I woke up to the sound of a couple canaries singing softly outside on the balcony so I sat up and saw Nightmare was sleeping gracefully next to me. I couldn't help but smile at the dark alicorn as she slumbered. Suddenly her face became pained and she started muttering something. I then realized she was having a nightmare so I placed a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it causing her to relax and sigh warmly. Once I was confident that the nightmare had passed I got out of bed and went to the large bath to soak before I decided to go explore the castle.
I pushed open the doors and saw a massive circular room with a balcony going around the walls for viewing the dance floor. A large painting of the sky during twilight was on the ceiling along with four golden chandeliers with a few gems near the lights to bathe the room in colourful lights when the lights are turned on. With that observation I left the room before I decided to go look at the babies room, so I walked to the room and entered. I saw the three foals weren't here so I took the time to look around. I then ran my fingers across the crystal mobile when suddenly I saw a stuffed brown teddy sitting in the crib. I picked up the teddy and looked at it when suddenly I felt a presence behind me.

"Must you stare at me from the shadows?" I asked as I turned to see Elisa.

"Yes because you are different than other wraiths." Elisa said as she walked up to me.

"That so, enlighten me," I said as I put the small bear back in the crib.

"You feel," Elisa said.

"Feel?" I asked.

"Yea, feel. You show much more emotion than just hatred and the obligation of order. And don't say you don't because i see the way your eyes change when you are around the young ones." She said as she crossed her arms.

"Perhaps I did say I have a soft spot for young lovers, kids may also be included in there but most of the time I'll stick with following my given orders," I said.

"Well just don't be afraid of others getting close to you. Some see it as something that will hold them back, but it may save your life." She said as she turned to leave.

"I'm not getting close to them because I don't want to, I'm not getting close to them because if I do that will only cause heartache in the end," I said before I teleported away to the dinning room and saw Celestia and Faust were there.

"Oh good morning Bones sleep well?" Faust asked.

"Well enough, where's everyone else?" I asked.

"I suspect most of them are still asleep where as for my sister, Cadence and Eris are tending to their little ones," Celestia said.

"Makes sense considering I just came from the foals room and saw they weren't there," I said as I sat down in a chair.

"And why were you in the foals room?" Faust asked curiously.

"I don't know I was just wanting to explore this place and ended up in the foals room," I said.

"I understand this castle has that...allure to be explored doesn't it," Faust said with a smile.

"Indeed. A few days ago I pondered if this place was designed to look extraordinary no matter it's surroundings," I said.

"That actually would explain a lot but Bones may I ask what you plan to do today," Celestia said.

"Actually remember that discussion on improving civilian moral?" I asked causing the two mares to nod. "I was planing on starting this attack today."

"Starting?" the mares asked in sync.

"Indeed I've done some scouting of Applewood and I've discovered that it will be extremely difficult to get in and may take time, can't just walk in and go berserk like last time," I said.

"About that I'm not exactly pleased with the state you, Rage and Evo had left Vanhoover," Celestia said.

"For the record that was not my idea, that was Evo's...Wait a second you just gave me an idea Celestia," I said as I stood up from my seat.

"One that I hope doesn't leave Applewood as a crater," Celestia said.

"Nothing drastic like that, I'll see you later," I said as I teleported onto the bridge of the ship Elisa and her group along with Rage and I arrived on where i found Evan looking over a holographic map of Applewood. "I see you're giving this mission as much thought as I was."

"Well I'm glad. Seeing how we can't just go in there with no plan. I was thinking we could go in stealthy and broadcast the message, and all we have to do is pre-record a message and upload it once we get there." Evan said as he held his chin.

"Good but since the caribou need to pay and we need to rescue any mares there I was actually thinking a little differently. I was going to ask if you can weaken them by starving the caribou into lowering their guard then Rage and Elisa can make a diversion while I take care of broadcasting the recording," i said.

"So essentially a wood pecker maneuver? Anyways I could use a scenario where I could use my new devastation spell I've been working on," Evan said.

"As long as the town doesn't become a massive crater by the end of the day because Faust and Celestia are still a little miffed about Vanhoover," I said.

"I guess turning the city into a giant crater wasn't the best idea out there, but they could have been able to restart the town," Evan said.

"Uh huh but any way can I count on you for this?" i said.

"Yea I'll go along with it. Even though I prefer to confuse the enemy and send them into paranoia." he said before gathering some papers and placing them inside a satchel on the table. After that he turned his attention back to me. "Well I'm done with the plans. Let's go and gather the other members of the team and get ready," Evan said.

I simply gave a nod before we walked out of the bridge and returned to the castle where we informed Rage and Elisa of the plan before we got to work on creating the message to be broadcasted across the country. I then got to work on training the mane 6 while Evan went to work on starving the caribou.

"Morning you lot," I said as I entered the training yard.

"So what are we doing today?" Rainbow asked.

"Now we get to do something fun," I said as I walked over to an object covered in a large cloth. I pulled it off revealing the weapons Ash made for them. "I'm going to teach you how to use your weapons."

"Yes!" Rainbow cheered when

"Come again sugarcube, since when did ah get a weapon and why in Equestria did someone build me a weapon and how does that pony know what I prefer in a weapon?" Applejack asked.

"Oh that's right you were still captured when we were given these," Rarity said.

"Well to shorten the story Ash crafted these weapons for you in the case you needed to defend yourselves and he knew you six pretty well so I think it's only fitting he picked out the weapons for you," I said as I handed Rarity's and Rainbows weapons to them when suddenly I saw Gilda come running in. "Your late."

"Huh," Rainbow said in confusion.

"Sorry Bones got caught up in my morning drills that I forgot about this," Gilda said as she flew over and lined up with the girls.

"*sigh* Well you haven't missed much," I said as I grabbed her katanas and handed them to her.

"Wait hang on a minute ,since when do you train with Bones?" Rainbow asked.

"I...don't really know how to weild these things and so when I found out about Bones training you guys I asked him for some private lessons. Bones then agreed and one day he said he was going to combine my training with yours to make this easier and well here we are," Gilda said.

"If you ladies are done chatting we can got on with this," I said before I walked over to the rack again.

I then grabbed a lavender coloured staff with a star shaped magenta crystal on one end and handed it to Twilight. I then handed a butter yellow bow with a green plant pattern covering it to Fluttershy along with a matching quiver filled with arrows. Next was Pinkie Pie's which was a pink rope with a metal claw attached to one end while the other end had a metal ring attached to it which was called a rope claw. Finally, this weapon was quite an interesting one to look at, it was a large and heavy looking axe which had a wooden handle with a trigger and a hole at the top of the blade and at the bottom of the weapon was a symbol of three apples in an upside down triangle which I recognised as Applejack's cutie mark. As I looked at the weapon I remembered it was called a guillotine gun.

https://img0.etsystatic.com/061/0/7685112/il_570xN.794508032_s57h.jpg

I handed the guillotine gun to Applejack but she misjudged the weight when I gave it to her because she nearly dropped it.

"Whoa it's heavier then ah thought," Applejack said

"What kind of weapon is that?" Gilda asked.

"A guillotine gun a duel purpose weapon for both melee and ranged combat," I said.

"Wait a second this here handle is made of Sweet Apple Acre trees," Applejack said.

"Many warriors of old made their weapons out of materials from their homeland or attached little trinkets to their weapons that remind them of home. This reminds the wielders of what they're fighting for and what they're willing to die for to protect. Example the wood the handle is made from is from one of your apple trees," I said causing Applejack to look down at the weapon.

"Hang on you said that thing is a guillotine gun but it looks like a regular old axe to me, how can it be a gun?" Rainbows asked.

"May I?" I asked as I held my hand out to Applejack.

Applejack handed me the weapon before I walked over to the rack and loaded a mortar shell into the gun. I walked over to a bunch of mannequins and started swinging the weapon around cutting the mannequins down before I aimed the axe at another group of dummies and pulled the trigger. First there was a sharp recoil and a boom before I saw the mortar bomb fly out of the barrel and land in the middle of the dummies blowing them to bits before I shouldered the weapon and looked back to see seven shell shocked faces.

"Whoa nelly that there is one mean weapon," Applejack said as I handed her back the guillotine gun before I walked to the front of the group again.

"Now then I want each of you to find a practice dummy so we can get started," I said causing everyone to do as I asked but when they stared using their weapons I saw that Ash didn't take into consideration that none of them was strong enough to wiled them. Unsurprisingly Fluttershy was unable to draw her bow. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were sloppily swinging their weapons about and Twilight...well I have no idea on what Twilight was doing, she was just tapping it against the dummy expecting something to happen. The only one who knew what they were doing was Gilda. "Ok, everyone but Gilda stop and line up in front of me," I said causing the mane 6 to line up before me. "It appears I forgot to take your physical strength into account, that and none of you seem to know how to wield your weapons properly.

"Excuse me I can wield these bad boys just fine," Rainbow said as she held up her pistol swords.

"That right, then please do your worst I insist," I said as I held my arms out.

"What?" Rainbow asked.

"You heard me you don't need to worry about me since I'm already dead so what's the worst your going to do?" I asked.

Rainbow looked me over studying me with her gaze before she flew at me and swung her swords at me but I held my hands behind my back and stepped backwards avoiding the blade. The blades appeared to be too heavy and that caused Rainbow to stumble but she just got back up again and swung once more but I dodged again and once again she stumbled from the weight of her blades. This went on for a few minutes when finally Rainbow stopped and was using one of her swords to support herself.

"What's the...point...in this if...your...just...going...to dodge," Rainbow asked while she tried to catch her breath.

"I just wanted to show you what your lacking," I said as i gestured to the ruined training yard, dummies had several slashes in them and weapon racks were knocked over. "All this happened because you didn't have control over your weapon RD. Control is critical when in battle, it determines your life along with the life of those around you. For example," I said before I grabbed one of Rainbows swords and walked over to a pair of dummies. I then swung the weapon cutting of one dummies head but before I could cut off the next I stopped the blade right before the dummies neck. "That is control, to be able to wield the weapon without killing your allies. A warrior who does not know control is a lot more dangerous threat then a trained master." I said before I handed Rainbow back her sword and got them to line up again before I summoned a very large bowl for each mare and handed one to each of them.

"What's this for?" Twilight asked.

"Are we doing baking?" Pinkie asked excitedly.

"No Pinkie and what those are for is to carry water that you are going to get," I said causing the mares to tilt their heads to the side in confusion while Gilda, who had been watching, started to snicker. Go on now chop chop," I said.

The mane 6 went to go do as I asked while I set up two crates for each of the girls. When the girls came back I had them set the bowls on a crate and than have them sit on the other.

"What happens now?" Rarity asked.

"Raise your hand with the palm facing the water," I said as I sat on a seat.

"Kay now what?" Rainbow said.

"Hit the water with your hand and hard," I said.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Hit the water, all of you and as hard as you can," I repeated causing the girls to shrug at each other before they did as I asked. "Again," I said and again they hit the water and did this till the bowls were empty.

"Now what," Pinkie asked.

"Refill the bowl; and start again," I said.

"Are you trying to make us look like idiots?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't do anything if it's a waste of time. Now refill the bowl and start again," I said.

---

One Week Later Outside Applewood

---

Elisa, Evan, Rage and I stood atop a hill that looked over the proud city of Applewood. However by looking through a spyglass I could see caribou were walking around clutching their stomachs. I couldn't see any mares just males before I handed the spyglass to Rage.

"Gotta hand it to you Elisa you know how to make these bastards starve," Rage said

"Well it was easy with Evan's help. I had mutated a sample of a disease from our world," Elisa said.

"So shall we go in?" Rage asked.

"I got this," I said before I teleported us inside the city but we ended up at the front gate where we were soon spotted by the caribou guards on the wall who called out to us but we ignored them "That can't be right we should be inside not out here."

"I know what's going on. I did some digging and found out that Applewood used to be a home for movie stars and some celebrities along with a few civilians before the caribou took over. In order to protect itself from any crazy fan ponies, reporters or ponies trying to get some information they can use to blackmail someone famous or important, anti-teleportation wards were set up through the city so we're going to need to leg it to the studio and through all the caribou stationed here," Rage said.

"Well that kinda sucks, not entirely, but still suc-," I started but suddenly an arrow became impaled in my throat cutting off the rest of my sentence. "Really shoot a guy in the middle of a conversation?"

"No respect," Rage said.

"Well then I guess we have to go teach this guy some manners." Elisa said.

"Here allow me," Rage said.

Rage then reached his right arm into a flaming red glyph circle and pulled out am 88m AA gun. He held it with two hands before he pulled a trigger and completely destroyed the gate and wall and any caribou on the wall with a projectile made of hell fire.

"Hm loud effective but not exactly subtle," I said as I pulled the arrow out of my throat and healed it.

"When breaching something like this there is no such thing as subtle," Rage said as the massive gun disappeared.

"Fair point," I said.

"Well you guys sure take the fun from a gal." Elisa said before giving a sigh. "Lets get moving. If that caribou wasn't effected by mine and Evans spell then there may be more."

"Don't be so down Elisa. I'm confident that there's something here to satisfy both our bloodlust," Rage said.

"I honestly don't. I want this to be a simple in and out mission." She said as we made our way into the city.

"Elisa it's never that easy." Evan said.

I scanned the surrounding area's for any caribou before I looked at the arrow still in my grip when suddenly an image flashed through my mind showing an ethereal bow in my grasp. I saw the bow was made of pure void energy and when the flash stopped I saw my empty hand once more. I then charged magic into my hand and the same bow appeared in my grasp. Suddenly I heard a yell and I saw a caribou charging at me with a spear aimed at me but with quick reflexes I drew the bowstring back and an arrow materialised in the bow before I released it. The arrow flew at the caribou and impaled him threw the neck causing him to collapse to his knees and die and when I looked at him I saw he had been starved a great deal.

"Oh goody I was hoping these bastards hadn't been starved so badly they lost their spine," Rage said when suddenly growling came from up ahead and I saw more starved caribou riding on equally starved War Beasts however these War Beasts had their faces mutilated by blade pierces. "And the good news keeps getting better."

"Must be loyal beasts if they decided to not eat their masters," I said.

"Elisa would you like to have a go?" Rage asked.

"I'd be delighted." Elisa said as as she summoned Shi and rushed the caribou and their beasts.

As I watched Elisa cut down her opponents I took notice on how Elisa tore right through them leaving behind mutilated corpses. Some missing their limps others cut in pieces, there were some with their heads missing and others with their heads squashed by either Elisa or the War Beasts but when the dust had settled all that was left was death. A lone caribou rider with a gash in his side laying beneath a War Beast with one of it's own fangs impaled through it's eye and Elisa standing in pools of caribou blood was all that was left breathing. She then went over to the caribou rider, he looked to be normal and a little bigger than the others and as Elisa gave the caribou a kick to get his attention Rage, Evan and I then walked over to her. As we did I saw the caribou was speaking and as we got closer I began to hear him better.

"-Because I was chosen to be great, to be like the great king." the caribou said.

"Great like that filthy piece of shit you call a king pfft don't make me laugh," Rage said as we approached.

"No like Ash Blade," the caribou wheezed.

"What?" Rage asked as the temperature slightly increased around him.

"Hold up Rage, he might not mean anything by it." Elisa said as she turned around and placed a hand on Rage's chest. Slowly turning back to the caribou, she looked on with a glare. "And what do you mean by that?"

"He was the true one, pure. Having both good and evil within him," he started before coughing up some blood. "It was a shame that none of us could have been able to face against him. Our king would have beaten him and tamed his bitch in front of him, but that tim-," he didn't finish as Elisa kicked him in the arm.

"What rank are you?" Elisa asked.

"Why?" the caribou asked.

"Answer the damn question," she said with an even tone as she drew her sword and aimed it at the caribous throat.

"I am or was the captain stationed here," the caribou said.

"Good, then this will make things easier." Evan said as he walked up and placed a hand on the caribous head. The caribou in question tried to fight but Elisa pressed the swords tip closer to the throat, and after a minute or so Evan retracted his hand and stood up.

"Got something?" I asked.

"Yea, they're using Applewood as a giant relay station for communications. As well as other things." Evan said in disgust. "After we send the message I'm frying the network. Hopefully that will cause them to stop for a little bit so we can attack places without them getting reinforcements," Elisa said.

"Now let's not be hasty I would actually like to 'borrow' one of their radios before we destroy anything we may be able to pick up a few targets of interest and get an earlier update in case we are discovered," I said.

"That's...actually a good idea," Rage said.

"Not everything in war needs to be murder and mayhem," I said
"True, but we may need to be careful because they could have passwords and encrypted messages. " Elisa said as she looked at me.

"Don't worry about that. Dickhead here knew everything about the encryption and passwords." Evan said as he jabbed a thumb to the caribou.

"Great and speaking of said dickhead what do we do with him?" I asked as I looked at the still breathing caribou.

Suddenly Rage snapped his fingers and dozens of blades shot into the caribous body, killing him instantly.

"Problem solved," Rage said before he began to walk off.

"I'm guessing Ash is a sore subject?" Evan asked.

"Imagine how you would feel if a species desecrated a tomb and body of someone close to you, who sacrificed their very soul to save you and throw in being a creature of vengeance into that," I said.

"Yea I guess I would." he said as he followed Rage.

"Sometimes he needs to learn when to say things and when to not." Elisa said with a shake of her head.

"Why don't you guys go kill some caribou I'll link up with you all later after I've broadcasted this tape and grabbed a radio," I said as I began to walk away.

As I walked to the studio I saw dozens of caribou withering in pain while clutching their stomach's. I decided to leave them be and let Evo and Elisa's spell kill them but as I walked the streets I couldn't see a single mare. I even checked dozens of homes but the only living sentient beings inside were caribou and traitor stallions I soon came to a massive wall that provided a barrier around the studio and there was a gilded gate as an entrance which was closed and had a few starved caribou pounding on the gate for entry. This mattered little to me because I activated my wraith walk before I walked through the crowd and gate before I appeared once again but once I looked around I saw caribou walking around like nothing has happened. Here they all appeared to be fine and healthy, there was also quite a large number of mares here all crawling along the ground in skimpy outfits. I then sent out a pulse of magic and felt a dome shield going around the studio which must have shielded the caribou from the spell.

"Well looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way huh Hingure?" I asked as I un-sheathed her from her scabbard.

"Finally, I thought I'd never get a turn," Hingure said.

I walked forward towards the caribou and eyed them waiting to see who would become my first victim and my answer came when I saw a caribou slapping a thestal mare across the face. The feelings that were coming from Hingure were making a request that we kill him first, a request I was more then happy to oblige. So walking over, I tapped the caribou on the shoulder and when he turned to face me I held the blade of Hingure against his throat pressing it against him just enough to draw a drop of blood. I let the information sink in that this is where and how he was going to die and when the information sank in I slowly pulled the blade across his throat and let him collapse slowly choking on his own blood. With that done I looked at the mare who was staring at me in utter shock. I raised a finger to my lips and made a shushing noise causing the mare to nod. I then heard someone shout for guards and I looked around and saw the crowd was panicking and fleeing for their lives.

"Oh how I love a good hunt," I said before I ran at the fleeing crowd.

I began to cut down the caribou males and traitor stallions while the mares struggled to fight back or fled for safety. Soon enough a row of caribou guards appeared, I just smirked as they all charged at me spears drawn but I sheathed Hingure and summoned my Phantom Bow, as I like to call it, and fired an arrow. As soon as the arrow impacted the caribou I instantly ported in front of the hit caribou much to the guards shock and surprise. I then gripped Hingure and drew her from her scabbard on my back and decapitated the caribou in one blow before I sheathed her again.

"You know Hingure I seem to be having a slight difficulty drawing you from my back, mind if I place you on my hip instead?" I asked.

"No complaint here," Hingure said.

I then removed Hingure from my back and placed her on my right hip while the strap turned into a belt. I then unsheathed her in a reverse grip before I twirled her around for experimentation before I sheathed her once again.

"Not bad certainly more comfortable then before," I said.

"I agree now then let's go give these assholes what they deserve already," Hingure said.

I continued deeper into the studio, killing any caribou who stood in my way or trying to flee. I also gave each mare a rally point to head to and wait at when this was over. I soon came to a studio hanger that was at this moment broadcasting so I quietly entered and saw it was some kind of news studio and that they were reporting Applewood's starvation crises on air which I found perfect. I silently walked up to a caribou guard and used Hingure to slash at the guards legs behind his knees causing him to collapse to his knees screaming in pain. I then leapt over the caribou while doing a front flip and impaled Hingure through his throat before I pulled her out and landed on my feet before I saw another guard charge at me with a sword raised for an overhead strike. I reached upward and blocked the attack and grabbed his arm before I pulled him down while using the arm that held Hingure which resulted with the caribou being impaled on my blade. I then pushed the caribou off my arm and quickly sheathed Hingure and summoned my Phantom Bow and summoned two arrows to the bow. I then launched them at the reporters who were sitting at the news desk killing the pair instantly, meanwhile all the other caribou ran out of the room but I let them go deciding I'd get them later. I then found a disk player and inserted the disk before I hooked it up to one of the still active camera's. I then looked at a screen which once showed the news scene which now showed Faust and the princesses standing before it.

"Hello everyone first allow me to apologise for your regular TV schedule however there are those that would prefer to shut our voices out. I expect right now there are those who are shouting orders into phones and caribou with guns are on their way to apprehend my associates who are busy broadcasting our message as we speak, a message for the scared, the lost, the heartbroken and the ones who have almost given up hope. This message is to tell you all is not lost. Equestria has not completely fallen and it never will. Sure they may sit on the throne and claim they have won but they are far from winning. We still stand fighting back against the caribou even though the false god king Diann lies claiming to have turned my daughters into his sex slaves. He continues to lie to his subjects suggesting that females are tyrants over males. He is a power hungry cur and he will not stop till he is satisfied. So until the day comes when Diann falls we will remain fighting to take back what is rightfully ours. I know many among you are scared and some no longer have control of what you do but please hear me when I say stay strong and do what ever you can to fight back and please never give up hope, always believe things will change for the better because they will with the ones standing beside us. We will surly prevail and to the bastard traitor stallions and rapist caribou I have only a warning and a piece of advise, slit your own throats here and now and save our brave warriors the trouble because if not then when death comes for you, and it will, it will be far more painful and far less merciful," Faust said.

"We are the proud leaders of Equestria and we will bend our knees to no one," the princesses and Faust said in union before the video ended.

"Now then onto the next task," I said before I noticed one of the caribou reporters was still alive and was trying to crawl to safety, so I grabbed him by the front of his suit and hoisted him into the air. "Where's the radio room?"

The caribou just glared at me before he spat in my face so I prepped my claws and was about to drive them into his shoulder.

"Trixie know's where it is."

I looked at the source of the voice and I saw a naked blue coated mare with a silvery mane and tail sitting on the ground. She had a magic wand with a magic vapour trail coming from the tip of the wand as a cutie mark and she had a stump on her forehead meaning she's a unicorn she wore a black collar around her neck and I saw she had been tied to some heavy equipment which explains why she hasn't run in terror like the other mares that were here.

"Trixie?" I asked.

"Yes Trixie will help if you cut her loose from this collar," the mare said as she pulled herself away from the equipment as far as she could showing me the collar I then realised she was speaking in third person.

"Don't you lay a hand on my bitch," the caribou that was still in my grasp said.

"Shut up already," I said in an annoyed tone before I looked at the now named mare called Trixie.

I was about to speak when suddenly I felt something impale my neck and when I used my free hand I felt it was a blade the caribou in my grasp must have grabbed before he impaled it through my neck. I then pulled it out and tossed it away before I slowly turned to the now fearful caribou. I let out a growl before I brought my jaw around his throat resulting in mass amounts of blood to pour from his neck like a fountain before I ripped him away tearing his neck apart. I tossed him onto the news desk and spat out the contents of my mouth. I then walked over to Trixie and saw she was glaring at the caribou in disgust.

"I'm surprised that you're not freaking out by that," I said as I got rid of her collar.

"Trixie has seen far worse ways to kill somepony then that but Trixie is confused as to why you aren't dead," Trixie said.

"Perhaps another time for now you said you know where the radios are?" I asked.

"Indeed Trixie will show you," Trixie said as she began to walk away and I began to follow.

The walk didn't take long and we soon arrived at a small cube shaped building with a massive antenna standing next to it. I walked inside and saw everything I needed was in here. Wasting no time, I grabbed everything and placed them in a pocket dimension to be retrieved later before I set some detonators. I then walked out of the area and once Trixie and I were at a safe distance I activated the trigger and both the station and the antenna went up in smoke and fire.

"We'd better link up with the others, I'm sure that they've cleaned up their areas by now," I said as I led Trixie over to the other mares.

"These others you speak of, Trixie wonders if Burning Rage is among them?" Trixie asked, suddenly I hear an ungodly roar come from somewhere within the city.

"Oh he's here alright but I imagine he's not in a pleasant mood at the moment on account of something a caribou said or did," I said.

Once we arrived at the spot I saw there were more mares here then I assumed.

"Whoa that's a lot of mares," I said.

"Most of them were living in the city before the food started running out and when that happened guards came and rounded all of them up and brought them here and left the males who were starving to rot in the streets," Trixie said.

"I see...here, going to need this," I said as I handed Trixie a flare gun. "Use this when you see an airship called_,"

"The Pale Horse," Trixie said.

"Yeah light that up and we'll bring her down for you, till then wait here," I said causing Trixie to nod before I began to walk away.

I walked out of the studio grounds and was about to go looking the others when suddenly a Panther De Ville comes racing down the street towards me.

With barely any time to dodge I jumped into the air as the car slammed into my legs sending my head into the hood. I shook my head and looked at the driver and saw he was wearing wealthy clothing indicating he was some kind of official, probably the mayor. Next to him was a black collared aqua coated mare with a purple mane with an aqua and lavender strip running through it. She was trying to hold on for dear life and in the back was large bags of gold, no doubt this guy was trying to flee and taking everything he considers valuable with him. But unfortunately for him he got one of the worst people around here to run into. I dug my claws into the car's hood and began to crawl to the interior. The mayor tried to shake me off by swerving the car but I held on tightly and continued to move forward to stop the car. Suddenly I notice the mare in the car pointing at something behind me and when I look I saw a makeshift ramp made from barrels and planks of wood on the side of the street and the car was driving towards it the car drove up the ramp at an odd angle and sent the car into a barrel roll three times. The car rolled across me till I was thrown off and rolled across the street while the car came to a rest on it's tires a little further down the street. The car was battered and dented and smoke was seeping out from under the hood, I then heard it try to start up a few times but the car was too beat up for that the mayor then shakily got out and began to limp away as quickly as he could. I then slowly got up and walked over to the car and saw the mare inside was still in there and was bleeding from her forehead slightly. I checked her pulse and found out she was still alive but was just unconscious. I then noticed my face in a mirror and saw patches of my face had been ripped off before I got out.

"Bones."

I looked at the source of the voice and saw Rage running over to me while Elisa and Evan were being carried by him.

"Hey Rage what happened?" I asked as I looked at Elisa and Evan.

"Just mopping up some caribou when these two got hit by a sniper Elisa's out cold and Evan took a shot to the leg we also heard the crash, you okay?" Rage asked.

"Yeah...sure," I said simply unfazed by the crash.

"Is she...?" Rage began as he gestured to the mare.

"Unconscious from the crash possible concussion though. Mayor tried to flee while we were busy, tried to run me over," I said.

"That him?" Rage asked as he looked behind me at the mayor who was 50 yards away by now which is certainly impressive for someone who's injured.

"Yep," I said.

"Alright take care of these two, I'll handle that bastard," Rage said as he began to set Evan and Elisa down.

"No need I've got this," I said as I summoned my Phantom Bow and drew back the bowstring. I aimed the arrow at the caribou before I tilted the the bow upward and released the bowstring sending the arrow flying. The arrow arched through the air and came down and hit the caribou right in the middle of his back before he was engulfed in spectral blue flames.

"Nice shot but when did you know how to use a bow?" Rage asked.

"Just today, well remembered to anyway. Now let's get these three to the studio and while we head over, I need you to summon The Pale Horse and tell them to look for a flare gun signal," I said.

"Sure," Rage said before I went into the car and pulled the mare out. As I grabbed her I saw she had a stump on her head meaning she too is a unicorn. As I was pulling her out I looked at the gold and I had a thought.

"Hey Rage all this gold do you think we might be able to put it to good use?" I asked looking back at him.

"Hm you know I think I might just have a use for that," Rage said.

"Kay you head over to the studio and I'll meet you there," I said while Rage gave a nod before he left.

Once I had pulled the mare free from the car I used my magic to grab the bags of gold and carry them back to the studio. When I arrived I saw mares were boarding The Pale Horse, I then walked aboard and as soon as I stepped on the mares gave me a wide breath of room either because I was carrying an injured mare or because what happened to my face brought them fear it mattered little to me. I just brought the mare in my arms to the infirmary and set her down beside Elisa and Evan told the on board doctor, who was a mare, about what happened. Suddenly I felt the ship move meaning we were taking off. I left the infirmary and placed the gold in the hold before I joined Rage on deck and watched Applewood disappear into the distance.

---

Aephoceria 2:30 pm

---

The ship docked into the castle docking station and the injured were rushed to the medical wing while all the mares were given clothing and had their collars and wing boxes removed. As for the unicorn mare's horns, Amalthea, Faust and Chrysalis were helping as many as they could with their magic but such a thing was quite taxing for them as well. I then noticed zebra shamans were also helping restore mares horns by giving them a strange elixir I then saw the mare I brought aboard along with Elisa and Evan were also on stretchers and were being taken to the infirmary as well.

"A congratulations is in order I suppose."

I looked at the voice and I saw Celestia standing beside me.

Judging from the condition on your face I say it must have been some experience," Celestia said.

I decided to not say anything and just watched as ponies rushed about trying to help out where they could. Suddenly I saw Twilight rush up to me and grab me by the front of my shirt.

"Where Are They!" Twilight shouted drawing a crowd of eyes.

"Must you be so loud?" I asked as I rubbed my ears.

"Where Are They!" Twilight shouted again only louder.

Where are who?" I asked.

"Trixie and Starlight, Rage said you found hem and brought them here.

"I have no idea who this Starlight is but I believe Trixie is getting her horn mended," I said causing Twilight to run off. "What crawled up her skirt?"

"Trixie Lulamoon and Starlight Glimmer, Trixie is an old magic rival of Twilight's before she became her friend and Starlight Glimmer is Twilight's pupil in magic and friendship. Rage mentioned to me that you pulled her out of a car," Celestia said.

"Oh well when you say that I believe I do know where she is. I saw a couple of doctors taking her to the medical wing in fact I was about to go over and check in on her, would you mind telling Twilight?" I asked.

"Very well," Celestia said before we went our separate ways.

Once I made it to the medical ward I asked for Starlight Glimmer's room and I was told she was roomed with both Elisa and Evan and all the other patients who we brought here in the main medical room. So I walked over to the door and entered and saw a long room with beds stacked against a wall with windows on the other side providing a spectacular view for any patients being tended to. I saw Rage talking to the doctor so I walked over to Starlight's bed looked down at her.

"Doctor said she'll be fine but we should be careful when she wakes up just ease in the information that she's somewhere safe," Rage said as he walked up beside me on my left.

"I heard you roar in the city, something set you off?" I asked.

"Yeah guess you could say that," Rage said.

Suddenly Starlight's eyes snap open and she grabs Rage by the arm and is breathing heavily.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Starlight your safe take it easy," Rage said as he gently grasped Starlight's arm and patted it, coaxing her to calm down.

"Rage...is that you?" Starlight asked.

"In the flesh," Rage said.

"Rage you need to listen to me, it's important," Starlight said.

"Well whatever it is can wait, we need to make sure you don't have a concussion," Rage said.

"Rage...I saw Ash," Starlight said.

Next Chapter: Chapter 19 Ghosts and Kings Estimated time remaining: 32 Hours, 48 Minutes