The guys got their things together and set out. They were going to leave immediately after this little stunt to get out of sight of the guards, so they would have to carry everything the whole way.

Leaving the hotel was the first major challenge. They had to make their way out suspiciously in the middle of the night without being seen by the gryphon ta the front desk. At the end of the hall before entering the lobby, Ryan poked his head around the corner to check on the situation. The desk lady was nowhere to be seen. Swiftly and quietly, Ryan pointed forward and led his buddies out the front door and into the now seriously darkened caves.

Out in the street, they were in a new zone of danger. They had seen the guards stationed up high when they first came into the city, and given that they had literal hawk eyes, if the guys were anywhere that they were easy to see, they would no doubt be stopped and questioned. Heavily laden ponies and a human sneaking around at night was hardly an indicator of good will.

Ryan stuck to the wall and pressed himself up against it. “We gotta try to make this fast, guys,” he whispered. “Stay quiet, try to stay in the dark. If we get seen, we’re done before we start.”

“Just like the old days,” Soarin’ commented.

“Are there alleys we can use?” Fancy asked.

“You and Osprey would be the ones to know that,” Ryan said. “You two were exploring this area before, right?”

“Exploring is hardly the right word,” Fancy said.

Ryan huffed. “Well, whatever. We’ll use them if we see them. Gatsby, you take the front and lead the way.”

“Certainly,” Fancy said as he moved up to the front.

“Osprey, you’re behind me. Whopper, you go behind Gatsby,” Ryan said.

“Why are we takin’ the front?” Mac asked quietly.

“We can only move as fast as our slowest. If we take an alley that you guys can’t fit through, we don’t want to get separated. If a route works for you, it’ll work fine for us,” Ryan explained, pointing at himself and Soarin’.

Mac nodded. “Makes sense,” he said.

Without any more dialogue, the group pressed forward through the city, wary of eyes up above and along their path. Few torches were lit in the streets at night, it seemed, casting dark shadows for the guys to walk through. The stony ground made little click clack noises as they ran, and to Ryan, each one sounded like a full on dynamite explosion.

Few gryphons prowled the streets at this time of night, but they weren’t citizens out this late. They were all guards, making ground rounds to check for trouble. Ryan overheard one saying that there was a curfew that was instituted some years ago after the war ended to keep a limit on how much fighters from any side of the conflict could travel through their city at night. They weren’t a part of the war and didn’t want to be now, however the residents of the city felt about it.

It served as some good news then, because if the gryphon they were about to interrogate were to go to the guards, he would have to take his time to establish a story they would believe first. If he incriminated himself, since he would have no protection from that here, he would be prosecuted by the guards without mercy. Unless, of course, the guards were corrupt in any way.

In the darkness of the cave at night, it was hard to see anything at all. Ryan squinted to see farther forward, but all he saw beyond the occasional light source was darkness or faint buildings.

“Gatsby, you sure we’re going the right way?” Ryan asked.

Fancy nodded. “Certain,” he replied. “I have my tracker spell active. It shall lead us straight to our friend.”

“Good,” Ryan said.

Fancy Pants led them onward, but he had to take some detours because of guard patrols along their route. They snuck through some tight alleyways, were forced at times to get on top of small buildings and hunker down, and even had to duck inside residences to avoid being spotted. It was all extremely risky, but to get the job done, they had to do it.

After almost an hour, they reached the tunnel entrance. A sign before it read Snake Way, and showed a map of the tunnel and what was in the tunnel. The tunnel was curvy, like a crawling snake, and inside was primarily homes and water holes. None of the homes were labeled, nor the water holes, but the group had a spell to lead them, so it mattered not.

“About a fifth of the way through the tunnel is where we need to go,” Fancy said. “There doesn’t appear to be much light in the tunnel, so we must stick together.”

“Gotcha,” Ryan said. “Boys, if you remember what we did on that cliffside, now is time again for it.” Ryan heard the guys grumble and sigh as they went about getting connected tail to mouth.

As quietly as they could, they started through the tunnel. Ryan tried to see in the dark, but it was so bad, he could barely see Mac in front of him. The ground felt gravelly and crunchy, adding to Ryan’s anxiety that they would be made and have to fight their way out of the city. Surely, they would all be killed if they tried that.

There were no guards in the tunnel at night, making the travel relatively easy compared to the main chamber of the city. Though they did have to keep their ears open for any gryphons leaving their homes to investigate any noise they made or if the gryphons wanted water. Everyone was watching in a different direction to cover everything; Soarin’ had the rear, Ryan had the right, Mac took the left, and Fancy was watching up ahead.

Every so often, they would see a house where there was a small light on inside. Whenever they saw it, they had to stop, make their way to the walls of the house, and be totally silent and listen. Each time, there was movement inside, and Ryan would peek around a corner to see what was happening. One of the houses was just a gryphon female feeding a baby, another was of a more questionable nature, and the rest were just gryphons getting a snack in the night. Those houses smelled awful; the meat had been unrefrigerated, left out on a table for eating later.

The guys had to sneak underneath windows to avoid the light and safely pass the house, something not easy for Big Mac and Fancy Pants. Ryan started to get worried; if they took too long just to travel to the gryphon fighter’s house, they might not have the time to get out of the city. They would have to make the interrogation speedy.

Finally, they arrived at their location. “Here it is,” Fancy said in a whisper. “This is where we followed him to.”

“Okay,” Ryan said. “Everyone, wait around the front entrance. I’ll look for windows, see if we have anything. Gatsby, is there anything that makes this guy distinct?”

“I remember him being a big guy with no war paint anywhere. His wings were also enormous, bigger than what we’ve seen elsewhere in the city.” Fancy emphasized the point by extending his forelegs all the way out to the side.

“Good enough,” Ryan said.

The stallions all moved up to the door and waited on either side of it, Mac and Soarin’ on one and Fancy on the other. Ryan moved around the one story house to look for any windows that would let him see inside and check on whether or not their mark was actually inside. There were a few windows here and there, but with how dark it was, Ryan could barely see inside at all. Though, that in itself was a good way of knowing that no one was in a room at a given time.

Ryan had to move all the way around the house to find what he was looking for; a window leading into a bedroom. Inside, he could just make out the shape of a lone lump in a nest underneath a blanket. The gryphon was asleep, though, and Ryan couldn’t tell if it was who he was looking for.

“How do I get you up?” Ryan wondered.

He crouched beneath the window and thought for a minute. The best way to wake someone was to tap them or touch them with something, but Ryan couldn’t go in the room. He would have to throw something in. That something couldn’t be too heavy, though, or the gryphon would know someone threw it. It had to be small enough to wake the gryphon, but not big enough for it to know that someone else threw it.

Ryan’s best bet was to find a very small rock or clump of dirt and throw that in. It would blend well with the cave floor after hitting the gryphon, and there would be little indication that it was thrown inside. He ran his hands along the ground, blindly feeling for whatever size rock felt right. When he found one that felt the right size, he held it in his hand to test the weight and gripped it tight to make sure it would work.

Ryan poked his head over the windowsill and cocked his arm to throw the pebble in his hand. The gryphon slept peacefully, but that wouldn’t last. With a flick of the wrist and a thrust forward of his arm, Ryan launched the pebble into the room.

And missed by several feet. The pebble bounced almost noiselessly off of the wall and fell to the ground out of sight. Ryan frowned, picked up another good pebble, and tossed it in. Again, he missed.

“Son of a bitch,” he quietly cursed. “t shouldn’t be that hard.”

One last time, he picked up a pebble, this one slightly larger. Before throwing, he mapped out the ideal pat of the small rock so as to try to make it hit its target. At last, when he was ready, he threw the rock, and this time, it hit home. The gryphon stirred and started to get up.

“Come on, light a lamp or something,” Ryan whispered to himself.

Thankfully, the gryphon did just that. Ryan only had a brief glimpse before he had to move away from the window, but what he saw confirmed the gryphon’s identity. He had no war paint anywhere, and his wings were, as Fancy had put it, enormous. He groggily looked around, rubbing his eyes, but by the time he was looking to the window, Ryan was gone.

As quiet as possible, Ryan crouch walked to the front door where the stallions were waiting. When he arrived, they were still just standing there, awaiting confirmation dutifully and patiently.

“That’s him alright,” Ryan said as he approached the door. “He’s awake now.”

Everyone went silent to listen for movement. Inside, there was a faint sound of scuffling feet and claws against the rock floor, and it was going all through the house. The gryphon was doing something, but what it was couldn’t be said.

“Sounds like he’s moving,” Soarin’ said with a hint of frustration.

“Not a problem,” Ryan said. “Just be quiet until we can tie him up. I’ll knock him with something, daze him, and we’ll secure him to a chair. We get the information we need fast, then we bug out of this nasty city.”

The stallions all felt fine with that plan and silently agreed to it. Then, like mice in a church, they walked through the front door, gently pushing it open and sneaking right in.

Soarin’ stopped in the foyer and waited there to avoid being seen. The house was small, so Fancy and Mac would need bigger rooms to hide in. As Ryan, Mac, and Fancy advanced into the house, they could see the light from the gryphon’s torch through the halls. Fancy managed to find a closet he could hide in, and Mac ducked into a room to the left in along the hallway.

Ryan continued forward toward the light. He could see it moving through the house, and he could hear the gryphon grumbling something under his breath. Ryan wished he could hear it better, but he would have to be uncomfortably close for that.

At the end of the hall, Ryan stopped. The light was strong; right around the corner. The gryphon he was about to assault was just around the corner muttering to himself about something making him hungry.

Then, in what must have been a long stretch, the gryphon’s wing extended all the way to be right in front of Ryan’s face. Ryan completely stopped, fearful that the gryphon might end up touching him and compromising the entire thing. The wing came back to its owner, but rather than provide any reassurance, the gryphon then walked out right in front of Ryan and was about to enter a room to Ryan’s left. Ryan swallowed hard, anxious as to the gryphon’s potential actions.

The man should have controlled his reaction better. The gryphon stopped, its ears perking up. He was holding the lamp out in front of him, but he brought it closer to his body. His beak twitched as it smelled the air, and his face began to scrunch. Ryan gripped the wall, ready to use it to move as fast as possible if necessary.

The gryphon spun around and glared down the hallway. But the hall was empty; no one was there.

Ryan now stood behind the gryphon, where the gryphon had been standing before he stretched out his wings. Ryan took the chance to move into another hall before the gryphon turned, just barely evading detection. Now, behind the gryphon, whose eye he could clearly see, he held his breath and didn’t move a muscle.

The gryphon huffed and relaxed his arm. “Damn rats, always scurrying around in the shadows. Making me jumpy.” Feeling safe, the gryphon moved on into the next room, where Ryan followed close behind.

The gryphon set his lamp on a table and stretched again. He was in his kitchen, where it smelled familiarly of meat and a few spices. He loved walking into this room. This room was his, he could do as he pleased in here. He could be a total slob, and no females would ever know.

He even had something other gryphons didn’t often have; a fridge. He managed to snag it after an attack on a government building out east. It wasn’t huge, but it was big enough to fit some water for cooking if he felt like treating himself and meat that he could store for serious problems with the food supply.

To the left of the fridge, he had his coking materials; pots, pans, utensils, all the like. To his right, he kept his spices. Being a fighter for the rebels was great because you could steal so much great stuff. Who wanted to pay for nice things when you could take them from the ones who didn’t deserve them anyway?

He opened up the fridge and looked at what he had. He was actually running a bit low. Meat, even in a fridge, didn’t last forever, and he had been forced to give some away before it went bad not long ago. He needed to restock, and to restock when he returned from fighting, he had to take inventory now to restock later.

Before he could, though, a loud crash came from his left. Startled, he jumped up and faced the noise, ready to fight if need be.

But nothing was there. His pots and pans had crashed to the floor. Odd, considering how well he had secured them to prevent just this. Frustrated with all the paranoia he seemed to be feeling this night, he went about putting the kitchenware back in its various places.

It was annoying to put it all back because it made so much damn noise. It hurt the gryphon’s ears to move all this metal around so late at night right after waking inexplicably. He took only minutes to get it all back in order. Now, he could finally go back to sleep. Before he left, though, he had one thing to do.

“Gotta close the fridge,” he said to himself. He turned around to close the fridge so he could go to bed.

Before he even realized what was happening, though, a strange creature on two legs swung a pan around that collided with the gryphon’s face, knocking him out and ruining a perfectly good piece of kitchenware.

Ryan dragged the unconscious gryphon out of the rotten smelling kitchen and toward the back of the house where he was less likely to be heard making any noise. After the relatively loud clang of the pan on a skull, the stallions all moved freely through the house to the room where Ryan ended up dropping the gryphon.

When the stallions waked in, Ryan already had the gryphon tied up with a blanket around its wrists and a small pillow in its beak. He was sitting on a chair, and Ryan was looking for more things to tie him up with.

“Well, we got him. What now?” Soarin’ asked.

Ryan rubbed his cold hands together to heat them up. “Now, we get the information we want when he wakes up.”

“Ah hope you didn’t break him,” Mac said. “That wouldn’t be very convenient.”

“Indeed, that would be rather unfortunate,” Fancy agreed. “Finding his friend would take far too long to be feasible.”

“Don’t worry, guys. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” After Ryan finished talking, the gryphon started groaning. “See? He’s already getting up.”

The gryphon’s head started lolling back and forth as he opened his eyes. He had only been out for a couple of minutes, but apparently, that was long enough for him to be in really serious trouble. When he finally came to, he looked around the room at the ponies and creature and realized what his situation was.

“I’m not telling you shit,” he said with a growl.

Ryan nodded slowly and looked down. “Now, you say that…” He stepped forward and put his hand on the gryphon’s shoulder. “Btu you don’t even know what we’re offering yet. A wise man always listens to his options before making a decision.”

“No one gave me credit for being wise,” the gryphon said.

Ryan shrugged. “Then take it from me,” he said. “I’m offering you a chance at-“

The gryphon spat violently in Ryan’s face. Ryan just stood there silently, didn’t move, and shut his eyes. The gryphon let drool fall from his mouth and smiled at the show of disrespect he just gave. The stallions didn’t move to the sides, just watched.

Ryan wiped his face with his hand. “Well, I can se how you are,” he said. “And here’s my response.”

In an instant, Ryan’s fist connected with the gryphon’s belly in a rotating uppercut, with his torso twisting for maximum torque and shooting his hand forward and up. The gryphon gagged and lost his breath, and he fell with his chair to the ground. On the ground, he gasped for breath as his diaphragm spasmed and threatened to make him vomit.

Ryan followed the strike with placing his foot on the gryphon’s beak and pressing lightly down on it. The gryphon groaned from the discomfort as much as he could without his breath.

“With a bit more pressure, I can remove that beak of yours from your ugly mug. Maybe I’ll mount it on my wall.” Ryan pressed a little harder on the gryphon’s beak.

Just then, Fancy stepped forward. “Now, Harkness, that hardly seems necessary,” he said. Ryan looked his way angrily, but then, when he looked into Fancy’s eyes, he saw what he was doing.

“I don’t know. My wall is awfully bare these days,” Ryan replied.

Fancy walked up and moved Ryan aside. “It hardly fits as a decoration.” When Ryan was out of the way, Fancy knelt down next to the gryphon. “Come now, you can definitely help us. We won’t tell anyone it was you, and if anyone finds out, Equestria can offer you safety.” That was a lie, of course, but the gryphon didn’t need to know.

The gryphon shook his head. “No… I won’t… I won’t tell you anything! We will overturn this pathetic excuse of a government and save our cultural heritage!”

Ryan stepped forward. “Oh, we don’t give half a shit about your culture, or this government that cares less for it than us. We’re here for a pony.”

The gryphon shook his head again. “We don’t have any ponies, so you can go home.”

Ryan and Fancy exchanged a look. Ryan nodded, and Fancy got up and walked back to his spot. Then, Ryan indicated to Mac to come over.

“You see this guy?” Ryan said. The gryphon looked at Big Mac and paled a little. “This guy is big. You are not nearly as big as him. Whopper is naturally red; you’ll be red when he’s done with you, as will the water hole we dump you in.”

The gryphon snarled. “Do your worst.”

Ryan nodded. “Very well.”

Ryan cocked his leg back and then swung it forward into the gryphon’s torso, right in his belly. Mac, feeling uncomfortable with the whole thing, played along more lightly, scraping his hoof on the gryphon’s beak to dull it and trapping feathers between his hoof and the ground to pull them out. He didn’t last long, though, and relented early.

Ryan leaned down again. “We don’t care what you do with your time. Nor what happens to your government. Nor what your group does, so long as it doesn’t attack our country. We just want our friend back.”

The gryphon was breathing heavily on the ground, but managed to respond. “Who is it you want, anyway? We haven’t fought Equestria for years, we haven’t taken any prisoners.”

“No one ever said this prisoner was taken recently,” Ryan said. “Stallion named Blazer. Years ago. Ring a bell?”

“Blazer?” the gryphon said, shocked to hear the name. “It took you this long to come get that old stallion?”

“So, you do have him,” Ryan said with a smile.

The gryphon scowled. “Yes, we have him. But you can’t. He’s ours now.”

Ryan frowned. “That’s a problem,” he said. “Because we aren’t leaving without the equivalent of one full body. Whether it is alive or dead doesn’t matter. And like I said; I’ve been wanting to mount something on my wall.” Ryan grabbed the gryphon by the feathers on the back of his neck and held him close to his own face. “I can take the parts of you that I want, and then, when we find some of your friends, I’ll complete my collection so that when I get home, I’ll be able to stuff them all and glue them together for a taxidermy gryphon. Maybe I’ll leave it in my basement, or the foyer.”

The gryphon looked at Ryan with wide eyes. “You would take my ability to speak?” he asked.

Ryan neutralized his expression. “And your ability to fly. And walk. And climb. Maybe see, too. But you’ll be alive the whole way, for years to come, with any luck, and every morning, when the sun can’t greet your eyes where I’ll keep them, you’ll know that I’m always ready to come back and find a way to make it worse for you. And trust me; it can ALWAYS get worse.”

By now, the gryphon was practically shitting himself. He had already urinated on the floor. He trembled in Ryan’s hand, too weak from fear to do anything, fully in the knowledge that he was powerless to fight this hellish creature before him.

Could eh give up the information? He wouldn’t be any use to his cause if the creature did these things to him. And if he just wanted to find this other pony, how would that hurt their cause? He already said that he didn’t care about their fight with the government. Maybe if he helped, the Equestrians would be more sympathetic, or owe him and his cause a favor? Yeah, that would be really, good. And if it failed, well, the cause would go on like it always had.

“I-I’ll tell you what I can,” the gryphon said.

Ryan let him go. “Good. Start with where we need to go.”

********************************************************************

Luna was sitting on her bed, watching her guard sleep because she really had nothing better to do. She had been thinking about him quite a lot lately, too. If Celestia were to hear about it, she would give her no end of grief over it. But she could be right for it.

Starstep slept next to the fireplace. His chest rose and fell in a steady, slow rhythm, like the waves of the open sea. Luna desperately wanted to know what he was dreaming of, as he seemed perfectly content, but she would not violate his privacy like that. Not when she felt so conflicted about it.

It took all her brainpower to not do it. She thought about all manner of other things. There was Discord’s sudden appearance in the garden. There was also the present need to recreate the Nighthawks. The one that worked best, though, was thinking about that trip Ryan was on. What did he plan to do in Las Pegasus? Even after the events in his world, he didn’t seem like the kind of person to partake in such activities.

With that, she occupied her mind for a time with her eyes still on her guard. Life had been fairly normal and uneventful lately, something they always wished for and then found themselves disliking. At the very least, something had to happen sometime that required their attention.

And something came. Three knocks at Luna’s door pulled all her attention away from Starstep and Ryan and threw it toward the door. With the grace of a cat, Luna fluttered into the air and landed before the door, then slowly opened it up to reveal a guar don the other side.

“Yes, what is it you are here for?” she asked.

The guard stood tall. “Princess Celestia requests your presence in the garden by Discord,” he said.

“Discord?” Luna wondered aloud. “Very well. I shall go there now.” The guard nodded and ran off.

Luna waited for a minute, then set off to the garden. Why would her sister want to meet her near Discord? Was this just a place to meet, or did it have something to do with Discord? Her steps grew faster as she walked, curious to find out why Celestia would meet her so late in the night and at such an odd time.

The halls are strangely quiet at such hours. No guards are moving about like in the day, though some are standing at their posts. Without moving, though, they are like painted statues. In the olden days, Luna entertained herself by playing games and jokes on them because they could not fight back.

When she arrived at the garden, it was much the same. Statues, silence, and no movement anywhere in sight. Luna walked through the gardens, looking at the statues on her way, pondering them and why they were there.

“I should give Ryan one,” she mused with herself. She knew Ryan would object to his real name being on any monument, if not being mentioned anywhere at all.

After some minutes of silent walking, she finally came across Celestia, standing before the statue of Discord. Celestia looked up at it with a sense of longing, one that Luna understood only because she dared to look into her sister’s dream on her birthday earlier this year. She never mentioned it to anypony, and rather than be displeased with her sister, she felt sorry for her. She knew how close they had been.

“Sister, I have arrived,” Luna said. “What was it you wished to see me about?”

Celestia turned to her sister with a smile. “Ah, I am glad you came,” Celestia said. “This is a matter of the utmost importance, to our national safety and criminal justice system.”

“What?” Luna replied.

Celestia chuckled. “I think we should free Discord.”

Luna took a moment to process her sister’s statement. “Wait…” she said. “You WHAT?!”

Celestia flinched at her sister’s loudness. “Yes, I think we need to give him a chance. We won’t just let him go, obviously; He is too dangerous. But we may be able to bring him to our side of the battle between good and evil.”

“Discord was always in the middle, and he loved it there,” Luna said. “Why would he switch sides?”

“All it shall take is a bit of convincing,” Celestia replied.

Luna raised one eyebrow at her sister. “And what kind of convincing is that?” she asked.

Celestia frowned. “The Elements of Harmony changed you for the better, sister. They can do the same for Discord.”

“Discord is not the same as Nightmare Moon,” Luna said. “Are you not thinking of other methods of persuasion that you might try?” Luna leaned toward her sister with a knowing look.

“I am sure,” Celestia said.

“I won’t come to find your chambers in total chaos any time, will I?” Luna asked.

Celestia scrunched her nose. “No, sister, you will not. I am not planning on changing my room to accommodate two,” she said, trying to put the light on Luna.

Luna wasn’t to allow that, though. “You want to bring Discord from the middle and onto our side. How does that serve our national security interests?”

Celestia looked up at Discord. “He has power that no other being has,” she said. “His abilities would prove invaluable in information gathering and sabotage. With his magic, we could alter the flow of conflicts easily.”

“Among other things,” Luna muttered.

“What was that, Luna?” Celestia asked suspiciously.

Luna shook her head innocently. “Nothing, please, go on.”

Celestia huffed. “Like I was saying. He would be a very useful asset-“

“Not as much of the ‘et’, I think.”

“-he can change himself into almost anything-”

“Ooh, exotic!”

“-and he knows the lay of the lands as well as you or I.”

“With how long I was gone, I imagine he mostly knows the lay of YOUR lands, sister.” Celestia glared at Luna. “What? Your lands were the only ones he saw… ever, really.”

Celestia took in a deep breath. “Are you done?”

Luna looked thoughtfully to the sky. “Hold on… He knows the best flanking maneuvers to take hill fortresses. There, I’m done.”

Celestia blushed and turned away. “I know that this may be a risky plan, but I think it is worth a shot. Especially if we are to fight the gryphon menace in the future.”

Luna became serious. “You think we will have to?” she asked. “The ponies of the kingdom may not get behind that.”

“I know,” Celestia said. “Dedicating ground forces to a war is not an option, I am afraid. Special Mission Units are all we will have to defend Equestria within our rights and powers. Shadow Operations, the kind that nopony ever hears about.”

“There are no Nighthawks, sister. We still need to recreate the unit.” Luna knew Starstep could do it, but whether or not he had the spirit to do so was in question.

“I understand. I know we need to bring them back. But most of them have died off. Others have disappeared off the face of the planet. Starstep is the only one I know any more, and I don’t know that he is up for it.”

“He can do it,” Luna said. “He will just need something to get him motivated.”

“You can’t motivate him?” Celestia asked with a smirk. “I heard you two always keep each other going.”

Luna grinned. “Well, I don’t find him hard to stimulate,” she said. She sat down and leaned rom side to side. “But it doesn’t take long for that stimulation to run dry.”

“You have to oil up the machine,” Celestia said. “Otherwise, the gears will rub up against each other and then jam. Then, you have to get in there and fix it by hoof.”

“I always hate doing work with my hooves,” Luna said. “They always get stained with the hydraulics fluids.”

“Yes, if you’re not careful, the fluid liens may burst and get everything dirty,” Celestia finished.

The two sisters sat in silence, staring at each other for a moment, then burst into laughter. Despite the situation they were discussing and its severity, they couldn’t help it. If one doesn’t have a good laugh every now and then and try to enjoy life even in hardship, everything becomes dull and horrible.

Luna calmed down first. “That was good. I needed that.”

“As did I,” Celestia replied.

Luna took in a deep breath and sighed. “So you really want to let him out, huh?” she asked.

Celestia nodded. “I do.”

Luna chuckled. “You might be saying that again, eventually.” Celestia didn’t respond. “Well, do it with my blessing. I can see the value of this.”

“I thank you for understanding,” Celestia said. “Tomorrow, I will send him out to Ponyville. If anypony can convert him, the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy, will do it.”

Luna nodded and stood. “It is a sound plan, and I wish it the best of luck. Good night sister, and sweet dreams.”

“You too, Luna,” Celestia replied.

Luna walked off back to her chambers, while Celestia just stayed where she was, looking up at the statue.

********************************************************************

The gryphon told them everything they needed to know with little need for further convincing. They knew that the secret mountain cave complex they needed to get to was near a major city by the name of San Peregrino. The city itself was a hive of scum and villainy, but the guys didn’t intend to stay there very long at all, if at all.

They would probably have to go in once to get specific information on where this cave complex was and maybe get a layout of it. It would be risky, though, because if they went around as Equestrians asking dangerous questions, they were inviting a fight. The complex was where most of the insurgents hung out, but some were in the city, while the rest of the city was either victims of criminal activity or the perpetrators of said activity.

There were dozens of fighters at the compound, maybe over a hundred. They were, from the gryphon they interrogated, apparently armed to the teeth with crossbows and some new, exploding magic rock. They were working on harnessing the magic for better use later. If the guys happened to come across any, they would happily snag it and either ruse it or bring it home for experts to examine.

The most important part; Blazer was definitively there. The gryphon had been a guard for him. They never moved him because he would undoubtedly try to escape. His wings were always kept tied up; not broken, because they would never take anyone’s flight from them; so the muscles might not be that strong. He sounded, from the account, to be in deteriorating shape as of recently. For years, he was a captive, and it was finally getting to him physically. Who knew what it had done to him mentally.

As soon as they were done with the gryphon, the guys had to sneak out of the city. It was no easy task, and when they reached the gates, they were stopped and questioned. Ryan took the lead on answers, but there were times when the others were asked and Ryan was ignored. They all stuck together in their story, though, and when they left, the gryphon guards even offered them goggles for the rain. It was tough to get them to fit, but they roughly worked.

San Peregrino was also in the wetlands, frustratingly, but the walk there took several days. They were forces to ration their food carefully and sleep only in secure places with one lookout at all times. Rainwater refilled their canteens, and other than Ryan, they mostly survived off of bread that could still be eaten after getting wet. The journey was a pain. But now, after an exhausting journey, they had arrived.

“Well, boys,” Ryan said, looking up the mountainside through his goggles. “Here we are; San Peregrino.”

Half of the city was outside, and half of it was in the mountain. The part of the city that was outside consisted mostly of businesses and shipment receiving ports. Inside was where all the residences were. There was little for them to see in the outer section of the city besides guards who didn’t look like they cared about their jobs and sketchy deals going down.

“Should we get inside?” Soarin’ shouted.

“Ah like that,” Mac replied.

The guys ran to the city and past the numerous uncaring guards. They were able to go right past the shipping sites without issue, like the guards didn’t even notice. Some would say it indicated the quality of the guards. Others would say it indicated the safety of the city; that no one would dare mess with the residents here.

When they were out of the rain and inside the mountain, they were unimpressed by what they saw. For all the trade this city seemed to get, it was an absolute dump. Kasteel City was better. Here, there didn’t even look to be that many residences, though it was the first section of the city. Even so, the buildings that were there weren’t very big, maybe a hundred square feet of space.

They continued through the city to find an area where many, many more gryphons tended to gather. It was the residential area they were looking for. There were several bars right off, various stores, and a lot of gryphons who were all business and didn’t look like they tolerated tourists. It was perfect for the guys, but it was as much a danger as a benefit.

As they walked through, they received looks of varying levels of disgust, but disgust all the same. Gryphons bumped into Ryan in the lead and even tried to trip the stallions at times. Mac and Fancy were growing wary while Soarin’ was getting angry. Ryan could tell that he wanted to fight, but he knew better.

Their only option for survival here was to stick together. The amount of hate was practically oozing off the gryphons, unlike in Kasteel. If they separated, any bad guys around, regardless of allegiance, were likely to come at them without mercy.

Ryan spotted a bar that looked less than friendly. Its name was State of Gryphonia; definitely not pony friendly.

“What say we go make some waves?” Ryan said.

“Sounds like something a crazy pony would do,” Soarin’ said. “Let’s do it.”

Ryan turned to Mac and Fancy. “You guys ready?”

Mac nodded and Fancy replied, “Ready.”

“This won’t be fun,” Ryan said, turning back toward the bar. “But we’ll do it, get out, and finish the job. When we get home, it’ll be drinks on me.”

The guys mentally steeled themselves for what they were likely about to experience and walked forward. They walked toward the bar with a purpose, trying to dissuade any fighters from picking a fight with them, but that didn’t keep them completely safe. Someone might wait until they’re leaving the bar to get them, or until they find a place to sleep if they need to.

They entered the bar and found a massive crowd of gryphons, smiling and talking. There were groups everywhere, but few individuals or pairs. Drinks were spilled on the floor, laughter and chatter were loud and cheerful, and gryphon coinage flew from tables toward the bar.

When the stallions walked in, some of the conversation near them ceased, and then the rest in the room followed. The guys stood there, all eyes on them, waiting for someone to do something. Some of the gryphons turned their chairs to get a good look at them, and others put their claws on their chair backs, ready to stand.

Ryan crossed his arms. “What’s the best you got?” he asked.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, every gryphon in the room cheered and stood, raising mugs and roaring approval. Ryan flinched from the unexpected response, as did his stallions, and they just stood there, dumbfounded. They recovered quickly, though, and walked further into the bar.

They stuck together, almost staying in physical contact as they moved. It wasn’t easy; gryphons were grabbing at the, trying to pull them to their tables for drinks or games. They couldn’t trust any of them, though, as they could be individuals or groups with the insurgents, or even just petty thieves and muggers. If the guys were separated in here, they may not be able to meet up again until they left, if at all.

They were hounded until they finally arrived at a spot where there were fewer gryphons; all the way at the bar, as far from the door as possible. There were four empty seats at the end of the bar, with just enough space to accommodate all four of them. Ryan looked around; there was a bathroom not too far, but he didn’t know if there were windows or holes in the wall for them to get through, or if they could all get through them if they were there.

When they were sitting, most of the fervor for them died down, and the gryphons went back to their own conversations. The guys all kept their ears open to listen for any less than friendly gryphons. They could be talking about where they would go, what they planned to do now that there were ponies here, or, if the guys were lucky, they would talk about the location of their cave base.

But to avoid too much suspicion from the gryphons, they had to act normal.

“So, guys, where do you want to head next?” Ryan asked loudly. “We’re making our way through the Wetlands, and we’ll be finished up soon. Are we looking for history, fun, what are we thinking?”

“Well, Osprey might want to have fun, but I’m a history stallion,” Fancy said.

“You’ve always been that way, dude,” Soarin’ said. “Gotta loosen up, do something to get your blood pumping.”

“I do, plenty,” Fancy said. “Whopper, you like history, right?”

“Can’t say as Ah do, honestly,” Mac said. “Ah like math and science the most. Never had a taste for old mares’ tales.”

“Bah,” Fancy said with a wave of his hoof. “Harkness? You’re a history man, right?”

“We can always learn from history,” Ryan replied.

The barkeep came over. “You boys looking to drink?” he asked with a smile.

Ryan scrutinized the smile. Any normal person in a normal situation would have thought it was fine. But there was something in there, something that betrayed a key piece of information about him. He knew something. Whether it was something good for the guys or very bad was yet to be determined, but he knew something.

“Sure are,” Ryan aid with a grin. “Do you accept bits?”

“I do,” the barkeep replied happily.

Ryan pulled up a bag and dropped it on the table. “We’ll take however much of the top shelf this will get us.” Ryan was willing to dump his personal funds for this endeavor now because he didn’t anticipate it taking much longer, so he might not need it. And he may get something out of the barkeep for all this cash.

The barkeep beamed. “Right away!” he said. He turned around, flew up to the top shelf, and grabbed two bottles of something with several glasses. He was back in just seconds. “Here you go, anything else?”

Ryan accepted the glasses and poured into each. “Actually we could use some help,” Ryan said.

“Oh? Help with what?” the barkeep asked.

“Well, obviously, we’re pretty recent to the area,” Ryan began. “We aren’t staying, we’re travelling the world to see what it has in store for us. We don’t know this area at all. We practically fell off the slippery mountains on our way here!” Ryan shared a laugh with the barkeep.

“Yes, foreigners to this area tend to have trouble with that,” he said.

Ryan nodded. “Exactly. So, we were wondering what you could tell us about this area.”

The gryphon looked thoughtful. “Well, that really depends on what you want to know. Anything specific?”

“We know the geography of the area, but we don’t know about the area, you know what I’m saying?” Ryan asked. “What kinds of things do the gryphons do here? What kinds of dudes and gals live around here?”

The barkeep hesitated for a second before answering. Ryan saw his eyes flicker to look behind him, toward the mass of gryphons behind him. Ryan didn’t dare turn around and attract attention to himself. The guys were continuing their innocent conversation to Ryan’s left, but beyond them, Ryan just spotted a gryphon looking at them in a most unwelcome fashion. Ryan had seen him cheer for them when they walked in; he would be good to watch and listen for.

The barkeep spoke up. “Well, most folks don’t like ponies here,” he said. “It’s good that you came in with those guys. They might not have been welcome without you.”

“The gryphons here seemed eager to have us,” Ryan said.

The gryphon nodded. “Yeah, but they would have had them in a whole other way,” he said. “You showed them that you didn’t care. They see you as tough, and they respect that.”

“That’s good,” Ryan said. “This landscape seems to breed toughness.”

“And then some,” the barkeep said. “A lot of gryphons are tough enough to be on their own and survive like that. They don’t like the government.”

“Well, living in a city defeats that purpose,” Ryan said. If he could steer this in the proper direction, this might be all he needs.

“Most of them don’t,” the barkeep said. “Most live in some caves just outside the city. They like to get the services here, but not the taxes and rules.”

“Is that an area to avoid?” Ryan asked.

The barkeep nodded. “Yeah, but it’s in a remote area above the city. You won’t run into it unless you try to.”

Bingo. That was what Ryan needed. They had the location of at least one gryphon fortress around here. If they went there, and Blazer wasn’t there, they could probably find information on where he was. Getting there would be trouble, since it sounded like there weren’t exactly trails, but Ryan might be able to squeeze some more info out of this guy.

“Are there any areas to avoid in the city, areas where these guys congregate?” he asked.

The barkeep nodded. “Yeah, avoid the east side, where it opens up into the intermountain river. It’s a dangerous place; that’s where the ones who live here are, so they can keep track of what comes in and out. A bunch of the shipments that come here are for them.”

“There’s a river in the mountains?” Ryan asked with feigned interest. He had to appear more interested in other things.

“Ha, that always surprises visitors to the city,” the barkeep replied. “Even other gryphons. But yes, there’s a river. It crosses several mountains, and provides us with water and fish. We put fish in there years ago to breed so we could catch them for food later.”

“Very clever,” Ryan said.

The barkeep nodded. “So yeah. Avoid that area. One of the bosses lives there, knows everything and has a group of guards. You can see his house from down the street, so use it as a point of reference.”

Perfect. Once they were done here, Ryan would take the guys around the shops to look like tourists, then they would set out for this boss’s house. They could interrogate this guy, find out where Blazer was, find a better way up the mountain if necessary, and head home with the job done. This had the potential to go off without a hitch.

“Thanks for the tips,” Ryan said. He stood up. “Alright guys, let’s see what else the city has for us.” The stallions stood up to leave.

The barkeep looked surprised. “Wait, you need to get change, you haven’t drank all of the money you gave.”

Ryan grinned and waved his hand. “Nah, you keep it. A tip for you, for the tip you gave us.” The barkeep smiled and waved to the guys as they made their way out.

The guys left the bar and meandered about the shops for a time. They had to make the image that they were here as tourists, or they would certainly be stopped and taken to a dark alley by unsavory individuals. They were occasionally rejected by store owners who didn’t like ponies, but bits were worth more than the gryphon coins, so they were begrudgingly accepted most of the time.

When they decided that they were clear, the guys left the immediate area in the direction of the safer areas of the city to check for tails. Fancy Pants noticed that they were being followed right off the bat, so the guys had to go through several small buildings and side streets to lose them. When they deemed that they were safe, they walked to a less populated area to get their footing and then proceed to their new target.

They found an area with no one in it, around it, or above it and were able to set themselves up. The stallions removed their weapons form their saddlebags and set them on their sides, easily access and ready for action. Ryan dropped his cloak, not anticipating needing it ever again, and revealed his armored vest, gun, and obsidian knife. He had also brought his helmet, tethered to his back during the journey, and donned it as well, not willing to take any risks. Once they were all ready, Ryan addressed his small team of fighters.

“Alright guys, this is it. This is our chance to end this now, and to bring this guy home. This is when we get the chance to go home to our loved ones, when we can finally be done fighting and get a good rest.”

“We go in fast and hard, take out anyone who fights back. We know who this guy is, we know who’s with him. Priority is to get him, get his information, and go get Blazer. When that’s done, we get to the shipping yard and find transportation home. They ought to have some airships there, and Gatsby can drive.”

“I can,” Fancy said.

“Whopper, you and me take the lead, take out the big guys. I’ll take the front, watch your neck.”

“Ah got your back,” Mac said.

“Osprey and Gatsby, you two stick together. Osprey can move fast and distract and fight the enemy while Gatsby hits them with magic blasts.”

“I like that plan,” Fancy said.

“Works for me,” Soarin’ said.

Ryan pulled his M1911 out. It had been some time since he did that. “Okay, boys, let’s do this.”

Ryan took the lead, followed by Mac, then Soarin’, then Fancy Pants. They ran through the back streets and alley toward the river, where they could see the tall house of the alleged insurgent boss. There was a strange lack of gryphons on the way there, which was just as well, since it made traveling there that much easier. Still, it was odd, and it made Ryan feel uneasy.

They rounded a corner and ran down one last alley. At the end, Ryan looked left and right out the end to see if any enemies were around. He didn’t spot anyone at all, and took it as his chance o get the guys to the building quickly and quietly. With a flick of his wrist, he sent his guys forward as he ran out and to the building.

They were at the entrance in moments, ready to go in. Ryan had the guys stop for a moment outside to catch their breath before running in. Ryan took in several deep breaths to calm himself. He could feel his blood pressure going down, and the shaking that usually accompanies adrenaline and running disappeared quickly.

“Ready?” Ryan asked his friends.

“Ready,” they all replied.

“Okay,” Ryan said. “Three… two… one… GO!”

Ryan ran forward and thrust his foot into the door before him. The door stuck fast, though, and his foot bounced off painfully and he went to one knee, holding it. Behind him, he heard the stallions stop suddenly and nearly topple each other over. Ryan quickly holstered his weapon and looked to the door.

“We got a problem, guys-“

“OH, SHIT!”

Ryan looked back immediately to see Soarin’ looking up and followed his gaze. In a heartbeat, he understood Soarin’s outburst. Above them, three windows had opened up and out flew a dozen gryphons that were quickly descending upon them. And they weren’t even in a position to fight back.

“Scatter!” Ryan shouted.

But his order went unheard. The gryphons were on them, they had Soarin’ pinned and knocked out in an instant. Fancy Pants was bagged and cut with a small knife, then he dropped like a ton of bricks. The knife must have been poisoned.

Mac almost got up in time to fight back, but two gryphons were able to choke him out and put a bag on his head. They tied him up with massive ropes and chains, and he was helpless to get away.

Ryan got up and pulled out his knife. If he used his gun, he might hit one of his friends, an unacceptable tactic. With a quick movement, he ran forward and cut at one of the gryphons holding Mac down, slicing away feathers but nothing more. He slashed at him again, but the gryphon was too fast and dodged, then struck Ryan in the back of the hand, knocking the knife out of his hands.

Ryan lunged forward, arms out, and tried to grab at the gryphon, but before he got his hands on it, another gryphon came down on him from above and behind and knocked him to the ground. His face struck the street hard, just barely not smashing his nose thanks to an indirect impact. He received a cut on his forehead and saw a brief flash of white. When his head came back up, he saw a gryphon kneeling before him.

“You thought you could come here and finish what you started decades ago?” the gryphon asked. “You ponies should have known we wouldn’t be defeated. When you ran with your tails between your legs, we only stayed here because we need to get rid of this puppet government of yours before we kill you all. And I’ll be damned if I don’t love how I kill every last thing you love in this world.”

Before Ryan could say anything, he felt something metal crash against the top of his helmet, and all the lights from the street lanterns suddenly disappeared, replaced with an inky black.