The Price of Harmony

Chapters

history is just a label
Restricted Air-Space
A Reason to Fight
A Talon for Killing
Wanted
The Great Escape
Clues and Claws
The Assassination of Talon
The Black Stallion
Looking Back
Epilogue

history is just a label

Chapter 1: History is Just a Label

Twilight made her way to the scheduled meeting point. She took note of her surroundings. She had been receiving notes ever since she and her friends had defeated Discord. They kept talking about a "Real" world. And now, four months later, Twilight was finally getting a chance to meet the sender and unravel the mystery of those letters. As she made her way to the center of the everfree forest she noticed a certain purple mist. It was familiar to her but she couldn't put her hoof on exactly where she had seen it before. "Stop right there and don't move." Twilight jumped at the voice, but did exactly what it said. "Are you alone?"

"Yes" Twilight gulped the words coming out of her mouth by force.

"You came here out of curiosity. You want to know what the real world is."

"Yes, I do"

"Well you have a choice; your friends followed you here. It is not often that you venture into the Everfree forest. You can wait and include them or listen without them and maybe never see them again." Twilight gulped. She didn't know if this unknown voice would be hostile towards her or her friends but she definitely did not want to lose them. "Well?"

"TWILIGHT!" Twilight heard Applejack yelling off in the distant. She had made her decision.

"I'm over here!" Twilight yelled back. She looked to face the voice but she still could not see anything. All she knew was that this was an opportunity to hear about the "Real" world.

"A wise decision." the voice said to her as Twilight's five friends entered into the clearing.

"What's goin on here Twilight?" asked Applejack.

"Girls, before I say anything promise me that whatever happens you will do anything for me."

"Come on Twilight! We already do everything together! We are NOT going to abandon you, ever!" responded Rainbow Dash

"I will say this, not even she knows what's about to happen. You six had better be ready for what I say." said the voice as Princess Luna stepped out from the shadows.

"Princess! What are you doing!" asked Twilight

"I'm here to tell you the truth. But before I divulge it, you six have to promise to believe everything I say no matter how farfetched it may seem."

"That depends, if it's a really good story then it could be true, but if you start talking about those little fairies again I doubt that could be true. *GASP* Unless you brought us one here to show us! How cool would that be! Mmmphh" Twilight shoved her hoof into Pinkie Pie's mouth.

"Uhmm, I think she says we promise." said Twilight.

"Ok then" Luna's horn glowed as the forest around them magically morphed into a grand city. "The Everfree forest wasn't always a forest. It was once a grand city. Everything in Equestria was peaceful. Until one day there was an attack from the country of Forshan. The armies of Forshan swiftly invaded and tried to take over Equestria." The scene quickly changed into a giant rubble heap as an army of ponies marched over the dead bodies of civilians and worst of all children. "It was at this worst of times in Equestrian history that the Elements of Harmony came into existence. Six ponies each representing an element formed a secret organization known as the Black Stallions. They performed several secret operations including sabotage, assassinations, etc. In the end, the valiant efforts of these six ponies resulted in the end of the bloodiest war in Equestrian history.

As Luna said this, the scene changed into six ponies standing victoriously over a hill looking down on a valley filled with dead bodies of the enemy army. "The Leader of Forshan knew that he could never take over Equestria while the elements existed and Celestia and I knew he would wait for the moment that the elements died before trying to invade again. So combining our magic we cast a spell over the six ponies so that every generation would have its own elements to defend us if anything were to happen. It was decided that the elements needed to be kept away from civilization, so Celestia and I decided that instead of rebuilding the city that once stood here. We would transform it into a fortress to hide the elements. You six are now the representatives of the elements of Harmony and Forshan has begun to grow restless. So I must ask you to become like your ancestors before you and arise to destroy our enemies." At this point Rainbow Dash burst out into laughter. "Why do you laugh at such a serious matter!"

Even Twilight tried to contain her laughter, "Princess I know you expect us to believe all of this, but it's just a little too crazy to even consider! I mean, there is no way that the elements were always ponies. History says that Celestia used the elements to stop you when you were Nightmare Moon."

"History says that she 'harnessed' the elements. Twilight Sparkle, I would have expected you of all ponies to understand that just because it's written in a book labeled history, doesn't make it the truth. Celestia and I wrote history and we could have written anything we wanted too."

"But, what about Nightmare Moon? She existed!"

Princess Luna instantly took the form of Nightmare Moon. "See me now! Nightmare moon is always present and has always been me! Even when you fought Nightmare Moon I was in complete control. My sister and I have done this several times before. Besides, ever since you all took on the role of the elements you have all felt a little different haven't you?"

Twilight had a realization, ever since the event with Nightmare Moon she had felt different, she tried to change the subject. "But when we confronted you, I saw you smash the elements to bits!"

"Yes, it would seem that I have destroyed the elements, but hear this; that was part of the spell Celestia and I placed over the elements. They weren't the real elements. You six were always the holders of the elements; I just had to release the elements to your bodies."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"The stones that I destroyed were really the, shall we say, containers for the elements until the holders were present. For you see, when the holders of the elements die, the elements have to become some sort of solid material, so that they may be stored until the next in line find them. Those 'stones' were actually the souls of the preceding six elements of Harmony. By me destroying them I released the souls and the elements could combine with the souls of you six."

Twilight, finding her lost for words, tried to alter her argument, "But, history says that-"

"Have you not been listening? History is full of lies meant to protect the facade of harmony. My sister and I agreed that we would never disclose this information to anypony, elements or no elements so that we could protect an aura of harmony. But in truth, the price of harmony is steep."

Twilight found herself lost for words. She wanted to believe Luna, but as much as she wanted that, she couldn't bring herself to accept anything that she had just heard. She looked back at her friends and all of them looked just as confused as her. "Just a thought here." Applejack finally spoke up breaking the silence. "But could there be any way of you showing us proof of this? I mean I reckon your word is good, but I can't just believe everything that I hear."

"Fine then," responded Luna, "I will show you." As her horn began to glow a magical aura appeared around Twilight. She knew what the sensation was going to feel like, she had teleported many times before, but her friends would be caught off-guard. Teleporting was actually uncomfortable and could easily make somepony sick, but Twilight also knew that there was nothing she could say to prepare them for the discomfort they were about to experience, so she just inhaled and prepared for it.

As soon as they disappeared she felt her stomach turn and her body bend in ways that it shouldn't, because when a pony teleports, the skeletal structure goes first to give the pony a solid structure to materialize around. However in this entire process the nerves stayed within the body so they were able to feel every single movement their bodies made.

The feeling suddenly stopped and Twilight stopped counting. They had teleported for approximately 10.5 seconds, well over one thousand miles. She looked up from the ground and couldn't comprehend what she saw. Even though Luna had told them exactly what it was like. The first thing she noticed was also the most noticeable thing. There was a giant formation of ponies walking through a city. But then she noticed that they were each carrying a sword, spear, or some kind of elongated device that looked like it was used for shooting some sort of projectile. Twilight watched in absolute fixation, but then an event happening to her left caught her attention. A young filly ran out onto the street and crashed into a stallion that was watching the soldiers. The stallion taking notice took some ropes from his saddlebags. The officer then bound the child and then took out a dagger. Twilight watched in absolute horror as the knife was plunged into the child's cerebral column, killing it instantly. Tears began to grow in Twilight's eyes as the truth in the words that Luna had spoken hit her like a ton of bricks. She closed her eyes before she realized that they were teleporting again. Twilight could not wait to be home.

As soon as they got back Twilight looked over at Luna to see how she had felt about the incident with the child only to find her passed out on the floor. "Princess!" Twilight screamed as she used her magic to try and revive her. Luna finally got back up.

"I'm so sorry for scaring you like that." said Luna as she picked herself up off the floor. "It's just that there is no magical handicap in Forshan since very few unicorns live there." Even though her friends didn't, Twilight knew exactly what Luna was talking about. In Equestria there was a magical aura that was left there from the magical powers left in the unicorns that had died ever since the beginning of the nation. This pool of magic kept growing, making it easier today for a unicorn like Twilight to cast spells. And if there was little magic in Forshan, then Twilight's magic would be useless in the fight. Twilight realized that there was only one possible way to end the cruelty she had just seen. That one way was to resort to it.

"Did you see the way he killed that child?" Fluttershy said, she was obviously extremely traumatized. Rarity heard her and went over to Fluttershy to try and comfort her.

"Princess, that was terrible! How come the people don't revolt against such cruelty!" asked Twilight.

"It's simple Twilight, they have been taught that the army is the sole protector of their land and such cruelty is necessary punishment for anyone is thought to have done something that will distract them from this job of theirs. Twilight, these ponies do not care for anypony but themselves. Promise me you will fight for our country so that this evil does not enter into our borders."

"I don't know about it Princess I don't think I would ever be mentally ready to take the life of another pony."

"I don't need you to be ready to end lives. I just need you to be ready to save them no matter what it takes."

Restricted Air-Space

Chapter 2: Restricted Air Space

Twilight and the others slowly made their way back to Ponyville. They were each trying to comprehend everything that they had just heard. Fluttershy seemed to be taking it the worst. Every time Twilight looked back at her she was crying and had a completely blank look on her face. Rainbow Dash, however, seemed to be doing just fine as she was doing aerial maneuvers the whole way back. Nopony told her to stop. They figured that was her way of thinking. They finally reached the edge of the everfree forest, where Rainbow Dash finally broke the silence.

"Well, I've got to get home and get ready for tomorrow. I've got some big plans. I'm going to the Wonderbolts rally in Fillydelphia."

"How could you think about that after everything we just saw!" Applejack responded to her friend's lack of care.

"Easily, I just didn't believe any of that bologna! You expect me to believe that I have another pony's soul inside of me? And that Equestria is at war? There is no way in Celestia that any of that was true!"

"But what about that terrifying scene that Luna showed us!" piped up Twilight.

"You saw how she was during Nightmare Night! She was just trying to scare us into believing her story! Besides, as powerful as she is I wouldn't put having some kind of conjuring magic against her, and what we really saw was just a fake image that she made appear."

"But what if you're wrong Rainbow? What if everything she showed us was true?" Twilight asked her friend.

"Well I won't believe it until I see it first hoof. And there isn't anything that any of you can say to change my mind!" and with that Rainbow flew off to her cloud castle.

"Just let 'er go, we just can't get her to believe what she doesn't want to." said Applejack

When Rainbow Dash got home she immediately got onto her bed, but she didn't close her eyes just yet. "What if everything was true? Maybe I'm just scared of what would happen if my life were to change that drastically from an athlete and performer to a soldier. Wait a second, I'm forgetting that I'm Rainbow Dash! I'm not afraid of anything!" And with that she closed her eyes to sleep, but every time she tried that horrible scene played out in her head. Every time she saw it, the scene seemed to become more gruesome. Finally unable to get any sleep, she decided that she would just get an early start towards tomorrow.

With that she got out her saddlebags and packed some bits and a snack for the flight there. She also went up to the national weather team headquarters in Cloudsdale to check on the weather for tomorrow in Fillydelphia. She smiled when she saw that there was not a planned rain within the next three days, which meant that they would be able to keep stadium's roof open. The particular stadium, which had a retractable roof, could hold 60,000 ponies and Rainbow Dash was one of the 300 that was going to be in the sky seats. She had won the ticket in a raffle for all of the weather team leaders. Seeing that everything was perfect for tomorrow she looked at the clock on a wall in the headquarters. It was 3:00 in the morning, Rainbow decided that if she left now she might be able to watch the Wonderbolts preshow warm-ups for the noon show that she was attending.

She had originally planned on getting in Fillydelphia at 9:00 then eating breakfast before heading to the stadium. But, if she left now she might be able to eat breakfast at 8:00 and get to the stadium an hour earlier than she had planned. Deciding that this would provide her with a chance to maybe talk to the Wonderbolts she began flying towards Fillydelphia.

While she flew she thought about the previous night's events. How she had left her friends after lying, no no she hadn't lied. She didn't believe anything from last night. She decided to just press onward when she found that a jet stream was heading straight for Fillydelphia. "Huh" she thought to herself, "today must be my lucky day. I just may get to talk to the Wonderbolts before the show." And with that on her mind she sped off towards Fillydelphia.

She arrived at 6:00 a lot sooner than she thought she would have originally. "That jet stream was stronger than I thought." she said to herself as she flew into Fillydelphia. She began wondering where a good place to eat would be. "Well" she thought to herself, "there should be a few ponies that have to work early so they might know good places to eat breakfast. She located such a local and questioned them about breakfast resturaunts. She learned there was a diner on 6th street named Big Al's Barn that supposedly had amazing omelets and haycakes. Deciding that was where she would go she made her way there.

When she got there she ordered the Haycakes and the straw and cheese omelet. As she sat there eating she carefully thought out her day. Deciding that she was planning too much to remember on her own she took out a sheet of paper and began writing out her schedule. As she finished she looked up at the clock, it was 9:00, she had some time to kill so she figured she would visit the Weather team station here to double-check the weather for that day to make sure that there wasn't a mix up. When she got there she found the same information she had gained in Cloudsdale, there was no rain for a few days. Happy with her results she checked the time again, it was 10:00. She decided that now would be a perfect time to head over to the stadium. She knew that the day ahead of her would start with the best part, the Wonderbolts. She smiled as she flew towards the stadium in anticipation of what would be one of the best days of her life.

Back in Ponyville, Twilight had called together her friends that were still there to talk about the events of the previous night. They all met inside of her library and seeing that she had been the one to call the meeting she decided to speak first. "Well, as you've probably guessed, I called you here to talk about what happened to us last night. I've thought about it all night and as much as I want to dismiss it from all thought. We can't really tell how much of it was even truth. I for one think that we try and see if there are any references of these things in that fortress in the everfree forest. Since that seems to have changed the least over all of the years and since Luna said that it used to be a city, there should be a library there with records of a war."

"Ummm, if I could just say something." said Fluttershy almost at a whisper, but it was loud enough for Twilight to hear.

"Go ahead Fluttershy."

"Well, I was just thinking that since Rainbow Dash seemed the least believing out of all of us, that we should wait for her to get back and then go to Canterlot and verify the story with Princess Celestia."

Twilight thought this over, and then decided that since Luna seemed to mention that Celestia had a large part in the story that she would be a credible source. "Ok, we will wait for Rainbow Dash to get back, and then we will go and see Celestia. If we are still confused or don't get enough information we can always go to the fortress to see if we can bridge together any of the gaps or missing links." They all agreed on this idea since this way Rainbow Dash would be able to be there and they figured that if she wasn't there she wouldn't believe them if what they heard last night was the truth.

Back in Fillydelphia, Rainbow Dash was arriving at the stadium. While she was walking in to get to her seat a familiar voice called her name. "Hey, you're that pony named Rainbow Dash aren't you?

Rainbow Dash turned to see that Spitfire was the one talking to her. "Yeah, that's right."

"Well, I never would have expected to see you here."

"Yeah, I won a ticket in a raffle for the weather team captains of Equestria."

"Well it's always nice to see a familiar face at one of our shows. By the way you've never exactly told me where you live and I've been curious to see your home. Maybe after the show we could-" Spitfire was cut off as a maintenance pony came over and began whispering in her ear. "What's that? Really? Well we should still be able to go through our primary routine, but if it gets cramped we will change. Go tell the rest of the team that." the maintenance pony nodded and headed off in the direction of the locker rooms.

"What was that all about?" asked Rainbow Dash

"It seems that the national weather headquarters in Cloudsdale forgot to tell the Fillydelphia team about a rain that was scheduled for today and so there just going to have to close the roof."

"Huh, that's odd." thought Rainbow as Spitfire flew off to the performing area. "I remember checking and there was nothing scheduled at the headquarters. Something is going on and I don't like the way it feels." with that she took off, she decided that she had seen the show enough that she could miss the first segment. So she took off to talk to the weather team that was hurriedly arranging the clouds for some rain. "Hey do you ponies mind telling me what's going on? I checked the schedule in Cloudsdale to see if today would have good weather for the Wonderbolts show and it said that today was supposed to be clear."

"We thought so too." spoke up a single weather pony that Dash immediately recognized as the captain. "But, lo and behold we got a message from Cloudsdale about the weather being rain for today. It was signed by the head pegasus."

"Do you mind if I see this message?" asked Rainbow Dash

"Not at all!" spoke up the captain as he took it out of his coat pocket.

Rainbow Dash skimmed through the letter. It did say that there was a scheduled rain for that day and that they were sorry for the mix up she was just about to hand it back when she glanced the signature. "Wait a second! This isn't his signature! This is a-" before Dash could finish her sentence a huge explosion rocked the entire city. Dash turned around just in time to see another explosion make its way through one of the walls causing the stadium she was just in to collapse. She watched in absolute horror. The roof had been closed so nopony could have flown out, and to add to that, she didn't see any ponies leaving. She wondered if something was blocking the exit and began an all-out rush to try and reach the stadium and save whatever ponies she could before stopping in mid-air. She had spotted a pony at the entrance. This pony was a stallion, he looked extremely muscular, and he was carrying something. Dash flew in to get a closer look; she stopped about 100 ft. behind him before she realized that he was holding a double-bladed sword. Her stomach dropped as the truth in everything hit her. She immediately flew faster than she had ever flown before towards home. If she broke the sound barrier, she didn't notice, and even if she had, she was too traumatized to care. She had to tell Twilight that she now realized the truth. She said she would believe it if she witnessed it first hoof. She could not stop the tears that began forming in her eyes. She had been wrong. Equestria was under attack.

She fought back at the tears. She could not wait to get home.

A Reason to Fight

Chapter 3: A Reason to Fight

Applejack was busy applebucking. She decided that if they were going to Canterlot, it was a long trip and they would certainly get hungry. She was expecting to leave the next day so she would have time to cook the apples into some tasty treats. What she didn't expect was to be tackled by a sobbing and speechless Rainbow Dash. "What in tarnation! You weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow morning Rainbow."

Forcing herself to speak Rainbow Dash managed to gurgle out "Applejack! The-the wo-worst th-th-th-thing e-v-ver ju-jus-just hap-p-p-p-pened t-t-to m-m-m-me!"

Applejack saw that Rainbow Dash was being completely serious. "Ok then let's get the others together at the library and you can tell us then. Ok sugarcube?" Rainbow Dash just nodded too traumatized to talk.

When Applejack got back to the library Rainbow Dash was still crying. Applejack had carried her there on her back and told Twilight to take care of her while she rounded up the others. Seeing her friend still in distress Applejack walked up and gave her friend a hug. She had no idea what could have made her fearless friend to act as scared as a young filly. "Do you think you can tell us what happened now sugarcube?"

Rainbow Dash simply nodded and taking a giant gulp of the water Twilight had gotten her she began to talk. "S-S-So I was g-g-going to the stadium and I had che-checked on the weather and it was supposed to be sunny all d-day. But when I'm talking to Sp-Sp-Spitfire a maintenance pony came up and told her that there had been a change in the weather. So since I was c-c-curious, I went to t-talk to the weather team captain. He said that they had g-g-gotten a m-m-message saying that it was supposed to rain. He showed me the message and I saw the signature and it was f-f-fak-k-ke. By the time I realized it there was a huge explosion and-and-and Oh please!" Rainbow Dash stopped talking; the look on her face was fear. She was too traumatized to talk until her friends began to comfort her. It was about ten minutes later before she continued talking. "I c-c-couldn't s-s-see anypony g-g-getting out so I went down to help-p-p and I saw... I saw..." she stopped talking for a few seconds, "It was one of those ponies we saw in that army and he had a sword. He was killing anypony that tried to escape!" At this Rainbow Dash couldn't hold back any longer and began to cry profusely. Her friends seeing this immediately gathered around her and tried to comfort her.

They stood there comforting their friend for an hour before Applejack finally spoke up. "We need to go see the princess. We need to tell her that we are ready. After hearing about what they did to those innocent ponies. I don't want them anywhere near Equestria.

"Ok then," responded Twilight, "we can leave whenever you're ready Rainbow."

Rainbow Dash simply nodded.

The six ponies set out for Canterlot immediately. Even when it began to rain they did not stop, they realized that this was too important to let something like this slow them down. Not even Rarity complained.

They were nearing Canterlot when Twilight finally broke the silence, "Does anypony realize how much our lives will change after this?"

"I don't reckon so Twi', but we're just gonna have tah adjust to whatever happens." Applejack responded and with that they were silent for the rest of the trek to Canterlot. As soon as they entered the city it was obvious that news of the attack had reached this town, but it had been censored to an extreme.

Rainbow Dash walked up to a newsstand to read a blaring headline that said; 'Tragedy in Fillydelphia! Fire Believed To Be The Fault Of Maintenance!' "Maintenance's fault my ass." Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath as she walked away. She knew that if anypony heard what really happened they would go into a widespread panic. It was sheer dumb lucky that the only survivor was sworn to secrecy by the princess, but it couldn't have been worse for them since she had survived and was now infuriated at what had happened.

The six ponies walked up to the castle doors. "State your business!" said one of the guards.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends. We have to discuss an urgent matter with the princess." the guards obliged and stepped aside to let Twilight and her friends enter. They began making their way to the royal chamber which is when Twilight began having second doubts about what they were doing here.

Seeing her friend's change of attitude Rarity spoke up, "Twilight dear, we all agreed on doing this. Turning back now will just let things get worse." Twilight nodded and then continued to walk towards the chamber. When they arrived they knocked and the door opened by magic.

Celestia and Luna were sitting on thrones surrounded by other ponies. These were not the guards that were normally seen but these were special guards that Twilight had only seen come out a few days before Nightmare moon came back. "Twilight, my faithful student! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Princess Celestia? We need to talk alone with just you and Luna please." seeing that her student was being serious, Celestia told the guard to leave. After they had left Celestia turned towards her sister.

"You told them? We agreed that we wouldn't tell them unless the entire land depended on it!"

"The entire land DOES depend on it." replied Luna.

Rainbow Dash spoke up first, "Princess Luna, what you told us back in the forest, I didn't want to believe you. But, well, I just got back from Fillydelphia." At this Princess Celestia's and Luna's eyes opened wide. These six already knew the truth of what had happened in Fillydelphia. They knew what was coming next. "And well, I decided that, if those creeps are going to try something like that again, I want it stopped!" and with that the other five nodded their heads in agreement.

"You six do realize what the country of Forshan is like? It is not the like rural area I showed you everywhere. It is mostly a desolate and forbidding desert. That is why they are so war hardened and toughened, because the environment helps them to become that way." Princess Luna said to them.

"We agreed that no matter what it is like there we will just adjust to it as well as we can." Twilight said.

Celestia responded to this by saying, "You may be surprised how they live outside of the main cities. It is a constant war where ponies are killing others for money and they will even hire ponies to do the killing for them."

Twilight gulped, she hadn't expected to hear that. She thought that they would have all been soldiers if they were violent, not that they fought a war against each other. "You will need to be extremely careful", Luna added, "If you are not somepony may hire a mercenary to take you out. The Forshan desert's people are truly terrible. It is a place where life has no value but death sometimes has its price."

Twilight looked back at her friends, the looks on their faces (with the exception of Fluttershy, whose face was hidden as she looked down) said that they would fight. But Twilight could tell that in their minds they all had doubts, but they had agreed that no matter what they would do their best to protect Equestria. "We understand this, we still want to fight."

"Ok then, I guess that no matter what I say you are going to stick to your decision. Follow us." with that Celestia and Luna turned around and went into a trapdoor behind the thrones. Twilight and the others followed them wondering why it was there. Celestia seemed to know this and answered the question for them. "Canterlot hasn't always been the capital of Equestria; it was just where the elements of harmony, well the original ones, stored all of their equipment. The castle was built on top of the original storage to keep a citizen from stumbling into it. If any word got out about this place it would result in us having to tell everyone about the past, and we do not want to do that."

Twilight understood, even she had regretted seeking out the true history of Equestria, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her and there was no turning back at this point. They exited the long tunnel into a large room with several containers. Luna spoke up, "each element of harmony carried its own weapon and none of the weapons seemed to be effective in the hooves of any of the others, so we kept them separated based on which element used what. The club and light leather armor for kindness, the leg blades and light leather armor for loyalty, the heavy metal Armour and double-bladed sword for honesty, the rapier and medium leather armor for generosity, the spear and the medium metal Armour for laughter, and the onyx encrusted cloth armor for magic."

Each pony went to their respective element and saw that the princess was right. Twilight looked into hers and spoke up, "Princess, you said that there was no magic in Forshan because there were no unicorns there. I think that I will need a weapon to defend myself."

Luna responded to this by saying, "Twilight, there is no weapon that you would be skilled with. That is why the onyx is placed into the cloth. When a unicorn dies its magic goes into gemstones, and the darkness of the gems determines how much magic it can absorb. Because Onyx are so black they can store an infinite amount of magic. There is more than enough magic aura in those gems to last you a year of consistent casting in Forshan."

Twilight looked back at the cloth, she had heard that onyx could hold an unlimited supply of magic, but she hadn't ever seen one to be sure. She gave the centermost gem on the front of the cloth an experimental prod and was shocked at the sudden burst of energy that she felt throughout her body. She quickly brought her hoof back afraid that the flow of magic into her body would kill her, as soon as her hoof left the gem she felt the flow stop and she felt like she had so much extra magical power. She looked over at the princess who nodded showing that she understood.

"Now, I'm going to teleport you six to Forshan into a secluded area as soon as you are ready." with that Twilight and her friends quickly got their gear on. When they each finished they went and gathered around the princess and waited for the others. Applejack was the last to finish since she had to put on the most, when she finished she went and sat next to Fluttershy who had finished just before her. "Ok, I know exactly where you will end up, but I have no idea if there will be anypony there when you arrive so be ready for a fight as soon as you get there." They nodded in understanding and the princess cast the spell.

When they arrived they quickly turned looking to see if anypony had been around to see them teleport in. When they decided that they were alone Twilight looked up and was astonished at what she saw. A massive wall of sand that looked to be a couple hundred yards high was rapidly approaching. They needed to find shelter and fast. Their first battle would be one of survival.

A Talon for Killing

Chapter 4: A Talon for Killing

The desert wind was harsh, and the sandstorm did not help the visibility at all. But still, he was getting paid and that was all that mattered. Talon was his name, not the one his parents gave him, but the one he liked. The only thing he had known his entire life was war and that was all he cared about. That, and the money that came with it. He reached into his vest with his claw and pulled out a short cigar. He loved the short ones because they did not take up as much space and he could carry dozens at a time, which was helpful since he never knew when he going to be able to resupply.

Suddenly, he could hear the roar of an engine and the sound of a car bouncing along the desert rough terrain. Smiling with the cigar in his mouth, he took out his trusty .45 revolver. It had yet, to fail him on a mission and its power was a major bonus. Pulling back the hammer he waited until the car was within striking distance before firing a shot at the left front tire. The sandstorm was so loud and the desert was so open that he knew the occupants of the vehicle could not hear the shot. He replaced the used casing for a new bullet as he watched the five ponies exit the vehicle. As the five ponies started working on the tire he waited for the one getting the spare to get away from any opening doors on the car. As soon as the door slammed shut he jumped up firing five shots each at a different pony. Only the last pony he shot had time to react and all they had accomplished was pulling out a knife before they hit the ground dead.

He smiled and walked over to the bodies to examine his work. He inspected the first one when some movement to his side caught his attention. Had he really missed? He looked over to see a single pony with a bullet hole in their chest crawling towards cover. He smiled as he realized that he hadn't missed, this pony just had a never die mentality. He loved seeing soldiers like this. They were the ones that really fought the wars. He walked over to the pony who had gotten close to the knife. As soon as he reached out for it, he felt his hoof under a claw. He looked up to see the thing that had shot him and smiled. He knew that if people knew he had survived a shot from Talon that he was tough, however, he was certain his life was about to end right there.

Talon smiled and taking the cigar out of his mouth, he said, "You solider, are a true warrior. You did not let the first shot kill you, you fought it. I never shoot the same person twice, unless my mission objective is that someone has to die." at this Talon took another cigar out of his pocket, lighting it he gave it to the soldier. "The nearest town is about 10 miles that way." he said pointing east. "If you don't bleed out before you get there you can get some medical attention from a pony there by the name of Karkarov, tell him you survived the talon's grip. He will treat you free of charge." Talon began walking away; he turned his head back, "next time I won't miss."

Talon was not showing mercy but respect. There were very few people who could survive the first shot as good as his aim was. He began walking towards the west. He would have to tell his employer about his success. He was about 3 miles towards the town when he felt his hoof get wet. Smiling he bent down to get a drink. Oases were rare in this wasteland of a desert, and you had to fill up whenever you saw one. Feeling satisfied he began making his way toward the town again.

Talon had hooves yes, but he also had an abnormality. For where his right front should have been, instead a gryphon's claw and arm were seen. His father had been part gryphon resulting in this abnormality. But it was this, that would be called a handicap by some, that was his greatest weapon. It allowed for him to use things such as the gun he carried, he could also use a sword or spear better than anypony in the world, with the exception of unicorns, but they were a rare sight outside of Equestria and rarely ever would he see one in combat.

He arrived at the town at about 1600. He decided that due to his employer's habit that he would be at the bar about this time. He started making his way there. He arrived at the bar and immediately asked the barkeeper where Salute was. "He should be up in his private room."

"Thanks." with that Talon began making his way to the stairs.

"If it's of any importance to you, there was a group of stallions asking about him earlier. They went up there and haven't come down since." at hearing this Talon opened the cylinder on his revolver; he fully reloaded it and pulled back the hammer ready for a fight. When he got to the door he knocked three times.

No response.

Talon drew his revolver and burst into the room. He immediately noticed that they had prepared for him, they had swords pointed at him and a menacing looking spear at his throat.

"Finally, I was afraid that you had failed your mission." Talon just stared at the stallion in the middle of the room; this one was obviously the leader. "I know who you are, but you don't know who I am, and unless you accept my offer that will stay the same."

Talon just kept staring. "Recently a terrorist attack was executed in Equestria. Have you heard of this?" Talon didn't respond. The stallion smiled, "My country was behind this attack, we know that soon Equestria will declare war on us and send in the elements of harmony. Normally this would pose a problem, but... There is one way we can defeat them." This man didn't need to say another word. Talon already knew where this was going. "Are you aware of the prophecy of the claw?"

"Yes I am." Talon said for the first time. "How are you aware of it? Very few ponies know about this prophecy."

The stallion smiled, "Well as it just so happens, we know that it is you who can fulfill the prophecy. And only you. We would like you to fight alongside my country's soldiers in our war against Equestria. If you accept you will not be held to the same rules as soldiers and your pay will be considerable."

Talon thought for a few minutes, he knew the prophecy forward and backwards. As he thought about its contents the more he realized that the fulfillment sounded a lot like him. An abnormality in the front right hoof, battle hardened; and a reputation that exceeded his reach; that described him to a tee. "And just what exactly are the elements of harmony?"

"I thought someone like you would already know. They are six ponies each representing a different trait: Generosity, kindness, loyalty, honesty, laughter and magic."

Talon chuckled at this, "that is what scares you? You think somepony will be able to be kind to you to your grave? Bwahahaha!"

"You have no idea what true powers they possess!"

Actually Talon did know because once while exploring the desert he came across a cave where he met a gypsy caravan. It had been from this tribe that the pony who made the prophecy of the claw. When they saw his abnormality they told him the prophecy in its entirety. The prophecy that everypony else knew was missing some very key parts that only he knew. One of which was the true power of the elements. To turn a person to stone or to completely destroy the existence of somepony. He knew what he was up against but he knew that if he told the rest of the prophecy to this stallion he would lose his shot at the job. "I accept."

The stallion smiled, "excellent." with that he extended his hoof. "I am Commander Iron Foot, pleasure to meet you Talon."

"Where do I begin?"

"The names of the elements can be misleading, even though each pony strongly displays the trait that they represent, if they are broken enough, the trait will reverse completely and to an extreme. We need to know several things and you can break anyone. The element of Loyalty is named Rainbow Dash, here is her picture."

Talon looked at the photo, 'I could pick this pony out of a crowd of millions' he thought to himself. "When we find her we will bring her to you. You must break her will completely and she will give us all of the information that we could ever want."

"Ok, but first I have to know, I have heard the prophecy and I know the powers of these ponies. My only question is do they?"

"We think that it will be an easy mission for you." and with that Iron Foot left the room with his guard following closely behind leaving Talon alone in the room still holding the picture in his hoof.

"Well Rainbow Dash, you had better be ready for the future, because it starts today and will be what you least expect it to be." with that Talon left the room, he put the picture in his pocket so that he could use it to identify her when she was brought to him. He took out a cigar and lit it. His cigar lighter was special, he had made it himself. Inscribed on it were the words, 'press down to light 'em up'. He was proud of his lighter as it was also inscribed with his symbol, a pony hoof that had claws protruding from it. Investigation of his pockets showed that he was also low on cigars, save for his special ones that he had custom made, but he was saving those for a special occasion. "Looks like I'm going to need to buy some more cigars before I leave." smiling he went off towards the store to buy some more cigars.

Wanted

Chapter 5: Wanted

"Finally!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she exited the cave. "Hey girls! Come out here, the sandstorms over!" The five ponies began exiting one at a time each one blinking a few times to get themselves accustomed to the light. The night before Twilight had used the cloak to cast a spell on Rainbow Dash to calm her down. It had definitely worked since she felt a lot better.

"Wow, that sandstorm sure was a doozy!" said Applejack as she surveyed the landscape. What had once been an elevated cave was now even with the ground as sand had piled up near the entrance. "And by the looks right here I would say we would not have survived if we had stayed out there."

"Definitely", said Twilight as she came out of the cave. "And this just shows how dangerous this place can be. We need to try and find a town so that we can learn more and get some supplies."

"Uhh, one small problem Twilight, we look like were going to war and it would be hard to carry these weapons and armor in a saddlebag, and we can't wear them." said Rarity who had joined them at the cave opening.

"Hmmm... I have an idea!" said Twilight as she went over to the place where she had slept and got out the cloak. "I'll contact the princess and ask her if she knows any spells that could hide these things while we wear them!" with that Twilight went over to her bag and got out the cloak. Putting it on she began to cast the spell, her friends could only watch as they waited to see if they would be able to go into a town with their equipment. As hostile as this wasteland seemed to be, they would need it. They all grew excited as an image of Princess Luna materialized in front of them.

"Is there a problem my little ponies?" asked Luna.

"Yes" responded Twilight, "We need to go into a town to get supplies, but we don't want to leave behind any of our equipment since we don't know if they would be hostile towards us, but if we wear it we are basically saying we want a fight. Do you know any spells that we could use to hide our stuff?"

The princess thought for a moment, "I think I have just what you need. Hold on and I'll send it to you." The image of Luna faded and Twilight sat still waiting for the spell. Suddenly a book appeared next to her.

"Stealth Spells." Twilight read, "'The spells needed to hide anything directly under anybody's nose and still be undetected'. This should be perfect." Twilight flipped through the book quickly looking for a spell that might work. "Aha!" she exclaimed, "This spell should be perfect!" Twilight instantly planted her hooves into the ground, she glanced back at the spell book one more time before starting to cast. Her horn glowed and the energy loss that she had expected never came. "Oh ya I'm wearing the cloak." she then looked over towards the armor to take a look at her handiwork when she realized that she couldn't see it, in fact nopony could see it. "Oops", Twilight said, "Maybe I should have cast the spell when we were wearing the armor."

"Ya think?" said Rainbow Dash sarcastically. Twilight immediately reversed the spell and allowed everypony to get into their armor before casting the spell again. This time it worked perfectly and everypony already had their armor on.

A pop echoed in the cave and Twilight spun around ready for a fight until she saw Luna's image reappearing. "One more thing Twilight. Ponies in Forshan do not have cutie marks; there should be a spell in that book to hide those as well. If they saw yours that may throw up a few red flags and blow your cover."

Twilight nodded as the image disappeared; she began searching through the book until she found the spell Luna had been talking about. She cast it and once again was surprised by just how much magic the gems contained. She checked her flank and when she saw it blank she smiled knowing that the spell had been successful.

"Ok, now that we are ready, Rainbow Dash fly up as high as you can and try to find a town. We can resupply there and get some information about the desert."

"On it!" said Rainbow Dash with a salute as she rocketed into the sky.

"Everypony else we need to pack up. I doubt we will return here and we can't risk leaving anything." The other four nodded and began tearing the camp down. They made sure that anything that could be used to trace them was packed and Twilight was content with their work when they had finished.

"Ugh, this dry desert air can't be good for my skin, and I think I'm sweating gallons of water." complained Rarity.

"You can't complain since you offered to come out here, you're just gonna have to learn to live with it." replied Applejack.

"Still." said Rarity as Rainbow Dash returned.

"There's a town about three hours walk that way." said Rainbow Dash pointing west, "If we start now we might make it by noon."

"Good, then we could get a proper lunch." said Rarity starting to walk. The six their journey, not knowing what to expect when they reached the town.

A full three hours passed before they finally entered the town. Twilight took charge "Ok, now we need essentials. Applejack go see if you can find some food, Rainbow Dash see if-"

"There's a small problem in your plan darling, we don't have any money!" interrupted Rarity.

"Oh, you're right. Well I guess first we need to find a way to get some money. After that we can-"

"HEY EVERYPONY COME HERE AND LOOK AT THIS!" yelled Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie Pie, what in tarnation are you so excited about?" asked Applejack.

"I'm excited because Dashie is famous here! They must have heard of the sonic rainboom! They would probably love to see you here!"

Twilight went over to look at what had gotten Pinkie Pie so excited. What she saw was a poster that said 'Wanted by Talon, Rainbow Dash, Element of Harmony, Loyalty, Any information should be reported to your local sheriff, $500 reward for information leading to capture.' there was also a picture of Rainbow Dash that showed all important characteristics, more importantly, her mane. That one trait would make her stick out like a gryphon among ponies.

"Rainbow Dash, you need to go back to the cave right now and don't leave until we get back." said Twilight still staring at the poster.

"Don't need to tell me twice!" said Rainbow and she took off towards the cave they had stayed in overnight.

"As for this Talon person," said Twilight as she took the poster down, "I suggest that we find more about him. If he is so influential that he can put up his own wanted posters that must mean he's important."

"Ok, but where do you think we should ask about him?" asked Rarity.

Twilight watched as a pony entered a building that looked to be filled to the brim with ponies. "I think we should start there." said Twilight pointing it out, "I bet a lot of talk goes through there." so they made their way to the building.

It was obvious they had made the right choice as soon as they entered because the volume of chatter drowned out anything that they might try to say to each other. They headed towards a long elevated platform that looked like a table. There was a stallion standing behind this table cleaning a glass. As he saw them approach he said, "Ah, some new faces around here. Tell me, what can I get you?"

"Information would be nice." said Twilight as she put the poster on the table. The stallion took a look at it.

After examining the poster the pony said, "I can't really tell you much about this Rainbow Dash. All I know that's not on the poster is that she's from Equestria."

"Not her." Twilight said, "Him." she said putting a hoof on Talon's name.

The stallion began laughing; "You must have been in the desert for a long time if you don't know who Talon is!" said the pony while laughing.

"You could say that." muttered Applejack.

"Well now, Talon is only the most feared mercenary around these parts. No, the entire country, possibly the world. He carries with him only one weapon that he is known to use. He is said to carry a knife, but he seldom uses it for fighting. This weapon of his is a revolver." he saw the confused looks on their faces and continued, "This revolver is a gryphon made weapon that can fire a small metal, umm... bullet, as he calls it, it's more like a hunk of metal with a point. Anyway, this 'bullet' travels at speeds so high it can cut through skins and supposedly bones. It doesn't take much for that to kill you."

"So this Talon is not a pony then? He's a gryphon?" asked Twilight.

"A Gryphon!" yelled Pinkie Pie before hiding under a table.

"Is she alright?" asked the stallion.

"Yeah, she just had a bad experience with a gryphon once. Anyway, you were saying?" said Applejack.

"Oh right, well he's not all pony and he's not all gryphon, supposedly his mother was a pony and his father was part gryphon. He was born with an abnormality in his right leg so that it is a gryphon's claw and arm. That is what allows him to use the gryphon gun." finished the stallion.

"Thanks for the information, now we really should be going." said Twilight.

"Anytime." responded the stallion who returned to the glass he had been cleaning when they entered.

"Ok, now that we got that out of the way. I think that what we should do now is go tell Rainbow Dash about Talon." said Twilight.

"I agree." Applejack spoke up, "We can get food later, and our friend's safety is more important right now."

They began making their way back to the cave. They talked the whole way back, mostly about this Talon they had just heard about. They were all scared of him and even more scared that he would get to Rainbow Dash. They decided not to talk any further until they reached the cave.

The sun had begun to set just as they reached the cave. "Rainbow Dash! Come out here, we have so much to tell you!" shouted Twilight.

There was no response.

"Rainbow! Where are you?" shouted Twilight again. "Maybe she went deeper into the cave and she just can't hear us." said Twilight.

"Twilight, get over here, quick!" shouted Applejack. Twilight ran to see why her friend was so excited. "There's some extra hoof prints and Rainbow's bag is missing!"

Twilight quickly ran to a clearing in the cave, everypony else was in full panic mode. Twilight quickly cast the spell to talk to Princess Luna. The image of Luna materialized in front of them.

"Is there something wrong Twilight?" asked the Princess upon seeing the distressed look on Twilight's face.

"Yes! Rainbow Dash was captured and we don't know where they took her!"

The Princess had a look of shock on her face. "This is truly depressing news, I will start using my magic to search for her and I suggest you do the same. Because there aren't many unicorns in Forshan you can search for her my looking for magical aura surrounding ponies." Twilight nodded and went and sat down and started to cast a searching spell. She didn't know where Rainbow Dash was, all she knew was that they needed her back.

The Great Escape

Chapter 6: The Great Escape

Rainbow Dash felt awful as she woke up. She couldn't remember anything after getting back to the cave. She groggily opened her eyes and started panicking. She had no idea where she was.

"I see you are confused," said a voice in the shadows, "Allow me to shed a little light on your situation." The speaker came into the light. He had a sandy brown and gritty looking coat, his mane was the same color as his coat. One feature stuck out about him, he had a gryphon arm where his right front arm should have been.

"Who are you?" asked Rainbow Dash, still a little groggy.

"My name is Talon, and you are Rainbow Dash."

"What do you want with me!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

"I want information, but I will have to wait before getting it. The commander of the army of Forshan is on his way here and he wants to be here for the interrogation. Sadly, this means that I will have to leave now. I'll be seeing you in the morning." with that Talon left the room and as he walked out he lit a cigar.

Rainbow Dash watched as he left. As soon as he was gone, she began to panic. "Oh no, I've been captured, he'll probably kill me when he's done. I'm going to have to hold out as long as I can. Maybe my friends will find me!" her face immediately dropped as she lost all hope. "Or maybe I'm doomed to die and nopony will ever see my body! I'll never get to see my friends again. My life is ruined!" with that she started crying. She kept crying for a few hours before finally falling asleep.

"I don't care that he wanted to be there for the interrogation!" shouted Talon as he slammed his claw onto the table. "I could have her singing like a bird by now!"

"But commander Iron Foot would not be too happy about that now would he?" said a gray pony next to Talon, "You work for him now. You agreed!" said the gray pony sitting across from Talon.

"Ya, but still he should have given me the right to interrogate her out in the desert where there is no risk!" Said Talon who had crossed his arms at this point. "I don't exactly trust everyone here!"

"I know you don't but you still have to do it or he will kill you."

"Ya ya." said Talon who started looking out the window at the desert. "My only question is why, if he knew she was going to be here, did he not just start living here!"

"I don't know, why don't you ask him when he gets here?"

A few hours later, Rainbow Dash was awoken by a pony. "Shhhh, keep your voice down." said the pony, "I'm here to set you free."

"Who are you?" asked Rainbow Dash in a hushed tone.

"I'm a member of the Equestrian Rebels." replied the savior pony, "I don't have a lot of time so listen to my instructions. After you are free there is a ceiling exit, follow it and look for your friends. Don't stop for anything until you find them."

Rainbow Dash nodded she didn't know what else she would have done anyway. "Oh, and one more thing. You cannot, and I repeat, cannot tell them about us. I don't have the time to explain this so you will just have to trust me. Now," he said as the ropes fell off, "get out of here, now!" Rainbow Dash flew up to the ceiling and found what she was looking for, a duct that led straight up into the sky. She heard a loud bang; she turned her head to see her rescuer fall to the ground and Talon staring up at her. She doubled her pace, moving quickly through the duct and into the night sky, flying towards freedom and her friends.

"Damn, she got away." Talon was furious; he marched straight for the radio to tell Iron Foot the genius of his plan.

"She got away and it's your fault!" he yelled into the mic. "I could have her singing like a bird by now and we could have started the invasion!"

"Well then what are you going to do about it?" asked Iron Foot.

"What I should have done from the beginning. Go out there myself and capture her. Then I will interrogate her in the desert, alone."

"Fine then, just tell me everything that she tells you and we won't have a problem."

"We already do." and with that Talon broke of communications. He went into his room and picked up his gun and cigars. He also picked up his lighter; he didn't need his special cigars, not yet.

"Rainbow Dash are you ok?" asked Twilight seeing as the pegasus pony had just crashed into the camp.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but I saw him." responded Rainbow Dash

"Who?"

"Talon" replied Rainbow Dash, "He was a pony, except for the claw, it was a gryphon's claw. He had a sandy brown coat and it looked gritty. His mane was the same color. His weapon, I don't know what it was, it looked metal, it had a hole in it. He definitely couldn't stab somebody with it, but that's not what was so scary about it. The pony that rescued me. All Talon did was point the thing at him and he died."

Twilight and the others looked at each other in shock. They had heard about the gun but hadn't expected it to be that powerful. If their enemy had a weapon so powerful that all he needed to do was point it at them and they died, they were dealing with a truly fearsome opponent. "Did you see anything else?" asked Twilight.

"No, I had just woken up from something they did to me and everything was kind of fuzzy. When I got back to the cave I sort of blacked out. Then I woke up in that place!" Rainbow Dash responded to Twilight's question.

"Well, did you see anything as you left darling?" asked Rarity

"No, but I know which direction I flew."

"That could really help us Rainbow." said Twilight, "If we know which direction you came from then we could work our way there and try to kill this Talon before he can kill us."

"Ok." Rainbow Dash thought for a moment, "I flew towards the sun as it rose so I came from the west."

"Ok girls, let's start moving west." Applejack said.

Talon had packed all of the essentials: gun, bullets, water, cigars, food, lighter, knife, sedative, muscle numbing medication, tent, frying pan and his radio with anti-tracking capabilities. He didn't want anypony to find him while he had Rainbow Dash. He didn't need a map; he had lived in these lands for years so he knew where every settlement was. He was ready. He had informants in every single settlement around here and he began contacting them one at a time. He triangulated their position to be near a settlement that had one of his ammo caches. He could resupply when he was done. He took an escape bomb; these would release smoke if he needed to cover his escape. He also took his blow gun and put a sedative dart in it. He didn't need camouflage, his coat and mane blended in perfectly with the sand.

Talon left the camp in the dead of the night. As soon as he was sure that the average pegasus search height was invisible to the sentries back at the base he dug into the sand and pulled out his blow gun. A pegasus passed overhead; Talon blew into the pipe and fired the dart at the pegasus. He knew Iron Foot too well; He had known that he would have had to worry about a scout watching him. He didn't dare light a cigar thinking that there may be another one. He waited for 10 minutes. Nothing. He immediately started moving quickly. He had to keep a pace faster than other ponies could keep up with. The wind had started to pick up; this would help to cover him as he made his way towards the heart of a heartless desert. He had a pony to find.

Rainbow Dash and her friends had begun to move. They had decided to begin by going towards a town Rainbow had flown by during her escape from the base. Rainbow had told them exactly which direction to go and about how far they had to go. It had looked like a pretty empty town to Rainbow with very few ponies on the street and what seemed like even fewer buildings. They had eaten a breakfast consisting of a couple of grasses they had found growing and some water out of a cactus. Twilight, the least likely out of all of the six had been the one to acquire all of these items. Apparently before they left she had been reading about survival in extreme climates. Luckily for them, she easily remembered desert survival.

The sun was high overhead when they decided to stop and attempt to get more water. Twilight found this as an opportunity to talk to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, you said that a pony rescued you?"

Rainbow Dash's ears perked up, that pony had asked her not to tell anyone, not even her friends, about the rebels. He told her that the next contact would explain to her why she couldn't tell her friends, but she had no idea how a pony could talk to her without her friends noticing, however, she decided to trust this pony. "Ya, but he didn't say anything except how to get out. I don't even know his name." this was true as the gray pony's name had gone unmentioned during the rescue. "He's dead now anyway so it doesn't matter." with that Rainbow Dash refused to say anything further.

Twilight wasn't convinced but decided to let it slide, they still had a lot of travelling to do. They reached the town that night; they camped outside since they didn't want Rainbow Dash to enter the city in case someone tried to capture her again. The next day Rainbow Dash waited in an alley while the others checked around. They decided that there were no wanted posters here so Rainbow Dash came out and walked around the town with them. They found a building similar to the one they had gotten information from in the last town. This time there was a mare behind the counter. She told them where the nearest town was and was even nice enough to give them some water and food before they left. They began making the trek to the next town at about noon; they decided that based on what the mare told her they could make more than half the trip by nightfall. When they finally did make camp that night Rainbow Dash flew up into the night sky and reported that she could see some lights in the distance. That had to be the town, they were making progress but they still didn't have any idea how they would tackle the base when they finally did get there. They didn't think about that at the moment as they each fell asleep with Rainbow being the last. She actually felt safe next to her friends.

A few miles away, Talon stood on top of a sand dune as he watched the last flames die from the fire below. "Gotcha." he said as he lit a cigar and made his way towards the camp. Now he could make some progress.

Clues and Claws

Chapter 7: Clues and Claws

Rainbow Dash awoke in her tent, she began looking around she didn't see anything. "I could have sworn I heard something." she muttered to herself.

"Then your hearing must be as good as mine." said a voice behind her.

Rainbow Dash turned around to see Talon. "I hope you remember me." he said to her blatantly.

Rainbow Dash screamed. She wanted to be heard. A light from a unicorn horn lit up the tent beside her. "What's wrong Rainbow?" asked Twilight. Her question was answered with another scream. "Rainbow!" yelled Twilight as she ran out of her tent to see the others watching as a pony with a gryphon claw dragged away their friend. Talon.

"If any of you follow, I will shoot." be said moving the gun around to point at each pony.

Rainbow Dash tried to fight the much stronger pony. She knew that she couldn't get free, but she had to try anyway. Her body twisted and turned trying to get free, but to no avail. She did hear a few metallic clinks.

"Dammit." muttered Talon who proceeded to holster his gun and grabbing a syringe. "No more struggling for you!" he said jamming the syringe into Rainbow's neck. Rainbow immediately felt her eyes growing heavy. She couldn't fight it as she drifted off into sleep. At this point Talon had put away the syringe and had pulled his gun out again. He proceeded to put Rainbow Dash on his back, then he began to back away from the camp. Keeping the gun in his hand he dropped down a smoke grenade. The smoke started to pour out of the small container before forming a thick fog. He immediately turned and ran. He ran away from the town, he needed to be alone for the interrogation.

Twilight and the others sprinted towards the smoke. They had to get their friend back. They broke through the other end to see nothing but an empty desert in front of them. They had lost her again.

"Twilight darling!" called out a voice behind the smoke. "I think you may want to come look at this!" Twilight started to walk back to where Rarity was calling her. What she found confused her. "What do you think it is?" asked Rarity.

"I don't know." responded Twilight as she lifted the largest of the three objects and turned it around experimentally. It looked like a small metallic box. Twilight put it in her bags and then turned her attention to the other objects. Two other identical objects had fallen next to the box. These looked much different and were a different color. She picked one of them up with her magic and turned it around. On one end it came to a point, but the other end was flat and had a small circular extension surrounding what seemed to be a small protrusion in the metal. Twilight placed the two metal items in her bag. They needed to ask somepony what they were and then maybe they could get an idea of how to beat Talon. His response to losing them sounded as though they were important to him. Twilight decided that they needed to hurry to the next town, once there they could ask somepony if they knew what these things were.

Twilight and the others had already packed up camp and were making their way towards the town. Twilight would occasionally pull the metal objects out and look at them. She had decided that the larger object's use was located inside the box. She had also decided that the smaller objects were made up of two parts that separated. She couldn't figure out how to separate the objects however, and she was certain that she wouldn't know until they asked someone. They made it to the town at dawn. They immediately found a building where they had received information before. They were two for two in such buildings and figuring that it was a good place to start they entered. The building was empty save for a lone pony at a table who appeared to be leaving anyway and a mare behind another one of those long tables. The group immediately headed over to the mare behind the table.

"Well hello there, what can I get for five new faces?" asked the mare as she pulled five glasses out from underneath the table.

"Information", said Twilight simply, "Can you tell us what these are?" said Twilight dumping the contents of her bags onto the table. The mare dropped one of the glasses.

"Where did you get these?" she said as soon as he recovered from his shock.

Lying, Twilight responded, "We just found them in the desert."

"I know that's a lie, these belong to Talon! This one," she touched the large box, "is his lighter. He custom made it himself. These," she said indicating the two smaller items, "are bullets. They're what he uses to kill people with his gun. These are really dangerous and powerful but he won't come looking for you to get these back. He's got stashes all over the country. No, he will want this." she said indicating what he had called a lighter. Twilight now remembered what that stallion had said about bullets and the way they were designed made sense.

"What does it do?" asked Applejack

"Well it, um, well he uses it to light his cigars. It's a hobby of his." he noticed that the look of confusion had remained on the five faces he was addressing. "I guess ya'll don't know what smoking is. It's where he lights a small roll of a certain kind of leaf on fire, I believe its called tobacco, and he inhales the smoke."

"Oh my!" said Fluttershy from the back.

"Well I agree that it is a nasty habit, and there have been some cases where it has resulted in death, but to be perfectly honest I would rather smoke than find myself on the other end of one of his cigars." the mare chuckled. "I'm Brandy; by the way, I'm this town's barkeeper."

"Twilight Sparkle"

"Applejack"

"Rarity"

"Hi I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"Flutter..."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" asked Brandy

"my name is Flutter..." said Fluttershy dying off once more.

"uhhhh" Brandy had a confused look on her face.

"Her name's Fluttershy." said Twilight.

"Oh, well than nice to meet you all." responded Brandy

This was met by four likewises from the four ponies and one whimper from Fluttershy.

"I guess that since I've never seen you around that means that you're new in town and probably don't have any place to stay."

"Yes, but we don't have any money so I guess we'll have to go camp out in the streets." said Twilight

"Now I can't have that. These streets are no place for five mares such as yourselves. Tell ya what, since Talon should come looking for you any day now, I'll let you stay in my rooms free of charge. This is also the town's inn considering it's the only place that serves food." said Brandy

"Well we would love to, it's just that we don't want to get into the way." said Rarity

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Brandy, "I've never met Talon and considering if you five stay here he's bound to come looking, I would consider the chance to meet someone as legendary as him worth the price of keeping you five here. Provided that you don't eat too much."

"Well, I guess we'll stay." said Twilight.

"Excellent!" exclaimed Brandy "Let me show you to your rooms."

The rooms she had been talking about were very simple. Each one had a bed, a nightstand, a closet, and a desk. There were windows in a few of them. Twilight's room was at the end of the hallway. Even though Pinkie's room was on the other side of the hall, Twilight could hear the several bangs that she making to make her room look more, well, Pinkie Pie. At one point she even heard Brandy come up to complain, but she didn't care about that, all she cared about was getting Rainbow Dash back.

They were in the town for several days, during this time they found out that the building they were staying in was called a bar and that it served drinks called alcohol. When Twilight heard what the alcohol did to the body she was sickened. When she asked Brandy why some ponies did that to themselves she simply said that some are doing it to relieve stress while others just like the feel of it. Much like Talon and his cigars.

Twilight and the others found ways to bide their time. Twilight would read on the military history of Forshan, Rarity practiced sewing, Pinkie Pie helped Brandy cook, Applejack would practice bucking on bricks, and Fluttershy would talk to animals around the city. Twilight had found a library where the librarian was an old soldier. He had filled his library with books about military strategies and weapon advancements. She would go there every day to see if she could find out anything to help them when they had to attack the base. She would return to the bar every day and ask Brandy if there were any messages.

This particular day she had accomplished nothing at the library and was in a bad mood. She returned to the bar to see Brandy wiping the counter. "How was your day?" she asked.

Twilight just kept walking past her ignoring the question.

"By the way, a message came by today. It's from Talon."

Twilight and the others were standing on a street in the middle of town. The message said that he would give Rainbow Dash back in return for his lighter. The clock in the middle of town struck noon. He should have been there by now. A wave of sand blew in the middle of the street making it impossible to see. As it began to die down Twilight saw two silhouettes on the other end. One of them had something sticking out of its mouth. Twilight assumed that this one was Talon and that meant that the other one was Rainbow Dash.

"Do you have the lighter?" called out one of them that must have been Talon. Twilight levitated the lighter and it began floating over towards Talon. When it got close to him he grabbed it and immediately lit the cigar in his mouth. He also inspected it a little. After he was satisfied he took out a knife and cut what looked like ropes off Rainbow Dash they saw as her wings fell to the ground. He must have done something to them. She began walking towards them and acted extremely cautious. She got to them and looked back to where Talon had been.

There was no trace of him left.

"Rainbow!" shouted every single one of the ponies as they went to embrace their friend.

"Hey girls." she said in response. Something was obviously wrong with her. Twilight went up to inspect the damage her friend had sustained. There was a long cut along her side, her wings were drooping and useless, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong with her. Twilight took this as a sign that they needed to move and fast.

"What's wrong with your wings Rainbow?" asked Applejack.

"It's nothing. They'll heal." she said still looking at the ground.

"Rainbow, something's wrong, please tell us." Twilight said.

"I'm fine! We need to get to work!" Rainbow snapped back. Twilight was not satisfied but decided to not press the matter any further. They went off to the inn to pack their things. It was time to move on.

The Assassination of Talon

Chapter 8: The Assassination of Talon

Rainbow Dash walked at the back of the group she was lost in thought about what had happened with Talon. He had changed the war drastically through her and she knew it. She then decided that she wouldn't let it affect her attitude towards her job.

They were heading towards a town that supposedly was the last stop they could make before heading to the military base. Brandy had told them that she had a friend there who could help them. She told them that she had already sent a letter to him telling him about them and their situation. She said that he should be ready for them with food.

They slowly made their way to the town so that they didn't stress Rainbow's body. Even though she tried to put on a brave face they were certain that she was scared of having to confront Talon a third time. They made more frequent stops which seemed to agitate Rainbow Dash even further as she complained about the slow pace telling them that she was just fine and that they should stop worrying about her so much. This scared them for their friend even more. They were scared that Talon had damaged her psychologically more than anything. They wanted revenge for what he had done to her more than ever now and quickened their pace.

They reached the town after a few hours of walking. They had a little trouble finding the pony they were looking for. It turned out that this town did not have a bar; however it did have a store for alcohol. The six decided that this would be where they would start looking. They walked in and were shocked by what they saw. It was a unicorn stallion. "Hello there." said the stallion, "I'm Whiskey, my friend told me about you six."

"You're-You're a unicorn!" exclaimed Fluttershy.

"Why yes I am, one of the few here in Forshan, but I rarely use magic anyway. Come in we need to talk."

The six entered the shop and he went over to the door and changed the sign to closed. "Now I heard about what happened to your multi-colored friend here."

"Hey!" shouted Rainbow Dash in an almost threatening way, "I have a name you know! It's Rainbow Dash!"

"Ok, my friend Brandy told me about what happened to Rainbow Dash and I figured that you all would want revenge. I did some digging in the local library and I found some plans to the specific military base that you're interested in." Whiskey unrolled a blueprint on the table.

"Why are you doing this?" asked Twilight

"Because I hate the military. They just come in here and take drinks for free saying that since this country is run by the military they don't have to pay. If anything happened to the commander however we could appoint a government. Even though we would win the war that they are trying to start with Equestria, what's the point in oppressing a helpless people? Just more to worry about if you ask me."

"I guess we can trust you then." responded Applejack

"Of course you can, just don't place your trust that easily though and don't judge anybody around here. Everyone's got their own agenda. Now this is the main entrance if you want to get yourself killed than this is the way to go. There is no way that you would be able to get in there by going in a visible way. You're going to have to use stealth." six confused faces looked at him. "You're going to have to sneak in and kill Talon quietly. There's an old sewage system that runs into the-"

"Sewage! Disgusting! I am a lady and I refuse to get my hooves that dir-" Rarity was interrupted

"If you want to turn yourselves in and die then go ahead and use another way but I'm telling you that this is the only way that will work!" Rarity shut her mouth even though she was uncomfortable with this. "Now this system actually leads right next to Talon's room. Get in there slit his throat and get out. Be as quiet as you can and you just might make it. Any questions?"

"Yeah, I have one! How do we get out!" yelled Rainbow Dash

"The exact same way you got in." replied Whiskey, "I suggest that you do it tomorrow. I'll let you use this building to sleep in. There's some food in the fridge and my bed is in the back. I have to go visit a friend in another town. Lock the store up when you leave tomorrow." With that Whiskey walked out and headed out of town. The six ponies gathered around the map and examined it. They decided that they would have to survive even if they had to summon the powers of the elements. Pinkie Pie's eyes widened.

"Girls, I just realized something. One of us is going to have to kill a pony in his sleep." the other's eyes widened in horror. They each began to realize that tomorrow; one of them would be a killer.

"I think we should get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow and if we aren't fully rested then we can't work in the early morning." said Applejack. They all nodded and set up their sleeping bags.

Talon didn't sleep that night. Instead he read an old worn out book. It had a red cover. It wasn't a book, it was a journal. His mother had written it before dying. It described his entire past. How he got his claw, how he got where he was. One page was missing though, the last one. It was this page that he felt was more important than the entire journal and he had never found it. He put the journal back into his bags and lit a cigar, he always smoked before going to sleep, it calmed him. He looked at his map; those six ponies should be arriving in a day or two according to his calculations. He just hoped that his plan would work. He laid the lit cigar on the table next to him. Without using them the flame could go until the next morning. He then turned over and went to sleep.

It was maybe one o' clock when the six left the building. They made sure to lock it before setting off towards the military base. They were so worried about the plan that they forgot their armor. They moved towards the base quickly. There were two things this plan needed, speed and silence. They arrived at the base at what they assumed was four o' clock. They found the sewage system and crawled into it. Rarity hesitated in silent protest until Applejack forced her in. They made their way through the pipes until they came out on the other side. They looked to their left and sure enough there was a door. They considered themselves lucky because it was open. They quickly entered the room and silently shut the door behind them. Then Twilight realized that they had forgotten to bring a knife with them. They were already here and could not abort the mission now. Twilight quickly looked around the room and saw a knife on the table next to a lit cigar. She used her magic to pick up the knife and she walked over to Talon's body. She could smell the cigar and it disgusted her. She wanted to kill this pony but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She looked at Rainbow and saw the pony that couldn't fly because Talon had done something to her. She saw the cut that ran along her side. She remembered that Rainbow Dash had been angry about something. This angered Twilight and she lifted the knife and drove it into Talon's neck.

"For Rainbow." Twilight muttered.

*Click*

Twilight spun around to see a pony standing in the corner of the room.

"Very impressive." said a voice. "I didn't think any of you would have the guts to kill someone in their sleep, but now, let me show you the flaw in your plan."

Talon stepped out into the light. Twilight grew scared and not thinking she threw the knife at Talon. It was headed right for his neck when it stopped in mid-air.

Talon smiled, "As I was saying allow me to show you the flaw in your plan." Whiskey stepped out into the light.

"You! You sold us out! You said that you hated the military!" yelled Rarity.

"I did, I also told you not to place your trust so easily." responded Whiskey.

"I guess you're going to kill us right now then." said Applejack.

"Nope." responded Talon, "Commander Iron Foot likes to oversee the prisoner's tortures and executions. Normally I would disobey this order and kill you, but he has allowed me and Whiskey access to his safe house which contains only him and one of his bodyguards. So we're leaving now and going to go there. Now move"

The eight ponies marched towards the safe house. At one point Talon dropped back and began talking to Whiskey. He told the six ponies that they could talk and any escape attempts would be useless. So they talked.

"I-I killed an innocent pony." said Twilight.

"No you didn't." said Talon hearing the conversation, "He was dead already."

"What?" asked Twilight.

"Mmm-hmm," responded Talon, "I use dead bodies all the time. They've helped me out of tough spots sometimes. I love 'em for three reasons. One they don't talk, two if I manage it right I can make them look alive. And three if you stab them it doesn't matter because they're dead already. The particular pony I used is one that I killed shortly before I started working for Iron Foot."

They didn't say another word for the rest of the trip.

Talon was talking with Whiskey when they arrived. A pony with a knife in his mouth came out to greet them. He told them that Iron Foot would be away for two more days. Talon cursed, "To think that I thought I could finally get straight to the fun part. Well, I guess there's not much risk in this case so we'll just wait for him."

The six went into the complex and Whiskey stopped Talon before he went in. "Are you sure that you want to wait for Iron Foot? We could do it today."

Talon lit a cigar, "I think that in this case we can wait. Besides we need him to be here."

The two walked into the building.

The Black Stallion

Chapter 9: The Black Stallion

The wait for Iron Foot seemed to drag on longer and longer. Talon had grown bored so he set up targets in the largest room in the house and had taken to shooting them. He had left six bullets on the table in the comms room where Twilight and her friends were being held.

"Girls, I-I'm sorry that I led all of us into this. If I had never talked to Princess Luna we would still be safe in Equestria."

"Actually Twilight, if you had never talked to her I would have slept well the night before the wonderbolts rally. Then I would have been one of the ones that died in the attack. So, I guess that it's thanks to you bringing us out here that I'm still alive. Even with everything that has been going on with me being kidnapped by Talon. I'm glad that I at least got to spend my last days with you guys." responded Rainbow Dash.

"Thank you, Rainbow. I really needed to hear something like that." said Twilight.

"Who knows, maybe we can get out of this mess!" Interjected Applejack.

"I don't really think so Applejack. When I got rescued the first time I was lucky, the second time, I was lucky. Asking for the rescue of all six of us from a secret safe house in the middle of nowhere with Talon guarding us may be asking too much." responded Rainbow.

"Well if this is the end, then I guess that I would only want to spend it with you guys." Rainbow said.

"Likewise." said Twilight, "I mean before Princess Celestia sent me to Ponyville, I had never known friends. After I met you girls, I just felt like I wanted to be there forever. I remember when Pinkie Pie threw that party for me and I didn't want it. And then I drank that hot sauce." the girls chuckled.

"I'm glad that I met all of you two." said Rainbow Dash, "Before I went to Ponyville, I was mocked and made fun of wherever I went. I was always known as the klutz pegasus. When I came to Ponyville I was known as Rainbow Dash, the pony who pulled of the sonic rainboom."

"I reckon I love bein with ya'll two. Before I met ya'll I was only worried about my apple farm. I sure am glad that I met ya'll to help relieve some stress. Without ya'lls help during that one applebucking season, I reckon I'd a killed myself with all uh that work." said Applejack, "You girls have been a real blessin' to me."

"I couldn't imagine life without you girls." spoke up Pinkie Pie, "all of my parties would have probably been just me and gummy and that's no fun. I remember what happened when I thought that you all didn't want to go to my parties anymore."

"I remember that pretty well to Pinkie Pie." said Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie Pie giggled, "Ya that wasn't one of my best moments, but then you girls have always been there for me and I really appreciate that."

"I am also glad to have known you girls." began Rarity, "You girls have been such an inspiration to me in my work. I can remember every single dress I had made for you specifically those disasters that we had that failed fashion show with." they all giggled at this. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that my life wouldn't have been the same without you all being there for me."

"I probably would have never made friends if I hadn't met all of you. I'm so shy that Rainbow Dash would have probably been my only friend and that was from us both being made fun of in flight school. If I had never had friends then I would probably had been called the crazy pony that only likes animals back home." said Fluttershy. "I remember saying that we all had a special connection before we ever met. I know that's true and I believe that we had an even greater connection after we met."

"Well since this is the end I guess that we're gonna do it together." said Twilight this was met by five likewises. "Ok Talon, do your worst."

Talon was standing outside the building in anticipation. Iron Foot was finally going to be coming back. This was a rare moment when Talon was not smoking a cigar. He only had one left besides his special ones and he wanted to save that one for later on during the executions. So he waited with an empty mouth for Iron Foot to finally arrive. He saw a silhouette coming from out in the distance. It moved towards them with speed. "Finally!" yelled Talon in anticipation as the shape moved closer. Iron Foot had arrived.

"Thank you for waiting for me. I had something to attend to in another town. Now, Whiskey you and I will go up to my office where we will watch the execution. Talon, you and my bodyguard will be performing the execution. I believe that in honor of capturing them Talon, you should receive the honor of performing the first kill."

"Thank you sir. I already have my target in mind."

"That's what I like to hear, such enthusiasm deserves a reward and I think you will enjoy eating a good dinner tonight for a change." responded Iron Foot.

"I like to hear this and all, but I think we should get on with the execution." the bodyguard said.

"Right, now Whiskey if you will follow me."

Whiskey turned to look at Talon who nodded. Whiskey followed Iron Foot to his office. There was a projection of the room with the six ponies on the monitor in the center of the room. Talon and the bodyguard had just entered the room.

"Sorry for the wait, but we had to get an audience." said Talon.

"So I guess this is it then. Our end." said Rainbow Dash.

"Yup, and I get the first choice of my kill." said Talon as he lit his cigar and loaded the sixth bullet into his gun. He walked straight up to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash looked at him and spoke three words. "Just do it."

Talon nodded. He pulled the hammer back on the gun. Before anyone had time to realize what was going on Talon had turned around and unloaded the round into the head of the other pony in the room with him. There were five shocked faces and Rainbow Dash who was happy.

"What is that bastard doing!" yelled Iron Foot.

"He's doing his part like I'm doing mine." said Whiskey who had pulled out a knife and had it at Iron Foot's throat. "Luckily for you, he wants you alive."

"You two sons of Bitches." Iron Foot replied.

Talon had taken the knife off the table and cut the ropes off of Rainbow Dash he handed her the knife and took out his own. He worked on freeing the rest.

"But-but-but what is going on!" yelled out a confused Twilight.

"I'll hold the explanation to a time when we can get away from here. Now," Talon walked towards the door, "Two eagles flew from the nest."

"One came home with meat." was the reply.

"Ok, we're safe." said Talon, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Talon of the Equestrian Special Forces, The Black Stallions; I am the last of the Black Stallions."

"How are you the last if Whiskey is on your side?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Because he's not a Black Stallion, he's just a mercenary that owes me one. He really has the people's best interest at heart and he plans to govern Forshan."

"One question." said Twilight

"I'm pretty sure you have more than one so that will have to wait until we are heading back to Equestria for me to answer them." said Talon.

The group of seven ponies made their way outside where Whiskey was waiting for them with a tied up Iron Foot.

"You son of a Bitch! You betrayed me!" yelled Iron Foot.

"No I couldn't have betrayed you because I never really worked for you. Now it would be really nice if you could sleep!" yelled Talon as he jammed a syringe into Iron Foot's neck, putting the angry stallion to sleep.

"Is he dead?" asked Twilight

"No, not yet. That was a sedative to make the transport easier." said Talon as Whiskey came around the back with a cart and harness which he began to attach Talon to but Talon stopped him. "Let's put the body back there first. Whiskey nodded in agreement and took a position to throw the body into the back. "One... Two... Three!" yelled Talon as they threw Iron Foot's body into the cart. "Now it seems a little late to start transport so I think that if we start tomorrow early enough we can make it to Equestria in one day." said Talon. "Now we need to get some food into you girls and get you to sleep. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow. And don't worry about the trip, I'll tell you everything while we go so that you can know everything."

Talon then took the cart around to a garage and put it inside. Whiskey spoke up saying, "I'll watch the cart tonight in case he wakes up. I can apply more sedative."

"Thanks. He shouldn't wake up I gave him an 18 hour dosage." said Talon who had returned from putting the cart away.

"You never can tell though." responded Whiskey "If he does wake up I'll apply the 48 hour sedative."

"Ok." said Talon

As they ate that night there wasn't much conversation save for Talon asking them about living in Equestria. They all slept soundly that night knowing that they would need the energy the next day.

The next day they all gathered outside Talon was hitching himself up. Iron Foot had woken up the night before so Whiskey had administered the stronger sedative so he would be out for the entire trip. Talon checked all his items and wished Whiskey good luck in the reforming of the government before finally setting off. After walking for a minute Talon finally spoke up. "Well I guess I better start from the beginning."

The next chapter will be a flashback chapter so the scene will change several times and be aware that Talon is talking to the mane six the whole time, but you will see the events as he saw them.

Looking Back

Chapter 10: Looking Back

Talon looked out at the rainbow that was flying away. He knew who it was and where she was going, but she couldn't know him yet. He turned his attention back to the burning stadium. It pained him to watch this terror unfold and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He turned to leave.

"It truly is terrible isn't it?" spoke a voice from behind.

"Yes it is Your Majesty." responded Talon.

"You don't have to address me that way Talon. You know that."

"Yes, but you deserve to be addressed that way." Talon looked back at the burning stadium. "I can't stop it."

"I know you can't, but you can fight the pony that is doing this."

"I already knew that Luna" Talon took out a cigar and lit it, "just watching the world turn as I do." and with that Talon turned towards Forshan and went to return to that desert.

The scene shifted to a room in a military base.

Ya ya." said Talon who started looking out the window at the desert. "My only question is why, if he knew she was going to be here, did he not just start living here!"

"I don't know, why don't you ask him when he gets here?"

"Now you know why I can't do that." responded Talon.

"Because you're going to be out there looking for her." said the gray pony. "I'm dying Talon."

"I know, and even though I know it still pains me about killing you."

"Well it's a lot less suffering in the long run, and we can free Rainbow Dash."

Talon looked into the eyes of the grey pony. "It's been an honor serving with you Bladestorm." said Talon extending his claw for a hoof shake.

"Likewise, it's been an honor serving with you in the Black Stallions. I guess with me about to die that would make you the last one."

"To be honest I think that it would have been an honor to be the first one to go. After we lost Coppertop it just went downhill from there.

"Well you may be the only one out of all of the Black Stallions to experience life without this war."

"You already know what I have to do to experience that."

"Kill Iron Foot, but you can't do that without the Elements of Harmony to set the trap."

"Ya...We had better get started, I don't want to have to anticipate killing my friend any longer."

"It truly has been an honor Talon."

The scene changed to the open desert. Talon was cooking a meal as a multi-colored pegasus lay in the sleeping bags. She began to stir. Talon smiled as she got up and looked around. He couldn't help but laugh as she tried to fly and failed.

"What did you do to my wings!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

"Relax; it's just a simple muscle relaxer. You should have full use of your wings in a few days. Are you hungry?"

Rainbow Dash was confused. This pony was supposed to be merciless, the most feared in all the land, here she was his prisoner and he was offering her breakfast.

"If you don't hurry it'll get cold." said Talon

"What are you doing?"

"What I need to do." Talon said

Rainbow Dash took a seat but eyed the food carefully. Talon noticed this and taking his fork he made sure to get a bit of everything from her plate he took a bite. Rainbow Dash instantly dug in.

"Now we need to talk."

Rainbow Dash stopped eating for a second. "About what."

"About me. I'm not what you think I am. I am Equestrian special forces. I need you to trust me."

"Why should I? You kidnapped me!"

"Yes I did, so that you could be alone with me for this conversation. You need to believe me."

"Ok fine you went to all of this trouble. What do you want me to believe?"

"That I am Equestrian, here this may help." at this Talon pulled out an Equestrian bit and tossed it to Rainbow Dash. She examined it.

"This is real. What do you want from me?"

"I want you to lead your friends to the military base in the east of Forshan the one closest to the Equestrian border. That is where I will be located. I will then reveal to your friends who I am and what I'm doing and if we're lucky we just may catch Iron Foot."

"Who?"

"Iron Foot is the commander of the Forshan army and technically the leader of Forshan."

"Ok well I guess that since you're done with me I can leave now right?"

"Well there's two problems with that. First is that they have my lighter and the situation of you returning to your friends would be more realistic if I "Traded" you back for it. Secondly is that you are unharmed. They believe that I am interrogating you and will have hurt you. So..." Talon drew his gun and fired a bullet that cut Rainbow Dash's side.

"What the hell was that for!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

"You needed to appear wounded, you go back to them unharmed, questions get asked, my cover gets blown, I get executed, Equestria suffers. That's what that was for."

Rainbow thought about this for a second. It made sense. "So how long are you going to keep me here?"

"Lie down so I can treat the wound." Rainbow Dash obeyed. "Oh about three-four days depending on how this wound heals up and scars. I'll also need to apply another dose of that muscle number so that it appears that I did something to your wings. It will be smaller and wear off after a few days. I'll also tie up your wings so that it appears that they were tied the whole time. This will make it seem like you didn't, well, roam."

"Ok, that makes sense. So what do we do until then?"

"We talk. Oh and by the way when you get back to your friends, they can't know about me."

"I understand."

The scene changed to a sandy and windy street. Talon could see five ponies on the other side. "Do you have the lighter?" the lighter levitated towards him. "You just gotta love magic." he said to Rainbow Dash. As he cut the ropes he applied a muscle number to Rainbow Dash's wings. "Remember, not a word to them." Rainbow Dash nodded and began making her way towards her friends.

"And that just about covers it." said Talon as they finally made it to the Equestrian border.

"Wow, so you were really there for us the entire time?" asked Twilight.

"Yep, and I made damn sure that nothing happened to you." responded Talon.

"So what now?" asked Applejack.

"Well, I suggest that you six head home. I'm going to drop the trash off at Canterlot then there's somewhere that I really want to go visit."

"Where's that?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Talon ignored the question, "Good-bye, I'll see about stopping by where you live. Who knows! Maybe your town will get a new resident."

"That would be nice, but you would have to change a few things about you." said Twilight

"Don't worry about anything leaking out; I'm pretty damn good at keeping secrets."

And with that Talon left the six to go home. They watched him until he had gone over a hill before breaking out into a sprint for home. Rainbow Dash was the first to arrive being able to fly; she went straight towards home and laid down on the bed. "Oh how I missed you!"

Applejack got to her home on the outskirts of town. The first thing she did was take Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh in a large embrace. Then she went and ate an apple. She had missed them so much.

Twilight got home next and she went straight for Spike. She grabbed him in her magic and brought him close into an embrace. "Where did you go Twilight? And why are you so close to me all of a sudden?"

"Hahaha, it's a long story. I don't think you would want to hear it anyway."

"Ok fine but now that you're back I guess that means I've got to work."

"Ohhhh yes!"

Pinkie Pie bounced into her home next and she went straight for the cake. She plunged her head in and licked the icing off her face she missed that taste so much.

Rarity didn't go straight home, instead she went to see Sweetie Belle. She took her sister in a loving embrace before going back to her shop and picking up a needle to start working. The desert had inspired her.

Fluttershy got home last, she made sure to feed all of her animal friends and apologize for leaving. She went inside of her cottage to see an angry Angel staring back at her. She giggled before saying, "Sorry Angel."

Talon stood in the center of Canterlot. He was getting looks from all of the residents. He knew that if his reputation had reached this city the streets would be clear for him to make his way towards the castle. He just ignored all of the looks and kept marching towards the castle. As he made his way up the steps with difficulty as the cart refused to allow him an easy walk. When he reached the top he attempted to enter the castle but the guards stopped him. "Halt! Who goes there?" the question had been spoken as a command but this guard was in no position to give him orders.

"That's not important to you. I need to see the Princesses" Talon said responding to the guard.

"We can't allow you access without proper authorization."

"Listen I have 200 pounds of authorization in this cart now let me in that's an order!"

"Are you trying to get yourself arrested?"

"No, but you sound like your trying to get yourself killed." Talon said smugly

"That's it!" said the guard taking a step towards Talon. But Talon was far too quick he had already drawn his gun and pulled the hammer back.

"I wouldn't take another step forward if I was you." said Talon threateningly.

The guard had no idea what Talon was threatening him with but decided to let this pony through.

"Learn to recognize special forces." said Talon as he walked by.

The guard turned his head. He had almost gotten into a fight with a pony that could have killed him in front of the princesses and gotten away with it. Special forces were legendary and no one outside the guard knew they existed so he had to have been telling the truth. He thought that they were disavowed at the moment. Clearly, he had been wrong.

Talon walked right into the throne room despite the guards trying to stop him. As soon as Celestia saw him she yelled at the guards to stand down. They obliged but watched this pony suspiciously.

"Don't mind them; they don't know who you are."

"Judging by the looks I got walking here there are only six civilians that do."

"I trust you bring good news Talon."

"More like a great gift he said as he lifted Iron Foot out of the cart. Now if I am correct this country is due for the first execution it's had in a while."

"You are correct but we don't exactly have the equipment to do so."

"Just toss his sorry ass off a cliff and see if I try and stop you. There's more than one way to skin a cat."

The guards took offense to his vulgar language in front of the princess.

"Might I ask where Miss Luna could be?"

"She is on a diplomatic mission to the Gryphon kingdoms."

Talon spat on the ground in disgust. The guards had had it at this point and one of them charged Talon. He saw it and knocked the guard to the ground quickly taking a position to finish it. The guard cowered before feeling the pressure on his chest being released.

"Princess you need to get yourself to get a guard with two things. Strength and respect, teach em how to identify special forces and how to actually protect you then to just stand there and look intimidating."

"Would you care to train a few?"

"Well that's a mighty fine offer, but I've got two promises to keep. One of them is going to Ponyville and possibly living there, but before I do that there's a trip I have to make."

"I always figured you would want to go there one day."

"It's my last chance to know who I am. Good-bye Princess Celestia, tell Luna I said hello." with that Talon exited the room leaving Celestia to deal with Iron Foot.

"Guards, lock this scum in the dungeon and don't give him anything until I tell you to."

The guards did as they were told.

Equestria was at peace.

Epilogue

Talon stood on the sand covered beach as he looked out at the waves. He felt a special connection to this place. He saw several pieces of rotting wood scattering the beach. He walked along and felt every single piece. He made his way along the beach stopping at a certain point. He stood there and lit a cigar he looked out onto the ocean for hours. He stayed in that one spot all through the night and into the morning. He didn't move because it hadn't felt right yet. He stood there and reminisced. This is where it all began, his career as a soldier for Equestria had begun here at this very spot.

A piece of paper caught his eyes. It was fluttering in the wind he dropped his cigar in the sand and walked over towards the piece of paper. He took it off of the branch and looked at it. this side was blank but the edge of the paper looked torn as if it had been ripped out of a book. That meant...

Talon flipped the page over and tears formed in his eyes. He couldn't help it; he was overwhelmed by the moment. Printed on this side of the paper was a single word.

Nails.