‘…It’s with the utmost of condolences that I deliver the news of your sons’ death. He was a valued fighter and a friend amongst his colleagues that he fought with, and will be sorely missed in the coming future battles that they will face now with one less of their own amongst them.

I am truly sorry for the loss of your kin, not speaking as a princess or royalty, but simply another pony that has seen far too many reach the last day in their lives.

Writing out the last line, and rereading it several times over. Grace took a moment to rub the sore eyes that beckon her to rest her weary brow. Many of those that were sent out to the town under attack never returned, and have made their way to the eternal resting place in a far off land of their own. Though one princess will not know rest for some time now, as she sets out adding a personal touch to ever letter that will be sent to those that have lost a son, daughter, mother, father, brother, or even sister…

An act that further drained the life out of the mare, as she signs off the letter before her.

“So many…” she said in hushed tones, and looked at the ever growing stack of mail to be sent out to those awaiting the dreaded news.

“Though never the less, it has to be done…” she heard the soft raspy voice of a friend over her shoulder, as she turned from her seat in the office. Grace looked past her desk and there stood walking in was Silvertongue, holding a small try in his claws, with a few mugs atop it. “Thought you could use a little pick me up…” he said setting the cup of coffee down on the desk.

Reaching over, the mare took the cup in hoof and in one gulp, downed a third of the glass. Scorching her throat in the process, she could have cared less at the moment. After all, there were many that would never get to relish in the small things for an eternity, now that their life had been cut short.

“Thank you… Silver,” Grace said as she let some of the sugar at the bottom of the glass trail over her tongue, “you always knew what I needed at the end of a day.”

“Meh, I’ve come to know you quite well over the years,” he started to chuckle a bit.

The drake had served her parents before her in the past, and when Grace started to come of age and take on more ‘princessy’ rolls. Silver was there to back her up and teach the mare a thing or two, which allowed more than enough time to figure out how this ponies head worked, and what her body craved at certain times.

Shifting her eyes to the stack of letters, Graces’ head started to dip once more, “though it doesn’t look like it will be the end of my day any time soon…”

The drake followed her eyes to the mound of paper, one that was sure to grow before everything was said and done with. Taking a deep breath, the dragon placed a claw down on the desk and took a seat in the chair across from it. Grabbing a few of the letters that had yet to be reviewed as he started the process.

“What are you doing?” the mare asked the rather obvious question.

“Whelp, you’re plumb tuckered out…” he smirked over top of the letter, “and I can forge your signature.”

“That’s… not the right thing to do,” she tried to reason with him. Hoping that keeping true to the citizens and her truest condolences would really be her own, and not that of her staff.

“Yes that may be true,” Silver agreed with her for a moment, before shutting it down once more, “then again, you’re about to fall asleep at the desk, and I don’t suspect you sleeping all that well in the first place…” he raised one brow to her, driving the point home, “besides, don’t you think there’s another you might want to see at a time like this?”

Quietly, Graces’ ears splayed back against the side of her head. Granted it was a low blow, sort of at least, though at heart the princess knew that he’s right. After all, the colt had been through a lot with the recent events. She had to check up on him at least, see if there was any change in the slightest.

“I will, Silver,” she nodded in defeat, “Thank you.”

The drake simply shrugged his shoulders in the chair, and etched down a perfect replica of her signature on one of the parchments. As Grace started to head towards the door and wondered how long he had been practicing her script. “Don’t worry about it, just make sure after you see them, you get some sleep now…”

That last line though caught the princess in her tracks, as she turned her head over her shoulder to look at the smirk on her friends’ face, “How do you know I’ll be going to see him as well?”

Silver simply chuckled in his seat, “because I see more than what you let others, and far more than what you let on…” he let those words sink in. Watching the mare try and hid her cheeks with a wing, as she hastily made her way out of the room.

Walking in to the quiet room of the medical wing, at a time like this many of those have gone to bed for the night, besides the few medical staff to assist the needier patients of the battle. Only one in the room seemed to be awake at all, while he used his claws to flip through a book that he had picked up on his way here.

Egyes rested there in a chair, fighting back the eyes that beg for some sleep at this hour. Barely getting a couple hours sleep in here and there sense he got back to the capital, and with the fight the previous day still draining his energy reserves. The gryphon was hard pressed to win this battle with his eye lids.

“You really should rest now…” the soft words fell on his ears.

Getting up upon the sight of the princess a few feet from him, the gryphon did the same thing he always had done in the presence of royalty. Took a courteous bow before them at their feet, “I find myself unable to rest that well lately.”

“Please, rise…” she beckoned him, “you have earned more than enough respect from me to deserve that at least,” Grace spoke the truth to him, resting her eyes on the one in the bed that Egyes sat before, “this is the second time you saved his life after all…”

Freefall remained tucked in bed. Armor stripped away, IVs’ going straight in to his veins, painkillers pumped in to him, while most of his body was covered up in bandages of some sort. Though most of the damage were to that which made him who he was.

The wings that carried him for years, laid shattered across two pillows on either side of him. The doctors had at first attempted to set the bones so they could heal, though when the colt shot up in pain and tried to fight a few of them from the act, they sedated him. Now only left to remain in a magically induced coma, while the bones healed naturally however they could, before the doctors would once again come in and try to set things right.

Though some breaks can’t be fixed, and at this point, there’s little the doctors could do.

“They’re recommending amputation?” Grace gasped as she read the clip board at the end of the bed, over viewing the results from tests and what was being pumped in to him. While at the bottom were comments made by several of her medical staff, all of which, pointed to the same outcome.

“He’s in a lot of pain, princess,” Egyes nodded to her humorlessly, “even if the breaks did heal completely, Free wouldn’t be able to fly any more. They’d be too bent out of shape to even fold up right, and would never support his weight in the air.” The gryphon may have not known Free, or even Iron for long. Though from what he gathered from the two, they were one hell of a pair of colts, and whether he said it out loud or not to them. After seeing them both in combat, he harbored more respect for the duo then they would likely ever know.

“So they want to just cut them off?” she almost snapped at the thought, having wings of her own, “just like that?”

“It would be better than trying to live with two broken limbs dragging you down all day for the rest of your life…” The gryphon said grimly, knowing full well what that’s like after seeing it in many of his own kind over the years.

Granted, they all could have had their wings removed as well. Though there’s a pride aspect in gryphons that few other creatures can shake a stick at. Asking to remove their wings, no matter how useless they may be, is like asking them to take a dagger and slit their own throats.

Calmly putting the chart back on the hook, Grace avoided sending it through the wall, or even hunting down the doctor that signed off on the suggestion. None of it would help her friend out of his predicament, the only thing they can do now is make him comfortable, and wait for him to wake up.

“Does he know? How long’s he been out?” she started to ask a few of the other questions that buzzed around her head like a hive of savage hornets, sounding more frantic with every question that popped up, “What of his other injuries?”

“Calm down Grace,” Egyes put a gentle talon on her shoulder, easing her burden, “Free’s a fighter if there ever was one, the only one that’s probably stubborner than him would be Iron…” they both eerily chuckled for a moment at that sad fact, “His other injuries are just regular combat scratches, cuts, and the occasional bruise. The armor that Iron helped improve for him worked wonders.”

“He’ll be pleased to know at least that he just may have saved his friends life,” Grace looked over the bandaged body of Free, “though again, does he know what the doctors are thinking?”

“Sadly… no, I hit him pretty hard when I tried to catch him in the air. Didn’t have much time to slow down, and that seemed to knock him out in the process,” a heavy heart answered the mare while he noted his own fumble, as Egyes took his seat back and leaned in to the cushions, “after he was brought in yesterday afternoon and promptly after being woken up from the pain… sedated, the doctor hadn’t woken him up sense. His body just needs time to rest, don’t worry though, nothings getting worse at least, and from what the doc says all his other injuries seem to be healing up…”

“What has… he said?” Grace asked nervously, hoping that her concern should answer who she was referring to.

Thankfully, the gryphons’ smirk answers her fully that he’s caught on to her drift, “Iron stopped in twice now actually, when he first heard about what happened, and this morning,” looking off to the side, Egyes recalled the bags under the unicorns’ eyes that he saw him sporting at their last meeting, “sense then I hadn’t seen him… I think he’s slept less than I have, if at all.”

After seeing how the two worked together, both through records of their past exploits, and what they managed to do while here. Grace can all but imagine what Iron may be going through, “He’s hurt almost as much as Free is… trust me,” she informed Egyes, while she kept her eyes adverted from his gaze, “I know that much about the colt at least, in the short time I’ve known him.”

“He said something about ‘fixing a problem for Free’…” the gryphon mulled over what the colt could have possibly meant, “that there may be a way to help the colt after they took his wings. Though I couldn’t possibly imagine how…”

Knowing Iron, Grace knew that could only mean one thing in the end, and if she was going to check up on that colt as well. Then she would have to go down to the place he probably spent more time in than his own bed… or a bar for that matter. “I’m sure there’s something up the colts’ sleeves,” she responded, wondering what Iron could be pulling out for Free, “Though I should be checking up on him too…”

Holding up a claw, the gryphon waved off any sort of further explanation, “Say no more, Grace,” he said, closing the book and resting it on his chest, “I’ll still be here whenever Free decides to come back to us, and I’m sure Iron could use the company right now…”

Nodding gently to him, the princess hid some of her features that betrayed a few inner thoughts on the colt, that were likely on par with what Silver had probably been hinting at. Though did the drake need to know that much of what was going on inside her head? Not at all… for now, she had a colt to track down, one that likely wasn’t going to be hard to find.

An envious wave erupted from the stone as it was pushed past its breaking point. Shattering the emerald in to tiny fragments that scattered around the room, and put a particular colt on his flank. Iron looked up from his seat, resting his back against the wall that he was promptly thrown in to from the shockwave. It wasn’t the first time it had happened tonight, and likely wouldn’t be the last. He had a job to do, one that he would finish.

Even if it put in medical next to his friend.

“Too much magic, too fast,” he summarized while trying to look over some of the notes that he had swiped from the mysterious mare. Her hoof print was terrible, even when it had claws to help it. Though Iron couldn’t say much, his was worse than some of his students, even when he used his horn.

That said, being a teacher had led to many hours of deciphering cryptic homework assignments from students that were likely trying to bullshit their way through the “showing your work” part of the grade. Allowing the colt to become almost fluent in the “chicken scratch” that he was trying to pick apart at the moment.

The mare had done something with her limbs, something that he couldn’t quite figure out. Using the emeralds in his suit, he could increase his strength. It was a simple enough concept, move the joint this way and that way. Though the mare had to be an earth pony at birth, how else would her body have been resilient enough to withstand the heavy amount of changes to it?

But what he didn’t have an answer for was how she managed to keep her gems charged. The ones he had seen produced spells, though from some of the drawings showed a few smaller ones built on the inside that he suspected were for movement. Those however would need to be charged very often from the use that she put them through, so if she couldn’t charge them…

‘How did she do it?’ he wondered for the longest time. The wing designs that he had uncovered told him the same concept applied to them as well, inside along the main frame, were tiny holes to hold gem fragments. How though she managed to get them to bend to her command, eluded him.

At first…

A knock to the door next to him urged the colt to right himself up on all fours, before he brushed himself off and pried open the door. To his surprise, there stood the princess, with bags under her eyes that rivaled that of even his own. Yet somehow, to him, beautiful in every way, shape, or form.

Shaking his head to clear his mind a bit, Iron stepped to the side as she walked in with only a genuine show of concern at first. “I’m sure you know why I’m here?” she asked, while looking at the rest of the room to see what he had been up to.

“Well my best friend’s in the hospital…” Iron rolled his eyes casually, “so no, I couldn’t imagine why at-”

“CAN YOU TAKE NOTHING SERIOUSLY?!?!” she snapped at him in an instant. The weight of the day finally taking its toll on the mare and eating away at her mind for long enough to snap something inside, and to watch one colt act so carelessly or sarcastically towards one he would call friend. That just tipped the already full glass over on its side, “Freefall could have died! Do you not see that?! One of the few friends you have in this world, and he could have been taken out of it with the splat against the ground like an egg!”

The mare continued to fume over the colt, as he stood his ground, and only craned his neck back to avoid getting to close to her ever approaching face. “Yet here you are, making a joke of it like a punchline to a cruel one-liner! Why?! What is wrong with you? Do you not feel pity? Do you not feel sorrow? Do you not even care that he could have-”

With a single hoof, Iron placed it firmly against the enraged princesses shoulder. At first the action almost made her swipe it away so she could get her two cents in still while she had the colt cornered, though when Grace saw the glare of pure murder in his eyes piercing in to her sockets like a dagger. Any and all malice left her mind and withered away in to nothing, as Grace was left simply disarmed at the hooves of the colt.

“Don’t think my coyness and humor, to mean cruelty and bliss…” Iron gritted at her through his teeth. All the while the tables were turned and he himself found that the princess had taken to her flank, as he leaned down to her face with his own, putting her on the floor, “you yourself should know that much about me as any, considering the chats we’ve had before…”

Rearing back a fore hoof, Iron cocked it in place before driving it straight in to one of the drawers of the workbenches cabinets. Splitting the wood along its grain, the two halves separated from one another and left only a cockeyed dangling door attached, as the other side hit the floor and made the only sound in the room.

Not even wincing from the pain, Irons’ muzzle nearly touched Graces’ where she sat, as she felt the angered colt’s breath pass by her nose, “I’m just as hurt as you are… trust me. I just deal with it in a much different way…” he spat out at her, before turning around and got back to his work.

For several minutes, that’s how they remained. Iron quietly did his work, while Grace sat there in both shock… and sadness. She had never seen the colt act like this, even when he was mad at her for dragging him along here after twisting his wrists, there was still some glee in his step and voice. Though this was pure anger on his tongue. One that she brought on from snapping at him first, one that she had to make right…

“I’m sorry…” she muttered from under her breath, watching as his ears perked up from her voice, “I didn’t mean to snap at you like that… It’s just been… a very long day.”

Several seconds passed in the still silence, before finally something more was said to quell the situation, “Don’t worry about it… I understand.” He sighed in defeat, knowing full well that she had been through the ringer all on her own as well.

Carefully Grace wiped away a shameful tear from her eye that begged to fall, though she wouldn’t do that now. There had been enough tears shed for today, and far more that would be shed in the coming future. “I’m glad that you do, Iron,” she remarked solemnly to him, thanking her lucky stars that Forgiveness was is his nature as well. Keeping her head low, Grace only allowed the floor to fill her eyes while she spoke, “I just came from Frees’ bedside, he’s still passed out… if you didn’t know.”

“Oh I figured that much,” Iron said simply without any emotion behind it, as that hollowness in his tone twisted the mares chest more than she expected it to, “If I’d been in his predicament, I know I would be as well…”

“Though you can take solace in the fact that whatever it was that you did to his armor, probably is why he’s still alive now,” the mare lightly smiled under her muzzle. Silently thanking the colt for his gift to his friend.

“Egyes told me that when I saw him,” Iron replied, writing down a few more notes of his own after copying them from the aged parchment. As he started to flip through a ‘Magical theories’ book off to the side, “Though I plan on giving him something else that will help later along the road…”

The colt sat his own notes down as he walked over to the mare that still rested on her rump. Extending a single hoof down to her, Iron watched as Grace looked at him with a tinge of worry and sorrow in her eye still for what she had said earlier. Though with a caring smile, he helped to wipe away some of her apprehension, as she took his grasp and the colt helped lift her up to her own four hooves.

“Ever the gentlecolt, aren’t you?” she sheepishly smirked back at him. Thankful to see him in a somewhat better mood.

“When have I ever not been?” he replied, while beckoning her over.

Grace made her way over to the work bench that he had stationed. She saw several of the drawings and sketches, she saw the various supplies that were littered everywhere across the table, and she saw the many times the colt had tried to make something of nothing.

All she didn’t see was how this would help their mutual friend.

“Is this what you’re trying to do for Free?”

“Yes, actually…” Iron answered as he read over the notes once more. Most of them were only half complete, while the other half must be in the mares’ own mind. “This is all a level of enchanting that I haven’t mastered yet… though when its works, then it should get Free off the ground…”

“How do you know it will work though?”

“Do you recall the mare that Free and I had told you about when we fought out in the city, and the subsequent mare that Egyes had told the council of that brought these weapons to the DDR and the Gryphons?” he asked just to ensure that both Grace remembered, and that they were on the same page, “whoever she is, and however she managed to do it, the mare could make use of this kinda tech.” Iron brushed it off to her, before he went back to bending some of the light metal frame work of a wing he was making. All the while his eyes scanned the open book nearby, “and I think I know how… sorta.”

Grace watched over the colt with curiosity, never questioning what he said lately as she started to build more and more trust in him than she originally thought possible. If whoever was using this equipment could get it to work to their benefit, then perhaps there was a way to get Free airborne once more. Looking over his shoulder, the Pegasus was familiar with enough magic from her family to know different levels of enchantments and what they were capable of.

Though these spells and incantations that she was seeing failed to register in her mind at all. “Where did you find these?” she asked, while trying to figure out how old the book really was.

“I snatched it from your library actually…” he said casually to her, watching as her face scowled down to him, “not your personal one, don’t worry… just the public one in the castle.”

“But… I’ve never seen these sort of spells before?” she wondered while trying to wrap her head around it.

“That’s because it’s a lost art on all those in this day and age… if they would’ve ever been able to get it to work properly,” Iron sighed heavily at the passages of time and what would be lost to those that cared little to preserve it. Such as this wondrous concept that he had managed to find, at least in theory, “It’s called Imprinting…” he started off while trying to explain a subject he really understood little of, “the energy of a spell was imbued in to a gem like you would any other, though instead of being released by a touch or a magical charge that drained it all in one go. It’s allowed to flow out when commanded, and then returned back to its vessel when not in use…”

He took a breath to reread another section in the book that covered some of the concept, “it’s mostly a lot of theories and philosophies really. Though the concept is once the energy is released, it would flow in to what the gem was attached to and bring it to life, almost like an extension of the one controlling its own body,” Iron summarized the entire section as he read over past accounts of the idea, “yet any unicorn that seemed to try it in the past, couldn’t get whatever they imbued to respond properly. Except for one mare now, that figured out how to get it to bend to her will… and function flawlessly…”

Iron rubbed away at his tired eyes, after skimming over the same section once more for probably the fifteenth time today. It all told him stuff he already knew to begin with. Every pony, no matter the race, had magic in them. Unicorns were simply the most adept and skilled with its use, able to project it any way they wanted, like spell casting. Though Pegisy also harbored magic in them, as well as Earth ponies. Pegisy needed their magic to give them the ability to fly, and allow them to interact with the weather like they did. While Earth ponies needed it to make them as strong as they were, while at the same time building their bodies to be as tough and resilient as they would need them to be against nature.

Simple enough idea, one that most of his kind learned in grade school. Though for a unicorn to be unable to control this level of enchantments with their own magic. Then how did an Earth pony manage to activate the enchanted gems in her limbs, get them to bend as if they were literally part of them their entire life, and have the energy return to the gem to be reused. All while only using her own, weaker, magic to control it.

“Perhaps this mares’ will is stronger than you may have guessed at first…” Grace answered after thinking about his last spoken words, as Iron sat in silence, and contemplated his own thoughts. “You give one the right motivation, most anyone can become unstoppable.”

“Yep… and that’s the part I’m worried-” the colt stopped midsentence as he was cut off from his own yawn. Cracking his jaw in the process, it nearly unhinged itself while he took the deep breath in that was needed. Though when he finally brought it back together and lapped his lips, Irons’ eyes fell on that of the princesses.

That were an inch from his own.

Looking closer at the colt, than probably originally intended. Grace noticed even through her sleep deprived eyes that Iron has seen far less of a bed than she herself has. “Iron…” she grabbed his attention with the simple muttering of his name, “how much have you really slept sense you’ve been back?”

Mulling it over silently in the back of his head, even through the dancing images of the Sandpony trying to make his way to his eyes, the colt couldn’t find it in himself to lie to the mare. “Ahh… Let’s call it at probably an hour or two…” he guiltily scratched the back of his head.

“And while you’ve been clearly working this hard…” she motioned to the various supplies that were thrown around the room from a colt on a mission, “how are you still awake? Have you even eaten anything?”

“Ahh…” he awkwardly chucked, more to himself, for the mare wasn’t laughing, “I’ve been running off of some rather concentrated coffee, and possibly a sandwich here and there…” Iron grimly answered. Already feeling himself stepping foot in his own grave.

Dropping her head for a moment as she sighed, the only thing to raise itself was a single hoof, pointing straight towards the door. “Food. Then Bed. Go… Now.” She ordered to him.

“But I-” he tried to reason.

“Nope go…” she got behind Iron and started to push the larger colt with her fore hooves against his back.

“This isn’t fair!” he whined like a foal being ordered by his mother.

“Life’s not fair,” she informed him of that surprising news, “Besides, you’ll have a better time trying to help Free later, with some decent sleep under your belt, and some food in your stomach.”

Though as they reached the door frame, the stallion caught the edges of it with his hoof as he turned his head around to meet her own. “I’m not under your command, Grace,” he reminded her with a grin, “And there for, I can do as I please…”

“That may be true,” she looked back up at the colt with her own weary eyes, hiding a hunger in the back of them that he hadn’t seen yet, “although if you are going to be up for what I have planned…” Grace tried to say without sounding both too eager, or too desperate, “then you might want to be well rested and fed.”

“Oh? And what might that be?” he contemplated as his interest perked.

“Ever heard of the expression ‘cut the head off the snake, and the body dies…’?” she asked curiously. Watching as his eyes started to grow in anticipation as to what she was about to offer to him, “I think it’s about time the Gryphons’ King and the DDRs’ Chief were paid a little visit… don’t you?” Grace mused with a roll of her hoof, hiding the thirst for vengeance in her tongue terribly as it started to spill over in her words.

“Eh… I’m always up for a party…” he broke his hooves from the doorway, as the two started to walk in tandem with one another down the hall, “Though I am starving…” he muttered to her, hoping that she would catch his drift, “Care to grab a bite before bed?” Iron offered to her. After all, it was late at night, but then again the kitchens of the castle were always open for those that worked late.

“Oh I reckon I could grab something…” Grace giggled, as she felt her own stomach gnawing away at her for eating about as much as Iron had.

“Excellent,” Iron almost cheered in the back of his head that she was going to join him. Before he leaned down to one of her ears, “however…when I meet their leaders, I’m finishing it whichever way I please,” he reminded her with a whisper. As the grin barely hid itself on his face.

All the while, a devilish smirk of her own started to grow, “Don’t worry, I was hoping you’d say that…”