{Chapter 4}
“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain” - Harvey Dent [2008, The Dark Knight,]

Trees crawled past as the conflicted ‘wolf’ slowly strolled around the edge of the forest. On the outside, he was silent, the only sound from his muffled footfalls, and even then, it was near silent. But on the inside, two voices argued over plans both past, and present.

We shouldn’t do this… the Swords grow ever closer…
A green voice quietly advised, it’s voice as soothing a summer breeze.

We mustn't show weakness… They barely hold a candle to our power… We will crush them...
A red voice shot back, with a voice as hot as fire.

But what of the monster? We cannot attract the ire of him!
The calming voice retorted, raising its volume near the end.

His pawns are weak. He will be no different.
The flaming voice answered, as if it was obvious.

His pawns were able to maim us! He will always be stronger than his underlings, and you are a fool to think otherwise!
The calm voice argued, it’s voice cracking and becoming slightly distorted.

You dare call me a fool!? I have crushed nations under my heel! I have shaped the world in my image! I am power incarnate!
The other voice raged in reply, not seeming to fall into the distorted mess that the other had become.

Really?! Then why are you not in Control!? You were shamed! Defeated! And annihilated! The only reason you exist is because of Our power!
The once calm voice continued, only become more and more distorted as time went by.

YOU DARE-!?

‘SILENCE! Thou art both acting foalish! We art merciful to both of thee, and thine squabbles shalt be thine undoing!’
The ‘wolf’ mentally yelled, not even bothering to hold back his old tongue.

...

...

‘Our plan has already faced complications, and we don’t need to add ‘infighting’ to the list.’ The ‘wolf’ explained, it’s tone venomous.

The rest of the walk was in silence, but, after the sun had began bringing the inhabitants of the small town of Brismane into wakefulness, the wolf decided to retreat into the darkness of the woods.

At the same time, Arcane had nearly finished slipping into his room.

“Come on… come on… almost there…” The unicorn muttered as he slowly opened the window to his room, hoping beyond all hope that his brother had oiled the hinges of said window.

“Almost there… just a few more minutes now…” The window opened just enough for the stallion to slip through it, and, thankfully, it had avoided the temptation to make a large amount of noise.

“Aaaaand…” He pleaded, halfway through the window.

THUMP!

“Ow! Shit! Buck! damnit!” A voice yelled from somewhere in the house.

“Alright… I’m done. I’m home. We’re all good.” Arcane Quill said with a sigh of relief, as he closed the window and went into the dining room.

In said dining room, Steel seemed to have fallen off the dining… table.

“Uhhh… Should I ask what you are doing?” Arcane asked, perplexed at the randomness of the situation.

“Curse you… you drive me to drink...” Steel grunted, surrounded by empty bottles.

“Oookaaayy…” The blue stallion said as he slipped out of the house, leaving his brother to his… fate. ‘No sense dealing with a hangover Steel… That’s just asking for trouble.’

All things considered, the town was coping well. With all of the different… things happening, one would expect the townsponies to be a little skittish… at least.

After a bit of a walk, Arcane sighted the tavern of the gods. Around it, there was a few ponies drinking their coffee and talking with friends and family.

The coffee shop itself seemed particularly popular today, and, even with all the extra ponies, they still found a way to give Arcane a wide berth.

‘With everything happening lately, I’m not surprised. Hay, it might even be for the best.’ Arcane sighed sadly as he opened the door to the shop.

Inside, the sounds of merriment remained of constant. And, even with the other ponies avoiding him, Arcane still felt his mood raise. Maybe it was because of the lack of change? Or maybe it was the smell of coffee? Regardless, Arcane was happier than he was a few moments ago.

Not a moment after he took a seat at the bar, the Barkeep moved over to the unicorn. The limping stallion seemed to brighten when he saw Arcane, but the reason why decided to keep to itself for the time being. “Ah! If it ain’t the talk a’ the town! How’s it goin’ lad?”

“Not too bad, my back it killing me though. How about you?” Arcane greeted, mentally trying to figure out what coffee to have.

“Aw’, Ah’ ain’t too bad. A wee’ bit worried ‘bout yerself though. Ah’d heard that ye’ had a run in wit’... ’im” The Barkeep explained, his tone turning venomous with the mention of Jekyll.

“Yeah, it was a bit crazy…” Arcane said, trying to avoid explaining what happened, “Wait a sec… You never gave me your name…”

“Haha! Ye’r a sharp one ain’t ya’? Name’s Ashen Brew! ‘Nd as ya rightly know, Ah’ own this ‘ere coffee shop.” The Barkeep laughed wholeheartedly, “Now, for the ‘portant questions! What do ya’ want coffee wise?”

“Hmmm… I think I’ll go with the Warrior’s Heart.” Arcane chose blindly, not quite sure what else to go with.

“Ah! Good choice lad! Ah’ll brew it up real quick!” Ashen boomed, his voice seemingly unable to be quiet.

Taking this time for his gaze to wander, Arcane quickly found his eyes drawn to a table on the far side of the room. Hunched over it, three being seemed to be discussing something, and, unfortunately, Arcane was only able to hear a few snippets of the conversation.

“Twenty thousand? No, that can’t be right…”

“Aye, that be a wee bit too low...”

“... Finders fee… Areomorne…”

Out of the three, the third voice seemed to be the quietest. For while the blue stallion was able to overhear a few sentences from the first two, he was only able to gather a few words from the third.

“... Twenty now… split… amongst the rest... Three days… Port Seahooves…”

“... ‘ight, ah’ get it.”

“We shall see…”

With those last words, the body belonging to the third voice rose from the table and left the bar. Whilst the first two, who Arcane was able to make out as a pair of Gryphons, remained at the table.

But, before Arcane could ponder this further, Ashen returned with the unicorn’s drink of choice. “‘ere ya’ go lad. Wan’t anythin’ else?”

“This is fine thanks.” Arcane thanked, levitating a few bits over to the barkeep. “So, I was wondering, have you heard the name ‘Areomorne’?”

“Hmm…” Ashen murmured, scratching his chin in concentration. “Ah’ can’t say Ah’ ‘ave. It seems ‘mighty familiar, but Ah’ can’t remember offa’ the top of me head. Why? Are ya’ looking for new lands?”

“No, I had just heard it mentioned and I got curious. That’s all.” Arcane bluffed smoothly, ‘I never mentioned what it was…’

After finishing his drink, Arcane began the quick trek over to his new workplace. Once he got there, he spent a few hours cleaning, and clearing out broken bits of furniture. But, in the end, he was snapped out of his working frenzy by the sound of a familiar voice.

“You need a hoof?” Steel greeted, placing down a medium sized box with the word ‘Library’ scrawled on the front. “I saw this in your room, and I guessed you’d need it.”

“Thanks, it seems you guessed right.” Arcane replied, moving the box into the library with his telekinesis. “Now, if you want to help, we’re going to need to fix up these bookshelves.”

“What’s wrong with them?” Steel asked, confused.

“While the outer wood is fine, the shelves have minor to major wood rot. Hopefully, we’ve caught it quick enough to stop it from getting to the rest of the building.” Arcane explained, pointing out of few bookshelves near the entrance. “Hopefully, the extra plywood I found out back will be able to fix it…”

“Alright. It looks like you’ve got it all planned out, as usual.” Steel ribbed, “Shall we get to it?”

The two brothers then spent the rest of the day fixing up the library with whatever they had on hoof. They caught up in between blood and sweat, discussing the finer points of both the past, and the future. Speaking of hopes, and most importantly, dreams.

Pondering all the different things they needed to do, and, of what they had done.

But, for some surprising reason, the conversation ended up in the strangest places…

“I’m telling you, Celestia was able to kick Nightmare’s flank once. And the only reason she wouldn’t do it again, is because she didn’t want to banish her again.” Steel argued as he piled the rotten shelves together.

“That's cause she had the Elements. Also known as, the ultimate trump card. In a fair fight, Nightmare would’ve won!” Arcane shot back as he worked on replacing said shelves.

“In a fair fight, there wouldn’t be a Nightmare Moon! It would be Luna vs Celestia. And Celestia would still win.” Steel reasoned, continuing the argument civilized debate.

“Nooo, it would still be the same power levels. The only reason she became Nightmare Moon is because she needed the intimidation factor. Would you revolt against a ruler that looked like that?” Arcane continued,

“Yes!”

“No, you wouldn’t, you’d be pissing yourself.” Arcane teased.

“I would not!” Steel cried, “I am part of the Brismane Militia! I would not piss myself!”

“Yes you would! Did you even see the pictures? That mare is scary! Hay, even the Royal Guards had some trouble.” Arcane reasoned, not bothering to mention that the Guard part was just speculation.

“Fine! But what about…” The two brothers continued their back and forth for almost the rest of the day, using it to keep their minds off the work. And, by the end of it, it looked quite good, all things considering.

All it needed was books. Lots and lots of books.

“So, how does it look?” Arcane asked, referring to the, now usable, public library.

“I think it looks great!” Steel replied, happy with the end result. “Now, all it needs is more books.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna put an order in tomorrow.” Arcane admitted, brushing off some dust that stubbornly cling to his fur.

“So, want’s next?” Steel asked, glancing at the evening sky. “It’s getting a bit dark…”

“Hmmm… How about we close up and head home? There isn’t much to do now.” Arcane suggested, “‘Sides, I’m tired.”

“Alrighty, sounds like a plan.” Steel replied, moving back to the library as he fished out his keys.

“That reminds me,” Arcane began, following Steel, “Have you ever heard of ‘Areomorne’?”

“Only whispers of it, why?” Steel asked with an arched eyebrow.

“I overheard somepony talking about it, and it got me thinking.” Arcane said with a shrug, “And, you know how I get.”

“Fair enough.” Steel chuckled, before continuing, “Well, from what I’ve heard, it’s this place over on the far side of the ocean. Apparently, an old sailor found it, and, as the story goes, he found ponies on it.”

“Really? I thought only Gryphons were over there.” Arcane asked, bemused.

“Nah, even further than them.” Steel replied, “Anyway, from what he said, he had found these ponies using insane things. Towers that go past even the clouds, flintlocks that can shoot thousands of times without reloading. That sort of stuff.”

“Afterwards,” Steel continued, “The guard investigated his ship, and, as it turns out, he had a couple pounds of fermented poison joke.”

“‘Fermented poison joke’? What do you mean?” Arcane questioned, “I heard of poison joke, but not the fermented stuff.”

“Ah, it’s a pretty new thing.” Steel explained, “It turns out that if you treat it right, poison joke can become a ‘recreational drug’. I think the list was something like… Relaxant, hallucinogen, something, something, addictive.”

“Ah…” Arcane murmured, “Do you know anything else?”

“About the poison joke? Or the sailor?” Steel inquired,

“Both.” Arcane answered with a nod.

“Well,” Steel began (again), “The poison joke came from someone near the everfree forest, and if you ever get on that stuff, I won’t have to kill you. It’ll make you sorry enough itself.”

“As for the sailor, he ran away, never to be seen again. And, the story kinda died with him. Now, it’s just the ramblings of a high drunk.” Steel finished as he and Arcane entered their house.

“Hmm... “ Arcane murmured to himself, losing himself in thought for a few moments.

“So, what do you want food wise? It’s almost dinner time.” Steel asked as he made his way over to the kitchen.

“Umm… I dunno, what do we have?” Arcane questioned in reply as he followed his brother.

“We’ve got… a pizza I could heat up… some veggies… maybe enough for a couple hay burgers… Mexicoltan… Or we could go out.” Steel listed off, “I dunno about you, but some nachos seem like a good idea.”

“Alright, let’s go with that.” Arcane decided with a nod.

“Sweet, I’ll cook this up.” Steel expressed, turning on the stove.

“I can do it-” Arcane began, only to be cut off by Steel.

“No. No you cannot.” Steel responded, his tone implying there wouldn’t be any room for discussion.

“... Fine.” Arcane said, “But I’m telling you! I can cook now!”

“You said the same thing when we were kids, and then you burned toast into a liquid state.” Steel deadpanned,

“That was years ago!” Arcane protested,

“Only a few.”

“Come on… come on… Yes! 20!” A shout of victory rose from one of the normally abandoned corners of the Black Bow coffee shop.

The shout seemed to have came from a fiery red earth pony with a cutiemark of a pair twenty sided die with the numbers, ‘1’ and ‘20, who, along with four others, surrounded a decently large table. Said table was currently burdened with a multitude of parchment sheets are dice.

At the head of the table, a rectangular red oak screen divided one figure from the rest of his companions. The screen itself was divided into three sides and connected by some magnets, on the front of each side, a different carving took up the once bare wood.

On the left side, a huge stylized dragon did battle with a small minotaur gladiator. On the right, a detailed shield with the words ‘The Dice Giveth, and The Dice Taketh Away,’ with the likeness of a twenty sided die under it.

And finally, on the front, a group of two ponies, a gryphon, and a zebra stood proud. And, behind them, the figure of a large cloaked unicorn stallion levitated two dice in his magic with a sinister grin on his face.

All in all, it was a very fancy screen.

The figure behind the screen, who, behind his dark cloak was actually a zebra, seemed to be the one in charge of the party. And, if him being at the head of the table didn’t give it away, the fact that, whenever he spoke, the others would fall silent, would.

To his left, the red coated stallion brushed his deep orange mane out of his face. And, to his right, a black maned pegasus ruffled his chocolate brown wings, his cutiemark of a stylized burst of wind laid faithfully on his rear.

Next to the brown stallion, a grey furred unicorn sipped at a cup of coffee, his cutiemark of two axes crossed over a scroll sitting content on his flank.

And, taking the final place at the table, Arcane Quill enjoyed a game of Ogres & Oubliettes with his, new, group of friends.

“You charge heroically forward, battle axe in hoof, and, you bring it down on the lich’s head. Roll for damage.” The zebra said in reply.

“Alright…” The red stallion murmured, taking an eight sided die and giving it a roll. “Aaand, five!”

“Your battle axe splits the lich’s skull and travels down the first few vertebrae of it’s spine. It falls into a heap, dead.” The zebra finished, removing a figurine of an undead creature from the map in the middle of the table.

“Alright, Zyon, I’ll move to take out the remaining undead with my crossbow.” Arcane spoke up, gesturing to the other undead figurines on the map.

“Alright, take your rolls.” The zebra, who identified as Zyon, said with a wave of his hoof. And, a few seconds later, the sound of dice rolling filled the air.

“The undead fall under your mighty crossbow, with a crossbow bolt sticking out of either their head, or their torso.” Zyon praised with a nod.

“So, Arcane, you play often?” The brown stallion asked, “Cus’ it seems like you know what you are doing.”

“Not really, I’ve only played once or twice, what about you Styled?” Arcane asked in reply.

“Only a little, I think this is my… third-ish game. Honestly, Battle and Zyon are the ones who play all the time.” Styled replied, gesturing to the grey furred stallion and the cloaked zebra.

“Hey! I play too!” The red stallion protested,

“Not really Chance. At least, not as much as these two.” Styled shot back with roll of his eyes.

“True that.” The grey stallion added with a smirk, “I am named Battle for a reason.”

“Alright, I think that is all we’ll have time for tonight.” Zyon announced sadly, “It’s getting a bit too late to start the next part, so, let’s call it here.”

“Awww…” Chance sighed loudly, “Alright… I’ll wait for next time.”

“When will we be playing again? I don’t want to leave you all without a cleric.” Arcane asked with a chuckle,

“Uhhh… I dunno, how about next week?” Zyon shrugged, putting the idea in the air.

“Same time?” Battle fished, looking for clarification.

“Yeah, is everypony alright with that?” Zyon clarified, and, was greeted with a unanimous agreement. “Alright, see you all then.”

With the dungeon master’s last words, the group dispersed into the late night crowds. Leaving only Arcane, Styled and Zyon at the table, with the former two helping the zebra pack up all the sheets and dice.

It didn’t take long, a few minutes at most. And, at the end, Zyon left the two stallions to their musing with barely a ‘farewell’. But, they both understood the reasons, the zebra was sure to have a busy day at the hospital tomorrow.

From his own words: ‘Turns out, creating an explosion of light tends to destroy windows. And, funnily enough, ponies don’t seem to like falling on glass. Who would’ve thunk it?’

“So, what do you do for a living?” Arcane asked, slowly finishing off a mug of decaf coffee.

“I do art, mainly carvings.” Styled replied with a shrug, “I even made the DM screen Zyon’s using.”

“Really? Good job, it looks amazing.” Arcane praised with a nod, “I might even commission a few things in the future… Maybe.”

“Thanks, I think that one is one of my favourite, just behind a deco hilt… I’m not even sure where that one ended up…” Styled murmured the end, looking out into space.

“‘A deco hilt’? Who was that for?” Arcane asked, curious.

“I think it was for a guard, not sure what the name was. It was a good while ago, so I’m not surprised if it changed hooves…” Styled explained, tapping a hoof on his chin, “It was a beautiful thing, in the center, a stunning citrine crystal shaped into the likeness of the sun. The hoof guard had carvings of dragons and fire, and to tie it all in, the customer commissioned a blacksmith to add some gold highlights to the pommel, and, to tie it all in, a fiery ruby, enchanted to keep the sword strong and sharp.”

“It was truly a work of art. With four different craftsponies working on it… I’m glad to have been one of them.” Styled exclaimed with a sigh of happiness.

“Did it have a name?” Arcane urged, happy to learn more about his new friend’s passion.

“Yeah, the owner called it ‘Solar Fury’, Quite fitting if you ask me.” Styled continued, still staring out into space.

“Why’s that?” Arcane asked, trying to keep the conversation alive.

“Aside from the details, the citrine had something in it, and don’t ask me how it works, cus’ I’ve got no idea. But, when it gets hit, be it from magic, or kinetic, the energy gets transferred into the sword. And, if you used enough force to break it, it’ll just use that force to make itself stronger.” Styled paused for a moment, thinking about how to give the sword it’s due, “Add in the fact that it’ll get sharper as well as stronger, and, the capability to add on more layers of enchantment that would gain the same empowering effect… Hay, I even heard that the buyer was going to add a few fire enchantments on it…”

“Wow… That’s... “ Arcane stammered, the power of this weapon finally dawning on him. “Just… wow...”

“I think I should head off now, I’ve got some commissions to catch up on in the morning.” Styled sighed sadly, “I’ll see you next week, right?”

“Uh, yeah, I’ll see you then.” Arcane replied, tripping on his words a little.

“Alright, see you then.”

Someone is coming… We need to make our move...

The fractured being’s mind was in turmoil, two different options were given. And neither were desirable.

Leave them. We will make our move if we are needed. And only then.

And such is how things went, sitting outside the window, peering in at their savior. In a form made more of gas then of solids, making the being almost completely transparent in the moonlight.

We shouldn’t wait. You know how… efficient they are...

But if we intervene, we’ll attract too much attention. They’ll take a more active role in hunting us. And, by extension, our savior.

Fine… his blood will be in your paws...

We shall see…

After Styled had left, Arcane decided to chill in the coffee shop for a little while longer. The only reason being his own procrastination to leave the warmth that had found itself inside the aforementioned coffee shop.

Ordering another decaf, Arcane moved from his table to the main bar, where half of the other inhabitants had already claimed. Near the left end, a small party of two ponies and minotaur seemed to emit merriment, in complete denial of the time.

So, like the stallion he is, he made the logical decision to sit… at the other end of the bar.

And, before long, someone else joined him.

With barely a sound, a gryphon clad in a light brown cloak sat next to the blue unicorn.

“What’s up?” The newcomer asked, his voice deep and gravely.

“The sky, despite my best attempts to bring it down.” Arcane replied, enticing a chuckle from his new companion.

“Fair enough, I don’t think I’ve heard that particular answer yet. Name’s Typhoon. Yours?” The gryphon greeted, extending a claw for a hoofshake.

“Arcane Quill. So, what brings you here at this time of night?” Arcane asked, accepting the aforementioned shake.

“I could ask the same thing to you.” Typhoon said, avoiding the question.

“That you could.” Arcane shrugged, before returning to his coffee.

For a while, the two just sat there, enjoying the coffee this place was known for. And, if Arcane had paid more attention, he would’ve noticed the figure watching from the window to his right.

Unfortunately, The gryphon did.

“That your buddy?” Typhoon asked, his voice near a whisper pointing out the figure on the windowsill.

“Who?” Arcane asked dumbly, looking in the direction the gryphon was pointing out.

‘THUMP’

I seem to remember mentioning that this would happen...

This is not the time to have this discussion.

"Agreed, first, let’s remove this abomination from our sight." The being muttered, straining to keep the rage out of his voice as he returned to his almost-solid form.

Before any other comment was made, the wolf smashed through the glass separating him from his target. The Gryphon seemed surprised that the being was able to retain a solid form, and thus, was wholly unprepared to deal with the charging beast.

The others in the room acted no better, the patrons at the bar either, in the ponies’ case, fell back and ran off, or, in the minotaur's case, backed up slowly, trying to stay out of the brawl.

The other ponies scattered around the room seemed to take initiative and removed themselves from the general vicinity of the fight, and, ironically, sat down to watch.

In the end, the Barkeep’s reaction was the most interesting. Instead of running like other ponies, he reeled to grab an old worn warhammer situated on the wall behind the bar. But before he could do too much, the wolf hit his target.

Due to his leap, the first thing that hit the gryphon was his claws. And, despite his ethereal look, they still sank a good few inches into the one known as Typhoon’s chest, knocking them both onto the floor.

With a twist, Typhoon knocked his attacker off him and rose into a fighting stance, pulling out a hand axe that was, previously, hidden in his cloak.

Snarling at the prospect of losing his new found prey, the wolf once again charged, the mist leaking from it’s eyes flashing and pulsating.

As the wolf closed in, the gryphon swung his hand axe, catching the beast in the side of it’s head. The force causing it to sink in for a few inches, an eye for an eye.

But, this didn’t seem to slow the wolf, instead, the light in it’s eyes changed with a flash.

From the icy blue, it had now became an angry red.

And, with his eyes, the mist that made up his body took on a slight red tinge. Changing from the calm view of galaxies, it now shuddered, twisted, and flashed. Becoming all the more chaotic.

“Motherbucker!” Typhoon screeched, stumbling back before grabbing another hand axe and taking the offensive.

The wolf expected this, ducking under the double axed swing and latching onto the side and neck of the gryphon with his jaws. Much like the wolves of old would take down deer.

Blood flooded the ethereal wolf’s mouth, it’s coppery taste bringing all the more satisfaction it him. But, alas, it wasn’t to last.

Typhoon was ripped from his jaws by the blunt stopping power of a warhammer backed up by earth pony strength.

The gryphon seemed to take offense to that, and, instead of retrieving his lost hand axes, he grabbed out an odd looking wooden contraption.

In a split second, Typhoon had taken aim, and… fired.

In another split second, Ashen Brew fell to the floor with but a peep, the copious amount of blood showing all the wolf needed to know.

“Lucky shot, you ruinous piece of shit.” The wolf growled, before lunging forward and ripping the gryphon's throat out.

Before long, Typhoon choked to death on his own blood. And, with a quick growl, the rest of the patrons of the bar ran off into the night, leaving only the wolf, a pair of corpses, and a unconscious Arcane.

“And this is why, you listen to me.” A wolf growled to itself as it moved over to Arcane’s limp body.

I’ll be sure to remember this next time.

Arrrgg… oww… ehhh…

Heh, it seems he’s out for the count. Enjoy your power, it won’t last long.

The final comment from his subconscious drew only an eye roll from the wolf. Momentarily taking his focus away from his current task of dragging Arcane away from the coffeeshop.

“At least I’ve got power. Unlike someone else I know.” The wolf jabbed, enjoying the fact that it got his conversation partner to shut up for a moment. ”Now… let’s get this done quickly. That gryphon fuck smelled awfully tasty, and it’s been too long since I’ve eaten a good kill…”

Please don’t…

Deciding to ignore the other’s opinion, the wolf continued to move Arcane towards his home. Unsurprisingly, the panic drawn from the fight had awakened a good majority of those who live near the coffee shop. But, thankfully, the wolf and his cargo was able to make it to their destination without being seen.

“Now, where did that brother of his run off to?” The wolf muttered after dragging Arcane onto his dining room table.

Maybe he is still asleep?

“I doubt it. If he was a true warrior, he’d be going to the fight.” The wolf shot back, “Anyway, will you awaken the prime personality? I’ve done my part.”

I didn’t expect you to give up power so quickly… Who are you, and what have you done to my brother?

”Hardy har har, just wake him up already. I’m fucking tired.” The wolf said with a roll of his eyes.

Your will be done, your royal bitchiness.

Before long, the wolf returned to his original color scheme with a shudder. And, not long after that, he returned to the forest, licking his wounds. Leaving Arcane to be found by his brother in the morning.

When morning came around, Arcane was awoken by the sound of a, very, angry brother of his.

“WHAT THE BUCK HAPPENED!? WHO’S BLOOD IS THIS?!?” Steel screamed, shaking Arcane awake.

“Wha? Stop yellin’, my head hurts…” Arcane muttered as he pushed Steel off him and rubbed his head.

“Nonononono! You’ve not getting out of this! What the buck did you do last night!? I close my eyes for ONE MOMENT! AND YOU COME HOME LIKE THIS!” Steel continued, ranting a raving Arcane’s ears off.

“Calm! Calm your face!” Arcane yelled back, grabbing Steel and giving him a solid slap across the face. “Now. Explain what you are yelling about.”

“You. Are. Covered. In. Blood!” Steel explained, loudly. “What did you do?!”

“I’ve got no idea what you are talki-” Arcane cut himself off as be became aware enough to notice that, yes, he was actually covered in blood. “I’m sure there is a perfectly logical and reasonable reason for this.”

“There better be…” Steel muttered as he removed himself from his brother and went to his whisky cabinet. “I’m running out of booze…”

Arcane sat there for a few moments, unsure on how to respond to his brother’s current priorities.

“I’m going to take a shower…” Arcane said, not even bothering to wait for a response. Only feeling the need to, A, get himself off this bloody table, in both meanings of the word, and B, to be rid of all the blood.

‘I’m not sure what’s worse… not knowing where it came from… or knowing…’ Arcane brooded as he opened the door to the shower and started getting the water running. All whole time, turning his necklace end over end. ‘Maybe I should ask the wolf?’

Thinking over his options, Arcane stepped into the shower, letting the water run through his fur. Unsurprisingly, the water came off a muddy red with a few small leaves scattered around.

After a while, the water started running clean, leaving Arcane to sit in the steamy shower, thinking about his life choices.

‘Yeah, that seems like the best plan. Maybe I could see Ashen on the way…’ Arcane pondered, turning off the shower and grabbing a towel. ‘The last thing I can remember… What was I doing? I think… I was in the coffee shop… I had been playing with some new friends… And then… A gryphon?’

‘What was his name? Ty… Ty… Tynoon? Typhoon? Yeah, that’s it! Typhoon!’ Arcane mentally cheered, slowly piecing everything together. ‘He… he wanted… something. A gravely voice… a question… and then… something. What was it?’

After drying off, Arcane returned to the dining room to clean off the table, only to find his brother, Steel, strapping on his silver Militia armour.

The armour looked faintly similar to the armour of the Royal Guard, but with a few differences. The most blatant would be the lack of white fur. Instead of making the coat of the wearer a uniform white or dark grey, it kept the fur the same. The reasoning behind it as simple as it comes… Time, and bits.

Where the Royal armour would be gold plated, the Militia armour had forgone this aesthetic improvement and kept the silver look. The same could be said for the fur enchantment, and, due to the maintenance of the militia armour being left to the wearer, the lack of fur enchantments kept the maintenance times to a minimum.

Another bonus to the different color scheme, is that officers would be able to quickly notice whether they are dealing with the highly trained and heavily armed Royal Guard, or, the guerrilla tactics of the Militia Guard.

But at the same time, the forces they were fighting would have the same advantage, so, just like that, it becomes a double edged sword.

“What’s going on? I thought you’re on a break?” Arcane asked, confused.

“I was on a break. I’ve been called in, apparently there has been a murder or something.” Steel explained darkly, “I think the sitrep was… One dead, one in critical condition, one missing, one case of illegal weapons, smuggling, attempted kidnaping, and a few other things.”

“I’m going to have to ask you to come with me.” Steel sighed, moving into ‘Guardstallion mode’, “I don’t think you’re in trouble this time, but we’re going to need to bring you in for questioning.”

“Okay? I’m not sure if I’ll be much help, but if you say so…” Arcane replied quietly, a little overwhelmed with the current developments.

Steel stayed silent as he strapped on his shortsword and wingblades. With the sword as standard issue, and the wingblades for his race, obviously, he wasn’t much for customisation.

And, before long, they were off… in the direction of the coffee shop.

“Umm… isn’t the Guard's station the other way?” Arcane pointed out, confused once again.

“Yes. But we’re going to the crime scene, maybe you’ll remember a few things if we go there.” Steel explained bluntly.

“And where is the scene?” Arcane inquired, trying to get a hold of the situation.

“The ‘Black Bow Coffee’ shop.” Steel answered in his ‘Guard voice’. The voice he uses when he is working, the voice, of no emotion.

“Oh…”

The rest of the trot was silent, neither party willing, or wanting, to hold a conversation. And, not long before they reached the coffee shop, they were joined by another Militia Stallion, who, unsurprisingly, remained silent.

What was surprising, was that instead of the standard shortsword, the new guard had a pair of short battle axes. And, on top of that, from Arcane’s perspective, the new stallion’s fur was only just darker than the silver of his armour. But at the same time… he looked familiar…

‘What was his name? Barge.. Brigot… B… B…. Battle! He was… playing a game with me and… Zyon… and… the others.’ Arcane realised, turning to the new stallion and asking, “Battle? Is that you?”

“Yep, and it looks like you’ve got yourself in a fine mess.” Battle replied, shuffling in his armour uncomfortably. “What did you do anyway?”

“No idea, all I know is that I woke up covered in blood, and that I’m, probably, not in trouble.” Arcane explained with a shrug. “And on top of that, I’m having a bit of trouble recalling what happened last night.”

“Discipline…” Steel hissed at the other guard, who, in turn, snapped back into a rigid trot.

“Fine… I’ll stay quiet…” Arcane muttered, ‘Well… Steel is, very, pissed…’

Before long, the trio came within sight of the coffee shop, which, wasn’t looking the best. The glass windows out the front and side were trashed, shattered glass covering much of the grass around the building.

The door had been knocked off it’s hinges, and from what he could see, the interior wasn’t much better.

Aside from the main bar being taped off, there was blood splattered everywhere, and a few bloody weapons were scattered around the floor.

Unfortunately, it only got worse the closer they trotted. And, once they had entered, Arcane was a little bit green, mainly from the dead body near the middle of the bar.

Although it was covered with a sheet, Arcane could still make out chunks of bloody muscle scattered around the body, and, on top of that, the large pool of blood that was seeping under the sheet wasn’t helping the situation.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Battle and Steel passed Arcane over to a gold armoured stallion who was backed up by a pair of silver guards.

Before Arcane could even consider running, the Officer noticed his presence and called him over.

“Alright, what happened?” The officer asked, his voice giving away the fact that he, really, didn’t want to be there.

“I-I’m not sure, I remember… playing with a few of my friends at that table,” Arcane started, gesturing to the table he had sat at, “And after… I… sat at the bar, and enjoyed some coffee…”

“And after a bit… A gryphon, Typhoon, sat next to me… and I think he pointed something out? And then… something.” Arcane finished, trying desperately to remember what had happened.

“What do you mean, ‘something’?” The officer growled,

“I-I don’t know, just, something. A… pain maybe? I don’t know…” Arcane tried to explain, “I don’t remember anything after that…”

“Maybe this’ll jog your memory.” The officer grumbled, pulling the cover off the body.

It looked horrible.

The gryphon’s neck was gone, leaving only a gaping, bloody, hole. His side was mutilated, claw and bite marks riddling his hide. And the blood… it was everywhere. Arcane couldn’t even see the original color of Typhoon’s feathers. And that’s not all, the stomach looked like a manticore had ripped it open and has halfway through eating him out.

Before Arcane could form any reply, a large bang filled the air. The officer he was talking to’s head exploded with a shower of gore, and not a moment later, two more explosions signaled the end of the officer’s personal guards.

“GET ON THE GROUND!” A voice shouted from the entrance, causing Arcane to turn, only to see a group of three gryphons, an earth pony, and a zebra charging in.

The gryphons were clad in a familiar cloak, two of them were brandishing a pair of flintlock pistols in their claws, whilst the third and final one was wielding a longer, more powerful, weellock rifle.

The earth pony on the other hoof seemed to be in a heavily modified version of the normal militia armour. Instead of favouring mobility, this armour looked more like the suit Ashen had worn, with interlocking plates covering wherever they could, and the other areas being covered by chainmail and a underbarding of reinforced leather. Said earth pony was currently turning a militia guard into a kabob on his side mounted lace, and, from what Arcane could see, the pony would be able to fall back on the massive battleaxe sheathed over his back.

Finally, the Zebra.

Clad in reinforced, blacked leather armour, with what looked like a cape of dragon scales being proudly displayed on his, no, her back, and ending with a hood that was loosely pulled up around her head.

With what looked like a black cloth around her muzzle, obscuring her identity, the zebra danced around the guards, killing them with precision hits with her foreleg mounted knifes.

All in all, Arcane was almost shitting himself.

Barely a moment later, the earth pony was chopped in half by a wave of icy blue energy. And with the energy, a bright flash of the same colour foretold the entrance of a very familiar wolf.

"Thou hast tested Our patience for the last time! Now face thy doom!" The wolf howled, charging the rifle wielding gryphon.

Arcane, frozen by fear, was thrown behind the bar by the form of his brother. Who, after glancing at Arcane to make sure he was behind cover, charged the zebra with a war cry, brandishing his wingblades.

“Buckbuckbuckbuck!” Arcane quietly cried to himself, as he inched over to Ashen’s door. “Don’t see me, don’t see me, don’t see me…”

He had almost made it to the door before the wolf was launched into the space in front of him.

“You’re going to regret that!” The wolf cried, his voice cracking into another’s voice halfway through his cry. And at the same time, causing a rush of air away from him.

Not a moment later, the death cry of a gryphon filled the air. But, that didn’t mean anything to Arcane, his mind was wholeheartedly focused on one goal. The goal of survival.

But, even then, he was destined to fail.

The back door was busted open by another earth pony, this one clad in the same armour as the first, but instead of a lance and battleaxe, this one wielded a great sword in his jaws.

Fortunately, the pony ignored Arcane in favour of attacking the wolf, but, unfortunately, another zebra, equipped in a similar fashion to the first, followed behind him, who, unlike his pony brethren, saw Arcane.

Arcane didn’t have a chance to escape, the zebra was quick in his strikes and before Arcane could make a sound, he fell to the floor, unconscious.

In the eyes of the firey wolf, the battle was truly glorious. In his opinion, it had been too long since he had a good brawl.

But, that changed pretty quick.

Once Arcane had fallen, the other guards were quick to follow. Be it in a bloody last stand, or a dishonourable backstab. And, before long, the wolf was the last one standing.

I count three assassins, a few firing lines of gryphons, and enough heavy infantry to give even us pause. We should stand down, we can’t fight all of them.

‘If we give in, what will happen to our savior? We shall stand till the last. And, if that means we fall in this battle, then we shall bring as many of these fuckers with us as possible.’ The wolf mentally pointed out, reinforcing his claws with his magic.

Fine. Make sure to mark the assassins, we cannot lose track of them, it’ll be our undoing.

With the remains of his fractured mind in agreement, the wolf began his last stand. Charging forward to slice through three earth ponies with his magically enhanced claws, twisting at the last moment to dodge the barrage of small arms fire.

Once landing, the wolf charged once again at the firing lines, scattering all those he didn’t kill.

His claws bloody, he twisted mid air to dodge a well aimed strike from a zebra assassin, once landing, he rushed forward, grabbing the foolish assassin’s neck in his jaws. Once grabbed, we turned the body to catch a thrown hand axe, once the axe landed, he threw the, now dead, zebra at the slowly regrouping gryphons.

Barely pausing to pick a target, the wolf launched off the ground to rip a wing off of a gryphon who thought it would be a good idea to charge in with his saber.

Once the gryphon landed, the wolf grabbed the saber in his paw, launching it at another assassin who caught it in between her eyes.

With almost all the assassins killed, the wolf turned his attention back to the firing lines.

Said lines had reformed and were preparing another barrage of rifle fire. But, they barely got a shot off before the wolf was upon them.

The wolf aimed for the gryphon that was organizing the firing line, who, had drawn his saber once he saw the wolf leaping at him. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t enough.

The wolf used his right set of claws to mutilate the side of the gryphon’s face, and, once the hit landed, he shot out with his back legs to catch a pair of gryphons who were rushing to aid their commanding officer.

Unsurprisingly, all three of them fell with a shower of blood.

But, it seemed that the wolf forgot about the last assassin.

Right between the vertebrae of his neck, a leg mounted knife severed the spinal cord of the beast. Bringing an end to his rampage.

At least, that was the plan.

The op was going to shit.

It was supposed to just be a simple kidnapping, but, they hadn’t accounted for this kind of power.

Typhoon had been insistent on carrying out his own mission, even though it was against protocol for a officer to go onto the field without backup. He had said, ‘It’s my own damn mission. If I was scared of a fucking unicorn, I wouldn’t be an officer.’

But at the end of the day, they had to secure the objective. Failure wasn’t an option.

No one was sure how Typhoon had died, the only one to know would’ve been himself. So they went in hard.

The Guards weren’t going to be a big deal. For all they were worth, they’d just be a minor inconvenience.

This wolf on the over hand…

Skyhammer was the overarching commander of the mercenary group’s operation in this area. He was a veteran of a great many operations, and, he was the pride of any minotaur in his profession.

His armour consisted of three layers. The first, was a suit of dragon scales backed up by reinforced leather barding. The second, a thick chainmail layer, made to stop any strikes that could get past the third layer.

The third layer was, in fact, a full set of dark steel platemail.

All in all, he was a walking tank.

His weapon of choice was a double sided greataxe, as long as he was tall. Heavy enough to crush most armours, and sharp enough to cut through dragons as if they were hot butter.

But even he was having second thoughts about this op.

After the zebra assassin had scored a hit on the beast, it had exploded in a great ball of fire, completely destroying the building they were in, to the point that he was worrying about if they had pulled the target far enough away.

But that was only the start.

After the building was demolished, a much larger version of the wolf rose out of the rubble, it’s coat a crackling green.

“Send in the armoured troops! Hold it back whilst the cannons load!” Shyhammer ordered, pointing to the other minotaur units who were clad in full platemail and were wielding a range of hammers and axes.

With a nod of confirmation, a group a six minotaurs charged the unholy beast. But, before they could make contact, the wolf appeared behind them in a large flash and a cackle of thunder.

The minotaurs didn’t even turn around. They fell forward, legs going one way, chest and head going the other.

“Cannons! Lay down covering fire! Troops! Fall back and regroup!” Skyhammer ordered, grabbing his great axe off his back.

The cannons were slightly more effective than the minotaurs, with huge six barrel rotating cannons that shot out balls the size of watermelons, and a full crew of five to reload them. Sat ontop of a heavy pivot, they were able to move a full three sixty degrees, and, with another pivot under it, it was able to move up and down for better aiming. On their own, they were a threat, but, Skyhammer had a squad of four on hand.

A few moments after the order was called, the sound of cannon fire filled the air, making sure any villagers who still slept were awoken. And, after he had gotten to the rally point, Skyhammer turned to see a intriguing sight.

Before the op, they had planned that, worse case scenario, the commanding team would fall back into an old guard tower. And, due to his new elevation, the minotaur commander was able to clearly see the cannon emplacements.

Said cannons were opening fire upon the wolf, who had erected a thick shield around himself, causing the cannonballs to smash up against the shield, sinking a few feet before remaining lodged in the shield.

The strangest thing was, the wolf was smirking.

“Moronic Foals. I wonder how they ever hoped to defeat me.” The wolf growled to himself, barely straining himself to keep the shield up.

The cannons only had an effect because he allowed it. For he could crush them all with a single thought, but he didn’t. He humored them for a time. He gave them a chance to realise that they were doomed to fail.

But, they didn’t.

If there was one thing he could admit them, he would admit that they were stubborn.

Not in the good way, where they would fight and win against impossible odds. No, they were the stupid kind of stubborn. They would fight, and lose, because they didn’t, couldn’t, admit defeat.

And for that, he will kill them all.

Once a sufficient quantity of cannonballs had been built up, the wolf dropped the shield and launched the cannonballs caught in it towards the cannon emplacements.

It was an easy feat, with all the cannons being set up in close proximity to each other. And, due to a lucky hit, one of the cannons collapsed and the lit fuse rolled into the gunpowder stores.

Safe to say, the cannons went out with a bang.

With the cannons destroyed, the wolf turned his attention to an old guard tower. From what he could see, the commanders of the forces had set up shop in said tower.

It was amusingly simple to teleport into it.

Once he had gained entry, the wolf weaved a wallflower spell around himself. He knew, although he was powerful, he still needed to find his savior.

Once he snuck into a makeshift command center, he took note of the general discord that was taking place within. Everyone seemed to be in a rush, packing up what they had, and preparing to leave.

“You! What’s the condition of the Objective?” A large minotaur boomed, pointing at a gryphon in a black cloak and leather armour.

“Primary Objective it secure, secondary objective is M.I.A, presumably retreating. Forces are at thirty six percent strength, and communications to Central are down.” The gryphon rattled off, glancing at a clipboard he had procured from a nearby table. “The cannon crews are K.I.A, as are Phantom team one. Overwatch is in place, and is ready to extract the V.I.P.”

“Bring the Objective to the roof, Overwatch will evac him from there. Tell the troops to pull back and return to base.” The minotaur ordered, “The rest of the high ranking officers are to fortify the roof for extraction. I don’t want any more issues from the Tangos.”

“Sir, yes sir!” The gryphon snapped to a well worn salute before rushing off to follow his orders.

Forcing himself to remain silent, the wolf began a slow sneak over to the minotaur commander. ‘ Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies...’

With the rush of the command room, it was easy to get behind the commander. But the problem lied within the kill.

Due to the minotaur’s triple layered armour, it was near impossible to kill him without compromising his wallflower. And, if that fell, he would have to get out of sight before recasting.

So, he was left with an… unconventional answer.

Whilst most spell casters would go for the flashy, high powered spells to deal damage. It was entirely possible to ‘supercharge’ a simple spell into a force to be reckoned with.

And that is what he did.

Using a simple telekinesis spell, the wolf gripped the minotaur’s heart and then, using a teleport spell, removed it from his body.

‘ Crude, yet effective.’ The wolf through to himself as he used the general chaos caused by the commander’s death to escape to the roof.

Author's Notes:

And there we have it! Chapter 4.
The part where everything goes to shit.

Now, I'm sure everyone knows the song and dance by now, but, for those who don't:
Drop down a comment if you have any suggestion, typos, or, if you just want to chat. I read everything down there.