Harmony: Heroes of Gimlé - Arc I: Rainstorm

Planet Gimlé, Equestria, the Smoky Mountains (Just outside Cedarhoof village), April 17th, year 2, Reformation era, 5:23 PM -

Celestia's sun was beginning to set in the sky over a massive log cabin - or what was left of it, anyway. "Cedarhoof Manor" had been built by the pony who had founded the nearby logging community village long ago as a place for the enterprising, hardworking, and kindly lumberjack pony to live out his retirement. Nearly half a century after Cedarhoof's passing, however, it had become a bandit camp, from which the occupants had extorted the many neighboring small villages for almost everything they'd had in exchange for "protection". Now, the once immaculate wooden mansion was little more than shattered ruins, with the dead and dying bodies of said bandits strewn about, with a few flocks of buzzards, and several murders of crows that had arrived to feast upon the carnage. One large crow could be seen attending to one such corpse, though strangely enough, it wasn't picking at his flesh, instead it seemed to be picking through his pockets as if looking for something. This "crow" didn't seem normal at all, it's feathers were an almost black shade of dark cool-grey, it's beak and legs appearing to be metallic silver, and the sclera of its eyes was pitch black, with its irises glowing electric-blue.

This, however, was of little consequence to a surviving pegasus bandit, who was badly injured and crawling across the ground, desperately trying to get away from the site of the massacre. Celestia damn-it! he thought to himself as he continued to crawl for his life, the pain throughout his body was immeasurable, but his overwhelming fear was more than enough for him to power through it. How could one pony do all this? he wondered to himself as he recalled the battle, how he'd spotted a taller than average stallion coming up the path leading to their base. That just as he shouted a warning to his comrades the mystery stallion had taken aim at him with a strange looking handgun and shot him through the shoulder. That he'd been shocked by the range of the unusual gun, that he couldn't even tell how it was reloaded, or if it even was a revolver. Alerted to the attacker's arrival, his allies had then taken aim at the assailant with their rifles and fired - hitting him square in the chest - but it hadn't even drawn blood, and had barely slowed him down.

"Where do you think you're going friend? Leaving so soon? I won’t hear of it, the party’s just getting started!” said a figure behind the bandit, causing him to flip himself over, finally getting a close-up look at the stallion who had wrought all the destruction. He saw the attacker was wearing a long light cool-grey duster with matching cavalry hat and pants. His hat had a long string of shriveled, charred looking beads wrapped around it several times and tied off in the back, with each bead a different color. He also wore a strange-looking dark cool-grey armored vest across his chest which had a somewhat fabric-like texture to it, with matching greaves and gauntlet on his left arm, partially obscured by the sleeve of his duster, each bearing magical runes. The right sleeve of his duster was rolled up to his elbow, showing an unusual and ancient-looking dark-bronze colored contraption taking up most of his forearm and the back of his hand, and almost seemed to hum with magical energy, though it seemed to lack any visible runes. He was armed with a pair of sheathed, short katana swords, one crossed over the other in an x pattern below his lower back, about where his tail should have been and had a large shotgun holstered across his back.

Also among his armaments were numerous knives, bullets, clips, blades, pouches, as well as another pistol identical to the one the bandit had been shot with. As the bandit looked up at the figure's face, he saw everything from his throat to his nose was covered by a balaclava that matched his vest and had its own set of engravings. He then took note of what physical features the pony had beyond his equipment, and it became clear to him this wasn't a pony at all. Though his snow-white hair and pale skin weren't particularly odd, everything else about him - from his height to him having five fingers instead of four, to his lack of both a tail and equine ears, to his slightly shorter than normal muzzle - was very bizarre. Most shocking of all though were his eyes which were completely pitch black except for the irises, which brightly glowed an electric-blue, the likes of which the bandit had never seen before.

"Now, I'm only gonna ask you this nicely once. Where's the key to that chest you dick-stains swiped from Gravelfield?" the figure asked with an unnerving calmness to his voice, considering the bloodbath he'd just carried out.

"T-that's what t-this is about!?" the bandit asked in disbelief. "That chest the others took from that little village a few miles over!? I-I don't know I swear, b-but the chest is over -!" the bandit was silenced by the figure drawing his shotgun, putting the bandit in fear he was about to be shot.

"Hold on to that thought, sweetness," the figure said as he turned around to investigate a nearby sound, walking over to another bandit - this one a unicorn mare - and examined her for a moment. Then without warning, he put the muzzle of the shotgun to the back of her head and fired, then turned around and walked back to the now only remaining bandit, addressing him again. "Sorry ‘bout that Feathers, now where were we again? Ah yes, you'd just wasted my time by telling me something I already knew, *tut-tut-tut* for shame," the figure said with a mock tone to his voice. "You see tits-for-brains, I already found the God-damn chest when I used the fucker to try and flatten one of your buddy's heads - very effective by the way, FYI! But, it's enchanted as ball's and could take forever to crack and the people whose valuables you ass-wipes locked away in there kinda need in, sooner rather than later, you follow?" the figure explained. "So since you apparently don't have any useful information for me..." the figure said as he aimed his shotgun at the bandit, preparing to shoot him when the strange crow, which had been searching one of the dead bandits earlier, let out a loud caw. The figure lowered his weapon and addressed the bird, "Wait, you found it Huginn? Haha, it's your lucky day shit-bag!" the figure said, holstering his shotgun and rushing over to the bandit to pat him on the shoulder, much to the bandit's surprise.

"S-so you're not gonna kill me?" the bandit asked with a hopeful tone in his voice.

"Nope, not killing you! See, I'm on a tight schedule and have to get this stuff back to the townspeople you guys stole it from ASAP. But seeing as how Huginn found the key, I've got plenty of time to drop you off at the nearest dungeon and get the chest and this key over to Gravelfield!" the figure happily explained, as Huginn flew overhead and dropped said key into his outstretched hand. At that moment, the figure felt something vibrating in his pocket, he then reached his hand in and pulled out a small golden lighter with Celestia's crest emblazoned on it. "Could ya give me a minute here, Feathers?" the figure asked the bandit - who by now was leaning back against the small remains of a wall - who eagerly shook his head in agreement. The figure then flipped the lighter's switch and out of a puff of golden flames, appeared a letter and a recent issue of the Canterlot Chronicle, the frontline of which read

Princess in Peril!

Twilight Attacked On Train

The figure then quickly read the letter, after which he turned back to the bandit, a grim look in his eye as he spoke, "Sorry, change of plans," he said as he stretched out his right hand. Under his wrist from the device on his arm, he shot a long thin string looking as if it were composed of hot embers, which pinned itself to a nearby revolver lying on the ground, and then retracted itself, bringing the weapon to the figure's hand.

With the weapon in hand he took aim at the bandit, "But you said you'd let me live!" the bandit shouted at the figure, fear evident in his voice.

"Yeah, I wonder how many times someone you held at gunpoint said the same thing to you before they died?" the figure said as he cocked the weapon and prepared to shoot.

"Please let me live, I'll do anything, I'll confess to all the stuff me and the other's did, I'll never do anything bad again for the rest of my life, please!" the bandit pleaded with the figure, sincerity mixed with fear in his voice.

"Oh, stow it!" The figure barked at the now sobbing bandit, "I said I was on a tight schedule and had just enough time to take care of you and the chest, not you, the chest, and this!" he said shaking the paper at the bandit. "This and the people of Gravelfield are priority number one, not you! Besides, we both know scum like you never change, trust me, I know that firsthand!" the figure explained. The bandit opened his mouth, reaching his hand out to him, as he tried to reason with the figure one last time, but he never got the chance as the sound of a gunshot pierced the orange and red sky, the bandit's hand falling to his side, lifeless. The figure then turned around as he tossed the stolen weapon aside, he couldn't help but feel...something...guilt maybe? No, couldn't be that, surely. No, it had to be irritation at the fact Celestia had asked him to rescue Twilight of all ponies and her damn friends!

Celestia had to know he hadn't forgiven Twilight for what happened at the potion exam all those years ago - let alone her most recent transgression - even though the princess of the sun and him had recently started patching their relationship together, this was pushing it. The figure was brought back to reality by Huginn perching himself on his shoulder, the bird then turned and cawed at him, and though the figure's ears did indeed hear a “caw”, something very different reverberated throughout his mind. "Jesus Rainstorm, that was a bit excessive, don't you think?" the words echoed throughout the figure's mind as the bird let-out another caw, "I know he wasn't exactly Mr. Rogers, but still...that was ruthless, even for you..." echoed the voice in Rainstorm's head with earnest concern. Then Huginn cawed at Rainstorm again, "Killing someone in the heat of battle is one thing, but that was too much! You're a merc, not an executioner! You think Celestia will be happy about this when she finds out -!?" Huginn's lecture was cut short by Rainstorm shoving the paper in front of him, causing the bird to nearly fall off his perch. "What, when!? I told you we should read the paper more often you idiot!" Huginn communicated to Rainstorm through a squawk, "Still, this doesn't excuse your behavior!"

"Pipe down you glorified pigeon!" Rainstorm snapped at the bird as he swatted him off his shoulder, "Mom-horse asked me to head to Canterlot Palace pronto, so we don't have the time to go to the nearest damn dungeon and return the stolen goods! If I had to guess, I'd say she wants me to hunt down whoever's behind it and bring them down, before Twilight gets crossed out by whomever it is that - let's be honest - would probably be doing everyone a favor. However, as much as I hate to admit it, Twilight and her friends' safety is a matter of national security - due in large part to the fact that if there is a God, he must have a sick-fuckin' sense of humor!" Rainstorm shouted angrily at no one in particular.

"Alright -a number of things I need to complain about!" Huginn communicated to Rainstorm through another caw.

Here we go... Rainstorm thought to himself as he let out a groan and pinched the bridge of his nose between his tightly shut eyes.

Then Huginn began to caw, the meaning behind the noise echoing through Rain's head, "First off, 'glorified pigeon', really? Not sure but I think that was racist - yeah, calling it racist! Secondly, I could have you fined for animal cruelty, swatting me off like that! Thirdly, that still doesn't give you the right to just kill someone who's LITERALLY begging for their life, period! Fourthly, -!"

"For the love of all the saints, in all of Christendom, will you please, please, please, kindly shut the holy-fuckn'-hell up, you sad-assed excuse for a cat toy!?" Rainstorm rudely interrupted the bird, pleading with him for silence. If looks alone could kill, the one Rain's feathered companion shot him at that moment would have left only a gaping, smoldering crater, thousands of miles in both width and depth, right where he was standing. Ignoring this, however, Rainstorm began to explain as he headed towards the enchanted, bloodstained chest among the ruins of the manor. "First off, I've called you sooo much worse than 'glorified pigeon'! Secondly, yeah, if you were an animal, then you could get me for 'animal cruelty' - and rightfully so! But we both know the only thing I'd get for swatting your candy-ass is maybe a lecture against self-harm - at most! Thirdly, the people at Gravelfield need that stuff back before tomorrow morning, or Rich Incorporated, buys-out their land. Sadly I can't find any sign of law-breaking on this Filthy Rich guy's part, so the only way we save these folks is getting this chest and key to them immediately - if not sooner!" Rain said as he hoisted the massive chest up over his head, which was an easy task thanks to its enchantments lowering its weight to only a few pounds whenever someone held on to the handle.

"And finally, even without this business with Tirek serving as proof that monsters - whether made of parts from one type of creature or several - never change, we saw all the evidence of it at Fort Jagged, or did you forget!?" Rainstorm finished as he stared at Huginn, waiting for his response. The bird was silent for a long time as he followed behind Rain Storm as they headed down the trail toward Cedarhoof village, where their transportation awaited them. A memory came to Huginn - that of Rain on his knees, weeping as he cradled a small, badly mutilated figure in his arms - when he finally answered, it was with a mournful sounding caw.

"No...I haven't forgotten..." Huginn replied as he landed on Rainstorm's shoulder once again, "How could either of us ever forget?...".

Planet Gimlé, Equestria, Canterlot (Canterlot Palace), April 21st, year 2, Reformation era, 10:49 AM -

It was a bright sunny morning as Twilight, Spike, and the other elements of harmony, along with Starlight and Trixie were escorted to the Canterlot Palaces throne room by Princess Luna, Celestia's younger sister and co-leader of the Equestrian parliament. Luna was slightly shorter than her sister, and had dark-blue skin, cyan eyes and long flowing ethereal hair resembling a starry night sky on her head and tail, and seemed to have a barely visible dark aura, as well as a runic crescent moon crest on her chest. She wore a beautiful long, black dress with a silver belt around her waist with a cyan stone in the middle, an ancient-looking sheathed sword resembling a katana hanging on the right. She also wore a silver bertha and armbands, each with their own cyan-colored stone. Though not completely healed from the attack on the train, the elements had recovered enough to travel, and though still fairly shook up seemed to be in good spirits, talking to one another as they headed to their destination. "Why do ponies always gotta pick a fight with us!? It's getn' to be so a filly can't even ride the train in peace!" Applejack said angrily as she snorted.

"Ruffians! Perhaps the next time we travel we should just have you bring some lawn equipment for protection?" Rarity said with a wink to AJ, recalling how once while they'd been in Manehattan trying to resolve a friendship problem involving a community theatrical performance in the park, someone had made the mistake of getting on the country mare's bad side. Applejack had been working all day in the park, trying to fix it up for the event - something it desperately needed - when a stranger had walked up to her, demanding all of her bits for use of "his" park. Applejack, having already had a long, exhausting day, had shown a great deal of mercy and restraint when she'd politely offered enough for him to get some lunch with, in exchange for leaving her alone. His response was to pull a switchblade on her and attack, but before he could do any harm, Applejack had reacted by slamming the back of her fist into his face, then had beat him using the shovel she'd been working with, hospitalizing him.

"Darn straight filly!" Applejack agreed. "We Apples are not to be trifled with! Though, I think poor Big Mac nearly had a heart attack when he found out what happened," AJ said, feeling sorry for her older brother as she remembered the look of shock and horror on his face when she'd told him about the attack on the train.

"Didn't Big Mac just get home yesterday?" asked Starlight. "Seems like it took him quite a while to deliver that last shipment of apples," she said, confused.

"Yeah I know, I admit I was confused 'bout it myself for a spell, but I think what it is, is he's done found himself a special somepony," AJ explained, a slight hint of excitement in her voice.

"Yeah, Cheerilee," Rainbow Dash said with absolute certainty. Applejack covered her mouth with her hand as she started to snicker, leaving Rainbow somewhat confused. "What's so funny AJ?" RD asked her friend.

"You think Mac and Cheerilee are an item? Ha, at least it seems to work on some ponies!" AJ said with a chuckle.

"What are you talking about? I've seen Mac and Cheerilee together loads of times, I've even seen them flirt with each other!" Rainbow protested!

"Sugar-cube, the reason they hang out together so much, is that they've been best friends since they were foals! As for the flirtin' they do with each other, it's cause they both kept getn' hit on so much that they started actin' like a couple to try to get ponies to leave them alone. Didn't really help Big Mac out that much, but it got ponies to back off of Cheerilee, and they started havin’ a laugh out of it from messin' with everypony, so they kept it up," Applejack explained.

"Wait, are you absolutely sure they're not together, like one-hundred percent sure!?" Dash said, a slight hint of desperation in her voice.

"Sure-as-shootin' sugar-cube! Truth is I don't know if Cheerilee's ever gone out with anypony - on a real date anyway - now that I thank of it," Applejack stated, recalling to the best of her knowledge she'd never heard of the school teacher mention any significant other in all the time she'd known her.

"So they've really never dated, ever?" Dash asked one last time, a barely noticeable tone of defeat in her voice.

"Nope, but like I said, I'm pretty sure Big Mac's finally found himself a filly he's interested in out of town," Applejack said noting her brother had been making a lot of solo apple deliveries to Starlight Glimmers old town. As the group headed onward, Rainbow Dash was left behind thinking to herself, Don't worry, it's been ages since then, no way she'll re-. Dash was brought back to reality by the tapping of a booted hoof behind her, and as she slowly turned around, she was sure she knew the source of it. Sure enough, there was Fluttershy, tapping her boot on the floor, her hand outstretched as if waiting for something, a smug look on her face.

"Son of a bitch," RD swore in defeat as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small gold coin with the Equestrian seal in silver on one side, and a Canterian numeral five on the other - also in silver - and handed it to Fluttershy.

"Thank you," said Fluttershy, having won the longstanding bet with her friend, who had wagered five bits, Cheerilee and Big Mac would be getting married next. Shortly after Cranky and Matilda's wedding, Rainbow Dash had pressured Fluttershy into a bet that, ironically, she was now the winner of. "I tried to tell you they were just friends, but you just wouldn't listen, would you?" Fluttershy stated as she pocketed the money.

"But how did you know?" asked Rainbow.

Fluttershy was deathly silent for a short while before responding, "Well...you remember that one time a few years back during my first cider season?" she asked Rainbow, who nodded yes as she recalled treating her best friend to her first alcoholic beverage. "Well, as we found out the hard way, I can't really hold my liquor all that well...and...well... I might have kind of drunkenly asked Cheerilee out...and she kind of told me 'No'," Fluttershy said as she put on a forced smile, her whole face turning a deep crimson, "But she was very polite about it!" she quickly added.

"But how does that tell you that she and Mac weren't a thing?" Dash asked, still quite puzzled.

"Well, I may have been drunk enough to ask my crush out, but I wasn't so drunk that getting turned down by her didn't hurt," Fluttershy continued to explain, "After she shot me down I ran off to cry and seeing how upset I was she realized that I wasn't just looking for a one night stand and ran after me to make sure I'd be ok. Once I was sober enough she explained that it had nothing to do with me and that she just isn't able to feel that way about anypony," she finished.

"So, is she asexual or something?" Rainbow asked.

"Umm-hum. Sadly, even after explaining it to most ponies that tried hitting on her, a lot of them seemed to either not understand or not care, so after a while, she and Big Mac must have started pretending to be together. It probably wouldn't stop most ponies from coming onto Big Mac, however as big and tough as he looks it probably was enough of a deterrent for a lot of them to leave Cheerilee in peace," Fluttershy surmised.

"Sorry, she wouldn't go out with you Flutters," Rainbow apologized to her friend.

"Oh my, don't worry about it Dashy, It was years ago and I've gotten over it. Besides, I may not have gotten the girl, but at least I was able to make a wonderful new friend," Fluttershy said with a happy smile.

"Wait a minute, if you knew they weren't together, then why'd you let me make that bet?" Rainbow Dash asked, a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Again, I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't shut up and listen to me for five seconds so I gave up trying to reason with you and played along," Fluttershy said, now with a hint of irritation in her voice. "I actually would have been happy to let it go and forget about the whole thing, but you're just so stubborn sometimes. You really need to learn to listen more often when somepony's trying to tell you something," she said, somewhat scolding Dash. Rainbow opened her mouth to interject, but quickly shut it and let out a sigh.

"*sigh* You're right Fluttershy, guess I do still need to work on that, huh?" Rainbow said, looking up and giving her friend a weak smile. Fluttershy returned the smile and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She knew Dash hadn't meant any harm by it. Though she tended to be a bit more patient with her, Rainbow still needed to learn to be more patient with others and just in general. The two then sped up to rejoin the others.

"Are you ready my friends?" Luna asked the party once they reached their destination, and as soon as they nodded their heads yes, she opened the large double doors to the throne room. It was a massive and immaculate room with gorgeous stained-glass windows - a few of which depicted the victories of the elements in their adventures. A row of large white columns lined up in a row which led to a beautiful golden throne, from which rose Celestia to greet them, she was not the only one present though. Luna led her charges into the room to meet her sister and those who were with her, all while a figure looked on above from the trusses. "Greetings my sister!" Luna happily exclaimed as she and Celestia embraced.

"I've missed you Luna, and you as well," Celestia said, breaking away from the hug to look at the new arrivals.

"I've missed you too, Princess!" Twilight said as she ran over to hug her longtime mentor as well.

"Hey kid, how about me?" said a taller than normal white unicorn stallion in a lighthearted manner. He had shoulder-length dark-blue hair with streaks of light-blue running through it, cerulean eyes and wore a red vest with a gold-colored neck and cuffs with white pants, black dress shoes, and a brown leather belt.

"Oh, I could never forget my big brother!" Twilight said as she turned to give Shining Armor a tight hug. She then looked to see another pony slightly taller than her approach, bearing a crest resembling a crystal heart with gold tassel beneath it on her chest. She was an alicorn mare with light pink skin, light-purple eyes, and long violet hair with rose and light-gold streaks through it, and her attire consisted of a beautiful ruby-colored dress with a carmine bodice, and gold armbands with matching shoes. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza - or Cadance as the princess of love was most often called - was next to receive a hug from Twilight Sparkle.

"How's my favorite sister-in-law?" Cadance asked as the two ended the hug.

"I've been better..." Twilight said glumly.

"I know Twilight, but it will get better, I promise," Cadance said as she stroked Twilight's cheek reassuringly.

"Starting with the protection the princess and I have lined up for you!" Shining Armor proclaimed, and with that Princess Celestia nodded and turned her head in the direction of a door in the far left corner behind her throne.

"If you would be so kind as to introduce yourselves," Celestia spoke gently yet loudly in the direction of the door, which opened a few seconds later as five individuals entered through it. Except for one, they all wore armor which looked very much like the Equestrian standard issue, closely resembling ancient Roman armor but with many design features that wouldn't look out of place on a modern battlefield. Instead of silver or gold, however, the mythril armor was painted black, leaving the type of mythril used in its construction a mystery. The nearly six-foot-tall soldier in front looked much like a thin, male griffin with large wings and big dark-violet eyes, but with a mostly green color pattern, and the slightly larger beak of a parrotany and he lacked any talons. The second soldier to enter was also a male, taller than Celestia and had somewhat pig-like features including a pig-like snout, ears, and light-pink skin, he was also heavyset and had two big tusks, light-brown eyes and was nearly bald save for a short grey ponytail. The third soldier - this one a five-foot female armed to the teeth - was a gnoll, with prominent canine features such as her very short dark-cool-grey fur, long flowing grey and white hair, long dog-like muzzle, and whose glowing red irises took up most of her large eyes.

Next up was a light-brown older looking stallion with long white hair, wearing orange robes and bandages over his eyes and forehead, carrying a golden staff taller than him, with blood-red runes on it and two glowing light-blue crystals deeply embedded at either end. Finally, entered a grey pegasus mare with green eyes who had long light-blue hair and a big warm smile across her face. They all lined up side-by-side at attention in front of the throne, and as they faced the double-doors, sounded off starting with the one on the far left.

"Technical Sergeant Jasper Emerald - aerial combat specialist for the EAF - reporting for duty!" shouted the green avian.

"Major General Boris Swinelee - expert military strategist for the southern division of the EPU - reportin' for duty!" shouted the largest soldier.

"Second Lieutenant Bezuchastnyy Belizna - weapons and explosives expert with Equestrian eastern border defense - reporting for duty!" The gnoll woman shouted.

"I am Mángdán Kàndào Duō, the High-Priest-In-Waiting of Mén tú de Wùzōng máo Monastery and am well disciplined in numerous different martial arts. I am most honored to meet you," the old monk said as he gave a small polite bow.

"Private Grey Breeze...I'm good at things...normally...also reporting for duty..." said the pegasus at the far end, causing three of her comrades to roll their eyes. Though most of the elements and their friends simply looked confused at each other, Rainbow Dash stared, open-mouth at the five figures in front of them. Though she didn't recognize the monk or the pegasus, she knew the other names from hearing them at the academy.

Cannonball Boris, Death's wings Jasper, and the Butcher of Canyon Road!? Those three are EPU legends, if the princess asked them to look after us, things must be worse than I thought! The hell is going on? Rainbow thought to herself. "Wait a minute, if you're our protection, then why the heck's some random merc getting put in charge?- Err, with all due respect!" RD said, straightening up as she remembered that not only was she in the presence of the other three princesses, but also in the presence of Equestrian military heroes who might not be as forgiving.

"You can relax, soldier, as long as we're your guards, ya don't have to be so uptight 'round us," Borus said with a genuinely friendly tone. "As for why we're taken' orders from a merc, it's because from what we can tell, the attack was carried out by mercs - damn good ones, I'd wager. So Princess Celestia decided to fight fire with fire and call on the best merc she could think of, one she knew personally and trusted with her life. That 'bout sum it up your majesty?" he finished as he turned to Celestia, who nodded in agreement.

"Exactly, and now that they've introduced themselves, why don't you come out now!?" Celestia said raising her voice enough she was sure everyone in the room could hear her.

"But I still don't get it, just who did you put in char- ah!" Rainbow was interrupted when a three-bladed fan-like weapon flew past her face so close it sliced off a few of the hairs on her head , before flying upward through the air and into the outstretched hand of a figure standing on the trusses, all dressed in grey.

"An idiot," answered the figure as he put the weapon away, then leaped down to the floor and upon landing, the runes on his greaves lit up for an instant as a faint wave of energy could be seen escaping as a ripple.

He just has to make an entrance... Shining thought to himself, rolling his eyes as the figure stood up from his landing.

"H-hey, you could kill somepony like that, you jerk!" Dash angrily snapped at Rainstorm.

"Doesn't seem like I'd have to try all that hard, Feathers," Rain said coldly as he stared into the blue pegasi's eyes.

"Why you, I don't know what your deal is, but if you're here to start trouble, I'll beat the crap out of you!" Dash shouted, enraged by Rain's callous demeanor.

"Any time Feathers" said Rain Storm as he held up his right arm and motioned with his hand for her to come at him, trying to goad Rainbow Dash into action; and it worked. Before anyone could stop her, Rainbow gave a confident sneer and charged at Rainstorm, who proceeded to use the device on his arm to near-instantly generate and propel a net made of glowing embers at her just as he jumped out of the way. Before Rainbow knew what had happened, she was ensnared in the net, which surprisingly enough though warm was nowhere as hot as it looked. Unable to flap her wings, RD came crashing down onto the floor and skidded a few feet before Rain latched onto her with the device, dragging her back toward him. Once she was at his feet he drew one of his twin pistols, putting it to the back of her head, and before she could react it was too late.

"Bang!" Rain shouted while still keeping his gun against the back of Rainbow's head. "Your dead, Feathers...or maybe your friends are, cause with you as my hostage, I can make them do anything I want, anything, beat each other, run away...even strip. Or I could order the little hayseed over there to take that knife of hers and remove her friends' wings and horns, then get rid of her knife with the promise that I wouldn't hurt you. Of course, if they didn't comply, I'd just take a knife of my own and start slicing things off - things I'm sure you'd miss - until they obeyed. Then once I was sure that they couldn't fight back I'd kill them one-by-one and then you, all because you lost your temper," Rainstorm said, causing RD and her friend's eyes to widen at his words.

Rain then holstered his pistol as he stood up, and a second later the net crumbled into ashes which then vanished completely allowing Rainbow to stand up. "And that's what I can do all by my-lonesome, let alone if I had backup with me. Each of you have the strength, speed, and skill to where all of you should be able to take care of yourselves, but no instead some poor shmuck along with these poor shmucks - no offense -" Rainstorm said to the five soldiers as he gestured toward them, "- now have to babysit you sorry six and your dumb-ass friends, all at taxpayers expense! Oh yeah, no offense," Rain said dismissively to Spike, Starlight, and Trixie as something of an afterthought.

"Wait a minute? A merc dressed all in grey, with advanced firearms, two short drakana swords, black eyes with glowing blue irises, and an artifact on his right arm that makes things out of ash. Your Rainstorm, aren't you!?" Rainbow asked.

"Give the lady a cigar! Looks like all those face-first landings into the ground haven't knocked all your brains out -yet," Rain chortled.

"W-wait, is it really you, Rain?" Everypony turned to see Twilight staring at Rain in disbelief.

"So the Princess of Friendship deigns to remember her old alchemy partner, well aren't I just the luckiest damn human on all of Gimlé? - (mostly because I'm the only human on Gimlé)!" Rain added under his breath.

"Wow Twilight, you're telling me you know Rainstorm, and he's a human!?" RD asked bewildered. It was true, Twilight had indeed gone to school with a white-haired human boy who had black eyes with blue irises, but he'd gone by another name at the time.

Twilight was quiet for a moment then spoke, "Well, back when I knew him, he went by Raind-".

"Well it's 'Rainstorm' now, and you of all people don't have any right to talk about my past, understand?" Rain interjected, promptly shutting Twilight up, she couldn't help but wonder why Rain was here, it couldn't be... "Thank God these D-bags are their headache and not mine!" Rainstorm said gesturing toward the elite soldiers with his head, "I kind of feel sorry for the poor dick-stain that has to lead this sad excuse for a circus!"

"Rainstorm, you should know that -" Celestia was interrupted by the merc as he addressed her.

"All I need to know Princess is ‘who it is...who do you want me to kill?’ " Rainstorm said in an unfeeling manner.

"Well actually, I -" Celestia was interrupted again.

"How can you talk about killing ponies so...so...so nonchalantly!?" Twilight spoke up angrily, she'd been feeling sorry for Rainstorm considering their past and had cut him a break where his earlier actions with Rainbow were concerned - believing he'd simply been trying to make an important point - but this? "Celestia would never hire somepony just to kill anypony!"

"That's just it though Twilight, I -" once again Celestia was cut off by Rainstorm.

"Well aren't we naïve? Listen 'princess', unlike some weak-assed wanna-be rulers, Celestia has the spine to do what needs to be done! You know, unlike some people who have the power to take out a whole squad of hostiles in an instant, but prefer to play the damsel in distress! Fuckn' Hell, I'm glad I'm not stuck with your candy-ass!"

"But that's what I'm trying to tell you -!" Celestia - now clearly starting to lose her patience - was then interrupted again by Twilight.

"You think I let this happen!? Just because some of us aren't cold-blooded murderers like you, yo- !"

"Will the both of you be quiet!" Celestia roared using her "royal Canterlot voice" causing the entire palace to shake as if in an earthquake, and ponies out in the streets to be able to hear her, followed by dead silence. She then took a few calming breaths before speaking again - this time with her normal tone of voice. "Rainy, Sweetie, you're the one in charge of the task force," she said with an almost motherly tone. Rainstorm just stared at her in silent disbelief for almost a minute before he heard a flamboyant voice addressing him with a mocking tone.

"Guess that makes you the 'dick-stain', Sweet-pea!" Jasper cheerfully said to Rain with a wink. Another minute passed, and then the merc finally responded.

"Geahh!" Rain screamed so loudly he could be heard throughout the palace, "No-no-no-no - oh, and by the way, before I forget, FUCK NO!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, his pale face turning a shade of crimson with rage. "There is noooo way in Hell, Tartarus, limbo, the moon, or any-fucking-where else that you or anyone could ever make me babysit these technicolor assholes if my very soul depended on it - and that time I meant all the goddamn offense possible!" he shouted as he gestured toward the elements, all of whom certainly did seem to take offense at his words. Well, he's taking it better than I'd dared to imagine he would. I thought for sure he'd use one of his guns to shoot out a window, repel down to the courtyard, and make a break for it. Celestia thought to herself, an exasperated expression on her face. She then attempted to calm Rain down.

"Look Rainstorm, this is a matter of national security, we need you on this," Celestia said, trying to reason with Rain.

"Then why don't you assign more soldiers to this, leave Borus in charge, and leave me the Hell alone, or did you forget the little fact that 'your most faithful student' stabbed me in the back!?", Rain asked Celestia before continuing his rant, "I'm leaving now, because if you think I'd ever do jack-shit for Twilight or anyone that she'd call a friend then guess again, because on the day I decide to be her little servant-boy, answering her beck and call - on that day...I'll send your happy glowy ass a postcard! Until then, however..." With that, Rainstorm turned on his heel and started toward the door when a voice called out to him.

"Please Rain..." Shining said pleadingly.

Oh, he wouldn't... Rainstorm thought to himself as he turned to face the unicorn prince.

"I've never asked you for anything like this before, and she's my little sister, so I'm asking you now -" Shining Armor continued.

Don't you dare even think of it you-! Rain thought, screaming inside his head at Shining as he talked, but before he could finish the thought, Shining finished his sentence.

"- as my best friend" Shining finished. With that, the room fell deathly quiet for a moment, then Rainstorm finally replied.

"You asshole..." Rain said quietly, "Playing the best friend card like that... *sigh* How could I refuse, you jerk?" he relented, a tired look in his eyes.

"So you'll do it!?" Shining asked hopefully.

"Only under certain conditions!" Rain demanded, "First off, I'm not calling Twilight 'princess' or 'your highness' or anything like that - same goes for her friends - I'm the one calling the shots, not them! Got it?" he said, motioning again at the elements, "And another thing, I'm not a friggin charity - I'd damn well better be paid and paid well, understood!?" Rain finished as he pointed a finger at Celestia.

Who the hell does this asshole think he is - talking to the princess like that? Rainbow thought to herself angrily as the merc made his demands. Dash was furious - at herself for letting this guy beat her so easily, and at him, for the way he was talking to everyone - especially her friends -, as well as at the fact Princess Celestia was letting him get away with it. I don't care if Twilight 'stabbed him in the back', that doesn't give him the right t- wait a minute! It had suddenly occurred to her what Rain had said about Twilight. What did he mean by that? What happened between them when they were younger and did Shining just call him his 'best friend'? How the Hell do they know each other? Rainbow pondered to herself as Celestia spoke.

"I already figured this would be pricey, so do try to calm down will you?" Celestia said as she rolled her eyes at Rain. She then walked over to him and held out a small brown, burlap pouch, which he accepted - the weight of which caught the merc off guard. When he inspected its contents he was surprised to see what must have been more than sixty golden coins, each emblazoned with the Equestrian royal seal on one side and the symbol "L" on the other. "One-thousand five-hundred bits a week, with a one time two-thousand bits bonus if you accept the job now," she said to a speechless Rainstorm. He wasn't the only one shocked by the amount, Huginn - who had been perched on the trusses above them - nearly fell off, the five soldiers' eyes widened in disbelief, and the elements and their friends stared open-mouthed at Celestia.

Holy crap! Rainstorm thought to himself, What's in my hand right now is more than I usually make per bounty, let alone what I'll have earned in a month of this job!, he continued mulling it over in his mind. He knew depending on who they were dealing with, a job like this would either last for about a month, or it could last a few years. A few years..., it had suddenly dawned on him just what he'd gotten himself into, months - possibly years being stuck with Twilight and her friends. Rain gulped hard as he realized he'd just walked into the fifth circle of Hell - at least -, but it was for his best friend, Money or no, I'm already in. I promised Shining, and I won't let him down when he needs me the most - not again!, he thought to himself. *sigh* "That should just cover it," Rain said to Celestia.

"Now then, if I'm to be in charge of this group, I'll need to know more about my new comrades-in-arms," Rain said as he walked up to Grey Breeze and stared intently into her eyes. Her eyes darted around the room as she chuckled nervously, at which point Rain noticed a strange shimmer in her eyes, causing him to smile from beneath his balaclava, as he drew one of his guns out and pointed it right at her head. The seemingly unprovoked act of hostility caused the elements to look at him in shock, before taking an offensive stance - ready to save the soldier from the maniac.

The kid’s still got it... Boris thought to himself, as he looked on.

It’s not surprising he caught her so easily. It's hardly her best work. Belizna thought to herself, unimpressed by the merc's achievement.

"H-hey there now, let's not do anything too hasty, ok!?" Grey Breeze pleaded nervously, as Rainstorm continued to point his gun at her head.

"Then drop the act, before I drop you!" Rain demanded as he cocked his gun, the pegasus then turned to look at Celestia as if for advice, to which Celestia calmly nodded her head.

"Ohh - damn it!" the grey pegasus swore just before being consumed by what appeared to be blue and white flames, and an instant later, the pegasus was gone - replaced by an insectoid-like, pony-looking creature. The changeling before them appeared to be female and had a pale green head, neck, arms, and legs. Her torso was pale yellow and looked to be covered in hardened plates, with three purplish-pink crystal-looking objects just under her neck, matching the casing around her wings. Her tail - looking somewhat like an insect's wings - was also purplish-pink, as were the insides of the long, pointy ears on her head, which had an antenna in front of them each. She had two large deep-blue eyes - resembling two sapphires - just underneath which were several tiny black speckles, giving her the appearance of having freckles. "How'd you know!?" the changeling asked a tone of genuine curiosity in her voice.

"Changelings can look like damn near anyone or anything, but I noticed something about your people, there are things you can't disguise. I noticed that your auras stay the same no matter what form you take, that they flare whenever you shapeshift, and that a 'reformed' changeling's auras are blue and white, while a 'parasitic' changeling’s are green and white. Perhaps most important of all, I've noticed that when disguised as someone else, whenever your eyes catch the reflection of the light, the shimmer reveals both which type of changeling you are, and what your eyes look like underneath," Rain Storm explained. "Think of it as a sort of...a 'changeling tell'. Now it's your turn - start talking," Rain threatened, still brandishing the pistol.

"Chitny - freelance espionage specialist and expert saboteur!" the changeling shouted as she saluted. Rainstorm raised an eyebrow at her, and as if reading his mind she immediately spoke up, "In my defense, I only got Celestia's summons less than a half-hour ago, if I'd had at least forty minutes, I would have come up with a much better cover!" This, in turn, caused everyone in the room to turn and look at the princess of the sun, who then looked off in a corner, scrunching up her nose as she did so. "So...are we good?" Chitny asked Rain, drawing everyone's attention back to the two of them, as he pondered the changeling's words for a moment before responding.

"Sure!" Rainstorm answered her as he holstered his gun, "But next time, just be straight with me. I don't much care what species any of you are from, all I care about is that you're honest with me, that you're good at your job, and that you're committed. Beyond that, I don't give a damn what's in your blood or between your legs, ok?" Rain explained to Chitny, as well as everyone else in the room. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way, how about you tell me more about yourself?" Rain asked Chitny. He then looked up just in time to catch a thick binder full of papers tossed to him by Shining Armor, and upon inspection, he realized it contained detailed information about both his charges, the task force members, and the attack on the Friendship Express.

"That contains everything you'll need to know to do your job!" Shining explained happily to Rain. Rain looked over the binder and noticed the cover read in bold print ponish letters, 'Taskforce Sigma'.

"Taskforce Sigma, huh?..." Rain read the name of the cover out loud.

"Knowing you, I thought that if nothing else you'd think it sounded cool," Cadance said, smiling at Rain, "And that's not all, read the section on Chitny, I think you'll like what it has to say about her," she instructed him. He complied, and upon reading her dossier, his jaw dropped. Knowing full well by the look in his eyes he'd found what she'd wanted him to, Cadance spoke, "It was Shining's idea!"

"You're that Chitny!?" Rain asked Chitny, staring at her as if she were some strange, otherworldly creature.

"Yes, yes I am!" Chitny said proudly as she puffed out her chest.

"Holy crap Shiny, I love you man!" Rain said with a hearty laugh. "And you, I am so, so sorry about the whole 'gun-in-your-face' thing, do-over?" he asked Chitny pleadingly as he held out his hand.

"Sure, I've never been one to hold a grudge!" Chitny said happily as she accepted Rainstorm's hand in a strong handshake.

"Uh...I'm confused, are you famous for something?" Pinkie asked, having been quiet for far longer than was normal for her and had gotten tired of it. Rain was about to chastise the pink earkin for not recognizing the name, but then recalled he'd missed the obvious himself, and had even less of an excuse, so he took a deep breath and answered her calmly.

"Chitny is one of the 'Wilder Three' - living legends among the mercenary community," he explained.

"Wait, you mean the Wilder Three!?" Rainbow asked, clearly shocked by the revelation, "They're the most awesome mercenaries ever!" Dash shouted in excitement, having gone full fan-girl.

Well shit, she actually knows her stuff. Rain thought to himself as he listened to RD go on about the Wilder Three. In truth, he was still kicking himself over not recognizing Chitny's name sooner, though that's not the only thing that should have tipped him off. The Wilder Three had been his childhood heroes - Celestia having told him stories of their exploits every night before bed. The stern donkey, the keen-witted lamia, and the stealthy shape-shifter - together they formed a team of unstoppable heroes who saved Equestria innumerable times, often from seemingly impossible odds. These stories had wowed Rain as a child and now he'd finally get to work with one of them, it was a dream come true! "Shiny you bastard!" Rain exclaimed happily, "I'd kiss you, but I don't want Cadance getting jealous!" he joked, causing Cadance to chuckle and Shining to groan as he face-palmed. "Well now that I know who you really are, would you mind telling me why you agreed to join the task force?" Rainstorm asked Chitny.

"I just want to protect ponies - always have," Chitny answered truthfully, "With everything that's been going on lately, if anything were to happen to the elements of harmony, Equestria would be in serious danger. Besides, with all the lives they've saved I think they deserve to have someone take care of them for a change," Chitny finished. Rain thought about arguing that last point with her, but decided against it and instead moved on to Mángdán Kàndào Duō.

"So, what's your story? What kind of battlefield experience do you have? What gets you out of bed and into those robes every day, hum?" Rain asked the old monk, who gave a small smile before speaking.

"I was born one-hundred and ninety-three years ago to a maid in a small but wealthy village called Highsprings. I never knew my father, and I do not know my mother's face - or any face for that matter - as I was born without eyes, though I do remember both her and the mare she worked for were close friends and treated me very kindly, as did the other villagers," Mángdán told Rain, who listened intently.

"Wait, I think I remember reading about Highsprings village a long time ago," Twilight interjected, "But I thought it fell victim to a virus that wiped out everypony there?" she finished, a confused look on her face.

"*sigh* All but one..." Mángdán answered her, filling the room with a deafening silence once again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Twilight said a look of concern on her face as her voice trailed off.

"It is quite alright, Princess. I know you meant no harm with your words. Few know that Highsprings had a survivor, and I have had a very long time to make my peace with that tragedy," Mángdán said to Twilight. "Besides, I am not the only one who suffered so greatly at that time, as I'm sure a learned pony like yourself is well aware," Mángdán added.

"Evermourn..." Twilight said sadly.

"Evermourn?" Trixie asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"Let me guess, history class was not 'great and powerful' enough to bother showing up for your lessons?" Rain smarted off at Trixie.

"Hey, that's not it at all! I totally showed up for my history lessons!... They were just so boring that I fell asleep during class, that's all," Trixie replied, causing several people in the throne room to groan, and Starlight to give a slight smile as she rolled her eyes at her best friend.

"For a long time, all sorts of folks who wanted to join the military had several bases ta train at like Wonderbolts Academy, Fort Jagged, or Everfree Boot Camp - all of which turned out damn good soldiers left, right, and center," Boris began to explain. "Things were pretty good till 817, then a real nasty virus swept through our bases, and eventually spread throughout most of the country, we came to call this plague 'the Evermourn virus', cause of the grief it caused so many. Even though it hit our military installations the worst, there were quite a few civilian locations that got hit by it pretty bad, like Highsprings for example, not ta mention my people were nearly driven to extinction by it. Still, the worse damage it did was to our military strength - damn virus halfway gutted the EPU, and with many members of law enforcement enlisting or bein’ drafted to try ta pick up the slack at the border, Equestria saw a crime wave the likes of which it ain't seen before or since," Borus finished with a stern expression on his face.

"Wow, that sounds really scary," Trixie said with a concerned look on her face before her expression changed to one of excitement as she asked, "What happened next!?" earning a light chuckle from Borus.

"We mercs happened," Rainstorm answered Trixie. "Now enough with the history lesson, let me get back to my questions," he finished, causing Trixie to pout and stick her tongue out at him once his back was turned. "So, you survived Evermourn, how?" he asked.

"Word of the symptoms of Evermourn quickly became infamous, after all when good mares and stallions start trying to tear each other apart until either they run out of victims or die themselves, word of such things often travels fast. High fever, bloodshot eyes, bloody tears, convulsions, then finally the victim tries to attack any living thing in sight and a few hours later the infected that haven't been killed themselves, die due to internal hemorrhaging, a truly horrible fate to be sure," Mángdán said, a grim tone in his voice. "The virus is quick-acting, each preliminary symptom following the other within less than thirty minutes until it reaches the hostility stage, which can last for hours. By the time a few dozen of the villagers had already progressed to the bloody tears stage, my mother knew there was not enough time to get us down the mountain without fear of attack. In desperation, she shut me up in the closet with a small canteen of water and told me to barricade the door and not let anyone in for the next twenty-four hours - not even her, as she too had begun to weep tears of blood and knew she'd contracted the illness as well. For nearly half an hour I listened to her sobbing and screaming as the convulsions racked her body in pain, then spent the next fifteen hours listening to her desperately begging me to open the door so she could kill me," he finished.

Once again, the throne room fell deathly quiet as almost everyone stared sadly at the old monk in front of them, then the silence was broken as he continued his story.

"Out of fear, I stayed in that closet for forty-eight hours, only leaving it after I had run out of water and became thirsty. Fortunately, I was young enough to be immune to the virus as it only infects adults, however, the other children had not been fortunate enough to find safety and had been slaughtered, leaving me as the only survivor. Eventually, a group of monks from Mén tú de Wùzōng máo Monastery made it up the mountain and found me amongst the carnage and were kind enough to take me back with them. From that day on, I swore to do all I could to live up to their example and help those in need and over time, I joined their ranks and even earned the honor of becoming the next high priest of our order. In accordance with our sacred laws and traditions, however, before one ascends to this position, one must set out upon the great wandering, where one travels the land for three years just as our order's founder did before she created it, and see all one can and meditate on what they witness," Mángdán finished with an optimistic smile on his face.

"Traveling abroad, and instead of taking it easy you opt to help protect others? Commendable!" Rainstorm said, a warm smile hidden under his balaclava. "So, how about you, what's your deal...Bezuchastnyy Belizna, wasn't it?" Rain asked the gnoll woman as he walked up to her.

"Da," Belizna said firmly as she stared unflinchingly into Rain's eyes. "Everything you need to know is in the dossier, sir," She said, still looking directly into his eyes with a coldness he'd rarely seen in most people.

"Oh, I know what it says in the dossier, but I want to hear it directly from you," Rainstorm said, meeting Belizna's steely gaze.

She stared back at him in cold silence for a few moments, then replied, "I'm not with the Diamond Dog Rebellion if that's what you're thinking" she snarled.

"I didn't think so, but that's not what I'm asking. Just because you're a gnoll, doesn't mean I expect you to blindly follow the likes of Weiler," Rain said, not once breaking eye contact with Belizna as he spoke. "Still, no one in their right mind who knows anything about your people's history would blame you for holding some kind of grudge against Equestria, yet you've served this country and its people loyally for years. I would like to know why, please?" he asked. This took Belizna completely by surprise. She was so used to most Equestrians - pony or not - either assuming she was a Dimond Dog and thus a threat to everyone around her or simply treating her like a 'loyal dog' and not caring about her motives, she was utterly unprepared for anyone to actually inquire about her reasons. That earns him a proper answer. she thought to herself before speaking to Rainstorm again.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't hate most ponies both for what their ancestors did to my people and for what many of them put us through even today -" Belizna said, sounding much calmer as she spoke this time, "- but even if I believed for a second that we had the power to drive every single non-gnoll out of our homeland, what would it accomplish? Before the ponies invaded our land and drove us out, we were constantly warring against each other. I simply can not see how we'd keep from going right back to that at this time, and I feel we've slaughtered enough of our own kind - trust me, I know. I want to change everything, my people, the ponies, all of Equestria and every one of her citizens for the better and the only way I can do that is from within," she finished, fire in her eyes. "Well, there's your answer. Satisfied?" Belizna asked.

"Very!" Rainstorm responded, having gotten what he wanted. He then moved on to the next soldier in the lineup. Borus Swinelee stood patiently in attention, a pleasant smile across his large face. "Well, how about you, sir?" Rain said as he saluted the old soldier, the respect audible in his voice. Boris gave a hearty chuckle before responding.

"Well kid, I'm due ta retire soon, but before I do, I wanted ta get one last big mission under my belt - my last hurrah, ya know? - And well, when Canterlot's Shinning Agis asked me ta be a part of this task force, it just seemed the perfect way ta wrap up my military career! It's as simple as that, sir!" Borus finished, returning Rain's salute.

"I'm looking forward to working with you again," Rain said as he turned to make his way toward the last soldier in the lineup, Borus nodding in agreement as he did so. Finally, there was technical sergeant Jasper, but as Rainstorm began to open his mouth, Jasper interrupted him.

"Sweet-pea, let me just warn you right now, call me feathers or any other stupid name and I'll totes rip off your head and shit down your neck, mmk?" Jasper said with unceasing pleasantness to his voice and matching smile which did little to hide the sincerity of his words. Rainstorm - knowing the reputation of Death's wings Jasper gulped quietly and nodded in agreement. "Now, if you're wondering about why I signed on, that's easy; if anything happens to the elements of harmony, we're all screwed. In other words, I just want to survive, that's all," he said. "Not that I'm unwilling to give my life for my country, but there's a difference between giving your life for a noble cause, and throwing your life away for one - and then there's just straight-up rolling over and dying for no good reason, which is what letting anything happen to these lovely ladies would be. If I've got to die, you can bet your ass I'll be going down fighting - sir!" Jasper said with a wink and a salute.

"Eh, good enough for me," Rain said as he shrugged his shoulders and walked back toward Celestia. "Everything seems to be in order," he said looking back at the taskforce. "I think they'll make an excellent team!"

"I'm glad you approve!" Princess Celestia replied. "Now Rainstorm, while Borus supervises preparations for all of you to head back to Ponyville, there are some things I'd like to discuss with you...in private," Celestia told Rain, before turning to leave the throne room. Rain nodded his head, following closely behind her.

"Where are they off to?" Rainbow Dash asked as she watched them leave.

Chapter 3: Finished