Harmony: Heroes of Gimlé - Arc I: Rainstorm

Rainstorm found himself overlooking a sort of beach. There was shallow water that seemed at least ankle-deep as far as the eye could see, a few rocks and other stony protrusions dotting the area, while the cold sea air nipped at him. He looked up at the sky to see that, while it seemed to be daylight out, a stormy overcast blotted out the sky completely, he then noticed he was missing his weapons and some of his clothing. In fact, the only thing he was wearing were his pants, a belt, and a black tank top. "How did I get here?... Where even is here?... W-what was I doing before?... I think it was something important, but I can't..." Rain's thoughts trailed off. He was just having such a hard time focusing, and he felt only mildly aware of his memories, so much so, that he could almost believe there had been nothing to him or his existence prior to his arrival to the strange location, which seemed just as familiar to him as it did alien. He was sure he'd been doing something very important before, but he just couldn't quite put his finger on it...

"How much longer?" a cold voice echoed from somewhere, though Rain couldn't quite make out the exact source. He looked around for a moment before seeing a figure some distance away from him. The figure was fairly tall, had long, unkempt, white hair that obscured most of his face, and had a long tattered dark-grey cloak wrapped tightly around his body. The figure seemed to size Rain up for a minute before he spoke to him again, "How much ... ... ... wait for ... ... ... ...?" Rain struggled to hear what the figure was saying to him, but could only make out a few of his words. For some reason, this made him feel a twinge of sadness, as somehow, he knew the figure was desperately trying to talk to him - that he needed to talk to him and not being able to was soul-crushing for the figure. However, try as they might, their words couldn't reach Rain and for whatever reason, this made the merc feel as though his own heart was breaking.

"Stop wasting your time. It's obvious he's not ready yet," croaked another figure not too far from where Rain was standing. He turned to look at the second figure and saw what appeared to be an old, balding, stallion with a short, pointed white beard with a bushy mustache sitting cross-legged on a small boulder next to him. The elderly figure wore what appeared to be bronze-colored armor, with many varying tools and weapons, along with many other forms of equipment on his belt, as well as several massive, iron chains around his extremities. What stood out about the elderly figure the most though, was that instead of two normal eyes, he had nine, while the only open one seemed to be a normal eye with a red iris, the other eight were closed and appeared to have no eyeballs behind them. This took Rain by surprise and caused him to stumble back a bit, but the elderly figure didn't seem to care. "When you get to be my age, you come to learn the value of patience," the elderly figure addressed the taller figure.

"Useless! ... ... ... those two ... ... ... ... ... ... at ... Jagged!" the taller figure snarled at Rainstorm.

Planet Gimlé, Equestria, Ponyville (Tree Castle - Rainstorm's room), April 23rd, year 2, Reformation era, 9:15 AM -

"Holy shit!" Rainstorm shouted as he tumbled out of bed, still fully dressed from the day before, and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Are you alright!?" squawked Huginn in concern. Rain groaned as he took a minute to assess himself. Even without the harsh exchange between his face and the floor, his body was still racked with extreme pain and fatigue from the other day, making moving, or even responding to Huginn difficult.

"I swear if you even think about saying, 'I told you so', or anything of the like, I will pluck you, and eat you for breakfast!" Rain groaned at Huginn.

"I wasn't going to," Huginn cawed, "I know you did what you had to, to save us and the CMC's. Just...try to take it easy, at least for a week," he advised Rain. Just then, they heard a knock at the door.

"R-Rain? Are you alright?" Twilight asked from the other side of the door.

"Yeah...Just fell out of bed... I'm not hurt or anything. Just still kinda out of it from yesterday," Rain answered her.

"If you want to take the rest of the day off, that's fine," Twilight told him, "If I'm not mistaken, the preservation cloth you put over your breakfast yesterday should keep it hot and fresh for about seventy-two hours so I asked Boris to bring it to your room the other day. If you'd like something else though, we can have somepony fix up something for you, or we can pick up something from a restaurant if you'd like. Whatever you want, just let me know, ok?" Rain looked over at his desk and sure enough, his breakfast from yesterday was there. He removed the cloth, and as expected, the food was just as it had been when he'd loaded it onto his plate the day before. Rain replaced the cloth over his food, then pulled his balaclava back over his face and proceeded to hovel over to the door, opening it to face Twilight.

"I-I'm good," he said before nearly falling forward and being caught by the Princess of Friendship just in time.

"Wow, careful!" Twilight said with concern as she easily held Rainstorm up, something that caught him by surprise before he remembered she was an alicorn and thus, had the same enhanced strength as an earkin. "Here, let me get you back to bed," she offered.

"N-no, I'm fine. I'm just having trouble standing...and walking...and I'm too queasy to eat right now...and you could probably kill me by yeeting a marshmallow off the side of my head...but other than that, I'm golden..." Rain said as he wondered to himself just how much of what he'd just stated was a joke and how much wasn't. "Just...help me get to the map room, please?" he asked.

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked.

"Yes," Rain replied as he tried to support at least some of his own weight, "Besides, if we don't formulate a plan for what to do next, we'll all end up in far worse shape than I'm in right now," he explained. With that, Twilight helped Rain reach the map room, with Huginn in tow, where the elements, the taskforce, the guards, as well as Starlight, Trixie, and Spike were all waiting. Rainbow Dash jumped up to help Twilight ease Rainstorm into her throne as carefully as possible.

"Easy there, dude," Rainbow said to Rain as he sat down, "Anything I can get for you?"

"No, thanks... Let's just... Get this over with ASAP."

"Right then," Boris said as he revealed a notepad and began going over it. "First off, Acestream's ok. Nothin' suspicious at his place, nothin' fishy where his folks are concerned, and surprise, surprise - they do not, nor have they ever owned a morse, nor even gone morseback ridin’ and had no idea what we were goin' on about. Last time the kid saw you, he and those fillies had just crashed in ta ya, and he'd skedaddled off home while you were fixin' ta throw - from what he described - one helluva conniption."

"They flew a goddamn flying machine into me! Fuck was I supposed to do!? Say, 'Please sir, may I have another'!?" Rain said defensively. Boris snorted in amusement before continuing.

"Next, had Fluttershy talk ta that morse. Go ahead, miss," Boris addressed the yellow pegasus.

"Um, yes... He said that he was bought from a stable in Appleloosa yesterday morning, and he never saw whoever it was that bought him shapeshift directly... He said that while his owner was using a bathroom here in town, he was stolen by somepony matching Acestream's description," Fluttershy explained.

"Ok. Anyone see who rode into town on him?" Rain asked. Both Fluttershy and Boris exchanged concerned looks.

"According to everypony in town and the morse himself...you bought him and rode into town on him..." Fluttershy said.

"We even tracked down the one what sold 'em. Fella described ya ta a 'T', and even handed over a copy of the receipt," Boris interjected, "The buyer introduced themselves as you, said they were workin' a job in Ponyville - Hell, their damn writin' matches yours perfectly! On the bright side though, far as the law's concerned, you're now the owner of one fine morse," he added. Rain rubbed the bridge of his nose between his eyes before responding.

"Great, if the damn thing can swing growing a spine, he'll be of tremendous use..." Rain grumbled. "Anything else?" he asked as he slammed his hand down next to a mug of coffee RD had been drinking from before his arrival a little harder than intended, causing some of its contents to spill onto the map table, putting a look of shock and mild terror on his face.

"*sigh* It's fine," Twilight assured Rain, "Right after we got back from our first friendship problem at Starlight's old village, I ran every single test I could think of on this thing. It may be made of normal crystals, but the magic that's infused in it makes it just as strong and durable as white mythril - maybe more so," she explained as she used magic to evaporate the coffee that had spilled onto the table.

"Oh...alright..." Rain said, the new information causing him to feel a pang of embarrassment for his reaction the other day.

"Guess I probably should have led with that yesterday, huh?" Pinkie remarked sheepishly as Rainbow Dash snatched up her mug while giving Rain an annoyed look. Rain wouldn't admit it - out loud anyway - but in retrospect, he realized that he too, could have handled the situation better and resigned himself to at least try to be more patient with them in the future, if for no other reason than out of respect for the effort they seemed to be putting forward for him. In fact, as his mind began clearing more and more, he started thinking about how their attitude towards him was such a far cry from what he probably deserved based on his actions and interactions with them since he'd met them at Canterlot. As he continued to think things over, the words of Granny Smith came drifting into his head, maybe he should at least try to come to some understanding with them, and with Twilight in particular. After all, even if they couldn't find enough in common with one another to form a friendship, they did love some of the same people - all of whom most likely could only benefit from the two of them at least managing to be civil around each other.

"Rainstorm!" Boris shouted at Rain to get his attention, "Ya alright, there?"

"Yeah, just thinking about something," Rain explained, "So, aside from me acquiring another mouth to feed, is there any good news?" he asked.

"As matter of fact, da!" Moroz said as he placed the box from the day before on the map table, opened it, and tossed out at Rain, what appeared to be a sort of compact mirror made of gold, with a series of four rotary phone dial-like wheels where the makeup should be. Each wheel was within the other, with several buttons in the middle, as well as surrounding the dials, and it seemed capable of dozens - if not - hundreds of different combinations. "Is present from EPU R&D," Moroz explained, "communication devices - cutting edge! Have two relays - one already installed onboard Quicksilver and other we'll be installing on tippity-top of ugly, giant, crystal star thingy on top of castle. Will provide range as far as Northern Region of Everfree Forest - also, can help keep track of anyone carrying one so, hopefully, no repeat of yesterday's debacle," he explained.

"Question! Why the fuck are we only NOW hearing about this!?" Rain bellowed at Moroz.

"In commotion the other day, it...may have slipped mind... My bad..." Moroz apologized awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head, clearly embarrassed by his blunder. "If it makes you feel better, another shipment arrived today, so we should have enough for everyone here - and they soul-bind to whoever a task force member or element of harmony hands them to, so no worries about an enemy commandeering one and using it against us. In fact, only people who should be able to see or hear anything that comes through those, is user, or someone user is showing it to," he informed them.

"That...actually does make me feel a bit better," Rain admitted, "What's next?"

"Gonna take a team and try ta find the location ya described the other evenin', see if we can find the remains of that alpha timberwolf what attacked ya. Might give us some clue as ta who was controllin' it, and what they wanted," Boris said to them.

"About that..." Rainstorm said, raising a finger, "I may have a theory about that..." The others looked at him puzzled as he took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing, "The more I think about how the fake Acestream talked to me, more and more, I can't help but feel like he was trying to make me suspicious of him. I mean, at one point he even said, 'You don't have a lot of time, Raindrop' - that was the name I used to go by, which is something not a whole lot of people would know. Furthermore, the fact that he knew to disguise himself as Acestream, suggests that he'd probably been spying on me at the time of the crash the other day, yet he didn't notice the kid get his cutie mark? Sure, he may not have been close enough to see what it looked like in detail, but he had to have been aware of its existence, after all, it ain't like those things are subtle when they form. He matched his appearance flawlessly, kept his aura almost completely suppressed, and knew exactly what to say to get me to go to where the CMC's were. In spite of all that, he accidentally called me by a name most people - especially anyone in this town - wouldn't be familiar with, and forgot to keep his arm covered up, letting me see that he didn't have a cutie mark when that would have been the biggest red flag of them all?"

"When ya put it that way, it does sound a touch suspicious..." Boris commented as he stroked his chin.

"Throw in the fact that I'm sure someone was following me the whole time I was looking for the girls, the fact that someone managed to get the drop on Jasper, but only disabled him instead of killing him outright when they had a perfect opportunity. Then they led me right to where the CMC's were just in the nick of time and had an alpha timberwolf trap us in a cave without sealing the entrance until reinforcements arrived, and all the while, they never made any other attempts on the Apple farm, nor on me after the fight, after my battle supplement ran out," Rain explained. "The more I think about it, the more I think I had it all wrong. They weren't trying to capture or kill anyone, they were testing me - maybe all of us," he surmised.

"Old military strategy," Jasper spoke up, "Poke the enemies defenses with a proverbial stick, gage their reaction, gather data on their strengths and weaknesses -".

"Then once enough data has been gathered, formulate the optimal strategy, and attack," Belizna finished grimly.

"But why telegraph it so much? Why let Jasper go?" Twilight asked.

"When we say strengths and weaknesses, we don't just mean physical, or magical, we're also talkin' ‘bout mental and emotional," Boris explained to Twilight. "Lettin' Jasper live, not only gave 'em enough time ta make sure the CMC's got ta where the enemy wanted, but let 'em see just what kinda person Rain was, what his priorities are, how he thinks...and how the enemy might be able ta exploit that... Tipping their hand the way they did ta Rainstorm was likely part of their little test as well. Heck, if our unsub is in league with the mercs ya fought against, they may have even been seein' if Rain was worth tryin' ta recruit'," he finished.

"*tch* I'm an asshole, but even I have some standards!" Rain barked, "I have my issues with purple-smart, but if I were gonna kill her, I'd have done it ages ago of my own volition, so why would I do it for some bag of dicks, whose idea of an interview involves, spying on me, giant monsters, and using children as bait!?" Rain proclaimed.

"And nobody said that ya would!" Boris hurriedly assured Rain.

"Anyway...if there's even the slightest chance of enemy attack, we will need to fortify Ponyville's defenses," Belizna advised, "Any suggestions?"

"Well, when Boris suggested I survey the town the other day, I took that to heart," Rain responded, "You ready?" he asked Huginn, who had just perched himself on Rain's right shoulder. Huginn nodded and Rain proceeded to pull Huginn's left eye out of its socket with three of the fingers on his left hand.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?" Fluttershy yelled at the top of her lungs, a mixture of shock and horror plastered on her face. Both Rainstorm and Huginn looked at Fluttershy with alarmed expressions before timidly looking over at each other, then looking back at the pegasus.

"...Relax, he's not hurt," Rain said, trying to defuse the situation.

"YOU JUST RIPPED OUT HIS CELESTIADAMNED EYEBALL!!!" she screamed at him again.

"He's not really a crow, is he?" Jasper interjected, eliciting confused looks from almost everyone in the room.

"Ding, ding, ding, give the man a cigar!" Rain chortled, "Well, to be fair, he is part crow...the parts of him that came from crows anyway."

"...Huh?" Fluttershy asked, her rage having been replaced by confusion.

"Huginn is what's called a familiar. An artificial construct made using witchcraft," Rainstorm explained.

"You actually managed to create a familiar!?" asked a shocked Twilight. Rain smiled smugly underneath his balaclava before continuing.

"By using a few animus candles, the right magical array, the right runes, and the right ingredients, you can create a vessel and use a part of your soul to bind your spirit guide to it. Then you just have to name it, and you're good to go. If you know what you're doing and have everything you need, you can actually give a familiar's shell quite a bit of utility, like, for example, a built-in audio and video recorder!" Rain happily explained to Fluttershy, whose anger had rapidly dissipated upon hearing the explanation.

"Oh...sorry..." she said as her face turned a deep crimson.

"Guess I probably should have led with that, huh?" Rain said, catching Fluttershy off with just how gentle the tone of his voice was. "I can't blame you for freaking out. Guess it's not the most wholesome display in the world, is it?"

"So...all the arguments you've been having with - Huginn, was it? - Were actual arguments?" Rarity inquired.

"Yep." Rain answered, "Whenever Huginn caws, I still hear a caw, but I understand what he's trying to say just perfectly," he explained. "We can butt heads at times, but we've got each other's backs when it matters the most," he explained further before lifting up the eyeball and giving it a quick squeeze, causing it to light up. The eyeball then began to project a holographic birds-eye view of Ponyville onto the table, "As you can see, Huginn looked over every nook and cranny of town from above - even recorded data on Sweet Apple Acres while I was there!" he said.

"Take it that means ya recorded that scrap ya had yesterday with the alpha timberwolf too?" asked Boris, to which Rainstorm nodded. Then several red crosshairs appeared, each at a different point on the holo-map around the village.

"I advise building eight, category-two watchtowers, with at least three guards stationed at any given time at each one, and have one tower at each of these marked areas," Rain suggested.

"One at each point of the compass. Simple, but effective," Belizna said as she examined the highlighted areas.

"Not sure why Ponyville doesn't already have defenses like that already," Jasper added.

"Ponyville usually only has to worry 'bout a few monster and bandit attacks every once in a while," Applejack explained, "At least, that's how it used to be... Over the last couple years, things have been gettin' more dangerous. Not really sure why," she said glumly.

"Which reminds me," Rain spoke up, as the holo-map switched over to Sweet Apple Acres, "I think we should also add three more category-two watchtowers...here, here, and here," Rain stated as new crosshairs appeared in a wide triangular with the farmhouse in the middle. "That alright with you?" he asked AJ, who only nodded in agreement and refused to make direct eye contact with him, much to his confusion.

"*sigh* Rain..." Boris said with exasperation, "You're askin' for thirty-three new guards, thousands of bits in construction material and equipment, supplies for all those new soldiers - and that's if ya can get the mayor ta even agree ta any of this... I have no idea how we're gonna get the ok from Canterlot for all this..." Boris told Rain as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I may have a few strings I can pull here and there to get a few extra bodies sent our way. As for getting Mayor Mare to sign off on the towers, I think our resident princess can convince her," Rain said as he looked over a Twilight.

"I...guess I could try..." she hesitantly agreed.

"Tell her it's essential - and don't let her try to weasel out on Sweet Apple Acres! If Ponyville is attacked, they may try to sabotage the town's main source of food," Rainstorm warned Twilight.

"What will ya do, Rain?" asked Boris.

"Huginn collected a sample of some sort of toxin off the Apple's dog yesterday. While he was able to get a decent amount of info from it, there could be more we could learn from a proper, full-scale analysis of the substance, so I'll be in the lab running tests on it, as well as setting up for anything you might find during your search," Rain informed Boris.

"An unknown organic compound with unique attributes!?" Twilight asked, an excited glint in her eye, "Why don't I help you with that analysis?" she asked hopefully, practically giddy with the thought of all the tests she could run.

"Absolutely not!" Rain stated bluntly. "I told you how you can help. I - we need you to get the mayor to sign off on those towers...unless you feel like issuing a royal decree and forcing her to give the ok?..." he asked, the fact Twilight did indeed have the authority to order both that - and request more guards - having just popped into his head.

"*sigh* Fine... I'll go try to convince Mayor Mare to ok the towers..." Twilight said defeatedly, causing Rain to roll his eyes.

"How about me, Darling? If there's any way I can help, I'd be delighted to," Rarity chimed in.

"You can take Chitny, Belizna, Spike, Pinkie, and Applejack and follow Twilight. Spike seems good at keeping Twilight grounded and on task, while adding the voices of three of Ponyville's biggest breadwinners to the matter may help sway the mayor. Plus having two task force members there with you takes care of the issue of me not being able to keep an eye on Twilight myself," Rainstorm explained. With that, the seven of them headed off as Boris chose several guards to accompany him on his errand.

"Just ta be safe, I've asked two guards ta keep an eye on the lab at all times - even while in use," Boris informed Rain, but before Rain could reply, Boris cut him off, "Don't worry, they'll keep out of the way, and they're good at barrier spells so, they'll be safe from any accidents that might happen."

"So, you remember what I said about brewing back during the war all those years ago?" Rain asked.

"Of course. My people are better at rememberin' stuff than even unicorns! Ha, I can still recall the day I was born!" Boris explained before walking out with his guards in toe. Rain was still apprehensive about working on any chemicals in the presence of others, but he trusted Boris knew what he was doing and he figured he likely wouldn't be working with anything all that volatile so, they should be safe.

"As for you and Jasper," Rain said, turning his attention to Rainbow Dash, "You're going to help Moroz install that second relay, ok?"

"I don't see why we can't go with Rarity instead of Applejack and Belizna!" Jasper grumbled under his breath before turning to leave, but Rainbow just stood there, thinking to herself. "You alright, Sweet-pea?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'll be with you in a second..." RD told Jasper as Fluttershy spoke up.

"Rainstorm?" she asked.

"Yeah?" Rain replied as he returned Huginn's eye to its socket, the organ being pulled the rest of the way in by some unseen force once it came close enough with a quiet yet still audible squelch.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked. Rainstorm thought for a minute before assigning her a task.

"Guess I'm gonna need some morse food now. Take Mángdán and a couple of guards with you to pick some up and a book on morse care if you can find one. After that, you're free for the day as far as I'm concerned," Rain instructed her, to which both she and the old monk nodded yes, before heading off.

"Sure you couldn't use any help in the lab?" asked Starlight.

"From you? Sure, if you can follow my instructions," Rain stated.

"Sure can!" Starlight responded. The two started to head towards the lab when Rainbow spoke up.

"Wait!" she shouted at Rain, who turned to face her. "I...wanted to thank you...for saving Scoots and the others yesterday. We owe you - big time!" Dash said to Rainstorm.

"You don't have to thank me," Rain replied, "I may be many things - many of which aren't so good, but I'm not going to just stand around and let some little kids get eaten, or whatever."

"But still, we all really appreciate what you did. If anything had happened to them, I don't know what any of us would have done..." Dash's voice trailed off as she recalled both the panic she had felt when she'd been told by Spike and the others about Granny Smith's warning when it had arrived the previous day and the relief that had washed over her later that evening when she'd seen Scootaloo unharmed.

"I know what you mean," Rain responded under his breath absent-mindedly.

"Huh?" RD asked, not having quite heard him.

"You're welcome," Rain lied, not wanting to go into his history concerning Morning Dew with anyone else at that time. He and the CMC's had left out what they'd discussed with each other about Morning Dew as well as his facial scars when they'd relayed their experiences in the Everfree Forest the other day. Though he did appreciate that Rainbow and the others seemed genuinely grateful to him, a small part of him still regretted having shared that much about himself with anyone at all. He desperately wanted to avoid going into any further detail about his past if he could. "I may not come cheap, but I don't live my life as a mercenary just for the bits. I protect people, that's all I want to do," he explained.

"You know? You say you're an asshole - and maybe you are - but, I don't think you're all and all that bad of a guy," Rainbow told him with a warm smile. She then turned to leave but Rain stopped her with a question of his own.

"Hey, I couldn't help but notice Applejack's been acting funny all morning. You know what that's about?" Rain asked. Rainbow turned back around and shrugged her shoulders before answering him.

"Don't know. Might have something to do with the lecture Boris gave us yesterday. She said some things that really set him off and he mentioned that you and Shining served under him in the Brick Orchard Conflicts," she said nonchalantly. Rainstorm looked down at the floor, a sad, distant look in his eyes.

"...Yeah...that would do it alright..." he said before turning around and leaving the map room in a hurry, Starlight quickly giving chase after him.

"What the hell was that all about?..." Rainbow said, scratching her head before Jasper called out to her.

"You coming or what, hun?"

"On my way!" RD shouted as she headed out of the map room as the rest of the remaining guards left to begin their patrol of the castle, leaving Trixie alone.

"Guess that leaves the Great and Powerful Trixie with the most important job of all -" she said as she sat down in Twilight's throne and placed her feet on top of the map table, "- guarding the map room against enemy attack!" she said smugly as she folded her arms behind her head and rested her eyes, making herself as comfortable as possible.

Fluttershy and Mángdán, along with two guards were on their way back from Sweet Apple Acres after having bought some morse feed, as well as having checked up on the animal, both of which were being kept at the farm for Rain. "It was so nice of the Apples to not only let Rain's new morse stay at their stable but to give us a bit of a discount on feed," Fluttershy said as she took in the beautiful day.

"Indeed, it was most generous of clan Apple," Mángdán agreed as the two guards walked a short distance behind them, "That morse seems quite pleased with his accommodations, and with the feed they've provided," he added with a warm smile across his face. The two noticed a few weatherponies flying overhead as one pointed in different directions in the sky, seemingly doling out instructions to the others, who then flew off as instructed. "Ah, yes, I nearly forgot. The weather ponies have scheduled a light thunderstorm for later this evening," Mángdán remarked as some of the pegasi began collecting clouds here and there, while others flew new ones in.

"It's supposed to be stormy on and off for the next couple of days if I'm not mistaken," Fluttershy mentioned as the group came upon the train station and noticed an argument happening between an earkin and two griffonesses.

"The fuck's your damn problem, bub!?" snarled the light-brown griffoness who had brilliant, amber eyes, a white head with long, white bangs featuring pinkish-violet tips the same color as the marks around her eyes, and a small, golden-yellow beak, with matching talons. She had on a black choker, short red tank top, a short, black leather jacket, torn, dark blue jeans, and dark-brown, leather, steel-toed boots with an intricate, swirling pattern etched into them.

"Look filly, it's nothing personal, but I don't know you or your friend and even if I did, I don't know where Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, or Pinkie Pie are right now. You can try the castle in the middle of town or Sugarcube Corner. That's all I got and that's all you're getting from me!" said the earkin sternly.

"Why didn't you just say so in the first place instead of getting in our beaks about it!?" angrily asked the brown griffon as she flared up her large wings and her tail quickly darted back and forth in frustration.

"It's fine, Gilda," said the grey griffoness carrying a leather mailbag, who wore a dark-green sweater with black jeans along with white sneakers and black socks. She had turquoise eyes, cyanish-grey cheeks, as well as a white throat and chest, while she had the longer feathers on her head tied in a ponytail behind her head, with light-grey markings across her face. She turned to the earkin and thanked him before noticing the group, "Hey, look!" she eagerly shouted as she tugged at Gilda's arm. Before either of them could say anything further, the two guards took a defensive position to shield Fluttershy and aimed their spears at the two griffons.

"State your business!" one guard shouted at them.

"And don't come any closer, or else!" shouted the other, causing the grey griffoness to back away. Gilda saw this and stood in front of her, glaring at the two guards.

"You threaten Gabby again, and you'll regret it!" she said as she brandished her talons at them, her telescopic claws extending from the tips of her fingertips until reaching nearly over half a foot in length. The guards prepared to charge them when Fluttershy jumped out in between them with her arms held out.

"No! She's my friend!" she yelled at the guards, causing them to exchange concerned looks with one another, before responding.

"How...how do we know it's really your friend though?" one guard asked Fluttershy nervously.

"Just who the hell else would I be!?" Gilda asked incredulously.

"I believe we can trust these young ladies," Mángdán said, directly from behind the two griffonesses.

"The old codger's fast! I know he didn't teleport so, he really had to be booking it to sneak up on us without me noticing it!" thought Gilda as she turned to stare in shock at Mángdán while the guards and Fluttershy looked around confusedly to verify that he was indeed, no longer near them.

"I sense no ill intent from either of them, only concern for their friends," he assured the guards, who nodded and lowered their guard as they offered their apologies.

"Sorry you two, things have been on edge here lately," one of them said addressing Gilda and Gabby.

"We know," Gabby replied, "News about the attack on the Friendship Express reached Griffonstone a few days ago. It's why we're here, to make sure everyone's doing alright."

"Well..." the other guard spoke up, "Their may have been another incident yesterday..." she said as she scrunched up her nose and looked off to the side.

"What!?" Gilda shouted in alarm as Gaby covered her beak in fear, "Where's Rainbow Dash and Pinkie!? Are they alright!? Are -!"

"Easy there. Everypony is safe and unharmed," Mángdán calmly assured them, "Lady Dash is at the castle, assisting in the installation of a communications system, and Lady Pinkie is with the Princess of Friendship and the other Elements of Harmony speaking to the mayor on improving security for the town," he explained.

"What a relief!" Gabby exclaimed as Gilda let out a sigh of relief.

"You say Dash and Pinkie are busy?" Gilda asked Fluttershy, who answered her with a nod yes, "Any idea when they'll be done?"

"It could be some time before either of them have completed their tasks," Mángdán informed her.

"...Then would you mind explaining what's been going on?" Gilda asked the old monk, "My friends were attacked, everyone seems on edge here, and weird shit's been going on around Griffonstone too!"

"Hmm..." Mángdán stroked his chin in contemplation for a moment before responding, "Why don't the two of you head back and inform Master Rainstorm that our task has been completed, then inform him and Lady Dash that we have visitors? I will remain at Lady Fluttershy's side and keep her and her friends safe," Mángdán told the guards, who saluted him before nodding yes and leaving for the castle. Mángdán then turned to the three women with a warm smile and addressed them, "Now the three of you should be free to catch up to your heart's content! Let us fetch something to eat. The two of you must be famished after such a long journey," he advised the Griffonesses. Gilda opened her beak to say something, but as she did so, her stomach let out a loud growl, invoking a slight chuckle from both Gabby and Fluttershy.

"Fine!" Gilda grumbled as she blew some of her feathers out of her face and the four of them walked off to find a restaurant to eat at.

"You want me to agree to what!?" gasped a pale greyish-amber mare dressed in a blue suit with a grey mane, and blue eyes, which looked as wide as dinner plates behind her half-moon spectacles. The large office fell deathly quiet as the shocked, middle-aged mare leaned back into her desk chair, her mouth hanging open. Finally, Twilight broke the awkward silence.

"I know it's asking a lot, Mayor Mare, but given the incident yesterday, I feel it is imperative that we increase the town's defensive capabilities - at once!" Twilight urged her as her four friends and their two bodyguards stood behind her.

"I am confident that we can secure the funding for it from Canterlot and construction would only take a few days," Belizna informed the mayor who by now had closed her mouth and was rubbing the bridge of her nose underneath her glasses.

"That's not the issue here," Mayor Mare replied, "It's one thing for you to have a massive influx of guards at the castle, Twilight, but now you want to build watchtowers all over town and fill them with armed soldiers! A large part of the appeal of a town like Ponyville is the promise of safety - without the need of guards or mercenaries!" she finished before Applejack could interrupt her. The odd bandit attack near Sweet Apple Acres is troubling, but for the most part, is still out of the sight of the general population, and as for the occasional monster attack, they've become almost something of a spectacle. Ponies love to watch the elements of harmony defeat a monster every now and again! But if watchtowers, armed guards, and who knows what else you may want start becoming commonplace on the street, it could invoke panic in the townsponies," she explained.

"Now, darling, nopony here wants to worry the townsponies, but we need this," Rarity tried to reason with the mayor.

"Ponies ain't safe!" AJ exclaimed, "We need ta fortify Ponyville's defenses as much as possible - as soon as possible! My sister and her friends were more or less kidnapped yesterday and would have been killed if it warn't for Rainstorm!" she said, starting to lose her temper. Mayor Mare let out a long sigh as she stood up and walked over to the large window behind her desk to stare over the town before responding.

"...As unfortunate as what happened the other day was, as far as we know, it was an isolated incident. No pony else saw this shapeshifter, and as far as any pony knows, the only one seen riding that morse was somepony matching this Rainstorm's description," she said with her back still turned to them.

"Are you saying that Jasper knocked himself out!?" Belizna growled at the mayor, who didn't seem to care.

"What I'm saying is ‘no pony saw who it was that attacked your friend’. Furthermore, do any of you know anything about this merc?" she then whipped around, walked over to her desk, pulled open a drawer, and pulled out a manila folder, brandishing it in front of them. "Whenever a high-profile individual enters my town, I always endeavor to vet them as best as I can," she said before handing the folder over for Twilight and the others to read. Twilight opened it and the group was immediately hit with a plethora of newspaper clippings, casualty reports, and eyewitness accounts - all involving Rainstorm. "Equestrian mercenaries live by an oath to protect the innocent - or rather, they're supposed to, but if this information is anything to go on than he seems more interested in killing bandits and monsters than protecting life. Over the last few years, he's rarely taken on bounties that didn't fall under 'wanted, dead or alive', he almost never works with others, and he has one of the largest body counts I've ever seen from a freelance merc. Most unsettling of all, however, is his association with the mercenary guild, The Knightreavers, who have been garnering a less than positive reputation as of late."

Chitny and Belizna exchanged nervous glances as Mayor Mare paused to take out a cigarette, lighting it, then taking a few quick puffs on it before continuing, "He's what's referred to as a 'Headhunter' - a merc that prefers to kill instead of protect, and Headhunters have quite a reputation for going rogue. So, maybe before you start heeding his advice, you should do your own research on him, because things may not be what they seem with this mercenary!" she then motioned for them to leave and as they exited the office Twilight was still going over the contents of the folder, an expression of shock, disgust, and rage starting to take shape on her face.

"You alright there, Sugar-cube?" Applejack asked Twilight when she noticed the look on her face.

"I think I need a talk with Rain about this!" she said angrily before stomping off for the exit - AJ, Rarity, and Pinkie chasing close behind her.

"Here we go again!" Spike, Chitny, and Belizna said in unison as the three face-palmed themselves at the same time before heading off after them.

"And...that should do it! Let's see what we got here," Rainstorm said as he and Starlight examined a graph slowly being produced by a large, printer-looking machine, hooked up to a metal barrel with a small, wood-burning furnace underneath it. "Hey you two," Rain addressed the two guards that had been standing watch over them since they'd first entered Twilight's lab, a large room filled to the brim with all manner of magical devices and arcane machinery, "You wanna come take a look at this?" he asked them.

"No thank you, sir. We've been instructed to keep to our posts unless it's an emergency," one guard said, though Rain could tell he was extremely curious about the results of the test on the organic compound he and Huginn had collected from Winona the day before. Their interest in the subject came as no surprise to Rainstorm as they'd mentioned they, along with the other guards patrolling the castle at the moment, had been assigned to guard Doctor Heartstrings at her lab in Canterlot. He knew even if they hadn't been interested in science or the scientific process before being assigned to her, that she would have gotten them hooked on it in no time at all. So, being in much higher spirits than he had been earlier, he decided to give them an excuse to sate their curiosity.

"I order you to come over here and look," he said with a wink. The two guards looked at each other for a second, then smiled before walking over and taking a look at the results of the test.

"Wow..." one guard said as she stared at the readings on the graph paper, "This compound is...unbelievably advanced... We should send a sample to Doctor Heartstrings at once! Err...with your permission, of course, sir," the guard said with a nervous grin.

"We're gonna have to," Rain informed her, "There's no way I can counter this junk."

"What do you mean? I thought you were able to cure that dog the other day?" asked the other guard before he saw the results and realized the issue, "Oh...crud," he said almost under his breath.

"I know, I've never seen a non-magical compound so adaptive before," Rain said as he went over the results in his head again before Boris entered the lab, carrying a medium-sized sack, along with a guard following close behind him carrying a small, wooden crate. "Boris! Able to recover anything?" Rain asked, to which Boris shook his head.

"Barely," he grumbled as the two lab guards hastily saluted him, "Damn thing 'bout timberwolves, their bodies tend ta break down real quick after they kick the bucket. We were able to recover a bit of the core and a few wood and stone fragments, but nothin' else. *sigh* So, you lot have any better luck?" he asked them.

"Depends on your definition of 'luck'," Starlight said as she started going over their findings, "The compound itself seems to definitely be plant-based, and isn't magical in nature, nor does it contain enough traces of magical energy to suggest that it was made using magic - not directly at least. However..."

"It's doubtful it's from a naturally occurring plant," Rain interjected, "Or at least, I hope whatever this stuff comes from isn't very common. Looking at it under a microscope shows that the chemical elements have multiple...snap point structures all over them. This allows them to be combined in such a way that they can mimic virtually any compound you can think of - along with their effects. It can even take on the same appearance and properties as bodily fluids like blood, sweat, and tears..." Rain said, struggling to find the right words to describe what they were dealing with, "It's completely unique to anything I've ever seen before and not only makes it impossible for any immune system to fight them off on its own but means whatever produced them could theoretically mix and match nearly unlimited different mixtures of the compound, resulting in a ton of varying effects," he explained.

"So, what yar sayin' is, not only is the only reason ya were able ta cure that dog the other day was cause whomever - or whatever attacked her didn't feel like killin' her, but that if they hit any of us with a different mixture aimed at killin'..." Boris's voice trailed off as he started running his hand through what little hair he had on his head, prompting Starlight to finish the unnerving train of thought.

"There's nothing anypony can do to cure it. It's impossible to create any kind of antitoxin that can counter it because every toxin generated by this stuff could be the only one of its kind in existence. On top of that, in high enough doses, it seems capable of a high level of magical resistance, which rules out most healing magic," Starlight finished glumly.

"That's why we're sending everything we drum up on this junk to Aunty Vi," Rain informed the others, if anyone can figure out how to deal with this, it would be her!" he exclaimed. He then directed Boris to deposit his sample from the alpha timberwolf into one of the machines in the lab and the guard with the crate to do the same at another device of the same make. "First things first, we need to try to get as much data on any auras that the thing may have encountered prior to our fight. With any luck, it may give us a lead on who or what may have been controlling it, and after that, we can start the chemical analysis, and so on," Rainstorm explained.

"How long ya s'ppose this will take?" Boris asked.

"Hmmm, at least a few hours," Rain grimaced, "Want some lunch while we wait?" he asked.

"Hehe, sounds like an occasion to whip up some of my famous sweet tea!" Boris announced.

"That sounds good, but we may have to make a quick run to the store for the tea itself," Starlight informed him.

"Fine with me! You in?" Boris asked Rain.

"Yeah, I need to get out of the castle anyway," he reasoned. With that, the three of them made for the castle's exit, whereupon leaving they were met by Rainbow Dash and Jasper.

"Wherever it is you're going, please take me with you!" Dash pleaded with them.

"Rough day at the office, so to speak," Jasper explained as he stretched and yawned, "I could actually use a break myself, now that you mention it," he said.

"Take it everything's finished up there?" Boris asked.

"Yep, Moroz gave us the all-clear!" Jasper explained. The group then headed off into town.

Fluttershy had just finished explaining what had transpired over the last few days to Gilda and Gabby as they sat at an outside table along with Mángdán. Gilda seemed to be fuming from the news while Gabby wiped a few tears from her eyes, "T-thank goodness the CMC's are alright," she said, barely able to keep her composure.

"I've heard of this Rainstorm guy before," Gilda told Fluttershy, recalling the stories she'd heard of him, "Griffons are born fighters, so a lot of us decide to either become mercenaries or bandits. I work at a bar in Griffonstone, so I end up hearing stories from both sides, stories about a man dressed all in grey except for the artifact on his arm. One who's said to be a living maelstrom, destroying everything - and everyone - that gets in his way. Scares most people, bandits and mercenaries alike," Gilda explained.

"Well, he can't be that bad!" Gabby exclaimed, "He rescued the CMC's. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Bah, I don't put much stock in merc yarns anyway. Hell, some of the stories I've heard about him say he brought down a whole fort all by himself and that he's some kind of alien or something! Total bullshit!" Gilda huffed.

"Well, actually..." Fluttershy started to interject when Gilda unwittingly cut her off.

"I'm glad you're ok," she said, catching Fluttershy off guard, "I mean, you and Dash and Pinkie that is," she quickly added.

"Well, I'm not sure how well off I'd be if you hadn't given me some pointers on how to fight. Those pugilism lessons you gave me really made a whole world of difference - and not just in my ability to protect myself and my friends, but in my self-confidence too!" Fluttershy said, beaming at Gilda, who turned her head away just enough to avoid direct eye contact.

"Like I said, you're a natural. I just gave you a few pointers here and there to get you started, that's all," she replied, the faintest hint of nervousness audible in her voice.

"The truth is..." Fluttershy spoke up, eager to speak her mind before her nerves got the best of her, "... You've helped give me the last little push I needed to make up my mind! I've decided to pursue my life's dream of starting a one of a kind animal sanctuary!" she spouted out, her face turning slightly red, but only for a short moment. Gilda stared at her, puzzled for a moment, as Gabby and Mángdán exchanged amused looks, very much under the impression that their presence had been mostly - if not completely forgotten. Finally, Gilda responded.

"Sounds awesome! You better not forget to give me a tour of it once you're finished!" Gilda stated, giving Fluttershy a smile of her own, to which Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

"I'm guessing you mean a private tour?" Gabby whispered to Gilda, causing her face to turn deep-red and for her to grab Gabby by the scruff of the neck, who in turn raised her hands in submission.

"This is very cute and all, but why don't you introduce your friends, Fluttershy?" said a drawling voice from out of nowhere. The source of the voice didn't remain a mystery for long as a snaggletoothed man appeared in a flash of light, wearing a long, brown dress coat with golden trimmings with a left shoulder piece made up of bright-blue feathers, a right one made of what appeared to be bat wings, pants that were half green, and half light-brown, as well as a large, elegant, right dress boot, with a black dress slipper on his left foot. Even stranger than his attire though, was his form - brownish-grey skin, white hair tied off in the back with a black ponytail, with a long, white goatee, white, mismatched eyebrows, mismatched yellow eyes with crimson slits for pupils, a twisted horn on the left side of his head and an antler on the right. On top of that, his striking appearance consisted of a long, red, spiky dragon tail, a massive right arm, reminiscent of a lion's paw, while his left arm was that of a griffon's, all topped off with an equine left ear and a gnoll right ear. "Well, now that we've gotten my description out of the way, how about that introduction? I'm Discord, God of Chaos," the draconequus introduced himself with a deep bow.

"Hi there, Discord!" Fluttershy cheerfully greeted him, "This is Gilda, Gabby, and my bodyguard, Mángdán Kàndào Duō." Mángdán gave a polite bow, seemingly unfazed by the god of chaos's sudden appearance, while Gabby managed a cheerful wave, Gilda looked daggers at him.

"So you're Discord?" she asked him, "Probably one of the most powerful beings in all of Equestria, right?"

"Please...I'm the most powerful being on the entire planet," Discord said, feigning a modest tone of voice in spite of the nature of the boast.

"Then you mind explaining what you're doing here, and not out there trying to find the assholes that attacked Fluttershy and the others!?" Gilda asked with a snarl.

"I don't think I like your tone..." he said, his voice turning into a venomous hiss as a malicious smile crept onto his face and he readied his fingers to snap, before Fluttershy put one hand over his, seeking to lower it.

"Now, Discord, she's just upset about what happened to the others and me. Try to be patient with her and explain," she said calmly, trying to defuse the situation. Discord let out an annoyed sigh and began to explain.

"Fine. In all honesty, I was prepared to seek out and destroy those hooligans, but Celestia asked me not to. I am under strict orders not to overexert my chaos magic except during an emergency. I'm apparently more of a 'weapon of last resort'," Discord said with a disgusted expression while doing air quotes. "I for one am just as annoyed with this as anypony else!"

"I say, screw what some princess says!" Gilda shouted, "We oughta go out there and teach those bastards a lesson right now - and to Hell with what some politician tells you or anyone else to do!"

"Ohhhhh, I may have misjudged you!" Discord gleefully chortled, "Now you're talking my language!" Discord exclaimed as, with a snap of his fingers, Gilda found herself decked out in top-of-the-line armor and holding a massive flamethrower.

"Oh, I like the way you think..." Gilda said with a wicked glint in her eyes.

"Righto! Welp, we will be back in a few!" Discord said as he was about to snap his fingers again, but Fluttershy stopped them.

"No!" she said firmly, "Discord, you promised Celestia you wouldn't use your magic for combat unless she asked you to! And you -" she said turning to Gilda, "- I know it may not seem like it, but I know Celestia has her reasons for not letting Discord fight right now. I'm not asking either of you to trust her, just trust me, please?" she asked the two of them, to which they begrudgingly relented and Discord snapped away Gilda's new equipment.

"Does anyone know where Rainstorm is?" Gabby asked, in part hoping to change the subject and avoid any further trouble, "I'd like to thank him for saving the Cutie Mark Crusaders." Discord rolled his eyes and offered to help.

"I'll find this Rainpuddle for you -".

"Rainstorm," Fluttershy corrected him.

"- Whatever. I'll find him for you. I can at least do that without Sunbutt’s permission, can't I?" Discord said irritably before disappearing in a flash of light, not having noticed Mángdán's attempts to stop him.

"I fear that may prove to be a grave error, Lady Fluttershy!" Mángdán exclaimed as he stood up to leave, "It would be most wise of us to try to find them as quickly as possible!"

Rain, Starlight, and the rest of their group stood in the tea shop, looking through the varying teas and tea accessories while waiting for the shopkeeper to gather the ingredients Boris needed for his Sweet tea. Rain was staring at a teapot designed to somewhat resemble a chilli pepper and chuckled as he thought to himself, "Marcos would get a kick out of this. It's just like the one he told me his Abuelita used to own...". The shopkeeper came out from the back of the shop and handed the last of the ingredients to Boris when she saw something that caused her to let out an annoyed groan.

"Not him again!..." she said as she audibly face-palmed. Rain turned around to see what was the matter and found himself face to face with Discord.

"You seem familiar! Have we met before, perchance?" Discord asked Rainstorm. Just outside, Mángdán was rushing toward the tea shop with Fluttershy, Gabby, and Gilda right behind him.

"I believe I sensed Rainstorm's chi coming from here, but I fear we may be too late!" he warned the others.

"Too late? What do you- !" Gabby was cut off by a cacophony erupting from the tea shop as Discord quickly slithered like a snake from out of the shop with Rainstorm in hot pursuit, firing his shotgun at him.

"You son of a bitch!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as he took several more shots at Discord, before the draconequus slithered up behind Fluttershy, cowering.

"He's mad I tell you, mad -and not in a good way!" Discord exclaimed as Rain tried to line up a clean shot, but was unwilling to risk hitting anyone else.

"Oh, I'm mad alright! You have any idea what that fucker's done!?" he furiously asked a shocked Fluttershy.

"Discord, what did you do this time?" Fluttershy asked sternly.

"I swear, I really haven't done anything this time!" Discord said earnestly.

"He's telling the truth!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she and the others rushed out to try to put an end to the situation.

"Yeah, Discord just poofed in and Rainstorm started firing at him!" Starlight explained.

"Sorry, I let Celestia stop me from smashing that monster into pieces after you turned him back to stone, and it nearly cost us all. I won't give it the chance to hurt anyone else! Now, move!" he instructed Fluttershy, who stood her ground unblinkingly.

"No! I know Discord made a lot of mistakes in the past, but he's learned his lesson and he's my friend!" Fluttershy said sternly, "Whatever he's done, I know we can make things right."

"Whatever he's done!?" Rain asked incredulously, "High treason, conspiracy to commit high treason, numerous acts of terrorism - oh, and before I forget, murder!"

"Now hold on just a minute, buster!" Discord said angrily, "I've done plenty of messed up things, but not once in my nearly two thousand years of living have I ever taken anypony’s life, and I for one, take great offense to such an accusation!" Discord proclaimed.

"Fine, accessory to murder. Close enough!" Rain said as he started walking closer to Discord.

"Whose!?" Discord asked incredulously.

"Mine!" Rain snarled just as he was about to take another shot at Discord, but before he could pull the trigger, the middle portion of the shotgun violently ruptured, the force of it knocking what was left of the weapon out of the mercenary's hands and knocking him to the ground. He growled in pain as his left pinky and ring finger were bent backward from the force of the shotgun being knocked out of his hands, dislocating them. He looked around to see the source of the attack and found Twilight standing nearby, her horn glowing and a look of pure rage on her face.

"You ever aim another weapon at any of my friends - even Discord - ever again, I'll break every bone in your body!" Twilight shouted at him. Rain, not once looking away from Twilight, slowly stood back up as he forcibly popped the joints in his fingers back into place, seething with anger the whole time.

"The fact that you're willing to defend that traitor and even call it a friend, is proof you're still not fit to call yourself a Princess of Equestria - wings or no," Rain hissed at her.

"Coming from a Headhunter, I'll take that as a compliment!" Twilight barked at him.

"I want to put down a monster that ninety-nine percent of the country wants to see turned back to stone and left that way forever, and that makes me a Headhunter?" Rain asked, nearly bursting out into laughter as he did so. By now a crowd of onlookers had started to form around the spectacle as it unfolded, including Lyra and Bon Bon.

"Oh, shit. What are they getting into it over this time?" Lyra thought to herself as she and Bon Bon gently but quickly pushed their way through the crowd to get a better idea of the situation.

"I've seen the reports of what you've done, Rainstorm!" Twilight shouted at him again, "It's well documented that you don't take prisoners and you're well known for doing whatever it takes to complete a job - even if it means torturing ponies! You never show mercy and you never give second chances, that is inexcusable!" she scolded him.

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe pieces of shit like Discord don't deserve second chances - oh, I'm sorry - fourth chances? That's what this is you know? His fourth chance," he said looking around at everyone there. "His second chance was when he broke free a few years back and turned this whole damn town into a chaotic hellscape! Does anyone here remember how his third chance went?" he asked before continuing, "Here, let me remind you. Celestia ordered this walking cum stain to hunt down and defeat a certain centaur by the name of Lord Tirek," Rain shouted.

"We know, we all know Discord betrayed us, but if it weren't for Discord, we never would have beaten Tirek, or unlocked the power of the Tree of Harmony," Twilight said in defense of Discord.

"Oh, wake up princess!" Rain yelled, "The only reason Discord came back to our side, was because Tirek took all his power away and he had no choice but to go back to pretending to be our friend - and yes, that's all it is, is an act!"

"How do you know? You've never met him before!" Twilight yelled at him and to her surprise, Rain started to laugh.

"Shining never told you about the invasion of Canterlot, when Discord and Tirek attacked, did he?" he asked Twilight. Though her brother had indeed mentioned he had fought Tirek and Discord at Canterlot that day, he hadn't seemed too keen on going into detail about it. "I'll tell you what happened," Rain said to Twilight, "I was making my way back from my old room at Canterlot Palace - seeing if there was anything there I could use to help try to fend off those two when I hear a commotion outside. I'm thinking to myself, 'shit, it's go time', and I head out across the bridge just in time to see Tirek and Discord standing over Shining and a few of his soldiers, laughing it up. Tirek then turns to me and asks, 'Who’s this whelp?', you're buddy over there -" Rain gestured toward Discord who looked around nervously, clearly uncomfortable with where the story was headed. "- says to him, 'Oh, he's nopony, he doesn't even have any magic!', which I take about as well as you'd expect," Rain said as he went on to recall the brief fight with the two villains.

"They beat you. So, what?" Twilight asked irritably.

"But they didn't stop there," Rain said, "After Tirek beat the shit out of me, he picks me up - keep in mind by now, he's absorbed enough magic to grow big enough to where his hand is as big as my whole torso and waist so, he holds me in his fist and tries to suck any magic out of me that he can, and to absolutely no one's shock, he gets nothing out of me. I then tell him to go fuck himself and he notices Shining trying to get to me. He has his little lapdog hold your brother down and makes him watch, as, with one squeeze of his fist he crushes me!" Rain shouted at Twilight. "I don't mean he just breaks my bones either, I mean I get a mouth full of my own guts - well, the ones that don't go flying out the other end - and then he flings me over the bridge, and that should have been the end of me," Rain said, his voice shaking with anger, "I don't remember how I survived - let alone got patched up from...that, but what I do remember is the look of heartbreak on my best friend's face as someone he trusted forced him to watch his best friend die in about the worst way you can!" Rain shouted as he turned to face Discord.

"W-well, you see, I -!" Discord attempted to speak but was cut off by Rainstorm as he erupted into another tirade, this time directed directly at the god of chaos.

"Do you know what that's like!? To watch someone you call a brother as they desperately try to help you and you both know that there's no hope, that you're both going to die and the only one who can save you - the one person who you trusted to prevent it from coming down to that, to begin with - is the one responsible for making it all possible in the first place? Do you!?" he asked Discord furiously. Discord was about to try to speak again, when Rain continued, "And yes, Shining did trust you, he swore up and down that he had faith in you, that you would stop Tirek and save us all, because he believed that you were a 'true friend', and now he gets to live with that for the rest of his life, just like how I get to live with the memory of that pain and the taste of all of my bodily fluids in my mouth, thanks to you!" He shouted at Discord.

"If that were true, you wouldn't be here right now!" Twilight shouted at Rain, "I've never heard of any magic that can heal damage on that scale, and no pony has ever once told me about this so, where's your proof!?" Twilight demanded.

"Sorry, Your Highness, I forgot to take pictures while I was busy going into shock," Rain spouted off at her, "But trust me, every bit of it happened!"

"Trust you!?" Twilight shouted, almost laughing herself now, "According to this, you attacked your own mercenary guild - which is why they threw you out - and tortured the leader of the raiders at Fort Jagged to death! Sorry, but nothing anypony could ever do could ever justify torture and you clearly have no issues about betraying your allies so, why should I trust anything you have to say!?"

"And you're the poster child for 'trust' and reliability now!? Don't make me laugh!" Rain scoffed at Twilight as the storm clouds that had been gathered throughout the day finally filled the sky enough for the weather team to begin the first of the day's scheduled storms as the first few raindrops started to fall.

"What makes you say that!?" Twilight yelled at Rainstorm.

"Oh, gee, I don't know..." he snapped at her sarcastically as he pointed to his balaclava.

"Ha!" Twilight laughed in disbelief, "That's it? A few minor potion burns that faded away ages ago? Burns that would have never happened if 'mister I'm-so-good-at-witchcraft-that-I-can-create-a-familiar-all-by-my-self', hadn't been so desperate to try to show me up, that he risked everypony's life just to prove a point - before the exam was even due to start I might add! Then you went and broke Celestia's heart by running away instead of just admitting that you couldn't do it yourself and that you should have just waited for me to get there and do it together!" Twilight snapped, she then noticed the look in Rainstorm's eyes and for a brief second, felt a deep pang of primal fear. Rain looked as though he was about to leap at Twilight and strangle the life out of her, and Discord could swear he felt a tingle run down his spine as if a sudden flux of magic had occurred, though he couldn't tell from where it was coming from, it felt vaguely familiar. Rain glared at Twilight for a solid minute before responding.

"A few 'minor burns'? That's what you call this?" his voice was a quiet, terrifying rumble, but only for a few moments before he erupted louder than ever as he tossed his hat aside, "Here's what the Princess of Friendship calls 'a few minor burns'! Come take a look everyone!" he shouted as he pulled off his balaclava. Twilight had to force herself not to scream, but several onlookers did as he slowly turned around so everybody there could get a good look at his face, "Take a look everyone! This happened because Twilight thought a better use of her time than helping me out after she promised she would, was to read a fucking book!" he proclaimed. Everything on his face below the tip of his nose, all the way down to his throat and his collarbone, was hideously disfigured. The pale flesh looked as if it had liquefied, bubbled, then re-solidified, leaving numerous pockmarks and divots all over. His mouth was little more than a gash, his chin seemed misshapen, and his right cheek was vagally transparent, allowing one to just barely make out the teeth within his mouth. Even the flesh around his left external jugular vein seemed to have molded itself around the blood vessel in such a way, that one could easily insert a finger behind it and out the other side.

"Still think this is 'minor'!?" he snarled at her before turning around to see Discord had vanished. Rain let out an angry howl and stormed off to the castle, not having even noticed the stunned expression on Twilight's face.

"Alright, alright, break it up - show's over!" Boris shouted at the onlookers and they began disbanding. He then turned to growl at Twilight, "Ya two just can't help yarselves, can ya? Neither of ya can think ahead for five seconds before openin' yar mouths, huh?" he whispered angrily to Twilight, before heading off to the castle.

"Twilight!" Lyra called out to Twilight, having finally gotten through the crowd, "I... I knew about the exam, and that he got hurt, but...that badly?" she asked Twilight, who shook her head no.

"I... I was never told it was that bad... I always thought he just received minor injuries..." she replied in a hushed tone.

"Is what he said true? Did you skip out on the potion exam over a book?" Lyra asked in disbelief.

"A teacher handed me a new book that I'd been waiting for, for more than a month, a whole week before it was supposed to come out. He let me use an empty classroom and said that the test had been moved back by an hour so, I had plenty of time to read it and make it to the exam..." Twilight said as tears started to fall from her eyes. She then teleported away before Lyra could stop her.

"I'll go get her," Spike said, "I know exactly where she'd go at a time like this."

"I'll go with you sweet-pea, "Jasper said as the two of them headed off, "You head back to the castle, Dash!" he shouted back at RD.

"I was headed that way anyway!" she called back before speeding off, grabbing Rain's hat along the way.

"...We sure picked a heck of a time to visit..." Gabby said to Gilda, neither of whom had been any more prepared for the day's events than anyone else there.

Chapter 7: Finished