It did not take them long to find the camp the girl had mentioned. Rows and rows of dark tents awaited their eyes as the two peered from the shadows of the forest. A rank and musky scent hung in the air.

“I’m so glad I was upwind from this,” Kain muttered. “This is outright putrid,”

“A lot of rape has happened in this clearing, and something tells me slavers aren’t good at cleaning up their own… excrement,”

“Thank you for that wonderful mental image,” Kain mused drily.

“Anyway, I want you to stand by the forest edge, and kill any stragglers that come after the slaves. I’ll be slaying all the slavers and funneling the slaves towards you. I’m sure you’ll be able to tell the difference between the two parties.”

“Yeah, yeah,”

“I’ll have at most 5 minutes… probably not even that,” Will murmured, flexing his arms. “Before I can’t hold consciousness anymore,”

“I see you’ve made up your mind. I’ll handle the stragglers. Just go wreak some havoc, Zephyr,”

“As you command, Captain,” Will replied drily with a mock bow. “I’m off,” Holding out his right arm, he closed his eyes and concentrated. I’ll only be able to cover one arm… I don’t think I can handle both arms for any length of time yet.

His right arm began glowing red as a wave of nausea and exhaustion tried to overtake him. He fought through it as sharp green wind magic covered his right arm, giving him a hand of razor sharp claws made of wind. Slamming his wind-covered arm into the ground caused all the tents and their inhabitants to be flung into the air. He rushed forward and jumped into the air, spotting the first of many slavers. The slaver was a burly man with ripped arms and shoulders, and with a shocked expression on his mug. Will slashed through them with his claws.

Time seemed to slow down as Will used wind magic to push his body faster and faster. Six of the slavers were dead by his claws by the time everything fell back to the earth. One was lying unconscious from where his head had impacted a sharp rock. Will used the opportunity to stab his claws into the man’s side, killing him.

Fighting through another wave of pain, Will charged at another slaver, who was manhandling a slave, using her as a meat shield. Will slid underneath the pair, raking his claws upward just as he past through, ripping into the slaver’s abdomen and crotch. After standing quickly, Will impaled the man with his claws with a quick twirl before he got the opportunity to retaliate. Releasing the grip on the slave, the body fell to the ground.

Will pointed to Kain and told her to run as the final two slavers charged at him, one from either side. Will rushed to the side, grabbed the leg of one slaver and tossed him into the other. They slammed together and slammed into a tree.

Will turned to Kain and began walking, the wind magic dissipating from his arm. When he heard crashing come from the tree where he threw the slavers, he tried to turn but found himself struck by exhaustion as he fell to the ground. As he was falling he turned his eyes back to Kain and pointed his arm, mouthing one word, “Enchant,” before his face hit the dirt and he was unconscious.

A sheath of sharp green wind magic wrapped itself around Kain’s sword as he drew it. “Oh hell yes,” the eager Prince breathed. “Thanks, Zephyr,” Kain charged as the slavers came into view, swiping at them horizontally, driving the two into dodging back. Kain attacked ferociously, slicing through the two slavers with glee, chuckling excitedly at the action.

He sighed in satisfaction as he looked over the slavers, reduced to piles of giblets and flesh from the barrage of attacks. “It’s been far too long since I’ve had a really good fight.” Spinning in place, Kain strode towards Will’s unconscious body and hefted him onto his shoulder, noting with concern that his arm was still glowing bright red.

It’s still steadily draining his magic. “Damn it man,” he muttered, shaking his head as he returned to the forest, finding himself being followed by the now free slaves. He returned to his camp, finding everything in order, reuniting the girl with her friends.

Kain set Will on the ground inside his tent.

“Ok, everyone,” Kain announced, instantly gaining everyone’s attention. “Seeing as it’s close to sunset, I will let you all sleep here for the night. Should anyone not want to sleep on the ground, I’m going to have to ask you to salvage what you can from the slaver camp.”

“What about tomorrow?” someone piped up. “Do you have a plan for then?”

“It’s not a good plan, but tomorrow, I’ll be turning everyone loose, so they can make their way back home, to where that is. I, on the other hand, will be carrying my friend and our criminal friends over there to Canterlot. If I come up with a better plan, I’ll announce it in the morning,”

“So, we’ll be free to do what we want?”

“As long as you don’t ask us to give you a place to stay, yeah. I’m the guest in this situation, so I don’t know if Zephyr would be alright with that,”

“Zephyr?”

“Yeah, that’s his name,” Kain sat outside his tent and idly spun the spit some more. Glancing around, he noticed the hungry stares the hog was getting. “You guys can have this, as long as you all share,”

Fifteen minutes later, all the meat was gone, and the girls were gnawing on the bones while they rested on the ground.

Something tells me this is going to be a long night, Kain sighed as the last hint of the sun slipped passed the horizon and the moon took its place. Still gives me a chuckle when I remember that it’s an Anthro woman that raises the sun and moon everyday. I wonder if I’ll get to meet them? Perhaps, perhaps… Who was it again?

Kain was left to his musings as the night passed without much incident.

As the sun rose, some of the girls stirred. They found Kain standing by his tent, where he was all night as he stood watch. Within fifteen minutes every girl was awake.

“The first part of the plan is simple,” Kain said, announcing the plan he came up with for the girls. “Like I said yesterday, I want you all to salvage from the slaver camp. Find clothes, food, anything you all can use to travel. I want you all to return in an hour.” They set out from the camp.

“Well, isn’t that just disgustingly sentimental,” Valerie spat.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Kain noted with disdain, “Good, that means you can walk yourself, and I won’t have to drag you,”

“You’ll never get me to Canterlot alive!”

“We’ll see about that,” Kain murmured, “Or did you not see the two subordinates of yours that are strapped to you?” She gasped in horror when she saw and felt that she couldn’t move at all. “Exactly,” Kain brushed her off, tapping the pommel of his sword to the back of her skull. She fainted a few seconds later. “Much better,”

********

A while later, the girls returned, dressed in what they could find, a few of them toting backpacks.

“Listen, the other part of my plan is to have you all leave for Draconia,” Kain raised a hand to stop any outbursts. “I think it would be best if you stay in a country you’re all familiar with, and you’re more likely to make it if you travel in a group, even if it’s slower than going it alone.” He paused. “No doubt your families are worried to death about you all. Go be with them, alleviate their fears,”

“Who are you?” the same green-scaled girl asked as the group prepared to leave.

“Me? I’m Kain… of Saddle Arabia,”

“…YOU MEAN THE PRINCE?!”

Kain shrugged as he retrieved Will from the tent, sitting him up on a nearby log, letting him slump forward a little. He broke camp and snuffed out the fire. “That’s for me to know and you to contemplate,” he replied with a smile, “Now get going. You’ve got a long journey ahead,”

Some of the group pouted at his answer but they all marched out anyway.

Kain sighed in the now empty forest clearing as he hefted Will onto his shoulder. He then kicked one of the brigands in the side, waking him up. “Get walking,” he growled to the criminal, who begrudgingly complied when Kain pulled on the rope acting as a leash.

They plodded down a forest path in silence. Kain was following Raven, who had decided to lead him to Canterlot.

They stopped after two hours, barely a fifth of the way there. The brigand was breathing heavily from having to drag several people with him.

Kain let the brigand rest for a little bit before he kicked awake his companion, who grumbled but helped walk cause he couldn’t do anything else.

As they continued through the forest, the brigand pair kept themselves occupied with a conversation about whatever struck their fancy at the moment. Kain just tuned them out, ignoring them completely as he brought them through the forest.

Kain kept walking, not really able to tell if time was even passing, until the Sun started to set on the horizon. He stopped and propped Will up against a nearby tree.

The brigands slumped into a sitting position and got as comfortable as they could, being as tied up as they were.

Kain stood against the tree next to Will. He gazed up at the moon, ignoring any complaints the brigands tried to throw to him.

********

Meanwhile, the last member of the Mane Seven had just returned to the hostel from their school day.

The air in the hostel was filled with quiet tension, excitement for the return of their friend bright in their minds, but with an undertone of worry making itself known.

Fluttershy and Pinkie were in the kitchen, preparing the lunches for the next day while they dealt with the remnants of the dinner they’d made a little bit ago.

Twilight was sitting on the couch, glancing over her shoulder out the window to watch the road coming from the forest.

Sunset was slumped at the desk in her room, resting her head on her folded arms as she gazed out the window to her left, focusing on the moon in the sky.

Rainbow was lying on her bed on her back with a pair of earbuds in her ears, listening to her iPod on Shuffle as she stared up at her ceiling, trying her best to distract herself.

Rarity was seated in front of a vanity in her room, and she was gently brushing her hair, judging her work in the mirror, making sure she looked absolutely radiant.

Applejack was sleeping like a log, needing to awaken early in the morning.

“Are you all right, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked quietly, taking a seat next to her friend.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” she replied, tearing her gaze away from the outside to meet Fluttershy’s gaze. “I’m just worried, is all,”

“We all are,” she sympathized. “He was kinda scary when he left… like he was when we first met him,”

“Yeah… It was amazing to see what a change he went through. He’d been much happier these past few months.”

“It also felt like he was holding himself back,” Sunset interjected, having descended the stairs to join their conversation. “And I have found a possible theory as to… why,” She produced a two year old newspaper article from the Crystal Empire.

The title read, “Vigilante Zephyr strikes again! Crime syndicate taken down!” A faded picture showed a black blob with one piercing green eye as the only thing visible.

“It’s possible… that this could have been Will,” Sunset murmured. “But it’s also possible that it’s someone else. Just another thing to ask him about when he does return.”

“He should be back by now,” Twilight glanced at the wall clock. “It’s coming up on ten thirty.

“Perhaps his friend was in more trouble than he thought?”

“I don’t know,” Fluttershy murmured, standing. “We need to be up early tomorrow morning. I suggest we retire for the night,”

The two others sighed as they followed her upstairs, where they stepped into their separate rooms.

Twilight sat at her desk and drafted a letter to Celestia, notifying her of Will’s absence. It took her ten minutes, fretting over what details to put in, which words to use, until she was happy enough to send it off with her magic.

She found herself sitting in a silent hostel, as the others seemed to be asleep.

A letter appeared on her desk and she tore it open. “Thank you for the notification. I’ll post a pair of guards outside the hostel in the morning, and another pair at each entrance to the city. They’ll let us know when he returns. And he WILL return, don’t you worry about a thing. He’s stronger than he seems.”

A smile adorned her face as she turned to her bed and prepared to sleep. She blew out the candle on her desk, snuffing out the last light in the building and settled into her bed, drifting off to sleep.

********

Will awoke to agony: His arm pulsed with waves of pain and exhaustion; a migraine festered in his head, making him unable to comprehend things around him. He had no sense of location or sight, only the feeling of pain burning away at his life.

He had no voice to scream out his pain. He tried to move and felt something impact his right arm, hard, making the pain spike worse than it was before.

“Will?” came the muffled voice of his friend.

“Kain…” his raspy voice hissed out, barely audible.

Kain muttered to himself under his breath as he watched Will curl up from the pain. This is the worst reaction he’s ever seen.

“Everything… gone… can’t… see… PAIN…” Will spat out.

“Can you walk?” Kain asked his delirious friend.

“Y-yeah,”

Kain lifted Will to his feet, slinging one of his friend’s arms over his shoulders. Kicking awake the brigands and Valerie, Kain growled, “We’re leaving,”

“It’s still dark out,” Valerie complained. “It’s not even morning! I need my sleep.”

“It is morning,” Kain deadpanned. “And too bad about your sleep. You can sleep all you want… in jail.” He yanked on the rope and the other brigands followed after him, forcibly pushing Valerie along.

“What’s gotten into you two?!” she asked incredulously.

“I remembered a rumor,” one of them replied.

“Apparently, Equestrian jail food is really tasty,” the other concluded. They both glanced at Kain for an answer. He nudged Will to see if he could get a response.

“Three star…” was all Will muttered, his head hung low, his eyes barely open, and his legs plodding along.

“Three star food?” they asked. “It must be good then,”

“When you’re used to slop, anything would be good to you,” Kain retorted harshly.

The group traveled in silence, until the sun rose above the horizon a few hours later.

“Kain…” Will groaned. “Hood…” Kain pulled his hood over his friend’s head and frowned at him. He wasn’t improving at all and the glow on his arm hadn’t dimmed.

Kain grimaced after a little more walking. He just couldn’t fathom how Will had ran the entire way there, and only taken about half a day. Kain was walking at a pretty brisk pace, as fast as he would allow himself to go without aggravating Will’s wounds.

Kain glanced up at the nearby mountains, taking a second to gaze at their beauty before returning to the task at hand and starting off again.

Doing some mental calculations, using his location relative to a map of Equestria he had and about how fast his group was moving, he estimated that he was about an hour away from Canterlot. He grinned at this as they picked up the pace slightly.

********

Corporal Silver Shield yawned as she stood by the entrance of the forest on the outskirts of Canterlot’s northern border along with another guard, who stood stoic against the opposite tree on the other side of the path.

She was excited, though, as this was her first real assignment from Celestia since coming out of training. Sure, it was standing around, waiting for someone who might not even show up, but it was an important duty the Princess had given her: Stand at the entrance of the forest, and send word if her idol shows up.

She’d met Will before, and talked to him a few times, on the days where he goes down to the training grounds to observe. She never found out why he did it, other than to be friendly and have a nice chat, but she didn’t mind.

Each guard had been given a summary of what everyone knew of the situation: Will had gone off to pick up a friend of his, promising to return before that morning, but he never showed up, and the Princess’ personal student panicked. After snooping around his office, they found a letter on his desk saying he’d gone to the northern border of the country.

So, Silver stood with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Would he be all right? If he were so delayed, would he be mangled and covered in wounds? Or was-

Crunching of leaves from the forest snapped her out of her thoughts and startled both guards. Turning with their hands on the hilts of their swords, they stood pensively side by side as a group of five people plodded up to them stopping when they were about thirty feet away.

A pregnant silence fell over the two groups as the guards stared. The man in the lead couldn’t hold his straight face anymore and he burst out laughing, nearly doubling over in mirth.

“What’s so funny?!” Silver demanded.

He seemed to ignore her as he turned to the hooded man he was supporting. “Hey, Zephyr, you never said there’d be trouble with the guards when we arrived.”

“I’m… late… Kain,” he muttered, just loud enough for the guards to hear. He tried addressing the guards, “Take… criminals… away… Bring… us… Celestia…” He grunted and groaned in pain, doubling over and nearly losing the last shreds of consciousness he had held on to.

“…Huh?” Silver asked, to which her partner turned to her.

“I’ll take the criminals, and I’ll lock them up in jail to await the Princess’ judgment. You need to take them to Celestia, now.”

“Wait, who are they?!” she asked.

“My name is Kain,” the man bowed. “And this is my friend Z- er, Will,” he lowered his friend’s cowl to reveal the very person the guards had been waiting for.

Emotions exploded through Silver after the shock her system received. On the one hand, there was her idol, just a few feet away, but also, he was in really bad shape. She shook her head, letting her training take over.

“Hand the rope over to my associate. They will handle the criminals. Follow me to the Princess,” Silver ordered, turning on a dime and shooting away, only to look back a few seconds later and see Kain plodding along at a slow speed, Will shuffling his feet next to him. “What are you doing?! We must hurry!” she shouted.

“I’m keeping him alive,” Kain replied. “You must remain calm,”

“Calm?! How can anyone be calm at a time like this?!”

“Very easily,” Kain deadpanned with a smirk. “Just lead the way. I know what I’m doing… Or would you rather have my friend her die?”

She couldn’t come up with a suitable response and so grumbled to herself as she led them slowly through the city to Celestia’s office.

“We’re meeting a Princess, right?” Kain wondered when he saw the school building they were entering.

“Yes,” Silver replied curtly, still grumbling about earlier. She threw open the door and indicated for Kain to go ahead, which he did after rolling his eyes.

She led them through the halls, luckily devoid of students, who were in their respective classes. They rounded a few corners and approached Celestia’s office. Throwing the door open once more, Silver gestured for Kain to enter.

The woman he came into eye contact with hid any emotions behind a mask of calm, and she took the time to turn her gaze to the guard.

“Thank you for bringing them here,” Silver bowed once. “I would like you to go around and tell the others that Will has arrived and that they can come down from High Alert.”

“Of course, Princess,” she replied, her voice the epitome of professionalism. She backed out of the room and nearly collided with a worried Fluttershy, who looked into the room with concern.

“I’m sorry, I’m a little busy right now, Fluttershy,” Celestia apologized. “I’ll have to ask you to stay outside. I don’t want to, but I have to.” Fluttershy gave one more agonized glance before she nodded and walked off down the hall, closing the door behind her.

“Quite the hectic school life you lead here.” Kain commented as he stood off to the side, still bracing Will. Why does she feel so familiar?...

“I’ll admit it has its moments,” She let out a small breath, before turning a sharp gaze on Kain. “Come. We must go to the hospital. We have much to discuss…”

Author's Note

The next chapter is yours to enjoy.

Things got kinda dark, huh? Hopefully the next few will be more light-hearted. We'll just have to see where this goes...