Ryan could remember a bag over his head. He didn’t know when it got there, though it was probably after he was struck in the head.

He remembered being dragged through the street by his shoulders, his feet scraping at the ground as he went. He couldn’t tell where Mac, Fancy Pants, or Soarin’ were. He could only hope that they were alright.

While he was dragged through the street, Ryan heard gryphons on the sides of the street cheering for his captors. A lot of them were shouting incoherently, but Ryan heard several distinct cheers calling for his beheading or hanging. Rocks collided with his torso and head after being chucked at the group.

After being dragged through the streets, Ryan was tossed onto what felt like a raft. The air around it was cool, indicating the presence of water, and it rocked unsteadily. His arm flopped around and his hand landed in the water. The gryphons taking him didn’t care enough about his safety to pull him away from the side.

Several other large bodies landed on the raft, rocking it and nearly toppling it. Ryan couldn’t tell if they were his friends or if they were gryphons. No one spoke a word. Ryan wasn’t sure if he and his friends would be transported together, separate, or if they would just be floated down the intermountain river and allowed to eventually sink and drown.

Ryan tried to move his hands, but found them to be bound. Movement wouldn’t have helped anyway; his head was still covered and he was guarded by who knew how many gryphons. His ears were still ringing from being struck earlier. The entire plan had fallen apart, and he was in no condition right now to develop a new one.

He tried to move again, but some gryphon had noticed his squirming and pinned him down with his claw.

“Awake already?” he asked. “I thought you were hit hard enough to be out as long as your buddies.” Ryan didn’t answer. “You’re a tough one, aren’t you?” Still, Ryan stayed quiet. “I’ll tear you down. You aren’t that tough.”

“I’ll tear you a new one,” Ryan said, muffled by his bag.

The gryphon laughed. “Hah! That’s funny. Now you’re a funny one, too. Well, by the time I’m finished with you and your friends, you won’t be funny any more either.”

“Still funnier than you,” Ryan said. If he kept this guy talking, he might survive to see the next day.

But the gryphon was done talking. “We will see later,” he said. “But for now, you sleep.”

Before Ryan could say anything, he felt something stick in his neck, and his consciousness quickly faded away.

When Ryan came to, it was dark as the cloudy night sky. He still had the bag on his head, but he had a strong feeling that that fact wouldn’t change the level of darkness in the room.

Unlike before, now, he felt groggy and dirty when he woke up, instead of pained and throbbing in the head. There were other changes as well; his clothes were gone, and all over his body, he felt freezing cold and wet. Water droplets steadily fell onto his body from above.

His small bindings on his hands were replaced with heavy chains. He tried to move, but when he did, he could feel the weight holding him down and knew that straining against it was a bad decision. The new shackles were on his wrists and his ankles, though he could feel that they clearly weren’t designed for a human. They were uncomfortably round, like they were for pony legs. Judging from the weight, they were meant to keep an earth pony from being able to break them off the wall and keep a pegasus on the ground.

Ryan could feel himself hanging and experimented with moving his torso back and forth. He hit nothing, no wall. His wrist chains were suspending his arms up while his ankle chains kept his legs down, forcing him to hang with his knees just over the ground and his hands in the air like he was praying. It was incredibly uncomfortable, but compared to what a pony would feel in these things, belly exposed and stretched unnaturally, he was perfectly fine.

He was getting his wits back about him and already starting to think up a new plan. He was in a bad way here, as were his friends, if they were alive. He desperately hoped they were. There was only one way to check at the moment.

“Guys?” he asked the darkness. “Guys? Are you there?”

“Ryan?” Mac’s voice answered.

Ryan released a sigh of relief. “Thank God,” he said. “I thought you guys were gone.”

“No, we’re still here,” Mac said. “At least, Ah am.”

“I’m over here,” Soarin’s voice called. “They’ve got me chained to the ground.”

“Ah’m on the wall,” Mac replied.

“I don’t know where I am, just that I’m partially hanging off the ground,” Ryan said. “Where’s Gatsby?”

“I’ll check if he’s near me,” Soarin’ answered.

Ryan wasn’t sure how he planned to check until he heard the awful sound of iron scraping against stone. Soarin’ was managing to drag himself around. He must have been on a long set of chains to be able to go for so long.

“Do you have anything?” Ryan shouted.

A few more seconds of scraping. “I think I got something,” Soarin’ said. “Yeah, it’s him, horn and all. He’s out like a lamp.”

“They don’t want to risk him using any magic,” Ryan thought.

“Can ya tell if he’s okay?” Mac asked.

“I’m as blind as you guys and I can’t lift any of my legs, so no,” Soarin’ said. “It’s a miracle I got this far.”

“We can’t be relying on miracles,” Ryan said. “We’ve got to find a way out of this.”

“I’m all ears,” Soarin’ said.

“Ah ain’t much of a planner, Harkness,” Mac said. “An’ it looks to me like we ain’t in such a good spot.”

“How in the hell do we get out of this?” Soarin’ asked. “This was never a part of the plan.”

“When did we actually plan anything down here, Osprey?” Ryan asked. He got no response. “We had our goals and did what we could to achieve them. This is no different.”

“I don’t see any way out of this,” Soarin said disparagingly.

“Neither do I,” Ryan said. “That’s why I’m waiting for light. So I can see a way out.”

Soarin’ didn’t respond, and Mac said nothing. Ryan could feel their sense of hopelessness for their situation, and he could feel its icy grip taking hold of his heart as well. But he couldn’t allow it to take over. Not when they were so close, not when he promised to bring his friends home.

He got to thinking. From here, there was no clear way out. There was no way out at all. But they were all alive, hopefully, and they were all being held as prisoners, so someone would come eventually. That was going to be their one chance at escape.

But whose chance would it be? Not Fancy’s, he was out. Soarin’ would be intercepted if he tried to fly out in the shape he was probably in, so that was out too. Mac could fight, and he might make it out. It all depended on if they took one of them out or more, and who was taken out. Ryan hoped he would be out first at least. He was down now, but he wasn’t out, not by a long shot.

He always had a trick or two up his sleeve.

Three loud clangs rang throughout the room, deafening the stallions and man inside. Following the loud noise, a light shone through into the room and ever so slightly through the bags over the guys’ heads. Ryan couldn’t make out any shapes, but he could tell where the door was.

“So, who gets to be taken first?” an unknown gryphon asked.

“How about me?” Soarin’ asked. “No one’s taken me in a few weeks.”

“Now, Osprey, hold on,” Ryan said. “I’m sure the guy they want us to meet has already spent time with pegasus stallions. He’ll want something fresh.”

Ryan felt a balled up claw strike him in the torso, directly on the solar plexus. It took all his willpower not to vomit into his hood. He mostly succeed, only feeling a little bit cough up out of his throat and into the sack in front of his face.

“Think you’re funny?” the gryphon asked. “You won’t be when I peck that little cock of yours off.”

“Well, I’ve never been blown by a gryphon before, but if you want to try it that bad…” Ryan was greeted by another fist to the gut.

“If you want be first so much, I will be happy to take you out,” the gryphon said.

"Glad to know you'll take me out to dinner before taking me," Ryan said.

There was movement, and Ryan felt his shackles release and he dropped to the floor. He tried to catch himself, but he fell too fast and landed on his front. The gryphon wrapped his talons around Ryan’s shoulders and started to drag him, bag still on his head.

“Hope you enjoy the ride,” the gryphon said.

“I like being ridden hard,” Ryan said.

His bare skin dragged against the gravely floor, scratching and cutting at him without mercy. Ryan had to lift his pelvis up to protect his most sensitive area from the damage. As he was dragged away, Ryan tried to look back, but the bag still blocked his vision. He just had to hope that he would be able to come back for his friends after all was said and done here. But at least he knew where they would be.

The ride didn’t last long, thankfully. Ryan wouldn’t have been able to hold himself up much longer, a truly traumatic experience would surely have followed. How could he go home like that? Sorry, my crown jewels were a little tarnished while in the city of vice and sin. Not a great story.

When the dragging was done, Ryan was thrown onto a chair and his hands were cuffed again. Still, they were the pony cuffs, round and frustrating to move in. But with a quick process of thoughts, he was already finding a way out.

Then, as he finished up his plan, the bag came off his head to reveal a very large gryphon glaring daggers at him. Ryan looked up and down at him, taking him in. He had scar feathers, if they would be called that, all over his wings, and war paint on the tips. His talons were painted gold, and his beak had silver paint on it.

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “The hell is this, a drag show?” Ryan asked.

“What?” the gryphon said.

“You have me tied up, but you didn’t come out of a cake for me,” Ryan said. “Whatup with that?”

The gryphon put the tip of a talon on Ryan’s chest. “Nothing for you today, I’m afraid,” he said. He took the talon back.

“So who the fuck are you?” Ryan asked, trying to be as caustic and tough as possible. “Some chicken bitch?”

“Hardly, freak,” the gryphon replied. “I am Bull’s Eye, third in command of this safe haven. Who are you?”

“Call me Harkness, for the sake of ease,” Ryan answered. “If you asked my real name, you would get Jack Shit.”

“Well, Jack Shit Harkness,” Bull’s Eye said. “Do you know why you’re here?”

“I assume you want to take me?” Ryan answered.

“You are here,” Bull’s Eye said, starting to walk around. “Because you have piqued my curiosity.”

Ryan looked down. “Well, I admit, it is pretty glorious.”

Bull’s Eye chuckled. “No, no, that is a joke,” he said. Ryan frowned. “What piques my curiosity is what you are. I do not know. And that is why you will tell me.”

“Why don’t we help each other out?” Ryan answered. “I answer you, you answer me.”

“You are in no position to bargain,” Bull’s Eye said menacingly.

“Oh, but I am, you see? I have key information that you can’t get unless you’re willing to trade. Call it intellectual capital. And if you trade with me, you’ll be rich. As long as you give me what I want.”

Bull’s Eye growled. “That isn’t how this works.”

Ryan shrugged. “Then we’re done”

Bull’s Eye leapt forward and put the tips of his talons back on Ryan’s chest. “I don’t know how you received those unholy scars, but I know how you’ll get more,” he warned.

Ryan laughed. “You can’t even compare to Narendra, sorry,” he said. “You’re a bad guy wannabe compared to him.”

“Oh, really?” Bull’s Eye asked. He twisted his talons in a circle, eliciting a grunt of pain from Ryan. “You think so?”

“Bitch, I know so,” Ryan said.

Bull’s Eye removed his talons again. “I guess you are tough after all,” he said. He hopped over to a desk. “Those scars on your arms say so, I suppose. But what about your friends? I have them.”

“There is one problem with that,” Ryan said. “If you hurt them, or have them hurt, or any shit like that, not only will I not give you anything; I will kill you in such a way that you will wish your boss had killed you.”

“Big words from a naked creature whose bag of seeds is visible to everyone,” Bull’s Eye said.

“Truer words are never spoken than when I’m naked,” Ryan answered.

Bull’s Eye sat in a chair behind his desk. “Well, alright, since you’re such a pest, and I know I won’t get anything from you otherwise. I will play your game.”

“Good,” Ryan answered. “The rules are easy to follow.”

“I will go first,” Bull’s Eye said. “Just who are you?”

“Just a few guys looking to bring our friend home,” Ryan answered. “We don’t give a damn about your quarrel with your government. Do what you want with them, just give us our friend back and we’ll be on our way.”

“Not happening,” Bull’s Eye answered. “Especially now that we have three pony civilians and whatever the hell you are. I assume you’re with Equestria.”

“I’m with me and my friends,” Ryan said.

Bull’s Eye shrugged. “Here, there, does it matter where our allegiances lay? Equestria will pay for you.”

“True enough,” Ryan said. “My turn. How did you know to get us the way you did?”

Bull’s Eye deadpanned, “Did you honestly believe that the gryphon you attacked in Kasteel wouldn’t get the word to us tha the sent you here? Gryphons fly faster than ponies and you walk. We knew days ahead of you that you would be here. We knew what you looked like, what you wore, everything. You were watched on your way here through the rain.”

“How?” Ryan asked.

“We have the best eyes in the world,” Bull’s Eye said. “What we see is four times magnified what you see.”

“And the barkeep?” Ryan asked. “He sent us to the building you ambushed us at.”

Bull’s Eye smirked arrogantly. “Everyone in this city is on our side. How did that not seem suspicious to you when you walked into that bar? Any drinking establishment would have greeted you that way because we told them to. And you fell for it.”

“That was stupid of me,” Ryan mentally scolded himself.

“Honestly. You miscalculated our capabilities so much that now, you are here, in my talons,” Bull’s Eye said. “It was a truly pathetic effort. That’s how I know you’re all civilians.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ryan said. “Your turn again.”

“Very well.” Bull’s Eye thought about his question. “Ah, yes. What are these things you were carrying?” The gryphon held up Ryan’s gun and a magazine.

“My canteen?” Ryan asked. “It’s special. Don’t use it.”

“How is it used?” Bull’s Eye asked.

“You just stick the end in your mouth, get your talon into that little groove, and pull the moving piece back,” Ryan said.

Bull’s Eye was about to try it, but stopped. “I’m not an idiot,” he said, setting the gun down. “I know it kills. I’ve heard stories from Canterlot. I never thought I would see it, though.”

“That was a different one,” Ryan said.

“Still. Quite a weapon.” Bull’s Eye examined it. “I guess that you just told me how to use it, then?”

“Not sure,” Ryan said. “Is a round chambered?”

“What?” Bull’s Eye said.

Ryan grinned. “Guess I didn’t,” he said smugly. Bull’s Eye snarled then put the weapon and magazine down.

“I will put these in the box for now,” he said. “Until I figure out how to use it on you so I can dispose of you.”

“I thought you wanted to ransom me,” Ryan said.

Bull’s Eye laughed. “But this is worth so much more,” he said. “This is what I would rather spend my time with. If I could figure this out, I would be the most respected gryphon in the colonies.”

“Well, I don’t know how exactly it works either, so you’ll need some serious luck if you want to take apart and put it back together right,” Ryan said.

“Time is all I will need,” Bull’s Eye said. “But for now, what of these other items? You abandoned a perfectly good cloak.” Bull’s Eye picked the cloak up off the table and held it out so it fell open. “It’s very nice. No reason to ditch it.”

“I don’t see why that matters,” Ryan said. “It’s just a cloak I bought a while ago. I won’t be needing it again.”

“I shall keep it, then,” Bull’s Eye said. “It will serve me well in the colder regions of Equestria and the Crystal Empire when the time comes to expand our territory.”

“Given that your territory can’t expand any other way,” Ryan said.

Bull’s Eye’s grin slowly faded, then shot to a frown. “Clever?” he asked.

The gryphon rushed forward and flew up into the air and threw his legs forward. Ryan took the full force of the attack to his torso and flew back in the chair, landing awkwardly on his arms. It was an extremely painful landing, and Ryan grimaced as the gryphon’s talons closed around him.

“I’m getting really tired of your shit,” Bull’s Eye said. “But as much as I would love to end it now, I need to know a few more things from you.”

Ryan grunted under the gryphon’s weight. “Well, too bad. It’s my turn.”

“No,” Bull’s Eye said. “I’m done with your little game. I feel confident that I can get the rest of the information from your friends, who aren’t nearly as tough as you. If you don’t answer me now, I’ll just kill you and be done.” He got off of Ryan and pulled his chair back upright, then went back to his desk.

Ryan was pissed. His plan fell apart this time, and he couldn’t get any more information out of this guy. Not directly, at least.

“Alright,” Ryan said curtly.

Bull’s Eye picked up the knife. “This is a strange blade,” he said. “Where ever did you get it?”

“It was a gift,” Ryan said. “I don’t know where to buy this stuff. If I did, I would have a bunch.”

Bull’s Eye nodded slowly. “I would get a sword,” he said.

“You fight with swords?” Ryan asked.

“Swords, claws and talons, and crossbows when I can,” Bull’s Eye answered.

Ryan didn’t respond. It was good to know how Bull’s Eye fought.

“But I have only one last question for you.” Bull’s Eye leaned on his desk. “Why do you want to bring this individual home so badly? What do you gain from this? No one knows he is here. No one remembers or cares. What inspired this quest of yours?”

Ryan took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s something I have to do,” he said. “Like why you have to fight the Equestrians. Like how the dragons migrate. The reason is irrelevant, because regardless of whether or not it was good enough, I would find another one.”

“You sound like a fool to me,” Bull’s Eye said.

“I don’t’ care,” Ryan said, defiantly sitting up straight. “I came down here with a job to do. And I plan to do it.”

“And I plan to stop you,” Bull’s Eye said.

Bull’s Eye rushed Ryan again, talons out, and stabbed them into Ryan’s chest. They didn’t go very deep, just enough so that Ryan could feel them between his ribs. Blood trickled out of the wounds between the skin and talons, flowing down his chest and belly and dropping to the floor. Ryan gritted his teeth through the pain and pulled his hands forward as eh tensed under the pain. When his hands were caught and stopped by the chain, he could just feel exactly what he needed.

“After we kill you, we’ll take little parts of you and send them to the princesses. See how long it takes them to figure out what we’re sending home.” Bull’s Eye had a sick smile on his face as he slowly dug his talons into Ryan’s chest.

Ryan looked Bull’s Eye directly in the eyes with as much anger and defiance as he could muster. In the man’s eyes, Bull’s Eye could see something he wasn’t expecting he thought he would see hopelessness, acceptance of the inevitable end. Instead, he saw determination, anger, and a very clear intent to fight back.

“There’s one thing you didn’t account for” Ryan said, pulling his arms forward.

“What would that be?” Bull’s Eye asked. Ryan smiled.

“These cuffs are for pony forelegs. Not human arms!”

Ryan gave his arms one last, powerful yank forward, and as he cranked up the tension on them, the tiny metal links of the cuffs snapped. Ryan’s right fist came hurling through the air with enormous power and collided with Bull’s Eye’s face, crashing into his skull and sending him to the ground in a mess of feathers and a cry of pain. Free, Ryan launched forward from the chair and landed on his belly on the ground, then rolled to the side and stood up.

Bull’s Eye recovered quicker than Ryan would have thought and was standing at the same time as Ryan, ready to fight. He was physically closer to the table than Ryan, so the human was unable to retrieve any of his weapons. His gun was in the box behind the desk, so that was out as well. He had nothing; not even clothes to protect him.

“Let’s do the chicken dance,” Ryan said.

Bull’s Eye growled at the human and got into a low battle stance with his arms out to either side. His talons were fully bared, ready to rend flesh from bone. Ryan responded with a deep Seunchin dachi and put up a steady Seunchin fighting guard. One hand before his solar plexus to serve as a sacrifice guard, the other forward, ready to block or strike as needed.

Bull’s Eye wasted no time and lunged forward with incredible speed and power. Ryan kept his eyes locked with Bull’s Eye’s the whole way, keeping track of them to determine what his plans were for his next move. The angry gryphon let out a feral roar as he swung one arm at Ryan, who blocked it with a simple high-block with his forearm.

Ryan saw his opening and went for it. With half of his guard gone, Bull’s Eye was wide open. Ryan sent a quick uppercut into the gryphon’s gut, and, with the force of his strike combined with the gryphon’s forward momentum, he sent Bull’s Eye up into the air and past himself, right into the wall. Bull’s Eye’s face struck it with a loud smack, and he appeared dazed for a moment.

Ryan went to continue the onslaught, but Bull’s Eye recovered quickly and was already facing Ryan again by the time he was on him. The gryphon shot a quick stab of his talons forward at Ryan, which the man had to dodge because a stab from those talons meant death. As Ryan veered out of the way, Bull’s Eye brought his other arm around to slash at Ryan’s neck. Ryan just maneuvered himself so that he caught an arm to the face instead of sharp points to the neck.

Ryan took the hit in stride and let it carry him to the side, where he fell to the ground and rolled back up. When he was back up, he was on the defense; Bull’s Eye was relentless. Pissed off, in pain, and already on intent on killing the human, he was in a frenzy. He slashed haphazardly at Ryan, just missing every time and growing more frustrated as he went.

Ryan was able to dodge one attack and draw the gryphon to slash at the stone wall. With a loud scrape, like nails on a chalkboard, a fork on a plate, the talons dragged across the wall with an ear-piercing sound. Ryan ignored it, as did Bull’s Eye, and the man pushed off the wall to get toward the center of the room and drive Bull’s Eye into a corner.

The gryphon paused for a moment and looked at his now dulled talons on his left claw. They were chipped and broken, but not jagged enough to be usable as sharp weapons. With a growl, Bull’s Eye balled that claw into a fist and turned around to continue his attack.

Ryan was there when he turned, though, and gave him one powerful roundhouse punch across the face. Bull’s Eye went straight to the ground after blacking out for just a second, and hadn’t fully recovered when Ryan was on him. Ryan put his hands around the gryphon’s neck and began to squeeze.

“You aren’t going to kill me today!” Ryan said through gritted teeth.

Suddenly, he felt two feet press against his abdomen, and he was thrown off the gryphon and onto the floor in the center of the room. Bull’s Eye coughed and sputtered and Ryan rolled away. When they were both up again, Bull’s Eye gave him a death glare.

“Oh yes I am!”

Bull’s Eye lunged again, this time punching Ryan in the gut with his dulled left claw. Ryan just got his guard down to prevent it from connecting with his belly, but the force pushed him back and he landed against the table Bull’s Eye had been sitting at earlier. Bull’s Eye jumped over to him and grabbed his neck with his left claw and raised his right.

“And now you will die!” Bull’s Eye shouted.

He thrust his talons forward, which Ryan caught with both hands. The squeezing around his neck was too much, though, and Ryan had to rededicate one of his hands to preventing himself from being choked out.

He was in a dilemma. If his right hand was all that stood between him and death, he would be gone. If his left was all that was keeping the talons from ripping his neck to shreds, he would meet a bloody fate. He had to act fast, or it was all over.

Ryan removed his right hand from his neck, leaving him only seconds, and reached hopefully on the table. His hand met with his obsidian knife that Rarity gave him, and he gripped the handle hard. Before Bull’s Eye could stop him, Ryan swung his hand around with his remaining strength and stabbed it into the gryphon’s shoulder.

“AHHH!” Bull’s Eye screamed and jumped back.

The knife stayed firmly in Ryan’s grasp, slicing cleanly out of the gryphon and leaving a trail of blood behind. Bull’s Eye fell back, gripping his wound, and Ryan lay on the table, coughing and trying to regain his strength. When he felt ready, he stood off the table and looked at Bull’s Eye.

“Not too fun, is it?” Ryan asked with a wrathful glare.

Knife gripped firmly in his right hand, Ryan ran forward and started slashing away. He kept his attacks controlled and strategically placed, forcing Bull’s Eye to dodge each time to avoid being cut. Bull’s Eye faltered more than once, just barely being missed by Ryan’s knife, and soon found himself in a corner.

Desperate, Bull’s Eye did what every fighter’s instincts say not to do; he rushed into a situation where he was being attacked. Ryan foresaw the attack, though, and when Bull’s Eye sent his talons forth to stab at him, Ryan parried the attack and sent the gryphon on, immediately following behind. Bull’s Eye turned and went for a wide-arc swipe at the human from underneath in an effort to take him off-guard.

Ryan saw it from a mile away and had the knife ready. When he saw the claw coming at him, Ryan slashed downward at the gryphon’s wrist. His counter hit home, and as Bull’s Eye watched in horror, the knife stayed in place as his arm kept on going, and his claw found another direction to follow.

Bull’s Eye took three shocked steps back. His claw on his right arm was gone. Replaced with a cleanly cut, bloody stump, shooting blood out. He stared in terror and awe at the alien sight, then looked back to Ryan.

“I… I…” His chocked expression slowly turned back into a sanguine anger. “I will KILL YOU!!!”

He ran forward at Ryan with nothing. Ryan simply stood there, in guard, ready to fight. When Bull’s Eye was upon him, Ryan sent his left fist up and struck the gryphon in the eye, blinding it temporarily, and then brought the knife around and stabbed him in the side. Bull’s Eye let out a gasp of pain as the knife slipped in between his lower ribs.

“I know about you,” Ryan said, pushing the knife hard. “I know your heart isn’t there. You can survive this.” He pulled the knife out and switched his grip to hold it like an ice pick. “But I-“

He punched him once in the face with his closed, knife-wielding fist, sending the gryphon back several steps. Without missing a beat, Ryan stepped forward and grabbed him by his chest feathers and hit him again.

“Won’t-“

He punched him again and again and again.

“LET YOU!!”

Ryan pushed Bull’s Eye up against the table and had him leaning back against it and punched him repeatedly across his ace. He struck the gryphon with savage, nonstop force, once smashing the beak and breaking it off, and breaking its facial bones until the skin drooped. He kept on punching it until it didn’t respond. With one last punch, he hit it straight on, forcing it back all the way and extorted a loud snap from the gryphon’s back.

Then, with one last bout of primal rage and strength, Ryan brought the knife down on the gryphon’s eye in a massive arc, burrowing it deep into his head and sending it out the other eye on the other side. He then tore the knife out and fell back, letting the broken and mangled body drop to the floor like a sack of sand and broken glass.

“I told you I would tear you a new one,” Ryan said coldly.

He breathed heavily on the ground for a few moments before he was able to do anything. Without any fanfare, he looked to the dead body before him and then discounted it as another enemy. He kicked it off the side it landed on to reveal a set of keys on the other side.

“There we go,” Ryan said to himself.

He pulled the keys, which had some blood spilled onto them, and went to the box by the side of the room. He tried several keys until he found the right one. All of his things were inside; his armor, his gun, only the knife and cloak weren’t in there, because they were on the table. Quickly, he donned them all and placed the key he just used against the table and stomped on it to bend it out of use.

Ryan had two magazines for his 1911, and now he had one loaded and ready to go. He would have to be conservative with his ammo usage, mostly relying on knife work and his Karate to get through the rest of this journey. He wasn’t out; not by a long shot.

Ryan opened the door to the room he was in and glanced around outside; no one was there. He ran out and looked at the floor. There was still a trail of water and a bit of blood from where he had been dragged earlier. Without hesitation, he followed it down the hall and sprinted to where his friends were being held.

When he reached the end of the hall, he saw two options; go left or right. To the left, he could hear the rainfall of the region, indicating that it was a way outside. He noted it. To the right, the trail continued on. He immediately went right, hoping tha the guys were alright.

Some ways down the hall, he heard two gryphons chatting. He slowed his pace to be nice and quiet as he continued on. When he reached another intersection, left, right, and forward, he stopped. To his left, he could hear the two gryphons talking. That was the direction the trail led, and it was a safe bet that that was where his friends were as well.

Ryan took a brief look around the corner to see what he was dealing with. There were, as he heard, two guards standing there, fully clad in light metal armor, probably aluminum form the shine. It was nice and light, and it could prevent a sword from slashing you and maybe deflect an arrow or bolt if it hit on an angle. It was perfect for fliers. Fliers who weren’t up against firearms.

Ryan thought carefully. He wouldn’t e able to fight with his knife, as it would shatter against the stronger metal. He could sue his fists and feet, but that would take substantially more of his strength and tire him out. The only good option was the .45 M1911, and that presented its own issues. But then again, they were his friends in there. He would do whatever it took to free them.

Ryan a deep breath, Ryan held his gun up and rounded the corner. The gryphons looked to him for a moment, then double-taked at the prisoner approaching them. Before they could draw their weapons, Ryan pointed the gun at one and put a bullet in his head. The other flinched hard at the loud noise, during which time, Ryan put one in his gut. As the gryphon fell, Ryan stepped toward him and thrust his foot against his throat in a fully powered side-blade kick.

He started sifting through the keys and trying them until he found the right one. When the door opened, he looked inside to see his friends, still tied up and with bags over their heads. They all looked toward the door.

“Harkness? Is that you?” Mac asked. “Ah assume you’re the only one who knows how that darned thing works. I can’t even figure out the other one works.”

“It’s me,” Ryan said. He walked up to Mac and pulled off the bag. “And I never expected you to figure it out.” He looked to Fancy and Soarin’. “Help me with Osprey and Gatsby.”

Ryan took Fancy Pants while Mac released Soarin’ from his chains. Soarin was an easy fix once Ryan tossed the keys to Mac to free him, and Fancy was only held down by the bag. When Ryan removed it, Fancy immediately woke up.

“W-what?!” he said. “What happened, where are we?”

“We’re alright,” Ryan said. “We were captured. It was just a hiccup though.”

Fancy frowned. “Being captured hardly hounds like a hiccup.”

“Then you don’t know much about my story,” Ryan said. “Just a colt to forget, eh?”

Fancy stood up and stretched. “You’re the most memorable individual I’ve ever met.” Now regrouped, the guys all stood in a circle.

“So what now?” Soarin’ asked.

“We continue with what we were doing,” Ryan said. “This is a huge opportunity. They have no idea we just escaped. I killed the only gryphons who saw. If we can get your guys’ stuff back, we can take them totally by surprise and rescue Blazer.”

Mac looked unsure. “Are y’all sure we can do this?” he asked. “We were already grabbed once. Ain’t likely to happen again.”

“They weren’t going to spare us anyway, Whopper,” Soarin’ said. “We were expendable. Nothing has changed.”

“Quite right,” Fancy said. “And even if we did get out, as soon as I started driving one of those airships out, they would know, and we would be fighting a battle in the air when only one of us can fly. We must press on.”

Mac nodded. “Ah suppose that you’ve got a point.” Mac looked to Ryan. “Ah believe in you, Harkness.”

“And I in you,” Ryan said. He turned to the door. “Let’s get moving.”

They group left the room of torment and capture to go look for the stallions’ gear. If they were to advance through this cave system and find a way out and onward, they would need every weapon they could use. Ryan had no doubt that this was going to be the biggest fight of his young life.

They ran through the halls in the direction Ryan came from in the hopes that the stallions’ gear would be stowed not too far from where Ryan was taken. Ryan took the lead, followed by Soarin, then Mac, and then Fancy, who could blast magic back at any gryphons who gave chase.

When they arrived at the room Ryan was taken to, Ryan kept on leading them forward. As each stallion passed, they looked through the open door and saw a dead, bloody body on the ground. It was facing away form the door, so they couldn’t see what had happened, but they took an odd sort of comfort after seeing it in knowing that Ryan was leading them through the caves.

Eventually, they hit another intersection. The right had an upward slope to it, while the left went flat and became dark after a short time. Lights were few and far between in that hall, while the upward slope was illuminated almost excessively, like it was inviting the guys to go that way.

“We must not be in the caves above the city,” Fancy said. “If we were, there would not likely be in inside path to get to the top.”

Soarin’ thought on that. “You’ve got a good point,” he said. “That must be the way to the top.”

“Should we take it?” Mac asked. “We ain’t equipped for whatever is up there, but this other hall is real dark.”

Ryan thought about their options. It was too suspicious. Why would the way up be so bright? If it was a slope, it was a little more important to see where you stepped. But gryphons could fly up that hall, it was big enough. The darker left hall screamed ambush, but that was what Ryan’s instincts would say.

“We take the flat hall,” he said.

“Why do you say that?” Fancy asked.

“These guys said that they know what my gun can do,” Ryan explained. “That they had heard of it being used on that mugger in Canterlot. They know how loud they are. When I shot those guys outside your door, everyone probably heard it. If they did, they know something is up, and they’re preparing. Probably trying to send us the wrong way while we’re ill-prepared for a fight.”

“So then we’ve lost our element of surprise?” Soarin’ said dejectedly.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Ryan said. “I don’t think they took your guys’ weapons too far, so we should check the flat passage first. If we don’t find anything, I’ll lead us up the slope.”

“Sounds good to me,” Mac said. “Lead the way.”

Ryan took careful but quick steps as he led the stallions down the darker hallway. He couldn’t see anything in the darker sections between lights, so it was hard to say if they might be ambushed by a gryphon at any given moment. Ryan kept a careful ear open for anything that sounded suspicious.

Nothing attacked them on the way through the hall, and about halfway through, they started seeing rooms to either side of the passage with large wooden doors. The doors were shoddily constructed, plywood sheets or2x4s thrown together for some level of privacy. Behind a couple of them, there were small noises and feathers ruffling, but the group paid no mind to those doors.

One door, though, about three quarters of the way down the hall, had a heavy iron door instead of wood. Thankfully, it was cracked open just a tad, enough that as Ryan got closer, he could hear two gryphons talking. He slowly and stealthily inched to the door along the wall and listened.

“So just how few of us were they expecting?” one gryphon asked.

“They don’t care about the colonies or the problems here, so I imagine they had no idea what to expect,” another replied. “They probably sent this group as, like, a sacrifice group to find out how strong we are.”

“They will receive a rude surprise when they get the heads of these ones in the mail,” a third one said. “I plan to personally behead the big red one. Show these ponies that however big they are, they still can’t beat a gryphon.”

Mac took offense to that and wanted to storm the room and kick some ass, but Ryan kept him back. Who were these gryphons to think they could just murder Big Macintosh? If he got his hooves on tha tone, he was going to show him just what a big pony could do to some feather-brained peacock.

“Hang on,” Ryan whispered.

The gryphons went on. “You have to admit, the weapons they came with are pretty nice,” the first gryphon said. “Well sharpened, good steel, ergonomic handle for pony jaws and, coincidentally, our claws. They were prepared for a small, talented force.”

“What they got was a huge, unstoppable force,” the third gryphon said. “They can’t win, however many troops they send. It’ll be just like last time, and we’ll overrun them and overpower them. When we take Canterlot, I’m gonna take those princesses for myself and make ‘em mine forever.”

They went too far that time. No one threatened the pony princesses. Ryan felt himself fuming about hearing the threat against Luna, one of his best friends, and the guys were enraged by the threats against their leaders and their nation. The time for listening had just ended. Someone was about to die.

Ryan stood tall, before the door, and kicked it in. “HERE WE ARE, MOTHER FUCKERS!” he shouted. He burst into the room followed close behind by his friends.

The guys stormed the room and found it to be occupied by more than the number of voices they heard. There were seven gryphon in there, but none were prepared for a fight, so the guys had an easy time initially. Ryan started off the assault by rushing one gryphon and stabbing it in the neck with his knife, ripping it out sideways for maximum damage. The gryphon clutched at his open throat as he slowly crumbled to the ground.

Mac charged one on the right because that was where he heard the voice of the one who wanted to behead him come from. The gryphon just managed to pull a knife, but it was useless. Mac spun around right before getting up to him and fired a powerful buck at him, thrusting him into the wall with a broken spine and rib cage.

Soarin’ and Fancy Pants worked together against three. Soarin’ used his smaller stature and rapid movement to get underneath the gryphons and distract them, also punching them in the guts and groins, while Fancy blasted magic at them. One of them noticed Fancy’s attacks and tried to attack Fancy Pants, but Soarin’ tackled him form the side and knocked his neck into the side of a table, breaking it.

The last one, who was fortunate enough to get up after being blaster, tried to attack Fancy while Soarin’ was occupied. Fancy Pants saw it coming, though, and turned around and bucked the gryphon. While not as powerful as Mac’s, he was able to stun the gryphon for a moment so he could rush forward and impale him in his horn. The gryphon let out a gasp, then went limp, and Fancy let him fall off his horn.

“No real stallion doesn’t know how to fight without magic,” he said.

Ryan handled the last two by blocking one’s swipe and following it with a slash to the throat. The second one thought to pick up a sword and stab through his almost dead friend to kill the human. The sword didn’t get all the way through, though, and when Ryan tossed the body aside, the sword went with it. The gryphon fell onto his backside with Ryan advancing resentfully toward him.

“P-please, mercy!” he pleaded.

Ryan stepped on his head and held it down. “The same as you would give to any pony,” he said, with venom dripping from his words. The gryphon yelled out as Ryan removed his foot and stomped on his neck, but it lasted no more than a second.

The stallion started looking around. They heard the gryphon talking about their stuff and figured that this was the room it would be in. Some of it was here, plainly laid out on the tables and against the wall, but there were other things that were missing. The missing items were just clothes, though, and had no particular impact on their fighting ability.

Once the stallions were saddled up and ready to go, they all regrouped for a moment in the middle of the room. Everyone was a little shaky form the adrenaline and, in the case of the stallions, their first time taking a life. If Ryan wanted this to keep going and to escape with Blazer, he had to keep them moving and keep their minds away from hat they were doing.

“Everyone have their stuff?” he asked.

“Ah got mah sword and knife, and a neck guard,” Mac said, referring to the thick cloth now around his neck. It would do fairly well to guard against cuts.

“Sword, no knife, didn’t bring one,” Soarin’ said. “I got no armor or anything either.”

“I have my knife, and my sword,” Fancy Pants said. “Though I would prefer my magic over the knife.”

“I’ll take your knife, Gatsby,” Soarin’ said. Fancy Pants gave him the knife. “This will be better than a sword for how I’ll fight.”

“Alright, everyone feel as good as they can?” Ryan asked. They all nodded. “Okay. So we know that we aren’t over the city right now because there is a path heading up. But for all we know, the city may not be nearby. That upward path could lead us outside and show us that we’re miles from the city for all we know.”

“Not likely, actually,” Soarin’ said. “I recall them saying that we were taken down a river? I know this river, it’s the only one like it in this area of the world. It is long, sure, but to get through it means to go through white-water rapids at parts. We would have fallen off, since we weren’t secured very much at all.”

“Good to know,” Ryan said. “So then we might be near the city. Still, we aren’t above it. That means we have to go up.”

“But we don’t know where that slope will take us,” Mac said.

Ryan nodded. “Right. So I say we look through a few more of these rooms, see if we can find a map of the caves. New guys in this group would need something like that, so it’s our best shot at knowing where we’re going.”

“So we continue down this hall and if we find something, we head back. If not?” Soarin’ asked.

Ryan didn’t need to think about it. “We keep on going and we be careful every step of the way. We’ve gotten this far without knowledge, we can get farther. And we will do it carefully and minimize the risks.”

“About as good as any plan we’ve had so far,” Mac said.

Ryan chuckled humorlessly. “About as good as any plan I’ve ever made.”

The guys hit their hooves and fist together with a cheer and left the room. The halls were still empty, but there was no sound coming from any rooms. They advanced cautiously, listening for any sounds in the darkness or any doors opening. Once or twice, Ryan thought he heard a door crack open and close, but his eyes showed him that he was just hearing things in his nervous state.

They glanced into any rooms they could as they went down the hall, but found that most were just bedrooms with nothing but a cot or nest and a pillow. No drawers, no mirrors, no nightstands, nothing. These gryphon really had nothing of their own in here.

“It takes a lot of dedication to a cause to live like this for it,” Ryan thought. There were very few things in this world he would live like this for, and he would certainly never do it to instill terror in a population.

The end of the hall had two rooms on either side, but nothing on the very end. The room on the left had a label, Selection, and the room on the right just had a picture of a pair of birds on the wall. Ryan started by looking into the room on the right with the stallions right behind him.

The room had a nest that looked substantially more comfortable than any of the others they had seen. It was made of carved pieces of wood, rather than random, jagged sticks found outside. To the right, there was a rack, filled with huge eggs, and each one had a pair of names on it.

“Holy shit,” Ryan said.

“What?” Soarin’ asked.

Ryan shook his head in disbelief. “They aren’t just recruiting to get their numbers up, guys,” he said. “They’re actually working to develop an army for the future.”

The stallions, curious, all decided to walk up and take a look. Ryan stepped inside, and the guys followed him. The moment they each entered, they were awestruck with what they saw. Terrible, yet, in its own way, genius. They were ensuring that their fight would go on past their lifetimes. If this group stayed around, they would always be conducting warfare against the ponies, and every generation would be more extreme.

“What do you suppose we do about this?” Fancy Pants asked. “I’m conflicted here.”

“Me too,” Soarin’ said. “This is our enemy. But we can’t…”

Ryan looked at the eggs before him. Inside each one was a tiny life, waiting to come into this world. They were created to fight him and his pony friends. They were created to kill ponies. Ryan’s center of logic said to do it, and Ryan couldn’t find a logical argument to fight it.

“Eeeeenope,” Mac said.

Ryan looked to Mac and connected eyes with him. Right there, he saw why Mac wouldn’t do it. These eggs hadn’t done anything yet. They had not yet wronged anyone. However certain it was that they would, they were innocent until proven guilty. Ryan had no right, nor did any of the stallions.

“Right,” Ryan said. He turned around and started walking out the door. “Leave them. They’re the future’s problem.” The stallions, still disturbed, left behind Ryan and shut the door.

Ryan went across the hall to the selection room. If that was the room across from the last one, he had a good idea of what was inside. Slowly, he opened the door.

It was precisely what he thought; a breeding room. Effectively, it was a harem. There were female gryphons inside and several male gryphons looking them over. One of the females looked like she was trying to catch the males’ attention, but the rest just stared forward or looked down. It really was selection, but only for the males.

“I like that one,” a male said. The one he pointed at fluttered over. “Are you strong?”

“Yes,” the female replied mechanically.

Ryan turned to his friends. “There were no maps in any rooms,” he said. “So I say we go in, kill the ones who fight except one of the males, and find out where to go.”

“Lead the way,” Fancy Pants said.

Ryan nodded, turned back to the door, and kicked it all the way open. The gryphons inside spun around to see the intruders and were shocked to see three stallions and a man. They all brandished various weapons and charged at the invading group.

Ryan decided that he would make sure to keep one alive, so that the stallions wouldn’t have to hold back. The first one to attack him, one from off to the side, thrust his sword at Ryan’s belly. Ryan parried it and pulled his knife, then stabbed the gryphon in the chest. This one was not to be spared.

There were only a few ales in here, so Ryan had to spare the next one. He was the one who was selecting a female to breed with. He rushed Ryan with light flail, swinging it every which way, and Ryan was forced to roll back and dodge. The gryphon swung it in a large arc down at Ryan, but the man rolled to the side, and the ball struck the ground.

Ryan quickly countered the move by grabbing the chain the ball was attached to and using it to pull himself up. When he was halfway there, he thrust his fist out and punched the gryphon in the right eye, then followed it up with an elbow to the side of the head, dazing him.

With that gryphon down, but alive, Ryan looked to his friends. They had handled the other gryphons relatively easily, mostly by breaking backs and necks. The guys walked over to where Ryan stood over the male. The females in the room didn’t flinch, not even the one that was showing off. Ryan ignored it all and picked up the gryphon by the feathers on his chest.

“Hey! You awake?” he asked, shaking the gryphon a little.

The gryphon shook his head. “Dammit,” he said.

“Where are we in relation to the city?” Ryan asked.

The gryphon looked up at him, snarled, and spat in Ryan’s eye. “Fuck you!”

Ryan closed his eyes to keep the spit out, then wiped it away. Without warning, he brought his fist around and struck the gryphon in the face.

“Where are we!?” he shouted.

The gryphon spat blood on the ground. “To the right,” he said.

“Which way to the area above the city?” Ryan asked.

“The slope you no doubt saw on your way here,” the gryphon said. He smiled deviously. “But there’s no way you can find our leader.”

“I’m not here for him,” Ryan said. “I’m here for Blazer.”

“Yeah, I heard that too,” the gryphon said. “You still can’t win.”

“Why’s that?” Ryan asked.

The gryphon laughed. “You think that we all don’t know you got out? The only reason you got me by surprise and whoever was guarding your weapons is because it had been so long since you used it that we thought you were dealt with. By now, the guys up top know you’re out, and they’ll be waiting.”

“I’ve beaten the odds before,” Ryan said.

The gryphon shook his head. “No, you don’t get it. They know why you’re here. Blazer is being readied for movement as we speak. By the time you get up there, he’ll be gone.”

“Then we’ll just have to follow,” Ryan said. Ryan dropped him to the ground and put his knife away.

“Why?” the gryphon asked.

Ryan put his hand on his M1911. “Why what?”

“Why do you keep it up?” the gryphon asked. “You were captured, You were beaten, chained up. You failed, lost your element of surprise. For Sirin’s sake, the reason you came is being taken away and you will lose him! You can’t win. Leave now, while you still have some small ounce of dignity left.”

Ryan pulled the gun out. “To hell with dignity. I’ll leave when the job’s done.”

He put one bullet in the gryphon’s skull, silencing him forever. He still had to get Blazer, for Luna, Starstep, Celestia, for the Equestria that saved his life, his soul. This was more than altruism. This was more than redemption. This was a debt, a debt he owed to his friends and Equestria for saving him. He had to try to save Blazer, whatever it took.

And nothing was going to stop him. Not this time.