Gusty awoke slowly. She had wished to remain in that dead sleep and far away from her troubles for a while longer, but it was just not meant to be. Rubbing her eyes she decided against looking in the mirror again. Although she was not experiencing any symptoms at the moment she would rather not encourage the mess to return. Gusty had no idea if they were close to their destination, however. Deciding it would not hurt to double-check her equipment.

Groggily she rubbed her eyes with a hoof as she walked over to examine her trunk and other goods. It looked like it had been Bunker who had packed up her things as an arm of one of her colorful blouses hung out of the trunk. Gusty used her magic to lift the lid and stuff the clothing back into the compartment. Another large bag sat nearby and out of want to avoid an idle mind she undid its to string. A number miscellaneous items fell out onto the floor in a rough clamor. Scanning the pile she recognized her old travel pack and its faded brown hemwork.

Gusty picked up the pack and unfastened its buttons to examine what it contained. A collection of practical items were held within: a carpenter’s hammer, three grappling hooks, several lengths of rope, a short wood splitting axe, and her trusty, rusty crowbar. It came as a rather numb realization that she had not used the equipment in almost three years. It made her feel like life in the Palace had spoiled her. That became all the more evident after she closed the bag and began to tie it to her hips with her magic. Fastened in an extremely tight roll at the bottom of the pack was her sleeping bag. Gusty grinned, she had been rather pampered even here in the Baylands. She wondered briefly if that would change, but sumized that it probably would not. There were too many individuals looking to be her caretakers.

Creaking and moaning of wood and steel could be heard at a distance within the ship. It slipped towards her, the volume of the vessel’s complaints increasing as the airship tilted about four degrees to one side. The maneuver made Gusty feel as if she was falling forward. She realized the ship was purposely trying to slow down, they must have nearly reached the mines. Sighing she meandered towards the exit out of her cabin and then opened the door onto the deck.

“Now hear this: All hooves to battlestations!” boomed Stiff Inspection’s voice over the hiss of the wind. Gusty moved forward starting to shut the door behind her as Zeccaran came trotting around the corner. He stopped with a jolt and balked at her momentarily before catching his composure.

“Gusty!” He moved closer so as to not yell quite so hard, “I was just going to get you. Are you doing alright?” her friend asked. His eyes moved over face and looked back up with a grimace.

“Don’t answer that,” he hastily chattered. “I told Stiff about what we had in mind, he agreed to it under one condition.”

“What is it?” she groaned. Things were already off to a great start.

“He just wants to accompany us. He’ll leave the rest of the unit to spring the trap at the front of the cave, but he will go with us inside,” Zeccaran answered. Gusty gave him a stern scowl.

“Look, I know this guy. Walked by him everyday when we were living in the Palace. He takes his job very seriously. He’s going to tag along regardless.” Her friend shook his head on reflex.

“Sounds an awful lot like his boss,” she grumbled. She waited for Zeccaran to continue.

“Yeah, but if you let him tag along, you can keep him where you want. He’s willing to cooperate, so just humor him, alright?” he pleaded. The zebra acted like he was desperately trying to avoid conflict and that made her feel uncomfortable. It was not like Zeccaran to not want to tease her about her decision-making. Gusty mulled over the situation and found herself at a loss for words. She merely nodded in concurrence with her friend, unable to perceive any real issue with Stiff Inspection accompanying them.

About the same time as Zeccaran heaved a sigh of relief the airship slowly began to swing towards even keel. The speed of the vessel dropping significantly as it kept the new list to the opposite direction. Gusty hazarded a few steps forward to get out of the sheltered area where the door into the vessel was located.

The tops of trees slipped by and she blinked in surprise. Evidently Bunker was quite good at this. The ship continued to slow and lower to the ground, her engines roaring as they tried to compensate for the pull of the earth. Soon enough Gusty could not see past the foliage and the mighty vessel moved no faster than a walk as the engines churned down to idle and a hiss of compressing air could be heard escaping the pistons. Gusty moved towards the deck rail, staying along the raised catwalk structure instead of walking up and down the stairs of the center portion of the deck work.

Leaning over the edge some she peered towards the front of the ship, hoping to see their destination. She was not disappointed. Ahead of them nestled against a rocky wall of hill and granite she could see wooden buildings and tunnel leading to darkness. Arranged around the few shacks were spiked barricades that looked like they had been hastily constructed over the last week. They were not much good for defending against the Onyx and her compliment, but as Zeccaran said, the pirates expected ground forces.

Even at this lumbering pace they were fast approaching their destination That was when the first command was yelled.

“Make ready!”

Gusty turned to watch the Special Guard bustle into action. A stream of ponies moved to grab a long hose that was being pulled from the main cargo hatch in the center of the deck. They drug it towards the bow where a portion of the split-level planking lead into the superstructure instead of the deckrail’s catwalk.

“Fix pressure!” Several affirmative responses came from somewhere where the hose had been drug. The line of canvas-sewn tubing suddenly pulsed bulbous from whatever was being pumped inside it.

“Pressure set, sir!” responded a stallion that had run up to the center deck. Gusty looked around for Stiff Inspection, waiting for his next order.

“Take aim!” She found him standing on the bow, on the same side of the ship as her. The pegasus leaned over the edge of the deckrail eyes fixed on the exterior camp. A few brief moments passed, long enough for Gusty to lean up and look towards where the lieutenant was staring.

“Fire!”

Memory kicked in and Gusty nearly dove for cover as a beam of fire was flung down onto the wooden structures. She had been on the receiving end of that weapon and pitied any lookouts that might be stationed below. As soon as the beam of gelatin fire got within a few feet of the buildings they were on fire. Once it landed the blaze practically turned blue from its intensity, not a moment later a pair of shocked caws echoed out. A pair of terrified griffons tumbled out of one of the structure just in time to have recognition hit their faces before the terrible fire weapon traced its ooze over them.

They were not far enough away for Gusty to not see the melting beaks and talons, or the burning feathers. Shockingly, for creatures that were burning to death, they did not scream. Flailing helplessly the two griffons rolled around on the ground as they were consumed, quickly stopping. The fire continued to smolder over their bodies until they were shriveled black husks, locked forever in silent wails. Blanching Gusty turned away from the scene, the image an all too familiar sight. She just hoped the smell of charred flesh would not make its way to her before she could get inside the cave. That stomach curdling stench would probably be enough to render her actually sick.

The thought and sight of burning folk triggered another reminder. She had wanted the pirates captured. It would seem that Stiff Inspection had missed that rather crucial detail. Gusty stomped towards him along the edge of the deck fuming.

“What the hell was that about?” she seethed once she was next to him. The stallion gave her a quizzical squint of his eyes.

“You didn’t even warn them! What if they wanted to surrender!?” Gusty shrieked at him. Stiff Inspection to his credit turned fully to face her.

“They were alert sentries. Unless they were put down immediately the would have alerted the rest of the hostiles,” he responded looking up some so he might meet her eyes. “In fact it's a miracle that they did not raise an alarm as a full-armed airship came cruising right at them!”

Gusty was left to stand indignantly as he turned to bark out orders. He shouted something about tethering the Onyx to some nearby trees before she recovered her composure.

“Fine. But why would you think they wouldn’t surrender? They are pirates! They don’t have any real loyalty.” She had finally found a counterargument.

“Listen to me, ma’am, those are not pirates.” Gusty balked at his words unsure how to respond, fortunately she had no need.

“The units stationed here are Griffon Military. Before his untimely death, Captain Garrison received a message from Princess Celestia indicating the “pirates” are a collection of international mercenaries and Griffon Special Ops units. This message had included that your companion, Zeccaran, also received confirmation from her Majesty that these events have had external support, at least according to my briefing.” Stiff Inspection’s face hardened the more he spoke.

He was a brave stallion, Gusty would give him that. It was not often a regular joe would stand up to her, he must have been cut from the same cloth as the zebra he had mentioned. However, she was more upset that Zeccaran had failed to mention this to her, especially since she had just helped him devise a plan of action not two hours ago. She turned to look where he had left him to find her striped companion missing. She adjusted her neck reflexively to make it look like she was trying to pop a stubborn vertebra and resumed looking at Stiff.

“Well…” she grumbled, knowing she had to concede to his argument, “If they are unarmed when they come running out of the cave instruct your soldiers to give them mercy. There is no reason to kill them unnecessarily.” Those words of Zeccaran from over a month ago had proven to be the truth. She intended to do better than the last time she conducted a raid.

Weakling.

She also elected to ignore such commentary and stuck to giving pleading eyes to Stiff Inspection. His hard glare broke but his tongue was still sharp.

“Very well, but I doubt many will throw down their arms even if they are attempting to escape whatever insane scheme you have planned,” he retorted.

Bustling of hooves drew Gusty’s attention to a small crowd of ponies moving to disembark. It looked to be about half of the Special Guard, they formed two lines and slipped down a rope or glided down to a gathering point a distance away from the still burning buildings by the front of the mine. Stiff Inspection yelled down to them her decree to which the crowd replied with an unison “yessir!”

“Well, gather up your husband and Zec and let’s get going. The sooner we can get this mission finished the happier I’ll be,” he said turning to her.

“Agreed.” She nodded moving to leave.

“I’ll be waiting down at the entrance to the mine.” as he finished his sentence the pegasus flapped up into the air and down towards the rest of the troops. Gusty moved away from the bow, and took a brisk trot towards the aft of the ship. Bunker lumbered down the stairs from the helm to meet her on the main deck.

“Where is Zeccaran?” he asked curiously. Gusty shrugged, the zebra had disappeared when she was not watching. Bunker’s guess was as good as hers at this point. A bit of barking made them both look towards the cabin entrance.

The moan of the door and the groan of a zebra creaked as the barking suddenly became much louder. “Gunther! Calm down!” Zeccaran bellowed over the top of the wooden canine. The dog bound out from the partial cover of the cabin entrance nearly bowling both Gusty and Bunker over. He stopped barking long enough to give the two ponies several licks on their legs before resuming his chant of freedom.

“Ugh. Damn dog acts like he was going to be trapped forever.” Zeccaran grumbled as he trotted up next to them. “I guess it's time to get this show on the road.” Gusty had not noticed her zebra friend’s haggard appearance but now that they were away from the din of the cabins she could see everything. Frankly, he looked awful, although she was not in any position to judge.

Collectively the group began moving toward the side of the airship that faced the mine. Gusty opened up her wings and vaulted the deckrail, letting her feathers glide her down safely. She landed nearby a bustling squad of pegasus-ponies whom were busily assembling what looked to be a folding ladder. She turned back to look up at the Onyx to see how her friend and husband were going to get down. In typical Zeccaran fashion a flash of green light and a brief yelp of surprise from Gunther and a large eagle landed next to her in a moment, dog his claws. Zeccaran changed back, his position changing to standing on the canine’s back

A mighty yell came from the deck and Bunker was soon flying toward the ground. Gusty balked for a moment shocked her husband would just dive off from a forty foot fall. However, her brain kicked in at the last second and she threw out her levitation and caught him just above the ground. Momentum stopped she released him and Bunker trotted over with a still worried look on his face.

“You cut catch close, dear. I thought I was going to break mine ankles!” He cried.

“Well it helps if I have a little warning. Instead of just reacting on instinct,” she retorted. Bunker snorted sarcastically with a purposefully snide scowl. He broke into a grin quickly after she rolled her eyes at him.

“Alright. Forward, then!” he decreed, and began walking. Gusty peered over to Zeccaran who shrugged from his perch before hopping off of his dog and following. Quickly, the group made it to the mouth of the mine. Gusty rushed them along, unwilling to let the wind carry the smell of burned bird to her nose.

With his sour look showing in full, Stiff Inspection motioned them toward him. He stood against the grey rock away from the open shaft and pointed for them to do the same.

“I still can’t believe you want to do this.” He waved a hoof towards the mine. “I can’t believe I’m under orders to help you either!”

“Yeah well thank your boss for that,” Gusty glowered, “If it wasn’t for him you and your ponies could be halfway to Equestria by now.” The group pressed themselves up against the rocks as she argued with the soldier.

“More like I wonder what you did to earn his favor. It has to be more than your looks, because you are a complete jerk,” Stiff grumbled as he poked an eye around the corner of the shaft’s entrance.

“I am not!” Gusty hissed back almost loud enough to give away their position.

“Yeah sure. Last time I checked you are perpetually trying to kill him too, makes your case pretty flimsy there, missy.” The pegasus pulled himself away from the entrance and fully faced the group. She went to berate Stiff Inspection but was cut off just as she inhaled to let him have it.

“Alright. Best way for us to do this is sneak along the left wall. According to the maps and the bit of scouting I did we should be completely undetected until we are fairly deep into the facility. Then...I hope you guys have something up your sleeves you haven’t told me.” He shifted uncomfortably in his grey-colored armor. Unfortunately, Gusty did not have much of a response, she had not thought this operation would require much finesse. Afterall, would not being trapped in a cave with the same group of ponies that wrecked your crew be enough? Luckily, Zeccaran had an answer.

“I think this might work. Let me know if it is scary,” Zeccaran spoke. In the next instant his trademark green flash replaced him with a massive bear. The beast’s muscles pulsated under its fur, razor sharp claws pawed at the air as it leaned back on its hind legs. Loosing a terrifying roar, Gusty nearly forgot it was her friend, until one flash of light later the zebra was back.

Stiff Inspection and Bunker had both turned pale, the latter more obviously than the former. However, they recovered as quickly as Gusty had and stood warily eyeing Zeccaran. It was definitely scary enough. Stiff cleared his throat after a moment.

“You know Zec, are you sure you’re not a Changeling?” He asked tentatively. Gusty cast a eager glance at her companion, she had often wondered the same but never bothered to ask.

“Yep. I know I’m not. Changelings can do anything. Rocks, ponies, trees. I can only do non-sentient animals,” Zeccaran answered.

“Still, how does a zebra come by the magic to do stuff like that, regardless if you are a Changeling or not?” Stiff questioned.

“Ever heard of magical grafting?” her friend’s voice was soft and squeaky like he was embarrassed by whatever process ‘grafting’ was in the first place. However, it sounded wrong, and by the way Stiff Inspection briefly turned green it was safe to assume that she was not the only one to think such.

“Ah. Makes sense. Sorry I asked,” the soldier replied with a deep grimace.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me this?” She asked as well, now that Stiff was done. Her jealousy was not fully serious but Gusty felt it necessary to act jilted.

“You never asked.”

“Yeah...you got me there.” She was already eating her own words.

“Alright, let’s take these fools by the beaks then.” Stiff Inspection turned about and began to slide alongside the rock face into the mine. Gusty followed suit, looking over her shoulder once to watch Bunker and Zeccaran fall in line. Slowly, but with a eerie certainty, the group slipped deeper into the mine.

Gusty carefully trotted behind Stiff Inspection doing her best to not make noise. She was not skilled in the art of stealth and it could be heard echoing on the rock walls of the space. Electing to distract herself from such an obvious shortcoming, as even Bunker was quieter than her as he moved, Gusty chose to become entrenched in thought as they traveled underground.

She had been feeling much better than the few hours leading up to this endeavor. However, it would seem as she progressed more the worse her head hurt. It was similar to before, yet somehow behaved as if she was feeling someone else’s headache. The sensation was strange and now that she focused on it, Gusty could hardly keep her mind in the present. It did not help that the little not-her voice started to murmur tiny angry curses at whatever it was that plagued her. With a tremendous effort of will and determination, Gusty pulled herself back into reality.

No hallucination or episodic terrors had ever caused her such an odd experience, it was like she could not control her body, or even her own mind. The moment left her pale and shaky, wondering if this was going to be the moment she forgot everyone. That was what Stormwalker and Luna had said might happen. Gusty scowled at the thought; she was not ready for it. The moment suddenly made her wonder about Amethyst. She knew her daughter was safe under Celestia’s care, but the thought of forgetting the prodigal little filly filled Gusty with a sudden and terrible sadness. A prodding on her sides made her turn to look at whoever the culprit might have been.

“Gusty. You don’t look so good,” Zeccaran said just as soon as their eyes met. She did not have much of an answer and simply dropped her head in response, trying not to cry.

“Doesn’t matter, we have to do this before we can go home,” she murmured her voice doing its best to hide her state, but failing.

“Quiet! The guards are right at this next intersection!” Hissed Stiff Inspection, even quieter than Gusty. She bit her lips closed in response, this needed to be finished with haste, but that was something that forced her to rely on others. Gusty hated that circumstance, other ponies were good, but just did not do things the way she wanted. However, the soldier was her best chance of finishing up business, even if that meant they had to pick off guards before grabbing Gabriella and running like hell.

Stiff Inspection motioned for her to step aside and let Zeccaran through. The pegasus made a motion that looked like he was half-heartedly trying to scare a foal. However, the message was simple, he wanted Zeccaran to spook the guards. A flash of green light passed and the bear-zebra stalked out of the shadows where the group waited. The intersection that Stiff had mentioned was brightly lit compared to the dim corridor that Gusty found herself standing in now that she was fully forced to live in the present.

If she remembered the picture of the map correctly, this was the area directly before the main chamber of the mine. A set of iron rails that had led them here broke off into separate sections in front of them, the path to the right sporting a dirty minecart. It was the perfect intercept point for the sentries, but somehow Gusty had a feeling Stiff Inspection had just made it the worse place to see a bear. Further, while she was not certain of where exactly they needed to go to find their quarry but a bear growling and swatting at some guards would certainly provide an ample distraction to find the answer.

“Is that a bear?!” squawked one of the presumed guards.

“I didn’t think the Baylands had bears!’ Came another griffon's voice.

“What the heck are we supposed to do about it?” the first one questioned back.

The Zec-Bear made a low and angry rumble. Standing up his back legs he roared towards something that was not quite in Gusty’s vision from her vantage point.

“We need help now, because the two of us aren’t gonna be able to take down that thing, run!” the second griffon answered as soon as the roar finished. Flapping of wings and scrapping of claws and pads echoed to Gusty’s ears. She moved to follow Zeccaran as they gave chase to the guards. A strong hoof held her in place suddenly.

“What the are you doing!? Go get into position!” Stiff Inspection growled into her ear.

“What are you talking about?” she asked totally bewildered. She looked between the soldier and Bunker both of which slowly grew a look of concern.

“It is plan, go over to other side of corridor and get horn ready to blast guards when they chase Zeccaran back here.” Bunker answered having recovered first. He, of course, was the stallion that was more acquainted with her general lack of focus.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. Just be ready to do as I say, I’ll make it pretty clear.” Stiff Inspection flared out his wings as he spoke revealing a pair of wing blades that she had not noticed before. She merely nodded in agreement and moved to where Bunker had instructed. It took everything Gusty had to not fade back into her thoughts as she trotted over. She forced magic into her horn and focused on keeping the spells ready, trying to decide which to use, but settling on stunbolts. They might not do any damage but they would guaranteeably incapacitate anyone hit. She just hoped that was what she was supposed to do, every little thought sent about a dozen more flying through her head in panic and it was only worsening the more she had to wait.

Eventually the eternity of the minute she was forced to endure passed and the sounds of a surprised and upset bear could be heard approaching. Immediately after the grumble of an angry crowd of griffons rebounded down the shaft.

“Keep after it, I don’t want it back in the cave!” shouted an authoritative voice. It was unfamiliar, perhaps one of the top lieutenants that had shot her back during the siege on the Castle Manor. The thought made Gusty’s blood practically boil underneath her fur. If anything was going to keep her together for the time being it would be remembering what had been done to Gertrude and her countryfolk.

With her focus peaked and holding Gusty took aim at the intersection from her little depression in the cavern wall. Leaning her head forward to shoot as straight as possible she looked upward along the length of her horn, its swirled cone glowing red, ready to fire. The Zec-Bear came running to the exit, before stopping to growl and narrowly side step a crossbow bolt. It gave the effect that the ranger was a poor shot, watching a bear dodge his missile, but that would make it all the sweeter when Gusty blasted him and his companions down. Zec-Bear slipped into the dark portion of the shaft just as his pursuers made it to the intersection

Entering her field of vision were eight griffons and three ponies each with various arms. Just as soon as the most sleek of the griffons shouldered his crossbow she fired a set of stunners directly into the crowd. All five bolts found their marks and half of the griffons and a single pony fell to the ground incapacitated. In the next moment from their side of the shaft Stiff Inspection and Bunker sprang out, charging the bewildered group by air and ground.

Stiff Inspection was fast, not Stormwalker fast, but fast enough to catch one of griffons by surprise lopping an arm off before the lion-bird had even drawn a blade. It happened fast enough that the griffon took several seconds before he realized he had been dismembered and began screaming as his heart pumped a synchronized fountain of blood from his veins. Speeding past the felled bird the pegasus flipped sideways mid-flight and bounced himself off the far wall like it was a springboard. He caught a unicorn that was attempting to fire a spell at him and knocked him down to the ground and stood atop him, his foe unconscious from the impact of hooves to his head.

Bunker likewise found great success. He bowled over the final pony in a full charge leaving the poor fellow lifeless on the ground after several sickening crunches. Crashing into the griffons about the same time as Stiff had knocked the arm off the fool on the edge of the group, Bunker let his axe slip from his mouth into his hooves, swinging widely at the center of the lion-birds. He successfully caught the sleek fellow in the midsection as the group attempted to dodge. The griffon squawked angrily and clasped at his stomach, dropping his crossbow, blood springing out from his claws. Bunker jumped back as the group quickly drew blades and pushed their leader away from the front of the fight.

However this put the combat at about even odds as the incapacitated griffons from the stun bolts began to recover, the pony she had hit remained down. Evidently the mare’s smaller stature not allowing her to recuperate as quick as her comrades. With six on four a much better set of numbers, Gusty drew her own blade with her magic and stepped out of her cover, horn blazing with telekinesis ready to snap up the group. She sent her mental grip out to pick them up so Stiff and Bunker could make short work of them should they refuse to surrender. That was until a nearly forgotten torrent of flame sprang out of where the Zec-Bear had disappeared into the dark shaft.

The blaze hit the six griffons that remained standing, torching them almost instantly. The blaze was hot enough to cause both Stiff and Bunker to dive for cover. The combatants were almost completely incinerated, what little remained of the corpses steamed from the heat of the fire, slowly fell down. Most unfortunately, for Gusty, the acridic stench of the burned flesh instantly hit her nose and she started to retch, only to end up dry heaving the nothing she had on her stomach. The pain and the smell destroyed her focus and Gusty found herself experiencing things that she knew could not have been happening in real-time.

Terrible dark figures clouded her vision and an seething rage, unlike any she had ever felt welled-up deep in her chest. A voice spoke at the monstrosities, not much more than the scrape of metal on metal. She knew that voice, but could not fathom why she heard it. Perhaps her hallucinations did not only show her glimpses of the past but also the future. It did not matter, Gusty no longer cared so long as it would stop.

Never will I be like you!

The words echoed throughout her very soul and Gusty felt something inside her shiver with both contempt and fear.

Traitorous upstart.

Not-her had spoken in response to the impossible voice of her most loathed stallion. In the next instant all of the ire she had felt looked at her. Somehow across the world Stormwalker noticed not-her. For a brief instant Gusty thought her mind might collapse as the weight of the demonic monster closed in around her. However, as soon as it started the vision ended and she was back to retching uncontrollably. It was if her singular determination to end the episode had brought it to a swift end. She looked up at the scene before her after regaining her composure.

Gunther stalked from behind the minecart, making Gusty wonder how he had gotten there. She decided it was better not to ask how, and accept that she now had an unstable connection to the present. In a morbid way the thought calmed her and she proceeded forward after sheathing her blade to check on the slowly waking mare she had stunned. Against the far wall the two injured griffons lay, bleeding out, lightly cursing their fortune. Stiff inspection coarsely looked them over, examining their wounds. The unicorn that he had knocked out remained asleep, slowly breathing, Bunker and Zeccaran standing guard over him. Meanwhile as she approached the mare, the timberwolf seemed to understand what she had in mind. Slinking up aggressively to the mare, he let a guttural growl loose making the drowsy pony who now was very awake and very scared.

“D-d-don’t...don’t come any closer!” she squeeked as she quickly brought up her spear from the ground.

“You are in no position to threaten me, or him,” Gusty gruffly replied. She had no idea how long she would maintain this clarity but at least someone would be saved from a gruesome death.

The mare dropped her spear and looked over towards her slain comrades in horror.

“I know..I just..trying..t-t-to do my job...it was just supposed to be a normal contract...and now...now everything is a mess...the Empire disavowed the unit we were with...now this?” she was practically sobbing. “I’ve heard about Equestria’s spec ops being...merciless, but I didn’t think the stories were true…”

Stiff Inspection sauntered up and gave a cursory glance at the mare and then to Gusty.

“Any other information about this operation they tell you?” he questioned.

“I-i-if I tell you will you let me go?” she asked timidly.

“If by go you mean, capture you unharmed for further questioning before you are judged by an Arbiter back in Equestria, then yes.” Stiff certainly did not mince words. The mercenary swallowed hard and looked away before turning back to speak.

“Okay. The most important thing you need to know is that there are only three more griffons, along with their boss, they are holed up in the back. Everyone else is a mercenary, they’ll gladly get captured without a fight so long as you make that clear to them. And that damn ewe that started it all is here too,” the mare rattled off. Much of her composure had returned now that she was not going to be killed for the sake of killing.

“Where specifically?” the pegasus questioned back.

“Second chamber down the way we came.”

“Good. Go down the tunnel and tell the squad of ponies that will pop out that Stiff Inspection wants them deployed at the first intersection, and that we have two bodies that need medical attention.”

“Yessir. Only two, sir?”

“Yeah. The bird I lopped the arm off of isn’t going to make it.”

The mare nodded before turning and bolting down into the mine shaft, Gunther following her. Gusty cast a disapprovingly look over to Zeccaran, he had no reason to let his canine companion continue to harass the mare. The zebra caught her gaze but turned away almost immediately in a chilly manner that made Gusty feel more upset than ever about the day. As the old saying went: when it rains, it pours. She followed Stiff over to her husband trying her best to ignore Zeccaran’s attitude.

“Well the good news is that our targets are where we expected them to be, bad news is is they are where we expected them to be.” Stiff shifted his wings as he looked at Zeccaran.

“Then we are going to have to split up to keep them from trying to slip out through the old shaft.” the zebra replied.

“Well...that is what we planned for, right?” Gusty put her two cent into the argument, if only to keep her mind occupied.

“Yeah, but that means at least one of us will have to stop watching you. And as it would seem just from the last thirty minutes you need all three of us to make sure you aren’t going to slip over the edge into the deep end.” Stiff Inspection snorted. He was right, and at this point Gusty was broken enough to nod in agreement.

“Could we send for another squad? If that mare’s intel was correct, it should be easy to capture everyone else with a few extra bodies.” Zeccaran suggested cautiously. Gusty was surprised at his change of heart but said nothing. Meanwhile Stiff Inspection removed his helmet scratching both his chin and his mane with a hoof.

“We don’t even need a full squad, only two more ponies. The group I sent for should be here in a minute, so long as adding them to our compliment is agreeable, Miss Gusty” He finished with a sarcastic flourish as looked at her. She nodded, feeling pain in her head starting to build again, and doing her best to remain calm.

As Stiff said the squad of eight ponies found its way to them in short order. The pegasus selected the two earthers of the group and instructed them to come with them. They were a pair of big fellows close to Bunker’s size. In fact the three of them standing together looked like they needed to be lineman for a thrashball team. With the addition of the two soldiers Stiff motioned for them to move deeper into the mine, he took the lead carefully walking on muddied dirt and rock. He motioned them into a single-file line keeping to the messy ground to make their hooves quieter.

The path that lead to their destination was only lit by dull oil lamps hanging from ceiling. As the mine grew deeper both minecart path and the ground became more uneven. Gusty had to carefully watch where Stiff Inspection was stepping to make sure she would not slip. The concentration helped to keep her focused and though it took some time moving at this snail’s crawl around wooden support beams and other debris as they proceeded it was effective. Soon enough the dim overhead lights gave way to a brighter one coming from an opening in the wall of the mine. Voices began drifting out to Gusty’s ears and just as she was almost able to see who was speaking Stiff Inspection brought the group to a halt.

Though she could only see part of the room, Gusty could see that it was large and at least partially furnished. The wall she looked at had several sets of wooden bunk beds, nearby there were a set of charts pinned up on what looked to be a set of easles and posts. Curiously, in between the furthest bunk and its neighbor there was a dark hole in the wall. Gusty surmised that it had to be the escape passageway. Seemingly Stiff Inspection agreed, he turned and pointed at the two recruited guards and then Bunker before pointing at the hole.

The three stallions nodded and began to back away from the group, before disappearing into the murk on the other side of the shaft. Ahead of them in the chamber the talking intensified and Stiff turned about quickly to whisper to Gusty and Zeccaran.

“We wait for them to get into position, then we make ourselves known. I’ll inform them of our surrender terms, and that should get any of the mercenaries out of our way. Gusty, keep your horn ready if you want to capture the griffons. Zec, do what you do.” Finished the pegasus crouched down taking he his weight off his legs and transfixed the opening in the rock, waiting.

Gusty did the same, already focusing on levitating anyone who refused to surrender. She could feel her heart beginning to race. They were almost done, yet she felt more uneasy than ever before. Deciding that the best she could do was stare at a shiny portion of rock nearby the escape tunnel, Gusty pondered what it was made of. She had no experience in geology other than the most basic materials, but it was something that could keep her mind occupied instead of wandering into the dark corner she had found herself backed into. Every couple of idle thoughts she would send a fresh wave of magic up to her horn, just to reminder herself that conflict was coming.

Finally, after deducing that the glimmering section of stone was likely gold, as this was supposed to be a gold mine, the silhouettes of ponies could be made out in the shadow of the other path. The glint of something flashed three times and Gusty watched Stiff Inspection lean a wing blade into the light just enough to wobble it three times to send the signal back. This was it.

“That’s my cue. Be ready to act if you want to catch the griffons off-guard,” Stiff stated without turning to face her. Immediately he strode fully into the chamber from where they hid, his hoove echoing loudly over the voices of the griffons. Gusty had yet to hear Gabriella and wondered if she was even there, it would be an enormous problem if she was not.

“Greetings!” Stiff’s voice silenced the voices. “I am Acting Captain of the Equestrian Special Guard Service.” Gusty heard someone cough spitefully in response.

“It has been brought to my attention that the units deployed here have been disavowed by the Griffon Empire. Those among you that are mercenaries will be granted amnesty once you are questioned upon our return to Equestria should you come quietly to our airship.”

“I told you the Equestrians don’t kill contract soldiers!” Some rather gruff sounding fellow shouted.

“Come on, boys and girls, let’s ditch these griffons and that damned ewe. We aren’t getting paid any how!” An equally harsh female voice, of what Gusty was certain was a bird of sorts, cried out right after.

A chorus of grumbled agreement rose up and the clamoring of talons and hooves could be heard as a large group quickly made their way to where Gusty could see them. They were a pretty haphazard group, made up of several parrots, hippogriffs, and ponies each. There was even a single rather short, odd looking creature that appeared to be a giant hedgehog. They passed by without incident until a familiar righteous growl came from the chamber.

“Traitorous snakes!” Gabriella shrieked rolling her consonants hard. “Have ye no scruples?!”

A tall she-parrot of the group stopped and yelled back: “We’re pirates, we don’t even know what that means!” She produced the voice of the female from before. A grumbling of the group’s hoarse laughter followed. The group slipped past Gusty as they finished many giving her surprised looks but keeping silent. They picked up the pace after she cast them an angry scowl. As their bustle died down Stiff Inspection relaxed his stance some and cocked an arrogant glance towards their still out-of-sight quarries.

“Now...I’m sure you fine feathered folks know that Equestrians always prefer to take prisoners in one-sided situations. And I can assure you that is my intention-” A low growl cut the pegasus off.

“Yah be wastin’ yer breath boy. I ain’t be tradin’ one prison for another. This job was me ticket to freedom an’ if you think I ain’t gonna give it mine full canvas: then ye got another thing comin’!” The rattle of the Pirate King’s voice seemed to make the support rafters shake. The drawing of steel shrieked from the chamber providing all the motivation Gusty needed. Springing from her spot against the door she snapped her head towards the small crowd of targets and lifted them into the air with her levitation, even before her eyes could focus.

“I’m sure you can be persuaded, when the alternative is a swift execution.” Stiff responded not missing a beat. The pegasus snapped out a wing blade and strode towards the levitated group. Now able to see who she had snagged Gusty easily picked out the Pirate King and Gabriella amongst the other three bodies. Save the ewe the four other combatants had swords drawn, held in various forms of readiness. Seizing the opprotunity to get what she came for Gusty started to swing Gabriella towards her when the giant brigand of a griffon issued out cold laughter.

“I’ll take my chances fightin’!”

In a near instant he razed the claw with his sabre in it and flung the blade at Gusty. Because he had been in partial stasis she gawked momentarily, completely unprepared until instinct took over. Dropping all of her focus and putting everything into her legs, she skipped narrowly out of the way. It clattered past her bouncing into the darkness as Gusty watched it reflexively. Before she could even regain her bearings to relieviate them the Pirate King and his final cohorts made a mighty scream, charging straight at her and Stiff Inspection. Unable to see beyond the bulk of the Pirate King, Gusty panicked for her companions long enough for him to bowl her over.

Once atop of her the massive griffon smiled with cold recognition of her face before furiously sent his claws flying towards her flesh. She flailed her hooves in an attempt to use her limbs’ length to keep him away. Both of her forehooves found his beak in short order but the lion-bird-pirate was in a frenzy and while he missed her face and eyes he gripped her unarmed legs and drug his talons deep into her flesh. She jerked at the pain, dislodging the pirate enough to catch him with her back hooves. Before he could make matters worse Gusty lurched with her core, arching her back and pushing the griffon up with all her might. The motion was successful at forcing the bird to lose his grip on her legs and tumble over her head and into the support beam. However, he tore flesh from her limbs as he went making Gusty wonder who the action had hurt more.

A wave of heat and light erupted to Gusty’s right followed by the blood-curdling wail of a griffon in great pain. She did not really notice the moment other than it happened, as she was much more concerned with getting back on her hooves. She recovered only slightly faster than the Pirate King. They met eyes briefly, and his cold gaze of madness brought a sense of dread to her heart. This griffon was going to fight to his death, he was a cornered animal, lashing out at anything that even tried to get close. In the next instant he rushed at her again making full bounds on all fours. However, this time Gusty was ready, and she knew better than to hold back.

As he approached she raised up ready to flog him with her hooves as he charged. Slowing his pace just slightly the hulking griffon grabbed her legs again, and began to use his weight to try and pin her. Gusty, however, was ready for his plan and jumped with her rear legs, using her wings to give her a little extra air. Unprepared, the Pirate King’s body hung down as his wings lagged behind trying to compensate for their flight. Gusty did not give him the chance to recover; using his own grip and momentum she swung herself underneath him while still moving upwards. Narrowly able to use her wings to flip herself back upright again as they hit the equilibrium of a hover, Gusty swung her legs back violently landing a full buck. Her hooves contacted his abdomen solidly and she definitely felt something break, but it was not bone.

Wasting no time she drew her blade from its scabbard while still hovering. She took less than the blink of her eyes to refocus on the Pirate King as he somehow managed to pull himself up off the ground. Gusty pulsed more power into her levitation forcing herself to land as she did. The great griffon looked at her briefly and wiped blood from his beak before he snarled as her in a hideous scowl. Almost of its own accord more magic flowed into her levitating blade its brute force hefting the power of something akin to Stormwalker. Gusty did not pause nor did she even think. She swung her sword in a downward arc, letting all of her anger, desperation, and pain push her to her highest speed.

A disturbing sound somewhere between wet slap and crunch overtook Gusty’s senses. As she forced the blade through the Pirate King his body blossomed into a fountain of think gore. His face seemed slow to react to his vertical halving and as his eyes gummed up with his own spraying viscera Gusty felt blade tear clean of his flesh. She watched in a terror-struck stare unable to turn away from the shattered ribs and pulsing display of blood foaming up from his desecrated chest. Somehow, as if overcome by the adrenaline still in the standing portion of his body, the Pirate King’s rear legs helped him up awkwardly before the split corpse tumbled to the side leaving Gusty to stand there, other sounds slowly coming back to her ears.

The first thing she noticed was dark green magic being cast down hall. It hissed and sparked accompanied by the shrill voice of Gabriella.

“Stay back!” She yelled with every volley, “Stay back, stay back! Stay back, stay back stay back!” the ewe continued to cast and shriek.

Her seemingly clouded vision began to clear and Gusty recognized the things before her. The three other griffon’s had been dealt with, their bodies in various states of death scattered about the chamber. Behind a makeshift barrier of tables and overturned bunks, sat the five stallions that had accompanied her. Zeccaran was the first to notice her standing there, instead of covering his head and ears to avoid the concussions of the hearty magic Gabriella kept casting

“Gusty a little help!?” he shouted over the reverberating noise, “You know sometime before she collapses the cave!”

Relief flooded Gusty’s heart. This was the end of this journey, they had managed to pull it off just right too. She took the moment to realize her legs still hurt from being practically clawed off by the Pirate King. Casting her special healthing touch on herself, the wounds stitched up quickly, their damage while significant not out of her realm of skills. She sighed knowing that soon Gabriella would pause to try and recuperate some energy.

Then she would step into the breach snap her up in her magic and put a sleep spell on her like she had once done Amethyst. The similarities of the two ventures in the two different caves made Gusty momentarily wax nostalgic for a conflict that did not come with the same emotional baggage as this one. However, just as predicted the moment came when Gabriella relented her magical attacks, forcing Gusty to drop the notion and perform her works.

With a quick step she was in the center of the chamber out from behind the barrier. She spied Gabriella, backed against a wall, her fuzzy face in tears. Gusty projected her magic to her before the ewe could speak and levitated her over to where she stood.

“It’s over, Gabriella,” she did her best to sound comforting. The ewe just made a strong sniffle of her nose and nodded in response.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Gusty admitted hoping to coax at least some reaction out of the sad creature.

“Oh by the gods above you really are just my mother!” the ewe snarled, caught off guard by her tone Gusty remained silent.

“Neither the two of you get it. Ne’er have yeh understood who I am, and what I was doin’” Gabriella continued, her brogue thickening from her anger to the point where Gusty almost thought she was Gertrude.

“I don’ want to be saved, I don’ need to be saved, I needed to be allowed mistakes! An’ I don’ mean helping me when I need it, but allowing me to grow. These dead griffons treated me with more respect than mine own mum!” the ewe continued to rant as the two guardsponies slipped into Gusty’s vision and began wrapping Gabriella in an all to familiar set of enchanted chains. After shackling each hoof they set a collar around her neck, narrowly dodging her attempts to bite them. Keeping her levitated for ease of face-to-face conversation Gusty gathered her thoughts.

“But...Gertrude loves you, would have done anything to protect you...it was only after you broke her heart… that she sent us here to deal with you,” she told the ewe.

“Deal with me? Did I finally push her too far?” Gabriella haughtily moved her head as much as she could in her bindings a faux smile on her face.

“She asked me to kill you.”

The ewe paused her face thoughtful for a moment. “Huh. I’m almost flattered she ask for that. Pity it came to this, really. But, I get the feeling you aren’t gonna listen to me old dame ewe.”

“No. I think that while you are wrong...your view has a very strong justification, and has just as much weight to it as mine,” Gusty proudly replied. Frankly such a statement was the epitome of who she was. If there was a better solution Gusty would find it; she had to otherwise she would not be able to live with herself. Unfortunately, Gabriella showed her disagreement by spitting at her.

“Well, piss on you and me mum. That line o’ thought be nothin’ but idle nonsense. The world don’t work like that, and yeh know it. Yeh just refuse to see it!”

Ignoring the excruciating accurate personal attack Gusty shook her head, “Even if the world may be that way. You still matter to me. And that is what makes the difference.”

“You fuckin’ cunt what you say doesn’ matter at all! Who are yeh to decide what’s righ’ and wron’! By what authority do yeh think yeh have to say such, ye foul trollop!” Shrieked Gabriella, unwilling to accept Gusty’s mercy. It did not concern the mare too much, Gabriella was going to receive that coddling she so desperately hated regardless. After receiving no response, the ewe slowed to a fit of soft curses and sobs, looking away from Gusty waiting for an answer to her outburst.

“I think in time you’ll find a reason to do good things again. You might not ever be able to return to the Baylands, but at least you can help other people,” she said slowly.

Gabriella’s face streamed even more tears, leaving Gusty to wonder if she was going to become dehydrated from their flow. After a long stint of empty sobbing, a small smile broke the ewe’s face.

“Ah, what’s the point in screamin’ n’ fightin’? For everythin’ tha’ I did, everythin’ I sacrificed, I still lost.,” she paused, a defeated look on her face, “Alright, Oh Gusty the Great. I’ll try it just for you, but ye should know I’m not worth it, not with all the blood on mine hooves that I got.”

“True, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t let you try.”

Gabriella gave her a short chuckle and a genuinely happy smile for her words. A smile that Gusty had not seen ever grace the ewe’s face. She smiled back having to look away in order to not cry as well. She turned to look for Zeccaran just to give him a ‘told-you-so’ look when something hot and warm sprayed suddenly into her face.

She closed her eyes reflexively before lowering Gabriella to the ground. Confused beyond all logic as to what the substance was, she wiped her face with a wing. Upon opening her eyes Gusty looked down at her wing to find blood. Panic taking her heart she managed to perk her head up in time to see the headless body of Gabriella spray another few spurts of blood from her neck before slumping down, chains clanking dully on the stone floor. At the same time something heavy and warm touched her hooves and natural reflex forced her to look down before her brain could stop her.

Looking up at her, sweet smile slowly fading, Gabriella’s eyes twinkled dull. Immediately shaking Gusty loosed several haggard breaths petrified to the point that she could not even retch at the sight. She rolled her head about trying to find out who or what had done this, and why. She found the culprit quickly.

Still holding his bloody sickle in his mouth, Zeccaran looked dispassionately down at his handiwork. His expression was vacant as if he had acted out of boredom and was unsatisfied with the result. Gusty wanted to yell at him to beat him within an inch of his life. Horror and disgust stayed her hooves and loss and sadness made her collapse in on herself. She could feel not-her inside of her laughing, dancing as if she had won some great victory.

Looking down again, trying to prove that what had happened was not real, Gusty froze. She was no longer Gusty in the present, she was no longer even sure who she was anymore. The face that greeted her was not Gabriella’s but the face of the little mare she had seen so often in her nightmares. When the recognition clicked in her brain this time it hurt. It felt as if her heart was literally being ripped out of her chest and the surgeon performing the debauchery was using a spoon.

A maddened scream overtook her and she sobbed and shook where she stood, unable to bend or reach out to the pretty still smiling face of her daughter. They had rendered her powerless. But they had never shown her what it felt like, truly. Gusty looked up the ceiling and then to the monster that had committed this atrocity. The shadowy figure’s bodice split to reveal a wide, sickening smile. It only served to fill her with as much dread as she had guilt and pain. This was the moment, it was too much.

No longer able to control herself, Gusty ran. She ran past the screaming colors and the sounds of horror and the past. It was what she always did before, but this time it seemed like she would never escape, especially the nagging words of Gabriella’s insults. Sounds grew closer and angrier their visages, terrors she needed to keep forgotten. But soon brighter lights came and she took to her wings, knowing that to stop meant death. That remembering meant death. That being happy meant death. That any pause meant death. All in pain and sorrow did the wind carry her away, until she could not remember who and where she was, until she was cold and hungry and alone. But, even then she did not stop, she could not stop, she knew that there was some answer, some part of her left out there, she just had to find it. Gusty was just that kind of mare.

Next Chapter: Act 3: Chapter 1 - By the Moon Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 22 Minutes