Making choices

by SomeAssembleRequired

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Alternate Universe
Length: 71790

( The path of revelations- Part 3) Sometimes following your cause means leaving everything behind..

Set in the " Haunting Past " story universe, between Season 3 and Season 4. It is recommended that you read " Ghosts of the past " before reading this story.

"The path of revelations" - Part 3

For years the land of Runcinia has been under the control of the tyran Bladewaltz. It's up to one small group of rebels to end his rule. However, one of them thinks she might get them some back- up…

Hase and his friends will embark on a quest to right the wrong and restore peace to this foreign land. It's their only hope to get back home. However, not only the tyran stands in their way. The road to success is mined with temptations and some will choose a different path…

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-12-05 20:52:04 UTC

The amateur's joy

' What is this? ' Twilight wondered. There was multicoloured light in every direction, that was moving upwards along with them and constantly shifting colours. Also, apparently there was no gravity wherever they were. The unicorn saw Rainbow Dash desperately trying to move towards her and assisted the pegasus with her magic. The others were still randomly spread around the duo.

" Thanks, Twi. " the cyan mare expressed her gratitude.

" Any idea what all of this is? " she looked around.

" Wherever we are, this area seems to be lacking gravitational attraction... "

" Which means?? " Rainbow interrupted her scientific reflections on their surroundings.

" There's no gravity... nor any up or down. " the purple alicorn replied. Than she saw Applejack and Rarity, who were trying to stabilize unsuccessfully. She drew her other two friends and the small circle now consisted of four members.

" If you want to stay in one position, don't move. " the purple princess advised them.

" Oh. That's so much easier. Thanks, Twilight. " Rarity replied.

" Can you possibly inform us a bit more about this dreadfully confusing... tunnel, I believe? " the white unicorn asked.

" I know as much as you do. " the lavender mare answered and looked at her surroundings for the second time,searching for the others.

The big black figure of the dragon Hase had summonned was easy to spot. However, the others were scattered. There was another black dot, but Twilight wasn't sure if it was Luna, Hase or Vortex. The only ponies she could recognise were the ones closest to the circle.

The closest one, Pinkie Pie, was apparently having fun. The smile didn't leave her face, as she spun, flipped over and tried to move in some way. She almost collided with Fluttershy, but in the last moment she caught her and spun, throwing herself and the yellow pegasus at the group as a wheel. The purple alicorn caught them with her magic and her closest friends were all gathered, after Spike flew by as well.

" Spread your hooves, so that we could push aside! Ready? One, two... " Pinkie apparently thought they would push away from each other like acrobats, but Twilight stopped her:

" Pinkie, we just got together again! "

" Okie- dokie. " the pink mare shrugged her shoulders.

" Do you think the Princesses will know what this is all about? " Spike asked the lavender alicorn. She nodded.

" Ah think we're almost there... wherevah "there" is. " Applejack said, looking up.

The other girls and Spike also looked up and saw, that the tunnel (if it was a tunnel) got smaller and a piece of the sky could be seen again. The farmer mare saw the big dragon dissappear from that hole, just as the rest of the small dots, that were their friends, and soon the exit was so close it was clear it was their turn.

The tunnel suddenly threw them out, revealing the blue sky. The hole bellow them closed as Fluttershy, the last of them, got out and they realised they were now falling down. Gravity wasn't late to do it's job.

" Ugh! " Rainbow Dash panted, as she landed on the top of the pile. She was lucky today. That couldn't be said for Vortex, who was at the bottom. Formidon, who had managed to slip from the top to the bottom, was lying right next to the pile of ponies.

The black alicorn pushed the pile with his magic, and let it down as he got out. He than tried to help the group get back on their hooves. Celestia and Luna, the second and third pony to rise, helped him and soon the pile was gone.

" A bizzare anomaly. Was it any of our group's doing?  " Formidon was the first to speak .

" No, that happenned... " Hase glared questionably at the three tall alicorns.

" ... accidentally, I believe? "

" It wasn't me, Hase. " Vortex said him.

" Me neither. " Luna denied having opened the portal as well.

" It wasn't me. " the worried Celestia replied. She knew every foot of Equestria like her own hooves, and the scenery around them was different than anything she'd seen in Equestria... which meant they weren't in Equestria.

For a moment the dominion of the sun thought the portal had brought them to a different country, in which case she'd still have to move the sun around the planet, so she reached for it. The star didn't response. Somepony else was in control of it. Celestia was sure nopony could have taken over in such a brief period of time, and even if that was the case, Equestria's sun was much more familliar with the magic usually moving it, so it would have immeadietly linked to her magic, instead to the one of her substitute. Trying to reach this sun felt like the first time she tried to move Equestria's sun, when she was a filly. Which meant this wasn't Equestria's sun. The group was either on another planet...or in another world.

" This isn't our world. " her uncle confirmed her worries and Celestia trusted him. As its co- creator, Vortex knew the dimension Equestria was in the same way the princess of the sun knew the country itself.

She was thinking who would replace her and Luna in moving the sun and the moon, while they were gone. The most obvious answer was Cadence. The white alicorn hoped she'd react quick enough. Otherwise the ponies would start panicking.

' I hope she won't have anything against taking over again for about a week. I owe her an apology once we're back. ' the souverene of the sun thought.

Twilight also denied having opened the portal. The lords could only use elemental magic, and Rarity was far bellow the required magical skills for such a spell. The mysterious conjurer remained unknown.

The eyes of the ponies and the two dragons wandered elsewhere and stumbled upon a pony. A unicorn mare, coming towards them. She stopped, when she was 15 feet away and waved with a small white ribbon surrounded by her bronze brown magical oreol.

Her coat had the same colour. Her mane and tail were orange and her eyes stood out with their blue colour. Her cutie mark was a bell with a crescent moon next to it. She smiled nervously and didn't say a word. She only moved the white ribbon.

Fluttershy approached her carefully. The mare didn't leave her position, she only began to shake stronger. That became ridiculous when Fluttershy came right next to her.

" Umm, sorry if I'm being rude, but can you speak? " the yellow pegasus asked her. As she heard that, the mare abruptly turned her head to Fluttershy, scaring the shy mare, and shook off the shivvers tormenting her with a loud sigh.

" You speak my language! " she excalimed after she inhaled deeply, the reason for her previous worries becoming clear. She feared the group couldn't communicate. The unicorn wasn't sure if their intentions were good or not.

" Excuse me. " Fluttershy turned to the enthusiastic mare.

" Yes? " she turned to the pegasus again, this time with a smile on.

" Do you know how we appeared here? Because a minute ago we were just sitting on a lawn, and suddenly all of us are... " Fluttershy looked around. A mountain belt rose behind the group, spreading from horizon to horizon, with a big forest in its foot. In front of them there was what seemed to be a village with small, one storey houses only. Only a few two storey houses rose above the others like redwood trees above normal pines. They were only two of them in the whole village.

In front of the wall of the nearest house, which was approximately 75 feet away, stood 4 other pony figures. Probably the mare's friends.

" ... here. " Fluttershy finished her sentence.

" Of course I do! " the mare spoke proudly.

" I brought you here! "

Luna raised an eyebrow:

" You managed to conjure a portal to another dimension all by yourself? "

Twilight shared the princess of the moon's confusion. Portals were difficult spells, that often required two or more ponies to conjure them, if the conjurer didn't want to be absolutely exhausted afterwards. Now that she was an alicorn and her magic power had increased, she could conjure normal portals on her own, if she needed to, but a portal to a different dimension? That sounded way harder.

" I know, right? " the unicorn was overflowing with enthusiasm.

" I know I had it in me! Come now! " she headed back towards the village and the group had no choice but to follow her.

" Twilight... do you think that this mare has sufficient magical power to conjure such a spell on her own? " Celestia asked Twilight, whispering, while the mare was leading them to the village.

" Well... in the beggining, when you took me as your apprentice, I didn't look too special either. " the purple alicorn replied, whispering as well.

" And here are my noble companions! " the mare dramatically stepped aside to reveal the figures Fluttershy saw before that, now close enough to shake their hooves with the group.

" Noble? " an earth pony stallion with the size of Big Mac replied with irony.

" At least tell them the truth, Midnight. "

" So... your name is Midnight? " Twilight made a guess.

" Midnight Bell, actually. " the bronze unicorn corrected her.

" OK, Than. I'll be realistic. This is Forge, our group's smith, " the mare pointed the big stallion, that had spoken, with her left forehoof.

The light- brown colour of his coat was nothing special. His black mane and tail didn't strike the group as out of the ordinary either. His cutie mark - a hammer and an anvil - was what a pony would expect from somepony, named Forge. What really got the group's attention was his face. The long rumple on his forehead could only have been formed by multiple worries over the years. His deep brown eyes were welcoming, but threatening as well. The deep voice they had previously heard completed this image of a responsible and serious stallion. The sledgehammer on his back indicated, that if his group's well- being was threatened, the lightnings in those eyes wouldn't be symbols of empty threats. However, he still gave them a hearty welcome:

" Honestly, I didn't expect, that Midnight would succeed. " he spread his hoof.

" Neither did we. " Celestia took that hoof and shook it.

" Next to him is his sister, Arcane Bliss, our village's healer. " the bronze unicorn continued introducing the ponies of the small group.

The second unicorn in the group had light- green coat, red mane and tail with two or three white streaks and bandages for a cutie mark. She smiled heartily, laughed and spread her hoof as well. Unlike it was with her brother, the cares seemed to pass her muzzle without changing it in any way. This unicorn probably looked the same way when she began working. Perhaps the hundreds of wounded ponies, that had passed through her cabinet, had made her stronger.

Those were the thoughts, passing through Rarity's head, as she took the healer's hoof.

" This is our group's... " Midnight probably couldn't pick the right word. Luckily, she was helped by the mare she was about to introduce:

" Fighter for justice. "

" I thought we were all fighting for justice? " the stallion, that had yet to be introduced, objected.

" This group's cause is merely a charity. After all, how will you help the country by bringing down a dictator, only to crown another? No, my cause is fighting for justice. Yours is fighting for nothing. " the mare replied with an even voice. Forge knit his brows, Arcane showed signs of concern and Midnight Bell looked dissappointed. However, the last stallion just laughed.

" Oooh! Buuurn! " he noted and continued laughing.

Forge looked crosser than before..

This conversation made it clear to the group, that this group wasn't as united as they hoped it would be. As brother and sister, Forge and Arcane were, of course, used to act like one pony, but Celestia wasn't sure about the others.

The mare, that had spoken, had an obvious rebellious look. Her gray mane and tail didn't fall down in any specific way, she had just let them fall the way they fell, giving the light grey mane and tail a very scruffy look. The only two things in her, that seemed kept in good shape, were here dark purple wings, with the same colour as her coat, and the two knives, placed in their respective sheats, which were tied above the knees on her two forehooves, so that she could reach for them any time. Her cutie mark represented crossed knives.

The scruffy mane passed an inch above her purple eyes, which were slightly lighter than her coat. Those eyes, like Forge's, were full of lightnings, indicating their owner was ready to face any threat. However, they were also full of unhidden spite. That spite didn't seem to be towards anypony of their group or the Equestrians. In the end, Luna decided she probably held some kind of vendetta against somepony.  Knowing how she probably felt, having felt such spite many times when she was still Nightmare Moon, she spread her hoof, but the pegasus didn't take it.

" That's Dagger. " Midnight Bell noted, with an unsure voice.

" And finally, " the last stallion in the line spoke before anypony asked him to, earning an annoyed glare from the bronze unicorn.

He was a unicorn with a light grey coat and gold yellow mane and tail. His cutie mark were notes, coming out of a sword. He had a real sword in a sheath on his back.He smiled charmingly, although he didn't manage to charm anypony, and completed his sentence:

" , fillies and gentlecolts, the best of this group, the second greatest swordspony to ever exist, Metal Chord! "

This stallion immeadietly struck the Equestrians as overly boastful, even arrogant. The Mane 6 had long ago learned, that in a group everypony is equally importrant, but this swordspony had yet to learn that lesson. Left with bad impressions of him, nopony wished to shake hooves. As he saw that, Forge smiled and laughed. Subtle smiles also appeared on the lips of the three mares.

" Anyway, " Midnight Bell spoke once again.

" , welcome to the land of Runcinia! May we know your names as well? "

" Celestia. "

" Luna. "

" Vortex. "

" It's Twilight Sparkle. "

" Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier of Equestria! "

" What's Equestria? " Arcane Bliss asked the cyan mare.

" It's the land we come from. " Celestia replied instead and the other Equestrians continued introducing themselves.

" Pinkie Pie! "

" You may call me Rarity. "

" Ah'm Applejack. "

" Um, Fluttershy. "

" I am Blaze, Sentinel of Fire, and those are my brothers by duty, Cobalt, Sentinel of Rock, Neptune, Sentinel of the Seas, Hydro, Sentinel of the Rivers and Tempest, Sentinel of the Storms. " as their leader, Blaze spoke from the name of all the Sentinels.

" I'm Spike. "

" My name is Hase. "

" And mine is Formidon, also known as Obstructer of Skies! "

It was first than that the Equestrians noticed, that the Starfliers, Discord and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were apparently back in Equestria, which relieved Rarity and Applejack.

" 15 ponies, 4 of which alicorns, and 2 dragons, one of them fully grown? That's a good back- up! " Forge pat Midnight's the shoulder.

" Back- up for what? " Rarity was interested.

" To fight the dictator, known as Bladewaltz, who has been terrorising this land since 10 years ago! " the bronze unicorn proclaimed.

A lack of enthusiasm

" Oh my, it's dreadfully hot in here! " Rarity used a napkin to wipe off the sweat coming down her forehead. She put it in the saddlebag the equestrian group had been given by Forge and turned to the smith himself for explanations. He shrugged his shoulders and told her:

" Sorry, but I gotta keep the furnace running. And it's in the other room. "

" Having a smith's furnace next to your house! Huh! So unpractical! Back in Razorcliff the forge was 100 feet away from the main building! " Metal Chord complained.

" Well, not all of us could afford living in a castle! " the smith replied.

" Wait, what is Razorcliff? " Luna, just as the rest of the Equestria group, was very confused. Even Formidon, whose eye peeked through the door, since he was too big to enter, showed signs of befuddlement.

" The capital, I guess? " Celestia spoke, having recognised the nobles' arrogance in the grey unicorn.

" Close enough. " Arcane answered.

" But perhaps we should first tell you the whole story.

Untill 15 years ago, everything went smoothly. We had magnonimous rulers, King Goldhelm and Queen Gownlace. They ruled our land, Runcinia, the way a kingdom should be ruled and everypony were happy. But a threat hung above their heads, and nopony could see it coming.

The soldiers were loyal to our rulers, but they were even more loyal to the pony, who led them in all the missions they had, the captain of the royal guard and a general in the army, Bladewaltz. A rough fifteen years ago, the minotaurs, living to the north of us, tried to conquer more territories from Runcinia. Minotaurs are the only threat there ever was to Runcinia, since from the west and the south we are guarded by high mountains, and to the east we face the sea. Bladewaltz stopped that invasion and took back all the lands the minotaurs hade conquered. His tactics were always brilliant, it could be expected from a third generation royal guard. Those quests earned him the loyalty of our whole army, the royal guards included.

He was planning to conquer the minotaurs' kingdom, but our king didn't want to break the peace and start a full- pledged war. Seeing this as a sign of his fear, Bladewaltz deemed him unworthy for the throne and started plotting how to dethrone him - and that wasn't going to be too hard. After all, the entire army saw him as a living legend.

Mouthguard. A town, mere miles away from the island Castle Razorcliff is on. Our capital and the City of Rumours, as it's best known. All Bladewaltz needed to do was attend a few bars disguised and be intentionaly too loud, pretending to be drunk, and soon the whole town knew the rumour: our king had sealed a deal with the minotaurs, and offered them lands, so that he could depend on them to conquer new lands and place a minotaur on the throne after his death. Those were all lies, of course, but the accusation was so horrible, that ponies actually believed, that it was true. Taking advantage of the rumour he had spread himself, Bladewaltz usurped the throne, forcing our king and queen into exile. The East was already his, and he sent his army to pacify the West. The ponies, loyal to the real rulers of Runcinia, were slowly turned from a separate country to a separate district, to a separate town, untill in the last Battle of the Rebellion,  a year ago, what was left of the Rebellion was vanquished forever. Me, my brother and Midnight are, I believe, the last members of the Rebellion. All ponies will rejoice, if our king and queen return and defeat the usurper. But none will cry if they don't. They're too afraid they'll follow the Rebells in their doom. "

" That's why I got you all here. " Midnight Bell turned to the Equestrians.

" We can't do this alone. We need you. We need you to bring hope back to Runcinia. "

" We can't refuse to that request. " Luna spoke from the name of the group.

" We will help you get your rightful rulers back... if you promise to return us back home afterwards. "

" Sure. " Midnight shook her hoof. As he heard that,Hase quietly snuck out, making sure nopony saw or heard him. Formidon moved away from the door, so that the pegasus could exit, and than took the same position.

Now that he was outside already, Hase could express his discontent. He sighed and kicked a rock, getting the dragon's attention. Shifting, so that his neck would shut the door and his head would be facing the black pegasus, the big dragon asked:

" What is it? "

" Oh, nothing really. " the inventor continued kicking the rock. The dragon raised an eyebrow and spoke again:

" As far as I know, one of the multiple advantages of having friends is being able to share what bothers you with them, am I not correct? "

" I thought you didn't know anything about friendship? " Hase looked at the black dragon with a questioning glare.

" Just a thing or two. So, what's the deal? " the scientist's newest friend asked again.

" It's just that... the last two months, for the first time in more than 1000 years, I've had a normal life. Than you and my father came along, turning everything upside down, but at least things went right very quickly and I hoped I would be able to return to my normal life afterwards. And now... everything starts all over again. We'll probably have to travel to the capital and dethrone that usurper this healer spoke about, and the focus will constantly be on possible dangers, who's good and who's bad and how to bring back peace! I never asked for this kind of things! Ever since I invented my formula, with the exception of those 2 months I told you about, my life has been a series of constant mishaps. Some will call them adventures, but they are not. Adventures are fun, and for the last years of my life I have been wondering what's good and what's bad, is friendship worth it or not. I have broken friendships, which I have later rebuilt, made new ones and fallen in love. Now that I have finally found what's right, learned to value friendship and spread it, I thought I'd finally be able to have a normal life! You can't imagine how bad I felt, when back when I didn't know all this things, I watched ponies live happy lives, in which the biggest problem is organising a family meeting or taking care of some critters, while for the last years of my life in the past millenium I have been hunted down by my best friends at that time because of something I thought would only bring happiness to ponykind.

You can't imagine how happy I felt, when I got all my friends back and made a thousand more, when I knew no invention or potion is more importrant than a friend, when I could spend time with my beloved mare. Even the thought of you destroying Ponyville couldn't bring me down, since I knew, that whatever happenned, I had friends to back me up, friends, that I could depend on for anyrything.

Finally, you can't imagine how dissappointed I am now, after I thought I'd be able to spend some time with my father, Rarity and my friends, and instead I am brought in another dimension to help a bunch of weirdos, who don't even get along, and forced to help them succeed in an impossible mission we could never succeed in just to be able to get back to Equestria and have a normal life again! "

Hase realised he had yelled the last few words out, gradually becoming louder during the last sentences, so he looked around, fearing somepony might have heard him. Seeing nopony had witnessed his selfish demeanor, he sighed in relief.

" That probably sounds very egoistic and all. I'm sorry, Formidon. That's not how a friend should behave. I'm only thinking of myself and my wellbeing, ignoring the millions of ponies, living in this land. " the pegasus looked around.

" How dare I complain? I have friends, I have a family, I'm in love, and many ponies around here probably have none of these things. " he frowned.

" We all make mistakes sometimes. Like wanting to incinerate a town because of a pony, that used to live there. " Formidon joked.

" Mistakes? I sounded like a tyran, admit it. I was ready to sacrofice a whole country just to be able to follow my dreams. No! I won't do this mistake again. Listen to me now! I hereby swear, that any creature, that has done no harm to me or somepony else, or any living and sentient beng, as a matter of fact, will be as close to my heart as my own species. I shall only do harm to those, who do harm to those who don't. I seal this oath... " Hase looked around, searching for the object of his desires. Spotting it, he left his position, leaving the dragon puzzled, got that object and returned where he formerly stood, letting Formidon see, that the thing the inventor picked up was an empty glass bottle. Hase carefully shattered it with his hooves, avoiding getting cut by little pieces. Picking up one relatively big piece, he held it right next to the upper part of his hoof, on a spot, where he knew no major blood vessels passed, pushed and pulled, leaving a small incision behind. It wasn't big, but some drops of blood still managed to fall to the ground, lifting small pieces of dust, turning into little wet dustballs.

" ... with blood. " Hase finished his oath.

" With blood? " the dragon seemed startled.

" Yes. What? " the black pegasus asked after he licked the incision, so that it wouldn't bleed to much.

" I find this rather... extreme. " Formidon replied. He was about to say something else as well, but he felt somepony pat him on the back, probably demanding an exit from the hotness inside of Forge's house. The black beast moved aside and Rainbow Dash came out.

" Getting some fresh air as well? " the cyan mare gave Hase the answer he'd otherwise have to make up. The stallion just nodded. The other pegasus stood beside him, overflowing with enthusiasm. The inventor was befuddled:

" What's so exciting? " he asked.

" Did you get out before Midnight told us the whole plan? " now Rainbow Dash was the more confused of the two.

" Errr, yes? "

" And you have no idea what awesome adventure awaits us? " the pegasus' tone gradually rose up.

" Not really. " Hase managed to disguise his discontent as ignorance.

" Oh my, you're going to love this... " the excited cyan mare got back to Formidon, until he moved away from the exit. She entered and soon afterwards got back as well, carrying a scroll in her mouth. She let it fall on the ground once she'd reached her spot next to Hase and used her forehooves to spread it.

A map, apparently of the country they were in, was drawn on the parchment. Runcinia, as Midnight Bell had called it, was about the size of Equestria, but there was one major difference: in Equestria, the trip from the furthest north point to the furthest south point would take at least 7 days, while a trip from the furthest west point to the furthest east point would last mostly 3- 4 days. Here it was the other way around: the country was wide, and reaching from the furthest east point to the furthest west point would probably take somewhere around 10 days, but going from the furthest north to the furthest south point seemed to be a two day trip.

The size was were the resemblances with Equestria ended. The west and the east border were guarded by mountains, painted in dark brown with white at most peaks, indicating, that most of those peaks were more than 20 000 feet tall. It was no wonder the mountains were called " Western shield " and " Southern shield " - no army could cross these mountains and remain in battle condition.

Most of the country was covered in plains. Hase could only see woods in the feet of the mountains and some very small dark green dots, probably less than a mile in a diameter, spead chaotically over the country. The light green colour dominated.

The country was split in half by another mountain, called the Belt. Its peaks weren't as high as the ones of the shield, the highest the black pegasus could see didn't excel 7500 feet, but anyway, there was only one passage leading from the west to the east.

Probably the most remarkable of all things on the map was the big river. It began from the western Shield, passed near one of the many lumberjack villages in the mountain's foot and flowed east, gathering many other small rivers, coming from the Shield. It passed right through a gray area on the map, about 2 days away, as the map said, from the first village it passed by. Three volcanoes stood in the center of that gray area, hinting, that those lands were probably an ash wasteland. Hase's surprise could clearly be spotted on his muzzle, as he saw a town, situated between those three volcanoes.

' Who would be so dumb as to build a town in the foot of whole three volcanoes? ' he wondered, as he read the town's name: Smith's Keep.

Than he went further down the river, which according to the map was named the Stream. The Stream took in another big river, although not as big as itself, before crossing the Belt mountain. On the other side it took a very big river, coming from beyond the northern border, before entering a big town, named Streamcross. From than on boats were drawn on the river, indicating, that it was navigable, untill it reached the biggest town in the whole country, the town Arcane had mentioned, Mouthguard, and flowing right into the sea. Not even a mile away from Mouthguard there was an island with a dot on it, along with the name Castle Razorcliff, the other name she had mentioned in her story.

Rainbow Dash, after noticing Hase had finished looking at the map, put her smile on and began describing the adventure, that awaited them:

" Alright listen now! We're here," she pointed a small village by the name of Graywood. It was south of the one the Stream passed by.

" , but since we have no weapons here, we'll have to go to a friend of Forge in Smith's Keep, " her hoof moved to the big town.

" , to get some! Isn't it awesome? Not one, not two, but whole three active volcanoes! That rocks! " Rainbow Dash looked for enthusiasm in Hase's eyes, and luckily, probably because she was too excited, she took his imitation of it for the real thing.

" It's one day on hooves from here. Than, we'll have to pass through the only pass there is through that mountain - the... " the cyan mare took a closer look at the mountain, looking for its name.

" ... the Belt, yes! That's three days from Smith's Keep... "

" Three days! " Hase was frustrated. All he wanted to do was get home, and it turned out passing only half of the country would last whole 4 days!

" Yes! " Dash took that frustration for the excitement of an impatient pony and went on with the summary of the trip.

" Reaching Streamcross from the mountain is a five day trip, three days in the passage itself... "

The inventor's frown was obvious now, but the pegasus didn't lift her head to see it.

" 2 days from there to Mouthguard, and mere 2 hours with boat from the capital to Castle Razorcliff, where we'll bring down that dictator to bring liberty back to this country! " Rainbow finally raised her head, expecting to see shared excitement, as it was with everypony inside, but instead met a dissatisfied, almost angry face. Her pupils shrinked in surprise.

" Are you OK, Hase? " the concerned pegasus asked and began searching for a reason for this discontent. It was first than she noticed his wound.

" You're bleeding! " she pointed out.

" Oh, I just cut myself on a shard of a broken glass bottle. Silly me! When are we leaving? This all sounds great! " the scientist tried to sound excited, but his friend had already looked beyond the mask.

" You aren't really that excited, are you? " Dash asked with a low voice as she sat down and prompted the stallion to do the same. He sighed and followed her example.

" No. " he confessed.

Dash knew not all ponies were that excited about adventures as her, even though Hase hadn't struck her as one of these before, so she didn't ask why. However, her face was begging for an answer, giving her out. As the son of Vortex saw this, he spoke:

" You wonder why, don't you? "

The cyan mare just nodded silently.

" Don't think I don't like adventures; I love them. It's just that... they keep coming too fast. That sort of adventures, with villains to be defeated.

It's different with you all. The first time you had to deal with Nigtmare Moon... well, that took you a few hours. And than you had a whole year break before Discord awoke. Than you had about 3 months break before facing Queen Chrysalis. Another 7 months before Sombra showed up. And another 3 months before I showed up. It's nothing you can't cope with.

But for me... I've spent the last 2 years of my life in the past millenium hiding from Celestia and trying to gather accomplices to force immortality on Equestria. Then I was frozen, which really doesn't count as time spent. Than there was our first adventure, that lasted a whole week. I've had two months break, barely enough to cope with the things of the present, before my dad showed up and everything went haywire again. I thought things'd go back to normal afterwards, and instead we're here for another 10 days of tension. I've been at it for 2 years. I simply can't wait for the day, in which everything'll be fine and no threats will hang above our heads, to come. "

Hase lied on his belly and put his chin on the ground, a streak of his blue mane falling down and covering his left eye. Annoyed, he blew it away and took his former position.

" Well... you won't have to wait too long. Just 10 days! " the cyan mare tried to encourage him.

" Unless something goes wrong. And it always does, doesn't it? " he frowned again.

" We'll be caught and we'll have to rot in prison, untill we get out, or just as we get back to Equestria, we'll learn, that Sombra has caused the Crystal Empire to vanish again and is running across Equestria with it in a crystall ball full of snow and we'll have to get it back... that kind of stuff. " Hase tried to be humorous, but didn't even manage to cheer himself up.

" You're being ridiculous. " Rainbow Dash laughed at the last "disaster" .

" And even if that all happens, we're still immortal, right? " she pat the stallion on the shoulder after she got up.

" That day will come... "

" ... eventually. " Hase said the last word along with her and sighed again.

" Hey! " she grabbed his head in her two forehooves, so that he'd be looking at her instead of staring at the ground.

" No adventure is hard enough to get through when your friends are with you. I'll prove it to you during our lessons. "

" What lessons? " the inventor's melancholia was replaced with discombobulation.

Glad, that she had managed to get her friend in his normal mood, the cyan mare smiled deviously and replied:

" Flying lessons, earthbound. " she teased him, making him smile as well.

" Unless you want your friends to train you when we return, that is. " Rainbow was somehow dissappointed, when she realised Hase would probably prefer to train with the Starfliers. They were Eqeustria's ex- champions, after all.

" They are good for races, not for lessons. " Hase ended her doubts.

" Alright. We'll see if you take off tommorrow. " Rainbow Dash got back in the house, leaving Hase in a bit better mood than when she came to him a minute ago.

The last minute recruit

Sharp Witt stared at the wall clock. The work day was almost over, and nopony had crossed the doorstep today. Just the same as yesterday. The day before that as well. Actually, almost every day since he came here.

' I should have known the country wouldn't need detectives. ' the stallion thought and took a sip of the cup of coffee, that stood on his desk.

In Mouthguard, Streamcross or any big town at all the big wooden desk, that spread from one end of the room to the other, would have already been covered by mountains of paperwork, the stallion would have already run out of pens and the evidence closet would be overflowing with small bags, full of hair, paper, handkerchiefs and other kinds of evidence. In Graywood, however, the desk was as bare as the Ashlands surrounding Smith's Keep. Not even one document caught the detective's eye as he studied the whole room with his eyes for what was perhaps the billionth times. The wall clock was the only thing breaking the silence in the empty room.

The detective's cabinet still smelled of floor polish. After all, it was freshly established- just a week ago. There wasn't a plenty of furniture- only the chairs in the waiting room (Sharp Witt had to pay double to get a two- room house. Apparently, that was considered a luxury in the country), another chair in front of the big desk, the desk itself and a rocking chair (the mayor stated it is a symbol of respect) for the private detective. He sighed and leaned back, laying his head on the ledge of the window behind him.

The cabinet was smaller than the waiting room and for somepony claustrophobic it would have been quite the discontent to work in it. Luckily, the earth pony wasn't that kind of ponies. It would have been unwise of him to become a detective, if he had any fears, that could hinder him in investigating.

The dark grey stallion leaned back forward and put his forehooves on the top of his head, which he lay on the desk, as a sign of his extreme boredom.

Back in the capital, he was highly praised. Ever since he was a foal, he had tried to uncover mysteries, earning him his magnifying glass cutie mark. His chestnut mane and tail and his dark grey coat allowed him to blend with the shadows and be extremely good at pursues. Hay, he could even evade the flashlight- spell wielding unicorn guards, if he wanted to. He had completed many cases, ones, that seemed impossible to many as well. Even though he was one of the best, he had started to get annoyed from what he did. Mouthguard remained the same, and all the cases were alike. He wanted something new. At that time, he heard of the great cases, that lied unsolved to the West, and decided to move to the village they all ended - Graywood. He hit the road, leaving Mouthguard behind. When he arrived here, it turned out all the " great cases " the newspapers spoke about were either a case 10 year old presented as something new or make- believe. Even so, he decided, that the countryside was underestimated and decided to set up a cabinet in the small village. Over the course of a whole week, which usually ment three serious cases and a dozen of smaller ones back in Mouthguard, the only request he got was from a group of foals. It was to find their lost dog, and his reward wasn't going to be more than 2 or 3 bits. However, before he even got out of the cabinet, the mother of one of those foals arrived. With the lost dog.

Sharp Witt had started to regret he didn't bring any books with him from the capital. He'd at least have something to do. This village didn't even have a library.

' Perhaps I should get back. Nothing to do around here. ' the stallion thought just as somepony knocked on the door.

The surprised earth pony immeadietly raised its head. It jumped over the desk, made two steps and was soon in front of the screen door, that separated the waiting room and the cabinet. The stallion grinned and opened the door.

The customer surely was mysterious. It was higher than anypony he'd ever seen. It was wearing a big white cloak with a long hood, that hung almost to the end of the hooves of the visitor, making him or her look like a ghost. Two holes were cut in the cloak on the back and two big white wings stuck out folded. A big bump was visible near the forehead, or where Sharp Witt supposed the forehead was. There was also another hole in the cloak, on the hood, where the eyes were, and it was sewn back with veil material, so the eyes were visible. The irises were violet, almost purple. From what the detective could see from the pony, which wasn't much, he deduced, that this was one of the strange ponies, that arrived in the village the day before. There hadn't been any reaction to them, even though ponies were as puzzled as he was, since Graywood ponies, ever since the Rebellion got smitten, were afraid of the strange things. As his neighbour had said the detective, they were going to leave them alone for three days, and if they didn't get away, call the guards from Smith's Keep. Town ponies didn't want to have anything, that could link them to potential threats to Blade Waltz, the king. Graywood had already paid the price for supporting such ponies.

Sharp Witt had observed the group with his binoculars, and it was in deed the strangest thing he'd ever seen. Firstly, the group was too big. Nopony would form such a big group, since they risked multiple checks by the guards in the different towns. Blade Waltz was always suspecting somepony would try to take the throne from him, just the same way he'd taken it.

Secondly, its members were... bizzarre. He had taken notes in his small notebook, which was lying on the chair, designated for customers. The cloaked pony picked it up with a yellow magical oreol and placed it on the desk, leaving the notes Sharp Witt had written down the day before visible. The detective took a peek at them. They described each member of this group with a few words:

Orange earth pony, mare

Pink earth pony, mare

White unicorn, mare

Cyan pegasus, mare

Yellow pegasus, mare

Black pegasus, stallion

In the beggining of the list the group seemed pretty normal, but Sharp Witt had left the weird ponies for the end.

Pegasus, made out of... fire? Stallion

Pegasus, made out of ... water? Stallion

Pegasus, made out of... water again? Stallion.

Pegasus, made out of clouds. Stallion

Pegasus, made out of stones. Stallion

Winged unicorn?! Normal of size, purple of colour, mare

Winged unicorn. Greater height, dark blue of colour, strange waving blue mane, mare

Winged unicorn. Even greater height, black of colour, strange waving dark violet mane, blending with the air. Stallion

Winged unicorn. Same size as winged unicorn #3, white of colour, strange waving multicoloured mane, mare

Dragon. Supposedly infant. Purple of colour. Male.

Dragon. Adult. Twice the size of a normal dragon. Black of colour. Male

" I see you have noticed the arrival of our group and even taken notes. " the voice made it clear to Sharp Witt his visitor was a mare. That was the last thing he needed to be sure this was the mare he had marked as winged unicorn #4.

" Well, pardon me, miss... " the earth pony glared at his customer, awaiting her to present herself. Instead she just shook her head under the hood and told him:

" I shall remain anonymous. "

" Alright than, Ms. Anonymous. Pardon me, but I couldn't help my detective instinct, when I saw such an unusual group as yours. "

" It doesn't really matter. " the winged unicorn chuckled.

" It is normal to be alert in cases like this. I would have been too, if such a group came near my home. I assure you, my group won't do any harm to your village. In fact, we're leaving tommorrow. "

" I'm not from this village. I moved in in the beggining of this week... and I'm probably moving out in its end. Detective business isn't exactly flourishing around here. " the detective looked through the window to see wheter somepony was watching them. He didn't want to attract too much attention, and his clients were always promised discretion. As he saw there was nopony out there, he shut the blinds and turned around to ask the cloaked mare about the task she probably had for him.

" Most convenient. " the winged unicorn spoke first. The stallion quickly realised she was speaking about him moving out. Befuddled, he asked:

" How so? "

" I have a task for you... one, that requires a long journey. Don't worry, you will be well paid. " she brought out a medium sized purse from beneath the cloak and let it fall on the table. A part of its contents flowed out and Sharp Witt was now sure of them. Golden bits.

" I suggest it is a rather hard task you want to entrust me with, after the reward is so big. " his comment was met with a giggle.

" That is merely the reward for the first part of the task. " the mare replied.

" What task is this, that requires such a payment for only a part of the whole job? " the detective was starting to become suspicious.

" Investigation and signalisation. "

The stallion raised his eyebrow at that response, so the winged unicorn had to explain in details:

" My group is about to set on a dangerous quests. I am aware the roads are far from perfect, and the size of our group is also a problem. Tommorrow morning we'll head for Smith's Keep. You will leave at midnight and take the same road. If you find any robbers' hideout, you will find a good signalisation point and signal us when we approach. You will do the same if you stumble upon soldiers. If the soldiers move in direction Graywood, you will get ahead of them without getting noticed and signal us when you see us coming. In those cases you will stay as far as possible from the group. This will limit the chance for soldiers or bandits further down the road to find out about your task and prevent you from completing it. If there are no threats, or after you signal us for them, you will wait for me in the " Lucky Miner " inn in Smith's Keep, in a room, reserved for Ms. Glittering Star, paid for in advance. There you will receive your reward for the completed task. "

The mare said nothing more. She picked up the purse, put it back in the saddlebags she probably had under the cloak and left the room, leaving the detective pony confused. For a moment he thought her an agent of the Rebellion and thought to give her and her grouo over to the soldiers. But as he remembered of the pursse, full of gold, he thought:

' Even if that's the case, you don't turn down that much gold for a motherland, whose ruler does nothing but boss you around. Gold is the king of this country, the steel is simply its knight. '

The stallion took a final look at the poorley decorated room. Than he grinned.

' I'm back in business. '

Discussions on the road

Twilight was awoken by the sound of spoons hitting tin cans. Not the most pleasant way, but it was still rather effective.

Their Runcinian hosts were standing on the doorstep, emitting this horrible noise. The purple alicorn could only see Forge, since the door step wasn't big enough for all to be there, but the sound indicated, that at least three ponies were making this horrible noise. The smith had a tin can hanging bellow his neck as a medallion and hit it with a wooden spoon he held in his mouth.

The second pony to wake up was Pinkie Pie. She jumped up, as if she wasn't sleeping before that as well. She neared Forge, took the spoon away from him and told him:

" Stop for a second! You're doing it wrong! "

Confused, the smith made a sign to the others and finally, the horrific noise stopped.

" There needs to be more rhytm! " Pinkie said, and than got the spoon and started beating the can again, leaving a half- second interval between hits. The two ponies behind Forge followed her example, and when they were synchronised, she gave the spoon back to Forge. Than she stuck one of her hooves in her curly mane, apparently searching for something, untill she got out an harmonica. She waited until the smith got to pace with the rest, sat on the floor, held the instrument with her two forehooves, neared it to her mouth and began playing.

She was skilled, Twilight had to admit it, but her blues didn't seem to wake anypony. Seeing, that everypony except Twilight and Spike were lying on the floor (since there weren't enough beds), Pinkie Pie stopped and ordered:

" Twice as fast! "

The Runcinians, starting to like her style of waking ponies up, sped up, while Pinkie Pie began performing a country music piece. Twilight could see a smirk growing on Rainbow's muzzle, although her eyes were still closed. Finally, she opened them, flew up in the air, so that she could hold her belly with her forehooves while laughing, and spoke:

" Alright, Pinkie, we're all up! "

As if to confirm this, the group, who were only waiting to hear how far Pinkie's harmonica skills go, got up on their hooves. Satisfied, Pinkie put the harmonica back in her mane and told Forge:

" And that's how it's done! "

In less than half an hour the group was ready to go. They got out just in time to see the sunset, as Arcane Bliss assured them, but there was a thick fog, that didn't allow them to see further than 6 feet in front of their own hooves. This was a major dissappointment, but a lucky turn of events as well. The dragon Formidon was too big to be hidden. They wondered how nopony had seen him when they arrived in Graywood. Forge assured them, that they were going to find some disguise for him in the industrial town Smith's Keep they were going to reach this night, but from Graywood to there was a one day trip, during which any traveler, in a clear day, could see the dragon from a mile ahead.

" Thick as milk. " Applejack commented upon leavng the house. her friends agreed with her.

Rainbow Dash groaned:

" Almost no visibility! If we get up in the sky in that fog, mere 10 feet in the air we won't be able to see the ground at all. " she looked back to see Hase's opinion on that. He just snorted and spoke:

" You expect me to get off the ground in the first day? "

" You've got a point there. " the cyan pegasus noted, somewhat cheered by his comment.

" But anyways, how could the weather ponies just leave such a fog just? " she turned to Midnight Bell.

" What do you mean, " the weather ponies" ? " the bronze brown unicorn replied with a question of her own.

One could not astound Dash more than that.

" You don't have weather ponies?! " she sounded as if somepony had told her there wasn't flowing water in their house.

" Yes, why are we supposed to have such? " the other mare wondered.

" Well, who controlls the weather? Who bucks off the thunderclouds when the land needs no more rain? Who blows away thick fogs as this one? " Rainbow sounded desperate.

" Nopony. " Arcane Bliss replied, just as she left the house and shut the door behind her. She carried the Equestrian group's common saddlebag, which they had forgotten. Applejack volunteered to carry it, so she got it. The group was ready to go.

" Nopony? How so? " the cyan mare still couldn't cope with this fact.

" The rain rains itself dry. It's so simple. Fogs go away when they go away. Why should somepony change that? " the village healer spoke as if that was something normal.

It was first than that the pegasus remembered what Twilight had told them about her first trip into an alternate world. In it there wasn't any magic, technology had advanced far beyond Equestrian level, and ponies (or people, according to Twilight) walked on two legs, were all earth ponies and didn't have tails.

' New world, new rules. ' Rainbow Dash thought, as she finally came to terms with the unsupervised Runcinian weather.

Midnight Bell had described the road from Graywood to Smith's Keep as a very picturesque one, with the river flowing on the right side of it and seemingly endless grass plains spreading in both directions. Neither of those two was visible. The only thing Twilight could actually see was the muddy dirt road, so she moved her gaze back to the much more interesting map of Runcinia, the only thing currently of any interest to her in this thick fog.

Since Forge hadn't shown them any books back in his house (since he probably didn't have any), Twilight couldn't really know the history of this country before the events their hosts had spoken of. So now she was trying to guess it, a small game, that made the otherwise monotonous walking more bearable.

Having already memorized the map in general, Twilight slowed down, so that she'd walk with Applejack's speed, curled it up and slid it in the saddlebag. Than she could finally sink in her thoughts.

' This river, the Stream, passes through the whole country, facilitating agriculture. The country could have been established after the tribal chiefs along the river conquered eachother's territories, untill there was only one left- just like in ancient Neighgypt. '

' Or... ' the alicorn mare quickly came up with an absolutely different theory.

' ... those ponies could have been nomads, who came from the north, but eventually settled down here. '

Why not both actually? Nomads might have come to the north and blended with the local agriculture- based civilisation along the river. The combination of those nomads, which were probably masters of the bow, and the locals, who probably had good swordsponies, must have resulted in perfect warriors. Fighters good enough to expand the kingdom way beyond the river bed of the Stream, occupying minotaur territories and causing this century- long grudge between those two kingdoms.

Having sunk deep in her thoughts, something not uncommon for Twilight when she tried to explain something to herself, the alicorn was looking at the road without actually seeing anything. So it was no wonder she didn't notice what Applejack did.

" Careful, Twi. ". The farmer mare warned her.

The Element of Honesty than spread her right forehoof, so that the purple mare would bump into it, forcing her to halt.  Suddenly being brought back to reality confused Celestia's former pupil, so she glared at her friend with questioning eyes.

" Ah don't know wha' got yah so carried away, but ah'm sure yah don't want ta spend the rest of the trip with a sprained ankle. " Applejack moved her hoof to point at something. The alicorn moved her gaze and spothed a bump on the road, small enough to remain unnoticed by her in her musing state, but big enough to actually cause some trouble.

" Thank you, Applejack. " Twilight replied with gratitude. She took a mental note to herself to be more careful when walking in this world. Apparently the roads here weren't remotely as smooth as Equestria's well- maintained ones.

" Well, that was kind of you. " Arcane Bliss noted, as she got up to pace with the two girls.

" Oh, ah just did what anypony would do. " the farmer noted with a warm smile.

" Back in your world, maybe. Here in Runcinia ponies are always too busy, or even too afraid, to help somepony else, even if it will take only a minute. Most of the time it's everypony for themselves. "

Twilight was dumbfounded.

" How... is that even possible? Nobody's that selfish. " Spike, who untill a moment ago was sleeping on Twilight's back, had woken up just in time to hear these words.

The healer mare frowned.

" Well, back in the days of the rightful rulers, we would help other ponies, really. " she carried on.

" Now nothing's certain. As I said, most of the times we have tasks to do, ones that concern our families. And even if we don't, we can't be sure who we're helping. Even if it's somepony we know, he might have comitted some crime, and therefore the pony helping him in literally any way would be marked as their accomplice. "

" Isn't this law a bit too... harsh? " the small dragon asked. He found this whole situation the unicorn had just described so absurd, that he barely believed it.

" Just what you would expect from a military government. " instead of the green mare, Twilight was the one, who answered him. Arcane nodded.

" And it also might be some kind of scam. " the healer continued.

" The guards are only after criminals, whose crimes inhibit the government in its doings. Any criminals, who don't mess with government business in any way, are left alone, and those, who help it, are actually rewarded. You can imagine the crime level yourselves.

So, we don't help others, unless we have complete trust in them. Otherwise we might end up in prison or with a slit throat in a wood near the road. "

The last words of Arcane shocked the three equestrians. To end up in prison or even worse just beacause you wanted to help somepony?

" Sooo... " Twilight decided to change the subject.

" You trust eachother in this group, right? "

" Not really. The only ponies I trust are my brother and Midnight. She's like a daughter to us. " the healer replied.

" Her father was one of our closest friends, and one of the best members of the Rebellion. He sent his daughter to study magic in Mouthguard. He fought alongside us and what was left from the Rebellion last year. We were lucky enough to stay alive. He wasn't.

When Midnight interrupted her studies to come back to her home village, the only family she had left was us. She never returned to Mouthguard. She continued her studies with what the village's library could provide, which wasn't much. Midnight became the best... in our village. This mare, who will always remain the filly I helped first get out in the open world for me, ruined her carrier just to help us with an initiative, that until yesterday was hopeless. I prise her as my daughter. " the feelings of the healer could easily be felt from those emotional words.

" An' what about the others? Wha' were their names... Dagger. An' Metal Chord? " Applejack got more interested.

The green- coated mare chuckled.

" You want to know what I think about them? " she asked.

The farmer mare nodded in response.

" Dagger used to be a high- paid assassin in Mouthguard, she's well- known throughout the whole country. Nopony except us knows her true face. Nopony alive. She's merciless, unforgiving and cold- hearted. Sometimes she makes me think she's not even a pony. " Arcane said that whispering into AJ's ear. After she turned around to whisper it to Twilight as well, she turned back to the Element of Honesty.

" She simply appeared in Graywood a few weeks after the last battle. We only knew that when she told it to us, one month later. Back at the time, nopony even noticed her. She's a master of disguise and can mimick anypony's behaviour. You can think her for the florist mare, for a daredevil, for a coward; for anything she wishes you to believe she is.

On the first month anniversary after the Rebellion's last battle she broke into our house.  She threw one of her daggers at me, scratching my cheek, but from the glance she threw at me I realized, that she could have easily stuck it right in the midle of my forehead, if she wanted to. Before Forge could react, he was already pressed against the wall with her holding the other dagger right next to his throat.

" Any last words? " she asked with a cold tone I'll never forget.

" Death for the dictator! " my brother said, and didn't twitch even a little bit, even though he knew he'd probably die the very second he said that.

Apparently she liked those words, since she put her dagger back in her sheath and went across the room to pick up the other one. Forge headed for the door to the next room, so that he'd get his sledgehammer, the weapon he used during the battle as well. Just as he reached to push the handle down, a dagger stuck into the door frame.

" I wouldn't do that, if I were you. " when Forge turned around, he saw the assassin hold her second dagger against my throat.

" Now... would you be kind enough to repeat your last words? "

" Death for the dictator. " my brother spoke, wondering what game Dagger was playing.

" Why do you want him to die? " the pegasus than pulled her knife off my throat, put it back in the sheath and took a seat on one of our chairs.

" What do you mean? He is a bane to our country! " Forge is very fond of our old rulers, so the question the assassin asked him made him angry.

" Yes. But you aren't the country, are you? " I still remember the irony in her voice.

" He made our lives miserable! " I protested. She simply glared at me, surprised.

" Not really. You chose to make your lives miserable. The Rebellion attacked first, if I'm not mistaken? " the assasin laughed.

" He brought down our king and queen, only because of fake rumours, without even trying to prove them! " Forge was getting angrier and angrier.

" Why should you care about them? They never helped you directly in any way. " Dagger maintained her cold and calculating look.

" INNOCENT PONIES WERE FORCED TO KILL MY BEST FRIEND BECAUSE OF HIM! " as my brother yelled at her, I feared she'd finally stop playing with us and outright murder us, as she was probably paid to do. Instead, she just leaned back on her chair. That was all I could see, since I was behind her, but Forge later told me a grin had appeared on her face in the same moment.

" Now that's something I can relate to. " she said. Than Dagger went on explaining how she was paid by the mayor of Smith's Keep, since we were suspected in being part of the Rebellion. However, she said the blood of her friends was also spilt because of Bladewaltz, and she found vengeance a much better price than 500 bits - the combined price for our heads.

Now you understand why I don't thrust her. " Arcane Bliss whispered in Applejack's ear.

" She's only driven by revenge. She can kill us all anytime. "

Than she again turned to Twilight to whisper the whole story in her ear as well, leaving the farmer mare with plenty of time to think about this Dagger. Now her weird behaviour and her almost total ignorance to the rest of the group was clear to her. She only cared about her revenge. This group was just a tool, helping her to achieve that. It also explained why she walked aside from everypony else, even outside of the road. She couldn't see her in the fog, but Princess Luna had earlier said, that she walked 3 feet away from the road, on the left side.

Apparently, Twilight had asked for Metal Chord's story. That, however, apparently wasn't such a big secret, since the healer now spoke with her normal voice.

" Oh, about him. " she spoke, somehow annoyed.

" He's Bladewaltz' son and heir. "

" WHAT? " Twilight, Applejack and Spike expressed their shock at the exact same time.

" But than... why would he join your group? " the small dragon asked.

" I'm not quite acquainted with the case. " Arcane shrugged her shoulders.

" All I know is that he fought on his father's side in the last battle of the Rebellion, his first real battle ever. He decided to make the battle more fair by killing some tactically irreplaceable sorcerers in his father's army. Furious, Bladewaltz publically disclaimed him and refused him the right to be his heir. I guess it's daddy issues, that brought him to us.

Before the day of the fight, he had only fought in fencing halls or on the castle yard. He claims to be the second best swordspony in Equestria, after his father, and according to Forge, he's not lying for that at least. "

" For tha' ? " being the Element of Honesty, it wasn't very pleasant for Applejack when she heard somepony lie or speak about lying.

" Oh, he lies all the time, about all the different kinds of things. Especially when he thinks it'd get him babes. "

" Babes? " this term being used in the way Arcane used it was new to Spike, so she had to explain.

" Mares. He's just your regular arrogant young noble, that thinks, that just because he's handsome and rich, mares stick to him like nails to a magnet. " the red- maned unicorn said.

" Just try to hang out with him for a minute and you'll find out what I'm talking about. " a devious grin appeared on the healer's muzzle.

" He's checking out on all of you. Even on your Princesses. " she giggled as she saw the disgusted Twilight.

" Well, on all except on... the unicorn, what was her name? "

" Yah mean Rarity? "

" Yes. He knows she's occupied already, and besides that he has respect for stallions, who had already managed to score, so he'd at least leave her alone. "

Hearing somepony refer to Hase as " having scored " made Applejack snort.

" The fact, that he's a royalty and for his whole life everypony has been forced to kiss his hooves has only made that worse. " Arcane finally finished speaking about the spoilt royalty.

Twilight had no problems picturing this Metal Chord. The only thing she had to imagine was a tad more boastful, less gentle, less fearful, a lot more perverted and a million times better with the sword Prince Blueblood.

Meanwhile, way ahead, almost in the beggining of the group, Hase, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were having a conversation concerning wings basic hygiene and maintenance.

" You have to preen your feathers every morning. " the yellow pegasus noted.

" Every morning? How much time does it take? " the inventor asked.

" No more than 5 minutes really. " Fluttershy assured him.

" With time it becomes just like brushing your teeth. "

" They seem in good shape. " Dash lifted one of the scientist's wings and took a look at it.

" Apparently the spell, that your father used to hide them, also nourished them and strengthened them somehow, so they wouldn't end up like Bulk Bizeps's. After some training you should have no trouble flying! " Equestria's best flier assured him.

" In fact, why don't you try right now? You don't have anything importrant to do anyway. " she suggested.

" Right, except that... " Hase blushed a little.

" ... I really have no idea how to flap. "

If this wasn't her friend, who got his wings the day before, Rainbow would have laughed. Even if some pegasi like Bulk Bizeps had problems flying, all pegasi could flap their wings. It was something pegasi started doing when they were still babies. To Dash that statement, coming from any other pegasus, would sound like " I don't know how to spread my hoof. "

But Hase was born an earth pony. Even though the spell developed his wings, it couldn't give him the experience. So it was understandable.

" Alright, now look. " Fluttershy took it upon her to teach their friend how to flap. She slowly spread her wings and started flapping so slow, that it looked like she was trying to swim in honey. After she did so for a good one minute, the pink maned mare looked at the stallion with a gentle smile and spoke:

" Now you. "

Reaching for muscles he'd never used before felt weird as hay for Hase. He slowly tried to move each one of the different muscles of his wings separetely, to understand what each does. As he was certain he knew what they do, Hase slowly tried to repeat the folding out Fluttershy had shown first. Slowly his wings moved upwards, untill they stopped at a certain point. Than he began to fold out his wings. The whole prozess took him about two minutes, but finally, he was proudly walking with his two wings spread. He than repeated the same motion backwards. This time it only took him one minute. He repeated it at least one hundred times, untill finally Fluttershy stopped him, assuring him, that he'd reached the normal folding in and folding out speed for any pegasus.

" Now you can try the flapping part... if you are certain of yourself, of course. " the yellow pegasus told him.

Having gained perhaps a bit too much confidence after he could already fold his wings in and out, Hase quickly raised his wings and slashed downwards, as if the wings were the axe of an executioner. That had two negative effects. Firstly, Hase had his first dual wing muscle cramp; secondly, his flap took him off the ground, only to throw him right into the pony walking behind him.

" Arghh! " at first Hase could only think about the  pain in his wings, but as he saw he'd landed on somepony, he quickly got up and apologised.

" I'm really sorry. " the inventor said.

" Oh, it's no huge deal, pal. " it turned out Hase had landed on the blonde swordspony. The gray unicorn helped him get back on his hooves.

" After all, it's your first flight. " he noted with a cheerful tone. After seeing Hase's frown, caused by the pain from his cramps, he whistled, loud and sharp, so that everypony would hear it.

" Miss Doctor! Miss Doctor! We've got a patient over here! " he yelled out loud.

Not even a minute passed before Arcane Bliss showed up and threw the swordspony an annoyed glare.

" What is it now, Metal Chord? " she asked, reminding the pegasus trio the stallion's name.

" My friend here hurt his wings while trying to get off. "

" Is that true? " the healer turned to Hase. He nodded.

" Hold on for a second. " she replied and headed back. Soon she returned, levitating a small jar of brown gel and a brush. She asked Hase where it hurt, and than his two pegasus friends how he injured himself, in order to understand where to put the gel. Eventually she spread some of it in the bases of his wings, told him not to move them for 10 minutes and returned to the group.

Since Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had stayed behind with Hase, the three pegasi were now on the end of the group. Only Formidon was behind him, but he was moving off the road, so that ponies, coming from Graywood, wouldn't spot him. The two mares had informed the others what had happenned with Hase, and after they had told them wing cramps usually go away for minutes, so that they wouldn't worry, their friends had continued walking, since Smith's Keep was still far away.

" You feeling alright already? " the cyan mare asked, after the 10 minutes had passed.

" Yes. This seems to be a very effective remedy. " Hase noted.

" I feel as if nothing happenned. "

" Alright than. Try once more! " Dash encouraged him.

" But be more careful! " Fluttershy spoke.

This time Hase began slowly. Flapping wasn't such a complex thing as unfurling, so a minute later the black pegasus was flapping as if he'd had wings his whole life. He expressed his satisfaction by jumping in the air. Still flapping, the stallion managed to stay in the air for about a second, before he fell down.

" Frequency is the key. " Rainbow told her friend, after she saw him making his first attempt to fly.

" We'll start slowly, so you'll need to flap your wings in a moderate frequency. " Fluttershy smiled warmly. Since she taught little birds how to fly back in her cottage, Dash had decided, that she'd be a better teacher for Hase's first flying lesson. She was going to take him on when he knew the basics and teach him the more complex things about flying.

The Element of Kindness than proceeded by demonstrating what she ment. She spread her wings and flapped with them, the very first flap getting her airborne. She than flapped as slow as possible, mere 2 feet above the ground, moving with the speed of a walking pony. Hase tried to repeat what she did, but didn't remain in the air. He tried it several times. Each time he took off succesfully, but didn't manage to stay airborne. No matter how hard he tried and how fast he flapped, he always fell. Fluttershy was just about to stop him, when he took off again. This time, instead of trying to flap faster, Hase maintained a slow tempo, and as a result he managed to stay airborne. Rainbow cheered. The inventor smiled back, untill he noticed the two mares were getting away. His try to fly forward resulted in another fall.

" Well done, Hase. " Fluttershy greeted him, as he caught up with them.

The inventor repeated his success. Than he did it three more times. Dash knew what he wanted to do.He was trying to memorize the feeling. She understood him. Her first flight was the second best feeling in her whole life, next to when she did a sonic rainboom as a filly.

After a few more tries Hase also figured out how to move while flying, so he could now follow the group while flying.

" There you go. " Dash told him when he landed next to her.

" It's... it's simply amazing! Unlike any flying machine I've ever invented! " the stallion expressed his excitement.

" You're a true pegasus now. " the cyan mare congratulated him.

Mistake

" I'm afraid I'll have to take Hase away from you, Rainbow Dash. " somepony spoke. The cyan mare turned around and saw it was Vortex, who had also stayed behind the main part of the group.

" I know your current greatest desire is to learn how to use your wings. " the alicorn told his son.

" I would have let you two months break to do so before our lessons proceeded. However, things have changed, and our group is in dire need of as many defenders as it can get. So, I'm afraid, we'll have to continiue with our lessons as soon as possible. "

Hase was a bit dissappointed, but he had to agree. From the group of 18 members, many could protect them from physical threats, and in an emergency, even Formidon could show up and defend them, but from a magical point of view, the only ponies skilled enough were Vortex, Twilight and the two Princesses. Even though their magical guards included the three most skilled magical users of Equestria, their quantity was too low. A fifth memeber would come in handy, even if it was an absolute amateur.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy nodded and flew forward, to join the rest of the group, leaving the inventor alone with his father. It was first than Hase realised, that chaotic magic required much more concentration than flight, and that he might not be able to do it while walking. A sollution to this problem soon appeared in his head.

" Formidon! We need a little help here! " he called.

It didn't take long before the giant black dragon landed in front of him.

" Look, dad says we'll have to train my chaotic skills, and I'm not sure I can concentrate enough to do so while walking yet. Would you mind if we use your back as a training field? " Hase asked his friend.

" Are your spells powerful enough to pierce a dragon's hide? " the black dragon responded with a question.

" We're far from practicing such spells. And when we do, I'm sure Hase will have no problems concentrating while on hoof. " the former emperor of Equestria assured him.

Formidon nodded. He spread his claw, so that he'd lift the duo to his back. When they were set, he took off the ground and flew right above the road, soon catching up with the group.

" You will be distracted even more from the vibrations if I walked. " the dragon expleined them.

" So... what did we do last time? " Vortex officially opened the lesson.

" You taught me chaotic telekinesis. " Hase answered.

" That's right. " the black alicorn recalled.

" He also uses summoning and portals. The very basic form, of course. " Formidon told him.

The pegasus' father raised an eyebrow.

" I think I told you something about two- way Void portals? " he rebuked the scientist.

" It was urgent! Or at least I thought it was. " the amateur chaotic tried to excuse himself.

" Apparently you were lucky. I didn't feel any nearby Voidians, while we were back in Equestria. You probably shut it right in their noses and thought that's the trick? " the millenia- old stallion sounded dissappointed.

" You might have been quick enough this time, but you won't always be. I had planned something else for today, but since you have already began " portalling ", it is neccessary that we first make sure your portals aren't a threat to the dimension we're in.

" Blockscreens ", as the admittance- limiting spells are commonly known as, aren't that much of a deal. They are the most easy part of the first year mid- term test in the School for Gifted Unicorns. Nothing hard. All you have to do is imagine a barrier, which is invisible by default, define its boundaries and than define the ponies or things, the entrance of whom or which is permitted. You can also do it the other way around, define the things or ponies, who or which won't be able to enter. Ponies allowed won't even know it's there. Ponies blocked will be stopped, as if from a glass screen. Blockscreens can only be broken if the power level of the spell is surpassed by another one, targeting the barrier.

Your power level is still very low... "

" I thought you said chaotic magic has no limitations in power? " Hase was befuddled.

" For the ones, who have concluded the 20- year training. " Vortex noted. Hase frowned. He wasn't going to be of much use on the field.

" Your body gradually gets used to chaotic energy flowing through it. If you surpass your current maximum, there may be tragic consequences. Eventually, that maximum will vanish, but first you have a long way to go. You start weaker than any unicorn, until you become powerful as an alicorn.

Let's try to define your level. You casted a few telekinesis spells, probably opened 2 or 3 portals - nothing, that could raise your level significantly. Telekinesis is the spell, that requires the least energy out of all other chaotic spells, and since you didn't have enough energy to cast a normal portal, leading from one place in a dimension to another, your portals probably had a detour to the Void, its natural energy, which is trying to breach the dimensional wall, significantly facillitating the portal spell. Am I right? "

The astounded pegasus nodded.

" Luckily for you, blockscreens also have low energy requirement. So, today we'll learn how to conjure limited- access Void portals, which are also the essentials of Summonning. "

Vortex demonstrated by opening a portal, which Hase could tell led to the Void. The black dots contrasted with the grey land bellow.  They grew in size.

" Since the Void is endless, any type of landscape exists in it. Of course, there won't be water or colours, or any normally looking trees, so it will seem a lot different than the landscape one has in mind. But you might find it quite useful. It saves you the time falling from the edge of the world. "

When the former emperor had completed his sentence, the first Voidian was smacked against the invisible barrier the alicorn had apparently put on the portal.

" I've limited this portal to permit entrance to me and me only. You can make sure my words are true by trying to pass. Go on! " the stallion urged his son.

Quite unsure, since the Voidians on the other side were now one very unhappy pile, Hase spread his hoof. It stopped on the edge of the portal, as if there was a wall.

" I thought you said only unprotected portals sucked in Voidians? " the inventor asked.

" That's correct. I summonned some to demonstrate the barrier's effectiveness. " Vortex noted.

" But... my barriers will be a lot more weaker than yours. " the pegasus was concerned.

" What if some magic- using Voidians manage to breach them? "

The violet- maned alicorn smiled. He was waiting for that question. The stallion closed the portal, since there was no further use of it, and turned back to his student.

" That's the first thing you should have asked yourself. And you did. Well done. "

The alicorn seemed to feel great content from the fact, that his heir was starting to think the way all chaotics should. For him, this was more importrant than any spell he'd teach the inventor - to put the world before yourself.

" However, " he began explaining.

" ,even though many Voidians are capable of using magic, none of them have the sufficient energy for it. Do you remember what I told you yesterday? A small piece of unbound chaotic energy is all the energy any Voidian would have. Any other energy is quickly dispatched. Voidians cannot use magic, unless you enable them to by using the Energy Transfer spell when one of them is under your control and use the chaotic energy to compensate for their natural inability to use magic and charge them up. I'll leave that lesson for another time.

Now, let's see how good are you with barriers. "

Hase was a tad excited. It was finally time to show what he could do. The blue- maned pegasus cleared out his mind and imagined a portal leading to a big plane with a giant mountain on the horizon, in the Void. But that wasn't everything. He imagined a fisherpony's net, covering the whole portal, only letting him through. When he decided the image was clear enough, he felt the stream of chaotic energy flow through his body. A portal opened mere inches away from the spot in the air the one of his father had been. A big gray plain and a rocky mountain on the horizon could be seen through it. The inventor sighed from relief.

Until a buffalo appeared. It was standing probably about 300 feet away from the portal, so the pegasus only recognised it as one because of its size. The Voidian didn't hesitate. The beast ran in their direction, with an unimaginable speed. Covering the distance in 30 seconds, the buffalo took the final 15 feet with a jump. His horns slammed aginst the portal...

... and the power of the ricochet threw him 6 feet back. The buffalo shook its head, snorted angrily and ran in another direction, dissappearing from the part of the plain, that could be seen through the portal. Amazed, Hase spread his hoof, and it passed through the portal, as if it was one of the portals without any protection he used a day ago.

" Remarkable. " his father commented.

" But don't get cocky. Any chaotic trainee can do that the first day of their training. You did it on the second, so you're actually behind. " the alicorn spoke in a tonality, that indicated he was joking.

" Now we'll have to get started with some attack magic. It isn't normally studied until the second year of training, when one's level is high enough for these attack spells to actually do some damage. Yours isn't yet, so your attack spells... will have an enormously high chance of missing and even if they hit, the worst thing they would do is make your opponent dizzy for a second.  " the former emperor's expression was indicating how awkward he felt about saying that. If something could completely annihilate the feeling of self- confidence Hase had had a minute ago, when his barrier had stopped the Voidian buffalo, this comment was it. The inventor frowned.

" We'll try the normal chaotic magical blast. All you have to do is build up some energy around one part of your body, use it to target something and then simply let it go. "

Vortex demonstrated. A big black oreol with sharp curling edges surrounded his hoof up to almost the half of his knee. He aimed for one of the biggest scales on the back of Formidon and fired. The blast flew accurately and hit the scale the former emperor had marked as his target. It exploded upon hitting it, resulting in a loud noise.

" Just don't fire at my neck. I'm ticklish there. " Formidon responded to the blast on his back.

" Now you try. " Vortex urged his son.

The scientist spread his right forehoof and did what the alicorn had told him to. Even though he felt he was at his maximum, he couldn't see any oreol surrounding his hoof. Confused, he looked at it from closer.

It was first then that he noticed it. A tiny black ball with curly edges, not biggger than the pebbles foals played with back in Ponyville. It stood there at the center of the bottom of his hoof, waiting for him to fire. Hase could not be more ashamed or dissappointed. He had hit the bottom.

Sighing, he turned around, so that he wouldn't watch the petty explosion, that would occur when this ball hit the same scale his father fired at. He let the ball go.

Strangely, his turning away actually made him watch the energy pebble. It fired about 45 degrees lower than the pegasus had intended it to and landed right next to his left forehoof, producing the sound a firework makes when somepony drops it in a puddle.

Now Hase was bellow the bottom. He moved to the edge of the dragon's back and sat down, his hindhooves hanging from the edge.

" I never said it was going to be easy. With time, you'll get better. " Vortex tried to cheer him up.

" That's not the point. " the inventor replied.

" Than what is it? " Formidon joined the conversation.

" It's just that... there's really no use of me. You can breathe out fire, that can devour a whole neighbourhood, " the scientist told the dragon.

" ,you, Celestia, Luna and Twilight can use powerful magic, " he looked back at his father.

" , Applejack can buck, Rainbow Dash can attack from the air, Rarity can probably use at least some useful magic, Spike can also breathe fire, if he's needed to, Fluttershy can probably ask some animal to defend the group, Pinkie Pie probably has some gadget hidden in her mane, " a faint smile appeared on the stallion's face when he imagined Pinkie pulling out a bow or something simillar from her mane, but it vanished the second after that.

" , and all the locals are either skilled warriors or good spellcasters. What can I do? "

" That doesn't matter. We all are your friends. We will protect you. " the black dragon answered.

" Formidon's right. If you're afraid you can't defend yourself... " Vortex began, but was interrupted by Hase.

" I'm not afraid for myself. I'm afraid for all of you. What will happen, if all your lives depend on me? I can't use chaotic magic good enough yet, can't lift myself higher than 1 foot above the ground, have no skills with any weapon whatsoever! I can't even buck the enemy, if I wished to! "

" Do you have any idea what they're doing up there? " Rarity asked.

" Caw! " was the answer of Hermes.

" He says they're probably still training. " Fluttershy translated.

The white unicorn nodded. Even though she had lived with Hase's bird for a month already, which had made her the third pony the phoenix loved the most after Hase and Fluttershy, the fashionista mare still couldn't understand what the phoenix was saying.

" Only 10 minutes have passed since they got up. I doubt they have finished already. The magic Vortex described sounds difficult. " Fluttershy thought Rarity was impatient for some reason.

" But of course! I was just wondering what does this training consist of? And what is this chaotic magic in general? We were never actually told! " the unicorn mare wondered.

" According to Princess Celestia, " Twilight, who was behind the duo, who were currently the first in their group, began explaining.

" , most of the times it's just like normal magic, with the exception of the facts, that it's not limited to unicorns, has no energy limit... aaand holds the chance of the world being destroyed. " the lavender alicorn, as all of Hase's friends, wasn't sure Hase should practice this kind of magic because of the last reason specifically.

" Isn't it rather dangerous to practice magic, when the energy you have is unlimited? " Rarity was now a bit worried.

" I doubt Hase will immeadietly have access to unlimited energy. " Twilight dispatched of her friend's worries.

" I suppose, that just like it is with unicorns, you first start on a low magical level and slowly increase it. "

The group of three was unaware, that their conversation was observed by somepony but them three. Somepony hiding in the bushes in the forest they were currently passing by. A telescopic tube slowly slipped back inside the bushes, so that nopony would notice the flashes from its copper outer surface, and a noise, supposing the movement of an animal, sounded. However, the distance between the forest and the road being 300 feet in this part of the wood, it acted as a natural silencer.

" Well? " the Leader asked the Observer.

" We hit the jackpot. " the Observer smiled deviously.

While the band cheered, the leader didn't. His content was only marked by a faint grin.

The Gang with No Names was one of the most succesful ever. Not because its memebers were selected- on the contrary, anypony could join, if they abandoned their name - but because a part of the loot they yielded was given to the guards in Smith's Keep and Graywood, in return for information which groups are armed and which- not. That way the gang saved time equiping themselves heavily for unarmed groups. Also, nopony could catch them off- guard.

The oldest members of the gang were the Leader and his right hoof, the Observer. The Leader was a beige unicorn, with half of his horn cut off in some street fight a long time ago. He could only use telekinesis, but that was all he needed to hold his sword.

The Observer, who had earned his name for having the sharpest eye amongst everypony in the group, was a white- coated pegasus. One pink scar could be seen on his throat, indicating, that some inexperienced thief had tried to slit it with a blunt knife.

" Describe it to us. " the leader commanded his lieutenant once the gang had stopped cheering.

" A very large group, probably with a lot of money. Without much defenses. Aaand... one of the mares has a pet phoenix. You all know how much they cost on the black market! "

The grin of the Leader was passed on to the entire gang.

One of the reasons they were so sure was, that the guards in Graywood were sleeping when the Equestrian group had arrived. However, that wasn't the main reason.

The main reason the Observer had underestimated the group so much was the thick fog. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were walking on the left side of the road, the one away from the forest, so they were beyond what the pegasus had seen. Dagger also couldn't be seen. With Hase, Vortex and Formidon in the air, nopony suspected of their existense. Twilight's wings were hidden by Fluttershy. In fact, the only visible threat was Forge's hammer - nothing too hard for a 20 member gang. Encouraged, the road robbers moved to the part of the wood, that was separated from the road with a small lawn, only 30 feet long.

However, they hadn't remained unnoticed.

" Come on, come on! "

The flintstone wouldn't start the flame. Just as Sharp Witt thought it was hopeless, one spark jumped on the dry moss he had somehow managed to find in the wet fog. The fire was finally ready.

Sharp Witt wasn't sure wheter to yell to make sure the group would be alert. After all, he was sure the mare, that had hired him, was in it. But than he decided not to. A fire would be a good enough signal. Also, the mare had paid him to remain hidden. As quickly as he could, he got away from the fire, hoping it would burn long enough for the group to notice it.

" Is that a fire? " Twilight's eyes stumbled upon a weak light, emitted from the end of the nearby forest on their right.

Rarity and Fluttershy looked in the direction their friend was looking in.

" It most certainly is. Who would stop to rest in such a dreadful... "

Rarity's sentence was interrupted by an arrow, that passed an inch away from the back of her neck and Hermes. Scared, the phoenix flew in the air.

" The pony, not the bird! It costs hundreds, you idiots! " a hoarse voice was heard yelling from the forest, now about 30 feet away.

Realising what was happening, Twilight pushed Rarity with her magic and yelled:

" Get down! "

Rarity fell down just in time to see the second arrow pass an inch away from her friend's muzzle. She screamed.

" I'm sure you can. Anypony can buck. It's in their genes. " Formidon told his friend.

" Yes, but I doubt my buck would actually do any dama... "

" The pony, not the bird! It costs hundreds, you idiots! " the yell was heard very well even from the back of Formidon, since he was only flying about 45 feet above the ground.

And than the scream was heard. A scream Hase knew the origin of very well.

" Rarity! " he yelled and jumped from the edge, without actually thinking what consequences this would have.

Vortex stood dumbfounded. Then he spread his wings and jumped from the edge as well.

From the sound all Hase could deduce was that Rarity had been hurt in some way. Then, midway to the ground, he realised what he had done.

The fog was a bit rarer on this spot, so Hase could see the ground, about 30 feet bellow him. He couldn't fly good enough. Vortex or Formidon couldn't catch him. He was going to die.

Unless...

Because the fog was rarer, Hase could also see Rarity, Twilight and Fluttershy. And the robbers, coming out of the woods. An idea appeared in his mind. One, that could just do the trick. The black pegasus spread his hoof, so that it pointed to a spot, about 3 feet to the right from the three mares. He imagined a portal, tilted slightly backwards, protected with a net only he could pass through. As he felt the surge of chaotic energy, it opened. Hase smiled. The ground was coming close rather fast. But just before he hit it, a portal opened in the ground, devouring him, then it closed right behind him.

Now he had a lot more time to think. As much time, as it takes one to fall from the edge of a world to the closest level of the Void. The portal he had opened to enter wasn't exactly protected, but since it had remained open for no more than one second, the black dots Hase expected would be falling ahead of him weren't there. In fact, he couldn't even notice one Voidian.

Which was good. Since the surface was no more than 30 feet bellow him now. It was a good thing he had managed to adjust himself to fall right where he fell. Since his protected portal awaited him bellow. Taking the most aerodynamic form he could, the inventor passed the last few feet and returned to Runcinia.

Things were happenning too fast for Twilight to comprehend. First, some armed ponies had appeared from the woods, apparently robbers, and they were running right towards them. The second afterwards, a black portal had opened on their right. Twilight was behind it, so she couldn't see where it lead too. All she could spot was, that it was tilted slightly backwards.

Then, just as the robbers had almost reached them, something black flew out of the portal, which closed behind it. The portal being tilted prevented it from hitting the ground. Instead, the projectile hit the fattest robber. The purple alicorn was so close she could hear the sound of the robber's spine breaking, a result of the incredible amount of kinetic energy, that was passed on by the black projectile. With a brief flap of wings the projectile managed to land on its four hooves and it was first than, that Twilight realised this projectile was Hase.

The scientist barely managed to dodge the first sword, and the second left an incision on his left cheek. He quickly understood, that the attention of the robbers, which were certainly more than 10, was all redirected to him. He rolled to the side, avoiding perhaps the fifth sword slash and tried to think what to do.

' My spells, or should I say spell won't do any more damage than a cup of water... ' his train of thought was interrupted by the sight of one of the robbers shooting an arrow at Rarity, but Hase couldn't see if it hit, since the three mares had been hidden by the blade of a sword, aimed for his head.

Nothing had ever angried Hase more in his life. His rational thought was blown away by his rage, the same way an overflowing river destroys a small bridge. Driven by rage, his mind soon came up with one extremely dangerous use of a cup of water he could use now.

The water jet cutter.

A devious grin appeared on Hase's muzzle, as he jumped back to avoid a sword slash. He summonned the energy, but this time, instead of forming it as a ball, it appeared as a rod, about 1 foot long, but thinner than a spider web. Knowing he controlled it, with his mind Hase threw it forward and yelled.

" NO! YOU WON'T KILL HER! I'LL KILL YOU! SHE'LL LIVE FOREVER! "

The thin rod was super effective. Even though Hase could only wield a tiny amount of energy, compressed in such a small form, that it could barely be seen, it cut through armour, skin, muscle and bone like hot knife through butter. The robber, that had pounced at Hase, holding an axe in his mouth, was sliced in half. Driven by rage and nothing else, Hase called back the stick. It returned as a boomerang, cutting the second robber, that had moved towards him, 's head, along with the forehoof he had spread. The other robbers, that had planned to attack, fearfully moved back, but it was too late. Hase's anger wasn't going to leave him, until all of the robbers were dead.

" DIE, YOU DOGS, AND ROT IN TARTARUS! " the pegasus screamed, as he jumped forward. The next ten minutes were consisting mostly of the almost animal- like Hase chasing the robbers across the lawn. They ran, but eventually they ended the same way their friends did - cut in two parts. Some tried to defend themselves, but the small rod of chaotic energy cut through steel about as easy as it cut through flesh.

At about the 13th kill, Hase noticed a mace lying around. It was a morningstar, about 2 feet long with a big spiky ball in the end. it was all black, with the exclusion of the red leather handle with some figures on it. Deciding he'd finish the job quicker, the pegasus grabbed the mace with his telekinesis and smashed the head of the pony, that had tried to attack him while he was picking it up.

The clear- minded Hase would have noticed, that when he unwillingly dropped the telekinesis spell, since the energy rod was using up most of his power, the mace was still levitating. He also would have noticed, that the mace felt connected to his mind in a weird way.

Everything the rage- driven Hase noticed was, that it's very effective at killing.

He moved his glance to the last two ponies on the lawn. As he smiled, they dropped their weapons and ran towards the woods. Hase sent out his rod to dispatch the first and jumped in the air. With a small hover, he fell directly above the second. The mace he had lifted up fell down, smashing the pony's head. Finally ready, the scientist dropped the energy spell and grinned.

" We're now... " Hase began, but the shock of what he saw mid- sentence, when he turned around to see his group, brought him back to his normal self.

Rarity and Fluttershy were both crying their eyes out, while the rest of the Mane 6 were trying to calm them down. The inventor suspected Fluttershy was crying because of the horrors she had seen, but Rarity was probably also crying because she had seen him do all of this.

' What's the big... ' Hase wondered, while he was coming closer to the group, until the last parts of rage vanished from his mind and he was left with the horrible truth of what he had done. He slowly turned around.

The lawn was covered with corpses, most of them cut in half. As if somepony had tried to paint it red. The inventor recalled the last few minutes. He had done all of this. Why? That was a question he couldn't answer.

The pegasus fell down on his knees and stared at his forehooves. They were covered in blood, making them slicky. Hase was horrified. He hit the ground with his right forehoof and yelled:

" NO! "

His mind was desperately trying to find what made him so angry he killed 16 ponies. He remembered seeing somepony aim for Rarity, getting angry... and slaughtering the robbers. Why had this made him so angry?

Realisation struck him sooner than expected. His friends, especially Rarity, were a symbol of something he had craved for his whole life. They were the symbol of a normal, peaceful life. The embodiment of the future he wanted to have. A future, in which he was living with Rarity and his friends back in Ponyville, without any complications like the ones he'd had in his past.

He had killed for Rarity. He had killed for his friends. He had killed for the future.

Wondering wheter they had come to this thought as well, wheter they knew how much they really ment to him, so much, that he'd do something against his nature to save them, Hase turned his gaze back to his group. Rarity and Fluttershy were still crying, although the rest of the Mane 6 had managed to calm them down a bit. He caught the accusing glances of Applejack and Rainbow Dash. He could see it in their eyes, that right now, for them he wasn't a friend, but a beast, more vile than any hydra, manticore or chimera. They quickly looked away, but it was enough time for Hase to feel the fear, the shock. He also caught Twilight's glance. Her shock was much bigger, aslo, something in her eyes made him feel incredibly guilty. She moved away, so that Hase could see Rarity, but the pegasus quickly turned away. He wouldn't be able to stand her eyes.

However, eventually he did turn around again. And she was staring right into his eyes. Rarity, unlike the other, wasn't even a bit afraid. But in her eyes, now bloodshot, the shock was one hundred times bigger than the one in the others' eyes. The guilt her eyes irradiated made him look, as if her eyes were magnets, and he spent the most painful minute in his life, looking at her accusing eyes.

Luckily for him, Rainbow Dash's body soon hid those eyes, and he could take a rest. Than he went on checking the eyes of the rest of the group.

The Sentinels of the Elements seemed rather indifferent, but perhaps it was because their muzzles weren't exactly best suited for expressing motions. Otherwise, Hase thought, they would reveal their shock as well. The Runcinians, apparently having seen a lot of blood, were not as shocked as the rest, but their eyes still emitted too much guilt for Hase to handle, after he had looked at Rarity.

He moved on to the Princesses and his father. They all had a simillar, if not the same, expression on. One Hase suspected Celestia and Luna had when they banished King Sombra.

When he met that cold glance, he realised all ponies looked at him as if he was a villain. All except the Sentinels and two other.

Metal Chord and Dagger were in front of the rest of the group.  Seeing that as an opportunity to end this all, Hase turned to the pegasus assassin:

" Kill me. "

The dark purple mare just smiled.

" Kill me! " Hase repeated, this time louder. As they heard that, his friends looked at him again. They seemed worried.

" Kill me! " Hase said for the last time. Dagger didn't move. Actually, nopony did. Nopony but a certain white unicorn.

Not even 5 seconds after Hase noticed her movement, Rarity was already hugging him.

" No. I don't want you dead. Don't leave me. " she spoke, her tone indicating, that she was still crying.

She than broke the hug. No surprise could compare to the one, that jolted through Hase, when in the moment he looked in her still bloodshot eyes, the stallion saw, that even after all he'd done, she still loved him. Confused more than ever, he looked at his other friends. Their initial shock wiped away by his deathwish, he could only see them as ponies, worried for a friend of theirs.

" I won't. " Hase hugged Rarity, trying to calm her down.

" But... I don't deserve to be forgiven. I killed those ponies with my own hooves. "

" Anypony can be forgiven, if they ask for forgiveness. " Celestia spoke, after the two lovers broke their hug.

A frown appeared on the black pegasus' muzzle.

" I suppose there's no use asking for it after comitting such a crime, but... can you ever possibly forgive me? " he asked.

There was a moment of silence.

" We will. " Twilight replied, half a minute later.

" But you have a lot to think about. " Luna looked at the stallion with a stern gaze.

The main part of the group left, after Rarity joined them. They had decided to leave Hase alone for the rest of the day, so that he could think over what had happenned. However, two ponies had left behind. Dagger and Metal Chord. They joined Hase, as he walked about 30 feet behind the rest of the group.

" Nice mace. " Dagger noted.

Puzzled, Hase looked around. It was first than he noticed the strange occurence.  The morningstar he had picked up on the battlefield and used to kill the last pony was still behaving, as if Hase was holding it with his telekinesis. The pegasus reached for the chaotic flow, so that he could move the weapon in front of his eyes, but the maze moved exactly where he wanted it to move the very second he thought of it. The confused inventor moved it that way several times, until he concluded, that it was bound to his mind in some way. Then he took a closer examination.

During the fight he couldn't notice the details. Now they were there for him to see. The spikes on the mace, each of them at least 3 inches long, didn't have the normal conical shape, but were designed to look like the nails of a dragon or a gryphon. There were at least 40 spikes, in 4 rows around the big metal ball on the top of the weapon. Since those nails were only effective in one direction, each nail going down was followed by a nail going up, so that the weapon would be equally effective both when swinging up or swiping down. This feature gave the mace a very bizzare appearance. Complete with the metal rod, that connected the ball and the handle, that should have been wooden, since it would be much cheaper, and the red leather handle ( Hase had no idea what use there is of a handle, when the weapon was " held with the mind ", if he could say so), the mace didn't look like a typical weapon one would scavenge from the corpse of a road robber. Such a weapon could only belong to a nobelty, and no robber would attack a nobelty, since the guards would be after them, and according to Arcane Bliss, most of the robbers worked together with the guard. The origins of the weapon remained unknown.

Hase moved the weapon several more times, but since he wasn't able to think of anything new about it, he instead chose to recall the events once more and think them over. The rage he had feeled... he remembered it very well...

His train of thought was violently interrupted by screams, yells and... were those battle calls?

Startled, Hase took a look around. Red light shone from the tip of the weapon he had found, but that wasn't the strangest thing. Semi- transparent red things were being fired out of the shining tip, flying in a straight direction, ignoring the laws of gravity. After he stopped walking and focused on that stream, Hase understood the things had an animal shape - occasional claws and wings gave it out. But the stallion couldn't put his hoof on what exactly they were. Until one of the things stayed in one spot for a bit longer.

The gryphon let out a scream. The other things, that Hase supposed were also gryphons, were going around it, but since the stream had the constant form, the gryphon was having difficulties staying in one spot. 10 seconds later, it was pushed by other gryphons, but this was enough for hase to have memorized its main features. The things, coming out of his mace, weren't exactly gryphons. More like gryphon spirits. Those spirits were all semi- transparent and red in colour, and for some reson, they were all very, very angry. The moment Hase thought of it, realisation struck him.

This mace had something to do with rage. He had found it, while he was more angry than any other time in his life, and had chosen to use it. Therefore, because of his rage, the magic of the mace had apparently chosen him for the owner. The morningstar was probably also haunted by the angry spirits of a gryphon army. Hase didn't want to have such an army trapped in a weapon, that is bound to his mind, so he patiently waited for the whole army to come out.

2 minutes later the spirits were still flowing. Hase heard somepony run, and suspected the group had stopped to wait for them and they had sent somepony to see what's up with them. Annoyed with the spirits, he shook the mace, hoping this would make them go faster. It didn't, but it had another consequence. Passing near Metal Chord, one spirit got out of the stream, swiped its ethereal claw at the grey unicorn and returned to the stream, less red in colour. The inventor initially thought nothing would happen, since the gryphon was ethereal, but he was very wrong.

A red wave passed through the unicorn's body. Metal Chord knit his brows, clenched his teeth, drew out his sword and yelled:

" WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? LET'S KILL THE BUCKER! " he almost jumped.

" What bucker? " Hase asked. He and Dagger backed off a bit.

"  MY CHEAP LYING FATHER, THAT'S WHO!!! " the stallion yelled, this time louder.

" Stop the stream and suck out the rage. " somepony was heard behind Hase. When he turned around, he saw it was his father.

" What do you mean? " the scientist asked.

" You are in control. Stop the stream and suck out his rage, or he'll start attacking us all! " Vortex warned him.

Hase was about to protest he had no idea how, but realised he would be lying. At least for the first one. Now he felt the connection in its full power. The mace felt as if it was a part of his mind, constantly concentrating on the memory of his anger. When Hase stopped to think about it, the stream of spirit dissappeared as quickly as it had appeared and the connection was limited to what it was before - the pegasus being able to move the mace with his mind. However, he had no idea how to suck the rage out of Metal Chord. Until he looked at the pony.

He was seeing things he shouldn't have been seeing. A red ball, constantly exploding like a star, spinning in the head of the swordspony, who was now threatening he'd kill anypony, who stops him from killing his father. Somehow knowing what to do, as if he'd always known it, Hase pointed the mace at this ball and called it back. For a brief moment red energy passed from the stallion's head to the mace, leaving Metal Chord very confused.

" Uhh... what happenned? " he asked.

" You shouldn't have done it that fast! " Vortex spoke.

" I thought you said otherwise he'd start attacking us? " the black pegasus turned to his father, confused.

" No. You shouldn't be able to do it that fast! Only he... " the violet- maned alicorn stopped mid- sentence, as if he couldn't speak about what he was about to say. He didn't remain silent for long though.

" I forbid you to use that mace in any way! " he spoke to Hase in a stern tonality.

" Alright, alright! " Hase backed off, a bit surprised.

" But can I just ask you a question, so that there aren't any more problems? I see you know that weapon. "

The tall black stallion nodded.

" Won't those spirits eventually run out? "

" No. When they are 100 feet away from the mace, they return in the mace and, if they have dispatched of their rage, charge up. "

" With what? " Hase was confused.

" With your rage. The memory of the most rage you've ever felt. You'll never forget it. It will make sure of it. "

" What? The mace? " Hase moved it around, and was surprised to see  his father back off.

" Yes. And don't wave it around. " the alicorn said, before he vanished in the mist, apparently going back to the main part of the group.

The Assassin

Probably scared of the mace, Metal Chord had left the company of Hase and Dagger,leaving the two pegasi alone behind the group. None of them spoke a single word for whole 10 minutes. Finally, deciding somepony had to break the silence, the inventor began a conversation:

" Why didn't you kill me? "

" What do you mean? " the mare replied, apparently confused. However, she didn't insert any feeling in the words she said, so Hase couldn't know for sure.

" Well... from what I know you are an assassin? " the black stallion spoke, a tad unsure.

" Yes. " the other pegasus replied.

" I wanted you to kill me. You could do that. That's what assassins do. So why didn't you do it? Why did you just stand there and smile? " the scientist asked her.

" You were simply going through your first kill shock. " the purple- coated mare smiled and tried to imitate a cheered state, but only a pony, who had never seen a cheered pony, could mistake her for such.

This faked feeling made Hase feel awkward. A few seconds later, he decided to speak out his thoughts:

" You don't feel any real feelings, do you? "

" No. " the mare replied, probably relieved, her tone, however, didn't give anything out.

" Feelings aren't exactly the qualities you would expect from a hired assassin. After that many kills, they simply... fade away. I can't even remember what they felt like. I can only guess. "

" Is that why you stay away from the main part of our group? " the scientist wondered.

" Yes. Ponies feel weird when talking to somepony, who doesn't feel emotions. Also, nopony likes murderers. "

A shivver ran down Hase's spine. He felt himself bristle.

" Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, if I were you. " Dagger had noticed that.

" Your friends seem way beyond any idea of friendship we have here in Runcinia. I'm sure they'll forgive you. With time. "

It seemed that Dagger didn't know the meaning of the word " a white lie ".  Her voice, not giving out any signs of even a single feeling, was like the voice of truth for Hase. He wanted to believe, that his friends would forgive him. But even if they did, it would be better to stay away from them for the next few days.

" I hope so. " he replied.

" They should. After all, you didn't kill all those ponies for no reason. You killed them for a reason even I can relate to. "

" And what is that reason? "

" Protecting the ponies you love. Or in my case, avenging them. "

Expecting that was as much of the assassin's story he'd hear, Hase was awaiting the beginning of long hours of silent walking. But Dagger had something quite different in mind.

" I haven't really told anypony the story of how and why I became an assassin, because I feared nopony would understand me. Ponies around here can get over the deaths of anypony close to them, even if it's their closest one, but condemn somepony causing the death of the pony, guilty for the death of this pony so close to them. I never really understood why.

But you and I are the same. Both of us are ready to kill, so that we can save what our hearts prize the most. The only difference is, that you could interfere on time. And you did. "

" So you think I had right to kill all those ponies? " Hase was almost scared.

" Not a right. A duty. " the reply of the grey- maned pegasus, said with her cold voice, startled the pegasus furtherly.

" What were those ponies to you? Nothing. Killing them because of something stupid like duty to the society or justice  would have ment, that you killed them for no reason. But you didn't kill them for that. They threatened your friends. They threatened the mare of your heart. You killed them. End of story. "

The inventor was a bit surprised, when he found out the mare knew Rarity was his marefriend, but he didn't have time to think it over, since the mare continued talking.

" If you think killing one of them to scare the rest would have been enough, you are in deep deception. In this world, it's everypony for themselves. The only way you could be absolutely sure your friends wouldn't be hurt is to do what you did. Don't think I'm flattering you, but I think you'll adapt to this world way faster than any of your friends. "

" Why so? "  Hase asked.

" Haven't you understood it yet? " the assassin raised an eyebrow and glared at the stallion.

" I don't know how it's like in your world, but I'll suppose it is like it was in the old days of the kings and queens. Everypony's happy, everypony is friendly, and even if somepony doesn't quite fit in, you try to make them your friend and do your best to introduce them to society? Am I close? "

" Yes. Have you lived during those days? " the scientist was interested.

" As a very small filly. I can't remember anything. I know about it only because of the books I've read.  Now I understand why you insist on going back. "

Hase smiled weakly. He remembered his laboratory in Ponyville, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, everything he liked about Equestria... until his thoughts eventually focused on his friends and how they took his actions on the lawn. An idea shot through his mind.

" Can assassins understand what somepony's thinking just from their face? " he asked, expecting a denial.

" We're not telepaths. " the blue- maned pegasus sighed as he heard what he was expecting.

" But we can read one's feelings from their muzzle and roughly guess what they are thinking. " the purple- coated mare replied, giving the stallion hope.

" Did you see anypony from the group, that wasn't as frustrated as the most, from... what I did back there? " he asked, his voice trembling.

" Yes. Those odd elemental stallions. And the black dragon. " the pegasus with the light grey mane replied.

' The Sentinels probably have memories of killing ponies back when they were lords. And Formidon was forced to kill those dragons. ' the reason for that wasn't to hard to be thought of.

' I hope, that with their help, I'll be able to get back to my friends more quickly. If I only make it, I'll throw this mace aside and forget it ever came to me. ' Hase took a glance at the mace. He concentrated and the weapon was dropped down. The stallion was able to walk for another few hundred feet, before it appeared right next to him, as if it had never dissappeared.

' I knew it wouldn't be that easy. ' the inventor frowned. Whoever had created this mace was apparently smart enough to build in the option to walk around without a scary morningstar with a horrific design. But probably didn't feel safe enough to leave their weapon further than a few hundred feet.

" Speaking of the dragon, " Dagger renewed the conversation.

" ,how did you become friends with him? "

" Oh, the way you described earlier. " Hase smiled, as he remembered how Formidon wanted to burn down Ponyville. Things were more simple back tha... yesterday.

" He didn't quite fit in, and I promised I'd never let him down and that I'll help him blend in. "

" Very smart of you to lie to him, so that he'd help you during your quest. " the assassin noted. She just couldn't think the Equestrian way.

" I didn't lie. " the scientist spoke, offended.

" I became his friend. You don't use your friends! It's mean. Have you never had any friends? "

" Not the kind you describe. " the other pegasus replied.

" Oh. " the blue- maned pegasus felt awkward.

" My whole life is dedicated to revenge. " Dagger told him and than began telling her whole story:

" The first years of my life were probably jolly. I can't really remember. Than Bladewaltz took the throne and our neighbourhood was stormed, since it hid members of the Rebellion. My dad wasn't one, but he hit one of the guards, while trying to protect my mother. I remember the next few minutes as if it was yesterday. The leader of the squad, Corporal Steelheart, killed my father on spot. I was crying, but the troops ignored me and took away my mother. I never saw her after that. "

Hase felt sorry for the mare. The reasons for her becoming an assassin were becoming clearer now.

" Luckily, my neighbour had survived. He took me in, treated me as his own foals, and I spent two more months of relative happiness. Until the Corporal showed up and killed everypony except me, since I had managed to escape. It turned out it was because of a false rumour, that they were hiding a wounded rebel in their cellar, that some of their enemies had made up. That's what happens to you if you're not careful and you don't get rid of your eneies before they get rid of you.

I stole to live, until a stallion assassin found me on the street. I don't know what he felt, or if he felt anything at all and didn't simply see a chance to create a great assassin, but after hearing my story, he decided to make me the youngest apprentice for an assassin there ever was.

I was quickly taught what other fillies and colts learn in school for years. The Assassin Academy doesn't have time for this kind of things. While foals were learning the alphabet and playing on the street, I was learning the properties of neuroparalitic poison and how to apply it. I was too small to join the classes, so the assassin, who'd taken me in and whose name I never learned, trained me himself. I barely had any time to play with other foals, and even when I did, only one filly was brave enough to play with me.

Eventually, when I became a bit older, my teacher told me, that there was one last thing I needed to do before joining the main classes. To kill the filly, that played with me. "

" Did you?!? " Hase was shocked.

" What now sounds strange to me, is that I hesitated for a few days. That filly ment something to me. Then I remembered how Steelheart murdered all of those innocent ponies. I promised I'll make him pay. But if I wanted to, I would have to kill innocent ponies myself.

The poison I used got her a painless death. "

" Why in Equestria did you do that ?! That filly was your only friend! " the black stallion was horrified.

" That didn't matter to me. All that mattered was revenge. And she was in my way.

After I held an exam in front of all of the Academy's teachers, they decided to put me in class seven, in the system of 10 classes, and commended my teacher on his job.

The other students were already on the edge of foalhood and adulthood, so they laughed, when they first saw me - a filly, that according to their words, should go back to primary school. When all of those, who insulted me, suffered an extremely painful night (I wasn't allowed to kill them because of school regulations), they all learned to keep their mouth shut. Of course, that stopped me from making any friends. I welcomed that fact. It would enable me to kill them easier in the future, if I was hired to.   While others distracted themselves with their social lives, I progressed. I became a fully- pledged master with the rights to teach at the age the others were in Class 7. Ponies began hiring me. I never failed. I was already legendary, when I heard, that Corporal, now General, Steelheart had died of a heart disease. My life had lost its purpose, so I took a break from my job for a few days. Until the obvious question came up: who ordered Steelheart?

That's the only reason I joined this pitty group. I'm not referring to your friends, of course. This group is doomed without me. Their leader, Forge, has dedicated his life to fake ideals, such as justice. He could be great, if he sees beyond those lies, but he chooses not to. His sister isn't any better. She believes there is something good in everypony. I dare her to find it in me. "

The last sentence was supposed to be ironical, but Dagger's cold tone made it sound more like a threat.

" This magical student is my age, but she still doesn't understand anything. All she understands from life is inside the walls of the Mouthguard Magical College. She'll most probably die. And don't get me started about the " heir of the throne " . The only good thing about him, is that just like me, he won't let anything stop him on the way to his goal - to kill his father. Yet this lover boy is so aroggant and dumb things are certain to go the other way around. "

Hase increased the distance between him and the mare. When he looked at her before, he thought he saw a mare, tired from the life. When he looked at her now, he saw a mare, that had chosen to leave life behind. It wasn't really her fault, but life had eventually turned her into a killing machine with one purpose- revenge. The black stallion galloped, trying to catch up with the end of the group. Some ponies would have become angry at such a rude act, but Dagger didn't mind. She didn't feel anger. And she was used to ponies running away.

The inventor had tried to find support in the assassin. At first her words had calmed him down, but after hearing her whole story, he realised he should never look for her advice again, if he didn't want to turn into what she was. It was much better to face the criticism of his friends, who all still loved him, than to look for support in the words of a ruthless killer. Cold sweat ran down the pegasus' muzzle. As he finally reached the group and saw Rainbow Dash, the last pony from the group, he let out a big sigh of relief.

Spiritual Predecessor

About an hour after he fled from the company of Dagger, Hase felt something weird beneath his hooves. The ground had somehow become much softer. When he looked down, the stallion saw, that their group was walking on grey powder.

" Ashes. " Cobalt confirmed his thoughts.

" We've entered the Ashlands. Smith's Keep is no further than 1 hour walking. " Forge informed them. They were going to reach their destination.

The smith was right. Exactly when Hase thought they were lost and that they were never reach the town, the fog ended, revealing the last hundred feet to the town. The group gathered together on the edge of the fog to take a look at the city. Just as Forge had said, the town was in the foot of three huge volcanoes. They weren't currently errupting, but the fact, that the clouds above their throats were all painted red indicated, that they were active. Those volcanoes formed a triangle, which was occupied by the town. Many large chimenys could be seen, letting out white smoke. The town wall was made of basalt, as probably the rest of the town, since with three volcanoes nearby, that was the most common material around, and besides that, the only one, that wouldn't catch on fire.

The only problem was that there wasn't any fog to conceal Formidon anymore. After Hase thought for a second, he turned to their earth pony guide:

" Do any dragons live on the slopes of those volcanoes? "

" Yes. " Forge confirmed.

" They never attack the town, since there isn't any cattle. The locals are used to seeing one or two a day, soaring above. "

The inventor than called for his dragon friend. When the dragon looked down at him, the pegasus asked:

" Do you think you can blend in? I'm afraid you'll have to stay near one of the volcanoes until we leave. "

" No problem. " the black dragon assured him.

" The Hellish Horseshoe, the furthest from here, has the least dragons, since that's where the lava channels for the town begin. Most dragons aren't great fans of it, but I was assured you have no such problems. " their smith guide told Formidon, as he was preparing to fly away.

" It'll be just like a warm bath in the end of the day. " the dragon assured the group before flying away.

After Luna, Celestia, Twilight and Vortex disguised their wings, just like in Aseamos, so that they wouldn't draw much attention, the group could proceed. The ponies stayed in a compact mass, in order to hide the Sentinels of the Elements, who were going to get into the city a different way. With every step Cobalt sunk more and more into the ground, until he became one of it. Blaze simply turned into a flame and flew over the town wall, Tempest blended with the air, and Neptune and Hydro somehow managed to evaporize so much of themsleves, so that the rest of them fit into the bottles of the group. The strange group had turned into the most unsuspicious one.

" Just don't make us do that again. " Hydro called from one of the bottles in the saddlebags on Applejack's back.

" It's not very comfy in here. "

" Will you tell us more about the town? Specifically, those lava channels. What do you need lava for? " Hase turned to forge.

" I'm glad you asked. " the smith smiled.

" Smith's Keep is the most technologically advanced town in Runcinia, due to its use of steam power."

That sentence sounded ludicrous to the scientist, but he kept his mouth shut.

" The town has taken advantage of its natural location. Initially, the constant lava flow, coming from the Hellish Horseshoe, was a large obstacle for the creation of a village. However, at some point, a natural basalt barrier was formed, splitting the stream in two. The obstacle suddenly turned into an advantage: the village was going to be naturally protected from any attacks. Smith's Keep began as a small village hundreds of years ago, not bigger than Graywood.  Sadly, it had no chances to expand because of the lava flow, until one hundred years ago, Grains What found the use of steam power. That great discovery, almost ominously, was on the same date another inventor, Limestone Pickax , found out basalt can easily be digged and tunnels could be formed. These two discoveries lead to the industrial revolution in Smith's Keep. Tunnels were digged beneath the city, forming a complicated net, before returning to the common magma source of the three volcanoes 2 miles bellow the town.  The hot water spring, that used to form a pond in the center of the town, was redirected, until it vanished from the surface. On the locations, where it's needed to, this water is poured on the lava, immeadietly evaporating. The steam goes through the chimneys of the factory and than to the sky, but not before spinning the turbines, which move the machines in the factories. The town could be expanded and new machines, facillitating smithery, a prevalent business in the town because of the rich iron deposits in the mine on the slope of the Left Horn, could be used. That sums up the story of this town. " Forge completed the story.

" I suppose you were a smith's apprentice here? " Hase made a guess. The smith nodded.

A small piece of ash gently soared through the air and landed right on Rarity's muzzle. She quickly removed it and got rid of the gray stain it had left on her white coat.

" Is the weather always so dreadful? " she asked, as she looked at the sky. What could be seen from it was all covered in lead grey ash clouds.

" I'm afraid so. " the smith replied.

" Ash falls down from the sky all the time. The air isn't very clean. It only cleans up after it rains. "

" I suspect that's a common occurence, with all of that steam in the clouds. " Twilight mused.

" About every second day. " the stallion answered.

As if to confirm his words, just as the group was passing through the city gates, a shower began pouring down from the sky.

Slightly down in her mood, Rarity took a look at the town, trying to distract herself from what this ( Twilight said it was probably acid, with all of those volcanic gases in the air) rain would do with her mane. It was in deed all made out of one type of rock. It would have been very monotonous, as she had expected, if the citizen hadn't painted most of the buildings, a sollution for which the fashionista mare thanked them in her mind, even though most of the colours were horrific.

They diverged from the main street in a side ally, in order to wait for the Sentinels of the Elements to materialize again. That had another bonus - they could get a rest from the opportunistic clerks along the main street, that were trying to sell them incredibly expensive raincoats. Even though he didn't want to, Forge had found himself forced to buy six, in order to conceal the non- material bodies of the six sentinels. That cost them 24 bits.

" The hotel isn't too far away. It's on the central square. " Forge told them, as the group got back on the main street, which, just as the rest of the town, was tilted towards the town gates. 6 figures, hidden by horrible brown cloaks size XXL, that, Rarity supposed, probably didn't even protect the Sentinels from the rain (since only the one on the back of Blaze had remained dry).

The central square was the only horizontal surface in the whole town, excluding the insides of the buildings, which were artificially made horizontal for the comfort of its inhabitants. It wasn't very big, probably only about 50 feet wide. Its center, which, according to Forge, was once taken by the mineral pond, was now taken by a statue of two ponies, probably Grains What and Limestone Pickax. Their " hotel ", the " Lucky Minner " inn, was on their left. Opposite stood a big pub with the not very clever thought out name " Beer'n'Hammer " (Rarity could barely hold in her laugh as she saw the label), that according to their guide was the most popular pub in the whole town.

Their inn wasn't too big. In fact, most of it was reserved for their group. Only one room was taken by somepony, called Ms. Glittering Star. The innkeeper only had room for two. Forge was going to be in Room 101 with his sister, Dagger and Metal Chord were sharing Room 102 (nopony else wanted them in their room), Celestia and Luna were put in 205, Twilight, Spike and Applejack were in 204 (since the innkeeper had generously decided Spike shouldn't be paid for, since he was considered "a pet". The purple alicorn had barely managed to hold the little dragon not to burst fire in the innkeeper's face), Rarity and Pinkie Pie were in 203, Dash and Fluttershy - in 202, the Sentinels - in 103,104 and 105 ( which Cobalt shared with Midnight Bell) and finally, 201 was shared by Hase and Vortex. The only room on the third floor, 301, was taken by the other pony.

Since the group didn't exactly have much luggage, they quickly separated in their rooms. Most of the group wasn't going to do anything in Smith's Keep. Only Forge would visit his friend in the morning, in order to get weapons and something to hide Formidon. So all Hase could do was lie in his bed and fall asleep after the long day, full of shock. 10 minutes later, his father peeked through the open door, as if to check on Hase. When he was sure his son was asleep, he took the key, closed the door and locked it from the outside. He than knocked on the doors of 202, 203, 204 and 205, giving the same answer to everypony, who opened the door and asked what was going on:

" In the lobby, after 5 minutes. "

Even though they were confused, all, that were called by the black alicorn, stood before him in the lobby 5 minutes later: the two Princesses, the Mane 6 and Spike.

" I need to talk with you all about something very importrant. " the stallion with the violet mane, which, in its disguise, was falling down as a normal mane, turned to the small group of Equestrians.

" But not here. " the stallion than sat down on one of the horrible couches in the lobby, until Luna suggested:

" Why not the pub opposite? "

Even though drunk ponies yelled, drunk ponies laughed and drunk ponies snored, the " Beer'n'Hammer " was quiet enough for the 9 equestrians, sitting on a table in the corner, to be able to listen to eachother. Drooling at the sight of such a large group, the waiter honed in on them as a vulture, but after Vortex threw him a glance, the waiter realised they were one of those customers, that one would do best to stay away of, and got back, after letting out a loud sigh of dissappointment.

As the equestrains sat around the round table, Celestia immeadietly asked, a bit concerned:

" What do you need to talk about, uncle? "

" About Hase. More specifically, about his new weapon. " Vortex spoke.

Everypony's mood went significantly down, as they remembered the major event of the day. Nopony amongst them had thought Hase was capable of something like that.

" Those thieves have probably killed a thousand ponies, but that fact doesn't excuse Hase. The only thing, that partially excuses him, is that he was driven by rage, caused by you being threatened. "

Vortex was speaking to everypony around the table, but the glance he threw at Rarity made it very clear to her who he meant with the word " you ". The white unicorn felt a bit uncomfortable.

" We can do nothing about it. What has been done has been done and we would all do the best if we try to forget it, since there isn't anyhting about it we can do anyway. What worries me more is that weapon. "

Rarity remembered how the mace Hase had picked up had continued levitating even after her coltfirend had stopped holding it with his telekinesis. She also remembered seeing it move, as if on his command, but at that time she was too shocked to comprehend. Apparently the situation was the same with the rest of her friends, even with the Princesses, since all seemed to think about it right now. Vortex, however, interrupted them:

" There is no use making new theories. I know this weapon. "

" You do? Why didn't you tell us? " Twilight was surprised.

" I didn't want Hase to hear me. We shouldn't instill fear in him, since, as you'll understand later, that may have bad consequences. Promise me not to tell him anything about it. Pinkie promise. " he said the last sentence with such a voice, that "Pinkie promise" sounded like some kind of blood oath. After everypony "stuck a cupcake in their eye", Vortex got a lot less nervous than before.

" I thought I had got rid of this weapon a long time ago. I threw it in the Void, after all. " he spoke.

" Why didn't you simply destroy it? " Dash wondered.

" I would have... if I could. This is the Mace of Rage we're talking about, " Vortex revealed the name of the weapon.

" ,it can't be destroyed, until every single piece of rage vanishes from every world there is. You now understand yourself, that this is impossible. "

" The Mace of Rage? Who created it? " Fluttershy asked, small signs of fear present in her voice.

" That's a long story. " Vortex replied.

" But we aren't in a hurry anyway.

Back in the times when Solarion and I lived in the old Equestria, as a part of a noble family, we were friends with another alicorn. His name was Azure Spark. He was the third son of the king, but that didn't give him much admiration. He was overshadowed by his two big brothers, the heroes of the kingdom. They fought dragons, saved mares, participated in tournaments - what the sons of a king are expected to do. Knowing full well he'd never become king, and not finding any sence in knighthood, Azure instead enlisted to magic school, like us - at first encouraged by his mother, who knew, that her son didn't need to become like his brothers, since the kingdom never looks up to the third son anyway, but follow his dreams, - than driven by his own thirst for knowledge. He was constantly taunted by his brothers, by the knights from their company, mocked even by the castle guards and ignored by the common folk, since he was physically weak. Still, he had friends in the magical school and was good at magic, and that was all he cared about.

Centuries passed by. We three were already 1000 years old. We remained friends. Having nothing better to do, we had become teachers in the Magical Academy we studied in ourselves. But one day, during a diplomatic mission, the king's chariot fell in a cliff. Azure's oldest brother inherited him. He was a good king, but he never had any love for Asure and continued to mistreat him , even though he was the ruler and was supposed to be just and all. Azure was forced to waste his time with arrangements a guard could easily complete. Even though he knew that was just his brother taunting him again, he didn't abandon his duties, no matter how ridiculous they were.

One day this all changed. Archeologists had found an ancient town on the border of the kingdom. For the first time, the king pittied Azure, and knowing how much he was interested in ruins, he appointed him to be the archeologists' magical consultant, so that he'd explore together with them.

He found something there. Something, that bound itself to his mind and brought forth his desires, his darkest wishes and that part of his feelings he had always supressed.

The Eye of the Necropolis. Or at least, that's how the archeologists named it.

Nopony knew what it was back than. The archeologists later told us Azure had told them he'd bring it back to a museum. There was something like that in the Ancient Civilisations Museum in Banastor, the capital city, but it was probably a copy. We thought Azure wore a copy and the original was in the museum. Actually, it was the other way around.

The Eye of the Necropolis was a medalion. It was in the shape of a star, formed out of tiny amethyst crystals. In the center, there stood a polished malachite circular plate with a black circle in its middle. The amethyst crystals began from the edges of this malachite plate.

All this time we did nothing, because we knew nothing. All this time the Eye was messing with his mind. Later we found out, that when it messes with somepony's mind, an image of themselves appears in one's mind, speaks with their voice, as a future them with all of their deepest and darkest wishes having become true. We only managed to withstand that temptation for a few moments, and luckily, that was enough. Of course, having the Eye around his neck all that time, Asure couldn't.

The Eye gives one significant dark magical powers... "

" Of a Sombra scale? " Celestia asked.

" Yes. Even bigger. " Vortex confirmed.

" It really wasn't the Azure we knew anymore. It was his anger and spite, supressed for 1000 years. More powerful than any of his brothers, nothing stopped him from killing his king, and crowning himself. He renamed himself to Crimson Dawn, since according to his own words, Azure Spark wasn't a name fit for a ruler.

The whole kingdom rose against him. The first to attack were the gryphons, the most loyal allies of Azure's second brother. He led them to the castle, in an attempt to bring down his mad little brother. But Crimson Dawn hadn't wasted his time. In the meantime between killing the king and the assault of his second brother, he had become a Chaotic, with one single purpose - to have an army. He met his brother on the fields next to Banastor, and driven only by rage, much like his uncontrollable Voidian army, slaughtered everything in his way. "

The last part reminded Rarity of the events, that happenned earlier during the day. Of course, Hase had acted on a much smaller scale, but he was driven by rage as well.

" There, on the battlefield, he did something so horrible the rumours of it made the Gryphon Kingdom refuse to take part in the upcoming war. Knowing full well the gryphons entered the battlefield as angry as possible, believeing this would grant them victory, he bound the angry spirits of the whole army to one mace he found on the battlefield, using the dark magic of the Eye. Then he ripped off every gryphon nail he could find, and again using the dark magic, used them to create 40 indestructible black nails he used to replace the spikes on the mace. He named the weapon the Mace of Rage and it went notorious during the upcoming war.

It began soon. The whole kingdom united against Crimson Dawn and his uncontrollable Voidian army, which was starting to eat away the world. Dragons joined the rebellion, crystal ponies from a neighbouring kingdom became their allies, even the changelings, back than still beautiful and wise beings, led by the benevolent Queen Chrysalis... "

It was the first time Twilight heard somepony tell something about the past of the changelings. Interested, she took a mental note to ask Vortex more about them later.

" ... came to support us from another world. The army of the Allies, as our force was named, exceeded 4 milllion units. We were officers in this army. We all thought there was no way we could lose this war. But we did. After only a single battle.

The lines of the earth ponies were first. They attacked with bravery, that couldn't be described. One of the earth ponies' troopers even managed to hit Crimson Dawn. There, for a moment, Crimson Dawn was gone and Azure Spark was back. Survivors spoke the night afterwards, that he had stopped in his tracks, paralysed by the despair he felt from what he was doing. If we were there back than, probably we would have stopped the war. But we weren't. With the Eye of the Necropolis bringing forth his worst memories, he quickly remembered how even earth ponies threated him like something bellow them. Crimson Dawn used the despair of Azure Spark to gain strength for the attack. The despair was then passed to the earth ponies, as the mad king killed half of the troops himself. Soon, when most of the earth ponies were dead, Crimson Dawn did what he had done with the gryphons: extracting the desperate spirits of the earth ponies, that had fallen in battle, he bound thousand ponies to a single whip, that quickly went black in colour, just like the mace before that. That is how the Whip of Despair came to be.

Day One was over. The Allied Forces retreated to their camp. We thought our enemy would do so as well. But he didn't. Overnight, we lost half of our army.

Crimson Dawn was well aware of one of the crystal ponies' major weaknesses: fear. They are very vulnerable to it, as Sombra demonstrated in the Crystal Empire. So in the darkest hours of the night, our enemy created illusions, that were horrible beyond description. Designed for each crystal pony personally. All Crimson Dawn had to do was to use the dark magic to acess the ponies' brains and than simply materialize their fear. Horrified, the crystal ponies all fled. Extracting the power of their fear, the alicorn used it to create yet another horrible weapon. From a normal metal shield, left lying on the field, the pitch black Shield of Fear was crafted, with the help of which Crimson Dawn could bring forth one's worst fear, made almost real. In fact, so real, that even if one knows it's not, they are still terrified.

Our former friend applied a simillar tactic with the changelings. This time his illusions took forms of normal ponies, who insulted our otherdimensional allies, threated them as animals and even fought them. Shocked by this discriminative demeanor, Queen Chrysalis left the very same night. From their deception another of the weapons was formed - the Mantle of Deceit, a black mantle, that can twist everything but the most pure things and deceive anypony but the most dedicated.

The next day, the last day, was when the last four Weapons of Devastation, as they were known from there on, were created. Unicorns, dragons and pegasi attacked together. The pegasi squad was first, and since most of them were from the royal guard, Crimson Dawn finally had the chance to have revenge for all the smirks behind his back. A bow was added to the pitch black set of weapons, the Bow of Vengeance, that could be charged with any magic and fire it as its arrow.

To the unicorns, who our former friend saw only as nobles, he felt pure hatred. After the battle, he cut the horn of every fallen unicorn he could find, even those, who weren't dead yet. The Eye's dark magic allowed him to form it into a 5 feet long rod of unicorn horn, with great magical potential prisoned inside. Three black metal spikes span around its top, held by this innate magic. The horn rod lost its colours, turning pale white. It became known as the Spear of Hatred.

He didn't waste much time for the dragons. He simply flew towards their leader, sticking his newest weapon, the Spear, right into his forehead, and warned the rest of them, that their doom awaits them, if any other amongst them dared to attack him. Before his eyes, he created an illusion of their valley, with dragon corpses and bones lying everywhere, slwoly being dissolved by acid. The dragons fled the battlefield. Combining his own armour with the scales he ripped off the dragon's alpha, he created the unbreachable Armour of Doom.

The two day war was over. We were lucky enough to be amongst the survivors, but Equestria's population had been reduced from 5 millions to 5 thousand ponies . Crimson Dawn crowned himself Ultimate Emperor and completed his enchanted armoury by killing all the Voidians, who aided him in his quest, forming their bodies into black metal with the help of his magic and forging a helmet out of this metal. He put the Eye on it, above the forehead, as a beautiful and deadly decoration, and the last Weapon - the Helmet of Supremacy - was brought into existence.

Two months later, due to an unexperienced Chaotic, Voidians fludded the realm. That was the best time to attack, while Crimson Dawn was repelling them. We stroke, and although we almost failed, we managed to vanquish him. But the Voidians couldn't be stopped. It was too late. I put my brother into a cocoon of energy and we fled to the Void, knowing our world was beyond saving. You know the story from than on. " Vortex finished, turning to Celestia.

As they heard this story, Hase's friends understood while Vortex was so worried.

" Hase would never do any of these things anymore! You saw how he reacted to killing all those ponies." Luna defended the pegasus.

" Of course not. Azure Spark wasn't sane when he comitted all of this. The only thing, that worries me, is if Hase will get the rest of the weapons... and what will happen, if the Helmet of Supremacy appears next to him, along with the Eye of the Necropolis. " the black alicorn replied.

Everypony had sunk in their thoughts, when they got back to the hotel. Everypony were thinking about what the future holds for their friend.

Sleepless in Smith's Keep

The earth pony took a look at the wall clock. It was 9 o'clock in the evening, and his emplyer still hadn't shown up. Sharp Witt simply shrugged his shoulders. After all, he had been paid beforehoof. The dark grey stallion was going to wait for another 15 minutes and than go out and search for another task he could complete on his way to Mouthguard. He had completed his task succesfully, it was time for the next one.

Just as he was about to leave, the door opened and his masked employer stepped in. Surprised, that she was still wearing her disguise, the stallion smiled and spoke:

" There's no more use of your disguise... Princess Celestia. You were unwary enough to walk around undisguised with your group, and your " prized pupil " was unwary enough to adress you by your name. I had no doubts it was you back in Graywood, and you proved me absolutely right today. "

" Is the purse I gave you still in your possession? " the hooded mare asked, as if she hadn't heard what Sharp Witt had just said.

" Of course. " the grey stallion staid. Than, to confirm it, he put it on the small table next to the bed he was sitting on. The cloaked mare looked in that direction, and suddenly the small purse was surrounded by a white magical oreol. Using telekinesis, the mare brought it back to her and probably put it in saddlebags she was wearing beneath her cloak.

It was first than the detective started to suspect something's wrong.

" So... " he asked, a bit unsure.

" ... what is the next part of the task? "

" There will be no such. " the cloaked pony replied.

" Your services are no longer required. "

" Alright. " the earth pony told her, relieved he'd leave this mysterious task behind.

" In that case, can I have my payment back? "

The white mare seemed surprised.

" To have your payment back? " Sharp Witt could swear he heard her giggle.

" I'm not sure how it is in your land, but back in mine, we don't pay ponies for badly done work. "

Sharp Witt got up, a tad insulted. He moved towards the cloaked mare.

" Please tell me, how was my work badly done? "

" I paid you for one simple thing. " the mare spoke with a stern voice.

" Signalisation. I didn't ask you to protect my group, I only paid you to signalise in case of danger, so that we could be ready to repell the threat.

Some would say you did what you were paid for. You signalled us. Good job. However, after paying a whole purse of golden bits, " the cloaked figure was starting to sound threatening, so Sharp Witt retreated to the safety of his bed.

" ,I expect a time gap of at least a minute before the attack itself. 10 seconds are not sufficient. What were you expecting? That I'll stop time and prepare myself? "

" There was a thick fog... " the detective began excusing himself, but was interrupted by his employer:

" The weather conditions weren't the most convenient ones, I admit, but for a purse of bits, I would have been smart enough to travel ahead of the group, so that we'll have enough time to see the signal. However, I see you aren't that smart. "

Shocked, the detective tried to get some money out of this all:

" I demand... I demand... a service fee! "

" Service fee? " this time the mare laughed openly.

" Are you kidding me? You were travelling in that direction anyway. You didn't do any real service. You arrived for the same amount of time you would have arrived for normally. So... what else does a service tax include? "

A moment of awkward silence followed.

" Enjoy the rest of your night anyway you want to. I leave you the room. Checkout is tommorrow at noon. " the mare threw the key at him. It landed on the bed. Then she headed for the door.

Realising he was missing one great opportunity, Sharp Witt jumped off the bed and spoke:

" Alright, alright. I'll make it up to you. I won't dissappoint you again. "

The white mare ignored him. The earth pony ran towards the door and stepped on the end of her cloak. The hood turned back to look at him.

" I promise. " the stallion spoke.

The mare sighed. As she waved her hoof beneath the cloak, Sharp Witt was thrown across the room and pinned to the bed with a white magical oreol.

" No. I've had enough of you. " the mare spoke.

" You have failed me for the last time, detective Sharp Witt. "

As she said that, the mare put her hoof on his forehead. It was surrounded by the same oreol, that kept the detective pinned down. Soon it also surrounded the earth pony's head.

" You won't remember anything from the last few days. Tommorrow you'll take off and go back to Mouthguard. There you'll start your detective business again. Now you'll fall asleep. "

The stallion fought against the magic, but soon his eyes closed. The white mare removed her hoof from his shoulder and left the room, carefully closing the door behind her.

The captain of Smith Keep's town guard stared at his visitor, wondering wheter he was joking or not. Having cooperated with them, captain Buckethelm a.k.a " Buck " knew the Gang with No Names very well. So he was very surprised to hear somepony had slaughtered the whole gang besides the Observer, the white pegasus with the scar on his neck, who was currently sitting on the chair on the other side of the desk in his office and swearing he was telling the truth:

" Buck, I'm not joking! That black devil jumped out of nowhere and killed all of the lads with a blade of thin air! "

" Just listen to yourself... " for the last time, the captain was about to explain what effect some " spices " the merchants were carrying had on the pony brain, but he was interrupted by one of the guards, who broke in his office and spoke:

" Sir, permission to report! "

" Granted. " Buck replied.

" The Observer's words are true, sir. Subject 17, black of coat, gender stallion, of the pegasi race with a dark blue mane and tail entered " the Lucky Miner " along with a big group, the subjects in which all match the description of Mister Observer. Object 2, the " thin- air sword " wasn't noticed, but Object 3, a black mace, seems to be in Subject 17's possession. "

The Observer leaned back on his chair and grinned.

" I told you. " he said.

Now Buck finally believed the words of the robber.

" Shall we arrest the subject, sir? " the guard asked.

A grin appeared on the captain's muzzle as well.

" That would be a waste of talent. " he spoke.

" Observer, remind me exactly when did the stallion stop being attacked and begin attacking. "

" After... " understanding the captain's plan, the grin on the face of the robber widened.

" ...after we shot at the pretty lady with the phoenix. "

" Exactly. " the captain nodded. After taking a look at the list of suspects, he gave the guard his orders:

" Take everypony, who's currently available, and go to the " Lucky Miner " . Arrest Subject 5, white of coat, gender mare, of the unicorn race with an ellaborate purple mane and tail. Bring her back to the department without doing her any harm. Since we suspect Subject 17 would come after you, the rest of the guards will block his way, until you go back to tell them to retreat. Then we'll see if we could acquire Subject 17's services as a part of our organisation. Dismissed. "

The guard got back in the main room of the department. A minute afterwards, the full staff of Smith's Keep's town guards, excluding their captain, ran down Smith's Keep's main street, headed for the " Lucky Miner " . Buck smiled. He was going to be promoted at least to a commandant for his smart strategy.

What captain Buckethelm couldn't know was the fact, that his troops stopped to have a beer in " The Stag's Den ", the second most popular pub in Smith's Keep after " Beer'n'Hammer".

The den was conveniently located exactly on half of the distance between the guard department and the central square. One beer turned into two, two into three, and when the guards finally arrived where they were ordered, the Equestrians had already returned from the " Beer'n'Hammer" and were sleeping from half an hour already. Drinking veterans, the sauberness of the guards hadn't been affected by the three beers at all. So they entered " The Lucky Miner " absolutely clear- minded.

The owner of the hotel (and the receptionist of the same time) knew he shouldn't mess with the guards. So he immediately gave them the number of the room the white mare they referred to as Subject 5 and went on with what he was doing.

The guards stopped in front of the door of Room 203 and quietly opened it. Sergeant Woodsword (the others called him Woodie), the one, that had spoken with captain Buck, carefully snuck inside. The two beds were put on the two opposite sides of the room. The left one was taken by a pink earth pony mare, and the right one - by Subject 5. Woodie carefully moved towards her, until suddenly the floor beneath him creaked.

As a zombie, rising from its grave, Pinkie Pie rose up from her bed, horrifying the guard. The earth pony smiled from ear to ear and whispered.

" Are you going to play a prank on her? " she asked.

" Yes. " the sergeant confirmed, not knowing what else to do.

" Alright. I'll pretend I haven't noticed anything. " the pink mare than lay back in her bed. Left befuddled for a moment, the unicorn guard continued with his mission. He pressed the bed, so that the mare, who was lying with her face against the wall, can roll, so that he could see her face and be sure that's Subject 5.

Subject 5 was wearing a sleep mask. Having never seen one before, Woodie was surprised. He also noticed a comb on the floor. Apparently this mare took good care of herself. She could only hope there is a comb in the department.

Initially, the sergeant intended to slowly take the mare away, without anypony noticing. Now, when he knew the pink pony was awake and expecting him to play a prank, he had to choose Plan B. He raised Subject 5 with his telekinesis and ran out of the room. He than ran down the stairs, followed by the rest of the guards.

However, Rarity has been awoken when she was abruptly lifted. While her ponynapper was leaving the room, she had used her magic to remove her sleep mask. When she realised what was happenning, she yelled:

" Help! "

The guard running behind Woodie put his hoof in front of her mouth, but it was too late. The others were probably already awake. Increasing the pace, the guards ran out of the hotel. As it was planned before, two remained at the exit of the central square in direction the department, to slow down Subject 17. Over equal distances, two by two, the guards remained behind, untill only Woody and Subject 5 in his telekinesis were left. Panting, the sergeant entered the department, took a chair, entered the captain's office, put down the chair and Subject 5 on it. He than reported:

" Mission complete, sir! "

" Very well, sergeant. " Buck replied. As his subordinate left the room, the captain brought his attention to the arrested mare.

The first door, that opened, wasn't exactly opened. The receptionist's train of thoughts was violently broken when somepony smashed through the door of a room and a black pegasus jumped out the broken door of Room 201, which was, as the receptionist had identified, the room with the smashed through door. The pegasus ran towards Room 205, but instead of entering it, used the mace he, since this was a stallion, was carrying to turn the wooden railing, that prevented ponies falling from the second floor on the ground floor, and jumped off. He landed smoothly in the middle of the lobby, after a small hover, just in time to see the last guard run away. He turned his angry gaze to the receptionist and yelled:

" YOU TOLD THEM WHERE SHE IS! "

Then he ran at him with his morningstar lifted for attack. The owner had no time to run away, so he simply folded in a small ball, expecting the end.

Hase stopped midway. He was going to kill somepony again. It was a good thing he understood it before doing it. An idea popped in his mind. How to elliminate the rage he was feeling.

He moved the mace in the air, so that it pointed his head, and just the way he had done it before with Metal Chord, sucked out the rage from his head. He wished he had not. Powerless, he fell down on the floor and began crying. The rage having been removed, something much worse had taken its place. As if one had managed to remove the incredible amount of salt there was in a meal, only to find out it's so hot you can't extinguish it with the milk of a whole cow. Before being supressed by his anger, now this feeling had Hase's entire mind at its disposal.

That feeling was despair. Feeling sorry for the stallion, the receptionist approached him and spoke:

" Come on, lad. We all make mistakes sometimes. " then he helped the pegasus get back on his hooves. When the old pony looked up, he saw the other members of the group looking at him.

" I'll never have a normal life. I even won't have friends. I don't deserve them anymore. I don't deserve Rarity. I killed those ponies... " that was what the old earth pony stallion could understand before the pegasus began crying again. Feeling bad about what he had done, he looked up towards the ponies, probably friends of this stallion.

" I'm sorry, lads and gals, but if I messed with the guards, the town would have taken away my hotel. They are headed for the guard department, along with your friend. I'm really sorry. "

" We understand. " a big stallion with a hammer on his back replied, making the old stallion feel better.

" We'll get out from the back door. " he than turned to the rest of the big group.

" We'll split up in groups of two, so that we aren't noticed. We'll meet in the north end of town and from there we'll go back to the department. "

The rest of the group noted and the ponies headed for the back door, leaving the receptionist alone with Hase, who had meanwhile stopped crying.

" I don't deserve her. " he mumbled, sitting on the floor.

" I'm sure you do, lad. " the receptionist patted him on the shoulder, before he sat down next to him.

" I'm also sure none of the stuff you said before will be that way. From what I see, your friends are still your friends. Eventually, we all settle down for a normal life, and about the love of your heart... I'm sure, that whatever small obstacles were created when you killed those ponies, whoever they were, will vanish when yo become her savior. "

" You sure? " signs of hope appeared in Hase's voice.

" Yes. Go out and show those guards what happens when you stand in the way of love. " the pony encouraged him.

" Just don't kill anypony. They're guards. That's their job- to follow orders. "

Hase got up. It was first than he noticed something weird lying right where he had landed, on the spot, where he had sucked out his own rage. A curled up black rope. Curious, Hase used his telekinesis to lift it, but dropped it once he felt the rope stick in his mind. However, it was too late. He felt how it bonded to the despair he had felt a minute ago. The pegasus sighed. They were two now. Two mysterious weapons. As he swiped with the rope, that turned out to be a black whip with a purple handle, a purple semi- transparent earth pony spirit was let out. It screamed, until it stuck in the wall. Hase's doubts was confirmed. The weapon had the same abillities as his mace and a simillar appearance. Unlike the mace, however, the whip used his despair.

" Don't worry, " he turned back to the startled receptionist.

" , I won't kill anypony. "

Then he walked out the front entrance. He took a quick look around the square and almost immeadiately noticed the two guards, standing in the direction, opposite the one the group had came from. Smiling, Hase walked over to them. The guards drew the swords out of their sheaths.

" Oh, let's not start like this. " the scientist urged them. The two stallions, both earth ponies, raised their eyebrows to express their surprise. One of them even put his sword back in his sheath.

" What do you mean? " he asked.

" Is it illegal to walk down, or should I say up, " the blue- maned pegasus looked towards the steep street.

" ,that street? "

" It is. For you. " the second stallion had dropped the sword from his mouth. He didn't waste any time saying what he was supposed to say, which also made the second guard behave a bit more hostile, even though Hase had felt he was willing to cooperate. The inventor unwillingly turned towards the second stallion. He was one of those ponies, who obeyed their orders, no matter what. A bit of a wild card, the scientist couldn't understand such ponies.

The guard went on with the usual routine:

" Subject 17. You are accused of murdering 10 or more ponies... "

" ... murderers. " the accused pony added.

" ... and are therefore to be arrested. Will you surrender? " the guard ignored his remark.

The pegasus chuckled.

" I am afraid violators of the law can't tell the others not to violate it. "

" Your vocabulary seems to be poor. You mistake the word " violators " for the word " enforcers " . " the stallion made a bad attempt to be humorous.

" I assure you my vocabulary is richer than yours. Subjects 1 and 2, you are accused of being accomplices in a ponynapping. "

The earth pony laughed. Than he became dead serious again and responded:

" She is an eyewitness. She will confirm, that you have killed ponies. "

" There's no use of an eyewitness. " Hase was playing with the stallion.

" I confess my crime. However, in this land, where justice's work is usually done by somepony else, I consider killing 15 ponies, each of who has probably killed at least 10 other, isn't something you can be sued for. Let's just say I was preventing future decreases in the taxes. " the inventor smiled.

Dissatisfied with the course of the conversation, the law enforcer drew out his sword again and pounced at the blue- maned stallion. Hase hit him with the handle of the mace, bringing him down. Than he struck with his whip, missing the fallen stallion on purpose. A purple semi- transparent earth pony spirit was sent flying towards him. It engulfed the guard, before separating, now white. The stallion, that was rising up to strike again, dropped the sword and fell down, crying.

" Will he be OK? " the first guard asked.

" After some time. " Hase was actually guessing, but he didn't want to turn this earth pony against himself.

" Can I go... " the earth pony began, but having guessed what the pony was thinking, the pegasus answered before he had finished with his question:

" Yes. If I get caught, I'll say I ran away from you. "

" And what about Reedshield? Won't he tell the captain the truth? " the stallion fearfully gazed at the sobbing stallion.

" No. " Hase replied. If the stallion was feeling what he had felt before, he wouldn't be able to actually comprehend anything from the moment the spirit passed on its despair.

" Thank you. " the earth pony took of his helm and smiled at the pegasus.

" However, I'm afraid the others will be even more stubborn than Reed. You'll have to use your weapons. Just don't kill them. "

" I won't. " Hase promised.

The next two side alleys were clear. The third wasn't. Two pegasi guards flew from the top of the building on Hase's left. Having heard their yells, the pegasus jumped forward and the pegasi hit the ground instead. While they were getting up, Hase aimed the mace at them and fired. The red stream of spirits passed right betwen them, two of the ethereal gryphons swiping and passing on their rage. The inventor ran away, leaving the only object for the two pegasi's rage being the pony in front of them.

Hase knew very well, that in their furious state, those two guards could easily kill eachother. But he had wasted too much time with the first two guards. He had to dispatch of the rest more quickly, since he didn't know what was happenning with Rarity. While worried thoughts about her were going through his mind, the pegasus missed the two unicorns, hiding on the two sides of the street, behind two barrels. One of them had a crossbow.

The arrow stuck right into Hase's right flank, piercing it exactly bellow his cutie mark. The stallion grunted and fell down. The two unicorns approached, with their smiles on. Using his mind, the pegasus tried to repell them with the desperate spirits from the whip and the angry ones from the mace,but the unicorns were protected with a magical barrier. Exhausted, Hase couldn't retalliate when the one, that had fired, kicked him in his stomach. The duo than laughed.

Hase knit his brows. He said he wasn't going to kill anypony. However, the guards apparently had no trouble hurting him. Well, he didn't have trouble hurting them either. The two unicorns had dropped their barriers. A perfect time to attack. Ignoring the horrible pain in his right flank, Hase swiped with his mace, sending the guard with the crossbow flying right above the barrel he was hiding behind. The guard fell in it and lost conscience. Hoping, that the hit had only broken a several ribs, the inventor brought his attention to the second unicorn just in time to block his sword slash with his mace. While blocking the unicorn's attacks with the mace, Hase sent the whip behind the pony's back. Then he began slapping. The whip span around the stallion, that looked like he had become crazy after the third hit, hitting and hitting again, each hit leaving a long trail of blood on the pony's skin. Hase wasn't cruel. After about 7 hits he knocked out the guard using the handle of the mace.

He was having some trouble moving, because of the arrow in his flank he couldn't get out himself, but the rest of the guards he dispatched of rather quickly, due to a combination of the whip's and the mace's normal and magical abilities.The thing, that really slowed him down, was his injury. That's why he arrived at the guard department a whole hour after he had left the " Lucky Miner ".

An hour captain Buckethelm had spent trying to get as many details as possible regarding the group and especially Subject 17. However, Subject 5 turned out to be a hard case. She wouldn't say a single word regarding her group and its mission.

" Give up already. " after an hour of interrogation, Buck was really tired.

" Your group is harmless. There's nothing they could do to our well- trained guards. Mister Observer here has confirmed it. " he nodded at the white pegasus, who was sitting  6 feet away from the white mare, after she punched him in the eye, the vicinity of which was now " in a pleasant shade of blue" , as the mare had described it herself.

" If my group is harmless, why do you need... Subject 17? " Rarit swiftly avoided revealing the name of her lover, which angried the guard's captain.

" Subject 17 is the only exception in your otherwise useless group. From what Mr. Observer has reported, he has a great potential to become a guard in Steamcross, or, who knows, perhaps even Mouthguard or Razorcliff? It is very selfish of you to keep him as our group's bodyguard... "

The white unicorn smiled, as she heard how far away from the truth the stallion was. That smile made Buck feel a little more unsure about his theory.

" ... isn't it? However, one other thing also caught my friend's eye. It seems you and Subject 17 are in close relations, Miss... "

The fashionista mare wasn't as stupid as to tell them her name. A moment of silence followed.

" ... Anonymous. I'm sure he'll gladly accept the service, now that your life is in danger. "

Just as the unicorn concluded his sentence, a mace smashed through the door. Than it pulled back, the claws sticking in the wooden material, the whole door being ripped out as a result. The mace, not being hold by anypony, as Buck could see with his own eyes, hit the door against the floor, so that it would liberate itself from it. This event was followed by the entrance of Subject 17.

He was just the way the Observer had described him. A black pegasus with a zenith blue mane and tail. The mace seemed to follow his orders. Apparently, so did one whip as well. It was really an unusual weapon.

' Whips aren't really that useful in battle. ' the captain thought, before being proven wrong. The Observer jumped at the pegasus, holding a dagger in his mouth. Subject 17 stopped this attack with the handle of the mace and than slapped with the whip, leaving a gaping wound across the other pegasus' chest. He than swiped once more, this time in the air. Something purple and semi- transparent, that Buck couldn't recognise as something, screamed and collapsed with the white stallion. It than turned white in colour and vanished, while the coldblooded robber began - was that even possible? - crying and sobbing. Seeing Subject 17 wasn't the kind of pony, that wastes his time talking, the captain quickly levitated his sword and put it against the white mare's throat, avoiding the same fate.

" Subject 17! " he greeted.

" We were all waiting for you! Especially she. "

Rarity looked back at Hase.

" I'm sorry, darling. " she spoke.

" It's not your fault. " the black pegasus replied. Then he looked threatingly at the beige unicorn stallion. His gaze indicated he wasn't going to get away with threatening the lady of his heart so easily.

" Both weapons where I could see them. " Buck smiled.

Hase left both weapons lie on the desk in front of the unicorn. This troubled the captain. He shouldn't have given up so easily.

" What do you want from me? " Subject 17 asked.

" I want to offer you a job. A job of a town's guard. " Buck spoke, hoping his offer would be tempting enough.

" My friend the Observer told me how you got rid of his friends. Why waste this potential for killing road robbers? In service of the country, it can get you to very high positions, my boy. "

" Killing is not something I'm fond of. Killing is something assassins, the ponies without feelings do. I'm not Dagger. " the pegasus replied in a stern tonality.

" Ddagger? You know her? " this name was legendary. It made Buck shivver. However, a new plan appeared in the captain's mind. A much better one.

" Can you describe her to me? " he asked with the most polite voice he had in mind. If one has an assassin's identity, one has them. The lack of identity is everything for an assassin. If the captain had the identity of one, especially Dagger... let's just say promotion would occur a lot faster.

" No. " the other stallion replied. At the same time, Buck felt something choke him. He dropped his concentration, the sword falling down. Hase quickly drew Rarity next to him and dropped his spell. Just as before, he had used the small amount of magic he could wield in a very smart way - forming a thin cord, that was so thin it couldn't be seen. While the captain was having a conversation with him, the pegasus had formed this cord behind him. When it was ready, he had wrapped it around his throat and pulled, so that the sword wouldn't be a threat to Rarity anymore.

While the stallion was trying to get up, the inventor knocked him out with the handle of the mace.

" He'll be allright. Just as everypony else. " Hase said, as he stepped through the door frame.

" You didn't kill anypony? " Rarity smiled.  Hase kissed her on the cheek.

" No. After a few weeks in the infirmary they should all be good as new. " her coltfriend replied.

It was first then she noticed the arrow, sticking out of Hase's flank. She gasped and almost fainted.

" Are you alright? " the inventor asked her.

" Are YOU alright, that is the question. " Rarity knelt down to take a closer look at the wound. The blood had stopped flowing, meaning that the wound wasn't fresh.

" How long has this thing been inside of you, dear? " the worried unicorn asked.

" About an hour... ARRGH! " he grunted. However, Rarity had barely touched the arrow. She became really worried.

" I.... I'm going to try to pull it out. " she warned him.

" Go ahead. " Hase told her before sticking the handle of the mace in his mouth.

Rarity wasn't sure how she was supposed to pull out an arrow. Should she pull it out abruptly or slowly? Which would cause her coltfriend less pain? Eventually, she decided to take it out slowly and carefully. The arrow was surrounded by her light blue magical oreol, as she began pulling. Even though the inventor's mace made the grunts he was letting out a lot quieter than they would have been, she could still hear them. However, she couldn't give up. The mareould already see the arrow tip.

After 10 seconds, which seemed as 10 minutes to Hase, the arrow was out of his flank. Luckily, its edges were smooth and Rarity hadn't done any further damage by pulling it out. His adrenaline dropping, the pegasus felt the effect of the bloodloss. He leaned, but luckily, the white unicorn caught him. She put one of his forehooves behind her neck and helped him up again.

" Thanks. " he whispered in her ear, feeling the upcoming passing out. The rest of the group entered the guard's department and surrounded the duo. The last thing Hase remembered before the blue spots obscured everything was his father looking at the whip with a mix of fear and dissatisfaction.

The Playcolt

Rainbow Dash was still quite sleepy when she left the inn, going through the back door. That, however, didn't stop her from being upset about her friend. Somepony had ponynapped Rarity right under their noses and they hadn't done anything about it. The thought of her friend being in danger truly woke her up. Now she could focuse on Forge's words she wasn't listening to up to this moment.

" ... the town is too big. I don't know if, or how much, the guard department has grown in personnel since I was here the last time. For all I know, each expected alternative route could be blocked. But there are also alternative routes, that nopony will expect that we take, since the distance is twice as much. We'll form groups of two or three and each group will follow one of these routes to the north exit of the town. There we will gather again and go down the main street. " the smith finished describing his plan. Most of the couples formed instantly, but the trouble was, that nopony wanted to be in pair with Metal Chord or Dagger. When Arcane Bliss asked them why wouldn't they form a couple, Dagger replied with the following words:

" You cannot expect from me to be efficient when I have such an idiot for a partner. "

Said with her even voice, that sounded more like a constatation than an insult.

" Your loss. " the unicorn stallion smiled.

The group had to waste further time by drawing straws to determine who would go with Metal Chord. Dash drew the shortest one.

The swordspony threw a glance at her, that made the cyan mare want to punch out his teeth. She would have tried to, if in that moment she didn't see Fluttershy form a pair with Dagger.

' Will you be OK? ' Rainbow Dash asked, only moving her lips. She and Fluttershy had invented this way of communication when they were back in flight school, as fillies.

The pegasus was a bit worried about her friend. The assassin freaked them all out (Hase even went as far as to avoid her after the conversation they had yesterday), so it was no wonder Dash was upset about how Fluttershy would react to being paired with Dagger. However, the yellow mare just smiled and nodded.

At Forge's command, the groups separated. Dash and Metal Chord had one of the longest alternative routes - to follow the town walls to the northern exit. The unicorn smiled as he found out which their route was going to be. That gave him a plenty of time for his endeavour. Just as the duo reached the walls, without having spoken a word to eachother, the stallion spoke:

" Is it true what they say about pegasi? "

" What do you mean? " Rainbow asked.

" You know... " the swordspony used his magic to extend Dash's wing to the legendary... wingboner.

Dash snorted and folded back her wing. She looked at the unicorn with lightning bolts striking in her eyes, and was about to yell at him, until she figured out a much better way to take it back at him.

" Is it true what they say about you unicorns and your horn? "

Metal Chord was surprised. Most mares either fell for what he'd said (since they knew wo he is), or slapped him across the muzzle (since they didn't know who he is). Nopony had actualy cared to reply. Besides, this mare had actually done so in a very clever way.

" No. " he replied.

" Well, it's the same with the pegasi. " she responded angrily and the silence's reign began again.

The playcolt desperately changed tactics. He knew this would work, since it would hit his victim right in what was most importrant about a mare - her appearance.

" Your mane is beautiful. Can I... "

" No." the cyan mare cut him out. Metal Chord frowned. This did the trick almost always. Anyway, he had a second back- up plan:

" Do you... "

" Will you stop trying to hit on me? " Dash replied with an annoyed voice. This stallion was really starting to get on her nerves.

" Possibly. " the swordspony replied.

The cyan pegasus sighed. This walk was going to turn in the most annoying hour of her life, if she didn't come up with something in this very moment. Luckily, the right thought soon found its way to her mind.

" What if I learn you how to really get mares? If I tell you how to succeed every time? " she tried to seduce him with this offer.

A grin was formed on the blonde unicorn's muzzle.

" Certainly. " he answered her.

Dash sighed from relief.

" We have a deal. " the swordspony spoke.

" The secret of the successfully hitting on mares in exchange of me not hitting on.. you were Rainbow Flash, right?... in particular. "

" It's Rainbow Dash. I accept the deal. " the cyan pegasus noted.

However, she found out there was one major flaw in this plan: she couldn't possibly tell him anything he didn't know. Except those generic love stuff she was sure wouldn't satisfy the playcolt.

" I am waiting. " the stallion spoke.

" Well... I don't really know. Things don't work that way back in my land. It's more like... you know...  " Dash tried to excuse herself.

" I understand you perfectly. " the boastful stallion responded.

" This only confirms the fact, that Metal Chord is the greatest lover of not one, but two worlds! " he triumphantly spread out his sword.

The cyan pegasus rolled eyes.

" You know, we have one like you back in our dimension. " she spoke.

The blonde unicorn smiled:

" But of course! There must be at least one gentlecolt in every world! "

" He isn't a gentlecolt. " Dash giggled as she heard somepony describe the pony she had in mind as a gentlecolt.

" His name is Prince Blueblood. Just like you, he's arrogant, thinks all the mares would simply fall into his hooves and has a touch of narcisism to him. In fact, the only difference between you and him I can think of is that you're better with the sword.

I don't know if this will help you, but he hasn't managed to "score" a single mare yet. My friend Rarity, whose dream he was before they met, now thinks he's just a waste in the royal budget. What does this all tell you? "

" That you are underappreciating this prince? " Metal Chord made a guess.

" No. " Dash replied.

" What I mean to say was, that getting mares your way... won't really have any positive results. "

" If you're implying, that I need to change... " for a moment the cyan mare thought Metal Chord was about to get serious.

" ... you're in for some major dissappointment. Fine. Mares don't want me, I don't want mares! " the unicorn spoke, sounding insulted.

Dash let out a sigh. While the conversation didn't change the boastful stallion's way of thinking in any way, it at least saved the runcinian mares from him.

" Well, you would have gotten a mare if you stayed back in the castle. I'm sure some noble would be looking for a way to get related to the royal family. " she mused out loud.

" That's not the point! Let me explain the whole thing right now, before you get any more confused! " the stallion actually sounded serious this time.

" I've spent my whole foalhood on a battlefield. I was born in a millitary camp and spent my entire foalhood in military camps. All my parents wanted me to do was fight. That was everything I was allowed to do! I wasn't allowed to leave the camp, and even if I was, the West in the middle on the Rebellion war was just an endless battlefield!

The only reason I didn't turn into the mindless moron my father wanted to turn me into were the adventure novels. I had two hours of spare time a day, and I spent them reading books. Mostly novels. I always wanted to be like the main hero: he's charming, has exciting adventures and always gets the mare in the end. This book world was the only means by which I managed to endure my foalhood.

When I was old enough, I thought my father would let me explore the open world. All he did was drag me in a battle, in the last battle of the Rebellion. I knew, that sending a million troops against not more than 10 000 untrained peasants wasn't fair at all. When I tried to even the odds, in order to right the wrong, just like the heroes in my books, my father accused me of treason and disclaimed me. The only thing I get from him is " pocket money " I can get in every town once a month, " so that I don't furtherly disgrace his name " . I hate him! " Metal Chord stomped with his hoof.

" From than on I only had myself. Heroes in my novels were self- confident, and so am I. Heroes in my novels were handsome - and so am I! Heroes in my novels fought for justice - and so do I! I simply can't understand why everypony thinks I am a spoilt foal! I'm trying to do what I believe is right. I know it's not right to kill my father, but... as I said, I hate him. " the stallion concluded.

It was first then Dash realized the swordspony hadn't chosen to become like Prince Blueblood. Not having contact with the real world for a long time, the only idea of normal he had were the heroes in his novels. When he became one, he didn't know how the world would react. It all made sense. If any of those heroes somehow ended up in the real world, he or she would be treated the same way - because of the too high self- esteem and the belief, that the hero can have everything.

Shortly, Metal Chord was trying to be a hero in a world, which had stopped believing in such.

" Ponies don't need the heroes from the novels. " Dash tried to explain what she was thinking.

" They need real heroes, like Forge and Arcane Bliss, who fight for them. They have proved themselves. Untill you do so as well, you'll remain the arrogant spoilt heir everypony thinks you are. "

Metal Chord nodded.

" That's what I'm trying to do. I hope, that when I bring down my father and give the throne back to the former king and queen, or at least their heirs, if there are such, ponies would start respecting me. "

Just as the unicorn was finishing his sentence, Rainbow Dash saw the northern gate and their group, waiting in front of it.

Preventive measures

The sound of a steam whistle wasn't the one Hase would choose as his alarm clock, but he didn't have any choice. The loud noise broke him out of his sleep, making the stallion open his eyes and take a look at his surroundings.

The pegasus was lying in a normal bed, with sheets and pillows, giving him the impression, that he's back in the " Lucky Miner ". However, he soon felt he was moving, and sat up in his bed to see what was actually going on. He was in a big wooden barn or something like that, most of which was occupied by Formidon.

" Well, well, " his friend spotted him.

" , you awoke. "

" How long have I been sleeping? " the inventor asked, still having no idea why he felt as if he was moving, while he was lying in a barn.

" A day and a few hours. " the black dragon replied.

" It's the second day since we've left Smith's Keep. "

Hase got up. Something felt weird around his right flank, so he looked back. A bandage was put around it.

" Arcane Bliss healed it with remedies and magic. She said you should be OK, if you don't move too much the first day after she sewed the arrow wound. Luckily, you slept it through. It should be safe to remove that bandage. " Formidon told him.

A black oreol with sharp edges surrounded the bandage and removed it from Hase's flank. Only a small scar was left. The inventor seemed surprised he felt no pain. After this surprise passed, the pegasus' attention was brought back to the constant movement he felt.

" What are we in? " he asked. From all he could see, it was a big wooden room with one single window high above his bed to illuminate it.

" A wagon. The smith got it from one of his friends in Smith's Keep. It's where I should hide during the day. Since it is big enough, Arcane Bliss decided it could serve as an infirmary as well. " the dragon replied.

Right then the steam whistle sounded again.

" Oh. Also, some weird steam- powered invention is pulling it. " Formidon recalled, as the whistle sounded.

After Hase looked around for a few more seconds, he noticed a door next to Formidon's giant claw. He walked over to it and opened it. The door swung out, revealing a picturesque landscape. The fog, the rain and the ashes of Smith's Keep were long gone. Instead, they were replaced with grass fields all the way to the horizon. When Hase leaned from the edge of the door, he saw, that the road led to a chain of high moutains - probably the Belt. They were still pretty far away though.

Feeling curious, the inventor flew out and closed the door of the wooden wagon. Out of pure curiosity, he decided to see how much time he'd be able to stay airborne. He spent that time studying the thing his dragon friend would call home for about a week from the outside. The wagon was fit for a dragon of Formidon's size, which ment it could hold two normal dragons. The wagon was 30 feet tall, about that much wide and almost 100 feet long. It didn't leave the dragon much free space, but the scientist suspected that was the biggest wagon Forge could put his hooves on without looking suspicious. Even now it seemed as if it could easily be a home to an entire circus.

Being busy studying the wagon, Hase was quite surprised to find out, that he was still flying - even more, moving with the wagon -  about 2 minutes later. He stared at his wings in awe and challenged them furtherly by flying up and landing on the top of the wooden construction. His wings still refused to betray him. The stallion jolted happily in the air, made a mid- air barrel roll, and stopped his fall about an inch from the wooden surface. The next few minutes the scientist spent did any aerial stunts he could think of. Actually, what he considered stunts were actually the very basics of flight, that foals learned before starting school, but for the first flight of the excited stallion each seemed as hard as a sonic rainboom.

After he had finished testing the capabilities of his wings, Hase peeked over the edge of the wagon to check two things: first, where his friends were, and second, what kind of machine was pulling the extremely heavy dragon inside the wooden construction. The pegasus didn't see either, since he was blindfolded by gray smoke. He hadn't noticed it before, probably because of his enthusiasm, but now he experienced it with three of his senses - sight, taste and smell.

The inventor coughed, hinting his presence to his friends, who were actually walking right in front of the machine and annoyedly keeping up with its slow speed.

" Is that you, Hase? " Rarity asked. Her question was left without an answer. For a moment she thought some of her other friends had coughed, until a black smudged figure passed right through the smoke. It spread its wings just as it was about to hit the ground, the wave of air blowing Fluttershy, which was right in front of the figure, 's mane back as if there was wind. The sillhouethe turned to be Hase, who landed behind the nature- loving pegasus.

" I see Arcane Bliss didn't lie about the effectiveness of her remedies. " Rarity stated, after delivering a brief kiss to her coltfriend's cheek.

" Apparently she didn't. I have to take samples of it. Imagine what its refined... " the inventor was interrupted by the laughs of the Mane 6.

" Is that really what you care about most after an extensive sleep? " Twilight asked him.

" No. " Hase smiled. Science could wait. Right now, he simply didn't feel like it. Everything around him, the far mountains, the grass plains, the gravel road, all urged him to get out and explore. Arcane's remedy could wait for a rainy day.

It turned out only the Mane 6 were in front of the wagon. After the experience with the robbers, the rest of the group had formed an ariergarde, since the huge wagon seemed a big temptation for the thieves. Only the purple alicorn and her friends were left in front of it, to signalise in case of any danger. After he took in the landscape ahead of him, Hase couldn't turn at least a bit attention to the weird device pulling the wagon. To the untrained eye it seemed as a normal car, with countless metal pipes installed on it. What Hase saw, however, was a steam car. Which efficiency was too suboptimal to simply be ignored.

" I need water! " he yelled. As he said that, what he had requested was poured over him. Pinkie Pie giggled, while Hase turned around to see Hydro, the Sentinel of Rivers.  The smile on his muzzle could only be diferentiated because of the fact his muzzle was currently formed of muddy water.

" Welcome back aboard, captain. " Hydro greeted him with a hint of humour in his voice.

" I require your services, boatspony. " Hase played along. He opened a lid with his telekinesis, revealing red charcoal. Guessing what he was required to do, the prankster pegasus shot a stream of water out of his left forehoof right on the charcoal. The burning fire was extinguished, producing white smoke, and the machine stopped in its path. Hase's friends also stopped, not sure what the black pegasus was doing.

" What's happening here? " the voice of the angry Forge was heard. Avoiding any accusation, the tall water pegasus flew away, leaving Hase as the sole reason for the halting of the machine, and, apparently, of the whole group.

As the earth pony stallion showed up behind the corner of the wooden wagon, Hase had already taken a wrench and a hammer from Applejack's saddlebags and was "upgrading", as he had put himself, the steam car.

" Do you have any idea how much energy you waste by having such a small turbine in such a big pipe? " the scientist turned to the smith, while holding one piece of the main pipe and hitting it with the hammer, both surrounded by his black magical oreol. Forge was left dumbfounded, and just as he was about to reply to the inventor, he was already installing the piece of pipe back in its spot. Hase threw two shovels of coal in the coal tank beneath the water boiler. As he nodded at Blaze, the second pony to come around the corner, flames engulfed the coal before the scientist shut the door. Since the upgrade had only taken him about two minutes, the water was still pretty hot. So not even a minute later, the machine moved again, with thrice its previous speed. Before the group had to slow down, and now all the Sentinels of the Elements had to climb on the roof, so that the steam car would move with normal pony speed.

" I'm glad that I was useful. " Hase smiled. After that, he looked at Rainbow Dash and flapped with his wings. The cyan mare got the meaning of this gesture and flew in the air. The black stallion went airborne the second afterwards, chasing his flight teacher. He knew he couldn't catch up, but was still rather surprised he could fly with the speed he was currently flying. The cyan mare stopped about 300 feet above the ground and hovered in one spot. After about half a minute, Hase managed to catch up.

" You seem to have no trouble with the vertical climb. " Dash commended him on his succesful climb. Hase smiled. until he felt something push him from behind. He turned around and saw it was a small cloud. He raised an eyebrow and spoke:

" That should be impossible. The density of clouds doesn't suggest... "

" You can't explain it with science. " Dash giggled.

" It's just so. Clouds are material for pegasi. You can't explain Cloudsdale, now can you? "

Hase thought as hard as he could, going over any physical, chemical or even biological reason for the existence of the soaring cloud town. He couldn't come up with anything.

" Not really. " he admitted.

" Exactly! " Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

" Flying isn't about " Why? ". It's about " Why not? . If you start asking yourself why something's possible, soon you'll find out only half of the things make sence. For an example, neither you nor I should be able to fly. Our wings are too small to support our weight. "

As Hase thought it over, that statement was absolutely true.

" I guess you can't explain magic with science. " the black pegasus gave up.

" Now let's get flying. "

Dash grinned.

" Today I'll teach you the basic manouvres. Sharp turns, dives, climbs, aerodynamic mid- flight stance - all of this stuff. "

As she finished her sentence, Dash flew over to Hase and sat on the small cloud behind him. She leisurely flapped her wings, making the cloud move in direction towards the mountains, so that they wouldn't stay behind from the group bellow.

" Now, " she told the blue- maned stallion as she lay.

" , show me what you think is an aerodynamic shape. "

Having studied aerodynamics and hydrodynamics when he was a foal, Hase put his hooves next to his body and looked down, taking on the most aerodynamic shape a pony's body could take, according to his studies.

" Well, that is aerodynamic, " Rainbow Dash noted.

" , but not really the aerodynamics you need. You need aerodynamics when you want to fly really, really fast. Will you choose to stare at the ground while flying with more than 600 feet per second? "

Hase had to admit his take on aerodynamics wasn't the one he'd choose in real life. He recalled what position Dash flew in when she made a sonic rainboom for the mayor's birthday last month. He spread his forehooves up and his back hooves back and looked forward.

" Now that's more like it. " Dash approved.

" Straighten your body more. There, there... perfect. " the pegasus mare instructed him, until he was hovering in the perfect fast flight position.

" Now let's see how you are in practic. "

Without any further warning, Rainbow Dash jumped from her cloud and dived, her wings close to her body, while she was in the perfect aerodynamic shape she had just taught Hase. Not wanting to let his teacher down, the inventor followed her, forming the best imitation of this position. Mid- air he realised the air was actually helping him enter it. It wanted to make him as aerodynamic as possible. The pegasus simply let it do so, and soon he was also falling down in a perfect aerodynamic position. He broke it a few times, so that he could practice entering it, and about 60 feet above the ground, it only took him about a second. Hase could see Rainbow Dash about 20 feet bellow him. The scientist wondered how they were going to stop, since they were falling down with terminal velocity. Then, about 30 feet above the ground, the cyan mare spread her wings and soared above the ground, her body paralel with the ground. Hase followed her example. The duo, still moving at a very high speed, went past the wooden wagon and flew forward, until Rainbow began climbing again. Smiling, the inventor followed her, ready to learn whatever his teacher had to offer him.

Rarity also smiled, as she saw the two pegasi fly up. Hase was still his old self. This dimension was just making him a bit more... tense. It made all of them tense with its brutality. Her coltfriend was simply overreacting, and was also probably a bit overprotective. As the white unicorn returned her gaze to the grass fields on the two sides of the road, she noticed something strange. Everything except herself was darker, as if she had put on her sunglasses. She was about to express her confusion, before she fell into a dark hole with sharp edges.

She fell on something wooden. When the fashionista mare stood up, she understood, that this wooden thing was the top of the wagon and what had just happenned was her going through a chaotic portal. Since Vortex was standing there right in front of here.

" I need to talk to you without anypony else listening. " Vortex spoke. As he said that, the same darkening spell occured again. Rarity supposed it was a sound- blocking barrier.

" Well, I am all ears. " Rarity replied.

" Do you know what else besides Formidon lies down in this wagon? " the black alicorn asked her.

The white unicorn was puzzled. Did the violet- maned stallion mean the bed?

" The Mace of Rage. Also, the Whip of Despair. " the subject of their conversation was cleared out, as Vortex replied to his own question.

" Do you know what troubles me more? That they stay there, instead of hovering around Hase. "

" Isn't that a good thing? " the mare was furtherly befuddled. The black stallion shook his head.

" My son isn't supposed to have such a control over those weapons. Of course, this case is unprecedented, but still... one wouldn't expect he could control their binding spell so well as to its absolute abnegation, when they are not needed. This spawns dark thoughts inside my mind. That we have done nothing to take Hase off the dark path we all know will ultimately be the reason for his destruction. " Vortex's words were starting to scare Rarity.

" What can we do about it? I mean, there has to be something I can do! " the white mare exclaimed, worried for the pony of her heart.

" Yes you can. Break up with him. "

Rarity was so shocked, that she couldn't talk for about 10 seconds. She was simply standing there with her mouth opening and closing, while she was comprehending the words of the black alicorn.

" How... how will this help in any way? " she asked.

" Think about it. " the black alicorn replied.

" Why did he get the Mace? He thought you were in danger. I saw him jump off from Formidon's back, at least 30 feet above the ground, only as he heard you scream. He than slaughtered a whole armed robbers gang just because he thought otherwise they'd kill you. They would have, because phoenixes are expensive, but I'm sure my nieces would have been able to contain the situation much better than he did.

Then you might consider what happenned in Smith's Keep. You were ponynapped, and Hase went as far as to temporarily remove his own rage, in order to be able to think clearly and rescue you. He didn't kill anypony, but he went through the whole guard department of the town only to get to you. He got the Whip of Despair. Don't you see, " Rarity was starting to realize Vortex's words made sence.

" ,the brutality of this world, combined with my son's wish to protect you, makes him do something he would never do otherwise. I know, because I've watched him for all of his life, hiding in the shadows. He isn't the kind of pony, who would kill for anything.

I understand, that your mutual feelings are very strong, and I respect that. However, it is both for Hase's own good and for the group's good, that you pretend to break up with him. Heartbreak will only make him feel grief, and that's not a feeling among those from the weapons. He will go through a hard week, but everything will be alright in the end. You'll explain everything to him when we get back to Equestria, and all of us will be happy again.

Please, Rarity. I know how cruel I sound, but it is for the good of us all. "

A tear slipped down the white unicorn's cheek.

" Fine. " she spoke with a voice, close to a whisper.

The sun was near sunset, when Rainbow Dash and Hase landed amongst the group, which was stopping to set up a camp. iI turned out, that Forge had also bought tents, which were hidden behind Formidon's tail. As Hase was putting up his, who he was going to share with his father, he was approached by Rarity.

" How are things back on the ground? " the pegasus asked, still overflowing with adrenalin from the last dive.

" Well, they are fine. " Rarity spoke with a calm voice, trying to hold back her tears.

" Is something wrong? " the upset stallion turned to the fashionista mare.

" We need to talk. " Rarity got in Hase's tent. Confused, the stallion followed her.

The white unicorn turned around. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was sobbing.

" What happenned? " Hase asked, while he was hugging her.

" Hase... I.... we can't be together anymore. "

The final miligrams of adrenaline slipped away as Hase broke his hug.

" What? " Hase asked. However, instead of replying, Rarity just headed for the exit of the tent.

" Is it because of me? " Hase peeked from the exit, only to see the white mare hide behind the corner of the wooden wagon, about 30 feet away. He didn't know Rarity hid there to cry her eyes out because of what she had just done. Much darker thoughts roamed in his mind.

As the sun was setting, a dark figure flew up in the air and isolated itself on a cloud, pink from the light of the setting sun. Hase didn't cry. It was useless to do so. He was thinking about what had just happenned. What had worried him the most was the way Rarity ran away. It was almost as if she was... afraid of him. The black pegasus sighed. Of course she would be. Hadn't he shown himself as a monster the last two days? Hadn't he done something horrible he would never forgive himself for? He was starting to wonder how she had managed to wait for so long.

For a moment Hase considered summoning his weapons to remove those feelings, but he then realized, that heartbreak doesn't contain neither rage or despair. It was a mildly cold feeling, the kind of cold nopony likes. It wasn't the first time the black pegasus' heart has been broken, so the burning element was absent. There was only the cold. As the inventor was watching the sun set beneath the horizon, he promised himself not to bother any of his friends with this. He doubted anypony amongst them would feel any compassion for him. The scientist couldn't distract him with his personal problems. There was a much greater problem hanging above their heads: how to reach the capital safely. Hase couldn't distract them from that. If he ever wanted to go back to Equestria - the only thing, that was left from his dreams - he'd have to hold back his feelings.

Just as he thought that, a big black figure hid the half of the sky with its enormous wings.

" Are you alright? " Formidon, the only friend Hase had left, asked with his deep voice. He was probably going to be the only one concerned.

" Absolutely! " Hase faked enthusiasm to deceive the dragon. He fell for that.

" The smith wants me to let you know dinner is ready. " the dragon said, before diving back down, followed by the pegasus.

The group was divided in three groups around three fires. The Runcinians, or at least Forge, Arcane Bliss and Midnight Bell, were gathered around the first, the six sentinels of the elements- around the second, while Spike, the Mane 6 and the Princesses were gathered around the third. They had left a free spot for him. Hase saw Rarity laughing at one of Pinkie Pie's jokes. As she looked at him , she frowned for a moment, but before anypony but her ex- coltfriend could notice it, her smile reappeared on her face. Putting on the best fake smile he had, the black pegasus completed the circle around the campfire.

" Ar' ya sad or somethin' ? " Applejack was sitting right next to him and recognised his faked state almost immeadietly.

" Why fret when there's so much fun things to do around a campfire? " Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Her marshmallow (probably nopony could explain where she found it) hung on the top of the stick she held in her mouth.

" Not at all! " Hase's laugh managed to convince the two earth ponies.

" You really seemed sad for a moment. " Fluttershy noted.

" Yeah. Did you receive a cramp from the training? " Dash wondered.

" Yes, that was it, but now I'm absolutely fine. " Hase continued lying to his friends.

" Are you sure? You seemed almost depressed. " Twilight noted.

" Like Twilight when she finds out the Cutie Mark Crusaders have made a book into a hiding spot. " Spike's words caused a second laugh wave amongst the ponies. This time the inventor also joined in, doing his best to fake a laugh.

" But seriously, if something troubles you, I am ready to listen. " Celestia assured him.

" A shared problem is half a problem. " Luna tried to convince him. Hase's discontent was slowly turning into spite, as he saw all of his friends fake their concern. Still not thinking straight because of the heartbreak, he believed, that his friends hated him and only showed concern out of pure politeness.

His spite reached its boiling point when the scientist heard steps behind his back and turned around to see it was his father with a concerned look on his face.

" Before you even ask, " Hase inserted his spite in his words.

" , no, father, I am completely alright, and yes, I am having a great time and I don't have any problem I would like to talk about! "

For the last few words Hase had stood up and walked over to his father, which enabled his friends to see the cloak, that appeared on his back. It began appearing from his neck, with a small black collar to make it look elegant. The mantle than slid down Hase's back, perfectly adjusted to his height. It was pitch black, covered his whole back and its edge hung two inches above the ground.

Recalling the Mantle of Deceit from Vortex's story, and linking it with Hase's weird behaviour, Applejack's doubts were confirmed.

" Yah lied to us. There is somethin' ya're hidin' . " she spoke.

The scientist turned around, the sudden movement seemingly making the mantle fall to the one side. However, after Applejack blinked, she saw it was in the same position as before. The pegasus' blue eyes irradiated spite.

" A brilliant conclusion, Captain Obvious! " Hase said before flying away and hiding behind the wooden wagon.

" Formidon! " Hase spoke.

" Yes. " the dragon replied from inside the wagon.

" Would you have anything in mind if we travel together tomorrow? We'll fly high enough, so that nopony notices you. I simply need to clear my mind. " Hase replied, the spite vanishing from his voice.

" Not at all. " the dragon assured him.

Recovery

The next day wasn't very jolly. In the very beggining, Hase and Formidon flew away and remained in the air, soaring about 600 feet above the rest of the group. The Mane 6 were still befuddled about what had occured the night before.

" He must be goin' through somethin' harsh. " Applejack mused out loud.

" Do you think that's why he looked as if Discord stole his birthday cake? " Pinkie Pie asked her.

" Applejack, you have a point there. " Twilight spoke.

" This isn't the Hase you know. Remember how he told us the truth about his trap before we left Aseamos? "

Everypony nodded, as they recalled the events of that faithful evening. After the success of the comedic play, the group had managed to capture the last lord of the elements and open a portal back to Equestria. Before they went in, however, Hase had refused to come with them, since otherwise a trap would be activated, one that would make everypony in Ponyville immortal. Amazed by his honesty, the Mane 6 had insisted, that he'd come with them.

This wasn't the same pony that had sat down next to the fire the day before. The pony, that had, had a serious problem he wasn't willing to share with his friends. In order to conceal it, he had lied to all of them, lying them without any regrets up to the point of earning a mantle, created of lies. Later in the evening, Vortex had warned them not to look directly in the mantle. In his current instable state, he said, Hase could easily unleash its mind- warping powers, though not on purpose, and somepony might sink in one of its horrible illusions.

Suddenly, as he was recalling all, what had happenned in Aseamos, while they were liberating the land from the six lords, Spike had a very accurate idea of what was actually going on. The particular memory, that had brought this idea to his mind, was the feeling he had when he had seen Hase and Rarity kiss. Having had a crush on the white unicorn for years and seeing her choose somepony she met only a few days ago over him had resulted in the most miserable minutes of his life. Luckily, realising what impact his doings had on the dragon, Hase had calmed him down and given him something, that was supposed to bring him luck finding a new love in his life. While the medalion wasn't of much use, Spike had felt better when he had realized Hase had undergone the same process as him once and understood how he was feeling.

Now, having already felt those feelings, he took a glance at Rarity, while the rest of the mane 6 were still discussing probable theories. The white unicorn smiled at him, but it was a sad smile. Spike could be certain. While the faces of the rest of the Mane 6, even Pinkie Pie's, expressed mostly confusion, Rarity's was overflowing with sadness and melancholia she had managed to conceal until now. That didn't go unnoticed anymore.

" Ar' ya alright, Rares? " Applejack asked, concerned about her friend.

Spike coughed to draw the mares' attention. He succeeded.

" I believe I have the answer to your questions. " he proclaimed. The baby dragon then took a glance at Rarity, awaiting her to start speaking.

" I guess there is no use hiding it from you. I wonder why I considered it an option in the first place. " the white unicorn spoke, after letting out a sigh.

The fashionista mare's friends were all ears.

" Vortex and I had a conversation yesterday. Both of us were concerned about Hase, since now we all know what stands atop the last weapon. "

The five mares and the dragon nodded in agreement, as they recalled the story of the black alicorn.

" We were extremely worried and wondered how to stop Hase from getting any more weapons, and the truth came up... " the white mare sighed again.

" ...that I'm the reason for him getting all of those weapons. "

" I think you might be overreacting, Rarity. " Twilight tried to bring her friend out of what she thought was a pointless self- accusation.

" I wish I was, dear. Why did Hase get the mace? He had to save me. Why did Hase get the whip? He had to save me again... "

" Ah'm sure he didn't get dat mantle because 'f yah. " AJ assured her.

" On the contrary. Vortex convinced me, that if I break up with Hase for the time we're in this dimension, he'll stop getting those weapons. I really thought it would work. " the dissappointed unicorn responded.

" Sooo... why don't you two simply get back together? " Rainbow Dash suggested.

Rarity looked at her pegasus friend in utter shock, but then she was brought back to her melancholic state:

" How am I supposed to do that, Rainbow? How will I be able to look him in the eyes after I caused him so much pain over the course of only a few hours? What if one of the feelings he feels when I apologise to him makes him get the next weapon? I can't risk that happenning. The plan failed, but we'll have to follow it until this dimension stopps affecting Hase. I beg you all, please, don't tell him anything about it. " the unicorn almost cried.

" We won't. We will always stand at your side " Twilight assured her, after the six mares joined for a group hug around Rarity.

" After all, that's what friends are for. " Fluttershy told her weeping friend.

Meanwhile, 600 feet above them, Hase and Formidon were about to begin a simillar conversation. For nearly an hour the pegasus had stood on the back of the black dragon without saying anything. Finally, having had enough of this silence, Hase's friend began a conversation:

" Spit it out already. " he said, annoyed.

" Spit out what? " the inventor asked, as he was brought out of his sad thoughts.

" What's up with you? Ever since yesterday afternoon you're behaving as if you have the fire flu... wait, this expression doesn't really make sence for you. " the dragon pointed out, before realising, that this expression wasn't suitable when speaking to ponies.

" I have no idea what you're talking about. " the scientist replied. His newest acquisition, the Mantle of Deceit, was waving behind him, because of the wind blowing in his face.

" I'm sure you have. For an example, what's up with this cloak of liars on your back? " even though dragons had a very good hearing, Formidon had forgotten the name of the mantle Vortex had spoken about the night before. The dragon had overheard it while he was in the wagon.

Hase sighed. Apparently, he'd have to tell the truth. The whole truth.

" Everything is wrong. " he spoke.

" Everything went wrong from back when we left Equestria. I could cope with my father appearing, my species being changed and being required to learn some weird magic, that could destroy the world. " Hase used his sarcasm.

" I could actually deal with it. Probably it would have been something ordinary for me in about a month. Then here we are. Called upon to deal with dictators in what I believe is the homeworld of crime.

Even that's not the biggest problem. I killed ponies, Formidon. I killed them, even though I had promised never to kill. For a brief period of time I thought my friends hate me. Yesterday the same thing happened all over again. Now I understand it probably isn't that way, but... what I love most has been lost. "

" Aaah... fractures of the heart. " the dragon figured it out.

" Not only. " Hase protested.

" She simply came to me yesterday and told me, that we can't be together any more. Just like that. Without any explanation. All these days, after all those wrong things I did, she was my only relief. I killed those ponies to protect her. I neutralized a whole town's guard just to go and save her. I took an arrow to the flank! And now what use is there of what I've done? What excuse do I have for these deeds of my mine? None. I'm still the useless pony I was two days ago. Nevertheless, back then I had a purpose. I had a dream. Now it is gone. What use will there be in life even when we return to Equestria, when I wouldn't be able to hold her in my grip ever again? "

" I don't know much about love. " Formidon confessed.

" Although I did learn a lot about friendship these days, looking at you and your friends. Your friends will never leave you, Hase. If the lady of your heart has left you behind, fight for your friends. Because they sure will fight for you, when you need them. A female's heart is more complex than anything else in this world. Who knows, perhaps a week from now she'll again be in your laps. I don't know how a heartbreak feels, since I've never loved, but you can't let it distract you. You made an oath, Hase. Then you sealed it with blood. You swore, that from that day on, you will protect whoever can't defend themselves. You swore, that you will do whatever was needed to keep those ponies safe. Well, look around. Everypony here secretely awaits their savior, who will bring back peace. The whole land is begging for this help. The death of those ponies you killes, even though you didn't do it on such purpose, relieved this land a bit. Passengers would now be able to safely walk the road from Graywood to Smith's Keep. However, this isn't enough. While the tyrany continues, new robbers will take the spot you freed from their influence. How can you be useless, when you made a difference? This land doesn't need ponies with enormous power like your father. It doesn't care about them. The ponies need somepony, who will make a difference. You made an oath you will be that pony. What do you do now? You cry over your broken heart, even though your friends' love will thaw it soon enough. Are you a stallion or what? "

The last words Formidon shouted. Inspired by his friend's speech, Hase deserted his self- pity and stood up on the dragon's back, the Mantle waving even stronger now.

" Yes. I am! " he yelled in response.

" Then you might just as well want to go back to helping the ponies, that need you. " the dragon told him.

The dragon, the pegasus and the group bellow them were approaching the entrance of the passage. The Stream dug through the mountain, only about 3600 feet in this part, digging its way through and connecting the west and the east half of Runcinia. The waters of the river, which grew significantly after this morning the group passed another river, which according to the map was named Fastflow, now divided the two banks about 60 feet from eachother, and according to Midnight Bell, the Stream was a very treachorous river inside the Pass, especially in the ravine of screams.

The ravine of screams, named that way because of the sounds the wind produces when it passes through it, according to the amateur magician, who had also studied geography in her magical academy, stood in the center of the passage. There the steep slopes, that served as borders to the rest of the passage, suddenly turned into vertical cliffs, only about 30 feet away from eachother. There the river was forced to fit in a tighter riverbed, since the bases of the stone walls, unlike the rocks themselves, weren't limestone, but pure granite, which the water couldn't carve. This turned the river into a series of dangerous whitewaters and whirlpools, which made travelling by water impossible. There wasn't any space for pathways in the gorge as well, turning the ravine into a barrier for the travelers. There was only one option: to climb up the mountain's slopes, walk on the ridge for a few hours and than come back down. Two villages, named Westend and Eastend for their positions, equal in size, stood on the two ends of the gorge. According to Midnight, they would reach Westend in the end of their first day in the passage. Which was the next day, since the sun was coming closer to the horizon and it was clear the group would have to spend the night somewhere at the entrance of the passage. Luckily, according to the bronze- coated unicorn, there was an inn at the passage's entrance.

Midnight Bell also spent some time telling them about explorations on the ravine's top. According to explorers, a rare species of flower trived on the top of the vertical cliffs. One could divert from the main ridge route to go see the gorge from above, although their unicorn guide didn't reccomend it. Many explorers had found their deaths in the white waters of the Stream, not dying from the fall, but from the river.

She also told them about the deserted ancient tower at the west entrance of the passage. Built centuries ago, it served as a watchpost of the growing Runcinian Kingdom against the tribes to the west. The tower stood on a cliff, overlooking the planes to the very horizon. Wardens could notice the other tribes's armies forming from miles away.

One thing the unicorn mare didn't know was, that the tower also served its purpose now. A white hooded figure stood in its ruins, observing the group, which was about to enter the passage, probably in order to seek shelter from the cold of the night in the inn. The tall mare had taken the flight from Smith's Keep to the entrance of the gorge for two days only. The last day she had spent resting from the fatiguing flight and waiting for the group. She had prepared everything already. The tall figure knew the region of the passage very well, and now that the group was here, her plan could finally be fulfilled. She glared at the sky through the veil. A black figure soared way above the rest of the group. Her binoculars let her know, that the pony she was looking for wasn't among the members of the group. Which only let one place he could be. The mare spread her white wings and flew towards the black figure.

The sun was setting when Hase noticed something contrasting with the slopes, which were black because they were in shadow already. A white spot. Initially he thought it for a cloud, still white because of the last rays of the sun. Even though it was more logical for it to be pink, the pegasus ignored it. He stood on the dragon's back and observed the sunset. When the star finally hid behind the horizon, leaving behind only a pink oreol, Hase sat back on the back of the dragon. Once again, his attention was brought to the white object. It certainly was closer now, and it became bigger and bigger every second. Apparently, Formidon had noticed it too, so he stopped flying forward and remained in one spot, waiting to see what the white object really was.

Just as the object would become big enough for the inventor to recognise it, it hid bellow the dragon's hide. The scientist had to spend two more minutes wondering, before it finally appeared again, hovering in the air mere feet away from him. The object was actually a subject. The pony had the same body size as Celestia, the same wing size, the same coat colour and even the same eye colour. It was pretty obvious this was Celestia from the big horn bump beneath the cloak, but Hase simply couldn't understand why the princess would put on a weird white cloak, hiding everything from her but her wings. There was also a veil, which enabled the pegasus to see the alicorn's  violet eyes.

" Princess Celestia, why in Equestria did you disguise yourself with a sheet? " the scientist asked.

" I need you to come with me, Hase. " the voice confirmed, that it was really Celestia.

" Why? " the black pegasus wondered.

" I've got an importrant mission for you. "

This explanation was fair enough for the stallion. He lifted off, now flying with his own wings and was about to follow the who- knows- why disguised Celestia, before the huge spiky tale of Formidon stopped him. Confused, Hase looked down. Formidon had shifted in the air, looking in the same direction and at the same thing the stallion was looking- the white alicorn.

" You are not Celestia. " Formidon noted. The blue- maned pegasus noticed, that small flames were starting to come out of his nosdrils.

" Come on! " he tried to reason with him.

" Do you happen to know another white alicorn with her size and eye colour? "

" Hase has got point. " the cloaked Celestia supported him.

" Each pony has their own distinctive smell, that depends on what they usually do. " the dragon made a good point, which made the black pegasus start to doubt the disguised Celestia's identity a bit.

" Your friend Twilight smells of parchment. Applejack smells of apples. Pinkie Pie smells of cakes. Princess Celestia smells of old cushions, probably because her duties involve sitting on the throne and giving open court a lot. You, on the other side, " Formidon turned to the mare.

" , smell of smoke, spices, bread, rain... a very specific mixture of smells, that indicates that you spend a lot of your time on the streets. Who are you? " the dragon asked.

' Darn. ' the figure swore inside its own mind. Without any furhter adue, she used her magic to bring her fake wooden horn from bellow her hood and hit Hase's head with it. She than dropped the wodden horn, grabbed the black pegasus in her white magical oreol and quickly dove.

' Let's hope the friction slows him down. ' the mare thought, as she switched directions in the air, heading for her hideout, still carrying the unconcious stallion in her magical oreol.

Discoveries

When Hase woke up, he noticed a spot, that was less dark than most of his surroundings. After a few minutes he deduced, that he was still somewhere in the mountains, probably in a cave . He also concluded, that it was probably somewhere around 8 in the evening. He tried to move, but found out he was tied to a chair. Apparently, he could do nothing but furtherly study his surroundings.

The cave he was in wasn't big. The lack of echo suggested it. Suddenly, somepony started lighting candles. The inventor noticed something like a white bedsheat, but couldn't see the whole figure until a minute afterwards, when the candles illuminated the whole cavity.

The cave was only a hole in the rock, with no formations, about 20 feet deep. His ponynapper had wings, so the cave was probably somewhere high, eliminating the possibility, that Hase would run away by jumping with the chair. Now the black pegasus could see his captor, even though she was in the very botom of the cave. The tall pony still donned the white cloak. However, the inventor noticed, that the eyes seen through the veil were now light green, and not violet purple as before.

" You're Queen Chrysalis, right? " he made the obvious conclusion.

" What makes you think that? " the voice that replied, although confirming Hase's suspicions, that his captor was a mare, certainly wasn't Celestia's. Also the figure now lacked the horn bump, that was caused by the wooden horn his captor had used to knock him out. The voice, however, sounded too kind to belong to any captor, increasing the scientsit's suspicion, that his ponynapper was the changeling queen.

" You disguised yourself as Celestia, and now you've ponynapped me to get it back at her. I need to warn you, that you aren't being very original. My father usead the same tactic about 4, " Hase recalled.

" , days ago. Unless you've come to feed upon my love for Rarity. That would be more original, but I'll have to dissappoint you. She doesn't love me anymore. " the stallion fret.

" If I were Queen Chrysalis, do you think I would need that ludicrous cloak? " the mare sounded rather cheerful, as she took off the cloak, finally revealing her true appearance, which wasn't anything like what Hase had expected. Beneath the white cloak he expected to see Chrysalis' mangled form, suspecting, that this disguise was because of her unwillingness to change her entire look, only changing the area around her eyes, her wings and her voice. However, what he saw instead was a really odd mare. She was about the size of Celestia. Her muzzle was a bit shorter than the one of the princess of the sun, her eyes were light green, and her cutie mark wasn't something special at all - a brooch, which looked like a star. Hase could tell it was a brooch because the cutie mark also depicted the needle. The only same things about this mare and Celestia were the coat colour, the body size and the wing size.

The odd thing about this mare, besides the height, were her mane and tail. The scientist could see they were material mane and tail, blonde mane and tail. Nonetheless, normal manes and tails weren't supposed to wave behind the mare like the Princesses' waved forward. It seemed as if her mane and tail had decided to play " I'm Princess Celestia " this day, but had forgotten to turn the " etheral " switch. Her mane and tail, which were pretty long, the mane waving back almost to her wings, had edges, which were somehow illuminated, and there was a tiny white oreol on the edges, even where the tail or the mane split in streaks. The inventor hadn't seen it before because of the cloak. Otherwise the mare seemed to have a pretty normal manecut - the part, that fell (more like swung, since it was obvious the white glow wouldn't let it simply fall down) forward the mare had put aside, making it join the main flow of her mane with a simple hairpin.

The mare smiled.

" Do you recognise me now, Hase? " she then asked.

Hase's muzzle did its best to express the mix between awkwardness and confusion.

" Uuuuh, no, this is the first time we've met, and by the way how do you know my name? "

The white pegasus looked shocked.

" Have you forgotten me? " she asked, seemingly dissappointed.

" Nope, I'm pretty sure I would have remembered that manestyle. Are you absolutely sure this isn't the first time we meet? " Hase tried to convince her in his theory, hoping to assure the odd mare, that she had made some kind of mistake. His friends were probably very upset and he needed to go back and find them. He didn't have time to waste with some mare, that had mistaken him for somepony else, even if she somehow knew his name.

The mare stepped forward, a bit unsure for a moment. It seemed, that she was thinking something over and over again. She either couldn't make up her mind for something, or was trying to convince herself something isn't the way it is. Or at least that's what Hase thought. The scientist heard her whisper several times, and once he even got the words: " It can't be. ", bringing him to believe her problem was the second. After the mare's musing had continues for 5 outright minutes, Hase decided it would at least be polite of him if he offered his help in the thinking process.

" Can I help you with something? " he asked.

The mare fixed her gaze on him, apparently looking for something. After a minute, she sighed. Apparently she hadn't found what she was looking for.

" I consider myself a good thinker, if I may say so. It is of mutual interest, that your problem is solved as quickly as possible, so that you do what you do and I get back to my friends, who are probably very worried at that point. So, what's the deal? " the inventor asked. Those words made the pegasus look even more dissappointed, but apparently she saw there was no other way around, so Hase's captor finally spoke again:

" I have a theory, that can't be true. I've spent the last minutes thinking of proof to prove it wrong, yet I find none. "

The black pegasus immediately gave his answer:

" From what I've experienced as a scientist, it usually means your theory is right. "

" Yes, it really does seem so. " the mare frowned.

" I guess I have no choice but to check. "

As she said that, the white pegasus moved towards her hostage. The inventor tried to back off, but his runaway attempt only resulted in him almost falling over with the chair he was tied to. He hadn't increased the distance between him and the mare with more than 2 feet. That wasn't unnoticed though. The mare stopped, smiled warmly and spoke:

" Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. You'll make sure of it pretty soon. "

Then she moved forward with a single step, decreasing the distance between her and Hase to 1 foot only. She spread her long forehoof, but instead of slapping him with it, as the black pegasus suspected she would, she simply placed it on his forehead, as if she was checking if he had fever.

" You were right. I was right. " the mare furtherly befuddled the stallion. Did she had doubts about him being sick or something? With his peripheral vision Hase caught a white, a bit yellowish, light surrounding the mare's hoof. Before he could express his confusion and ask the mare some more questions, an alien force closed his eyes and prevented him from breathing.

Hase found himself looking through the eyes of a very young foal, who was crawling on the floor. He wasn't controlling the foal in any way, he simply observed. He was shocked, as he recognised one of his own memories. The foal the body of he was in was he himself. Then he noticed something else: his momfeeding another foal with a spoon. The foal had a white coat and was a pegasus, about the age Hase was in this memory. The stallion remembered this part of his memory, but a second ago he didn't. This made him wonder, but before he could try to comprehend it, the memory switched. Now he was older, and what he recognised as his past self looked around was his first day of school. A white pegasus filly with a blonde mane stood right next to him, but before Hase could say his memory was different, the same filly appeared in his memories as well, discombobulating the stallion furtherly.

Memories passed right in front of him before they could really see what they were. Less than a second after he saw them they also popped up in his head. It felt like remembering long forgotten details, and that was what it actually was. In fact, it was only a single detail. The mare with the white coat. As memories passed by, not following any order, they quickly reminded him who she was and he no longer found it strange, that she popped up in so many of his memories. What he found strange was how he forgot her in the first place.

Until one memory, one last memory caught the attention of his mind. There was something strange about this memory. All the others were simply memories Hase had, that had somehow excluded the white pegasus up to this moment. This one Hase never remembered having. It wasn't one of his foalhood's, otherwise it would have been normal for the black pegasus not to remember it. No, in this memory he was about the age of his last year as Celestia's scientist. Taking the streets his younger earth pony self was crossing into consideration, the pegasus deduced, that this was one of the last days before he went in cryogenic containment.

" Excuse me! " a voice was heard.

The observing stallion immeadiately recognised this voice and would knit his brows, if he was in a body he could control. His past self, however, only turned around to see the source of the voice. It turned out to be a black unicorn with dark purple mane and tail. A disguise Hase knew, of a pony he also knew. His older self, however, came closer to this pony, opposed to standing where he was and thinking the situation over, as the observing scientist would do.

" Yes? " the younger Hase asked. Before he could do anything, the unicorn shot a black magical blast at him, leaving him temporarilly paralyzed.

" You don't have to worry at least about her, Hase. " Vortex, disguised as a normal unicorn, comforted him.

" I know you're having a hard time, but I can't help you. I'll only make things worse. She, on the other side, had nothing against interferring... why am I even saying that, you won't even remember the past hour... " the unicorn said, before a dark portal with sharp curly edges opened, which he jumped in.

Then Hase suddenly turned out to be back in his current body. Realizing, that he hadn't breathed for a few seconds (the memories probably took much less time than he felt they had), he opened his eyes and took a deep breath, like a deep sea diver without any oxygen left in the tank. Startled, the unknown mare he now knew well, made a few steps back and looked at the stallion wth great concern. Even though he was still breathing heavily, the inventor decided to take it back at her for the trick she had pulled off at the entrance of the passage.

" Don't..... ever.... do.... that.... again.... " he spoke between pants. Not giving any signs, that he had recognised her, he stood there panting for another 10 seconds. The mare's concerned frown turned to a dissappointed one, since she believed her spell hadn't worked. After another pant, the black pegasus let her know it wasn't like that:

" .... never.... again... Elly. "

Elysia jolted as she heard Hase call her by her name. As she saw his naughty smile, she smiled as well and punched him in the shoulder, all of this while laughing from joy, that her spell had worked. The scientist didn't groan, he only laughed.

" I got you, didn't I? " he asked.

" You are a horrible person, Hase! For a moment I actually believed you! " she replied, while the white oreol of her magic untied the knots of the rope, that held the black pegasus to the chair he was sitting on.

" How can I ever forget my sister? " Hase spoke, before he realised, that only until a few seconds ago, he had no idea who she is. Elly wasn't too late to tell him that right after he thought of it. The siblings laughed, before they joined for a hug. As Hase's head pressed again the chest of the tall pegasus, he was reminded there were still a few questions left unanswered. A few very importrant questions.

Leaving the chair for his sister, Hase tried to pull a stone to sit on with his chaotic magic, but apparently it was too heavy for him, so instead he just moved next to it and sat on it right where it was, even though water drops fell on his head.

" I see you have grown up. The last time I remember I was actually about half an inch taller than you. " Hase brought up the question about her illogical height. There were three more questions he had to ask, but Elysia guessed them before he even asked.

" Now comes the part where you ask me about the mane and the magic. I supposed it would be rather strange for you. You probably also wonder how am I still alive after all those years? "

Hase nodded. He remembered this thing about him and his sister. Growing up together since an infant age, and often forced to work together in solving problems with their friends Gale, Thunderflight and Rush while they were on the street, the duo had got to know the other's way of thinking and could sometimes predict what they were thinking in the moment.

" Make no mistake, I am extremely happy you're back. I'm just... " Hase said her.

" ...utterly confused? " Elly completed his sentence once again, making the black pegasus focus on those past memories. Especially on the last one.

" Correct me if I'm wrong, but... wasn't the last memory about dad erasing you from my memories? " a sign of anger sneaked into his words.

" Yes. " the mare sighed.

" I don't know why he did it. We used to get along so well... " a smile appeared on the mare's face, as she moved the hairpin, that held one of the streaks of her hair, to another position, so that it held it better. She did all that with this magic she wasn't supposed to have. Nevertheless, now Hase's attention was turned on something much more importrant.

" Elly... did you know dad?  " he asked. The whole situation sounded really unfair to him. If his sister got to see their father before, why did he have to wait a whole millenium before meeting his other foal?

" Oh, right. There is no way you could know. He didn't want to tell you. " Elysia said.

" I'm starting to get really confused about all of this. " the stallion responded.

" Why did he have no trouble meeting you, but had to never reveal himself to me? "

Elly understood perfectly what her brother ment. From his own memories, all that he could conclude, was that his father somehow preferred her over him, and while she got to know him, Hase thought he'd never meet him. The white pegasus wished it was that way. Unfortunately, everything was a lot more tangled than that.

" You don't understand. " she tried to cheer him up, as she saw him frown.

" This isn't what it looks like. "

As her brother looked back at her, she saw, that her words had done nothing to ease his pain and dispel his huge dissappointment. Sadly, the truth was probably going to make him feel even worse. But it had to be said. Elysia couldn't hide it from her brother anymore.

She sighed. Her magic opened a pair of saddlebags, lying next to the wall, and brought out a book from it. The tall mare levitated it over to Hase, dropping it in the air. Luckily, he caught it with his chaotic telekinesis and opened it.

" There is a lot to explain. " the white pegasus told him.

" The truth is even more frustrating than you believe. Read the book. It will help me explain what needs to be explained. "

The inventor nodded and looked at the first page of the book. The illustrations seemed oddly familliar. Hase wondered if he had seen this book before, but he couldn't remember anything like it. Then it hit him. The illustrations were the same style as the ones from the book about Nightmare Moon and the Elements of Harmony Hase had read back in Twilight's library in Ponyville. The lavender alicorn had kept it to remind her of the day she first met her friends. This memory brought a warm sensation to Hase's heart, but he got over it. His curiosity was far too big to let himself get sentimental. So he once again focused on the book.

Eons ago, before ponykind existed and when different sentient creatures had only one world each, the first pony ever appeared in the unhabited world of Unia.

The picture depicted a large mountain with orhcards of different kind on its foot. One alicorn, the central figure of pony mythology, stood there, under a pear tree, gazing at the far away mountain. Her red mane, that fell down normally, even though she was probably the most powerful alicorn of them all, gave out, that this was the Godess Creator of ponykind - Lauren Faust. The scientist flipped to the next page.

For decades she wondered alone, exploring the world. However, one day she decided she had spent enough time in sollitude. With her divine power, the first notebook and the first pencil ever were created. There Lauren Faust sketched the four pony races - earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns and those most akin to herself- the first two alicorns. She also sketched hundreds of others miraculous species, that still roam the worlds of ponies up to this day. Upon her divine will, her drawings left the notebook and came to be.

This page depicted the creator of ponykind flying in the air, while one of the first earth ponies was leaving the pages of her notebook - the half of it on them, as a coloured sketch.

She took it upon herself to rule ponykind, and she did so with great wisdom and benevolence.

The third page depicted Lauren Faust sitting in a throne room. The inventor was starting to wonder wheter his sister wasn't playing some prank on him with this book, since it contained no useful information whatsoever. Sighing from boredom, he flipped the page again.

However, two great problems troubled the godess' mind. The endless possibilities, the different varieties and the infinity of choices were threatening to tear apart the creator's homeworld, to tear it into an infinite number of parallel worlds, where some small details were different. To keep her world from falling apart, Lauren Faust planted a flower on the top of the highest mountain in the center of her world. Its magic held Unia together.

This picture depicted the flower leaving the pages of the godess' sketchbook, heading for a small square of soil among the deep snow on top of the mountain. The creator was flying over the flower, observing it carefully. The black pegasus moved his gaze to the other page.

The much bigger problem was what ponies were doing with magic. As the world's first inhabitant, Lauren Faust knew well, that magic isn't simply magic. Magic is a mixture of two entities - Light and Darkness, named for their resemblance to those two natural entities, but actually worlds different. They were magical entities beyond anypony's understanding. When those two first mixed, the explosion caused the world of Unia to appear. From then on, those two entities ballanced eachother out as halfs of the most miraculous occurence of the world - magic. However, ponies had also found that out. They were starting to break this balance. Some unicorns preferred to have more Light in their magic, and some preferred to have more Darkness. Both didn't have any consequences. However, when the ponies tried to surpass their own tollerance, they turned into ponies, driven by their darkest desires. Their power increased and they wreaked havoc across Unia.

The picture depicted two unicorns, apparently possessed by those two entites. The left one had a red curved horn, green eyes with red irises and purple trails waving behind their eyes. It reminded Hase of a certain tyran of the Crystal Empire.

The scientist supposed the unicorn, possessed by the Light, wouldn't be as scary as the other, but turned out to be wrong. The horn of the right pony was thinner than it was supposed to be, and its top was sharp as a spear head. The pony had a treacherous smile on. The irises and pupils were too bleak, almost blending with the white of the eyes, giving this unicorn just as sinister, if not even more, appearance as their counterpart. Yellow trails waved behind this unicorn's eyes. The black pegasus flipped over to the other page.

In order to stop them, Lauren Faust chose two ponies she deemed worthy and made them the Envoy of Light and the Envoy of Darkness. They had full and ultimate control over those two entities, more than the possessed ponies could ever have. The two were assigned with the task to keep the balance between Light and Darkness in the world and stop anypony, who played with more of those two than they could handle. Those two ponies were immortal, but even in case they died, Lauren Faust had made sure the post of an Envoy would be granted only to somepony worthy.

The illustration depicted the godess standing between two other ponies about her height. Their manes were material, but waved like the ones of the Princesses, only backwards. The manes and tails were surrounded by a thin oreol with the colour of their respective entity. The next page was the last page. Its illustration depicted alternate worlds. They looked just the way Hase had seen them from the Void. He got to reading the last few sentences of the book.

However, soon Unia was destroyed. Somepony had ripped off the magical flower, that held the world together. The endless varieties and choces ripped the world apart, creating an infinity of worlds, populated by ponies.

The inventor closed the book and dropped it on the floor. He then looked at his sister, recalling the image of the two Envoys. He smiled and asked:

" You are the Envoy of Light, Elly, am I right? "

" Yes. " the white mare replied.

Hase nodded. Now it was all pretty obvious. Her size, the waving mane... hay, even her coat and mane pattern matched the post of an Envoy of Light. Nonetheless, something wasn't quite right. There was an infinity of worlds, populated by ponies. The endless varieties sure included one world, where the presence of an Envoy was needed. It certainly wasn't this world. So why was Elysia here? Why had she come only to unlock his memories? She surely had something more importrant to do.

" Then... don't you have something more importrant to do then unlocking my memories? " the black pegasus turned those thoughts into words.

" Don't get me wrong, sis, I can't be more grateful... but doesn't the Multiverse need you or something? "

Elly smiled as he said that.

" Lauren Faust is smarter than you think. " she replied.

" As Unia was torn apart, she was quick to realise her Envoys couldn't deal with all of those worlds. Also, if she created two Envoys for each world, in one of the infinite alternate worlds, the Envoys would meet their counterparts from another dimension and begin a war, which was going to be the reason for the death of many ponies. So she added a passive ability to them, one only she could block or remove. From then on, as long as the two Envoys were in the same world, a power lock spell, that covered all the worlds of ponykind, was projected, twisting fate in such a way, that whenever a really strong  possessed pony appears, there is always a chance for them to be defeated by the ponies in this world. "

" Does it work? " the inventor raised an eyebrow.

" Your friends defeated King Sombra, didn't they? " his sister replied with a question.

" I'm not saying, that the Crystal Heart wasn't going to be powerful enough otherwise. What I'm saying is, that thanks to this lock, fate was twisted in such a way, King Sombra penetrated the barrier Princess Cadence had put up a few minutes later than he would have otherwise, granting your friends the time to find the heart and stop him. "

" Sooo... you mean, that the Envoy of Darkness is in Equestria? " Hase asked.

" Not anymore. " Elysia replied.

" She is here? " the inventor exclaimed. That ment the Envoy of Darkness was part of their group. Who could it be? Hase excluded the Mane 6, since he was sure, that they would have shared such an importrant information with eachother. He also left out the Sentinels of the Elements. The Princesses were an option, but the scientist doubted they would hide such power. Which ment he had mistaken the gender of this Envoy. He quickly got to the identity of the Envoy.

" It's our father, isn't it. " his sentence sounded more like a statement than like a question.

Elly frowned. Her reply shocked her brother more than anything else, that he had learned before.

" Your father, really. And no, Hase, it's you. "

The shock made the black pegasus mute for about two minutes. His sister made no sence whatsoever. He was pretty normal, and he was pretty sure his mane didn't wave when he was sleeping, so that he wouldn't see it. It was clear he'd have to clear this situation out, so he decided to start with the lesser evil. The first part of her statement.

" First, what do you mean by your father? " he emphasised on the possessive adjective.

" Vortex isn't my biological father. True, he's the only father I've ever known, and he is my father the same way he is yours, but I am not his real daughter. " she replied, still frowning. The tall mare hadn't really managed to inform her brother as subtle as she'd wanted to.

" Do you imply that you're adopted? " Hase asked.

" Sort of. " Elly said. Seeing, that his sister was still frowning, Hase got next to her and hugged her, thinking her frown of dissappointment for a frown of sadness. Elysia finally smiled. Her brother seemed to be taking the news rather well.

" Do you want me to tell you the whole story? " she turned to him.

" I'm listening. " the stallion said, as he broke the hug and sat on the ground. His face was begging for explanations, so Elly began as soon as she saw it.

" I am alive because of you. In some way. I don't know how, but dad knew you were the Envoy of Darkness since the moment you were born. That's highly unlikely, since the signs usually appear somewhere around the 300th year. You'll get them in about a week. "

" Why?! " Hase exclaimed. Just as he thought he'd have enough time to adapt, Elly suddenly dropped it on him, that he'll get taller than a basketball player in a matter of days.

" Last time I checked you were about 1000 years old. " the pegasus with the blonde mane rolled her eyes.

" I was in cryogenic sleep. " the inventor wondered wheter stating this fact would actually stop the transformation.

" That doesn't matter. " the tall mare proved him wrong.

" You can't cheat magic. However, let's get back to the story. Somehow, dad knew you were an Envoy of Darkness. He used your natural magical attraction for the other Envoy. This attraction usually twists fate in such a way, that the two Envoys meet as soon as possible. However, it doesn't work when the other Envoy is in another world. So, he used a tracking spell and your attraction to find the world where I was born.

My homeworld was much more different than the worlds you've seen. In ancient times, due to the two Envoys being in different worlds, it was nearly destroyed by a possessed pony with dark potential about 40%... "

" What is that dark potential? " her brother interrupted her.

" It's a measurment unit for how much more darkness than usual one has in their magic. " Elly answered.

" It's the same with light potential. Potential measures how much more from either Light or Darkness one has in their magic. Zero Potential means the pony's magic is a perfect balance between Light and Darkness. Most ponies have zero potential. Unicorns can withstand up to about 5 percent of either potential without getting possessed. If they train, they could reach 7. If they exceed their maximum, they get possessed. When one gets possessed by either Light or Darkness, no matter which, they become driven by their deepest desires. Meanwhile the world gets slightly out of balance. It gets serious if the possessed pony's potential is somewhere around 35. "

" Didn't you say one gets corrupted at about 7 percent? Then how is it possible for a possessed pony to be so powerful? " Hase wondered.

" The more the possessed pony uses their magic, and the possessed ones can't use magic with 0 or the opposite potential, the bigger their potential becomes. There are only three ways they could be stopped: if somepony takes on their potential, which isn't really a sollution, unless there is a really big group of unicorns, who could share it; if somepony kills them, or if a pony with a higher potential of the same variety absorbs their power. "

" How... " Hase began, but saw, that his sister wasn't very fond of him constantly interrupting. Realising, that she'd explain everything, that she needed to explain, the stallion shut his mouth.

" It doesn't affect their own potential, but the corrupted pony is reverted back to normal.

However, let's get back to the story. My world was nearly destroyed by a unicorn with 40% dark potential. It only survived because this unicorn was bitten by a snake. A new kingdom was founded in the ashes of the old one. One mare became an oracle. Her predictions were always right, so the King took her forhis advisor. The mare's last prophecy, however, was left unfinished. It spoke of an Envoy of Darkness. Nopony knew what it was back then, and the oracle died before she could explain it. All the ponies knew was that the Envoy of Darkness was a pony with 100% dark potential. Merely surviving the 40% and knowing, that one day one pony would have 100%, scared ponies, which is understandable. This book you read was found by our father in a very old section of the Canterlot Library. I doubt even the Princesses remember it. However, what is importrant, is that the ponies in my world had no knowledge of the Envoys, and of Light and Darkness in general. They assumed, that Light is good, while Darkness is evil. They couldn't know, that the entities themselves aren't evil, that they simply bring out the worst in possessed ponies. So, a pact was made. A pact, that all nobles and royals would keep. The plan for a creation of the Envoy of Light, who would stop the threat.

Over decades, centuries and millenia the noble lines increased their light potential. A pony with 7 percentwas only allowed to marry another with 7 percent, and their foals began with 7 percent, instead of 0. Those foals grew up to become individuals with 8 percent, and their foals were also 8 percent, who after their training increased their potential to 9 percent and so on and so forth. Over the course of almost 5 millenia the light potential of the nobles increased, until finally it resulted in my biological parents - King Splendor and Queen Lumina, both with 99 percent light potential. The whole country awaited my birth - the birth of the Envoy of Light. Before you ask me about it, an Envoy of Light is always worthy. The fact, that I was going to be an Envoy erased any other opportunitites before I was even born. I guess it was the same with you.

However, my homeworld was soon going to come to an end. Even though those, possessed by light, were eliminated, the increase in light magic usage had destabilized the world. It was mere days away from collapsing. In the day of my birth, that was about a week after yours, dad showed up and explained the situation to my biological parents. He told them everything I told you about the Envoys, and said he needed me to ballance you out back in Equestria. Also, history proved, that Envoys, who had grown up together, were most effective. Vortex could sense the disbalance of my homeworld, while the ponies, living in it, were used to it and could not. My parents agreed and dad took me to Equestria. Before I left, however my mother touched me with an artifact. She didn't know Vortex could protect me in a cocoon.

Years passed. We were still foals. A few months after I got my cutie mark, dad revealed himself to me. He offered to teach me how to use my Light magic. He also promised to teach me how to use my chaotic powers, since they had shown up at about the same time. We trained. We became really close. I felt sorry for you not being able to see your own father, while I met him every day, but Vortex said, that it was for your own good. He had blocked your true appearance, your chaotic powers and your powers of an Envoy, although he couldn't block the powers himself. I did that. He said I was free to develop my powers, since even if the Princesses found out about my existense, they would do nothing, while if all the truth about you was revealed, they would consider you their greatest enemy. He said, that we were blocking your powers in order to protect you.

At the same time you developed the eternal life formula, I was beginning to learn on my own. Vortex had taught me all he knew about magic and chaotic magic. I could wield the light magic, including Light itself, and was as skilled as any chaotic graduate back in his days, or at least so he claimed. The next two years were the worst of my life. I saw your fall, and yet I couldn't do anything. Vortex said, that if we interferred, we'd only make things worse. So even though I could save you, I didn't. I hated myself for it. In the end, about 2 weeks before you escaped, I had a fierce argument with your father. I left to search for you. Apparently he erased your memories back than. I couldn't find you.

1000 years passed. I perfected my Envoy magic and my chaotic skills. My life wasn't something special, I simply laid low. Untill I heard you were back. I headed to Ponyville as quickly as possible. I got there just in time. Your dark powers were just about to be revealed. I was tempted to remove your father's spells, to tell you everything, but as I saw what happy life you had, I couldn't. I simply hid while supressing your powers. That was until Vortex showed up and you vanished. I used the same method he used to find me back as a foal to track you. This was the time to tell you everything. Vortex had already revealed a part of it, and you didn't react that bad, so I decided this was the best time I had to get rid of my burden. Now it's finally gone. " Elysia finished.

Hase gazed through the entrance of the cave, observing the night outside. His friends were probably worried about him. He could fly away and follow them, and yet he couldn't just leave his sister behind. She wasn't responsible for what he had just heard. She was only trying to protect him. The real manipulator was still in his group. Now that Hase knew everything, he didn't know how to feel about it.

" Are you OK? " Elly asked. She jumped back, startled by the sudden thud. When she looked around, she noticed a mace and some kind of rope levitating next to her brother. He also had a cloak on his back. A long black cloak.

" No. How can I be alright? " Hase turned around. He was wearing some kind of armour the tall mare hadn't noticed before because of the cloak. The inventor couldn't know it, but this was the Armour of Doom. It was crafted out of black metal and was decorated with ornaments, most of which dragons. Two dragon heads stood on the shoulderplates, with their mouths half opened. Even though as the black pegasus walked around, it became clear, that it had separate elements, the main chest piece and the rest of the elements looked like one. The hoof pieces were decorated with black dragon tails, falling down. A blow of the wind blew the mantle aside, allowing Elly to see the back part of the Armour of Doom. Black metal spikes followed the line of the spine, just like on a real dragon. Even the wings were protected. Before Hase put the mantle back in place without using any magic or touching it in any way, which made the tall mare very upset, one last thing she could conclude was, that the sinister looking armour, apparently inspired by dragons, covered Hase's whole body. It only let out his tail, his head, along with a part of his neck, and the feathers of his wings.

Along with the Mace of Rage, the Mantle of Deceit and the Whip of Despair, this armour gave Hase a very sinister appearance.  Elysia unwillingly made a few steps back as he approached her. That surprised the stallion, who looked around, befuddled. He hadn't even felt the armour appear. Hase frowned. Another of those mysterious things, that constantly popped up around him. All of the rest had also appeared. At the very thought of it, the four weapons dissappeared, leaving Hase as he was before. Now he was at least able to summon them whenever he needed them, and not carry them all the time.

His feelings had not cooled down yet though. He looked at his sister and repeated his words.

" How can I be alright? I've just learnt, that my whole life up to the moment I met my new friends was a fabrication. A lie! Don't I have any say in the decision about my life? All this time I was controlled. I don't blame you, Elly, " Hase said, as he saw, that his sister was about to cry.

" , don't cry. I simply don't know what to think. He has been watching me all this time... didn't he have the heart to come to me, when he could put on any disguise? I spent all my foalhood years dreaming of my real father returning, and all that time you knew that? Couldn't you just say it to me? No, because he didn't allow you to. He wanted to have total control over my life.

A minute ago I would have blamed you. I thought I had no control over my own life. That I am doomed to always follow his plans. However, now, in this very moment, I do have a choice. I have a choice wheter to return to him and continue to listen to lies, or to stay with you until I'm sure he's telling me the truth. No more secrets. No more lies. "

Hase knew what he was going to do. He was going to stay with his sister and catch up with her for all of those years he lost in the cryo chamber. All those years that he lost because of his father being too afraid to reveal himself. He wasn't going to let anypony down because of his emotions. He was the Envoy of Darkness? Well, he'd have to learn to cope with it. His life had been controlled? In the past yes, but was he being controlled now? No. He took decisions of his own and he was fully responsible for them. Last evening he had no purpose, no clear target. Now he had one. To unveil the truth, no matter how many layers of lies he'd have to take off it.

Hase glared down the valley. His friends were probably worried. Well, he'd have to lead them to believe he's gone. At least for a few days. An idea had appeared in his mind. An idea, that would help him get more of the truth his father tenaciously kept from him.

The inn

About half an hour had passed since Formidon landed near the group, ignoring any regulations he had agreed to. At first that had confused the ponies, since landing before the night was dark enough ment the dragon could easily be spotted. However, as they heard what had happened, all agreed the matter was of greater importrance. Vortex flew away in search for his son, while the rest of the group moved with great haste to reach the inn at the entrance of the passage faster, with a chance of getting some information on their missing friend.

Rarity was walking in the end of the line, with her head down. Dark thoughts roamed inside her head. Unlike most of the ponies, who were wondering about the ponynapper's identity, she didn't really care. Her thoughts were headed in a whole different direction. What was happening to the stallion of her heart was the only thing, that really troubled her. With all of the horrors of this land, that the runcinians had described, literally anything could be happening to him.

The white mare knew, that her coltfriend didn't have it very easy in the last few days. Those days turned out to be a downward slope for him. It wasn't the best time for another adventure, at least for him. Rarity knew Hase very well. The pegasus was very much like her: he found joy in the little things- a morning kiss, a prank, played on him by Sweetie Belle, an unstable invention exploding one second later than expected... Before she knew him, from Celestia's story, the fashionista mare had thought quite the opposite, with all of those potions and all. Later on she found out he had actually been driven by his sense of duty.

His nature was probably also the thing that made him fall in love with her in first place. As he had told her back in Aseamos, he was enchanted by her everyday routine, by the determination with which she completed the orders for different dresses. Ironically, while Hase found happiness in the little things, he constantly found himself dealing with big problems. One other thing he had shared with her was that he didn't like to plan too much in advance: he liked to live for the day whenever possible. That's why Rarity suspected the two year chase with Celestia and then the aseamosian adventure had tired him more than they tired Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie for an example. Those two seemed to have endless stamina. The unicorn didn't, so she could relate. There was no better feeling than when she came back from the farse, that was the Royal Canterlot Wedding, and immeadietly headed for the spa, where she spent one of the arguably most pleasureable afternoons in her life. Normal life probably had the same effect on her coltfriend.

Just like the aseamosian adventure was the reason for the metaphorical rise of Hase - from another past enemy of Equestria to a pretty normal pony Rarity had come to love, this adventure was the reason for his degradation. Because of it everypony were constantly under stress, and it seemed to have a worse effect on some than on the others. Hase was one of this some. This adventure prevented him from truly bonding with his father, Vortex remaining more of a teacher figure for him. Could it even turn out any different? The black pegasus only knew his father for less than a week and probably hadn't spent even 5 hours together with him. The stress was probably also the reason for him killing those ponies and earning the dreaded weapons his father had told them about. Rarity knew, that spending 2 days back in the old Ponyville would be enough for Hase to revert back to his normal self. However, they couldn't simply desert those ponies, even though according to Luna, Celestia could recognise their homeworld and teleport them all back in it. They needed help and the equestrian group couldn't refuse it to them.

However, Rarity was afraid, that by the time their quest was over, it would be too late for Hase's rehabilitation. His weapons were appearing with a rate, that suggested he'd have them all before they even reach Mouthguard. Who knew if he wouldn't return with one or even two more of them, furtherly stimulated by his abductor?

" Are you feeling OK? " a familliar voice spoke, bringing the white mare out of her dark thoughts. She lifted her head back to its normal position and looked around to locate its source. It was Spike, just as she had expected. The unicorn smiled. No matter what happened, Spike was always by her side. Even though her affection to him never evolved into anything greater, the designer mare was still very fond of him.

" Does your head ache? Since if it does, I can... " the baby dragon spoke, concerned about his former crush. Nonetheless, before he could finish, she interrupted him.

" You needn't do anything, Spikey- Wikey. " the purple- maned unicorn replied. The almost ridiculous level of concern, that could be felt in the dragon's voice, made her smile, which in turn convinced Spike she wasn't in need of any remedies.

" Don't fret. I'm sure he's somewhere outthere, kicking flanks to get here back with us. " the purple dragon managed to cheer Rarity up with the casual tone he said the last sentence with.

" You sure Spike? " she asked, somewhat jollier than before.

" What if his ponynapper has one of those curved knives with venom- coated edges? "

The reason for this otherwise ludicrously sophisticated statement was Dagger's statement, which the young dragon had heard along with everypony else. While Twilight and Applejack were speculating about the ponynapper, the heartless assassin apparently felt an urge to make the equestrians worry even more. She described different weapons, typical for the runcinian assassins, and different techniques utilized to keep the victim alive during torture. Spike didn't know wheter she found any pleasure in this or was simply as blunt as one gets, but her comment expectedly didn't have a postive effect on the Mane 6 and on the opinion they had about her. Although it probably helped in some way, since after the assassin was far enough, the subject radically shifted to her.

" Nah, from what I heard it sounds like they are an amateur. " Spike shrugged his shoulders.

" I could expect something like that from somepony like the Shade, but not from somepony hanging around with a white robe and a wooden horn?! Seriously? " the dragon's exclamation made Rarity chuckle, which for Spike was the sole purpose of the conversation.

" I mean really, impersonating Celestia with. A wooden. Horn. That's just so...Humdrum! "

" Wait, wait, wait. " Rarity spoke with a cheerful tone.

" The Shade? Humdrum? Who are those ponies? "

" Oh, they are just two characters from my comic books. " Spike began his explanation.

" Humdrum is the clumsy sidekick of the Masked Matterhorn with no superpowers at all. Most of the times he just keeps getting in her way, but when that happens, most of the times he somehow manages to fix things. "

" That reminds me of a certain favourite dragon I know. " the white unicorn chuckled. However, as she saw the dragon frown, and taking his tendency of inferiority complex, she quickly explained exactly what she ment:

" Oh no, Spikey- Wikey, I only ment you always manage to save us, even when everything seems hopeless. After all, wasn't it because of your letter Discord was defeated? "

" I think that was a coincidence. " Spike noted.

" But anyway, I hope you aren't planning to leave me disinformed in terms of knowledge of this Shade you mentioned. It would be very mean of you to get me interested and than leave me without any explanation. " the fashionista mare spoke in a humorous tonality.

" Not at all! " Spike exclaimed.

" The Shade is the sort of bad guy everypony secretely roots for. He isn't really a villain - more of an antihero. He's a mercenary, who excells at close quarters combat and firearms - imagine something like Pinkie's party cannon. Firearms are basically the same thing, with the exception of the fact that they're small enough to be hidden in a book and are lethal.

That guy's neither a villain nor a hero. He fights for whoever pays. I remember, that in one issue, I can't recall which, Bruise Way, who is secretely Mare Do Well, hired him or her, since nopony knows anything about the Shade - even his\her gender, " the baby dragon explained.

" , to help Mare do Well in the pursue of Poison Joke. "

" Is Bruise Way a mare's name? " Rarity's confusion was understandable.

" I don't know why they couldn't think of anything better either. " the dragon said and shrugged his shoulders.

Rarity showed deep interest in the comics Spike was reading, and he was more than willing to share all the info he had - on one side, to distract his former crush from the situation with the still missing Hase, and on the other - what comic book fan wouldn't rejoice when somepony chooses him as their guide in the comic book world? The two chatted all the way to the inn. Now when only the moon and the stars illuminated  the land, Formidon could land safely and get back inside his wagon.

The group was the only ponies to seek shelter for the night, and since the owner only came down to get paid in advance (too many customers left in the early morning, leaving only their messy rooms behind), they were alone in the main room on the ground fllor. Arcane Bliss went to the kitchen to prepare some dinner for the group, and the rest gathered around a long table. On the two short ends stood Celestia and Forge.

The room itself looked as if somehow had built it specifically for coversations, that weren't made to be heard. It was dimly litten by chandeliers with six handles each. The candles, however, were of low quality, illuminating the room with probably the least light one candle could produce. The inn looked decrepit from the outside and was miserable from the inside. The furniture consisted of the table, the chairs, a wardrobe and a painting. Irregular mold patterns could be spotted in the corners. Apparently, the inn wasn't very succesful. Midnight Bell was just as confused as the rest, since she had claimed the place was in an excellent state, because it was the only one in a radius of at least a mile.

Then, however, a nearly forgotten memory found its way back to Metal Chord's mind.

" Bergenparadies. " the word, that came out of his mouth, sounded germaneian.

" That's why it's in such a bad shape. Who would want to stay in such a barn, when the Bergenparadies Guesthouse is so nearby?

I wished we could stay there. Back when me and my father stayed there, the place had mineral baths, a mineral pool, professional massage ponies... "

Rarity gulped as the swordspony continued describing the numerous relaxation procedures this guest house offered. Even worse, the place turned out to be only a day on hoof away, in Westend. Forge also recalled the place, since he had helped with the installation of the copper pipes he and a colleague of his had designed specifically for this center. The smith hadn't been there after the place opened, but the swordspony assured them it was worlds better than where they where currently staying, which contributed to the sinking of the group's mood.

" Our search was unsuccessful. " Vortex said, after he entered the room and took his place.

" There is still no sign of Hase. "

The spark of hope vanished from Rarity's eyes.

" We'll continue tommorrow. " Celestia announced.

" Now I advise you all to have some rest. We have yet another day of walking ahead of us. "

" Yeah, and we'll also have to lay low. " Metal Chord nodded, somehow absentminded.

Luna knit her brows.

" What do you mean? "

The swordspony turned his attention back to the conversation. Panic took over his mind, as he realized there was one importrant discovery he had made he had forgot to share with the rest of the group. He quickly recalled what the heroes from his adventure novels would do if they were in his horseshoes and he did the same. The unicorn dramatically stood up, pulled some piece of paper out of the sheath of his sword and dramatically dropped it on the table.

Fearing what she could find inside, Twilight, who stood right where Metal Chord stood, only across the table, used her magic to spread the scroll. Her pupils shrinked as she quickly skimmed over the lines of text. She threw an accusing glare at the blonde stallion, before reading the text out loud:

" Wanted for their crimes against the land and ponies of Runcinia. A group of about 20 ponies, that are listed bellow:

A white unicorn. No criminal record, but suspected of treason against the king. Reward: 300 bits. Dead or alive.

An orange earth pony. No criminal record.... it's the same. We're all in here. " the upset alicorn looked at her five friends. Rainbow Dash, who was sitting next to Twilight, managed to catch a glimpse. All of the Mane 6 were described good enough for anypony to recognise them. 300 bits were a lot of money. The whole endeavour suddenly became a lot riskier.

It was worse with the rest, though. Apparently, their actions in Smith's Keep hadn't remained unnoticed.

" Six hooded ponies with height above average. No record, suspected for treason, 200 bits. Dead or alive. "

Everypony were sitting silent as Twilight went on with the list.

" Forge and Arcane Bliss. Lengthy criminal record. Supporters of the notorious Rebellion. Ponies, hoofing them over for execution will be rewarded 2000 bits for each. "

The silence was broken, and so was the plate Arcane had used to carry the meal. The group didn't react as it would have otherwise, since everypony were too shocked to turn their attention to something minor like the spilt meal, lying on the ground.

" Unidentified mare. No description: witnesses were murdered before any details were given out. Subject is extremely dangerous. 2000 bits reward. "

Dagger's expression didn't change in any way. At least she could still travel relatively safe, although Twilight was sure she wouldn't like to know how she had managed to maintain her anonymous state.

" A dragon infant. Harmless. Four malefic unicorn/pegasi hybrids... malefic?! " Twilight was starting to get angry. Neither of the four alicorns had really done anything, and suddenly they were all malefic?

" Black pegasus to be furtherly known as Subject 17. Extremely dangerous. 20 kills. Clashes with the guard force. Unauthorized freeing of prisoners... "

Since Hase was the one, who had interacted at most with said authorities, it could be expected his description would be the longest one. The reward for his head was 400 bits. Rarity frowned. Her coltfriend was in danger, and he didn't even know it.

The last straw, however, was how Metal Chord was assessed. The group might have even found it for humorous, if they weren't in their current state of dissappointment and anger.

" Metal Chord. To be handed over to the authorities for 10 000 bits, in order to be presented to the king for an audience. "

Everypony stared at the unicorn, who by this time knew he had screwed up big this time. He knew what everypony were thinking: How does this guy get an audience, while we all get a death sentence? Even though one could use the group's anger to fry an egg, nopony said a single word. Instead, everypony simply headed for their rooms, leaving Metal Chord alone with his thoughts.

Espionage

The sun was shining upon the passage, now high enough to illuminate the whole of it. Shadows could now be found only under the trees. The scenery looked like if somepony had turned a picture into a part from the real world. The highest parts of the peaks, surrounding the passage, were covered with pearl white snow, reflecting light better than any pony- made mirror. Bellow the level of the snow and the rocks began lush meadows, which looked like they were the inspiration for the word green. Pine woods coloured in darker green covered the rest of the mountain slopes all the way down to the lawns on the two sides of the river. The road to Westend passed through those lawns, occasionally going over the river, which was about thrice as big than from when the group had last seen it, before it went north to leave Smith's Keep on the south bank, only to join the road in its dance again about two hours walk after the city.

The bridges were made out of stone, with wooden railings, made out of thick logs. Even though the railings required reparation works each decade, the stone bridges themselves had lasted centuries, increasing the glory of the bridge builders from the valley, whose tradition dated back to the dawn of Runcinia.

As an eagle flew down from his nest in the base of a lower peak, his eyes locked on a groundhog about a mile and a half bellow, that was soon about to become his breakfast, there was no way he wouldn't notice the two ponies, flyinf on the border between the meadows and the pine woods. After the groundhog was no more, the eagle soared above, studying the two ponies from pure curiosity.

Those two ponies were Hase and Elysia. The two pegasi were flying alongside eachother, while the smaller stallion was explaining his plan to his sister.

" ... camouflage spell. You know how to do a camouflage spell, don't you? "

" Of course I do. " Elly rolled her eyes. Had her brother forgotten how she got to him in the first place?

" Alright than. I'll... "

The inventor went on to explaining the details of his simple plan. This plan was (hopefully) going to make Vortex confess any secrets he hadn't shared with his son. It sounded a bit too elaborate to Elysia, who considered, that eavesdropping would have the same result, until after 5 minutes of arguments she finally agreed, that perhaps her brother's overly elaborate plan might actually be a tad more successful. The plan was repeated over and over again, unnecessary details were omitted, and finally Elysia could start with the first step of this plan - learning Hase the camouflage spell unicorns normally used.

" It's not good to start with camouflage. " she spoke.

" You aren't used to using your dark magic yet. How about you try some of the spells you know from your chaotic training to get used to it? " the tall mare suggested.

No longer having any trouble with magic during flight, Hase tried to cast his telekinesis to lift a piece of dirt. The dirt was picked up and was soon flying in direction Westend with the same speed as Hase, while he held it with his telekinesis. Only one problem. The oreol, described by the Envoy of Light was absent. Instead the piece of dirt was surrounded by a black oreol with sharp edges, indicating, that the scientist had used chaotic telekinesis to pick it up and not the normal version.

The next 10 minutes consisted of failed attempts to find the source of his own magic, the magic of an Envoy. No matter what Hase did, he always felt the surge of chaotic energy and the oreol was always black with sharp edges. After all of those failed attempts, Hase sighed and dropped the dirt on the ground, leaving it behind. Then he became aware of the presence of an itch somewhere inside his head. It wasn't in the back, nor was it in the front. It elt as if it was right in the middle of his brain. Even though the inventor suspected it was just a random itch, he focused on it and tried to apply his telekinesis on another piece of dirt he was going to pass by after about 5 seconds.

It worked. The piece of dirt was raised, surrounded by a totally different nature. Startled by the sudden success, Hase forgot to fly his wings and fell on the grass. When he got back up to look at the dirt, he saw Elly had stopped as well. The piece of dirt didn't seem corrupted in any way, even though the oreol surrounding it looked quite malicious. It consisted of dark purple bubbles with green outlines, that popped as fast as the steam bubbles inside a cup of boiling water. Small black electrical sparks also occured, occasionally running across the surface of the dirt piece.

This magic felt weird... but was actually normal, since what Hase considered normal was the cold, flowing feeling of the chaotic magic. This magic was nothing like it. He had a tingling sensation in his whole body, an itch too small to be annoying. Unicorns and alicorns felt the same, the only difference was that this feeling was usually concentrated in their horn, making the itch in the whole body intangible, just like a trombone silenced a flute. However, any unicorn could feel it if they knew it existed. With no horn, Hase felt this sensation without concentrating on it. Seeing that he had succeeded, his sister smiled and used her own magic to levitate a small stone. There was an uncanny resemblance between light and dark magic. The only difference were the colours- the electrical sparks were white, the bubbles - light yellow and their outlines - darker yellow.

" That's how unbalanced magic looks like. " Elly put the hairpin, that held one of the waving streaks of her blonde mane and which kept slipping down, back in place and focused on the theory.

" The less unbalanced the magic is, the more it will strive to balance itself. Up to 10 percent it looks like this, and it will return to its normal state in about 5 minutes of usage. You and I, however, are unable of normal magic, which means we can use this unballanced magic. However, bear in your mind, that it's not very effective. There's a big chance the spell would collapse before it fulfills its task or reaches its target.  If I don't need much power, I usually use from 10 to 20 percent.

The white mare demonstrated. Her magic oreol stabilized. The bubbles were now medium in size, popping less often. After a few failed attempts, Hase also understood how to increase and decrease the potential. After switching from the more stable to the more unstable version of the magic, he decided to see what awaited beyond the 20 percent. As the tingling sensation became stronger, the oreol changed. The dark purple bubbles with the green outlines were now tiny, not popping at all, and the black electrical sparks formed a constant net across the surface of the piece of dirt. After a second Elly's oreol mirrored his, black, purple and green replaced by white, light yellow and darker yellow, just like before.

" That's how magic looks like with 20 to 40 percent potential. " she explained.

" This type of magic is the strongest magic one uses for non- combat situations. I usually use it for heavy lifting or teleportation. Above 40 percent... now that's where stuff gets interesting... " the mare teased her brother, knowing he was going to increase the power as soon as she had finished speaking. It was a great joy for her to see her brother finally wield his true potential, not limited by anything.

After Hase passed the 40 percent border, the oreol began looking more like real magic. There was this relatively normal oreol with the small waves, although they moved a lot faster than on normal unicorns' horns, making the stallion think his spell had somehow caused time to speed up. The electrical sparks were now green and were about twice the size of their black predecessors. Soon after the oreol changed the dirt lump fell apart. When the confused stallion glared at his teacher, she already had an answer ready:

" I told you. Magic with potential bigger than 40 percent is too strong to be used for normal spells. One can only use it during combat. "

Hase nodded. This made sence. He recalled the pathetic chaotic blast he had conjured a few days ago. His limit didn't allow him to feed the blast enough energy to be effective. Now, after his sister had told the, that there is no such border for the Envoys, and after he spent a few minutes adapting this spell to use it with darkness, five balls of darkness appeared in front of Hase. Each was the size of a baseball, dark purple in size with green sparks surging from the inside. Glad that his spells would finally make a difference in a battle, the inventor used his mind to set them flying into the woods.

The next level was even better. The stallion's magical oreol was now half- black and half-dark purple, the green sparks bigger and appearing more often - there wasn't a single moment in which a spark, some of which were 2 feet long, didn't come out of the dark magical blast the scientist had cast. Elysia explained, that this level of magic was only used for complex battle spells.

However, things got really strange when Hase reached 100%. The oreol was now pitch black( Elly's was white), but the waves on its surface were about 5 times slower than usual. The blast Hase tried to conjure dissappeared a moment after its casting.

" Pure darkness and pure light can only be used for spells, requiring enormous amounts of energy. " the tall mare cleared out.

For obvious reasons she couldn't demonstrate, so the duo could now pass to the first step of the plan: teaching Hase a camouflage spell. Elly first went on to demonstrating the spell herself.

Small glittering white stars began appearing on the mare's coat. They multiplied, soon covering her whole body. Then they passed to the mane and tail. Hase could clearly notice how the waving mane and tail began fading, along with most of Elysia's body. What was left after a minute was his sister as he remembered her - a normal blonde pegasus mare. However, the spell wasn't complete yet. Under the effect of the small glittering stars, the white pegasus' coat slowly shifted to light pink, to darker pink, untill finally the coat of the pony was light red. Her mane and tail underwent a simillar process, causing them to end up in a darker shade of red. The small stars slowly vanished and the Envoy of Light was fully disguised.

" See? " she asked. The inventor couldn't keep himself from gasping, as even the voice of his sister had changed.

" Uh, I've got a few questions. " he muttered, still shocked by the dramatic change. His sister nodded in responce.

" Firstly, isn't the spell supposed to be a fast green wave, starting from the head? "

Having been told of the changeling invasion in Canterlot, and having been informed about the changelings by his friend Twilight, Hase had been led to believe, that there is only one kind of camouflage spells. Actually, the changelings used their own version of the spell, that was a much better version of the spell unicorns used. It only took seconds, while Elysia's transformation had taken three minutes.

After the Envoy of Light explained that to him, Hase was ready to ask his second question.

" Secondly, what happens with the rest of your body? Is it invisible? Is it ethereal? "

Knowing, that he'd be as high as his siter in a matter of days, the scientist wanted to know what would happen to the rest of his body while he was in his disguise. He was worried some part of his body might not reappear when the time came to regain his initial appearance. He shared his concerns with Elly, but she just laughed and explained, that nopony knows the answer to the first question, but the spell somehow made sure the user would look as real as possible and therefore the rest of the caster's body either vanished or was somehow compressed in the body of the pony whose appearance once had. That only lasted for the duration of the spell, though, and by so far there were no records of missing body parts after one regained their original appearance.

His worries dispelled, Hase could now begin training the camouflage spell.

Meanwhile, the main group, although about two miles behind, was also headed to Westend. The group had got up early to travel more in the early hours, hoping this ment nopony would see them and recognise them. That's why the ponies were initially walking with twice their normal speed. However, when Midnight's clock showed it was 11 a.m. and there were still no signs of other ponies, the group slowed down to its normal speed, convinced they wouldn't meet anypony on the road today, as it had been for the last few days.  Just in case, the Sentinels of the Elements were walking in front of the rest. If they saw somepony coming, Tempest could easily conceal the group in a thick fog. Even though the cloudless skies would make such fog highly suspicious, it was better than if they were recognised, therefore all had agreed to this plan.

Curious about the area they were currently in, Twilight was having a conversation with Midnight Bell, since she seemed to know a lot about it. The two mares had remained about 50 feet behind the main part of the group, since Midnight wasn't sure if her friends wouldn't be annoyed with their conversation. Twilight knew for sure, that her friends wouldn't have anything against it (after being friends with Twilight, they had "combat training". Twilight smiled to her own joke.), but she couldn't be sure about the Runcinians. Of course, she couldn't guess what Dagger was thinking (if she could, she'd double-check if she had any psychic powers. This mare's poker face was as perfect as one gets.), Arcane Bliss seemed to take it rather well, but after putting his hoof in his mouth, Metal Chord, the cocky swordspony, seemed down in the dumps, and Forge was still irritated from last night's events. So it was best for the two mares to converse separate from the rest.

Right now the conversation was revolving around the rare species of flower, that growed on the cliffs of the gorge.

" Pharmacepts in Mouthguard have developed a peculiar extract from this plant. " Midnight Bell told the lavender alicorn.

" It proved itself to be extremely effective against pox - it heals it in a matter of days - but researchers suspect it holds even greater potential. "

" Do you have laboratories in Mouthguard? " Twilight was surprised. She was left with the impression, that Runcinia was a few technological levels bellow Equestria, and now it suddenly turned out there were chemical laboratories in the capital - something, that suggested equal or higher level.

" You wouldn't suppose so judging by the rest of the country, I know. " the unicorn with the bronze coat guessed what she was thinking.

" On the whole, I suppose your land is much more advanced than ours. Outside Mouthguard, the most modern thing you'll see are the machines in Smith's Keep.

But Mouthguard... that's a whole new world. My life before going there seemed like a prelude once I got there. When one thinks about it, it's actually logical. Mouthguard is the biggest port in a 300 leagues long part of the continent's coast. The trade and the science there were influenced by civilisations from the eastern continent. The capital, I guess I'll have to repeat myself, is a different world. Researchers are 'this' close to creating a flying machine. It won't be able to carry an engine, but one would be able to glide with it.

Magic is on another level as well. A second course student from the Academy is as skilled as a master, who studied elsewhere. I can't wait till everything is over. I was promised Professor Hex would be appointed as my personal teacher! " the unicorn exclaimed.

Judging by the mare's tone, Twilight supposed this Professor Hex was somepony like Starswirl the Bearded. In order to be sure, she asked the mare who that was.

" Oh, he's just the most skilled magician to ever exist! Him being your teacher guarantees you success! He's beyond any other master. Nopony has surpassed him yet. "

After the conversation went on for a few more minutes, the subject eventually became Midnight and how she had managed to move from Graywood to Mouthguard - two polar opposites.

" My dad took me there before the Usurper took the throne. He wanted me to see the world, since he had spent most of his life in our village. This day was probably the most amazing in my life. As we were about to leave, we noticed many unicorn foals walking in the same direction. When my dad asked one mare, who was walking beside a small colt, where they were all going, it turned out the prestigous Academy was holding an audition. I don't know what got into my father back than, but suddenly he decided to sign me up. I had trained magic back in Graywood, but not extensively, so I suspected they wouldn't pick me. But they did! It turned out the test was made to evaluate potential and not actual skills. I was the happiest filly in the world. Dad was sad, since this ment we'd have to separate, but the teachers assured him, that I'd be able to visit him every weekend in the end of the month. I did so... at least until the Rebellion movement was crushed. " the unicorn frowned.

" I wasn't really able to do anything, so I just continued with my education. About a month ago came two importrant news. The first one was, that I have a chance to become Professor Hex's personal apprentice, and the second was a message from Uncle Forge about his quest to dethrone Bladewaltz. This dictator, " a tear slid down the mare's left cheek.

" ,is the reason my father is dead. I could apply for apprenticeship any time until the deadline, which is one month from now, and even if I had to choose, I think the choice is obvious. So now I'm here. "

As the group passed one of the many bridges, that enabled the gravel road to avoid solid rocks, that couldn't be pierced even with the best drill Smith's Keep engineers had come up with, they were noticed by two ponies, which were hiding near the road. In this section of the passage, the pine wood on the both banks went way further down than in other parts - all the way down to the river. The forest retreated back to its former position, about 300 feet higher than the road, leaving the space inbetween to the grass, after about a mile. Therefore, this section of the road was perfect for ambushes. This was the favourite ambush spot of the robbers from the passage, since even though the forest wasn't as thick as they wished, at one point the slope of the mountain became almost horizontal, due to it being a lot steeper in the higher part of the mountain. This enabled robbers to set an ambush on both sides of the road - something other robbers in the mountains could only dream off, since the robbers on the riverside would have to slimb up to attack. After long years of fighting over this ideal spot, one gang- the One- Eyed Hares - had won the right to use it.

They didn't depend on locals. Ponies from Westend knew everything there was to know about this notorious section of the road. In responce a boat service was created. A pony from the village usually helped travellers pass the forest section, using the Stream, which was safe to sail before the gorge. However, the group had skipped the boat, since none of them knew the region well, and the pony, who operated the boat, hadn't seen them, because he was resting in the shade of an oak when they passed by his post, taking it for an old camping spot.

The One- Eyed Hares were the most infamous robber gang in Central Runcinia - their name was known from Dewhill - a town off the main road from Smith's Keep to the capital, which split the distance between the industrial town and the mountain passage in half - to Deerplain - another big town, that lied to the south, in the western part of the kingdom, although more to the east than its much bigger northern cousin- Streamcross. Surprisingly though, the locals weren't worried at all. The robbers weren't as stupid as to attack locals - after all, the ponies, who delivered them food, were locals, and those robbers were too smart to angry their benefactors. It was why they were tolerating the boat service in the first place. Unbeknownst to locals, the boat actually helped the gang, since it separated the locals from the travellers.

The One- Eyed Hares were going to score one major strike when the group entered their section of the road, if it wasn't for the fact most of them were snoring, tied to a pine tree about 100 feet aside from the road. Their spotter had just informed them about an incoming large group, when suddenly all of them felt a little sleepy. There was enough time to take a little nap before their victims arrived, so the gang leader appointed one of the ponies to watch the road and then benevolently allowed the gang members to rest. However, the watchpony didn't last much longer. After that all it took was a little inspection of the other side of the road from Hase and Elysia and now all the robbers were tied to this tree, cosily resting their heads on the shoulder of one of their fellows. Only a great wizard like Twilight would be able to detect the soft magical aura with light yellow colour, which orbited around their heads, keeping them in their dream world. Hase was extremely satisfied he wouldn't have to resort to violence and hugged his sister to express this feeling. She was also happy her brother wouldn't have to go against his nature.

It was time for business. Small dark stars glittered on Hase's coat. Around them, the stallion's coat soon changed its colour, shifting to a light shade of blue. The blue areas spread slowly, but the spell seemed to be effective - the last time the inventor had tried this spell his coat kept regaining its original colour in random areas of his body, making him look like an infant giraffe with abnormally short neck. This time the colour seemed to take hold and kept spreading. When it reached his tail, it changed its zenith blue colour into a light shade of green and continued spreading. There wasn't another major change until the blue spots reached the Envoy of Darkness' muzzle. The blocky jaw all stallions had was replaced by the more rounded version of a mare. After a minute his tranformation was complete.

" How do I look? " Hase turned to his sister. Realising he still had his stallion voice, he chuckled and waited for a few seconds before he spoke again, until his voice manipulation was over as well.

" I think I'm ready. " he noted. His voice confirmed it. It was neither too low (his first attempts were horrible), nor too high- pitched (some of his attempts made him sound as if he was on hellium) - a normal voice for a mare.

Elly observed him with a mixture of criticism and mockery. She was against him picking a mare for his fake personality. She knew well this mission was already in danger, since either of the four alicorns only needed to perform a simple check spell to find out about the spell concealing her brother. Him posing as a mare made this more likely; in the long years, spent with Hase on the streets, the white pegasus had found out she and Gale thought in a different way than the colts. The tall mare knew, that a stallion, no matter if the magical experience, would NEVER be able to impersonate a mare good enough to fool the opposite gender. Hase had to communicate with the Mane 6 and any mare in the group at all as little as possible. Otherwise his and her effort would have been for nothing. Moreover, she'd have to reveal herself, and she didn't want to reveal her presence to Vortex yet.

However, Hase had insisted on picking a mare for his false identity.

" We don't speak about feelings. " he had explained. Coming from the mouth of a stallion, Elly had to agree to those words.

" We only share that kind of stuff with really close friends, family... or mares. Do you have any idea how weird would it look like if I go out there as a stallion and try to ask my dad about my feelings? He'd know something's not right the very second I do this! "

Forced to choose between two evils, Elysia had to choose the lesser. So she unwillingly let Hase train his mare camouflage for a few hours until they reached their hiding spot. Luckily, he'd got the basics on time and know it was finally time for their plan to begin.

" Good luck. " she said as her brother headed to the road.

" Thanks. " the mare replied.

Twilight had returned to her friends after her conversation with the wizard apprentice had ended. Now she was having a conversation with Fluttershy regarding owls, which had begun with the purple alicorn telling her friend about a funny situation, in which she, as she was coming down from the bedroom to drink a glass of water, had been freaked out by Owlowiscious coming back from his late night hunt. Right now her timid friend was telling her more about scoops owls than she could ever find out from books.

" Good morning! " the shy pegasus was interrupted by an unexpected greeting, coming from behind. Twilight and her friends all stopped in their tracks and turned around to find the source of this greeting. It turned out to be a smiling earth pony mare with light blue coat and light green mane.

" Good mornin'! " Applejack was the first to greet back.

" Do you mind if I join your group? There are robbers in the area, you know. " the earth pony pointed out.

" Hay! " Midnight Bell swore. The rest of the group glared at her with great confusion.

" That's the One- Eyed Hares' region! I should have recalled this. I got us into a trap. " she explained. She then sighed.

" We'll be alert. " Luna comforted her.

The group set off again. Only Applejack remained behind, in order to assure the mare it was alright to come with them:

" Ya're welcome ta come with us if yah want, sugarcube. "

" Thanks. The things they say about those robbers... make me really want to skip our meeting. "  the mare smiled, as she walked beside her new friend with the stetson, while they were catching up with the group.

" No need ta worry. This ol' lasso h's stopped a hay lotta timbahwolves. Ah'm sure it can deal with sum robbers. " Applejack spoke, confident in her words.

" Da name's Applejack. " she nodded.

" I'm... um... " the mare glanced back at her flank, as if she was going to make up a name, that would fit her cutie mark. That made Applejack raise an eyebrow. The mare's cutie mark was a basket full of daisies. If she came up with something like Daisy Basket, the farmer mare would get really suspicious. However, it turned out this was just a thing of the Element of Loyalty's imagination, as the mare presented herself.

" I'm April Shower. " the smile of the earth pony was a smile of awkwardness. Knowing how her friend Fluttershy first behaved when she met her, Applejack thought the mare's odd behaviour to be a result of her shyness. She smiled and asked her:

" Ya from around here? "

" Yes. " the mare confirmed.

" I was just having my morning walk. I didn't realize I had got so far away from Westend. I was probably thinking of something else. "

" It 'appens to all of us sometimes. Ah sometimes get carried away 's well, find mahself bucking da same tree for da second time. "

The mare seemed interested.

" Do you own an orchard? " April asked.

" Yep. An apple one. " Applejack nodded.

" It's da family's business. "

" Isn't it too hard? I tried to buck an apple once, almost sprained my ankle. " the mare frowned, apparently recalling this unpleasant experience.

" Nuthin ya can't get used ta. " the orange earth pony replied.

April was silent for a few seconds. At first AJ was confused, but then she supposed the mare had got carried away as well. Luckily, the other earth pony came down to earth in a matter of seconds.

" I suppose it's very rewarding in the end of the day. " she said.

" Nuthin compares to da feelin' yah get when yah see the last apple from the Applebuck Season gettin' sold. " the earth pony smiled.

This pleasant conversation resumed for a few more minutes. The mare knew a surprising amount of things about apple orchards. Applejack wasn't surprised, since she was certain this terrain was perfect for apples. What actually surprised her was the way the earth pony spoke about apples. It had a weird resemblance to the way the farmer mare herself explained what she did, making the earth pony sound as if she were told all of these things by AJ herself. That resemblance befuddled the mare, but eventually she decided it was probably only a coincidence. After all, the only other option was, that the mare was reading her mind.

After the end of her conversation with the Element of Honesty, the mare had conversations with all of the Mane 6 one after another. The five remaining mares were surprised to find out she was a good interlocutor even when the conversation considered things she couldn't possible know about - such as flying and magic, which enabled her to keep up with Twilight and Rainbow Dash while they were in their elements. Of course, the mare was oblivious to most of the things one could only know from firsthoof experience, but she remembered a surprisingly big amount of things her pegasi and unicorn friends had shared with her. April also knew which bird species migrated through the passage or over it - a topic, which extended the conversation she and Fluttershy had to a good one hour. Also, she made Pinkie Pie very happy when she turned to her, looking for advice on how to organize the party for the upcoming birthday of her mother. She only failed to have a conversation with Rarity, as it turned out the earth pony knew almost nothing about fashion.

Eventually, about two hours away from Westend, April Shower ended up in front of the group, along with Vortex. At first she was observing the " winged unicorns ", as she had named them, with suspicion, but when Twilight explained to her, that they were the souverens of the land that they came from, and were not a threat at all, the earth pony had lost her fear for them. Right now she was looking up at the muzzle of the alicorn stallion.

This was the moment Hase had trained for the whole morning. His knowledge of his friends had allowed him to swiftly earn their trust in his new ponysonna. He only skipped Rarity, because his heart ached since the moment he saw her. Still sad, angry and confused about what she had done, the stallion had avoided having a lengthy conversation with her by telling the truth - that he didn't know much about clothes design. He understood fashion as much as Rarity understood his inventions.

Now the moment he has been waiting for had finally come. Pushing the pain of his heartbreak back to the back of his brain, where it always lingered, reminding him the unicorn had abandoned him because of the monster he had become, the scientist concentrated on the mission, which purpose was to find the cause of something, that bothered him much less than his broken heart - why his father wasn't telling him the whole truth - but still angried him.

" You seem sad. " April spoke.

" Why would you think so? " Vortex asked, a bit worried. The mare had seen beyond his poker face, which he had deemed impenetrable. If it was no more... he should have thought of another one. He couldn't allow his worries to come out, since he knew he wouldn't be able to explain them. Besides, it would have much worse consequences - it would distract the group and be the reason for a possible failure.

Without knowing it yet, Vortex and Hase were much alike. The black pegasus had inherited many of his father's personality traits, like worrying about the others' problems more than one cared about their own. The inventor had also inherited his leadership skills and sharp mind from the black alicorn. If the two got to spend more time together, their bond would have been unbreakable. However, being put to a test mere days after its creation, the bond between them expectedly didn't last, creating a void between the black pegasus and the former king.

Vortex's worries were useless. Hase had only guessed he was worried because he was sure of his father's strong conscience, suspecting it was the same as his own. Nothing else, not even a mare's intuition, could breach the poker face of the violet- maned stallion and find out his emotions. Not suspecting it, nonetheless, Vortex decided this mare's intuition had managed to do so, and decided to improve it in the future. Before it became too late and the silence became too long, the alicorn spoke again:

" What made you think so? "

" Well, there's just this aura of sadness around you, " the earth pony tried to explain.

" , I can feel it. "

Luckily, the mare disguise did its job. If a stallion had said those lines, the black alicorn would have grown suspicious. Nevertheless, now he decided it was just the uncanny intuition mares were famous for.

" Well, I'm a bit worried about my son, " the tall stallion began.

' Yes, go on. ' Hase grinned in his mind. The plan was going to be a total success.

" ,since he vanished yesterday evening, but taking his personal qualities into consideration, I highly doubt he'll have any difficulties returning to us. What worries me far more is the bad economical state my homeland could be in when we return... "

The mental smile quickly turned into a frown, as the disguised pegasus listened how his father swiftly changed the subject of the conversation.

" ... the inflation could have led to devaluation of the equestrian bit currency... "

Hase had forgotten his father is as good in mind games as he is. Now that his father had changed the subject, the stallion couldn't allow himself to switch back to the initial one without rasing some suspicions. Besides, Vortex had another trick up his sleeve. His monologue was so long and so confusing, that unless a pony was entirely focused on the initial subject, like Hase was, they would have quickly forgotten how the discussion began in the first place. If Hase showed, that he remembered it in any way, Vortex would instantly realize something's not quite right.

While the black alicorn lectured about numerous financial degradational events, that could occur while their group was absent from Equestria, the inventor could do nothing  but grin and bear it. Luckily, the violet- maned stallion eventually came to a halt and with the excuse, that she knew nothing about finances, April Shower retreated to the main part of the group.

While the scientist trotted amongst his friends, he was thinking about what had went wrong. First of all, he had underestimated his father's witt. Vortex could go toe-to-toe with him and win with ease. The inventor recalled how easily he was tricked to follow his orders back when he was still in Equestria. He hadn't evaluated the situation right, blinded by his wish to find the truth. The scientist deemed himself a smart pony, but he had forgotten his father had more than 9000 years of experience and therefore had more than enough time to perfect his debate skills, especially when considering his position as a noble back in the old Equestria. Moreover, during his years as a fugitive from Celestia he had also developed a very practical mind - a feature he shared with his son. However, with much more experience, Vortex had a natural advantage.

Hase wished he had remembered that earlier. What had he thought? That his father was simply going to give away his secrets when asked to by a mare? From now on, he proimsed to himself to think of his father as of himself, only a thousand times better. After he repeated this promise several times( only inside his own mind, of course), he decided to think of some way to bring the plan to a reasonably succesful end. It surely wasn't going to be the success the Envoy of Darkness thought it would be about 15 minutes ago, but there was still a lot of useful information the black pegasus could extract in his current guise. He asked a few questions to the Mane 6 and soon he knew all the details about the group's plans once they reached Westend. The ponies were going to stay there for the night, which ment, that if he and Elysia wanted to get to the capital first and deal with the threat before his friends ever reach it, they'd have to fly during the night as well.

The black stallion was just beginning to think of a way to leave the group without looking suspicious, but not leaving without any warning, since he knew Elly was probably eager to find out what had happened. The pine woods having retreated back to their higher base a long time ago, the tall white mare was forced to fly high above the road, in order not to get spotted. Or at least Hase thought so, before seeing, that she was actually walking behind the wooden wagon, that served as a home to Formidon. She was disguised as an earth pony mare as well. The group hadn't found out about her yet, but even if they did, another mare joining the group wouldn't be a surprise after April Shower had joined them and explained the benefits of travelling in groups. The inventor only knew it was his sister because she showed him the secret sign she had previously warned him about - a small area of white hair just above the knee of her left forehoof - a sign, that the two had come up with, that enabled Hase to differentiate his siter whenever she was in a disguise. As a reply, Hase showed his own spot of dark hair above the knee of his right forehoof. It was a clever plan. The two didn't know wheter they wouldn't have to take up another identity once more, so they had thought of a universal sign to help them recognise eachother. Of course, it wasn't going to be of much use, since the two were probably going to know how the other looks like, but it would help them in case there is a pony with a simillar appearance.

After Hase became acquainted with the whereabouts of his sister, he returned to the Mane 6, wondering what to do now. There wasn't any more information he could extract from them, now all, that was left, was to think of an excuse to leave prematurely - there was probably still somewhere around an hour and a half walk to the village. He'd really have to think of something good, since otherwise he could fail the plan in the last moment.

As he was musing, he caught a glimpse of Rarity. The disguised stallion had intentionally avoided any conversations with her, so that occasional feelings wouldn't get in the way of his mission. However, now, when it had almost reached its end, the inventor was tempted. The mare had a melancholic look on her muzzle and was gazing in the distance. She looked as if something was torturing her from the inside. The scientist wondered for about 5 minutes, before he finally took a decision.

The white unicorn was observing the white peaks of the mountain. However, her thoughts were focused on something of totally different matter. She was thinking of the stallion of her heart and all the pain she probably made him suffer through when she assisted his father in his plan. The thought, that she was helping him, was no longer there to help her. All that was left was the guilt, that stabbed her broken heart repetitively. She was wondering what he had felt when she put an end to their relationship with one single sentence. She was trying to imagine the torture he was going through in this moment, left without any explanation about anything.

" Don't torture yourself. Just leave it fade. " a female voice broke her train of thought. Confused, but also a bit thankful, Rarity looked around to find the source of this voice. It was the earth pony mare that had joined their group at noon.

" What do you mean, miss...? " the fashionista mare found out, that she didn't actually know the mare's name. Celestia knows why, the mare had had conversations with each of her friends, but not her. The unicorn gave it off to distraction, since now the earth pony actually looked eager to speak with her - although her muzzle hinted of depression and looked strikingly simillar to what Rarity imagined she looked like in the moment.

" April Shower. " the earth pony presented itself.

" Miss Shower, I'm afraid I didn't quite understand what you ment with your first sentence. "

" You are a terrible liar. You know perfectly well what I mean. " April assured her.

" Besides, I know my own when I see it. "

That explained the two things, that had befuddled the Element of Generosity. It explained the mare's perception of the unicorn's state and it also explained her depression.

" Stallions? " she asked.

" Precisely. " Rarity confirmed her thoughts.

The two mares walked silent for a few seconds, until Rarity decided she should help out the mare, no matter of her own state.

" What makes you grieve, dear? " she asked, trying to make herself sound a bit more cheerful. She failed.

The mare sighed.

" Well, I suppose you've heard simillar stories before. There was this colt I liked, and he liked me too. With time, as we grew up, that became something bigger. One night I think he was going to go for it, to propose me... but he doesn't. On the next morning he simply said we couldn't be together anymore and we continued with our lives as if all those years have never happenned. "

A tear slid down the mare's cheek. Rarity felt a lump in her throat, since April's story reminded her of her own cruel deed. She shed a tear as well.

A few more silent moments followed, until the earth pony spoke again.

" You are too generous sometimes. Come on, I'm listening. "

Blinded by her own pain, Rarity didn't comprehend how weird this sentence sounded. Instead, deciding, that this mare was somepony she could finally share everything with, the white unicorn began telling her own story. After a few sobs, she spoke with a trembling voice:

" He was really gentle. No matter what life threw at him, he always managed to resist. He never gave up.

Yet, this world is much more different than ours. Fighting for our common better future, he found himself comitting sins he wouldn't even think of back in our land. Those sins... were changing him. A relative of his, who is travelling with us, opened my eyes. The reason for all of this was me. Me! If it wasn't for me, he never would have done all those horrible things. It's all my fault. "

Hase senced his anger rising up. Anger towards his father. Just as the scientist himself, his father knew the main reason for all of this were not all of Hase's friends, nor the group. It was Rarity. But why tell that to her? That was unneccessarily cruel. By telling her the truth, Vortex had forced Rarity to share Hase's pain. The black stallion frowned. He was sure even Applejack wouldn't approve such honesty.

" Luckily, he had a plan, "

While thinking, Hase had skipped a part of his marefriend's story, but the word "plan" made him come back, filled with fear from what he could hear.

" ,a plan, that would help him stop doing all of this. He told me, that if I broke up with my coltfriend, he'll be alright again. That all our problems will be gone. "

The black pegasus' anger evolved to pure fury. He cursed himslef for ever suspecting Rarity capable of such cruelty. The answer was obvious. Infuriated, Hase could barely keep it all inside.

Of course it was him. It was always him. The master puppeteer. The alicorn with a coat, black as his heart, hardened through the centuries of hate- centered existence, towards the two Princesses, the inventor's first friends, and towards Equestria as a whole. His marefriend's honesty had revealed to him how wrong he was, when he thought, that he was free of his control. No, his strings were still attached to him only two days ago. Now, when he was free, he was going to make sure this puppeteer felt the same pain he was feeling right now. Who allowed him to control his destiny?

Without saying anything, April Shower, with a weird expression, a result of Hase trying to conceal his fury, left the sobbig Rarity's side and headed for the black alicorn. A devious plan developed in the inventor's mind, a plan only a rage- filled mind could come up with. When April Shower reached Vortex, a grin appeared on her face. She put on a worried expression and spoke in a sad tonality.

" Sir... did your son happen to be a black pegasus with blue mane and tail? "

Upon hearing that, the black alicorn looked at the earth pony with great concern. A concern, which unlike Hase in his fury was thinking, wasn't fake.

" Wwwhy would you ask me this question? " he asked, stuttering a bit. Now it was time for Hase's vengeance. Using faked sadness as a tool, the infuriated stallion brought out a horrible thought, that sent chills down his father's  spine.

" I.. I saw him fall off a cliff, " the scientist spoke, without seeing, that Celestia and Luna, ponies, that he didn't want to hurt, were walking on his other side and were equally concerned.

" , a gang of robbers had tied his wings to his back. I looked back and didn't see wheter he reached the ground. The cliff was... 300 feet high. "

The three alicorns gasped. However, because of the synchron, Hase's foggy perception made him think it was only his father. Driven by his fury, he rejoiced in the inside, as he saw his father fall to his knees and yell at the sky. Meanwhile a smirk had found its way to his lips and settled there. Seeing this, which filled her with suspicion, Luna asked:

" Why is there a smile upon your lips? "

Guilt tingled inside Hase, as he saw his acts caused pain, but it was quickly drowned by his still ongoing anger. However, there was some other feeling. A weird tickling one and then something brushing Hase's right forehoof. The stallion looked around and spotted it immeadietely. A black wooden longbow, made out of unbreakable, yet easily bending wood. That was the conclusion Hase came to after inspecting it for a few moments.

However, what was the worst part was the feeling it was a part of his body. Hase's fury finally subsided, replaced by the horror of his deed. As always, the weapon came to show him he'd done something terribly wrong. He looked around himself, seeing the Mane 6, especially Rarity, glare at him with a mix of shock and confusion. Seeing there was no more use of his disguise, the black stallion dropped it.

Unbeknowst to him, upon doing so, all the other weapons appeared as well. As the pegasus stood there, covered with his full- body armour, that only left his head and the half of his neck out, with the mantle sliding down his back, both of them black and matching the inventor's coat colour, while the longbow, the mace and the whip levitated around him gave Hase the appearance of some bloodthirsty conqueror. Seeing the shock in his friends' eyes grow, the stallion confusedly looked around and spotted, that somehow the full roster of weapons had reappeared. More annoyed than surprised, the black pegasus waved with his left forehoof. All the weapons faded and vanished, much to the group's surprise.

Meanwhile Vortex had just gotten up and turned around to ask April more about the horrible accident. His confusion lasted less than a second, quickly overriden by the black alicorn's fatherly love. Without any warning, Vortex rushed and took his son in a strong hug.

" Thank Faust! " he exclaimed.

Sencing, that he almost suffocated his heir, the former king relinquished his grip. Hase fell on the ground. He then stood up and walked back, leaving a two feet distance between him and his father.

" Now where is this treacherous liar? " Vortex said. He looked around, still not understanding what had just happenned.

" It was me, dad. " the scientist said.

The shock, that could be seen on the Mane 6's faces until a second ago, now passed to Vortex's.

" Why would you do that? " he asked, observing his son with suspicion.

" All he wanted was the truth. " another voice spoke. It came from above. Looking up, the group saw a big white pegasus, probably as big as Celestia. She landed 10 feet ahead of the group and folded her wings, which Twilight could see were as big as her mentor's.

However, there were a few major differences. This mare was a pegasus, which quite confused the purple alicorn, and her mane seemed... material, even though it waved just like the ones of Vortex and the Princesses. This one, however, seemed like a normal mane left growing freely for years. There was this thin white oreol around her mane, that probably made it flow. Her tail shared the mane's characteristics. One streak of the mane, that went forward instead of going back, joined the main part of the mane thanks to a wooden hairpin.

" Elysia. " the black alicorn smiled. He even laughed, much to the rest of the group's utter befuddlement.

" Now it all makes sence. Hase, I'd like you to meet... "

" I know who she is. Although I suspect you wish I didn't. " the pegasus replied sharply. The smile on the alicorn's face turned into a frown.

" How much do you know? " he asked in a sad tonality.

" All I know. " Elly replied instead.

The pegasus flew up in the air and landed next to his sister.

" How long would you have waited before telling me all of this? Was there any use of your plan, when you weren't even going to tell me the whole truth? " the scientist wondered. He was still cross.

" Wouldn't you have been shocked if I told you all at once? Wouldn't you immeadiately have forgotten some small, yet importrant details? Would you have been able to cope with two kinds of magic at the same time? " Vortex replied with a series of retorical questions, which left everypony but the two siblings in absolute discombobulation.

" None of this matters now. I'm here. I know. " the scientist stated.

" The only question, that is of any importrance to me, and to which this entire plan was devoted, is " Is there something more you're not telling me? ". "

The black alicorn knit his brows.

" I shall not answer this question. Have in mind, that with time, there will be no secrets left, but if there is something I'm not telling you it's in order to protect you. I haven't always taken the right decisions, and my past is the perfect example for that. I take responsibility of my actions and I beg you to forgive me and trust me again. "

For a moment the hope of the former king lingered in the air.

" No. " Hase cut him off.

" Elly opened my eyes, while you simply wished to keep them closed... "

" Isn't it better to open your eyes slowly, in order to get used to the light, and not abruptly, as the light blinds you? " Vortex asked.

Hase mused for a few moments. Apparently, his strong emotions had prevented him from evaluating the situation the right way. His father wasn't trying to control him; he was trying to protect him, up to a ridiculous point. His bond to the inventor was much stronger than the pegasus had anticipated. Touched by this fact, the pegasus let a smile form on his lips.

The Equestrians smiled as well, seeing this as a good sign. The whole conflict was going to come to its natural end and Hase was going to reconcile with his father.

" I guess you have a point, dad. " the Envoy finally replied.

" I need forgiveness, not you. I let my feelings blind me and lead me where my mind never would have. I will never leave them determine who I am again. My grudge against you was unjust. However, I need time. "

" Time? " Vortex was befuddled.

" Yes, time. Even though the grudge is no more, there are still so many things I don't know. The things you aren't going to tell me. For an example, what exactly those weapons are and why they keep appearing?" the black pegasus asked himself questions the answers to which his friends and his father knew very well. His latest weapon, which Vortex with fear in his heart recognised as the Bow of Venegance, appeared again, beside Hase.

" So since you aren't willing to cooperate in finding those answers, I guess we will separate after all. Meet you all in Mouthguard. " Hase turned around and smacked against the force field, created by Vortex's chaotic magic.

" You aren't going anywhere. " the alicorn stallion said him.

The scientist smirked. A ball of purple bubbles with green outlines and small black sparks smacked against the barrier. All the Equestrians but Vortex, Hase and Elly were once again thrown in great shock, since the only time they had seen somepony use such magic was when they had to save the Crystal Empire from King Sombra.

The barrier withstood. Knowing, that his father was alert now, and that no matter how much he increased the power of his spell, the barrier would last, Hase turned around and threw a small spindle of black electrical sparks, an incapacitation spell Elly had thought him, to aid him in an emergency, at his father. However, Vortex had predicted this move as well, and now another barrier shielded him from any spells.

Irritated, Hase looked around and saw the black longbow still hovering around him.

' What use is there of bow with no arrows? ' he asked himself, before an idea popped inside his mind. He focused on the part of his mind that was this bow, hoping to find out more about its function. He didn't expect it to work, but surprisingly, it did. All Hase got was an extremely blurry memory, but it was enough. Now confident, Hase aimed the black longbow, which was as tall as his sister, at his father. Before he could react, another spindle of black electrical sparks was loaded into the bow. The string was drawn back by Hase's will, extending it to a black stick of electricity. Hase then dropped the string.

The small stick flew with an incredible speed. It went straight through the barrier like hot knife through butter and reached its target. Vortex fell on the ground and the two barriers vanished. Without stalling, Hase and Elyisa flew in the air and headed towards Westend, leaving the group behind.

It's all a game

The sounds of hooves clopping echoed in the empty corridor. The only thing, that separated the walking pony from the cold gray stone the entire castle was made from was a thin red carpet with golden ornaments.

The pony in question was a stallion. A stallion with the figure of Shining Armour, a figure he had forged in his training as a soldier. The stallion was a unicorn, with a blonde mane and a coat, whose colour was dirty white. Nevertheless, most of it was hidden under a steel armour, that guarded the main part of his body. Beside it, the unicorn also wore a red robe with golden lining, which reached the knees of his hindhooves, and, of course, the crown.

Bladewaltz had never liked all of this royal traditions. If it was up to him only, the robe and the crown would since long be rotting in the treasury, replaced by the practical armour and a helmet with a golden lining. However, the nobles insisted on him keeping those regal symbols, since they claimed the folk would be happier. Well, at least they had allowed him to wear his armour.

He looked around himself with neglect. Even though he had managed to remove most of the decorations, that previously made him gag when he passed through Castle Razorcliff's long corridors, his castelan would never let him get rid of those horrible tapestries. If the castelan had no say, the tapestries would immeadiately be removed, leaving the gray wall entirely to torches and occasional runcinian flags - red banners with swords, crossed behind a crown.

The blonde unicorn wasn't in a hurry, so he stopped for a minute to enjoy the view. This corridor was an outer one, and there was a big window (without a glass, of course) each 15 feet. The ruler of Runcinia took his time to observe the world outside through one of those. Being on the third floor he could see beyond the castlewalls of Razorcliff island, which allowed him to see not only the castle's yard, but also the distant Mouthguard, two hours way with a boat.

The first time Bladewaltz had seen the castle was from one of the boats, whose courses linked the capital and the island. At first he was approving of it, since the stone structure, 4 storeys high in its main part, the highest tower reaching 7, perfectly suited his taste. The insides, nonetheless, had underwent a major change. Raised by his father,a soldier, and having spent most of his life as one himself, the dirty white stallion had developed an attitude of negligence and disliking towards ellaborate things. This was the reason most of the paintings, sculptures and fancy objects like mirrors were moved to the castles of nobles, replaced by maps,banners and shields with the symbol of Bladewaltz. Most of the clothing closets were turned into weapon storages.

The peasants could say what they wanted, but truth be told, Bladewaltz had significantly simplified the law system by changing its main reason from guarding the peasants to guarding the institution itself. Having followed the law of the jungle for the most of his life, the king found nothing wrong in leaving it to be the only law, that regarded ponies, with a position lower than an esquire.  The system was effective, that was true, but not very just.

That was the reason for the Rebellion and, indirectly, the reason why Bladewaltz walked a few dozen feet more to the end of the corridor and entered a hall.

There were 5 ponies more in this hall. Upon the king's entrance, all got up from their chairs and knelt.

" You may rise. " the king said after a second.

The hall used to be a small summer dine hall, where the king and the queen could have a dinner in the summer, while observing the lights of Mouthguard a few leagues away. The different dinehalls, each one ment for different season, occasion or time of the day, all but one, the main dinehall, that could be used on any occasion, served a more useful purpose now. This one in particular was used as a tactics room, where the king and his circle of most trusted ponies could discuss importrant matters.

One unicorn hadn't knelt before the king, and she wasn't supposed to. No queen was ever obliged to kneel to her king, and even if they were, Javelin would be the last one of them do so. Born in one of the wealthiest noble famillies as Velvet, she had shocked her parents ever since she was a small filly. Her tomboyish nature turned the activities her sisters could go on with for hours, enjoying every second of it, into a painfully slow annoying procedure for the adventorous and rebellious filly. She much preferred to instead go out on the castleyard and spend time with her favourite member of the court ponies - Honed Edge, the weapon expert. Over the years, the hours spent in training in the yard grew proportionally, while the growing filly found more and more excuses to avoid the boring weaving and etiquette classes. Seeing their efforts yielded no result, her parents eventually let her do what she wanted. The tomboy filly was no longer obliged to spend any time with the boring table etiquette teacher.

Upon reaching marehood, Velvet took two importrant decisions. First, she switched her name, which she found unfitting to her personality, with a name, that suited her perfectly and also had a connection to her cutie mark - a knight's pike. From then on she was known as Javelin. The second decision, that would determine the rest of her life, was her decision to cut her mane as stallions did and join the army. Luckily, the gurds weren't too suspicious about the helmet she always wore to conceal her curved muzzle. Javelin was recruited as private Rusty Spear.

She never had any trouble hiding her gender. The bodies of ponies from different genders weren't much different in the first place. She had no problem speaking with a hoarse voice all the time. The only problem was the muzzle form.  She took care of that by simply never taking her helmet off and never lifting its visor. Baths weren't a common experience for soldiers, and when the time eventually came, Javelin wore a special wooden mask she had carved, which was covering her muzzle. The explanation she gave was that she used this mask to breathe under water, and since a wooden pipe, one whole with the rest of the mask, stood in its front part, which actually allowed her to do so, it was an explanation everypony had accepted.

Durin the first months of her training, she was put in the same squad as Bladewaltz. Being a third generation soldier, the stallion was a lieutenant, and therefore, the squad's leader. A deep friendship developed between the two, because of their simillar interesses and Javelin's eagerness to excel in combat. Over the years Bladewaltz was proven to be a good mentor, since before their squad was mobilized, Rusty Spear, his best friend, had catched up to him in rank. In the years of battles, the two were commended and promoted multiple times.

Before the invasion of the minotaurs, Bladewaltz was already a general and Rusty Spear was his right- hoof lieutenant general. The two brothers in arms' bond deepened even more during the battles with the minotaurs. The lieutenant general was also by his side in the 15 years of fights against the Rebellion. About 5 years after the beggining of the civil war, Javelin decided, that their bond was now too strong and her rank was too high for her to be simply expelled from the army, so she revealed who she actually was. The military society was shocked, but taking the rank and the multiple acts of bravery on the battlefield, the army couldn't simply let go of one of its best members, no matter of the gender.

The bond between her and Bladewaltz never turned into the kind of love one thinks about on Hearts and Hooves day, since neither of them had ever had any time to develop their sensuous sides. It was a weird mixture of the brothership between soldiers and love itself, but it was strong enough for it to result in a heir to the throne - Metal Chord. The colt basically grew up in military camps. The two army commanders thought, that their son would inherit their enthusiasm. They were in for some major dissappointment. Metal Chord had inherited his mother's rebllious behaviour. Even though the colt excelled at fencing, he belived there was justice on the world and tried to follow its code. He never understood the world belongs to the strong, something his mother and father knew since many years. After the fiasco in the final battle, Bladewaltz had no choice but to disown him, only leaving him with a monthly allowance.

In some wild way, Javelin was beautiful. Her coat was light grey, her mane and tail- auburn. She never let them grow too long, the result being her having shorter mane and tail than her husband, since she considered it unpractical. Just like him, she wore an armour and a mantle and she also shared his vision about the unnecessary regal items.

" My queen. " Bladewaltz said, upon taking his place by the table - a normal wooden chair with only a few golden ornaments, just like his wife's.

" My king. " Javelin replied.

The rest of the ponies also took their seats, on the other side of the table from the royalties. The king threw a glimpse at all of them.

The leftmost was General Spaulder. His king title granting him the rank marshal, Bladewaltz had vacated one general spot, almost immeadietely taken by the young and ambitious Spaulder. A prised asset, he was famous not for the battles, but for the brilliant strategies he came up with. One of the royal couple's most close friends (the best stallion at their wedding), he had been commended multiple times on his brilliant tactics. The strategies he had come up with back during the War with the Rebellion had helped the king conquer importrant cities like Smith's Keep and Streamcross with two times fewer casualties than expected.

Unlike the two of them, Spaulder originated from the common folk, so he had first become friends with Rusty Spear back in the days of his training - as everypony but the unicorn mare were lloking up to Bladewaltz, the third generation soldier, with a mix of fear and respect. Javelin had acted as a bridge between the two and soon a deep bond developed between the two stallions as well. Although their friend was on the battlefield, he usually took responsibility of the troops, that were going to be the essential part of his own strategy - the troops, disguised as coal miners during Smith's Keep's siege and the canalization squad during the one- day battle for Streamcross. Therefore, he usually didn't take part in battles - not in the main part, at least. Not that he couldn't fight, he simply always took the weird part of his plan for himself and his squad (even though back than he was a commandant, which put him in charge of a lot more soldiers than a single squad, his plans seldomly required more than one to be completed. He simply gave the captains bellow him preset orders, making the captains (now the colonels) under his commandment the most independent captains in the whole army.).

Spaulder was a pegasus with chestnut coat and light brown mane. Just like his king and queen, he wore an armour, but being an active part of the military, he also wore a mail, which was guarding his limbs, which were left unprotected by the armour. As he saw Bladewaltz was looking at him, he smiled and nodded. The king nodded back. One of the things he and Javelin liked most about Spaulder was that his attitude towards them never changed, even after they were his rightful king and queen. Beside the obligatory kneel, the chestnut pegasus behaved as if they were all still buddies back in the military academy.

The central pony was professor Cauldron Hex, the most famous unicorn after the king himself. There wasn't a unicorn even mildly interested in furtherly developing their magic, who hadn't heard of the professor. Pretty much a mysterious figure, not much was known about him. He was found as an infant foal with his name written on a small piece of paper beside him, on the steps of the entrance of the Academy. From pity, one of the cleaner mares decided to take him in. Since the Academy had sleeping quarters attributed to both students and personnel, the mare had no problem raising the colt. Surrounded by magic all the time, the foal was naturally interested in it and joined the classes three years prematurely. The Academy being his only world, he developed rapidly, going through the ranks twice as fast as any normal student. Upon entering stallionhood, he had already achieved the highest rank, something normal ponies usually achieved in their middle years. That wasn't the end though. Cauldron continued with private sessions with each of the master, excelling at the subjects they were specialists in, until eventually it turned out he knew all there was to know. He was appointed the headmaster of the academy.

During his years as a director, the quality of studying improved drastically. A devoted experimentator, Hex made many discoveries in many different parts of magic, filling in most of the student books. He also redacted the books a bit, moving some of the material to higher ranks and some to lower. The new system was a great success and the speed with which students reached the next rank increased with 20%.  Meanwhile the professor continued with his studies, becoming the best wizard Runcinia had ever known. He also held private sessions for a few selected students of all ranks, those with a great potential.

Now in his middle years, Hex was easily the most famous pony in Runcinia after the king himself. Even though one could see Hex's great wisdom and his vast knowledge only by looking at his face, the gray hairs were refusing to appear in his mane and tail, making some ponies spread rumours, that he could cheat death. He really looked that way. His muzzle expression was dry, and his eyes looked as if they were made to pierce through one's soul and find out their biggest secret. A pair of round glasses lay on the muzzle of the wizard, a pair which he only used for reading. His black mane was tied in a horsetail, and his tail, along with the most of his muddy green coat, was hidden under a red robe, that certified he was the director of the Academy. Bladewaltz didn't like resorting to his help too much, but the current situation required it.

The last pony was an earth pony stallion with a dark orange coat and cobalt blue mane and tail. This pony was wearing a jacket with at least a dozen pockets and also two big saddlebags, overflowing with wrenches, crowbars and other tools. This was Mouthguard's brightest engineer - Fulcrum. He had designed the trebuchets, that stopped the siege of Mouthguard before it ever happenned, his machines raining stones on the Rebellion troops from half a mile away. While the earth pony was seemingly of no use during a council, Bladewaltz usually requested his presence because of his abillity to think out of the box - a skill, that none of the others had.

A map was opened on the big table. A big map of Runcinia, with each major city with the size of a bottom of a mug. Villages were each as big as a coin.

" I don't like what I hear at all, Waltz. " Spaulder was the first to speak.

" We should have stopped that menace back in Smith's Keep. Now the town is in unrest, and we believe they have reached the mountain district. That's somewhere we don't want them to be. " the pegasus put his hoof bellow the passage through the Belt.

The dirty white unicorn remembered this map. They had used it during the War with the Rebellion. He also remembered the symbols. The green wodden circle meant, that the town is in their control. The yellow circle meant, that the town is still not taken by either side, or that there's some major event there. The red circle was used for towns under the control of the Rebellion. The wooden crowns were their forces. The wooden "R"s were the forces of the Rebellion.

Most of the figures were now lying in the wooden box, which was put where the sea was on the map. All villages and towns but Smith's Keep were marked with green circles. Because of the unrest after the small group came by, the town was marked with a yellow circle. The only other figure on the map was a wooden "R" in the passage of the Belt mountains.

" What do you suggest we do, Spaulder? " Bladewaltz asked.

" Let me think. " he replied.

' We have sufficient squads both in Western and Eastern Runcinia. We'll attack from both sides... no, no. The mountain ponies were the first to follow Greywood's call. Even though we have squads in Eastend and Westend, they wouldn't suffice if the entire village rises. They'll hide in the mountains and our forces will be forced to participate in a guerilla war they can't win. The locals know the mountain. All we'll do is help our enemies... '

After a few minutes, Spaulder had a ready answer:

" The situation is tricky, but I think I have a sollution. We'll hire the bands at the east end of the passage. United, their numbers go over 100, that's for sure. This group doesn't consist of more than 20 ponies. They'll just be the newest victims. Nopony will suspect it's us. "

" An excellent idea, although I have something else in mind. Professor, what do you think? " the king turned to the wizard.

" I approve highly of General Spaulder's idea, your majesty, although I dare to believe I have a better plan. " the unicorn replied.

" According to sightings of this group, that I'll refrain from calling " Rebells", since I believe the unrest in Smith's Keep was caused by the police department and not the group itself, there is much useful information, that can be extracted from them. Eyewitnesses claim they have spotted members of a long extinct race, known as " an alicorn ", amongst them. "

" Alicorns? " Javelin was befuddled.

" Yes, my queen, alicorns. Our history claims several sailors have seen them in the far away eastern lands. Those alicorns were twice as tall as a normal pony, had both the wings of a pegasus and the horn of a unicorn and were famous for their incredible power. With your permission, of course, I'd like to preserve at least one member of this ancient race. Who knows, perhaps they hold the key to making your majesty's battlefield magicians corps truly invincible? If I may, I'd like to send a few Supressors in Streamcross to awaiten their arrival and transport one safely back to me. "

Bladewaltz had never liked the presence of magic on the battlefield, but it was neccessary. During the War with the Rebellion, the unicorn had put Cauldron in charge of the battlefield wizard corpse. As a result, their quality improved significantly, becoming a force to be reckoned with. With the creation of the Supressors, this corpse turned into a living nightmare for those, who opposed it.

" You have your permission. " the king said.

A grin appeared on the unicorn's muzzle. The dirty white unicorn failed to see it, as he was now looking at the engineer.

" Fulcrum, do you have anything to add? "

" No, your highness. " the stallion said, as he shrugged his shoulders.

" This group isn't of any interest to me. "

" And what about you, my dear? " the king turned to his queen. With a glow in her eyes, Javelin silently used her magic to open the wooden box. Held in her brown magical oreol, red circles flied through the air. Her magic let them down on every other circle on the map, befuddling all but her husband, who smiled, realising, that the mare was thinking exactly what he was thinking.

" We cut off the tree, but there are still roots. " Javelin spoke, as the final circle was laid on Mouthguard.

" The Rebellion is still alive. They're hiding, but it's only because they are waiting to rise again. In every town, in every village there's a snake, waiting to sneak out of its hole. This group, " she lifted the wooden "R" in the air.

", is their piper. Why get rid of something useful? We'll let them spark a new Rebellion, but this time we'll be ready. We'll let them follow their plans, until every snake has gotten out of its hole. Then all we have to do is cut off their heads. This group will only help us get rid of them faster. We should be thankful for this opportunity. "

The three ponies on the other side of the table all nodded.

" It's all a game, my friends. " Bladewaltz spoke. He was glad his queen was thinking the same as him.

" Let them play it for a few rounds. They'll become reckless and forget to defend themselves. Then, in the final rounds, we will strike back, taking out all of their figures. Before they realize it's happenning, the game will be over for them. "

The interrogation

Luna helped her uncle get back on his hooves. Hase hadn't used a powerful version of the spell (Vortex later deduced its potential was somewhere around 15%), so he was only stunned for seconds. Besides from thanking his niece, the black alicorn didn't say a single word before he headed to the back of the group, away from the rest. Confused by the recent events and wanting to know what had really happenned, Luna followed him three minutes afterwards, time which she utilized to have a private discussion with her sister. After Celestia encouraged her, Luna turned around and weaved her way through the large group, burning her left forehoof a bit when passing by Blaze.

When she was already near the wagon, the dark blue alicorn saw she had gained an assistant in her task. Applejack stood by her side and stopped at the same time the princess came to halt.

" What drives you to accompany me, Applejack? " the princess of the night asked, as the two climbed on the small sitting edge of the wooden wagon, that allowed ponies to use it as a bench, if too tired. The wagon was long, so the two could have their conversation without worrying, that Vortex would hear them from the other end.

" Well, Princess, ah just taught ya uncle might need sumpony ta speak ta. " the orange earth pony responded.

" I'm sure that is one of the reasons, but I'm also certain this is not the main reason for your act, am I not correct? " the princess spoke. Even though Applejack would never lie, nopony claimed she had to say the whole truth all the time.

" Yah're right. " the farmer mare agreed.

" Wha' really bugs mah'n da girls 's da whole thing with Sombra's magic. We were all happy ta hear Hase's no longer got anythin' 'gainst his pa, but we ain't very happy 'bout him usin' the kind 'f magic he used. Da last pony usin' it held crystal ponies fur his slaves. "

Luna nodded.

" I share your concerns, Applejack. The magic our friend used was most concerning for both me and my sister. I too am in need of an immediate explanation to this tangled situation. "

" Let's get to it, then. " the earth pony responded.

The black alicorn couldn't enjoy the sollitude he had wished for himself for more than a few minutes, since soon he was in the company of an orange earth pony and a dark blue alicorn. They said nothing, they just sat behind him on the sitting edge and threw occasional glimpses at him or eachother. The duo also exchanged tongue clicks, nodds and several other signals. Annoyed with this pantomime, that lasted several minutes, the alicorn stallion finally gave up and spoke:

" What do you two want? "

" Ta be honest, " AJ's responce came quickly.

" ,it wasn't very helpful of yah ta leave us all w'thout any explanation 'bout anythin'. Yah just ran away, leavin' us all wonder what yar son's gotten himself in. "

" 'Twas very satisfying to see the paternal relationship between you two strengthen, but all of us were left in a dire need to be informed about Hase's new and probably hazardous magic. " Luna picked up where Applejack had stopped.

The contrast between the farmer's accent and Luna's too formal language all but unnerving, the violet- maned alicorn realized, that if he wanted to avoid further interrogation by those two, he'd have to satisfy their curiosity.

" Fine. " he gave up.

" I hope you'll transmit my words to the rest, as I am not in the mood for repeating. "

After the two mares swore by Pinkie Pie's oath, the black stallion was ready to begin.

" I'm not going to say everything, since it will take me too long. Only the most importrant things. Listen carefully, as every small detail is importrant. "

The two mares, sitting on the stallion's two sides, prepared to listen carefully. Nothing could prepare them for the story they were about to hear.

" An unimaginable amount of millenia ago, the first pony world came into existence. The first pony was the Godess Creator of ponykind, Lauren Faust. She created the ponies, although that's irrelevant right now. What matters is what she did after many years of ruling this world. Unicorns were playing with magic. Magic is not what you think. It's not a singe entity, but the mix of the two basic magical entities: Light and Darkness. After the level of one exceeded the unicorn's limit, the pony was possessed... by themself, actually. The entity, no matter which, eliminated his self- control and hoofed control of the body to the deep desires the unicorn feared to express.

In order to keep those in check, Faust chose two ponies to be the Envoys of Light and Darkness. Those ponies, even though not unicorns, had absolute control of their respective entity, and could therefore keep the possessed ponies in check with their united power. They could also heal them. Even after Unia fell apart to an infinity of pony words, the Envoys remained two, their combined power big enough to twist fate in all pony worlds in such a way, that possessed ones were always defeated. "

Even though Luna knew the story, she was surprised, as she realized she didn't even know the half of it. It was a story her father had told her and Tia when they were still small fillies. However, she had never heard the details Vortex encompassed. Having heard it at least one hundred times, the alicorn mare still remembered it word for word. However, she left the memory for later. Now she had to listen to her uncle's version of the story.

" The post of an Envoy passed from pony to pony, only choosing the worthy. Even though the Envoys were immortal, they could be wounded and killed like any normal pony. For reasons, unknown to me, Hase was born as the Envoy of Darkness and he still is, as we saw today. Wanting to keep the balance in the multiverse, I contacted two ponies from another world. The mare had just given birth to a filly, the Envoy of Light. As their world was coming to an end, they allowed me to take their daughter and save her from imminent death. Her name was Elysia.

Hase and Elly, as he and his mother called her, grew up together, not knowing about eachother's powers. At a certain age, I revealed myself to her, and over the years taught her how to use her powers. During Hase's conflict with Celestia, she requested, that we reveal ourselves and help him. Suspecting, that this conflict was going to turn into a full- pledged war if my existence was revealed, I refused. One day she tried to do it herself. Luckily, I stopped her on time. To demotivate her, I erased every memory Hase had about her. Don't think I liked doing so. Elysia was as close to me as if she were my own daughter.

I don't know what happened next. I suppose she laid low, just like me, waiting for my son to show up. She has met him somewhere in this dimension, probably she was the one, who ponynapped him. He's in good hooves. The one thing that worries me is the bow. Hase keeps getting the weapons at an alarmingly fast rate. He's out of our reach now, so all we could do is hope he doesn't get the helmet before we meet in Mouthguard. " the alicorn finished.

Now Luna could recall the memory of her father telling her the story of Queen Faust.

" Once upon a time, in a far away land... "

The alicorn chuckled, as she remembered how she and Tia argued wheter it's farther than Prance or not. Their father would always interrupt them and say:

" One day, my dears, you will understand how far away this beautiful land was. Just not today. "

His story went on, just like their uncle's, with the world Unia and Lauren Faust, the Godess Creator. While Vortex had skipped the beautiful part of the story, the creation of ponykind, Solarion always told it in details:

" ... as the first pencil and the first notebook were created, she opened the booklet, put her pencil down on the first page and drew the first line ever. Over the following hours, she ripped off many sheets of paper, dissatisfied with the result. Until eventually, she stepped back and observed the final version of her sketch. Those two ponies, the first mare and the first stallion, were neither too edgy, nor too smooth; neither too tall, nor too short. They looked like everypony, or, to be exact, everypony would look like them.

After she painted them in beautiful colours, the godess decided the time had come. She used her magic to bring the duo into existence. They almost instantly developed a personality, a mind and feelings and the godess was alone no more. However, after creating a second couple, she decided the ponies were getting too monotonous. She drew a few more sketches. Some ponies were a bit smaller, some a bit taller; she drew unicorns, pegasi, unicorns, and, yes, even alicorns like herself. No mane and tail were like the other, and no single pony looked like another.

A few decades later, their civilisation trived... "

Her father then went on to describing the rule of Queen Faust, until somepony ripped off the magical flower, that maintained ther harmony. An infinity of worlds separated from Unia, an infinity of pony worlds. They were all like it, and yet, none was exactly the same. This tale always managed to put the rebellious Luna and Tia to sleep, no matter how much cake had eaten or how much they wanted to play before that.

A few minutes later, after her feeling of nostalgia left her, Luna realized she had left her two interlocutors in a state of awkward silence. The alicorn mare focused on the problem and glanced at Applejack. After exchanging a few more glares, the two silently agreed, that Luna would speak.

" Uncle, this possession you described bears an uncanny resemblance to the change in Azure Spark you described in your story. If Hase is in deed the de facto Envoy of Darkness, will this cursed jewel actually have any effect at all? Will its mind- bending power work, when the pony carrying it is the one in control of its power source? " she asked.

A faint smile appeared on the black stallion's muzzle.

" I have been thinking the same many times, dear niece. If the Eye of the Necropolis is actually powered by Darkness, its effect on Hase would be insignificant. However, we barely know anything about it. I'd prefer not to take risks when it comes to my son's well- being and I am sure you would agree with me.

I am also sure there's one final reason for your interest in me, besides your desire to make me feel better - and I assure you I do feel better now. Just as Hase himself, you probably wonder what I am hiding. Make no mistake, I will not tell you. I will not tell anypony, until the right time has come. I have sworn an oath to somepony as precious to my heart as Hase. All I can say to you is that all of those secrets are kept only for his own good. "

Gaining followers

As the trio of ponies returned to the rest of the group, now that it was clear, that Vortex had said all he would say for now, they were still oblivious to the fact, that their entire conversation had been heard by 6 more sets of ears than initially intended. Their privacy depended on the assumption, that the giant black dragon Formidon was sleeping inside his wooden wagon (since he could only hunt at night, the dragon had switched to a nocturnal regime and usually slept during the entire day).

However, for the 15 minutes this conversation lasted, the dragon was awake. His eyes with their golden irises were still resting under their lids, since the dragon couldn't see beyond the wooden wall anyway, but he was closely listening to what the three ponies conversed about. Eventually, the conversation ended and the hoofsteps of the three ponies sounded. Formidon's dragon hearing allowed him to hear them better than any pony, which in turn allowed him to determine how far somepony is just by their hoofsteps. When he got sure they were too far away to hear anything, he slowly shifted, so that he would be facing the fronter wall of the wooden wagon. If the wagon was lower, this would have been impossible to pull off. Luckily, even though the wagon's width was uncomfortably small for the dragon, each of whose claws was as big as a normal pony, the height allowed him to shift - only through performing a weird stunt, that included him grappling the ceiling with his hind legs' claws and then pushing himself with them, until he fell on his back, facing the other direction. This was very dangerous, should a pony stand next to the back wall of the wagon,as the dragon's enormous tail with its macelike apendage could smash a middle- sized rock. The dragon's current interlocutors, however, were immune to any physical harm whatsoever, and besides, they were on the other side of the wagon, which was as big as the throne hall of the Canterlot castle for them, or at least they assumed so, having never actually set hoof in this hall.

After the dragon flipped on his other side, his big eyes opened and the golden eyes stared at the pony, consisting of cinder. There he met an equally scary glare, emitted by yellow flame eyes of Blaze, with blue fire pupils in their centers. The 5 Sentinels were all present, and the glares of all but Cobalt, who unlike his brothers had normal eyes, could scare somepony, that hadn't seen them before, out of their skin. The reason why they were here was Blaze, who they had informally assigned for their leader. Unlike what most ponies were thinking, the 5 ponies of the elements could sence things just like anypony else. The only feeling they would never know was pain, since pain was a natural indicator for damage, and since the 5 of them were created to withstand and restrain the power of billions of Voidians, therefore able to withstand an enormous amount of damage, Vortex had simply excluded it from his spell.

So Blaze did fell when Luna's forehoof brushed his side. The otherwise lifeless cinders, that consisted the main element of his body ( in fact everything but the mane, tail, the feathers and the eyes, which consisted of pure fire), conducted this feeling to his scorching brain. As a result, the fire Sentinel's attention was brought to the lunar princess. He gathered his brothers in the back of the group and along with them entered the dragon's home unnoticed. There he asked the dragon to spy on the trio for them and transmit the conversation to the 5 pegasi.

15 minutes later the dragon finished talking and joined the rest of the Sentinels in wondering what their leader was up to. This conversation got the fire Sentinel thinking. Knowing that he shouldn't let the 4 ponies and the dragon wonder for too long, he didn't wait long before conveying his thoughts to his peers and the dragon:

" We stand here now, but if we think of it, the whole situation is very unlikely. Here stand 6 guardians of Equestria from before Celestia's reign and a dragon, that didn't exist until more than a millenium afterwards. Moreover, we are part of a group we never could have met, since it was separated from us by centuries for some and millenia for others. What makes this situation even more ludicrous is the fact, that we are in a world none of us shares even a minor connection to... "

" Aaaand the actual point iiiis? " Hydro interrupted. The fire sentinel stared with annoyance in his brother's whirlpool eyes and resumed:

" The point is, Hydro, that there is one reason for that. One pony, to be exact. "

The rest all nodded. They knew who Blaze ment.

" Let's think where we would be without him just for a moment. You, Formidon, " the fire lord swung his left forehoof at the black dragon.

" , would still be roaming the endless lifeless landscape of the Void, if it wasn't for Hase, still torn from the inside because of the pointless wish for revenge. "

The huge dragon frowned, since he knew the words of the tall stallion were true.

" We, my brothers, would still be stuck inside a medallion as little pebbles. Moreover, we would still be under the curse of Vortex's brother. That's what we would be like if it wasn't for Hase. "

The 4 other lords all knew he had a point. If it wasn't for Hase, they wouldn't have been released, or reformed, as a matter of fact.

" We all swore to aid him in all of his quests... and yet we don't. Hase has been having difficulties lately. Has anypony among us done something to help him? "

" Sort of. " Formidon replied. Even though the dragon hadn't really helped Hase all that much, he chose to believe, that the occasional conversations he had with his friend actually helped him. That was true; even though the conversations with the black dragon didn't help Hase directly, the dragon usually managed to inspire the black stallion with his speeches. He was the one, who got the Envoy out of his sttae of self- pittying in the day after his marefriend left him.

Blaze looked at the dragon with great confusion. Most of the time the inventor's newest friend had stayed inside the wagon, and the fact, that he had helped Hase from that wagon, while the fire sentinel had done nothing, vexed the tall pegasus. However, soon he recalled, that Formidon had also flown a several times and Hase had accompanied him most of the time. His confusion dispelled, now all the stallion demanded was an explanation.

" What do you mean, sort of? " he asked.

Formidon then told the 5 lords of the conversations he had led with his friend. All agreed, that even though those didn't actually help Hase, the black dragon had proven himself to be a supportive friend.

" Formidon, if not fully, has shown himself to be a real friend. Something the rest of us, except Cobalt, perhaps, " Blaze spoke, taking into consideration the fact, that the pegasus with a body of obsidian had stayed in the real world while they were locked in the medallion for the second time and therefore could have actually helped Hase - the cinder stallion couldn't know.

" , can't say for ourselves. Yet fate gives us a chance to prove it. Our savior has parted ways with the main group, driven by his desire to develop independently from his father. This confused me at first, since I doubt Vortex could have hidden secrets from him in a world he's never been in before, but after thinking about it for a few minutes, and since I don't doubt you thought about it too, we all probably know, that Hase didn't mean that kind of knowledge. No, he set out on an odyssey of self- exploration, hoping that separation from our creator and his friends would help him learn more about himself. This is our chance, brothers. We must help him complete this odyssey. This way we'll prove ourselves to be his real friends, and not just 5 ponies and 1 dragon, claiming to be such. We'll follow him and join him in his quest. Are you with me? "

" Yes. " the 4 pegasi and the dragon spoke at once. Knowing, that this had most certainly been heard by ponies outside of the wagon, Blaze wasted no time wondering. Once, back when he was cursed, he only had control over the fire. Now, when he was in his prime once more, he could also wield cinder, ash, lava and other fire related entities. It was the same with the rest: once restricted to the main part of their entity, now their power was greater.

However, sometimes all one needs is something simple.

Utilizing the most simple spell he knew, Blaze swung his right forehoof, sending a stream of fire through his cinder hoof, aimed at the roof of the wagon. It hit it and the roof caught fire. Small pieces of it slowly fell down. The dragon didn't hesitate to do his part. With one quick swing of his massive tail he shattered the roof, sending hot wooden pieces flying in all directions. It would have been quite dangerous for a normal pony, but the thick scales of the dragon and the elemental bodies of the sentinels prevented them from getting harmed.

The black dragon jumped in the air and spread his humongous wings. With great haste the 5 lords flew in the air behind him, rising above him and in the end all landing on his spacious back. The group bellow stared upward with great awe. The rest of the wagon bellow was now also catching fire from the burning pieces of the smashed roof. The wind was blowing the flames towards two nearby trees. Seeing, that their act would cause a forest fire, Tempest flew in the air and raised his forehooves at the sky. Not even 15 seconds after the tall pegasus did so, clouds soon appeared on the blue sky. They multiplied, shifting from innocent white to an ominous dark grey. The first thunder sounded as the clouds converged, now covering the whole sky. All knew what was about to happen.

The downpour surely was an effective away to put out a fire. What was left from the group stood under the rain and observed how the heavy rain put out the flames, blazing  the flaming wagon. They also observed how the five sentinels on Formidon's back flew away with him. None of them knew why this had happenned. All they had heard was a noise, coming from the wagon.

Also, none of them was aware it wasn't very good for the steam engine to have water coming down its chimney. The water drops increased the amount of steam produced from the coal. That steam filled the pipes to their limit, untill it eventually passed it. The steam cart, tied to the remnants of the wooden wagon, exploded, metal debris flying in every direction. Luckily for the group, Celestia's and Luna's reactions were quick enough. The two casted a magical shield around the group, shielding them from harm. A second later, when they let the shield down, Applejack had one spot- on remark ready:

" It nevah rains, ba it pours. "

Meanwhile, the wingbeats of the dragon had gotten the company of five pegasi and the dragon himself high in the air. When the dragon complained about the low altitude clouds obscuring his vision, Blaze glanced at Tempest and told him:

" We're all glad we have the full list of our powers back, but I think you've shown off enough already. "

The storm sentinel shrugged his shoulders and clapped with his forehooves. The clouds began dispersing and only two minutes after it had begun, the downpour ended and the dark grey clouds were replaced by the blue sky, that had reigned before them.

As the rest of his brothers, Tempest was very glad he had all of his powers back. When he was still an evil lord, he had spent multiple hours trying to gain control over the storms, but any attempts were futile. The only storm he could conjure was a miniature tornado. Now, when the clouds and lightnings once again bowed to his will, it could be expected he'd show off, and so he did. He just now began to imagine the infinite stunts he'd be able to pull off with his power back to its maximum.

The infinite years of boredom during his reign over his part of Aseamos had turned Tempest into an adrenaline junkie. If the Mane 6 knew him better, 5 of them would have agreed, that he reminds them of a certain cyan pegasus, while this cyan pegasus would have gained a devoted companion in her own stunts. Even though the storm lord wasn't as good with flying as Dash, he enjoyed the surge of adrenaline probably as much as she did. Back in the days, when he was an evil lord, when he got bored he'd often ride on winds with a hurricane speed, enjoying the feeling, while scaring the scraps out of the ponies in Zealous Flight's (that annoying bowmare) village. His wind spirits were initially created for his so- called "cloud races". Even though back then Tempest had no control over these clouds, he could still use the wind to guide them. The wind spirits weren't meant for his guards, but for his competitors in races with these clouds. In those races, the racers used wind to propel themselves and the winner was the first to finish the third lap of the mountain the storm sentinel's castle was on. Sadly, the spirits were too dumb, resulting in a lot more crashes than anticipated. Annoyed with them, Tempest had to unwillingly give up the cloud races and appoint the spirits for his guards, since that seemed to be the only thing they were able to do.

In fact, during the Equestrians' raid on his castle, he'd just gone through an unsuccesful stunt, which had made him sour. This had prevented the group from finding out his true nature. Now, as he quietly sat back on the dragon's back, a grin popped up on the cloud- made stallion's muzzle as he grinded his two forehooves at eachother, as he was comprehending the endless possibilities, that awaited him.

" How are we going to find out where Hase is? " Cobalt asked, as he neared Blaze.

" I'm on it, bro.  " the answer came from the opposite direction. The rock sentinel recognised the voice, so when he turned left, it was no surprise to him that he saw his brother Hydro, stretching like a cat, apparently preparing for something.

Before the pegasus with the aurichalcite mane could ask the rivers sentinel for an explanation, the water pegasus had already begun with the process, that required explaining. At first small bubbles popped out from the multicoloured water, that was Hydro's body. Those bubbles multiplied and began popping out faster, growing as time passed. It only took the rock and the fire sentinels seconds to realise their brother was boiling. They instinctively stepped back. About 20 seconds afterwards, the reason for this had evaporated entirely. Which left the duo without any possible explanation for this, excluding the option, that just like Tempest, he was showing off.

Apparently he came to that conclusion too, since only a few seconds afterwards a big puddle of water condensed on the cold scales on the dragon's back and a pony muzzle formed from it.

" Interesting and importrant, but yet constantly underestimated fact: the air we are all breathing usually contains 0.4% water vapors, about 1% if you're near the sea. What I'm about to do is use my tiny H2O spies to find out the exact location of our common pal Hase! "

After delivering this humorous explanation, the muzzle turned into a puddle again, which evaporated after a few moments. Blaze and Cobalt looked at eachother and found the other one raising an eyebrow as well. None of them had expected Hydro had such an unimaginable, yet plausible, plan.

Hydro was the prankster of the group, so the others often forgot he was actually the smartest amongst them. Even though he bore a resemblance to Pinkie Pie in his behaviour, it was only a slight one. Pinkie was much more energetic, and had a distinctive style anypony could recognise. The other 4 remembered he was much more like her before the curse. However, the endless years had managed to cool down Hydro, but in return they granted him a vast knowledge over almost every aspect of humour known to ponykind (or at least ponies in Aseamos). If somepony ever tried to compare the two, one very accurate metaphor would be stars. Pinkie would be a young yellow star, full with a lot of energy. Hydro would be a red giant - with a lot less energy, but still a force to be reckoned with.

In some cases Hydro would manage to cheer the ponies up better than Pinkie Pie, since his vast knowledge of humour spread from silly jokes a small foal would laugh at to elaborate and hard to catch satire, grotesque or sometimes even sarcasm, that only few could understand. For instance, Pinkie's energy would grant her the upper hoof somewhere where her style was valued, like Ponyville, but when put in a different atmosphere, her humour was often not received well. The perfect example was her at the Grand Galloping Gala, or when she pulled off the show in Appleoosa, hoping to bring ponies and buffaloes together. Hydro wouldn't have managed to pull off one of her wild Ponyville parties, but he still would have been able to pull off a good one. However, he would also have succeeded at the Gala and in Appleoosa, since he knew what types of humour appealed to different personalities.

Some types of humour required intelligence beyond Hydro's own, so during his years as the ruler of Ponceroy, at first in order to understand delicate satire, then for his own satisfaction, the water lord began enriching his mind. After a few centuries, while most of the others (in fact all but Cobalt) were trying to regain their full power, Hydro had developed his mind. Therefore now he had become more intelligent than his brothers. No longer satisfied by one kind of humour at a time, he employed jesters and illusionists to cater for his hunger for simple humour, while he set up theatres and made participation in plays mandatory once a year, in order to satisfy his thirst for its more sophisticated version.

Once again, he had shown his wit by coming up with a plan the other 4 wouldn't even dream of. Much to their surprise, it was effective, as only 2 minutes later, the muzzle of their brother materialised again.

" They are not very far. I thought they might have reached the village, while in fact they are still 2 miles away from it. Flying is a lot slower than I supposed. Would you be so kind as to alert our fire- breathing friend, that he should head towards that forked mountain over there, " one eye materialized as well.

" , if he wants to meet them. And tell him to be subtle. We don't want Hase to think Gummonodan the Bridge Chomper is coming for him. That play was hillarious... " the muzzle spoke, before it and the eye turned to vapor.

The sun had set about half an hour before they find who they were looking. The inventor's black coat prevented him from being spotted, the dark mountain slopes behind him blending with him. The group only noticed the white mare, that had accompanied him before. Silent as the mist, the black dragon tailed them, flying about 50 yards behind. The duo didn't notice them, even though Blaze was hard to miss in the evening dusk, his cinder body emitting weak light, but still, light. Luckily, they were directly behind the two other pegasi, so there was no chance for the sentinels to be noticed by the two Envoys- they were out of their peripheral vision. Hydro's muzzle quietly instructed them to maintain their course and speed, before it evaporated for one last time.

Hase's mind was empty of any thoughts. Until two minutes ago, he had been thinking of the events of the day, that was now coming to an end, wondering wheter all the pain he caused was justified. Eventually, he forgave himself, coming to the conclusion, that the shock was the reason for all that, the shock from what Rarity had shared with him. Also, if his apology wasn't enough, the black pegasus wouldn't be able to do anything about it, so he finally calmed down, telling himself he'd done all that could be done. Hoping his friends and his father would forgive him for the trick he pulled off, he cleansed his mind from these thoughts and instead focused on the soothing feeling of flight and the magnificent scenery.

Sadly, he wasn't able to enjoy those two things for long, since a small amorphous mass of water condensed in the air next to his head, moving with the same velocity as him. Before the scientist could ask himself what was happenning, a stallion muzzle formed from it and spoke:

" Hi there? How're ya going? "

For a moment Hase was falling, the shock causing him to lose control over his wings. Luckily, one foot bellow his past position he had already regained it. Dumbfounded, the black pegasus halted, hovering in mid- air, and flew up a little to be on the same height as his sister, who, just like him, had stopped to take a closer look at the muzzle. it didn't remain that way for a lot of time though. Only a second after the two pegasi had stopped, water drops condensed from the air and added to the muzzle, rapidly forming the body of a male pegasus with the height of Princess Celestia. Nothing could prepare Elly for his body of multicoloured water (brown, yellow, clear, even muddy yellow), the waterfall mane and tail and the whirlpool eyes. She flew back, taking the stallion for some monster.

Hase, on the contrary, flew forward. He put on a half- surprised, half- annoyed expression and asked:

" Hydro, what are you doing here? If you're here to bring me back, know that I am not going to. "

Before the rivers sentinel could answer, something big and black flew bellow the trio and as it passed them, it flew in an upward swivel, and when it exited by spreading its humongous black wings, it was clear that this was Formidon. Four figures could be seen on the dragon's back, near his shoulders, thanks to the leftover light from the sunset. The first of the figures on the left shoulder refracted light and let it through in a dark shade of blue. The second's skin reflected it in a weird way, making Elysia thing his coat was made of mirrors. The first on the right shoulder emitted light of his own, coming from his fiery skin. The last of the weird pegasi also occasionally emitted light from his figure entirely made out of clouds - miniature lightnings. The white pegasus was close enough to realize they all shared the first weird stallion's height and species.

Before his sister could react to his friends' appearance, which was probably about to result in a small battle, Hase took it upon himself to introduce them:

" Elly, I believe you have met Formidon, my newest friend. "

The big black dragon nodded. Elly nodded back in response. She had seen this dragon with her brother, and the fact, that he was his friend, allowed her to get rid of her tension. After all, even if those weird pegasi turned out to be hostile, a dragon with double the normal size would cause them to consider their plan very carefully.

" However, I doubt you have ever met those guys, which I guess are my friends as well. "

The five nodded as one, which looked odd.

" This is Hydro, Sentinel of Rivers. " Hase presented the stallion closest to him.

The pegasus smiled, which confused the white mare, since she didn't deem it possible for a being like him. Her certainty growing with the number of potential foes sinking, Elly smiled back, spread her forehoof shook with Hydro. It was weird touching water, which had taken some form and refused to return to its amorphous state. What was even weirder was that the Envoy of Light's hoof didn't get wet in the hoofshake. The black pegasus flew towards the dragon and prompted the lord and his sister to follow him. Once on Formidon's back, after they all gathered, he went on to introducing the rest.

" That is Neptune, Sentinel of the Seas. "

The white mare shook hooves with the second water pegasus. this one was different than Hydro. He was serious, which could be seen even in his hard to read expression, consisting of sea foam eyes and sea water. His entire body, unlike his brother's, consisted of a single colour - the dark blue- green shade of the sea in a normal day. His only word was " Ma'am. ", signifying his respect for the mare. What baffled Elly were the sea creatures inside his body - the jellyfish, the algae, the miniature tuna fishes. Fortunately, she had already broken the hoofshake when she spotted them, otherwise it would have been very embarassing situation for her brother.

" Those are Tempest, Sentinel of Storms, Cobalt, Sentinel of Rock, and Blaze, Sentinel of Fire. " Hase presented the rest at once.

The first to shake hooves with her was Tempest. It puzzled her, that he was actually able to do so, since his whole body consisted of clouds. She knew clouds were material for pegasi and alicorns, but Tempest didn't behave like a cloud - otherwise he would have been left behind, since Formidon, listening to Hase, had taken course to fly over the gorge between Westend and Eastend. Apparently his weight was big enough for him to be able to stand firmly. Deciding she couldn't parse anything more, Elly went over to shaking hooves with Cobalt. The rock pegasus smiled greetingly, giving him a generally more friendly appearance than his brothers. What also contributed to this was the fact his eyes were normal and the fact, that the insides of his mouth the white mare saw when he greeted her where also made of flesh, apparently. Nopony knew the actual reason why they had stayed this way after Cobalt turned back into himself in Aseamos (the other 4 remembered, that before the curse they were made of gems and rock).

Finally, she took the hoof of Blaze, and naturally burned herself, pulling her hoof back.

" Sorry. " the stallion apologised.

Since Tempest's hoof, even though made of clouds, was solid, and since Hydro's and Neptune's hooves weren't wet, of course Elly would expect Blaze's wouldn't burn. The fire sentinel himself had no idea why this was so either. It just was this way. He could lower the temperature of his hooves, turning them from cinders to coal for the second he shook Elly's hoof, but they didn't stay that way. If the pegasus wanted them to stay this way, he had to constantly think of it, which was the equivalent of a unicorn constantly using some spell - not impossible, but annoying and exhausting. Therefore, the stallioon only did so when he had to come in physical contact with somepony. This time though he had forgotten about it, thinking of how to say to Hase what they had come for.

" Hase. " he drew his attention after letting Elysia's hoof. After he made sure the black pegasus, twice lower than himself, was listening, he spoke again:

" We heard what you said before, and we want you to know we all think you're right. "

" Do you? " Hase was surprised. He had been left with the impression, that neither of his friends shared his opinion. When he looked around confused, he saw everypony nod. Formidon hummed affirmatively in reply, the sound causing the back under Hase's hooves to tremble.

" I know what it's like to have a part of yourself locked away, and so do they. " Blaze swayed with his hoof, showing the rest of the sentinels.

" Although I can't say we're friends from a long time, or that any of us but Cobalt has done anything to prove this friendship. Nevertheless, we share your opinion and are ready to accompany you in your search for the truth. "

The Envoy of Darkness smiled. Much or less, he had been somehow dissappointed from the fact, that he stopped his friends from coming before that. Even though Elly was with him, he had felt a void in his heart, now that his friends were away. A void his newest friends had filled in right in time.

" Alright then. " he chuckled.

" Welcome aboard. "