Wind Breaker found himself unable to sit still, his tail flicking back and forth uneasily as he clutched his Ledger tightly in his talons. He sighed, trying to calm himself down and take his mind off things, glancing around to see the rest of them wandering around the room. Vix-Lei was staring at several of the few intact statues of Luna, Rex was frowning at a faded map of Her holy stars, Xvital was hanging over by the door, Night was flipping through the few remaining holy books and Page was sitting right next to him.

She smiled at him, placing a hoof on his shoulder. “You okay?” she asked gently.

“I’m not sure,” Wind Breaker said, shifting uncomfortably. “I mean, what that fake priest is doing… it’s just...” Wind Breaker rolled a talon in the air, trying to find the right words. “I don’t even know how to say I feel about this. This is something every Hatchery griffon dreams for and…” He let out a sigh, dropping and shaking his head. “I’m just rambling; you cannot understand what it’s like to have your freedom continuously out of your reach your entire life and suddenly have it thrown into your face.”

Page looked at him and her eyes softened, a sad smile on her face. “Trust me, Wind Breaker, I know exactly how you feel and I understand what you are going through.”

Strangely enough, Wind Breaker found himself believing her and he smiled back at her. He then flicked his eyes towards Night. The bat pony was glaring at him but was keeping quiet and keeping his distance. Either Night trusted him with Page or he knew that Page would be angry with the noble if he did something to get between them.

Probably the latter…

“So what are you going to do with your Ledger?”

Her question caused him to pause and he looked down at his book, surprised at how tightly he was clutching it to his chest. He tried to imagine himself letting go of the book for good and for some reason, it churned his stomach and made him clutch it tighter to his chest. It made no sense; the blasted thing said that he wasn’t a free griffon, that his life wasn’t his own, that he owed the government an unpayable debt but he could not give it up.

She leaned over to hug him, rubbing his side. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” she said softly, making him aware that he was letting out small whimpers. “You don’t need to give it up if it bothers you that much, Wind Breaker.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t mean it,” Wind Breaker said, pulling out of the hug, feeling his cheeks heat up. “And besides… I think I will keep it, to remember where I came from, you know?” The lie was obvious and his throat was burning from it. He took a bottle from his bag and drank from it, making the pain go away. Then he paused and looked at what he had done and the looks he was getting from everypony. “I’ll be going sober tomorrow, I promise… I swear.”

Night just rolled his eyes and shook his head, then turned away in disgust.

Well, that was one person Wind Breaker couldn’t count on for help to kick his drinking habit…

“Well, if you don’t mind…” Page said as she gently took the bottle with her magic and held it almost horizontally over a potted plant. “May I?” With a tilt of his head, Page poured out the bottle, slowly. Wind Breaker felt his chest tighten at the sight and he had to turn his head away. “Wait, Wind? I think you should finish this.” Page held the bottle to him and Wind Breaker knew she didn’t mean he was to drink it. Wind Breaker took the bottle and held it over the plant, and found his talon shaking.

He could do this, he could do this. Just tip his talon over and he would have -

“What are you doing‽” a voice cause him to jump, fumbling the bottle and wincing it as bounced on the plant’s pot and rolling on the ground. Turning his head, he saw the unicorn sub priest storm into the room, grab the bottle and waggle it in his face. “Were you emptying your foul vice into that plant?”

“Um, I, uh” Wind Breaker stammered, feeling small now. “I-”

“Bad enough that fraud is tainting this temple, but I will not allow others to think they can do the same, mister!” the unicorn jabbed a hoof into his chest, causing Wind Breaker to pull back in intimidation. “I am half of mind to report you-”

“Hey now, you don’t understand the whole situation,” Vix-Lei said, placing a hand on the unicorn’s shoulder. “You see Windy here has a bit of a booze problem and was trying to kick the habit.”

“Really?” the unicorn tilted his head before bowing slightly. “My apologies then; if how touchy Evergreen can get when he runs out of his liquid vice, then I can only imagine how hard it was for you to do that act.” The unicorn placed a hoof on his shoulder. “On behalf of Her Grace Luna, I will pray for your success.”

“Thank you,” Wind Breaker said gratefully, a smile growing on his beak. “I will do my best.”

“So what brings you here?” Night asked, closing the book and placing it back down.

The unicorn looked at Xvial briefly before coughing and saying, “I just wanted to see how Evergreen’s… guests were doing.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not that kind of thief,” Xvital scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I may fake documents and steal stuff here and there but not from temples and holy sites. That ain’t right.”

“I never said such a thing, ma’am,” the unicorn said smoothly. “If any of you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask for either Rolling Brook or myself, Clear Prattle.”

“We thank you,” Night Blade said, bowing his head. “May Her stars forever shine down on you and your fellow acolyte.”

“And may She guide you and your fellows in your journey, Lord Blade,” the unicorn said, causing Night to shift around a tiny bit. The unicorn saw that and said, “Your group is wanted and the Guards are doing their best to find you. As an acolyte of Her Grace, it is our duty to shelter everyone that comes to our doors.”

“Ah, thank you,” Xvital said cautiously, clearly uncertain of how exactly to deal with this. “But I think we’re good for now.”

“As you say, ma’am, I have a service to attend to as Evergreen is busy with his other duties,” the unicorn bobbed his head and turned to walk away. “If you wish to donate your bottles to fight your demons, Wind Breaker, I will be happy to assist you.”

“Thank you but…” Wind Breaker trailed off, not sure of what his exact reason for protesting was.

“I understand, as it is said one must be ready to face their demons lest they be overwhelmed by them,” Clear Prattle said in a holy tone as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

“Well that happened,” Rex said with a slight resistence in his voice. “Prattle and his fellow seem to be somewhat competent and legitimate…”

“What do you mean Rex?” Page asked the diamond dog. “He seemed to be rather genuine in his beliefs.”

“Be as it may, Evergreen could not have sold this star chart without raising eyebrows and he should have realized this map is fake,” Rex gestured to the map with Night walking over to it and frowning as he studied it before muttering a curse. “You no doubt see it as well, right Night Blade?”

“Yes, I can see it,” Night said as he tapped the map before he looked at Rex. “Is there anything you don’t know?”

“Perhaps, but I strongly doubt it,” Rex said with a small grin on his face that got everypony laughing for some reason.

Wind Breaker had started to doze off when Evergreen came into the room, startling everypony awake.

“Come, now,” he barked. He looked very agitated, his robe more ruffled than before. “I had to do a lot of preparation for you and I’m not going to let it cut in on my personal time or have to explain to those idiots why am I late for this night’s service.”

“You mean you can do it for me?” Wind Breaker asked as he got to his talons and paws.

“Of course I can do it, you damn colt,” he grumbled, already trotting back to the staircase. “As I just said, it took a lot of preparations and I can’t be drunk as I could very easily fuck this up if I wasn’t thinking clearly and get the Guards breaking down my door.”

“Okay?” Wind Breaker said, unsure how to take all this. He was really doubting that Xvital was right to trust this guy.

“Do you want to be a Hatchery griffon for the rest of your damn life?” Evergreen barked. “Now come on!” As he angrily stalked to the stairs, Wind Breaker gave one final look around the room, and with the others right behind him, followed him down to his office to see that Evergreen was not kidding about needing to do some serious preparations. The desk was gone and the entire floor was covered in chalk markings that looked like serious arcane stuff with a circle in the middle. “Good, now you stand in the centre and you lot stay out of the way.”

Wind Breaker tilted his head to look at Rex, who nodded his head, before moving into the centre of the room where a circle large enough for him to stand in had been drawn. “Okay, now wha-”

“You, unicorn mare,” Evergreen snapped from the far side of the room. “Take his bag; that crazy artifact he and the rest of your lot have somehow gotten your hooves on could seriously interfere in this procedure if it’s within the array, so take it and stand against the wall. Now.”

With a tiny huff of annoyance from Page, Wind Breaker found his saddle bag lifted off his back and suddenly felt very bare.

“Eyes on me, you colt,” Evergreen barked again, dragging his attention back to the unicorn. “Now don’t move or I will turn your legs to stone to keep you still.”

Wind Breaker watched his horn start to glow a dark red before it began to settle over him. He began to get a bit worried as Evergreen tilted his head from side to side, grunting a bit louder each time and the outer parts of the arcane magic circle started to glow and let out an odd sounding hum.

Wind Breaker felt sweat beginning to roll down his body, his wings twitching to open and his tail flicking between his hind legs. He found himself staring at a bead of sweat that was sliding down his beak, causing him to itch something terrible. As each second passed, the urge to wipe it away grew worse and worse and he found his will to stay still harder and harder to maintain and he was wondering if Evergreen was just bull-

“Okay, we’re done,” Evergreen said, causing Wind Breaker to jerk his head upwards. He was about to ask if he could move when Evergreen slammed the back door open and began to try and drag his desk in before getting it stuck halfway and giving up. With a grunt, the fraudulent priest grabbed a bottle from the desk, and started to chug it down completely. Finishing the bottle off and tossing it into a corner where it crashed into several pieces, he said to them, “You can leave now.”

“It’s done, I’m… free?” Wind Breaker asked. “Just like that?”

“Yes, just like that,” Evergreen snapped. “Figuring out and setting up the exact array to disable all those alarm spells was the hardest part. Casting it wasn’t that difficult. And now, I’d appreciate it if you’d all get out of here as I have a mass to lead that are all scared because of you idiots blowing up the power station.” Giving them a dirty look, he snagged another bottle from his tilted desk and began to chug it down.

Wind Breaker considered saying something, but felt a hoof on his shoulder, and saw it was Page’s. “Come on, let’s go,” she said softly.

Wind Breaker nodded, and stepped out of the array. As his saddle bags settled onto his back again, he gave Page a nod of thanks, and then headed for the door.

He could feel Night Blade’s glare burning into his back, but he didn’t care. He was free.

Minutes later, as the six of them stood by the temple’s door, Vix-Lei looked around in the darkening sky. “So, which way do we go?” she asked. “Besides out of this city.”

“Down,” Xvital tilted her head as she began to walk down the street. “There have to be a few gatehouses that we can slip by.”

“I don’t think we should go that way,” Page said softly but with enough presence to cause everypony to pause. She tilted her head towards a couple of ponies with cloaks on standing near the far end of the temple block. “I can’t say why exactly, but I have a feeling that they’re with the Guards.”

Xvital frowned and began to take a step backwards. “I think you’re right,” she said as the two ponies began to walk over to them. “Come, let’s go guys.” She beagan to push them back up the street.

“And where, pray tell, are you going?” a voice from behind called out to them, causing to halt in place. Turning around, they saw one of the two ponies’ body change and become a white mare in very fancy looking armour with the other.

“Oh shit,” NIght swore backing up in fright. “The Full Moon.”

“Yes, and you are all coming with me right now,” she said, walking closer to them with her horn glowing.

“You know, there’s a saying in my homeland that would be rather appropriate right now,” Vix-Lei said nervously as she looked at Rex, who had a hoof in his vest.

“What’s that?”

“CHEESE IT!” Scooping up Rex, she started running, the others hot on her heels. Wind Breaker had enough time to realize what Rex was doing with that bottle in his hoof and grabbed the scarf before a massive amount of smoke began to blossom out with the Guards behind them coughing loudly.

Sweet Surprise was cursing herself for dismissing the diamond dog as a low threat, even after the report on the alchemist. Using her magic to cause a miniature whirlwind to blow the smoke into small enough parts to dissipate the effects of smoke bomb, she saw that the six wanted criminals had already bolted up the street.

“In pursuit of six Bolters, going up Lower Temple Drive,” she said into her helmet’s shortwave communication spell that was connected to her Guard’s helmets as she began to use her magic to increase her endurance to mimic Earth pony biology as to close the head start they got on her. “Box them in on White Shine Avenue.”

Sweet Surprise ignored the yes ma’ams she got from her Guards, calling out the streets they were taking and smiled to herself as they were close to a dead end known as the shipyard. Even if they stole a ship, there was no way they could get away with as her Guards would be able to surround them and force them down.

Still, Gentle Step had said to use caution in dealing with them and she’d be the idiot ponies thought she was if she were to ignore the advice the young Captain General offered.

Sweet Surprise had reached out with her magic to delay the six when she felt something odd; she could sense several items on four of them that were drenched in magic. She had never encountered anything like them before and she had helped Violet with some pretty unusual artifacts in the past; the elder unicorn was far more experienced as it was her special talent , but Sweet Surprise had seen some odd ones in her time too and whatever these were dwarfed anything she had seen in her life. And if she right, they were mostly dormant with only a trickle of their true power active.

She had been concerned in how heavy hoofed Gentle was being in regards to these foals; she was very cautious in believing they were all part of some sort of secret cabal with the goal to overthrow the government but this had brought more weight to the claims that they were dangerous traitors.

Whatever the truth about their actual allegiances was, Sweet had a duty to apprehend them for the death of several of Violet’s Guards at the very least and she would do that right now as her Guards managed to herd them into the shipyard, with the minotaur using her hammer to knock down the cobblestone and iron sign saying Lower Canterlot Shipyard to block her path.

She pulled it apart and tossed the pieces to the side with several squads of her Guards behind her, but it cost her precious seconds as they were aboard a ship, with the minotaur in the pilot seat of a skimmer.

With a flick of her hoof to break up and get into other skimmers with Sweet Surprise jumping into one herself, she saw several of Guards take to the air to overshadow the minotaur driving downwards‽

Sweet Surprise blinked in surprise, with the minotaur speeding down the takeoff platform. She then cursed herself for being distracted and chased after her, with three skimmers following her, the ones in the air no longer available due to the time it would take for them to rejoin the chase.

Bracing herself as she guided the miniature airship off the platform, Sweet Surprise saw the tail end of the minotaur’s ship turn around the corner as she hit the ground. Pushing on the acceleration lever to make up ground, she muttered curses in her head for missing the fact that the daughter of a shipyard master of the world’s capital country of airship production would be proficient in their usage.

“Ma’am, we see them heading towards Bearing Street,” Eagle Sight said, one of her ponies in the skimmers that were in the sky. “Quicksilver and I are making quick descents to box them in.”

“Affirmative,” she said, pushing the airship even faster as they skimmed over the street, with ponies screaming and jumping out the way.

A smile started to break out on her face despite the fact she had yet to capture them even though they were directly in front of her and the distance was closing fast. The minotaur tried to shake her off and trying to turn down another street when Sweet Surprise snapped a shield up to block that area off, causing minor collateral damage, forcing back into Bearing Street and a dead end as there was no ways forwards past the low fence and the two story quaint house that looked very famila-

The minotaur then reminded Sweet Surprise that these things they were driving were airships as she rotated the propulsion jet several degrees upwards which let her hit the fence and then ride the roof as a ramp!

Sweet Surprise had no time to replicate the act, spinning to the side and snapped up a shield to stop herself from crashing into Eagle Sight’s skimmer although her skimmer hit the shield hard, killing the engine completely and destroying the body of the skimmer. She had her head pointed in the right direction to see the first skimmer behind her try and copy what the minotaur only to miss the subtle adjustment the minotaur did and hit the fence only to slam into the roof the house with the other skimmer spinning out of control and destroying the fence, hitting the well kept lawn and digging up a fair deal as it spun in a circle before Steady Line managed to cut the engine.

Eagle Sight opened his mouth to say something but Sweet Surprise was not going to let the six get away this easily. “After them now!” she barked, using her magic to take control of the skimmer, forcing it down the street with Eagle Sight wisely moving out the way and letting her take the pilot seat as she forced the ship to its limit as she matched each twist and turn that the minotaur made, an angry scowl on her face as they continued to stay just out of reach and the diamond dog was mocking her by sticking his head off the side and having a wide smile on his face, sticking his tongue out her.

Still it would end shortly as they were getting close to the Wall and she had Guards on it that would be able to halt their skimmer.

With another sharp turn that threatened to capsize Sweet Surprise’s skimmer, she saw the Wall directly in front of her with the Gatehouse of the South looming directly in front of them.

“Every Guard,” she shouted, booming her voice out across the Lower with her magic. “Stop those HOLY FUCK!” She swore as the minotaur nearly came to a complete stop, turned the jet propulsion with such finary that it managed to send her skimmer directly upwards before cutting the engine and-

“SWEETSURPRISETHEWALL!” Eagle Sight shouted, causing Sweet Surprise to look up in time to see the Wall approaching incredibly fast.

“SHITFUCKBAIL!” she swore, throwing herself out of the skimmer, rolling across the ground, only for it to disappear on her and suddenly be plunged into something liquidy. On instinct, Sweet Surprise turned herself into a seapony to allow herself to be able to breath the water in safely only to spit out the foul tasting water, floundering as she tried to get herself properly oriented.

All of a sudden a pair of hooves reached under her forelegs and dragged her upright. Shaking her head, she saw a pony wearing a rebreather mask, a thick bodysuit that had the sewage maintenance symbol on his chest…

Oh FUCK NO!

With a snarl on her face, she regrew her lower body and a pair of wings as she exploded out of the sewers and hovered briefly over the Wall before spotting the speeding skimmer in the distance. She was in no mood to care about catching them in perfect condition anymore, and began to throw bolts of magic at them to knock them out of the damn airship, with them managing to avoid the first few bolts before she finally caused them to overturn and the skimmer to crash into the tree line.

“Okay you little fuckers, NO one makes a fool out of me and gets away with-” she paused as she landed in front of the totaled skimmer and quickly saw that there was no one in or around it, which meant they had bolted on her.

A snarl was building in her throat when she felt somepony teleport right behind her.

“There you are Sweet Surprise,” Gentle Step said in her infuriating stoic voice. “I hope you can explain a number of things, such as the reason why there is a skimmer lodged into the roof of my house.”

“The damn traitors led me and my Guards on a fucking chase through the Lower, and totally humiliated us!” Sweet Surprise snarled, pawing the ground.

“So that is the reason why there is a skimmer lodged into my roof and my lawn is completely dug up?”

“Oh shove it with your fucking house and your fucking lawn,” Sweet Surprise jabbed a hoof into the Captain General’s chestplate. “They are getting further away each second and you’re not worried about this.” Sweet Surprise noticed how calm Gentle Step was being by her standards. “Which means you have something already planned.”

“Correct,” the younger mare said. “I already have several agents herding them into an ambush and keeping an eye on them, both to see where they are heading and to see where the rest of their treasonous organization is.”

“I see,” Sweet Surprise felt her heart begin to slow down, understanding her superior’s reason for her to stay put. “Anything else?”

“Yes, go clean yourself as you smell worse than demon shit,” Gentle Step said in her normal emotionless voice, with her broken nose wrinkling, her way of fanning away the stench.

“Ah,” Sweet Surprise said, licking her lips and instantly regretting it. “I will pop into the Lower Guardhouse and shower off there.”

“Absolutely not,” Gentle Step said, taking a step backwards. “I will not have you foul up the Guardhouse. Go home and clean yourself there.”

“But I can’t,” Sweet Surprise began to sputter, her heart starting to race. “I-I, I have to use the Guardhouse.”

“No you do not,” Gentle Step said calmly, taking another step backwards. “Now I am ordering you to go to your home, clean yourself and your gear there, send me a report on today’s events and then come in tomorrow ready to perform your duties.” Gentle Step gave her no chance to try and counter this by teleporting away, leaving Sweet Surprise alone.

With a whine and light pawing the ground, the unicorn muttered to herself, “Hot Rod and Sound Mind are going to kill me when they find out I tracked sewage into the house.” Then she looked around. “Maybe somepony around here has a hose I can borrow…” she tapped her chin in thought before wincing, shaking her hoof and teleporting back into Canterlot.

They were standing in the dark forest, the six of them, when their leader got the message from Canterlot.

“It seems,” he said as he read the letter to himself before breaking out into a grin. “That we have our orders to capture several individuals. The Guards are directing them towards us as we speak.” He hoofed out pictures of the six they needed to capture.

“How are we to do this,” one of the dark skinned figures asked with a chuckle, already aware of what the answer would be.

“Same as always,” their leader said confidently as he took his pony form. “Once they reach Sunny Town, we will capture them.”

“Got it Gladstone,” one of them said causing the rest of them to laugh, each one of the dark figures taking on their pony forms.