded the armored mare and were climbing all over her.

“Everything alright boss?” Cog asked as IronClaw walked over to us.

The griffin nodded. “I asked Ivory to inform Razorwing that we were here and to have her send a team of griffins to carry Lizzie back.”

“You could have asked them to take her you know.” Cog said. “I don’t think she’d mind.” I didn’t want to say anything, it was obvious and I doubted IronClaw didn’t consider it, but he had his reasons.

“I know, but this way Lizzie can have a day or so rest and maybe she’ll be able to tell us something.” The griffin said hopefully.

“Saw and I will do all we can and I’m sure Joram will help too.” I assured the tired griffin.

IronClaw nodded and gazed off into the distance, in the direction of the departing ponies. It was in these rare moments when he relaxed that I got to see just how tired he was and I don’t just mean physically.

It’ll be alright. We’re safe now, there’s time for much needed rest for all of us.

Footnote: Level Up

New Perk: Friend of the Night – You sure do spend a lot of time basking under Luna’s Moon don’t you? Being active during the night as much as you are during the day has caused your eyes to adapt to the lack of light. Even if you can’t see as good in the dark as you can during the day, you see significantly better than others. You gain a +1 to Perception between the hours of 6pm and 6am.

A big thank you to Szamanx0 for pre-reading this and helping me sort out errors and spelling mistakes.