Nomad was quick in the griffin leader's direction, hiding among the clouds. He stalked him from far behind, not wanting to be seen by him, waiting for the opportune time to strike. Damos had taught him assassination techniques, and they had come in useful when sneaking up on targets. But unlike before, he'd be using lethal weapons, in an act to cripple the leader before bringing him back to the ponies. He loaded the small firearm, slipping a mag full of lead into the weapon.

"Let's hope he doesn't move too much," Nomad muttered.

He landed gently on the ground, tucking away his cyber wings promptly. He scanned the horizon, blocked by thick clouds of snow. Trudging carefully through, he activated infrared on his optical enhancements. He found the leader not far in front of him, speaking to two other griffins, and along with them, a minotaur.

"What are you telling them?" Nomad wondered, inching in slowly. He crouched behind a mound of snow, listening intently on the conversation.

"That artifact didn't work! You said that it would bring unimaginable power!" the leader shouted in frustration.

"The artifact's purpose is not fully known, Morik, I even told you that we found it in the Everfree, could be ancient pony magic for all we know," the minotaur replied.

"That artifact was supposed to help me win the Crystal Empire! To stamp out their mediocrity! The Gods themselves ruling the lands and favoring their own kind, Unscrupulous!"

"Morik, calm down, we probably need more time to study the artifact,"

"That artifact? It's no more than the tail of an oversized fox!"

Nomad was alert, "The missing tail..."

He took a closer glance at the four creatures, seeing that the two griffins were holding a large crate. Nomad could most likely walk away with the crate, while distracting them long enough for the ponies to arrive. Having this plan set, he slowly emerged from behind the mound, hiding the weapon away in his robes.

"What the-? You!" the leader shouted.

"You have something I need," Nomad said, "I'm willing to walk away if you give me the artifact,"

Morik's interest was piqued, he looked back at the crate, then at Nomad, "What's that thing worth to you?"

"Your freedom," Nomad replied.

Morik thought for a moment, feeling a hatred build up towards Nomad. The way he had ruined his conquest, his weapon, everything, it made his blood boil. Nomad could see it all in his eyes, and readied himself for combat, reaching in his robes for his pistol and focusing on conjuring polyclones for defense.

"No," he said, "you're dead,"

Immediately, Nomad spawned two clones from a wisp of smoke to defend him, and at the same time, Morik lunged at him, tackling the right Nomad hard. They were quickly engaged in a heated ground fight, both wrestling for dominance over the other. Nomad's clones were busy dealing with the minotaur and other griffin, making sure they did not get away. Morik was using his deadly claws, trying to get them close to Nomad's throat, and, was succeeding in doing so. Nomad was reaching for Morik's throat as well, in an attempt to cut off oxygen long enough for him to pass out, though, that is a long time.

"Gotcha," Morik said.

Suddenly, he was on top of Nomad, his claws threatening to slice Nomad's throat.

"I told you, you're dead,"

Nomad seized his pistol, then held it up to Morik's head and fired, splattering gore everywhere. He threw him off and was back on his feet, seeing his two clones defeated, and the two others laying in the snow exhausted. Nomad looked back at Morik, realizing what he did.

"... Are you..." he stammered, "... dead?" he fell to his knees, sudden nausea overcoming him, "I'm... I'm sorry..."

"Oh, don't be sorry for the fool,"

Nomad looked up, seeing Spitfire march up, "He killed many good ponies, he deserved what he got,"

The ponies went and arrested the two others, leading them off bound in chains. Nomad still needed to ponder what he had done, he was lost as to what to do.

"Damos must know, I've done something unforgivable," he said, "I need wisdom,"

"Oh, suck it up, Nomad, you did the right thing, good job on catching the VIP, and dealing with them," Spitfire said.

Nomad was still shocked, confused about why things happened. He didn't know whether to blame himself, or to blame someone else. He went and retrieved the fox's tail, carrying it in one hand, and a pistol in the other. He boarded the ship going home, and was silent the whole time. He was offered food, but he felt sick to his stomach, he was offered a place to sleep, but he couldn't rest his tense guilt.

"I'm a bit worried for him, all the guns he carries, you'd think that he's killed someone before," a pony commented.

Nomad was in a catatonic state, swaying back and forth in a seat, unable to be shaken out of it.

'What have I done? What have I done? What evil have I committed?' he thought.

Nomad's mind was defiled, his innocence taken and forever gone.

Author's Note

Sorry if this chapter's too short.