As the Shadows moved with Pinkie Pie in tow, the six of them kept an eye out for any ambushes. Walking as she was being pulled by Little Strongheart, the five of them made sure to be extra vigilant. When a squirrel tried to run up a tree, Smolder impaled it with the tip of her axe and bit its head off.

“Is that really necessary?” Little Strongheart asked as she pulled the pink pony.

“One of the rules in dragon culture is that you’re hungry, kill something and eat it. It’s basic instinct.” Smolder said as she grabbed the torso and took another bite.

“What I’m really curious about is how she was able to obtain this outfit. There’s so much we can learn as we analyze her abilities to contain the deceased.” Ocellus said as she looked at Pinkie.

“W-Why are you doing this…?” Pinkie asked as she painfully coughed.

Pinkie was struck and pierced with multiple poisoned arrows to keep her sustained. With little strength she had left and the arrows piercing her bloodstream, there was no way for her to escape from the Shadows.

“Because the king blessed us. When we were told by his royal servants that he requested to see us, we have been shown a far greater truth than any of you ponies could wish to know.” Ocellus said.

“What…?”

“After we were summoned to the King’s royal throne room, he has offered us a chance to join him as members of his royal guard. I was a member of the 150st Griffin Army when I was first recruited. I trained myself to the marrow of my bones for this and I will be damned before I let a pony like you escape.”

“You won’t get away with this…”

Silverstream laughed after hearing Pinkie’s little declaration.

“Wow! I didn’t know that ponies were good at telling jokes! You must tell me more!” Silverstream exclaimed in an excited manner.

“Be quiet, Silverstream. You’ll give away our position.” Gallus said.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be stupid to just give us away~.” Silverstream said as she ran her finger across the griffin’s chest.

Gallus simply rolled his eyes and flew up to see if there were any enemies ahead in their position. Silverstream and Smolder joined him along with Ocellus to check for any rescue parties pertaining to Pinkie. Turning around in various directions to check for ambushes, Gallus scouted to see if his suspicions were correct. Reloading and cocking back his crossbow, Gallus flew ahead to check for ponies in their way. Just then, he noticed some rustling in the trees.

“Hmm…” Gallus wondered.

Squinting his eyes to look forward, he could notice that there was a slight hoof sticking out. Ocellus stood beside Gallus and wondered what they should do next. Gallus tilted his head to the left to tell Ocellus to fly in another direction. Ocellus went to the left and hid in the bushes. Hiding in the bushes, Ocellus turned invisible and slowly made her way towards the evaders as she crawled. Silverstream and Smolder were signaled to wait for the attack to commence. The changeling made clicking sounds to scare the evaders as she got closer before growling. The evaders made a slight shake in the bush, giving away their presence. Silverstream was giddy with joy as she pulled her swords out while Gallus aimed his crossbow at the bush.

“What do we do…? They have us sandwiched.” Vapor Trails whispered.

“Don’t worry, Vapor. There’s four of us and only three of them. We just need a plan to get Pinkie without the monsters finding out we’re here.” Sky Stinger said.

“But what if they already knew we would come? We can’t-”

Just then, an arrow went through one pony’s head, scaring the ponies out of their wits.

“They know…” one pony said as tears started pouring out of her eyes.

“Keep it together, Vapor Trails. We’re going to get out of this. All we have to do is-”

Just then, the captain’s head was grabbed by Ocellus. The captain was screaming as he was mauled to pieces. Vapor silently cried as she clinged onto Sky, pleading,

“Don’t let me go. Please don’t let me go…”

“I promise I’ll get us out of this, Vapes. Just le-”

Just then, a blade pierced through Sky’s abdomen. Suddenly, he was yanked out of the bushes as Vapor was sideswiped by an axe, flinging her out of the bushes.

“Well, it seems we have some peeping toms in the bushes.” Gallus said with a smug grin on his face.

“Did you know that snooping can be very hurtful~?” Silverstream taunted as she pinned Sky into a tree with her sword.

“Especially since spilling secrets could damage whatever self-esteem you have left.” Smolder said as she wiggled her axe into Vapor’s left side.

Vapor writhed in agony as Smolder moved her axe. Gallus put his crossbow in his back while walking towards Sky. After approaching her, Gallus said,

“You did a good job in trying to keep quiet. Quite rare for a brave soldier like you. But I can already see that you don’t have much to live for now. So I’ll spell it out for you. Where are you keeping the Princess of Life?”

Vapor Trails kept silent. Smolder looked at Gallus in a concerned manner. He turned towards her and nodded. Smolder moved her axe closer to Sky’s abdomen and she started screaming more as she coughed out blood.

“It’s rude to ignore somebody when they’re talking to you. We know that she’s still alive. If you tell us where she is, we’ll make it quick.”

Hearing this shocked Vapor Trail. She could not have known that the Princess of Life was still alive.

“Especially after hearing some rumors that the princess has been brought back to life. Mind explaining that?”

Vapor Trail was shocked to have heard that.

“W-What are you talking about?” Vapor Trail said as she coughed.

“It’s pointless to play dumb with us. We know she’s come back to life.” Gallus said.

Smolder wiggled the axe even further into Vapor’s abdomen. The latter cried in pain as the dragon drove it into her stomach. After pushing the blade forward, Smolder stopped. Vapor was coughing up so much blood that she could barely even breath.

“I… don’t…” Vapor said, gushing with blood and faintly dripping with tears down her face as she looked at Gallus.

“We figured as much.” Gallus replied as he pulled out his crossbow and switched it to single-shot.

After cocking it back once more, Gallus aimed it at Vapor’s head and shot it at short-range. She fell to the ground as her eyes dimmed with zero life left in them. Turning around, Gallus looked at Sky and he said,

“It appears that your friend isn’t the chatty type. Why don’t you and I talk about the princess?”

Gallus put the crossbow on his back and walked towards Sky who was still pierced on the tree. Silverstream was sitting to Sky who placed her arm around him.

“Ooh~. Isn’t this exciting~? You’re going to talk with the captain~!” Silverstream said, excitedly.

Gallus got closer to Sky and took a knee in front of him. Sky glared at Gallus as the latter grabbed the former’s chin. He asked,

“So how’s life at the Crystal Empire? It must be rather pleasant to know that all your friends are tuckered away in some small space to where they can never be touched. Kinda like a cookie jar waiting to be taken by a filly off the refrigerator. Only to fall off the chair and break her skull. This is what exactly going to happen to you if we don’t get an answer. So I’m only going to ask this once. Where’s the Princess of Life?”

“I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”

Gallus looked at Silverstream in a serious manner and she said in an joyous tone,

“Stabby time~!”

Silverstream took out her other sword and drove it straight into Sky’s left lung. He grunted the moment he felt the cold sting of the sword stab him, making him violently cough out blood.

“Why not? You’re one of her soldiers after all. You had to have heard a rumor about her reanimation. Couldn’t it have crossed your mind that something was off at the Crystal Empire?” Gallus said.

He went over to Sky and grabbed his jaw. Then, he ran his talons into his skin and scratched very deeply into where he broke it entirely, killing Sky instantly. After letting of his fresh corpse, Gallus said,

“It’s time to rendezvous with Little Strongheart and Yona. We have a schedule to keep with the king if we’re to deliver the pink pony.”

The three of them returned to find Little Strongheart and Yona sitting down on a piles of pony corpses in the area where they stayed, still carrying Pinkie.

“Huh. So what happened to you two?” Smolder asked.

“It’s a long story…” Little Strongheart said as they started moving.