R.J. dashed forward before he could even acknowledge what he was doing. He grabbed the bloody reptilian clawed hand and pulled with all his strength. The creature was more than two Fathoms tall and seemed to be bipedal. These observations meant nothing to R.J. As soon as the thing was out of the blood, the young man twisted its arm up behind its back and placed his knee just below the curled up arm. He opened his screfula and sent crackling energy through his unused free right hand and held it off to the side of the creature's face, "Don't move." His voice was quiet but deadly serious.

The creature coughed and sputtered, vomiting blood onto the ground. R.J. really began taking it in, now that he had it restrained. Its head was roundish, much like that of a Human. It's nose and mouth protruded from the rest of its face. It coughed again and R.J. caught a glimpse of curved, sharp teeth. It was not exceptionally well muscled, but the young man felt corded, sinuous muscle under his fingers and knee. Its claws were not particularly long either. Each one looked to be less than half a Hoof long, not shaped like that of a predatory cat, but more like those of a turtle. They were thick, round, and curved, likely made to hold prey in place while it worked its jaws. The claws looked sharp, but R.J. guessed they would have trouble slicing anything. Its tail jutted out from the top of its Human-like buttocks and flowed down to its heels. The tail was thin but tall, shaped like a paddle, probably for swimming. It was thick at the base and tapered off to a blunt point at the end.

It lay underneath him gasping for breath, its eyes not open. It seemed to be content to just lay in place and breathe. R.J. finally looked up at his comrades, "What do we do with this thing?" He asked to nobody in particular.

The tom Gryphon member of the team, Sven, was staring at the creature with his beak hanging open. He had grown up hearing about the Eternal Penance, the price every Gryphon paid for the actions of their ancestors. The Eternal Penance came about after the Gryphons had eradicated every Balzac in the world as revenge for the slaughter of one of their settlements thousands of years ago. Every home in Gryphonvale had the skull of a Balzac set on display as the centerpiece of a small shrine.

For the Gryphon of the team to see what he could only assume was an actual Balzac was an immense shock. He slumped down onto the floor silently, just staring at it. He had easily identified the skull the Grand Magus had kicked into the pool of blood, every Gryphon knew what the skulls looked like. It only made sense that the creature he was seeing was a Balzac, reborn. His mind was a confused maelstrom of emotions and he was content to sit quietly as he waited for his emotions to calm.

The rest of the team was not quite as shocked. The Diamond Dog bitch slid another one of her sharp throwing knives between her fingers, at the ready if it was needed, "What this thing?" Her Velensovth was still very broken.

R.J. looked up at her, "I dunno," he shrugged, "But I got it held. You don't need the knife. It ain't goin' nowhere, Gloss."

Glossy Nose was arguably the fastest member of the team. Her specialty was throwing knives and R.J. has seen her contort her body in ways which reminded him of a ferret. She was lithe and limber, very thin for a Diamond Dog. She was also an outcast from Diamond Dog society. She was raised in one of the nomadic tribes and was, very much unlike most Diamond Dogs, willing to use her claws and teeth in a fight. She growled at the blood-colored reptilian creature, but she did slide her knife back into one of the many, many braces of knives she carried concealed about her body. She dropped down onto all fours and crept close to the creature's face, sniffing it all over.

The Minotaur cow, Amethyst, or 'Ame' to the rest of the team, slid her knife back into its sheath and held back a grunt of pain. She was almost always in pain. Her entire body was covered in scars and healing scabs. She bore the appearance of somebody who had fallen into a pit of razors and rolled around, and was the youngest member of the team. Had it not been for the cuts, scabs, and scars she would be considered gorgeous to most Minotaurs.

The stoic and usually quiet bull Minotaur merely watched silently from behind Amethyst. He was a mature Bull, but still in the prime of his life. His name was Bald, due to his having no hair anywhere on his body when he was born. Interestingly enough, as he grew older he sprouted a thick, full mane of hair, which hung from his shoulders in dreadlocks. He also had a long braided beard and the hair on his tail was always thick and full. He watched the scene with his usual stoic silence, ready to act, but unwilling, as always, to move first.

Last on the team was an older Saddle Arabian stallion. He was tied with Gloss at being the fastest. Despite being well over two hundred years old, he was still spry and agile. In a regular sprint, he could very literally run circles around any other member of the team. His reflexes were honed to a razor's edge, but despite having great grand foals running around as full adults, he was beyond any doubt a very valuable member of the team. Despite his physical alacrity, he was prone to long silences and lots of time spent in quiet contemplation. We was wise and knew a great deal, having served in the Saddle Arabian Army for most of his adult life. He was known as Blur, but his actual name was Elion'averin. He was the leader of the Peacemakers and had kept the younger members of the team from making several decisions they would have sorely regretted.

Blur waved his right forehoof dismissively, "Let it up, Lightning." He said, referring to R.J.'s nickname, "We can overpower one, and if more climb out we have no way of restraining them." R.J. opened his mouth to argue. He knew the history of the Balzac. Blur spoke up, overriding him, "This creature has done nothing wrong in our presence and we have no right to hold it for reasons of ancient history which may or may not have been altered over the course of time."

R.J. reluctantly let go of the creature's limb and removed his knee from its back, "Aiit, but I ain't gonna hesitate if it attacks. You know what they did to the Gryphons way back. I ain't lettin' that happen again."

Blur chuckled, "We would not be doing our jobs very well at all if we were overpowered by a single creature. Nevertheless, do not let your guard down. Be ready for anything."

Amethyst began examining the circle and the pool while the rest of the Peacemaker strike force formed a semicircle around the, assumed, Balzac. They were in no hurry to go back to the main cavern. They had left more bodies than they would have liked and none of them wished to see the sight any sooner than strictly necessary.

Gloss looked over to Sven sympathetically, "You feel confused about creature."

Sven nodded dumbly, "Y-yeah..." he cleared his throat and continued, "It's just that... they've been gone for thousands of years but... they are a part of what made us the way we are today. I don't know how to feel. Should I be happy that we might have a chance to atone for genocide? Should I be angry that they invented Blood Magic? Should I bow to him, or tear his throat out? It's all confusing."

Gloss snorted, "We don't know if it male or female."

"It's watching us." Bald said quietly.

The team all turned their attention back to the reptilian creature. Its eyes were open, flashing all around the cavern. It slowly, clumsily pushed its hands onto the ground and hauled itself into a sitting position. It eyed R.J. curiously, then moved on to Blur. Its eyes lingered on Bald and even longer on Gloss. When it spotted Sven though, it scrambled away to the far side of the room in a flailing panic. It curled itself into the fetal position and covered its head with both arms, but kept a fearful eye on the Gryphon.

Sven's eyebrows creased, "It's not acting like I would have expected..."

"So far it has told us two things." Blur said calmly, "It recognized you as something to fear, indicating that it knows what you are, and that it has reason to fear you. The second thing is that it has somehow retained a portion of its memory even though its brain was destroyed ages ago."

Amethyst suddenly spoke up, "Yes, it seems that the ritual has revived it, likely to the state it was in when it died. That is, if its reactions are any indication. I had no idea there was a ritual that could do this." She fearlessly approached the cowering reptilian being and crouched in front of it, "I also noticed that it only reacted to Sven in a negative way, so it probably remembers being killed by Gryphons. I think we have solid proof that this creature is indeed a Balzac." She looked back to her comrades, "The question remains, what do we do with it?"

"Try communicating with it of course." Blur said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "We may be in unfamiliar territory, but our responsibility remains the same. If this Balzac is a Bloodmage, we need to ensure it is no threat, then proceed the same way we always would under similar conditions."

R.J. disagreed, "Naw, man," he said bluntly, "You are right that we need to talk to 'im, but we gotta figure some other stuff out too."

Blur was not used to anybody questioning his decisions, much less R.J., of all people, doing so, but he was willing to listen, "Go on." He urged.

R.J. shifted his weight and sighed, "Ain't it obvious?" He looked around at his colleagues and saw a group of confused faces. He sighed heavily and shook his head, "Man... y’all are some dense people, you know that?" He pointed to the Balzac, "If one skull resurrected one Balzac, what about if we used all the skulls the Gryphons have in their houses?" He was satisfied to see compression in the eyes of his friends, "We could resurrect a whole SPECIES!"

Blur had to point out a potential problem, "How? We don't know everything about the ritual."

R.J. gestured to Amethyst, "We got Bloodmages on our side now right? We even got a couple studying at the University in Canterlot. How’s about we have 'em come here an' see if they can figure this out? Or if that don't work, we ask the guy whose race INVENTED Blood Magic?" He crossed his arms, "I ain't no genius, but I KNOW there is no way ALL the Balzac could have been evil! It's risky, yeah man, but if we can try talkin' to 'em maybe we can figure somethin' out! I seen enough death an' sufferin'! We got a chance to bring somebody back from death instead o' sendin' 'em there! I dunno 'bout y’all, but I think it's worth a risk; an' this pool o' blood might be on some kinda timer." He clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes, "We gotta work fast."

* * *

The next evening, an entire flight of Pegasi Guards followed the Royal Chariot as it sped toward the mountain where the Grand Magus had fallen. Princess Celestia had already contacted Gryphonvale with the news, but had yet to hear back from them. In a separate chariot behind the one she, Luna, and Chris rode was a second which contained Arch Magister Catalyst, Starburst, and Full Spectrum. In a chariot behind them rode Morning Mist and her Rectifier handler.

Despite the lingering bitterness Starburst felt toward his sister, he could not argue that she was a brilliant Bloodmage. Catalyst had needed to force the issue with him. He did not want her anywhere near him or anything that had to do with Blood Magic. He had flown into hysterics when he learned she had been admitted to the University at all. Fortunately, he did not have the power to take any action against her. He would have, and everybody around him knew it. He had refused to speak with her for any reason and likewise refused to even acknowledge her presence. Catalyst and Full Spectrum had hated to do it, but they picked sides against him to make him cooperate. None of them were very happy with the situation, but Catalyst had argued that since being admitted to the University, Morning Mist had been a model student. A downright brilliant model student. Where Starburst excelled with Blood Magic, Morning Mist excelled in every type of magic, even if she could not use it.

As for the Princesses, they had already had a full day. In the morning, Chris and Luna had announced their engagement. Canterlot was still in shock about that. The political ramifications still remained to be seen. At noon, they had received a message from New Humansville that two Changelings from an entirely new hive had appeared. In the afternoon, they had received a message that before he died, the Grand Magus had resurrected an extinct species. They were looking forward to being able to relax at some point in the likely very distant future.

Chris had been quiet for the ride. He had a lot to think about. The wedding between he and Luna was set to be in five months. They had started the wedding preparations long before then, though. They had both worked on it together and they had both had a few disagreements about different aspects of the wedding. Chris was more than happy to be flexible about the ceremony, but he drew a very defined line at being led to the stage instead of the bride. To Luna, it was a moot point to make a fuss about something so trivial, but Chris had been firm. They had eventually agreed come to a compromise. Luna would be the one to walk up, but she would do so only if Chris wore a color of clothing she designed for him. It was one of many seemingly little things, but the couple enjoyed their disagreements to a point. Luna had always wanted a husband who was not a simpering pushover. Everybody bowed to her and even though she felt it was appropriate, it did get tiresome.

Chris was going to be around for a long time, after all. She smiled at the thought, 'Alicorn blood did exactly what we expected. He is tied to me. When I go, so will he.' It was a calming thought that he would be around as long as she was. Somebody to talk to and hold when she was sad, which was a much more frequent occurrence than most knew. She still had trouble with her guilt and she had yet to tell Chris of the Tantabus, but it was a concern for another time. She resolved to tell him everything before they were married. She blushed at the thought of dreams. Some of his were very steamy in regard to her. He had given her permission to visit his dreams, but she had not told him of her personal involvement in some of the more passionate ones.

She was wrenched from her thoughts as the mountain came into view. It was obvious which mountain was the one they wanted. There were campfires dotting the field at the base of the mountain like millions of giant fireflies. A streak of light rose from the valley floor and exploded in the air some distance ahead. Luna looked down at the valley floor and saw nine Unicorns standing in a large circle with their horns lit in the dimming light. She and Celestia would have to lower the sun and raise the moon away from Canterlot.

The Pegasi began descending swiftly toward the nine beacons and within minutes, the chariot had landed. Chris hopped out of the chariot and offered a hand to his fiancé. It took Luna a moment to remember that it was an older Human custom and she accepted his offered hand with a wing. It would be rather awkward to step off a chariot on three legs.

Celestia followed behind her sister and wasted no time in lighting up her horn to lower the sun. Luna took her cue and raised the moon in sync with her sister. They ignored the awestruck silence from the surrounding Guards and Bloodmages who had surrendered.

While they were doing that, the other Ponies and Human got off their chariot. Morning Mist was nervous and upset. She could not bear to even look at Princess Luna. She knew she had committed a terrible crime against the reagent of the moon and her heart was still heavy with guilt over what she had done. She cast a look of longing toward her little brother and had to blink away tears. She had hurt him too and for a much longer time. She desperately wanted to run to him and tell him how sorry she was, but she knew better. The one time she had seen him at the University, he had flown into a near rage at the sight of her. She lowered her head and sniffled quietly. She raised her right forehoof and rubbed the medallion around her neck. She heard 'His' voice again, "You can do it. There are those who believe in you." She smiled at the kind words. The reminder helped her pull herself together somewhat. It was her most prized possession and it had helped to bolster her spirits whenever she was upset or depressed.

The Rectifier next to her nudged her side, "Are you alright?" The mysterious mare asked. Morning Mist had no idea who the mare was, but she was very kind. Morning Mist herself had requested a Rectifier after she encountered her brother in the University. She did not need to know the mare's name. It did not matter. The Rectifier was a friend and that was the only important thing to her.

Morning Mist sniffled again and shook her head, "I'll be fine..." she found her eyes following her brother as he trotted toward the entrance of the last Bloodmage safe-house, "It's just so hard to see him and know... how much he hates me." She lowered her head, "Even though I know I deserve it."

The Rectifier nudged Morning Mist's side again, "There is always the dawn." Morning Mist smiled. It was a saying that the Rectifier used frequently. Morning Mist had asked about it after she heard it the first time. Apparently it meant, 'Tomorrow is a new day.' It inferred that every day was unique and could bring about surprising change. It was a positive reminder of hope for the constantly depressed Pegasus mare.

Morning Mist found herself smiling through her tears, "There is always the dawn."

* * *

R.J. happily clasped hands with Chris, "Good to see you man."

Chris pulled the shorter man into a manly hug, "You too." Chris had trouble recognizing R.J. He had aged during his time as a Peacemaker. His eyes were hard but haunted. His muscles were finely toned with practice and exercise. His posture was straight and rigid, but he walked with a type of flowing grace that spoke of barely restrained, explosive potential violence.

R.J. led the Princesses and the rest of the procession down the corridor toward the chamber where the Balzac was being held, "We found the Grand Magus just inside that door. He was messin' with a skull. Wipin' blood all over it." His voice lowered, "We tried to talk 'im down, but he wasn't gonna listen. He acted like he was gonna surrender, like we wanted, but them he kicked the skull into the pool o' blood. After a minute or two, the Balzac came climbing out. It freaked and crawled away when it saw Sven, so we know it remembers stuff. We just don't know what. We tried talkin' to it, but it don't seem like it understands us. We did manage to bring it a bucket and cloth an' some o' my spare clothes. It got the idea. It washed up and put the clothes on, but it ain't about to go anywhere near Sven an' we ain't pushin' it too hard 'bout that right now." He took a breath and finished, "What we need is a way to talk to it and to figure out if we can use this thing to bring back more of 'em."

Princess Celestia smiled and bobbed her head, "That's why we're here."

Author's Notes:

And another new chapter. As always, let me know if I missed any typos. Also, feel free to make guesses about what the future holds.