By the time that Rain had left the cave where Starlight was originally trying to steal the cutie marks of her fellow villagers, his companions reactions to her actions were… not what he expected. Personally, Rain thought that Shining Armor would scold him for getting himself involved in the affairs of the townsfolk while Luna would not know what to say on the matter… But, after he explained it to them and both of them witnessed Starlight apologize for her actions, both of them… were actually glad for what Rain did. Because if he didn’t act, then Starlight would’ve attempted to do the same thing to the two of them and that would’ve possibly gotten out of hand.

Now though, things were rather different. Not only did the unicorn apologize to her friends for her actions… but she also thanked Rain. Because if it weren’t for his actions, then she feared that she would regret the actions that she would’ve taken if she weren’t stopped. Something that the knight was personally not expecting to hear from her, especially with how she was acting sometime ago.

But it leaved Rain with one question on his mind as both of his companions stood next to him nearby one of the entryways to the village. What exactly was Starlight planning to do now? After they had explained the situation and what he had stopped her from doing, the unicorn herself was rather apologetic and acting much differently than when he, Shining and Luna first met her. A reversal from her earlier behavior when they first met her. But her behavior wouldn’t exactly explain what she would plan to do now.

Yet… the conversation on that subject started when one of Starlight’s friends, Sugar Belle, asked Rain and the others a question. “So… what are you three going to do now? You know… after you catch your ship in Manehattan?”

“Well… our main destination is Griffonstone, but we have to take a detour given that the main route of travel is blocked off by weather…” Rain explained to the Unicorn as he adjusted the red cloth on his shoulder. “So we’re hoping to get as close to Griffonstone as possible by ship, before having to walk.”

That had Starlight and her friends nod for a moment in response. But, instead of hearing a follow up question from Rain this time… they instead heard Luna speak up and take a turn. “Um… W-what are you going to do now, Ms. G-glimmer?”

That… honestly made Starlight raise an eyebrow for a moment. Not expecting to hear such a question from her. “I’m sorry, but what do you mean by that?”

“W-well… you apologized for the things you did already… but now what are you going to do?” She tried to clarify herself, only to sound nervous in the process as she averted her gaze from Starlight.

However, the alicorn wasn’t entirely prepared to hear an answer from the unicorn so soon. Which was why she was thrown a bit off guard when Starlight soon spoke up. “Well… after giving it some thought, I was going to follow some advice that Rain gave me.”

Shining, now turning to his fellow knight, raised an eyebrow in response. “You… gave her advice?”

“After I stopped her original plans earlier,” Rain then told him, before explaining the reason why. “She blamed Stardust for letting her go… but something tells me that she doesn’t know the entire story. So I gave her my royal seal and told her to show it to Sunset. That way, she can meet Stardust for herself and learn the truth from her.”

“And it’s something that I want to do… I’m just really unsure about what would happen to Cèanna while I’m gone.” She answered in response, looking down for a moment… before she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Party Favor directly behind her.

“Don’t worry about it, Starlight,” He told her with a smile on his face as he motioned his head over to where Sugar Belle and the other ponies were. “I’m sure that Sugar, Night, Diamond and I can handle things here while you’re gone. I mean… you’re not the only pony who knows how things work around here, silly.”

Starlight herself… was caught off guard by this. She did not think that her friends would forgive her so easily, even after what she had tried to do. The unicorn could not even think of a response in that moment because of how shocked she was. But instead of showing her appreciation through her words, Starlight showed it through her actions as she turned towards the ponies that were her friends and smiled. All while some tears were coming down her face. “T-thank you…”

Seeing her being forgiven by the ponies she called her friends and her neighbors made Rain feel happy for her. However, he also knew that he could not be able to stay around too long and delay his companions. Heck, Shining Armor and Luna were actually waiting by the back entrance of the town for him. But before he could even tell them anything, that was when Sugar Belle walked up to him and handed him what looked like a picnic basket. “I hope you and your friends do well on your trip. Here are some pastries for you.”

“Oh wow…” The Knight replied, caught off guard by the sudden gift. “T-thank you. That’s very kind of you, Sugar Belle.”

“I thought it would be a nice way to send you off on your way while also thanking you,” The Unicorn smiled, before looking back in the direction of Rain’s friends. “I hope you and your friends can come visit us again sometime. We really enjoyed your company here.”

Rain nodded his head at that as he looked back at Sugar Belle and the others. “I’ll be sure to tell Shining and Fina.” With that, the crimson knight waved goodbye and ran to catch up with his two companions before setting off on their journey to Manehattan.

As for Starlight herself… Now was the time to prepare for her own journey. “Excuse me for a moment… I believe I need to go purchase myself a train ticket.”

The walk from Cèanna all the way to Manehattan was not entirely that big of a walk for Rain and his companions, mostly because all they had to do was keep going east and they would be able to find the massive modern metropolis. However, once they were in the city itself, it took them a lot longer than they originally thought in order to try and find the port because of all the numerous things to see. Something that had Luna distracted every now and then as Shining Armor himself needed to find another map just for the city alone.

Of course, there was also the thing with having to walk through the city that was a bit hectic for them. For one thing, there were specific ‘crosswalks’ that ponies used to go from one street to the next and the streets themselves were not like the port town of Baltimare. There were carriages all over the place and from Rain could tell, it seemed like the primary mode of transportation. This included carriages being drawn by Chocobo’s as well, but it looked like the drivers for those needed a specific license that allows them to drive such vehicles.

Rain and his companions though, did not come for the sights or to go on a carriage ride however. Instead, they were headed over to the port where all the boats going in and out of Manehattan travel through. If they were to go to Griffonstone, then their best bet was to travel through here to the Griffish Isles. The neighboring continent that was a residence to both Ponies and Griffons and what was considered as a ‘middle ground’ for important matters such as trade negotiations.

While Shining Armor was taking care of the accomodations needed to go on the ships and had Luna accompany him, Rain happened to overhear a group a earth ponies that seemed to be outside the local tavern. Sure, what they were talking about might’ve sounded like the equivalent of drunken rhetoric… but there were a few things that caught the knights attention. The first was that they were talking about monster… not like the common beasts that just happened to cross your path, but scary powerful ones. One pony described something to that of a ‘Frozen Witch’ in the mountains north of Manehattan while another was talking about a huge sea monster that was seen as a Water God in other countries.

But before Rain could exactly hear the name of the beast, that was when Shining Armor caught his attention. “Okay, I made the arrangements. The ship will be leaving port soon, so we better get on board…” Of course, that was when the unicorn happened to notice the group of ponies that Rain was listening in on as he just raised an eyebrow. “What’s so interesting that you need to listen in on their conversation for?”

“Well… I was overhearing them talk about some rumors regarding powerful monsters and… well, it made me wonder if they could potentially be other Espers. Like ones who can help us,” Rain explained to him as they were all walking to the ship. “I know that right now is not the ideal time for us to be looking into this matter, but I do think we should look into it at a later date.”

That had Luna look a bit curious as she then asked him something. “Do you think Carbuncle might know about them?” That had Rain scratching his chin for a moment as he began to think on the matter, before giving her an answer.

“It’s possible… Perhaps we could ask him on our way to the Griffish Isles and see if any of the things I overheard sounds familiar to him.” The knight suggested, just as they found their ship and were going up the walkway to the top of the ship. Before the boat began to leave the harbor, Rain actually surprised his two companions by helping out some of the members of the crew with loading cargo and also making sure that everything was tied down. Something that surprised Luna, but not Shining… because he knew that Rain was always the kind of person who would go out of his way to help somepony, whether they asked for it or not.

When they did leave the Manehattan docks though, both of the knights and their companion stayed above deck. Watching the ocean and talking amongst themselves. They even had Carbuncle talk to them about what Rain was mentioning earlier, even though nopony else paid attention to it. “So let me get this straight… You think you overheard something that might be a clue to where other Espers are?” He asked, which was followed by Rain nodding his head and the Crimson Knight explaining what he overheard earlier. “I’m not an expert on all espers… but there are some that send shivers down my spine. Most specifically though, that last one you mentioned.”

The knight turned to the unicorn and also to the alicorn for a moment, but it was Luna who then decided to speak up. “You mean the one about that sea monster?”

“Most definitely…” Carbuncle replied back. “Espers mostly reside within their domain and do not get themselves involved in the affairs of mortals unless they have a pact with them. Like how you guys have one with me… However, most recently, there’s been one Esper that’s been acting outside of their domain and-”

Just as he said that, there was a loud noise. Almost as if something him the underbelly of the vessel that they were in as they all looked at one another. “What was that?”

“Captain! Something huge just went under the ship! Starboard side!!” One of the crew members yelled out as some of them began to try and hold things down while Rain and his companions were trying to understand what was going on. The waves were picking up and some saltwater was hitting the deck of the ship. A dramatic turn from just a few seconds ago when the waters were calm and clear.

All of this though… was beginning to make Carbuncle shudder in fear. “O-oh no… I-it’s here…”

“Carbuncle, what do you mean-?” Rain asked, water almost hitting him in the face as he and Shining looked back at her. “Wait… you don’t mean…?”

The small esper could only give off a small nod, shortly before a big splash was felt by everypony on the main deck as the boat was almost knocked over. The wind around them was dramatically picking up and causing crates to fly off the ship. And from the ocean, the beast that caused such an uproar began to make its presence known. Using its power to tear through the sails, support beams and the hull of the ship.

And just as the captain was yelling for everypony to hang onto something… that was when Carbuncle said it’s name. “L-leviathan…”

Then the Esper lunged at the vessel they were on and sent everything… and everyone on board to scatter across the sea.

Much later…

When Rain was beginning to wake up, he felt himself lie on what felt like a beach. Although, he could not see anything at the present moment since his vision was adjusting, he was relieved to feel himself on dry land instead of floating in an ocean, not to mention being alive after what had just happened.

In the present moment though… he could faintly make out the sound of voices. Not ones that he was familiar with as his eyes were finally adjusted. It looked like a rather… young girl was trying to look among the wreckage on the shore for something. “Man… another ship torn apart and I can’t find anything here…”

That… was a voice he was unfamiliar with. And one that he had not heard before. But he knew that he could not just lay there forever and that he had to try and move. He struggled to try and push himself up… but his efforts did not go unnoticed. “N-no way! A-a survivor?!” The voice he heard from before… squawked? It sounded like a gasp, but it came out more… bird like. Perhaps this creature was a griffon? “H-hey! I-if you can hear me, please say something!”

Of course… Rain did say something when he felt the Griffon’s claws grab hold of his arm, causing him to jolt up rapidly because of how they felt like needles stabbing him. “O-ow!”

“O-oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!!” He heard the Griffon squawk again. “A-are you okay? I-i didn’t mean to hurt you!”

“I-i’m okay…” Rain mumbled, before shaking his head. “W-where am I?”

“Y-you’re… along the northern coast of the Griffish Isles, mister…” When Rain finally had the chance to get his bearing straightened out, he was now looking at a very young griffon. One with dark grey feathers and was wearing what looked to be a red vest with some white colored pants and a red sash to add to it. She also seemed to have some kind of strange glasses on her head that were clear and see through. “M-my name is Gabby… What’s your name, M-mister?”

Before he could introduce himself… or say his name for that matter… that was when they heard somepony else say his name as the knight looked to his right to see both the Azure Knight and the alicorn that were his companions. “Rain!! There you are! I’m so glad we found you!”

“Shining? Lu- I mean… Fina?” Rain corrected himself to avoid trying to cause a panic. “You’re okay?”

“Y-yeah, but you made us worried! When we couldn’t find you earlier, we thought that you were lost and-” That was when Luna stopped talking in order to turn to the griffon that was nearby. “W-who’s this?”

“Oh, hi! My name’s Gabriella, but everybirdy calls me Gabby for short…” She told them, adjusting the glasses on her face for a moment and looked at both Luna and Shining Armor. “This person is your friend, right? Because I was the one who found him on the beach earlier…” The griffon replied, brushing off some of the sand that was on her clothes. “But before I could ask him anything, that’s when you found us.”

“I see…” Shining now added to the conversation, before speaking up and asking Gabby something that came to his mind. “Ms. Gabby… Do you know of any place where we can be able to continue this conversation? I think it would be better for all of us if we were someplace warm.”

“W-why yes, actually! My hometown’s not far,” The excited griffon told them… before realizing something. “But we might encounter monsters though… the Isles have been rather peaceful, but as of lately, with the more times we’ve been having this weather, the more that we’ve been having monsters attack us. We don’t feel safe anymore.”

“Hmm…” Rain scratched his chin at that, before looking at Shining Armor for a moment and coming up with an idea. “We can handle the monsters for you if you just show us the way to your hometown.”

“Y-you really would do that?! B-but we just met and-”

“Yes I would…” The Knight confirmed. “I help others, no matter if it’s a friend I known for years or someone I just met. It’s my creed as a knight to help others, no matter who they are.”

The griffon herself, overwhelmed by hearing this, grabbed hold of Rain’s hands and began to shake them profusely. “Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!! I really do appreciate everything that you are doing for me… Everyone else would too!”

As they began to walk though, that last statement had Shining Armor seem… confused. “Wait… What do you mean by ‘everyone else’?”

As they made their way onto a path and began to go through the dense forest that was nearby, that was when Gabby began to explain everything. “I help run an orphanage in my hometown… a lot of the children here don’t have a place to call home because they were either stranded in this part of the Griffish Isles as survivors of a shipwreck or their parents died. A few of them belonged to a research team that was investigating something in the old ruins a while ago, but when part of the ruins collapsed…” That had the Griffon stop for a moment, trying to regain her composure before looking back at them.

“I’m sorry to hear that…” Shining Armor soon spoke up apologetically. “I didn't mean to bring up anything like that.”

“It’s alright… yet, there’s one thing I’m trying to figure out on my own regarding those ruins that doesn’t make sense…” That caught the attention of both knights as she began to explain what she meant. “There was one little one at the orphanage named Graff… His mother was said to have died on the job at the ruins, but he claims that she’s still alive… The whole thing doesn’t make sense.”

“Are you sure that it’s not him being in denial about what happened?” Shining asked her, now sounding a little curious.

“I’m sure it isn’t… but it’s not just that. He believes that the pony in charge of the research of the ruins may know if she’s alive…” Gabby explained, watching Rain for a moment as he used his sword to cut a log into pieces and clear the obstacle away after channeling some fire around it. “I’m just concerned that he might do something drastic and run off. Especially with all the monsters running around as of lately.”

That was when Luna decided to ask something. “Who… is this pony in charge?”

“Well… it’s been said that his name is Dr. Lazarus… and he originally told everyone in the village I live in that they were wanting ‘volunteers’ to help him conduct research in the ruins… but there are a few that are skeptical,” Gabby explained to them, just as they were crossing a bridge that was at the end of the forest to reach her hometown. “And here we are. Welcome to the town on Trottingham… It may not be much, but this is the place where many of us call home.”

All three of them were amazed by the sight of the town as they walked in. Despite some of the conditions here, the town really reminded them of Ponyville from the designs on some of the houses to the marketplace. The only noticeable difference here was three things. One, many of those that were seen as ‘researchers’ were seen wearing lab coats and had workshops established outside and indoors. Two, the guards of the town did not have any proper equipment because, as Gabby explained to them, it mostly comprised of volunteers who were not with the researchers. And lastly, several of the main buildings, much to their surprise, were actually built from remains of what looked like ships that have been scavenger or stranded along the shores of the Isles. Even the Orphanage that Gabby helped out at consisted of parts and a hull from some ships like the frame in order to serve as a roof for when there was a storm.

Yet, as they were headed towards the orphanage though, that was when one of the children that was there immediately rushed over to Gabby, but with a worried look on her face. “T-thank goodness you made it back, Ms. Gabby!! We’ve have a BIG problem-!”

“Gretchen, I’m sure that it’s not that big as it might seem to be-” She said, before looking up and then realizing something. “Wait a minute… where’s Graff?”

“That’s the problem, Ms. Gabby! He ran away!!” One other child, a young earth pony colt spoke up. “Some of the kids in town were picking on him about how he had no parents to care for him and then he ran off. We tried stopping him, but he got past Greta and said that he was going to find the one pony that can prove them wrong.”

That… immediately startled Gabby, throwing her off guard. “Oh no… This is really bad…” She told herself, before thinking something on her mind. “Wait a minute, where’s Gilda? Isn’t she supposed to be here?”

“She left to go see a friend in Equestria before the storm rolled in,” One of the volunteers, a unicorn stallion named Galiant that was part of the town’s volunteer guard that also helped at the Orphanage told her. He only had a small amount of armor and no weapons, but was carrying a shield on his back. “Medimare and some of the others were trying to hold things down when the storm came through, so none of the others saw him take off.”

Hearing this though lead to Rain to say something to Gabby that she did not anticipate. “We can look for him if you like, Gabby. You found us and helped us explain where we were. The least that we can do is return the favor.”

“Y-you would do that?” She asked, shocked by hearing that original statement from Rain. “T-thank you… b-but I’m concerned that Graff would not listen to you. He’s always a stubborn one despite how he looks on the outside.”

“Then why don’t you come with us then?” Luna then suggested. “I m-mean… If that’s okay…” Luna herself turned away in embarrassment after saying that… but it was from that original statement that Shining Armor picked up on it.

“Your right though… If Gabby’s okay with it, she should come with us in order to help find him.” The Unicorn spoke up. “Mostly because you know exactly where he would be going.”

That soon had Gabby realize what he was talking about as she said it to herself. “The old ruins…”

“Okay, hold up for just a moment,” The Unicorn named Galiant interrupted as he trotted over to the entrance where they were all at right now. “I don’t even know who you people are and right away, you’re trying to be all nice in order to help us. Who are you?”

The unicorn was right about that, despite his loud tone on the matter. Though, Rain himself turned towards the Unicorn and answer his question. “My name is Rain. I’m a knight from the equestrian city of Canterlot. This is my friend and fellow comrade, Shining Armor and our companion Fina…” The moment that they heard who they were, a shudder when down Galiant’s body as he and some of the children in the orphanage looked back at him. “If it wasn’t for Gabby, the three of us would’ve been separated from one another and lost, trying to find help. So the least that we can be able to do is help her in return. Would you agree, Mr. Galiant?”

All the unicorn could do was just simply nod in response. Which, had Gabby let out a sigh of relief as she excused herself for a moment. Needing to take care of a few things around the orphanage and make sure there were a few adults on hand to watch over the children before she was ready to go. It was in that time that Luna and Shining also made sure to restock their inventory with food, water and medical supplies because everything that they had before was either lost or destroyed in the wreck.

It took about five to ten minutes to make sure that everyone had what they need, but by the time they were done, it was time to set off. “Alright Gabby… Lead the way.”

The Griffon nodded, shortly before guiding all three of them to where the ruins were along the eastern coastline. It wasn’t too far away from where Trottingham was, however, the main concern was that a majority of the ruins were underground and consisted within a series of caves and old decaying shrines. Making it hard to tell if the little griffon they were looking for had already raced into one of them unknowingly before realizing what he was getting himself into.

But something really concerning happened when they approached the shrine that Gabby was talking about… and a few steps after entering it, they were greeted by a rather harsh roar as Luna was startled by the sight. “Z-zomponies! Rain, move!”

“Wait. Luna, don’t-!” Rain shouted, but a little too late as Luna fired off a volley of arrows at the undead that approached them. Taking them down quickly… but it was when Luna looked back at him that she seemed… confused.

And when Gabby herself was puzzled too. “Wait… I thought your name was Fina…”

“Um… My name is Luna… I’m Princess Celestia’s sister,” The alicorn admitted to her, before adding onto what she said. “Though, Rain and Shining call me Fina when we’re in public to not attract attention to myself…”

Shining nodded his head there, before adding on and asking something else though. “More importantly though… Rain, why did you not want Luna to shoot? They would have harmed you.”

“Shining… couldn’t you tell who they were?” He asked, flipping one the bodies that was flat on the ground over and pointing at their clothes. Doing the same thing to a few others too in order to point out the one thing they happened to notice. “Those were crew members of the ship that we were just on… and these ones… those were soldiers we knew that were killed in battle and left to rest…”

“No way… That’s necromancy,” Shining himself couldn’t even bear in mind what he was seeing. Somepony not only robbing the graves of fallen soldiers, but also reanimating them into living corpses? They must be completely twisted to disrespect those who had fallen in battle to maintain peace. However… there was one problem with that. “How is it possible though? I couldn’t feel any trace of magic at all.”

It was a rather valid question… but not one that could be answered right away as they heard another sound this time. Not of a monster… but of something else. “Gabby!!”

“G-graff!” She said, sounding relieved as the little griffon ran over to her. “Why did you ran off? Everybody back home was worried about you!”

“Because I wanted to see Mommy… and if anyone knows where Mommy might be, it’s the pony who works here!! Mommy worked here with the pony who’s here… But they never said what it is.” The young griffon told her, “I’ve… also heard stories. Like how if anyone argued with that professor pony, they go missing the next day…”

The next thing that the young griffon said though… immediately caught Rain’s and Shining’s attention. “I’ve also heard about how this pony meets with somebody who wears dark armor…”

“Wait… Dark armor?!” Shining asked, realizing what that could’ve meant as he looked towards where Rain was standing. “You don’t think…”

To Rain though… the thought of it was not one that they should ignore. “Sounds like we need to pay this professor pony a visit…”

It took a long while in order for Rain and the others to find exactly what they were looking for. Mostly because many undead stood in their way as they searched through the corridors of the decaying temple. But it wasn’t just corpses brought back to life that they had to fight, but also monsters that were lurking inside the temple. Possibly drawn to whatever was going on farther in.

There were instances though… that Gabby herself had to fight off a couple of monsters too. But in those instances, Rain and Shining were surprised to see that her abilities… were actually the same as there’s. And that was for a pretty good reason. She called herself a ‘Memorist’, one who memorizes the techniques of others and can be able to perform those same techniques in combat.

However, despite this sounding like a very useful ability, the griffon told them that there were some drawbacks. For one thing, she has trouble with remembering such abilities in the heat of battle, so what she does in a battle is based on what she can remember under pressure. Secondly, what techniques she remembers is random and will not turn out to be the same result every time, like rolling a six sided dice.

But to Rain, her determination and willpower make up for those shortcomings… Including the fact that she’s looking for a proper teacher, but hasn’t had much success because most of her time has been spent watching over the children at the orphanage. But now was not the time to be talking about that.

Because around now… was when they found a secret chamber in the ruins that they were searching through… and inside it, they found… test chambers. Multiple test chambers, some that were open already all of them had screens that looked to have been monitoring the heart rates of the subjects inside. But the heart rates of those that were open were at a standstill.

“What… is all of this?” Shining asked, shocked at what he was seeing. Several of the subjects looked to have been ponies, griffons, and other species that had parts of their own bodies missing… or reattached. All of this and yet, there was still no trace of any magic that could possibly explain how this was possible.

That was… until Luna noticed something. “Hey… There’s somepony over there!” Rain, Shining, Gabby the little hatchling named Graff soon saw what they meant and began to head towards the pony that was at the back of the room nearby a chamber that was twice as big as the others. It was an Earth Pony with a blond mane, light sand colored fur and wore a lab coat with some of his other clothes. He also had facial hair along the sides of his face and what looked like a visor over one of his own eyes.

But when they heard the earth pony first speak though… they could tell that something was off. “Oh… So it is you all. How wonderful!” They heard the pony say with a bit of a crazed cackle in his tone. “I’m glad that I released the strength enhanced regular models… this will make for some valuable data.”

As the pony turned to face them… that was when Rain finally spoke up. “Who… are you?”

“Oh. How rude of me. You may call me Lazarus… Dr. Lazarus if you want to be more specific,” The earth pony responded to them, “I was quite acquainted with some of these crew members… as well as some of your fellow soldiers.”

That… threw both him and Shining Armor off guard completely. “Our… fellow soldiers?”

“Why yes… One of my assistants went all the way to Equestria to rob the graves at the Canterlot Cemetery,” He said, sounding pleased with himself even though the whole thing he was describing was beyond insane. “They were fine soldiers after all. Even dead, they remain so… based on the results that I have been getting so far when you were in combat with them.”

The whole thought of such a cruel act… still was baffling to Rain and Shining. Even the unicorn himself, who would normally remain calm and composed, was disturbed by all of this. “You… turned our comrades into… monsters?”

“Well, you saw them for yourself, didn’t you?” The Earth pony asked as he looked back at the chamber behind him. “The weapons I created… Weren’t they just delicious? And not a single one of my experiments required the use of magic. Yes… this was all done by the mind and by science…”

That though… was when Graff asked Gabby a question, a horrified look on the poor griffon’s face. “N-no… D-did… Mommy…?”

At the sound of hearing the young griffon though was when Lazarus noticed the youngling. “Hmm? I thought you seemed familiar… Why, aren’t you the son of that griffon that objected to my experiments? The resemblance is uncanny! You’re just as brazen as she was.”

But what he said next though… sent chills down everyone’s spines. “Why don’t I turn you into one of my weapons, like I did your mother?”

That… had Graff shiver a little, staring wide eyed at the earth pony in fear. “Wha…”

“Don’t worry…” Lazarus grinned menacingly. “We said it was an accident. It was all covered up neatly.”

That… finally prompted Shining and Rain to take action as they both drew their weapons. “You are a monster!” The unicorn shouted. “Do you think we’re going to let you get away with this!?”

All that did was have the earth pony laugh madly, before shaking his head. “Hehehehe… Oh I am… But I won’t be the one that you will have to be fighting…” With that, he pressed a button on the Chamber in the back as it began to open. The monitor lighting up as they now began to see the abomination that was inside. The behemoth was a monster that consisted of the parts of various different dead creatures, but was pieced together by multiple tubes and machinery. And now, it’s focus was directly on them. “For that… I will leave it to my newest test subject… Test Subject 15… Kill.”

“Gabby! Get Graff somewhere safe-!” Rain shouted, before being forced to block an incoming attack from the abomination as the force of it threw Rain into one of the empty test chambers and shattering it. Sending glass everywhere across the floor.

“Rain!” Shining shouted, before realizing that the massive beast was going for him too and dodging it’s incoming attack before striking with his blade. As for Luna, she was rushing over to Rain and casting a recovery spell to heal him as the knight joined back up with his companion.

“Damn it… That seriously hurt… How are we going to beat this thing?” He asked as both of them had to barrel out of the way of the next attack as the monster destroyed two more test chambers through brute force alone. Both knights could not even think of a proper game plan for how to fight this beast because of it going on a wild rampage and swinging at them every few seconds.

But there was someone… or for that matter… somebirdy that did notice something and soon spoke up. “Guys! I think I got an idea,” They all soon heard from Gabby as she was seen nearby an undestroyed test chamber. “Shining, you have control of ice magic, right?”

The unicorn nodded in response, before sliding out of the way of another attack and then asking a different question. “Yeah, why? How is that going to help us here?”

“Well, while you were fighting just now, I noticed something with that creature…” She explained to them. “If it requires that many pieces in order to keep that creature together, it means that this creation of his isn’t complete! So, if you try to freeze it in place and stop it from rampaging, you can take apart everything that’s holding it together.”

Upon realizing that… Rain soon turned to the griffon as she raced over to where Luna was at right now. “Gabby, that’s perfect!! But what are you going to do-”

“I had Graff hide in cover for a moment so we can help you,” Gabby replied, looking at Luna before she nodded her head and readied her bow this time. “Now don’t just stand there! Find a way to stop it in its tracks!”

Of course… doing that was easier said than done. It took Rain and Shining a few minutes to pull such a feat off and when they finally found a way to do it, it requires the Crimson Knight to basically bait the abomination over to one of the bigger test chambers and just before it could strike him, Shining cast one of his ice spells to freeze the behemoth in place. Providing an opportunity for both of them to cut the tubes that were holding the limbs of the monster together.

However, when there was one more piece left on the back of the abomination, that’s when it broke free. Both of its arms were no longer attached because of the metal tubes that were cut apart… but it did not stop from trying to go after them as it cornered both of them at a wall. But just when the two knights thought that they were done for… they heard a shot fired from a bow as it cut off the last of the cords. Not just from Luna… but from Gabby as well, using a slingshot as a way to mimic the same attack that Luna just did and to finally defeat the monstrosity.

But just when they finally thought it was over… they all soon realized one thing. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen. “Dammit! Where did he go?!”

“I don’t know…” Shining gritted his teeth as he sheathed his katana. “He must’ve escaped while we were fighting.”

“What a surprise…” They all soon heard Dr. Lazarus’ voice echo throughout the room they were in. “It seems that body of yours holds quite a bit more potential then I expected. It seems that Lord Veritas was right after all.”

“Veritas!?” Rain now shouted, realizing that this insane madman was in league with the ones who attacked Canterlot.

“I suppose we’ll meet again… Next time though, I’ll make the fruits of my labor even more challenging for you so you might enjoy our next meeting even more… Heh heh!” They heard the scientist say one last time before the chamber went dead quiet.

“He’s gone… and we were so close to having him too…” Rain said, groaning for a moment in disappointment in not stopping Lazarus while they were here. But it was while Rain and Shining were wrapping their head around this and thinking about what they were going to say to Graff… that they noticed Luna pointing out something to Gabby and Graff that was down the hall.

It was the youngling’s mother… cold and lifeless on the floor as Graff began to wrap her head around everything… and speak to her. Asking why was it that she had to go… why did she have to leave her here. Something that Gabby had to help her with as Shining found the resolve in himself to speak up first.

“I’m sorry for this, Graff… I’m sorry for not stopping the one responsible for this-”

“It’s okay…” He said, before looking back to where his mother was lying on the stone floor. “I… was always worried that she might have been a part of something awful… How dumb of me to think that. Mommy wouldn’t follow the orders of a monster like that…”

A few tears came down the griffons face… but they weren’t exactly tears of sadness based on the original response. “Y-you were amazing… you were the best… but why did you have to be taken away so soon?”

The only thing that could be done now was for Gabby to comfort him again and then tell the youngling something. “Come on, Graff… Say goodbye to your mother…”

Yet, Rain decided to take it one step further… walking over and picking up the deceased griffon’s body. Surprising the others for a moment. But soon giving him his reason why. “I don’t think this is the best place to be saying goodbye… We should give her a proper burial. That’s the least we can do to honor her memory.”

By the time that they returned back to town, the church that Gabby assisted at was able to conduct a proper funeral for Graff’s mother and give her a final resting place that was in the town that her son called home. It was a while after the service and by then, the rain from the storm began to clear up as it was now mostly sunny with a few clouds.

As for Rain and the others… well, they needed to focus on something else. And the sounds of it to Gabby came as a surprise… but not a complete shock. “You’re leaving already? But you three just got here not that long ago.”

“I’m sorry Gabby, but we need to hurry on over to Griffonstone… The people that Dr. Lazarus were describing are responsible for numerous atrocities and we think that they’re going to Griffonstone next,” Rain explained to them.

“Is this about that ‘Lord Veritas’ that he was talking about?” She asked, leading Rain and his companions to nod their head as she let out a deep breath. “I see… I wish I could come with you, but I still need to help out Galiant and the others at the Orphanage… But that doesn’t mean that I can’t help you out one last time.”

That had Rain and Shining look at one another for a moment, confused by what she said. That was… until Luna decided to ask the next question. “What do you mean by that?”

“I have a friend that once lived here, but moved to Griffonstone with her brother to chase their dream of becoming airship engineers,” The griffon explained to them. “Her names Fidget, and from what I have been hearing recently, she’s been making quite a name for herself in the town of Granitebeak. If you tell her about me, she’s more than willing to listen to you… but you may want to hide your bits.”

That… caused the crimson knight to raise an eyebrow. “Uh… why?”

Gabby smiled at them, before looking back to the orphanage when she overheard one of the people at the church calling her over. “You’ll see what I mean once you meet her… there’s a small vessel over on the other side of town that’s big enough for the three of you and is powered by a motor that runs on magic crystals. It should get you over there faster than any other ship right now.”

“Well uh… thanks, Gabby. We really appreciate it.” Shining Armor then told her in response.

“You’re welcome. Just make sure to come back here when your done with your big quest thingy and stay for a while. It’s always nice to have friends come see you!” The griffon said, before turning around and running back over to join up with Graff and the other kids. Leaving Rain with a smile on his face as he, Shining Armor and Luna turned around and proceeded to leave the town.

One thing for sure though… was that he definitely wanted to come back here again.

Author's Notes:

With that, we have another chapter complete and the first part is in the books. Now we move onto chapter 2 and the country of Griffonstone.

In this chapter, we also met Gabby... and her appearance and what she can do was inspired by this art piece I found on DeviantArt -> https://brownie-bytes.deviantart.com/art/Memorist-Gabriella-650557758

But to take things further... I'm making her a vision for Rain to summon. Here are the stats
Name: Gabriella
Job: Memorist
Rarity: 3*~6*
Role: Hybrid Attacker
Origin: FiM
Gender: Female
Race: Griffon
Trust Mastery: Memorist Glasses (Equipment: Def +5, Atk +15% Def +15%, Gains access to 'Copycat', which doubles the chance of her learning techniques from other party members when her HP is below 50%)
Current Trust: 5.0% (Given how Rain and the others have fought alongside her already)

Innate Abilities:
-Memorize- Power (*3, Special) When Gabby activates this ability, she gets the chance to acquire a party members special attack that she can use next turn.
-Memorize- Magic (*4, Special) Upon casting this, Gabby gains the ability to memorize the spells of any party member and use them as her own abilities next turn.
-I can do this! (*4, Passive) Increases the rate that Gabby can be able to memorize skills when wearing light clothes (No, robes don't count.)
-Attention to Detail (5*, Passive) Increased attack power by 10% and the success rate of 'Memorize' skills.
-Memorize- Dualcast (*6, Special) A powerful version of Gabby's memorizes that costs more MP and is a little bit trickier to execute. This ability allows for Gabby to cast any spell that she remembers twice. BUT it only works if there are party members that cast spells two or more times that turn. Otherwise, she's left with not a lot of options in terms of abilities.

The entire premise around Gabby is that when she first starts out, she's not quite familiar with how to use the skills of a memorist, but over time when you level her up and train her, she'll find the right teacher and be a crucial aspect to your team if you choose to put her on there.

I really do hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to what else I have in store.
-Frost