Tales of the Wanderers

Tales of the Wanderers- Cloak and Dagger

        Moments after shooting down the unknown vessel that was going through the sky, Spitfire called an emergency meeting. Everypony that was part of her battalion had to be informed of the present situation. Fortunately, Rainbow Dash had arrived around the same time as she gathered everypony outside.        “Attention everypony. What I’m about to tell you is only for your ears to hear. Moments ago, a flying ship was spotted a few moments ago along the skyline. With approval from Princess Twilight, we took the liberty of shooting down the vessel before it got too close to Cloudsdale’s perimeter.”        Many murmurs from the small crowd arose as some ponies were scared and confused. “We are still unsure of a lot of important details. Like how this ship was able to get so close to our border or for that matter, how in the world it was able to fly. I am personally going with a scouting crew to investigate the wreckage. For the time being, Soarin and Fleetfoot will remain in charge until I come back. If you have any questions, ask them and they will be sure to answer for you.”        With that, Spitfire equipped her goggles and turned to an eager and waiting Rainbow Dash. “Come on, The Twins are waiting.”        From there, both Pegasi took off and began to glide with the breezy winds. Using the radio device on her hoof, Spitfire was able to get Flitter and Cloudchaser location along Cloudsky Ridge below the Fillydelphia coastline. Rainbow herself felt good with flying in the open air and the breeze in her mane. But something was bothering her, and Spitfire could tell.        “What’s wrong?” She asked calmly.        “I’m… just not sure about something.”        “Not sure about what?” Spitfire asked. It was honestly the first time she had seen the Element of Loyalty doubt something.        “Well, the reason why Twilight verified your request on using the charge cannon was because I thought that this ship was something the changelings made and used it as a weapon against our aerial forces. But what if… What if I made the wrong decision? What if I was wrong and there wasn’t any changelings on board that ship?”        “Hey, it was a tough call. But we had to make it.” Spitfire told her as they got closer to the twins. “Queen Chrysalis never showed mercy to the citizens of Baltimare. She ordered her troops to kill every last one of the citizens in cold blood and had the remaining refugees flee on hoof to the next town over. We need to do what we think is right.”        Rainbow nodded, but gulped a little. She still had doubts about herself. If she did the right thing. Even though Spitfire said so, something made the mare uncomfortable and feel like her stomach was churning inside out. Now as they were a group of four, they began to fly down and look at the wreckage. At one point, Rainbow stopped in her flight when she heard something shift in the trees. Turning around, she looked around. Seeing prints in the dirt was one thing, but there wasn’t the sign of anything that could tell that changelings were here.        “What’s the matter Rookie?” Spitfire asked as she turned around. “The crash came from over here.”        “I know Captain… But I thought we passed something just now. Either that or the wind is just messing with my head again.”        “Well come on. The Twins are probably waiting for us and you know how impatient Cloudchaser gets when you make her wait.”        Both Pegasi soon caught up with Cloudchaser and Flitter as they looked at the sight of the wreckage. Small fires were seen from pieces of wood and metal debris from the ship and the water was tainted. The ship had a big hole near the back end of the boat and the craft itself was on an edgy slope of rock that was on the shoreline. Broken crates and barrels carrying food and supplies were scattered everywhere and littered the beach.        “Oh dear Celestia.” Rainbow cursed. It was worse than she had originally thought. However though, Spitfire just stood there, unmoved by what was in front of her.        “Rainbow, Cloudchaser, Flitter. Check the inside of the ship before it breaks apart. We’re lucky it’s low tide right now so let’s see what you can find in the new few minutes.”        “Wait, what about you?”        “I have some other business to attend to.” The Wonderbolt captain remarked as she flew off. The Element of Loyalty looked back at the two sisters before going inside the gaping hole. They were just as confused as she was. Normally, Spitfire wouldn’t ignore her duties to take care of something else. It was unlike her.        As they investigated the ship, the three pegasi soon began to find some things. A place that looked like a mess hall, sleeping quarters and even other bits and things here and there. But as they were coming across to a supposed “Captains Room”, The Cyan Pegasus now noticed something on the floor and floated down to pick it up.        It was a broken picture frame. It held a photograph though that was undamaged of eight… creatures that looked a lot like hairless apes. They looked happy. Like the time before the war occurred. Where the only things that threatened peace were Nightmare Moon, King Sombra, and Lord Tirek.        She snapped back to attention when Cloudchaser called her name. “What did you find?”        Instead of saying anything, Rainbow just used her wing to hand the pegasus the photograph. “I think some of the creatures in the picture were on board-.”        “Oh my!!” Flitter gasped. She was looking at a journal that she had uncovered from a broken oak desk. “Girls, have a look at this.”        “What is it?”        “It looks like the Captain’s log.”        Both Cloudchaser and Rainbow looked at each other before looking back at Flitter with surprised expressions. “Well, what does it say?” Flitter cleared her throat before she began to try and read the words that were on the page.Captain Edwin’s Log: Entry 72Our expedition has finally begun! Our crew is ready, we have all the supplies we need and now, the Free Adventurers League is ready to set forth from our home of Altera and explore the new world. With us are two brave Adventurers who I commissioned for this job and also remind me of myself and my sister Marcy when I was there age. Hopefully, this new continent to the northwest of Altera holds as much promise as all the other voyages that myself and all twenty members of my crew have been on before. I just hope that we can arrive in one piece. May the goddesses look over us while were out on the open skies.Captain Edwin Ranze        Now the three ponies eyes widened immensely at the last statement. Rainbow began to feel sick as she noticed the color of the small pools of water below. Just what… have they really done?

Meanwhile,         “Kill them!!!”        All the changelings that was in a small squad on the path to Fillydelphia charged at both Raistlin and Janelle. Raistlin’s first move was jumping backwards and have three Kunai enter his hands. Throwing them swiftly in front of him. It struck down one of the changelings and had them burst in a small poof of sparks, but had three more chasing him. When the Chaser landed back on his feet, his next move was to pull out two hidden chains that was in his arm that had small blades attached to the end.        “You’re done… IRON APPLAUSE!!! ”        Using the chains and a lot of brute force, both weapons struck the three changelings from the left and right in an attack from two fronts. They were destroyed almost in the same way that their previous companion did. They popped and disappear in a poof of sparks. Janelle was able to handle the enemies she had with a simple Magma Punch transmutation that launched the rest of the changelings into the distance with a Lava fist.        “Yeah!! That’s what I’m talking about.” Raistlin just sighed and facepalmed himself. Janelle heard him and turned around, confused. “What?”        “I was trying to make sure we capture one so we could interrogate it, but these… bugs died on me like if you popped a balloon with a needle. But you just sent our chance to find out some answers flying away.”        “Well sorry. I didn’t know that we had a plan to deal with them.” Janelle retorted sarcastically. “So, now what do we do?”        “Well, there is a town here. why don’t we go investigate and see if someone here can help tell us what is going on.” Janelle likes the plan as they soon approached the entrance to Fillydelphia. The place looked like it could take a beating and almost felt lifeless. Then again, Raistlin wasn’t able to feel the energy of the insects that he just fought. Maybe they used a different energy source or had some kind of barrier spell that could affect his chakra sense.        Minutes after first entering the town, Raistlin and Janelle agreed to split up so they could cover more ground on foot. Plus, something felt off to him. He felt a weak source of energy somewhere in the city. One that had been subjected to a lot of suffering. The Chaser stuck to the alleyways as he tried to head towards it. But something new now caused him to take a few steps back and his heart to race. Another energy source just landed.        Peaking around the corner, The Shinobi saw one of the two talking Pegasi that was talking earlier. But she wasn’t with the other pony. This time, she was alone. Something made the shinobi think that her behavior was off as she saw her eyes glow a small tint of green before walking towards a building labeled “Fillydelphia County Jail”.‘Now why would she be going there?’ Raistlin wondered. Being as quick as he was, the Chaser ran up the wall and quietly snuck through the wooden window seal. He was balancing the support beams that held the top of the building together as he saw the Pegasus walk inside and towards the back of the room. She flipped on a light switch and what was hiding in the darkness stunned Raistlin.        It was the same pony. Just beaten and bruised with chains nailing to her floor.        “Good afternoon, Spitfire.” The other pony outside the cell chuckled as green fire formed around her and it showed another one of those insects. Just with a Fire like mane and tail.        “Cinder Tail…” The mare in the cage spoke weakly, but with a edge of anger in her voice.        “Aww come on. Aren’t you happy to see me?”        “Happy? You stabbed me in the back and robbed me of my identity!!! Just what the hell are you here for and I know it’s not to be cheerful.”        “Oh I just thought I wanted to tell you what I did while I posed as you. Did you know that a flying ship was coming into Cloudsdale?” The one named Spitfire stared at Cinder Tail in shock and horror.        “What… did you… do?” She demanded.        “Oh nothing… Just used my eyes and I was able to sense around twenty or so souls on the vessel, So I ordered your friend Soarin to open fire on it with the charge cannon. Now we don’t need to worry about any outsiders intruding with equestrian affairs.”        “You LIAR!!!” Spitfire yelled, trying to lash out at the changeling, but couldn’t due to the chains bound on her hooves. “The Princess wouldn’t allow for anything like that to happen!!”        “Oh you mean Princess Twilight? She approved of it after I sent her a letter. I might’ve lied to her thought that it was probably an attempt by the hive to ambush Cloudsdale. Hell, I was even able to make your favorite rookie, Rainbow Dork, break under pressure as well. She must’ve trusted the words that came from her mentor.” Cinder Tail proved her point by showing a letter from earlier that had some kind of seal on it. Spitfire now was terrified and beyond pissed at the copy of herself.        “You… murderer!!! How DARE YOU USE MY POSITION AND MY TEAMMATES LIKE THAT!! When I get my hooves on you, I’ll-!”        “You’ll do what? Flee? Prove your innocence? You’re screwed six ways from Sunday, Spitzy. Didn’t I have to teach you the hard way with your fiance?”        “Don’t… you… dare talk about Firestreak like that!” Spitfire snarled, glaring at the fake version of her with eyes of pain, fury, and anger. “I cared for him!! I loved him!”        “And loved ones get stuck in the crosshairs once war breaks out. Too bad you still haven’t learned your lesson. Love… hurts.”        An evil cowl of laughter filled the room as the changeling left the hallway, returning to her disguise as she went outside.. Spitfire herself now broke down because of her emotions. The pain of seeing her fiance, who had just proposed to marry her, dying in front of her the next day. She had been in this cell for four long months. Four months that felt like two years. She had been broken emotionally. But was still strong enough to try everyday to break free of the cell that held her. However, previous attempts had left her unsuccessful.        This time though, an observer was watching. An observer who felt like he needed to do something. Quietly, Raistlin leapt down from the arches in which he was hiding and on the opposite side of Spitfire’s cage. The move startled the pony. She was now looking at a tall hairless ape that wore clothes and had a weapon on his back. It had a weird black mane and some kind of ponytail along with a long scarf.        “W-who or what are you?” She asked, a little scared by the appearance of the intimidating figure.        “A survivor from the crash.” Raistlin told the Pegasus, drawing a hidden blade from his gauntlet to break the lock on the cage. “And I’m here to help.”

A few moments earlier,         Janelle was walking through the grassy streets of the town as her feet sometimes kicked over small chucks of timber or roof tiling. She always got excited when it came to exploring around town. Hence, the reason why she was very interested in wanting to take Captain Edwin’s job once she found out it was an exploration assignment. New places to visit meant new species to see, new materials, and possibly; new transmutations.        There were many different fields that alchemy ranged from, including nature, metal, earth, wood and so on. But Alchemists always take different things into account, including various pieces of information needed for a transmutation. Size, mass, quantity, materials and other things came into effect as well that made the science sound a lot like cooking. In fact, it was once believed that Alchemy actually started in the kitchen.        As she looked around for another few minutes, the young girl happen to notice a feather lying on the ground. It was a cyan feather that was about the size of an eagle feather. But why was it that color? It’s… unnatural. Janelle soon thought that it was some kind of special dye that colored the feather that way. Matter of fact, where did it come from?        She looked upward to see what exactly Raistlin was telling her earlier. Talking Pegasi. There were three of them. Two that almost looked Identical and one that matched the feathers color and had a rainbow color mane and tail. It didn’t take long for them to notice her though when she put the feather in her hair by her ear.        “Hey you!” She heard the cyan pony speak as they swooped down in front of her. They were just as tall as the Alchemist when they were on all fours and probably up to Raistlin’s chest if they were on their back legs. “Who or what the hay are you?”        “Uhh… A human? Also, I have a name. It’s Janelle.” The alchemist narrowed her eyes as she looked at the three pegasi. “Who are you guys suppose to be?”        “I’m Rainbow Dash. This is Cloudchaser and that’s her sister Flitter.” The element of loyalty introduced everypony to her. She now noticed her powerglove and pointed a hoof at it. “Hey, what is that suppose to be?”        “Oh this? It’s my powerglove. My weapon that allows me to perform Alchemy.”        “Alche-what?”        “Alchemy. You know… equivalent exchange? Transmutation? Any of that ring a bell?” All the ponies just shook their heads in confusion as the little girl sighed. She pouted a little. Despite the fact that she was conversing with talking ponies, Janelle thought it was a pain on the fact that none of them knew what Alchemy was. Even though it was so common back in Altera.        “What are you suppose to be then, some kind of baker?” Cloudchaser asked.        “Actually, I’m an alchemist.”        “And what the hay is that suppose to be, kid?” Rainbow was next to ask a question. However, she did not get a calm response. The Pegasus saw the girls ears twitch and her gritting her teeth. She was going to reach for her weapon, until a beeping sound from Cloudchaser went off, distracting her and catching the attention of her companions.        “Buck! We got Changelings nearby!!” Cloudchaser cursed. “Sorry for interrupting the conversation, Janelle, but we got to hide like right now!” The three Pegasus and the human hide in a nearby alleyway as they peaked around the corner. It had a good view of downtown Fillydelphia and the courtyard in front of the most noticeable buildings. Including the commons story and the County Jailhouse.        Right on cue, Janelle saw a small swarm of the same bug creatures her and Raistlin saw earlier that day. There was about ten to fifteen now unlike the six she encountered earlier in the day and each one had a different appearance and either wore armor or didn’t wear any clothes. The one that seemed like the leader of the pack looked very impatient. He was always gritting his teeth and growling a little to himself. “Grr… Where is she? Cinder Tail should be around here right now.”        “Cinder Tail?” Janelle asked, looking up at the rainbow colored mare that was above her. “Who’s that?”        “Don’t look at me. I have no idea who they are talking about.”        “Dark Edge... What an very unexpected surprise.” The familiar voice was instantly recognizable by the three Wonderbolts that were with the Alchemist as they saw their captain walk out of a nearby building. As she walked, the pony was covered in a green glow and soon revealed her true form. Rainbow Dash personally could not believe what she was seeing. One of her idols… was an enemy.        “Cinder… You seriously spend too much time with that captured Wonderbolt you have. It’s been four months now and you still visit her like she’s your pet.” The other changeling told Cinder Tail as she trotted over to the small army. “Have you even focused on the assignment Chrysalis gave you?”        “I have been. This is just an added bonus. Putting the aerial forces of Cloudsdale out of commission would benefit the queen greatly. Especially if they can’t find a way to explain them firing their defenses on a ship filled with innocent souls.”        “So she’s the one who fired on us. That B*tch!” Janelle softly cursed. All four of them got back to hiding in the alley again as Flitter looked at the young girl.        “Wait a second. What do you mean “fired on us?”” She asked.        “My friend Raistlin and I were on an airship expedition before our ship got blasted out of the sky.”        The pieces were now coming together. The twins and the element of loyalty now realized that the ship that they hit with the charge cannon was the ship she was on. Oh dear Celestia, it made Rainbow Dash feel sick. Especially with what they heard the changeling named Dark Edge say next.        “You were suppose to stick to the mission. The queen ordered you to assassinate one of the elements of harmony and you’re making Chrysalis very impatient.”        “Calm yourself. You’re acting like a filly with their tail in between her hind legs.” Cinder Tail cooed. “The deed will be done soon enough. After all, I was playing as Spitfire to get close to Rainbow Dash. That’s why I kidnapped her and stole her love when I killed that Stallion that she was in love with. Too bad the night I did the deed was the night Firestreak proposed to her. She’s right now beaten and broken inside the jailhouse. Go look if you’re not convinced.”        “Oh really?”        All the Changelings heads turned as they were shocked by what they were now seeing. At the doorway was the Wonderbolt Captain that Cinder Tail was trying to impersonate. In the flesh. Cinder Tail was furious and began demanding for an explanation. But instead, she turned her head towards the door. That’s when someone else came out with her. Someone Janelle knew.        “You must be a real idiot to be talking like that and think that no one else would hear you. After all, loose lips sink ships. No pun intended of course.”        “And just who the hell are you?”        “A survivor from the airship you shot down. Spitfire filled me on everything after I mostly heard everything you said when you were inside earlier.”        “You overheard our conversation!?!” The Changeling gasped.        “Why of course. I was above the two of you the whole time you were talking.” He said.        Janelle chuckled at the sight of her companion and the words he said. “Heh… Typical of him to do something like that.”        “Wait… You know him?”        “Of course,” The Alchemist replied to Cloudchasers question. “He’s my friend.”        Before anypony else could say anything, they saw the Chaser walk forward. “Spitfire, take a moment to rest. The Health and Mana potions I gave you need to take their time in order for the effects to kick in. Let me deal with them.”        “Are you sure? These changelings are a problem to fight in swarms. You’re outnumbered seventeen to one-!”        “Seventeen to two.” He corrected the Pegasus. “I have a partner and she’s nearby along with three others. I can feel them with my Chakra.”        “He knows were here!?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “How? We’re completely out of sight.”        “Raistlin can feel the energy of all living things around him.” Janelle explain. “Now, if you would excuse me, I have some more bugs to squish.”        Now Janelle walked out of the alleyway that she was hiding from and was on the opposite side of the Changeling Swarm, facing the back side of Cinder Tail while Raistlin faced the group in from of her. They were going to attack from two fronts and their enemies (as well as the Pegasi watching) had no idea what the two were capable of.        They were going to find out first-hoof.        “Raistlin, mind if I go first? I have some steam that I want to burn off.”        “Suit yourself,” The Chaser said as he crouched into a fighting stance. “If we learned anything from the last group that attacked us, it’s that these guys aren’t very smart.”        This caught Dark Edge’s attention. His squad arrived here because they felt a disturbance and discovered that Squad Abraxis, the changeling squad that was assigned to patrol around Fillydelphia, was missing. Now, he knew what happened to them. But his attention was immediately focused elsewhere when he felt a rising source of heat from directly underneath them. Followed by the fact that there was a red circle underneath the little girl and her fist on the ground. She was smiling a devilish smile. Like there was hell to pay.        Then, he felt the ground beneath him begin to rumble. By the time he realized what was going on, it was too late. “Every-ling move!! NOW!!!”        By the time the order was given, a volcanic eruption went off in the middle of the swarm. A eruption created by Janelle’s “Ground Zero” ability. Three drones burned to a crisp while all the other sustained minor injuries. Cinder Tail though, was ticked. Not only did she have her plans foiled, but now these two hairless apes were taking out their fellow brethren one by one. In a mad rage, she fired off a volley of magic at Raistlin. But all he did was just stand there. Stand there and… grin?        The attack made contact and a huge cloud of dust appeared. Rainbow Dash and the twins, during the time that this was going on, made their way towards the porch that Spitfire was on to see if they could help her. However, seeing Cinder Tail’s attack made the four of them worried for the Chaser’s safety. However, when the dust faded, something else was standing there instead of Raistlin.        It was a wooden dummy with the note “You Suck…” attached to the front of it.        “What the-!? Where did he even go?”        That question was answered when the Shinobi leaped down from the nearby rooftop and threw a Kunai that struck the Drone next to Cinder Tail, popping with a magic spark. Landing it the middle of the group had all the drones scatter outward. But it also had their backs turned to an alchemist that was waiting for a few unlucky changelings to fall right into the trap she was preparing for them. Janelle had about three slimes by her side, but they would be needed for what she had planned for the changelings. A huge purple like circle glowed around her and the targets that were caught in her trap.“ICICLE EXPRESSION”        Without warning, Spikes of Cold Ice spawned from the floor and also overhead, striking the five drones that were in her way and having them all dissipate. Dark Edge couldn’t believe it. Nine members out of the fifteen in his squad had been crushed like toys. There were only eight of them left and right now, all of them felt like they could be able to take on the two opponents that were minimizing their forces. It was either death on the battlefield or disappointing the queen and showing her that you don’t have what it takes to be a changeling anymore and have her either punish you or kill you.        During the whole time though, Cinder Tail was beginning to learn a grim lesson as she and four other drones were combatting Raistlin. Never let your guard down for even a second. The first two that attacked the human had themselves knocked back with roundhouse kick and receive the full force of his counter attack. He moved his right fist above his head and had his chakra flow into it. after a few seconds, his arm moved forward.“SHADOW FIST!”        The attack released a violent shock wave, knocking the two of them backwards into their companions. The Changeling drones couldn’t believe the amount of force and power that was put into just one simple attack. It felt like they were hit by a cannonball at close range, even causing their armor to crack and fall apart. But Raistlin didn’t stop there as he formed a five blade shuriken about his head and threw it with full force at his five opponents.“PIERCING STAR!!”        The spinning spiral spun forward like a Glaive, curving and moving with the wind that destroyed the first two drones that it made contact with. Cinder Tail and the remaining three tried to rush the Shinobi head on. They planned to grab his arms since that’s where his Chakra was channeled from with his last few abilities. Using their front legs, the two drones prevented the Shinobi from using his powers by holding him down. But the one thing they should’ve known was that when it comes to fighting a Chaser, they always keep their weapons out of sight. With a swift push, both hidden blades from his gloves shot forth and pierced the chests of the two changelings on his arms before disintegrating like the rest of the changelings he had already faced. Cinder Tail, now in a blind rage, channeled her power to strike the Shinobi with a big ball of fire and ash. Raistlin was lucky to dodge it by a fraction of an inch. But was caught off guard when the fireball turned around and struck him from behind.        “Cheap trick.” He spat as he coughed up some smoke.        “Says the one with the blades in your armor.”        “Touché.” Raistlin said as he crossed his arms. “But you should be worrying less about me and more on your comrades behind you. Because it seems like there is only one left.”        Hearing this, Cinder Tail was stunned to see that the Chaser was right. Dark Edge was the only one left since Janelle's last few attacks inflicted lethal poisons into the bodies of the drones that were already down for the count. It was now 2v2 and Cinder Tail felt like she was outclassed by what she had seen these two fighters do against their allies. But she wasn’t about to give up. Not until she completed her mission.        Assassinate the Element of Loyalty.        With a blinding flash, Cinder blinked out of the area and charged after Rainbow Dash. Dark Edge was against the move because it left him to fend for himself against two unknown opponents. But in an unlikely move, Janelle used her Alchemy to conjure a Ice Punch that grabbed the changeling in midair as she pulled her back towards her opponent. In a Finishing move by Raistlin, he leaped in the air before the two changelings could get up and channeled a black green aura around his hands before moving them forward in a throwing motion.“RAIN OF DEATH!!!”        With that, black feathers from a murder of crows pinned the two of them down and then destroyed that like the rest of their comrades. No more changelings remained after both Raistlin and Janelle were done with them. However, their focus wasn’t on that anymore and on somepony else.        Raistlin was really concerned about Spitfire. Despite her health and energy being restored and her looking as good as new, the mare was still weak from being in captivity for so long. As they went over, the Chaser saw her trying to stand on all fours, but was struggling to do so.        “Easy there. You’ve been through a lot.”        “Y-yeah, thank you… for everything.” Spitfire said weekly before turning towards Rainbow Dash and the Twins. “Sorry for being gone so long, rookie.”        “I’m just glad that we have our captain back,” The Element of Loyalty replied, looking at both Raistlin and Janelle. “And it was thanks to you two.”        “You’re welcome. I’m still a bit on edge with the whole “getting blown out of the sky” thing, but that’s what those bug freaks did, not you guys.” Janelle told them.        “Same. But right now, we got more bigger issues to worry about.” The Chaser said as he scanned around the area. “There’s a possibility that reinforcements might show up and also, your captain should be looked at by a doctor. Even though she looks healthy, we don’t know what was done to her during the time she was stuck inside that forsaken prison cell.”        “Good point, but there is one slight problem. The nearest hospital is all the way back in Ponyville and that’s miles away. How do you suppose we get there?”        That’s when the group saw Cloudchaser turn around a corner like she was looking for something and cheered with success. “Bingo!! Hey girls, over here!”        “Not so loud, Cloudchaser.” Her sister reminded her. “What did you find?”        “Our way out of here.”        Cloudchaser was right on that part. What she found was an unused carriage that would be normally assigned to the royal guard. It was in mint condition and looked like it could be used properly if handled by the right ponies. It also looked sturdy enough to carry the weight of two ponies and two humans.        “Flitter, you and Cloudchaser hook yourselves up and prepare for takeoff.” Spitfire told them as they made their way over. The Wonderbolt captain was on Raistlin’s back as he carried the mare to the transport. “We need to hurry as fast as we can.”        “Roger that, Captain.”

        It took the crew about twenty minutes to reach the quiet town and upon landing nearby the hospital, everyone rushed towards the hospital to get Spitfire checked into the emergency room. Nurse Redheart herself was surprised to see them, but was almost startled when she saw Raistlin and Janelle. She was wanting to call the guard, but when Rainbow told her how they saved Spitfire’s and her life, the earth pony was a bit relieved.        “What happened?” She asked, wanting to know what happened with the Wonderbolt so she could take the best course of action.        “Spitfire has been held in captivity for four months. The one who we were working for turned out to be a changeling toying with us.”        “But wouldn’t your equipment detect her if?” Redheart then asked.        “She must’ve found a way to mess with our scanners so it wouldn’t detect her even if we tried. The only way we found out that the Spitfire we were listening to wasn’t the right one was because she was meeting with a swarm of changelings and our scanners picked them up.”        “I see. Would Ms. Spitfire please follow me?”        “I’m not sure if that’s possible,” Raistlin told them as he continued to carry her. “She passed out on the way here. Do you have a bed that I can set her on?”        “Right this way Mr… What’s your name?”        “Raistlin.”        “Okay then. Over here in room Nineteen, Mr. Raistlin.” The Nurse told him.         The Chaser carried the Wonderbolt Captain over into the room and set her down gently on the bed. The mare was sore and needed to rest her aching bones. Cloudchaser and Flitter left the hospital to return to the academy and inform everypony else on the events that happened, leaving Rainbow Dash to talk with Janelle and Raistlin as they waited for the doctors to run a few tests on Spitfire. Nurse Redheart and her partner, Nurse Sweetheart, wanted to make sure that the Pegasus did not sustain any major injuries that would be of concern and affect her recovery.        Moments after the twins left though, a new face entered. “Rainbow! Are you okay!?”        The mare in the waiting room turned around and recognized who it was. “Soarin? What are you doing here?!”        “Cloudchaser and Flitter told us everything that happened. I just honestly can’t believe that a Changeling was able to infiltrate our ranks and mess with our gear so easily.” The Stallion told her as she noticed Raistlin and Janelle. “Would these two happen to be the ones who saved you and Spitfire?”        “Indeed we are. I’m Raistlin and this is my friend, Janelle.”        “I was also told that you were on board the ship that we shot down.” Both of them nodded their heads as Soarin cursed to himself. He felt like the orders he heard from Spitfire were odd and not like her, but he didn’t want to protest. He regretted being the stallion taking the shot and destroying the ship filled with innocent lives. “On behalf of the Wonderbolts, I would like to deeply apologize for my actions. We were deceived and taking orders from an enemy that infiltrated our ranks.”        Raistlin didn’t know what to say. He had mixed feelings on the subject. He didn’t know if he should forgive or-.        “It’s alright.”        The Chaser was honestly caught off guard by the reply from Janelle. “You guys weren’t yourselves and taking orders from a deceptive, two faced jerk. If I were in your position, I would feel the same way. Plus, meeting talking ponies isn’t a thing you would normally see everyday.”        “Wait, so you don’t have ponies where you're from?” Rainbow asked out of curiosity.        “We do, but they don’t talk and most people use them as transportation since they’re a lot bigger in size. Not in a weird way though if you know what I mean.”        Raistlin just facepalmed himself at the last comment as he tried to remove the disturbing thoughts from his brain. Soarin himself thought that the topic had definitely gone on long enough. “Okay… moving on. I was told that you two had powers of your own that were similar to magic. Would you care to explain?”        “Well,” Raistlin started to respond as he conjured a small sphere of chakra in his palms “My abilities rely on my Chakra, or the energy that flows through my body. I learn how to control it and channel it in different forms for when I’m up against multiple foes. As for Janelle, she’s an alchemist and relies on the properties of Equivalent Exchange. Which means that in order to create something, you must give up something in exchange. Her transmutations focus on Ice and Magma based properties and also heal others with her powers. She was doing some healing earlier with both myself and Spitfire since I got hurt during the fight against the changelings and we wanted to make sure that your captain was okay.”        “Well, I’m glad that you were able to save her life.” Soarin bowed towards the two of them. “However, this makes me concerned about something else. She had a colt friend that was with her, but hasn’t reported back in quite some time. Would she happen to know where he is?”        That’s when Raistlin swallowed a lump in his throat and looked back at the Pegasus. “Would his name happen to be Firestreak?” Soarin nodded his head, not knowing what to expect. Raistlin knew though, that this was going to be hard to explain to him.        “I’m sorry to inform you of this, but your friend and comrade Firestreak is dead. He was killed the day after he asked Spitfire for her… Hoof… in marriage. The one who killed him was the same changeling that impersonated Spitfire and tried to go after Rainbow.”        “Dear sweet Celestia… That’s just awful.”        Moments after telling him this, Nurse Redheart soon came out and noticed that Soarin was now in the waiting room with the two humans and Rainbow Dash. Turning towards him, she asked a question. “Excuse me, but would anypony happen to know if Spitfire had a colt friend?”        Again, the Chaser sighed as he explained it to her. The same feeling of shock began to set in on the earth pony, but tried her best not to let it affect her. “I’m sorry for your loss.”        “It’s okay.” Soarin said. “How’s the captain?”        “Well, from what we can tell, she has a clean bill of health and nothing really that would be of concern. We’re restoring the nutrients that she might’ve lost while in captivity, but there is one thing that would prevent her from taking part in any vigorous activities for the next five months.”        “Five months!?” Rainbow Dash reacted to the response in utter shock. “Why? Is her wings broken?”        “No, it’s something else.” Nurse Redheart explained as she let out a big sigh. “Remember when I asked about if she had a colt friend?”        Everyone in the room nodded their heads. What came next though was sure to shock everypony.        “Theres a reason why I asked… She’s pregnant.”End Chapter 2