Copper Warhawk

Chapters

Prologue: The War
Chapter One: Found
Chapter Two: Reunited
Chapter Three: A Tyrant's Demise
Chapter Four: Old Friends, New Rivals
Epilogue: The End of a Lineage

Prologue: The War

-Crystal Fields, The Crystal Empire-

Wolf Heart stood, a menacing glare spreading across her face as she stood alongside several other armed soldiers. The armor was heavy, but the death toll was growing heavier.

Months ago, Princess Celestia declared war with King Sombra with the hopes of throwing him off of the throne of the Crystal Empire. And while she had amassed a decently sized army to combat him, Sombra's own soldiers far outnumbered hers. Brainwashed crystal residents made Shadow Troopers killed without mercy, and their numbers were far from small.

Gazing up, Wolf Heart's expression grew slightly fearful at the sight of the advancing droves of heavily armored enemy soldiers.

"Let's make these fuckers bleed," Dapper Alan Jolt's voice declared, drawing Wolf's attention towards the Wonderbolt in training. The pegasi's attention was locked onto the soldiers, a glare that the winged unicorn rarely witnessed from him spread across his face.

Wolf Heart's expression transitioned to a mixture of admiration and pride at seeing his face. Dapper Jolt may have typically been an upbeat and joyous equine, but it never failed to impress her when he grew serious to the point of menacing.

"Okay, we need to come up with a plan," a golden feathered pegasus said as he stepped forward, interrupting her thoughts. "We can't just rush in horns blazing and wing-blades glittering, we'll get annihilated," Falcon Wing pointed out, circling around and facing the group before him.

Dapper Jolt nodded in agreement, Jackpot Ace joining in his motions as Abacus Oak furrowed a brow and Cipher Cloud looked on with slight fear lacing his expression. "Well, you're the brains of this operation, Falcon. What is the plan?" Wolf Heart acknowledged.

Falcon Wing contemplated for a moment, a hoof to his chin in thought before his face lit up and his ears flicked to attention. "All of you who have wings, use 'em. Dapper, Wolf, you two take off and do what you can above the field to cover us. I'll follow you up there. Jackpot, Abacus, Cipher. You three will do what you can to flank the Shadow Troopers, okay?" the pegasus explained, gesturing towards the sides of the advancing wall of crystal slaves.

Cipher Cloud lifted a hoof above his brow, clicking his heels whilst Abacus and Jackpot nodded in understanding.

"We have the rest of Celestia's army behind us, and Rainbow Dash will lead an air squadron, but we need to hold the Troopers off and get them corralled into surrender. If we can pull them out entirely, Celestia can take Sombra," he stated. "Do we all understand the plan?"

The rest of the group nodded.

"Good, then let's go."

With that, Dapper Jolt turned slightly to face Wolf Heart with a look of doubt spread across his face.

"Let's go," Wolf said, beating her wings and hovering a few feet off of the ground as the Troopers approached.

The blue-eyed pegasus obliged, flapping his own wings and following Wolf Heart up above Sombra's army. Soon enough, Falcon Wing was not far behind.

-Moments Later-

Dapper Jolt ushered a loud battle cry as he plowed through a small group of Shadow Troopers, the iron plating his wings clanging off of their armor and knocking them over as he skidded to the ground, throwing a hoof at one's hidden face and indenting the metal. Steam erupted from the helm as Jolt threw his wing forward, one of his longer wing-blades rocketing towards the equine and impaling its throat with a spurt of blood.

"Wolf!" Dapper jolt hollered whilst she twirled and bucked another in the chest, the crack of ribs audible as it fell.

Whipping around, Wolf Heart caught a long blade as Dapper threw it to her, where she turned and buried his blade in the soldier's collar. Ripping it back out, the winged unicorn let a crackling blue and violet aura envelope her horn, where she telekinetically threw another soldier away and threw the blade at an advancing equine.

The difference in how Dapper and Wolf fought was all too apparent as they dueled respective Troopers. Dapper Jolt fought largely through brute force, throwing punches and kicks at his foes while wielding a magically loaded blunderbuss in his hoof. His methods were unorthodox but clunky and slightly cumbersome. On the other hoof, Wolf Heart fought viciously but with elegance, using her wings multiple times each minute to gracefully dodge around enemy attacks before launching her own offensive.

As the two fought, a thunderous roar echoed out above the battlefield, causing most around to pause momentarily to see a massive dragon with a large skull caped by two long horns that curved forward like sickles. The beast was black as night, its eyes pulsing a fiery orange as it alighted upon the battlefield and snapped up several soldiers, Celestia's and Sombra's alike, in its interlocking jaws.

"Pitch," Dapper Jolt muttered with shock as flames licked up from the dragon's eyes. Dying screams were audible as the Dragon Lord approached the now visible form of King Sombra and dipped his head slightly.

Wolf Heart's expression was no less fearful, her jaw lowered as she held a Trooper in a headlock with a blade to its throat. "Who in the name of Celestia is that?" she asked her friend, aware of Dapper Jolt's knowledge of all the different dragon lords that resided in the Badlands.

"It's Pitch," Dapper said with panic audible on his tone. "He's about as merciless as they come and I don't think he's on our side," the stallion explained before the realization came to him. "We can't win this," Dapper muttered, shifting his gaze up to Falcon, who was dueling with a pair of Shadow Troopers. "Falcon! We have to fall back!" he shouted to his friend over the clang of metal against metal and the sounds of battle.

"No kidding!" the pegasus stallion barked back with a grunt as he kicked a soldier away. "Fall back! Everypony, fall back!" he hollered, tracing his hoofsteps backward towards the rim of the Crystal Fields.

As the others acknowledged, Dapper Jolt frantically scanned his surroundings, noticing that one pony, in particular, was missing. "Where's Cipher?" he asked, searching the area. "Where's Cipher?!" he repeated loudly as Pitch swooped over the battlefield with a roar, a ball of flame erupting from his maw.

The stallion didn't notice as he beat his wings and flew a few feet above the field, searching for the younger pegasus that was his oldest friend.

Finally, he spotted him, pinned under a Trooper who had a spear looming over his heart. Frantically, Dapper Jolt dove towards the struggling duo, teeth clenched. As he rocketed towards them, a tear flew from Dapper's cheek, worry having burrowed its way into his mind almost instantly. Before he was able to reach the two, the pegasus saw what he feared most.

The Shadow Trooper laughed demonically before plunging the spear into Cipher Cloud's heart, eliciting an agonized scream from the younger pegasus.

Dapper Jolt stopped mid-air, his jaw lowered in disbelief. "No," he muttered, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut.

Wolf Heart looked up upon hearing the scream, ushering a shocked gasp and lifting a hoof over her muzzle at seeing the spear buried in Cipher's chest. The mare paused, her brows furrowed sadly before she heard a war cry and saw Dapper Jolt hurling towards the dark soldier that stood above their friend. Through the chaos, Wolf Heart could only briefly see the pegasus heave an ax off of the battlefield and swing the heavy weapon at his foe's neck with full force.

The mare forced herself to look away just as the Shadow Trooper's head was freed from its shoulders.

Dapper Jolt heaved for breath, blood spattering his armor as he skidded to Cipher Cloud's side, seeing his friend struggling to hang onto what thread of life was still raveled to his pierced heart.

"Am... Am I g-going to... die?" Cipher choked as Dapper slowly reached for the shaft of the spear.

"No... you're not," the pegasus stallion acknowledged, choking back tears before he pulled away. Removing the spear was going to kill him, leaving it there was going to kill him... There was nothing that Dapper could do in the situation.

Leaning back, Dapper Jolt ran a hoof through his mane and clenched his teeth as Cipher Cloud struggled to breathe, his eyelids dropping slightly. "D-dude," the young soldier gasped, lifting a weak hoof. "H...high hoof?"

At this, Dapper broke, lifting his own hoof and gently pressing it against his friend's.

"Peace," Cipher whispered as his breath heaved for the last time and his hoof fell to his side, head flopping aside as the normal, energetic light in his brown eyes faded away.

Dapper Jolt's eyes watered as he gazed down sorrowfully, grasping the handle of the spear before removing it from his friend's lifeless chest. Reaching down, he gently closed Cipher's eyes, sadness slowly making way for anger as he shook. Slowly, the pegasus shifted his view towards King Sombra's location, tears slithering down his cheeks as his brows furrowed into a fierce glare.

Wolf Heart watched on wordlessly, her muscles frozen with fear before she felt a strong arm gently push her back. "N-no... We have to go back," she retorted, pushing against Abacus Oak and Jackpot Ace slightly as they held her. "We have to go back!!" the mare suddenly shouted, forcing her way past the two before seeing a blue and white shape hurling towards King Sombra whilst the tyrant gazed over the battlefield. "NO! Dapper!" she screamed out to the shape as her friends pulled her back. "Let go of me! He's going to get himself killed!!" she demanded.

"Wolf Heart!" Abacus barked, placing a hoof against her chest before lowering his voice. "He's made his decision."

Wolf couldn't believe what she was hearing and paused, staring over at the earth stallion with bewilderment. "He would go back for you!" she shouted in his face suddenly before telekinetically shoving him aside and racing towards Dapper Jolt, seeing that King Sombra was already swinging a large, aerenth-bladed scythe at her friend.

Before the winged unicorn could respond, a large set of claws wrapped around her. Pitch belted, laughing bestially before he pinned her to the ground. "Ah, so the pegasus is your friend?" he growled slyly. "Then why don't we watch him die together, shall we?" Pitch snarled, grabbing her head and forcing it up to where Wolf Heart could see Sombra and Dapper.

"N-no!" Wolf shouted, tears staining her cheeks as she struggled against the massive black drake, but to little success. Her struggling ceased almost as soon as it started when the mare watched Sombra's scythe make its mark, slicing through Dapper Jolt's left wing and leg like it was butter, a shower of blood raining down as his wing fell to the ground and his forelimb rolled a short distance away.

She could hear King Sombra's demonic laugh as Dapper's lifeless body collapsed with a dull thud.

"No," Wolf Heart whimpered, her lip trembling as tears ran down her cheeks.

Pitch roared with malevolent laughter as he pressed her head against the dirt, smoke rising from his nostrils before Wolf Heart's vision blacked out.

Chapter One: Found

-Ponyville-

Wolf Marie Heart looked solemnly forward, gaze unfocused and expression blank as she took a swig of her apple cider. Setting down the mug, the winged unicorn grimaced as she felt the drink run down her throat. She heard thunder echo through the air, the lights in the saloon flickering as a flash of light was visible through a near window. Setting down the large flagon of ale, Wolf Heart tossed a couple of bits from her satchel onto the counter before she slowly moved from the bar and rose to her hooves. The sound of conversation from the restaurant's other customers filtered into her ears as she adjusted her metal-plated wings.

As she moved towards the exit, Wolf paused, listening in on one pair's conversation in particular and flicking an ear to attention.

"Strong pegasus, blue mane, mustache. Looks like he came straight from the Crystal War," one equine said in a low voice, eliciting Wolf Heart to cock her brow curiously as she swiveled her head slightly.

"I thought that he did come straight from the Crystal War?" the other queried in a tone only slightly louder than a whisper.

The other scoffed. "Doesn't matter where he came from, guy's wanted and the bounty on his head would be more than enough to set us both free from this Hell on Equus," he grunted, bearing a slight accent, "if we can get there before anypony else. But I heard Shock was last seen in the-"

He was cut off by Wolf Heart's approach to the booth that the duo sat at, where she placed her hooves on the table with a firm expression. "Go on," she ordered the stallion, her emerald green irises taking up a minute glow as she leered at him.

"Eh, fuck off," the stallion retorted gruffly, lifting a jug of ale and taking a large gulp of the alcoholic substance.

Wolf Heart dipped her head with a sarcastic smile, ushering a deep, unamused sigh. "Let's not be hasty, Sir. All I want... is to know what it is you had to say. I think you very much underestimate that whom you seek," she explained in a discourteous manner, pulling a chair away from the closest table and taking a seat at the booth.

The stallion squinted with disbelief. "No, I don't think I do, Sweetheart. Now vacate," he growled, slowly rising from the booth and standing over her.

Wolf Heart leered up at the stallion before, with a burst of speed, she leaped to her hooves, leaned back momentarily, and grabbed his hoof. As she did so, the mare pulled it back, firmly planted her other hoof between his shoulders, and threw him down, acquainting his face with the booth table, drawing the majority of the saloon's attention to that corner of the room.

He shouted in pain whilst his ally lurched back, pressing his back to the wall with a startled expression.

"I... am not your sweetheart. Now tell me where Shock is," Wolf Heart growled in his ear, twisting his arm behind his back and eliciting a pained yelp from the stallion.

"F-fuck off, I said," he spluttered in response, sucking air in through his teeth.

With an enraged expression, Wolf Heart revealed one of her wing blades and buried it into the wood of the table mere inches from his face, a dull thud sounding off as she did so. "Tell... me," she whispered slowly, and with menace, planting a hoof against his skull and allowing her horn to take up a slight glow.

"Alright, alright!" the stallion finally caved with a grimace. "He was last seen in the Everfree! That's all I know!" he explained.

Wolf Heart didn't release him, but simply removed the steel blade from the table and lifted it in front of his face.

"I swear, that's all I know!!" he shouted in a pleading manner, lifting a free hoof in meek defense.

The mare glared down a moment longer before haphazardly releasing him, turning to walk away.

She was stopped by a voice. "What is it that you want with Shock?" the stallion's buddy queried, approaching her from behind. "Most might think you foolish for going out unprepared," he explained.

Wolf Heart turned her head slightly. "I am prepared," she acknowledged flatly before leaving the saloon.

-The Everfree Forest, Hours Later-

Wolf Heart slowly trotted forward, scanning her surroundings whilst she moved down the overgrown path. It had been some years since anypony had traversed the Everfree, not since the Crystal War, in fact. It was rumored that it had been overtaken by King Sombra's dark magic, and since that point, most who wandered into the forest were considered delusional or mad.

Exactly why Steam Shock must be here, Wolf Heart thought to herself as she studied the path, noticing the none too clear shape of studded hoofprints moving down the roadway as she slowed her pace to a walk. There was something off about the prints though, she noticed. There were only three different hooves going down the path, with a strange, triangular imprint moving along with them, and the spacing between each track was slightly off, indicating a limp.

Wolf Heart cocked a confused brow and studied the track before shifting her gaze up and swiveling her head. "Where are you, Dapper," she whispered to herself, furrowing her brows into a solemn expression as a frown touched her lips.

Wolf ushered a soft sigh and dipped her head, having long since come to terms with her best friend's sudden disappearance during the Crystal War. There was a time when she'd had hope and held onto that hope, that he was still alive, but as the years wore on, with no word of him, Wolf Heart had begun to think that the lost soldier was gone, taken prisoner or killed by King Sombra's crystal soldiers.

But after having received word on multiple occasions in the past year of his survival, that hope of said survival was rekindled... Maybe, just maybe, Dapper Alan Jolt was still alive.

Inhaling, the winged unicorn pushed forward, the former rain and thunder now nothing more than a light drizzle, though larger drops that collected on leaves still fell from the unattended trees, sometimes in droves. Wolf Heart grimaced as her thoughts wandered... She'd seen things in the Crystal War, things that no normal pony would ever hope to see in their lifetime. She'd seen bloodshed, and she'd been forced to watch the death of dozens...

Wolf paused, her heart pounding in her ears and breath coming heavy as her vision blurred slightly. Choking back tears, Wolf Heart squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth, leaning back on her haunches.

So lost in sorrow, was she, that the mare was oblivious to the sound of wingbeats above her head before they transitioned into a dull thud.

Snapping her head up at the sound of mechanical clicks and the grinding of gears, Wolf Heart's line of sight was greeted with a tall, blue-eyed stallion whose mane swept forward. Though her eyes still watered, she could clearly see that he only bore three legs, though he walked on four limbs. It took her a moment, however, to realize that one of those four limbs was comprised of a prosthetic, metal left wing that he had his weight leaning on.

"Hello, Wolf Heart," the stallion said with a slight smile crossing his mustached face as he limped towards her, mechanical parts whining in slight protest of his movements.

Wolf's jaw lowered an inch before she rubbed her eyes with the back of a hoof. Looking to the stallion, she could almost instantly recognize him by his messy blue mane, which was tinted with multiple shades, white fur, and eyes... The eyes, they were a deep ocean blue that withheld a sense of calm. They were his eyes.

“Dapper?" Wolf Heart choked as he paused, standing only about a foot from her. Hesitantly, she lifted a hoof, where the pegasus stallion closed his eyes and gently leaned into her touch. At this, Wolf broke down, lowering her hoof with a sob. Her friend, her best friend, the one who always stood by her side in times of hardship, always worked to make sure she was content... He was alive...

But even so, there was an air about Steam Shock that was different, not only in his new prosthesis, which seemed hardly practical but his stance. He wasn't full of the energy that made him such a joy to be around years ago, and though he approached her with a kind smile and gentle motion, the mare felt almost deterred by his presence.

As she cried, the stallion furrowed a brow and leaned forward, gently moving to pull Wolf into a hug with his arm while he supported his weight on his wing. Whilst he did so though, she leaned away and shook her head, unable to speak as she rose to her hooves.

Shock paused, lowering his arm and looking down with a frown, furrowing his brows in visible confusion.

"You lied," Wolf Heart finally muttered, taking a step back as she shifted her gaze up and looked into his slightly bloodshot eyes with visible sorrow. "You lied to Falcon, to Jackpot, to Oak," she said, tears running down her cheeks. "You lied to... to me."

The stallion sighed. "Wolf, I... I didn't have any choice-"

At the words, Wolf Heart's eyes blazed. "You didn't have a choice?! What choice did you not have, Shock?! You abandoned your friends, you made us think you were dead, and for what, exactly?!" the mare chastised, throwing a hoof up in despair as she glared up at him, her voice shaking. "I loved you, and as a way to pay me back for the love that I showed you, you went and broke my heart."

The pegasus stallion's lip shuddered slightly, a tear touching the corner of his eye as he took a step back. “I’m sorry,” Steam muttered, lowering his gaze.

Hearing this, Wolf Heart shifted to a neutral stance before her brows furrowed with sadness. "But why?"

"My fucked up, post-traumatic mind thought it better that way," he finally muttered in response.

The winged unicorn sighed and transitioned her gaze to his prosthesis, which was little more than a rusted mess of copper plating and imitation feathers that was uncomfortably strapped to the stub of his shoulder. Looking up at his face, the mare could see just how messy his mustache and dirty his cheeks were. “Seven years without me and you look like a wreck,” she whispered with a flat, humorless smile, shaking her head.

“Is that it?” the pegasus responded with audible shock in his tone. “Holy shit, it’s felt like decades,” Steam snorted before he was interrupted by a lowly growl from the underbrush.

Both he and Wolf Heart snapped their heads to face the direction of the sound. “Timberwolves,” he muttered with a glare as he slowly limped forward, putting himself between the noise and Wolf Heart. With that, he slowly shifted a single wing-blade out of his organic wing.

“Do you still know how to even use wing-blades?” Wolf Heart whispered.

“My friend, it may have been a long time, but even you couldn’t forget in that amount of time… It’s like riding a scooter,” Steam said quietly, not shifting his gaze away from the undergrowth.

“Except it’s not a scooter, it’s a weapon,” Wolf retorted.

Before Steam could respond, a large, brown and grey shape with glowing green eyes leaped from the forest growth, snarling loudly as it landed on top of the stallion before he was given an opportunity to react. The pegasus yelped in shock, lifting his prosthetic wing in defense as the Timberwolf snarled, clamping its jaws down on the metal bones of the wing and pinning him beneath its weight. Wooden jaws creaked with the strain as Steam struggled against the large creature, teeth clenched as he swung his blade at the beast’s chest.

The metal edge embedded itself in the bark, but bore little fruit in deterring his attacker.

Wolf Heart, after recovering from the initial shock, revealed her own wing-blades and studied the situation momentarily before she lunged towards the struggling duo, throwing her wings so that the blades shot forward and buried themselves deep in the Timberwolf’s hide, drawing out a series of pained yelps from the beast as it released its prey and backed away. Whining, it rubbed its bark-like hide against a tree, where Wolf’s wing-blades fell to the ground with a clatter.

With a pitiful whine, the Timberwolf slunk away, its tail between its legs and ears flat as small shards of wood fell from its wounds.

Wolf Heart glared over in the direction that the creature went for a moment before turning towards Steam and holding out a hoof for him. “The great Dapper Alan Jolt… killed and eaten by a wood dog. Not very inspiring, Shock,” she said as she hoisted him up.

The stallion grimaced and stumbled for a moment, rolling his good shoulder. “Thanks… Nobody needs to know that this happened though, okay? When you get back to Pony-”

“When I get back to Ponyville? You’re coming with me,” Wolf Heart said with a confused expression.

The pegasi’s expression grew considerably downtrodden as he looked into his friend’s emerald green eyes. “No… I’m sorry, Wolfie… I’m not coming with you. There’s a price on my head for starters and secondly…” He trailed off.

Wolf Heart frowned. “Steam… They need to know that you’re alive. I don’t care about the price, whatever reason it may be there, but Falcon, Jackpot, and especially Oak need to know that you survived the war.”

“No, Wolf… I can’t go back there. I just… I can’t. You don’t understand.”

“What don’t I understand, Shock?” Wolf Heart retorted, growing irritated.

The stallion’s ears fell flat. “I don’t think that they’ll welcome me back into their lives with open arms, Wolf,” Steam explained.

Wolf Heart sighed. “Do you have a place that you’ve been using for shelter that I can escort you back to, then?” she asked solemnly, shaking her head and letting a wing droop to her side.

-A Half Hour Later-

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Steam exclaimed, gesturing towards the mouth of a cave with a flat expression. “This is Beaver Hollow,” he told Wolf Heart before he dipped his head and turned to face the mare. “So… I guess this is goodbyes for now, eh?” he queried.

Wolf Heart deadpanned. “Don’t be a dingus, of course, it’s not. You’re fucking filthy,” she acknowledged as though it was obvious, gesturing towards his rust-stained feathers and greasy mane. “Do you not take off your armor when you sleep? And, much as I like a mustache on you, I think I liked clean-shaven Dapper better than spartan Dapper.”

Said stallion’s expression transitioned into that of mortification as he lifted a hoof to his mustache. “No,” he said flatly. “The mustache stays… Also, I don’t really go by Dapper Jolt anymore, Wolfie… Not since the war. Not exactly the same charismatic pony I once was to be called that,” Shock explained. “Now wait here.”

“So the bounty hunters say,” Wolf Heart muttered under her breath as the stallion walked into the cave. “You’ll always be Dapper Jolt in my eyes though…”

-Moments Later-

Wolf Heart gently ran the edge of the wing-blade down Steam Shock’s cheek, careful not to cut him as stray black hairs were neatly shaved off of his face. The stallion’s cheeks were unusually warm to the touch and elicited a sly smile from Wolf as she trimmed his sideburns.

“Jeez, how long has it been?” Steam muttered, furrowing a sorrowful brow before his friend wiped the corner of his chin with a damp cloth and set down the blade.

“About seven years,” Wolf Heart responded through a sigh.

Steam Shock exhaled deeply as he swiveled his head slightly to face Wolf Heart, a disconsolate expression touching his face as heavy guilt set itself in his mind. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his blue eyes misting over as he looked into her own. “It killed me to be away from you… To be away from what family I had left,” Steam explained. “You must know that.”

“Then why did you leave?” Wolf replied softly, avoiding eye contact with the pegasus. "There must be a logical reason."

At this, Shock failed to maintain his composure and turned away, visibly struggling to withhold his emotions as a tear slithered down his cheek. “He died, Wolfie… He was my brother, and now he's dead,” the stallion whispered, lifting a hoof to the dog-tag around his neck. “And I couldn’t stop it from happening.”

In the dim light, Wolf Heart could see that the tag read "Cipher Cloud". With a heavy-hearted sigh, the winged unicorn gently placed a hoof on his good shoulder. “That doesn’t make it your fault,” she assured him whilst she began to unbuckle the straps that held on his burgundy-red leather greave to reveal his cracked forehoof. Wolf grimaced as she gazed down at his hoof, noticing dried blood staining his hoof and matting the fetlocks that covered it. “Dapper,” she chided softly, studying the injured hoof.

He didn’t seem to hear her, his gaze having since wandered and ears laid back slightly. “Hm?” he muttered, shifting his view down to see what she scolded him about.

“How did you do this?” she asked in a motherly manner.

Shock sighed and gently began to pull his hoof away, his mind trailing to none-too-pleasant memories. “It doesn’t matter, I'm fine,” he said dismissively before Wolf Heart clutched his arm.

“You are not fine. Just look at your hoof! That’s definitely infected. Guarantee it,” she reprimanded before looking to the prosthetic wing. “And what about that? Have you been taking care of your wing?” she asked before gingerly unclasping the straps that held it in place and letting the large appendage slip into her arms with a slightly effortful grunt. Gently setting it aside, Wolf Heart inspected the stub of his shoulder and wing, half expecting it to be covered in infectious substances. She was relieved to see that, while there was definitely a sizable scar, a thin layer of fur was growing over the old wound, even though it was stained with rust. “You need a bath,” she declared, working off Shock’s hind shin guards to see that his hind hooves were also cracked and split.

“Why do you still care about me?” Steam asked her, cocking a brow and gazing into her eyes.

Wolf Heart smiled in a comforting fashion. “Because. You’re still my friend, y’know… Even if you’ve changed.”

Shock shook his head. “No… You don’t deserve to deal with my shit, especially after what I did to you,” he retorted, rising to his hooves. Almost instantly, a pain shot up his hooves that elicited an agonized shout from him before he slumped back down.

Wolf deadpanned. “There’s a river over there, go get cleaned up,” she said softly, but with authority, rising to her hooves and telekinetically lifting Steam Shock a couple of inches off of the ground. With that, she floated him over to the gently flowing water and gingerly lowered him into it before her magic hold dissipated and she moved out of view for his privacy.

A few moments later, Steam Shock emerged from the water and reproached the cave, running the towel that Wolf had teleported to him through his mane and wiping down his face with a grimace at the still lingering pain in his hooves. In spite of only three limbs to walk on, the stallion still managed to hobble over to Wolf Heart, who was now busying herself with cleaning as much of the rust off of his prosthetic wing and armor plating as possible.

“You don’t have to do that,” Shock exclaimed with a sigh.

“You don't want tetanus, do you? Besides, if I don’t, who will?” she retorted, looking up at him with a mischievous smile. “You look… clean,” she snickered as she scrubbed the metal with a wire brush.

Leaning back so that he could free his arm for use, the stallion tossed his towel over a branch so that it could dry before he rose to his hooves and approached Wolf Heart, taking a seat by her side. “Thanks for bringing that soap and towel over for me,” he shrugged.

“Sure,” Wolf replied, looking up at the one winged, three-legged pegasus with a gentle smile. “Hey, your fur is white again,” she giggled, eliciting an eye-roll from her friend. Setting aside the cleaning utensils, the winged unicorn sidled up beside him and lifted a hoof to where his limb was cut from his body, wearing a sympathetic expression. Hesitantly, Wolf touched the remnant of Shock’s arm.

Steam Shock looked down and Wolf Heart looked up to where their eyes met. Shock ushered a slight smile at Wolf’s worrisome visage, chuckling lightly. “It doesn’t hurt so bad to walk without, don’t worry. The wing does its job and I’m not often without it, so I haven’t much to complain about,” he assured her, though his words did little to relieve Wolf of her worries.

“What, it does still hurt though?” the mare questioned with visible concern spreading across her muzzle.

“Phantom pains, more than anything… Sometimes I can still feel Sombra’s damn scythe cleaving through my arm and wing, infecting me with his dark magic,” Shock sneered.

Sensing her friend’s growing unease, Wolf Heart gently leaned against Steam Shock’s form, resting her head against the stub of his arm to try and comfort him.

Shock sighed, laying his chin across the top of her head, though avoiding her horn, in response.

“I missed you,” Wolf Heart whispered, slowly snaking a hoof around his neck and under his shoulder length, royal and sky blue mane. Shifting herself, Wolf Heart sat down in front of the stallion, lifting a hoof to his muscular torso to feel his steadily increasing heart-beat, that of which elicited a sly look upon her face.

The stallion let a soft smile slip across his muzzle as his cheeks warmed up. "I missed you too, Wolfie," he said with a chuckle, doing his best to shrug off his friend's flirtatious actions.

Wolf Heart sighed and dipped her head, her bangs partially covering her face. "Y'know," she purred, "as tough as you look with your armor on, I imagine cuddling a sheet of metal and fake feathers isn't very comfortable." With the words, she drew herself closer, gently pressing her chest against his own and tilting her head slightly whilst looking up. "You're a bit more... vulnerable, right now," Wolf continued.

Steam Shock chuckled at her advances, and more so at her attraction to a pegasus missing an arm and wing. "That would make sense," he smirked, softly positioning his arm around her neck while keeping himself propped up with his good wing.

The winged unicorn's eyelids dropped slightly as she scooted her weight even closer to the pegasus stallion. A brief moment of tension was shared between the two before Wolf Heart gently locked lips with Shock. Beating her wings softly, the mare lifted a few inches into the air before re-positioning herself upon his lap, straddling his waist as her tail slowly wrapped around his back left leg.

Being on Steam Shock's lap, Wolf Heart's head was now positioned slightly above his, allowing her to gently hold him while her eyes closed.

Moving his arm, the wounded soldier positioned his hoof to her shapely thigh, where, in that moment of embrace, the two didn't seem to notice Steam Shock fall onto his back as his wing buckled and Wolf Heart's weight brought him down. A small amount of dust was kicked up as the duo made out, Shock feeling Wolf's tongue gently force itself between his lips.

At this, the stallion couldn't help himself, holding her waist and allowing his tail to brush up against her inner thigh. Wolf Heart ushered a gasp at the action, breaking the lip-lock for a moment with half-lidded eyes as the muscles in her thigh throbbed of their own accord.

A moment of silence passed over them before Wolf Heart looked down, only just realizing that she had Steam Shock pinned under her weight. The mare cracked a sly, mischievous grin before she promptly sat down on top of him, straddling the stallion's waist with her thighs and lowering herself down to whisper something in his ear: "You're mine."

Shock chuckled at her words, and before she could lift her head, he kissed her neck in such a manner that the mare shuddered. The stallion continued the action, lifting a hoof and ever-so-slightly brushing her mane away from the back of her neck before he'd gently tickle her neck with his touch, knowing fully what the outcome would be.

After a few moments, Wolf Heart ushered a soft, quiet moan before she clenched her teeth. "F-fuck you," she breathed, squeezing her eyes shut whilst attempting to hide her face so that Shock couldn't see the blood rushing to her face.

"I think that's the idea," Steam Shock whispered softly into her ear as he lifted his head slightly, moving his hoof to her rear before slowly running it up her belly, across her sternum, and towards her throat. Tilting her head up, Shock chuckled at seeing the flushed look upon her face.

Wolf Heart's breath was heavy as she looked down into his crystal blue eyes. "You... are a tougher nut to crack than I anticipated," she admitted through a sigh, leaning back slightly and brushing back her mane. After a moment, her expression shifted to something a little less frazzled and a little more sinister, a snicker coming across her muzzle as she leaned back down.

The one winged pegasus smirked before he lifted his head and once again, locked his lips with hers, holding her close to him. As the two locked in a fiery embrace, Shock pulled away briefly, and only to say; "Takes a strong will to reject other mare's affections while waiting for the right moment to return to the one I really loved."

With the words, Shock flipped Wolf Heart onto her back so that he stood over her, his remaining arm bulging with the muscle needed to hold himself on three legs as his friend tore the gauntlets off of her forehooves and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a fierce kiss. "Fuck, Dapper, I love you," Wolf Heart breathed, the memory of her best friend's supposed death dissipating in her mind as the pegasus on top of her kissed her neck, his tail brushing between her legs and eliciting a moan that the mare did little to hold back.

-A Half Hour Later-

Wolf Heart laid on top of Steam Shock, her face bright red and sweat touching her brow. She was in obvious disarray, her mane tangled, wings sagging by her side, and blue feathers around the duo. "H-holy shit," she gasped, weakly flexing her sore hind legs with a slight grimace.

Steam Shock wasn't off much better, his arms ached and his mane was far from its usual appearance, being noticeably messier than it typically was. His heaving breaths, which came more as a wheeze, slowly lifted Wolf Heart up slightly as air rushed into his lungs before his chest fell. "Well," he choked, "Helluva time," the stallion jested, a weak chuckle leaking from his throat. "Y-you alright, Wolfie?" Shock then asked, noticing how exhausted she looked.

"Uh-huh," she nodded, nuzzling her snout underneath the stallion's chin with a gentle smile.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" he queried, regaining his composure slightly faster than the mare on top of him.

The mare nodded again. "You know what you're doing more than you let in on." Wolf mumbled, kissing his cheek as she sprawled out on the makeshift body pillow that was her best friend. "Who did you get practice with, if you don't mind my asking?" she said quizzically.

Steam Shock smiled again. "My body filled itself out over time, like you said it would. I grew a little more desirable, but refused all but one mare," he explained.

Wolf Heart tilted her head up, resting her chin on his chest. "What was she like?"

"In a lot of ways, she reminded me of you... Name was Autumn," he smiled, looking back on the time before his
smile was replaced with a frown. "She was... she was killed by somepony who wanted me dead," he sighed. Noticing the sorrowful look coming across Wolf Heart's face, Steam Shock shrugged his shoulder as best he could with Wolf Heart laying on top of him. "Guess it wasn't meant to last," he said in an attempt to dismiss the non-too-happy memories. Furrowing a brow, Steam Shock lifted his head and looked into Wolf's jade green eyes. "Wolfie, what was your goal in doing this?" he queried, furrowing a confused brow.

Wolf Heart frowned, propping herself up slightly whilst being careful not to dig her elbows into Shock's rib-cage. "I... don't know," she muttered, dipping her gaze. "You remember when we were in high school, and we did that?" the mare asked, combing through her memories.

The stallion nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, at the time, I was wanting to dispel any curiosities you may have had, and I was also wanting to satisfy you in that manner for all you'd done-"

"Mission accomplished," Shock interrupted with a chuckle.

"I guess this was kind of like that time," Wolf Heart continued with a half-second grimace. Back then, they were both teenagers doing teenager stuff. Shock had been a young mustang. He was easier and more entertaining to get going. What had happened all those years ago wasn't a time Wolf looked on with much fondness. Neither had been thinking logically when they did what they did.

"What have I done to deserve satisfaction this time?" Steam Shock grumbled.

He doesn't like the memory either, the mare surmised. "Okay, Dapper. You got me. Initially, I was just hoping to cuddle my best friend after seven years of a lack of doing so, but it wound up as a fully fledged fucking, which by the way, I personally enjoyed. I thought you did too, but I guess not," Wolf Heart snorted, sitting upright on Shock's lap, crossing her forehooves, and turning her view away from him with feigned annoyance.

Steam Shock rolled his eyes. "C'moooon, you know you love me," he chuckled, positioning himself in a slightly upright position.

Wolf ushered a groan. "If letting you fuck me earlier didn't make that clear, than nothing will," she said as Shock kissed her cheek. "But, we have matters to discuss, now that we've had our fun," she declared, rising from her hooves. "Like what you're wanted for... I've been seeing your face all over Ponyville in the form of these," she explained, pulling a rolled up poster from the saddlebag that she had hastily discarded about 45 minutes ago. Steam Shock lifted his good hoof as Wolf Heart slapped the poster into it.

As he unrolled it, stepping on one end with a hind hoof and using his forehoof to unroll the paper, he looked down at the mugshot of a scarred stallion that stared down at him before he spoke. "Away without leave... That's treason, and Celestia hasn't exactly been the most merciful type when it comes to her soldiers," Shock explained through a slight grumble.

Wolf cocked a brow as Steam Shock released the poster and leaned back on his haunches, brushing his hoof through his disheveled mane. "But when I checked your file it said MIA, not AWOL," she responded, furrowing a confused brow.

"Part of a cover-up. I wasn't exactly Celestia's most beloved soldier... That or somepony who wants everypony else to forget about me fucked around with the file behind her back," Steam Shock acknowledged with visible annoyance spreading across his muzzle.

"Well, we need to find out who," Wolf Heart declared, rising to her hooves. "They need to be held accountable."

Shock shook his head and closed his eyes. "No," he said firmly, but calmly, causing Wolf to look down with befuddlement. "Pretty sure I already told you that I'm not going back. Maybe it's better that I remain dead, for your, and everypony else's sake," the pegasus said solemnly.

At the words, Wolf Heart looked Shock firmly in the eyes and backhanded the stallion.

"What the fuck, Wolf?!" he barked, lifting his hoof to his cheek with a shocked expression and leering up at her.

"This... all of this. The mopey, depressed state that you're in. You're just going to walk out after what we did literally ten minutes ago?! I don't think so, Buster!" she started with an annoyed expression, gesturing towards him. "What happened to the fun, sensitive Dapper Jolt, the pony that I could trust with my life? When the fuck did he let some whiny ass Steam Shock take over his life?"

"I am still sensitive!" Shock snapped, rising to his hooves with a slightly pained grimace.

Wolf Heart scoffed. "Then prove it," she argued. "Prove to me that Dapper Jolt did in fact, survive the war."

Chapter Two: Reunited

-The Everfree Forest-

Steam Shock walked alongside Wolf Heart, the duo having to move at a leisurely pace as a result of the stallion's limp. All the while, questions were building in his friend's mind, questions that begged for release.

With a sigh, Wolf looked up at Shock's slightly bloodshot, blue eyes. "Dapper... how did you survive?" she finally asked. "And who gave you the replacement wing?" The winged unicorn gestured toward the wing as she asked, intrigued by how it moved.

Shock sighed. "I told you, Wolf... I don't go by Dapper Jolt anymore. But to answer your question... I dunno how I survived. Somepony up there must like me, because I should have died from the blood loss," he shrugged. "I remember waking up surrounded by the dead to where I could smell it in the air. The first thing I did was find a way to cover my wound, and then I searched for a place to bury... to bury Cipher," Steam Shock recalled, combing through the none-too-pleasant memories. "As for the wing, some old fart, think he was a mechanic, claimed he knew me. Thought I was his son or something. When I didn't believe him, he insisted that I at least take a spare wing that he had lying about."

Wolf Heart snapped her head up at his words, wearing a shocked expression. "You were potentially reacquainted with your father... and didn't do anything?" she exclaimed. "What else did he say to you?"

"He claimed he was my father, I don't know if it was true. But, everything else is fuzzy. Think he apologized to me. Told me not to make the same mistake he did. Then I left," Steam Shock muttered. "I don't know, it was years ago."

Wolf shook her head before ushering a sigh, deciding it best just to let the matter go.

After a few moments of silence, save for the crunching of dirt underhoof, the duo reached the edge of the forest and paused. Steam Shock wore a slightly disgusted expression upon his face at seeing the weathered town of Ponyville. "What in the name of-?"

"Sombra's rampage didn't stop with the Crystal Empire," Wolf Heart explained. "He and Pitch managed to drive Celestia back. We were able to stop Sombra from taking Canterlot, but we never won the war," she muttered sadly, shaking her head in disappointment. "After that, we all just kinda disbanded. Your supposed death hit Abacus pretty hard, so I haven't seen him for a couple of years. Last I saw of Falcon Wing was about a month ago, and Jackpot... Well, he tried to commit suicide on a couple of occasions," Wolf told Shock, furrowing her brows with visible sadness.

The pegasi's expression dulled considerably at the words, and Wolf Heart looked up at him inquisitively, her body language asking what the matter was instead of her voice. "He's not the only one," Shock whispered quietly to acknowledge what he knew she was going to ask, his ears falling flat.

Hearing this, Wolf Heart's entire demeanor seemed to fall, her wings dropping by her sides and ears flat against her head. A tear touched the corner of her eye as she gazed up at the stallion in disbelief. "Tell me you're lying," she whispered, her voice wavering. "Please..."

The pegasus only shook his head slightly, turning his head away from Wolf Heart with guilt clad upon his muzzle. "I was in a rut," he muttered.

Forcing back tears, Wolf Heart circled around to face Shock and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Don't you ever think about doing something like that again," she choked, her eyes watering. "I've dealt with far too much to lose my best friend to suicide, do you hear me?"

"Okay," the pegasus acknowledged softly, nodding slightly.

Wolf Heart dipped her head with a sniffle. "Good... Now let's go see if we can find the others," she declared in a less than confident tone of voice.

-Moments Later-

"God, what happened here?" Steam Shock grumbled as he and Wolf Heart walked down the road, disgust lacing his expression at how disorderly the once bustling Ponyville was.

Wolf shook her head. "I told you, Dapper... Sombra got to it. You've certainly got a lot of catching up to do, don't you?" she replied as he scanned the drab buildings. "How about we head to the tavern, get you a drink, eh?" she queried.

"Might be nice," Shock said as though she was bound to ask.

"Aaaand, when, exactly, did you start drinking?" Wolf Heart asked at his response, her tone that of slight detestation as she turned and looked at him.

Shock sighed. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me since the war, hm? Drinking myself into oblivion with the hope of forgetting was something I used to do often," he explained flatly.

The winged unicorn grumbled to herself. "You're in worse shape than I thought," she said through a deep breath. "Dapper, you used to be a modest, charming pony," Wolf Heart said, turning and placing a hoof on his chest to stop the stallion in his tracks. "You were fun to be around. I could talk to you about my feelings, the things bothering me. I-i-it's like you completely pushed that side of you back down where I found it in high school. I understand your losses completely, but even so... It's like you've been wallowing in your own pity for the past seven years to the point of no return and I don't know if I can help you," she spluttered, clearly stressed. "You pretend to be happy to see me, you pretend to care, but I can't tell if you really do anymore, regardless of the days previous events... And that's heartbreaking."

Steam Shock wore a slightly hurt expression, gazing down at her with an equal amount of bewilderment clad upon his face. "And what about you, hm?" he said, a wave of slight anger visible upon his face as he leaned forward. "When did you become the master of my fate. Who let you decide what was right from wrong, Wolf? Or better yet, Shrapnel fucking Fury, because we all know that you decided to make a fucking name for yourself, with the God damn price on your head!!" he roared, tearing down a poster from the side of a building as he backed Wolf Heart into a wall and lifted it up in front of her face. "You lecture me about wallowing in my own pity, well at least I'm not wanted for let's see, assault on a superior officer, which, hm, happens to be Falcon Wing. Shall I go on?" Shock hollered, looming over the mare.

"Stop," Wolf Heart said in a weak voice, tears slithering down her cheeks.

"Why should I?! You go off on me for lying when you've been doing it since we fucking reunited. Tell me, was that whole aforementioned event just a ploy, a ploy to use me for your own motives!"

"No! No, it wasn't. What happened was a wonderful moment between us that I'd never take back!" she cried out, eyes wide and tears in her eye at the idea that one of her closest friends thought she was using him. "And... I-I was going to tell you," Wolf retorted, cowering slightly more so at his words than taller stature.

The pegasus stallion leaned back, calming slightly, but still with a glare upon his face as he stared at her. At seeing her guilt-ridden and sorrowful expression, Steam Shock's eyebrows furrowed, a frown touching his lips. Wolf Heart was pressed against the wall of a building, tears on her cheeks and eyes wide with fear, whilst ponies around him watched with disgust. Shock took a step forward, lifting his hoof to her.

"Don't touch me!" Wolf Heart shouted, reeling away from his touch.

"Wolf Heart... I-I'm sorry," he said guiltily, lowering his hoof and dipping his head. A moment of silence passed between the duo before Steam Shock turned away, his ears flat, and limped away, all the while he received judging looks and disgusted sneers from bystanders.

-Half an Hour Later, Ponyville Tavern-

Steam Alan Shock leaned against the bar, a large bottle of ale in front of him as his thoughts tortured him, echoing back Wolf Heart's words. "I loved you, and as a way to pay me back for the love that I showed you, you went and broke my heart." The pegasus sneered, lifting the bottle before angrily hurling it across the room, where it shattered into tiny shards against the brick wall.

Almost instantly all attention in the room was brought to him as the bartender approached. "Hey, Douchebag, why don't you take your sour-ass attitude and leave, hm?" one equine hollered from the opposite side of the bar.

Shock ignored him, his gaze unfocused and eyes glazed over.

It wasn't until he felt a hoof tap his good shoulder that the pegasus whipped around, instinctively grabbing a uniformed pony by the throat and shoving him away before slamming him into a wall. "I am in no mood to deal with anypony's shit right now, so why don't you just back the fuck off?!" he shouted.

"Sweet Celestia, Dapper, your breath reeks!" the stallion choked in response, waving a hoof in front of his face.

At the words, Steam Shock released the pony, surprise etched across his face at seeing golden feathers. "Falcon," he exclaimed, eyes wide.

"That would be Commander Falcon, to you," the pegasus stallion corrected, adjusting his glasses before gazing at Steam Shock. "You look... horrible," he exclaimed. "And I can smell the alcohol on you," Falcon Wing grimaced, scrunching his nose.

Steam Shock was still too flabbergasted to say anything.

Falcon chuckled with an eye roll. "Yes, it's me, Dapper. Walk with me, won't you?" he suggested, tossing a few bits onto the counter. "Have a drink," he said to the bartender with a polite smile as he escorted Steam Shock from the building.

After a moment, Shock shook off his surprise and gazed over at Falcon Wing. "Wait, Commander?" he finally said.

Falcon nodded. "You might be in my place if you hadn't faked your death, wouldn't you think so, Dapper? Er, sorry. That would be Steam Shock, wouldn't it? Also, nice, wing... Leg? What is that?"

"I take it you're not going to arrest me and collect that bounty?" Shock shrugged.

"Why would I do that, Dapper? You were my friend, and once, you fought by my side. It's not in my place to arrest you, don't you think?" he asked as the two walked down the road together.

Steam Shock didn't respond, shame visible crossing his muzzle as he stopped. He'd just lost his best friend and the first pony he ever truly loved over a lost temper. "Was your friend," the pegasus stallion pointed out, shaking his head solemnly.

"Dapper, you still are, you know that, right? You lied. So what? We all make mistakes, especially in war. Sometimes you have to live with those mistakes, sure, but that doesn't make me hate you," Falcon explained, turning to face the pegasus.

"She does though," Shock muttered to himself, his breath heavy and strained.

As Falcon Wing sighed and dipped his head, Shock noticed something in the background, through the dusty fog. "Jolt, she couldn't-"

"Duck."

"What? Dapper, don't interrupt me while I'm-"

"Duck!!" Steam Shock shouted, hurling himself towards Falcon and throwing him to the road as a loud roar rang out and a massive black shape swooped over their heads, a powerful heat momentarily suffocating the duo as dust was kicked up by powerful wingbeats.

Falcon shoved the pegasus off of him, where Shock stumbled back to an upright position and swiveled to face a massive black dragon whose wings were lined with serrated edges, shoulders plated with spikes. Interlocking jaws flexed and a crocodilian tail thrashed as the beast alighted upon the roadway, uttering a beastly laugh as it turned. "Oh shit!" Steam Shock growled as Falcon rose to his hooves and brushed off his uniform with a scoff.

Looking up, Falcon's expression transitioned to that of fear as the dragon leered down at the duo, eyes pulsing with energy.

"Dapper Jolt! Who in the name of Celestia is this?!" he shouted at Shock with a glare, swiveling his head and facing the pegasus.

"Don't fucking look at me, Falcon," Steam snapped back, throwing his hoof up.

Both were interrupted by the sound of the Dragon Lord's deep, guttural laugh. "Pathetic," he guffawed, shaking his horned skull and staring down at the not-so-dynamic duo with amusement. "This squabbling almost makes me want to spare your miserable lives," he snorted, taking a heavy step forward. "But I think not... How about this, though?" Pitch started with a sly tone of voice. "Commander, turn Steam Shock over to me, and I'll not hurt a soul in this wretched town of yours," the dark dragon grinned, pointing at the three-legged pegasus in question.

Falcon Wing looked over at Shock and furrowed his brows, a frown touching his lips as his friend gazed back at him with an almost pleading expression.

"Falcon, don't listen to him, he'll kill me and the rest of us," the stallion said.

"Tick tock, tick tock," Pitch sang, lifting a forelimb and nonchalantly digging dirt out from under his claws. Setting his claw down, the dragon spoke again. "I'm getting impatient, and when I get impatient, I get hungry," he taunted, smoke slithering from his nostrils.

Falcon looked at Steam Shock, his ears flat. "I'm sorry, Dapper. I can't risk the fate of an entire town for one soul," he muttered, dipping his head before turning to look up at Pitch. "Do I have your word that you won't harm anypony?" he called up to the dragon with a stern expression, eliciting anger upon Shock's muzzle.

Pitch nodded. "I won't, but Sombra has other plans for the pegasus," he grinned, taking a step forward.

With a furious expression, Steam Shock turned to Falcon Wing. "You... bastard!!" he shouted before lunging forward before Falcon was able to react, throwing a hoof at his face.

The golden-feathered pegasus shouted in pain before he dropped, unconscious.

With that, Steam Shock beat his wings once and flew towards the nearest building, hearing Pitch's enraged roar as he threw himself inside the tailor, slamming the door shut behind him. The stallion could feel the floor shake beneath him as he turned to face a white unicorn with a curled violet mane and baby-blue eyes.

"Who are you?! What do you want?! Who's the dragon?!" she belted as a nearby mannequin was knocked over with a violent tremor in the building, the dragon's thundering bellow ringing out above the panic.

"Rarity?!" Steam Shock exclaimed, approaching her with a regretful look in his eye. Wrong building, he thought with a grimace before feeling something strike his chest. Shock looked down with a deadpan expression as a roll of red linen cloth fell before him.

"Get out!" Juliet Rarity Belle screamed, hurling another cloth roll at him.

Steam Shock rolled his eyes and advanced towards her and slapping a hoof over her mouth. "Shh," he hissed, looking up before hearing Pitch's angry voice.

"Very clever, pony! But if I can't take you back to Sombra, then I'll just take the one you love!" the growling dragon snarled, peering through a window. Shock slowly backed himself and Rarity into the wall next to said window, seeing Pitch's fiery gaze penetrating the window as he sought out the pegasus.

Steam could hear Rarity stifling a scream, tears on her face as she practically hung to the stallion for comfort.

"Have it your way then!" Pitch roared, lifting his head and stomping away.

As the sounds of his footsteps trailed off, Steam Shock slowly removed his hoof from Rarity's mouth, peeking out the window for any signs of the dragon. "Thanks for the shelter, Miss Belle," he grunted before hesitantly leaving the building.

A short distance away, Shock could hear the sounds of panic as massive black wings rose above a cloud of smoke, a demonic roar echoing out.

"What have I done?" he muttered before Pitch emerged from the smoke carrying something in his large talons. Even in the distance, he could see the blue fur, dark blue mane and tail, and wings and horn of Wolf Heart. "No," he muttered, anger crossing his face. "Nooo!!" With that, he took to the sky, but not before a concussive blast from Rarity stopped him and he fell.

-Hours Later-

Steam Shock awoke suddenly, lurching to an upright position with a gasp and causing most in attendance to lurch away from him. "Ghrk!" the stallion choked with a grimace, lifting a hoof to his chest and heaving for breath. A moment passed before he looked up and noticed several ponies surrounding the bedside, a few of which he recognized almost instantly.

"Hello, Dapper Jolt," one smiled, taking a step forward. Though he now possessed a better former out mustache and sideburns, with a small beard, the stallion recognized his hazel eyes and short black mane to be that of Abacus Oak.

"Abacus," he exclaimed in response, surprise visible upon his face, leaning back before noticing the additionally black-maned unicorn beside him. "Jackpot?"

Jackpot Ace nodded with a chuckle. "Good evening," he smirked.

Leaning against the far wall, Shock noticed Falcon Wing before a scowl touched his lips. "What is he doing here?" Steam growled, pointing at the commander.

"More realistically, Dapper, what are you doing here? Everypony thought you were dead," Abacus acknowledged, furrowing his brows. "Everypony saw you dead on the field. Sombra killed you." As he spoke, the earth stallion began to grow visibly distressed, his words slurring together to become more of a rambling.

"Well, surprise, surprise... I'm not dead," Steam Shock grumbled. "Happy to see me?"

Abacus stopped talking for a minute. "Well, of course, we're happy to see you... But Dapper, you lied to us. Why didn't you come back and at least let us know you were alive?" he queried with confusion etched across his muzzle.

Steam Shock sighed and dipped his head. "I didn't want to stand up to my failure," he muttered with a shrug. At the words, his memory trailed back to the reason he was in this room, to begin with. "Where's Wolf Heart?" he asked firmly, looking up at the three.

They didn't answer, but only fidgeted uncomfortably in their positions.

"Where is she?" he repeated, raising his voice slightly.

Falcon Wing stepped forward. "That stupid dragon got her, Jolt... Pitch took her when you wouldn't cooperate and go quietly," he explained.

"Hey, you can't pin this on Dapper," Abacus barked at Falcon, turning to face the pegasus with a frown.

"Shut it, Oak!" Falcon snapped, lifting a hoof. "I can pin this on him, and I will! Because of his lack of compliance, the Lord of Dragons has taken her to Celestia knows where!" the stallion scoffed, accusingly pointing towards Steam Shock as he spoke.

"Will you two shut up!!" Steam Shock roared, silencing them to their bickering as he shifted off of the bedside with a powerful leer. "It doesn't matter whose fucking fault it is! We have to go after her!" he exclaimed. "I won't lose her like I did Autumn," the stallion then quietly added to himself.

Jackpot Ace nodded. "I can't say I don't agree with Dapper, here. But we're not equipped to fight a dragon, Jolt. Abacus and I haven't served in any sort of armed forces for years. It's all just kinda... worn away at this point. We don't have that same fighting spirit anymore."

Abacus cocked a brow. "Speak for yourself, Jack. You may not have the same fighting spirit, but I on the other hand? For Wolf Heart, I would do just about anything," he said whilst shaking his head.

"That's all I need to know," Steam Shock nodded. "Abacus, will you come with me? I have an idea of where that piece of filth might have holed her up," the pegasus explained with a firm expression.

"Course," Abacus affirmed.

Shock smile slightly. "Good, but first... I need my armor back," he surmised, having since realized that he was without his greaves and prosthetic wing.

Chapter Three: A Tyrant's Demise

-Crystal Fields, The Crystal Empire-

Pitch haphazardly reacquainted his clawed feet with the ground, folding his large wings slightly as he leered down at the equine he currently held in his hooves. "What King Sombra would want with you, I haven't the slightest clue," the dragon stated smugly, lifting Wolf Heart up in front of his face. "I imagine it has something to do with luring that troublesome pegasus here to finally finish off," he sneered.

Wolf Heart boldly glared back at him, squirming against his grasp. "Steam Shock would never... fall for such a cheap, imbecilic trick," she grunted with a grimace, freeing one of her arms and allowing her horn to take up a slight glow.

With a deep-throated chuckle, Pitch leaned back on his haunches and licked his thumb and index claw before casually dousing the growing energy on Wolf Heart's horn. "Don't be so sure of yourself, pony. Love is far more powerful than any magic is," the dragon smirked mischievously, lifting his clawed hand and patting her head.

Wolf Heart beat against his claws with a leer, eliciting a snicker from Pitch.

"So moody," he taunted, rising to his feet and advancing towards the Crystal Empire.

As he made his way through a large gate guarded by a few Shadow Troopers, Pitch nonchalantly flicked his tail, throwing one of them a few feet away and eliciting an amused chuckle from him that grated on Wolf Heart's ears. As he carried her into a large chamber, Wolf's ears fell flat as she thought back to Ponyville. Would Dapper Jolt come back for her? Part of her hoped not for his sake, and the other part of her hoped so, for the sake of proving what Pitch had previously stated about love.

The mare sighed before, without warning, Pitch roughly dropped her to the floor and trudged towards the corner of the darkened room that they had made their way towards and laid down, crossing his forearms and stretching his hind legs in a feline-like manner, a line of smoke rising from his nostrils.

Wolf Heart rose to her hooves and leered over at him. At this point, his torso, head, and neck were shrouded in shadow, only the pulsing light of his eyes visible in the dark in a way the elicited a shudder from the winged unicorn before she turned away,

Looking up, her line of sight was acquainted with a dark figure who also stood in the shadow, red and green eyes leering down at her and luminescent violet smoke trailing his sockets. In the low light, a pair of fangs gleamed before a deep baritone voice spoke. "You know who I am, yes?" it asked before advancing forward slightly.

Stepping into the light, Wolf Heart could see who else but Equestria's Lord of Darkness. A recurved, crimson horn pulsed slightly and a twisted sneer spread across his muzzle. As King Sombra approached her, a look of unbridled fear spread across the mare's face, her jaw lowering an inch or two and eyes wide.

"Yes, you are right to fear my presence," Sombra growled bestially, blood red cape flowing behind him as he slowly circled the mare. "No matter... I think that you may be able to help me, Shrapnel Fury," he stated, lifting his chin pridefully as he circled back around to face her again. "I was made aware that somepony that you know is not dead like I had intended."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Wolf Heart lied, glaring up at King Sombra in a disrespectful manner.

King Sombra rolled his eyes and leaned down slightly, staring her in the eyes. "The truth will come out, and for each time that you lie to me, I will proceed to remove one of your limbs... slowly... and painfully," he sneered, baring his fangs. "When you run out of limbs to remove, I will kill you, if the blood-loss or shock hasn't already."

With the words, a scythe materialized in his hoof with a puff of violet and green, the blade pulsing with a thirst for blood.

"Why don't we start with the wings?" he sneered, hefting the weapon and lifting it above Wolf Heart's head.

Pitch watched on with a flat expression, a forked tongue flicking between his jagged teeth as he shifted slightly, tail swaying. With a guttural grumble, he lowered his head between his forelegs and closed his eyes, giving in to sleep. The dragon sighed at the piercing sound of a painful scream that withheld agony and suffering.

-The Crystal Fields-

Steam Alan Shock looked down upon the ruined remnants of the Crystal Empire's fields, unpleasant memories of its gemstones being spattered with the blood of his allies flashing across his vision as he stared down. Abacus Oak stood alongside him with a solemn expression, a sigh leaking from his nose.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Abacus asked his friend. "There's no shame in backing down-"

"Yes... there is. It's my fault she's in there, Oak, and I'm not going to let that tyrant torture her," he retorted, shifting his good wing and feeling the forgotten feeling of wing blades shifting between his feathers.

Abacus nodded in understanding. "Well, we need a plan, then," he exclaimed, gesturing towards the Shadow Troopers that currently guarded the gates some distance away.

"I was never one for planning," Steam Shock grimaced, studying the situation.

The earth stallion sighed, shifting his gaze over to his friend, who hadn't noticed Abacus looking at him. A slight sense of guilt came to Oak at the realization that his last words during the Crystal War could have been the cause for Steam Shock's lack of a wing and limb. "He's made his decision."

"Dapper," he started, drawing the pegasi's attention away from the Troopers. "Try not to dwell on it... but I'm sorry. You probably could have been saved... but I held Wolf Heart back during the war," Oak explained, shifting his gaze down.

Shock's response was not what he expected. "I'm glad you held her back. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if what happened to me was brought upon her instead because she tried to save my life. I love that mare more than I've ever felt capable of loving, after all the shit we've been though," the stallion said through a shrug, gaze returning to the gates of the Crystal Empire. "You did the right thing."

Abacus looked over at him.

"I think I see a way in," Shock said before Oak could say anything more, pointing down to a trio of Shadow Troopers that walked up the path towards the fields.

-Crystal Throne Room-

"Tell me... where Shock is," King Sombra growled lowly, gritting his teeth as he lifted the blade of his scythe, hovering it inches from Wolf Heart's face. "Or you lose more than just your wings," he snarled bestially, pinning her to the floor with a sturdy hoof. Nearby, a pair of wings whose blue feathers reflected the low light was visible, blood spattering the beautiful colors with an ugly, dark crimson.

Wolf Heart sobbed, a cry that was equally a scream. Blood still dripped from the small stumps of her wings and stained her fur whilst Sombra awaited a response from his prisoner. The former winged unicorn shifted her view up to the large, dark grey unicorn, teeth clenched. Wolf's glare spoke volumes more than she was capable as the tyrant unicorn before her remained stoic.

"I'm getting tired of these damn games!" King Sombra roared suddenly. "You will tell me where Shock is or I will make you bathe in his blood when I find him!"

-Outside the Throne Room-

"Do what you want to me... You'll never find him," Steam Shock heard a weak voice shout as he pressed an ear to the large, double doors, holding the helmet of a Shadow Trooper.

The pegasus looked over at his friend, who still wore his helm. "She's in there," he whispered. "We have to go in after her, " he insisted, lifting his hoof to the doors' large handle.

Abacus stopped him, placing a hoof on his shoulder. "Hold on! We don't know what we're up against."

"I don't care, he's going to kill her if we don't go in, now," Steam Shock barked quietly, wearing a stern expression upon his face. Before Abacus had the chance to stop him following his words, the stallion heaved the doors open to see King Sombra holding a long scythe over Wolf Heart.

With a yell, Shock jerked his wing forward, sending several of his wing-blades hurling towards the large unicorn stallion.

Before any of the blades could make contact with flesh, King Sombra lifted his scythe and with perfect accuracy, deflected all but one of the steel blades, which scraped across his cheek. "Let her go!!" the pegasus roared as Abacus followed him in with a short sword in his teeth.

The demonic being cracked a toothy grin. "Why would I do that?" he said callously before promptly grabbing Wolf Heart by the throat without taking his gaze off of Shock, lifting her off of her hooves.

Wolf Heart choked for breath as a look of unbridled fear crossed Steam Shock's muzzle that transitioned to an equally unbridled fury, his eyes blazing before, with a surprising burst of speed, he lunged forward, prosthetic and armored wing spread out to propel him towards Sombra.

On cue, the massive unicorn released Wolf Heart long enough to lift his scythe and fling it forward like a boomerang.

Shock barely had enough time to dodge to the side, a wide eyed look of surprise upon his face as time seemed to slow to a crawl while the glowing, lime green flat of the blade reflected the stallion's face as it spun by. Before long, time returned to normal and the weapon's edge became buried in the opposite, crystal wall.

Sombra snarled bestially at noticing that his attack missed before he surged forward and threw a hoof, striking Shock in the chest. While the armor plating his ribs protected him from broken bones, the metal dented and he was flung back whilst ushering a pained yelp.

The unicorn snorted like a bull, turning towards Abacus Oak, armed with a short sword in his teeth. "You're going to pay for that," Abacus said menacingly whilst Shock stumbled to his hooves, shaking away the dizziness in his head.

"Then come on!" King Sombra roared, shifting to a battle stance.

On cue, Abacus rushed him, sliding underneath a swung hoof as he thrashed his head, sword clanging and sparking against Sombra's gauntlets before Steam Shock re-entered the fray with a battle cry. Shock beat his wings once before he fell into a dive, hind hooves angled down and towards Sombra in preparation to strike.

Just as he was ready for the impact, however, Sombra whipped his head over his shoulder and slammed his jaws down on Abacus Oak's ankle. Abacus shouted in pain as, with little effort, the tyrant whipped his head, using the earth stallion like a club to knock Steam Shock away from him.

Steam Shock tumbled through the air for a moment before he re-stabilized, noticing Abacus trying in vain to escape the vice grip that Sombra had on his leg. The pegasus stallion studied the situation momentarily before he dove again. "Sorry, Abacus! This isn't gonna feel nice though!"

Sure enough, as the stallion dove, King Sombra swung his friend a second time, drawing out a pained shout. However, Steam Shock dodged the swing, grabbing Abacus and tearing him from Sombra's jaws with his momentum before throwing a hind hoof at the unicorn's face, knocking loose a couple of his teeth with the blow. Snarling in pain, the demonic unicorn looked up just to see Shock diving forward again.

With a sneer, his horn crackled before he materialized from his location and turned into a cloud of eerie black fog.

Shock's eyes went wide momentarily as he struck the crystal floor rather than a massive stallion, where he was quick to shake off his pain and turn towards his first love.

As Sombra disappeared into a shadowy veil, Steam Shock rushed to Wolf Heart's side, falling to his knees beside her. Horror slipped across his face at seeing two bloody stumps where her wings once were. Slowly, Shock reached down, seeing a gentle, weak smile cross the mare's face as she shifted her gaze up to him. "Oh, Wolfie," he whispered, leaning forward and gingerly wrapping her into his arms, careful to avoid brushing against her wounds.

"H-he's behind y... you," Wolf Heart choked.

"What?" Shock asked, pulling away slightly and looking into her emerald green eyes.

"Shock!! Lookout!!" Abacus shouted.

Before he could respond, a bestial laugh echoed through the room as a black shape emerged from the shadow. Pitch roared out, splaying his claws and snatching Steam Shock by the back. The pegasus shouted in pain as the breath was knocked from his lungs by the force of the grab.

Abacus Oak shouted a war cry and barreled forward, swinging his blade at Pitch's tail with full force. The force of the strike sent a vibration down the sword and into the earth stallion's teeth, causing him to drop the weapon with a surprised yelp.

Pitch glared down at Abacus before he scoffed. "Cute," the large, black dragon snorted, flicking his tail and sending Abacus flying before he struck a wall, head first, and fell unconscious. Returning his attention to Shock, Pitch glared down at the pegasus, noticing him try in vain to escape. The Dragon Lord rolled his eyes. "Ponies," he sneered before pulling back his arm and throwing Steam Shock at a wall.

Wolf Heart cried out with fear as he struck the crystalline surface with a thud before falling with a groan.

"I knew you'd show up," Pitch laughed, slowly approaching the fallen stallion with a twisted grin. "It's about as obvious as the color of my scales!" he chortled before placing a strong claw on top of Shock and pinning him below his weight, crumpling the prosthetic wing like it was paper.

"And what color... Rhk!... are your scales?" Steam Shock gagged, glaring up at Pitch with clenched teeth. Out of the corner of his eye, the stallion could see, just below his chin, a tiny patch of silver to break up the ash black, the light reflecting off of it to where it bounced multiple different colors.

His thoughts were interrupted as Pitch snarled. "I don't know what your game is, pony, but I don't like games," he sneered, widening his jaws.

With a grunt, Shock freed his hoof from under Pitch and held it up in meek defense. "Wait! Waitwaitwait!" he spluttered with a grimace as the dragon's jaws neared his face.

Pitch stopped, closing his jaws slightly and pulling his large skull back about a foot. "What?" he snorted.

Steam Shock's mind raced as he thought frantically to work up a response. "Hhhow is it that a mighty being such as yourself ended up in this crippling dump that Sombra calls an empire?"

"Hey!" an echoing voice shouted before King Sombra materialized into the room with an offended expression.

Pitch lifted his head with a thoughtful frown. "Sombra promised me the Badlands in return for my aid," the large dragon replied in a voice that belied his typically callous, fear-inducing voice. "Come to think of it," he grunted, turning to look at the tyrannical unicorn. "Why am I not in control of the Badlands yet?"

Sombra groaned and rolled his eyes. "Why are you even listening to this fool! Kill him!" he shouted with wide eyes, pointing towards Steam Shock and practically jumping up and down in annoyance.

Pitch shrugged before looking back down and opening his mouth again.

"I know how you feel!" Shock shouted suddenly, stopping Pitch once again.

"What are you talking about?" the dragon scoffed, cocking a scaly brow.

Steam Shock's expression dulled. "I know what it's like to feel unwanted, to feel betrayed. I lost my family too," he sighed, struggling slightly to breathe with the weight on top of him. Slowly, he shifted his view over to Wolf Heart, who was on the floor with tears on her cheeks. "I know what it's like to hurt those you love! You loved somepony, dragon, whether you care to admit it or not!" Steam Shock shouted.

Pitch snarled. "Silence!" he roared. "You do not know the suffering I have seen! You and I are nothing alike. you can't possibly know my suffering, nor can you try!"

"Of course I know your suffering!!" Shock shouted, the words causing Pitch to relieve some of his weight to where the pegasus could slip free. His prosthetic crushed, the stallion hobbled to his three remaining hooves. "My oldest friend, my brother was killed in the war that you were a part of! I broke the hearts of my only remaining family, and I tried to cover it all up by pretending to be this big-bad-wolf who didn't give a damn about others!!" he belted, glaring up at Pitch with a newfound determination.

The dragon snarled, and before Shock could react, Pitch lifted his clawed hand and swung, striking him and tossing the pegasus away.

Wolf Heart gasped with incredulity etched upon her muzzle at the loud crack of ribs against a wall, watching Steam Shock fall with horror. "Dapper!" she cried out.

Pitch lifted his head with a heavy breath, a seemingly bewildered expression touching his own muzzle as he ran the words through his head once again. Shaking his skull with a snarl, the black dragon squeezed his eyes shut and lifted a claw to his head.

"Pitch," King Sombra belted. "Kill him," he ordered.

The firedrake swiveled his head to face the tyrannical unicorn at the words, lowering his claws and tilting his head with visible confusion.

"Pitch!" Sombra sneered. "I said kill him!"

He paused, flexing his wings, before turning and looking down at the unconscious pegasus. After another moment, Pitch's expression darkened as he swiveled his head to face Sombra. "You know, by your Equestrian laws, I'm a notorious murderer... And it's true. I've killed dozens of your kind, slaughtered without mercy, burnt to ash, and bathed in the blood of my victims," Pitch sneered, taking a few steps towards Sombra. "I've pillaged, overthrown, destroyed, and tore down many of your civilizations."

King Sombra took a nervous step back as Pitch advanced upon him. "What are you doing?" Sombra barked, looking up at the dragon with growing fear.

"I hunted down and killed my siblings as an act of sheer revenge for being pushed from the nest when I was old enough. I was once the runt of the clutch, and I killed them all... Killed them out of spite. I've spent my whole life killing." Pitch's voice grew loud, unwavering, and enraged as King Sombra's back pressed against a wall. "And in all that time, I called myself ally with the one who really deserved to be killed!"

"No... No!!" King Sombra shouted as Pitch leaned down slightly.

Wolf Heart looked away just as the massive dragon pulled his head back and opened his jaws, an orange glow emerging from the back of his throat. The mare listened as King Sombra screamed in fear before it became muffled and the crunch of bone, combined with the shredding of flesh, became all too audible.

Slowly, Wolf stumbled towards Steam Shock, falling by his side and placing a hoof on his ribcage before she heard heavy footfall, with the click of claws against the crystalline floor.

Swiveling her head, Wolf Heart gazed up and saw Pitch gazing down at her, interlocking teeth bloodied and nostrils flaring as he breathed. Slowly, the dragon lifted a clawed hand and wiped off his snout in an uncanny resemblance to a dog or cat before unfurling a wing and gingerly dropping the unconscious Abacus Oak by her side.

"Why did you help us?" Wolf whispered, shaking her head in slight disbelief.

"Every word of what I said was true," Pitch responded before he moved into a resting position. "I had a family, I was the runt, and decades after I was pushed from the nest for my differences I sought revenge. I killed my siblings without mercy and made a new name for myself."

The mare cocked a confused brow.

"My scales weren't always stained this ugly black," the dragon clarified. "I had an adoptive mother. Never knew my blood parents and never cared, but when I was pushed out of the nest, a kind young alicorn took me into her life."

Wolf Heart sat upright. "Celestia?" she inquired.

Pitch snorted with a grumble. "For the love of Luna, no. Don't be a fool. She hated dragons. It was her sister," the dragon explained before looking down at the unconscious form of Steam Shock. "Forgive me for my actions."

Wolf sighed and dipped her head, gazing down at Shock. "He was my best friend, and only recently did the brotherly love I felt for him move towards something more, something he desired. He's not just family, Dapp-- Steam Shock, he... I dunno... I love this dingus, as many times as we've had to make amends for past mistakes. If you want my advice, go back to your mother and try to make things right," the mare explained, looking back up at Pitch's orange eyes.

"I don't even know who my-"

Wolf Heart shook her head. "No... I mean Luna," the mare corrected.

The dragon looked down at her with slight doubt etched across his thick muzzle. "I never asked for your opinion, pony," he grumbled, eliciting slight fear upon Wolf's face. "I may not be particularly angry now, but I still don't like your kind and I am not a tame dragon," Pitch snorted.

Wolf Heart elected not to bring up Pitch's former alliance with Sombra, should she mistakingly provoke his wrath. Gazing down at Steam Shock and Abacus, the mare slowly leaned down. However, as she did so, a pain shot to the remnants of her wings before she cried out in pain, feeling something trickle down her back. Sitting upright, the mare looked over her shoulder to see the stumps of her wings bleeding, crimson ichor staining her blue fur.

Pitch stared down and furrowed a brow. "You need to get that cauterized," he grunted nonchalantly, causing a look of fear to cross Wolf Heart's face. Seeing this, the dragon rolled his eyes. "Do you want to die from an infection?" he said before reaching forward to pick her up.

"Don't touch me!" Wolf Heart shouted, her past experiences being picked up by a giant black dragon not particularly fond.

The giant creature grumbled. "Then lay down flat, hold your back straight, and clench your teeth, because this isn't going to feel pretty," Pitch explained as his eyes took up a fiery orange glow and the claws on his right hand began to glow red hot.

The mare hesitantly followed his instructions and laid down, fear lacing her expression as Pitch gingerly placed his left hand on her hip and lowered his smoking right hand to her wing stumps. Sweat touched her brow as she saw, from the corner of her eye, the pulsing orange of his claws.

"Look away," the dragon ordered in a calm, but the nevertheless unsettling tone as he moved the tip of his tail in front of her face. "Bite down on my tail as hard as you can," he said. "I'll not deny that this will hurt."

At that, she did as commanded, though tasting hints of soot. Another second, and Wolf felt an immense heat over her before a searing pain shot down her wounds, the sound of sizzling flesh audible as she bit down on Pitch's tail with full force, pain-filled tears running down her cheeks as she stifled a scream.

She felt the dragon's heated claws against her back for another moment before the pressure subsided, though the pain was still immense. She felt a soft, warm breath against her back as Pitch did his best to alleviate some of the pain, breathing on the wound in order to provide some semblance of comfort.

Reaching over, Pitch tore off a segment of what remained of King Sombra's cape and gently lifted the mare into the air, who, in her immense state of pain, was unable to object as the dragon gingerly wrapped the mare's torso in the crimson robes before setting her down. "There," Pitch exclaimed, pridefully lifting his chin. "Not bad for a dragon without medical training, eh?" he smirked. Looking down, his expression flatlined.

Steam Shock was now awake, glaring up at him and holding a wing blade up.

"Please," Pitch snorted. "I do believe I just saved your marefriend's life."

The reaction was instant. Shock's cheeks turned bright red for a moment before he looked down at Wolf Heart, noticing her torso wrapped in King Sombra's drapes. He could smell burning fur in the air before he looked back up at the dragon. Before Pitch could say anything more, the pegasus dropped his blade and rushed to her side. Slowly, Steam lifted her chin and looked into her emerald eyes, noticing the tears staining her cheeks.

"There's the Dapper I know," she murmured with a weak smile, the cauterization having drained much of her energy as her eyelids dropped slightly. "Charismatic and cute like you used to be," Wolf exclaimed as Steam Shock's lip trembled ever-so-slightly, a smile upon his face. "Don't cry," the mare said, her smile making way for a slight frown.

"It's not out of sadness," he explained, shaking his head as he leaned forward and wrapped the mare in his arms, avoiding her wound in the process. "I was afraid I'd lose the first pony I ever loved," he whispered into her ear.

As the two embraced for a moment, Pitch cleared his throat, the sound like a rasping growl. "Sorry to interrupt... whatever this is, but perhaps I can give you three a lift home. There's no way you're getting through the front gate in one piece. I'll take you as far as the outskirts of Ponyville, no further," he said.

Wolf Heart and Steam Shock looked up at the dragon. "O-okay," Steam Shock acknowledged hesitantly, only trusting him for saving his best friend's life.

Pitch nodded before swiveling his head and turning to look at the remnants of Shock's prosthetic wing. "Alright," he said finally, effortlessly lifting the still unconscious form of Abacus Oak into his large claws before lowering his large skull to the floor. "Climb on," he said.

"No, I thought I was gonna fly up," Shock grumbled sarcastically, gently pulling Wolf Heart to her hooves with the crook of his neck and allowing her to support her weight on his shoulders.

At the words, the dragon blew a line of concentrated smoke into the stallion's face. "Don't get sarcastic with me, I still don't like your kind," Pitch grumbled as the pegasus coughed for a moment, climbing up the dragon's face and pulling Wolf Heart up with him before shifting to a position between the spines that stopped near the base of his neck and started at the shoulders.

With his best behind him, Shock felt her wrap her arms around his waist and rest her cheek on his back before Pitch trudged from the room.

Before long, the dragon had reached the main gate, noticing that various equines were removing their helms to reveal crystalline earth ponies and unicorns. Shock looked down with a curious expression at seeing their terrified expressions at the sight of the large dragon. None of them ran, but they were afraid. "Pitch?" the stallion queried.

The dragon simply nodded. "Must be Sombra's slaves breaking out of his enchantment now that he's dead... Part of them remembers that I was with Sombra, so they're cautious, but they figure because I was with Sombra, I won't hurt his soldiers," he noted.

"Wait... the Shadow Troopers were just brainwashed slaves?" Shock asked with clear surprise etched across his face. A sudden wave of guilt washed over him, a pang of guilt that Pitch could sense.

The dragon chuckled as he used his large skull to push open the front gates. "Do not feel sorry for them. They knew what they were doing and the enchantment was just to make sure that any noncompliant soldiers stayed in line," he acknowledged, leaving the large castle. "Without a leader though... the Crystal Empire will fall into chaos. Pitch turned to face the empire. "Hopefully Cadenza is still alive," he grunted before unfolding his wings.

"Princess Cadenza? Sombra never killed her?" Wolf Heart questioned with a sense of surprise audible on her weak voice, much to Pitch's chagrin. "If that's the case, we need to save her," she said, lifting her head.

"No," Pitch growled authoritatively. "I'll not meddle in the affairs of this kingdom any longer," he snarled.

"And what about redemption?!" Wolf Heart retorted boldly.

Chapter Four: Old Friends, New Rivals

-The Crystal Empire-

"Lord Pitch," Princess Mi Amore Cadenza started, her horn taking up a sky blue glow as she leered up at him, this following the destruction of the catacombs and her rescue. "You... you. I don't know where to even start!" she shouted, flying up and staring eye level with the black dragon.

"A 'thank you' would probably be the least likely to cause unwanted conflict," Pitch said matter-of-factly. "Besides, I didn't do it for you. I did it because I want to turn a new leaf, as you ponies call it," he snorted.

Princess Cadence furrowed a brow, one of her ears flicking sideways in obvious confusion. "I don't know what your game is, but I trust you no more than I trust that miserable tyrant who took my kingdom in the first place!" she shouted in his face. "And I am in no mood for games to begin with!"

"No games," Pitch nodded. "But if you won't trust me, trust the ones who convinced me to involve myself in you rather than letting you figure out how to escape on your own," he grunted, shifting his head so that Cadence could see the battered and bruised forms of Steam Shock and Wolf Heart on his back.

"Oh my," the alicorn whispered worriedly, lifting a hoof to her muzzle at Shock's missing limb and wing, and Wolf's missing wings, which she could see were once there through the aura that surrounded the mare. "Come with me, young ones," she beckoned, using her telekinesis to gently lift the duo off of Pitch's shoulders."I will get you fixed up proper."

Pitch rolled his eyes as she turned. "Don't forget the earth stallion," he grumbled, lifting his claws and revealing Abacus.

"Of course," she acknowledged, taking the unconscious pony with her.

The black dragon snorted as Cadence flew away with the equines in tow. "Fucking ponies," he grumbled, letting himself slip into a resting position, much like a cat, and lowering his skull between his jaws.

-A Couple Hours Later

Steam Shock flexed his new arm, looking down at the piece with a mixture of fascination. He'd been without an arm for almost seven years, having grown accustomed to walking on his wing, which had also been replaced. The metal that made up the prosthetics were largely copper still, with a few crystal and iron elements mixed in that looked and felt much less clunky than his wing.

Wolf Heart, in turn, had recovered in a short amount of time, having been healed with a small amount of magic via Princess Cadence, who watched on with a smile as she flexed her crystal and iron wings with a starry-eyed expression. "This is... This is amazing," Wolf exclaimed, unfurling one of her new wings and gazing intently at the crystal substances lining the metal frame.

Abacus had recovered too, but bearing no loss of limbs, he did not receive any crystal prosthetics. "That's... beautiful," he exclaimed, gently touching Wolf Heart's wing. "Dapper, come look at this," he said, beckoning the pegasus over to them.

The stallion looked over. "Hm? Oh, yeah... It's nice," he shrugged, wearing a slightly melancholy expression upon his muzzle.

Wolf Heart frowned at seeing his ears flat and head low, leaning back on his haunches. Slowly, she approached, placing a hoof on her friend's shoulder with a concerned expression. "What's wrong?" she asked, tucking in her wing and looking into his eyes.

"If that wing was from my father... then I lost the only thing that I had to remember him by," he muttered sorrowfully. In an attempt to shrug it off though, he spoke again. "Plus, I'd grown used to walking on it anyway. It had personality, y'know?" Shock asked.

Wolf shook her head. "Dapper, you can try to make yourself out to be a tough guy, but even after the war, you're still sensitive," she exclaimed. "We both know that at this point."

Steam Shock nodded. "Yeah," he muttered, lifting his new left leg and gazing at it. "I miss my father, mother... My sisters," he whispered, a tear touching the corner of his eye. "I never tried to make amends for how I treated my father as a kid."

The mare sighed, hugging her friend. "You'll get the chance, but first..." Wolf Heart gently pulled away and walked over to Cadence, saying something in her ear that was inaudible to the stallion.

Shock saw Cadence smile and nod, looking over at Wolf Heart.

-Later-

Princess Cadence approached Steam Shock, followed by Wolf Heart and Abacus, who both worked to carry something across their back. "Kind Sir," she started with a soft smile, drawing his attention to her face. "It is my understanding that your name is not Steam Alan Shock? But Dapper Alan Jolt?" she queried.

"Yeah... it is," he responded, turning and standing upright, though stumbling for a moment over his new limb.

"Well, Dapper Jolt... I have something for you. It wasn't easy, we salvaged as much as we could," she explained, standing aside so that Wolf and Abacus could step forward. "Your friend only thought it fitting that you should have that which you literally hold closest to you," Princess Cadence smiled as his friends slipped a large cloth wrapping object off of their back.

Dapper Jolt... approached the object with a confused expression, looking back and forth between Abacus and Wolf whilst cocking a brow. Slowly, he reached down towards the item, lifting a flap of cloth and tossing it aside, catching a glimpse of familiarly hued metal that gleamed in the light around them. Shock's jaw lowered an inch as he slowly lifted another fold of the cloth, revealing a large, copper-laden wing that gleamed, lacking any form of rust altogether. The imitation feathers were a metallic blue and gleamed, and a fair amount of the copper frame was highlighted with some silver. The plate, he could see, was padded with fresh cushioning and the leather straps were no longer stretched and falling apart.

The stallion leaned back in his haunches, seeing a small etching in the metal. Leaning down, he saw a name. "Rivet Alan Blitz," he read to himself before he fell dead silent, his eyes wide. "My father," Steam Shock muttered. The pegasus sat upright, dipping his head to where his eyes were shadowed by his bangs.

Wolf Heart smiled and walked towards him, placing a gentle hoof on his shoulder. Gingerly, she lifted a hoof to his cheek and shifted his chin up slightly. "It's okay, Dapper... You'll see him again," she whispered reassuringly.

-Moments Later-

Pitch snored softly, his nostrils flaring as his ribcage lifted and fell with each of his deep breaths. Shifting slightly, the dragon subconsciously curled his tail around to partially hide his hind legs, ushering a heavy sigh in his sleep. After a few more moments, Pitch slowly stirred, his eyelids fluttering slightly as he yawned noisily, lifting his horn-caped skull. Shaking his head, the dragon looked over to his right, noticing his current cargo approaching him, looking clean, healed and reequipped with their armor and prosthetics.

"Finally," he grumbled to himself, moving his forearms forward in a long stretch and flexing his jaws.

As the group of four, which included Cadence, approached, Pitch turned and looked down.

"Lord Pitch," Princess Cadence nodded, beating her wings and flying up to look eye level with the dragon. "I appreciate you rescuing me, even if it was against your typical line of judgment. For doing so, I would like to offer my hoof in an allegiance," she explained, holding out her hoof for the Dragon Lord.

Pitch wordlessly looked down at her hoof, which looked tiny in comparison to his large talons. The black dragon looked back up. "Once I make things right with my mother, my allegiances will lie with nopony. Not you, not Celestia, not even the other dragons. I'll no longer fight wars for others," he retorted.

"That's what I hoped you'd say," Cadence smiled softly before an egg materialized into her hoof. "King Sombra hadn't just enslaved my people, Pitch... He was going to make a dragon army with you as the commander and this was the first egg he stole. He stole from your kind and was using you... I am no substitute parent to a dragon chick, and want you to have this," she explained, eliciting wide-eyed expressions from Wolf Heart and Steam Shock.

"You want me to take care of a dragon chick?" he said with doubt as clear as day on his voice.

Cadence nodded. "Be the father it needs," she explained. "I cannot, for my duties rest here, putting things back into order."

Pitch sighed before he opened his jaws slightly and leaned forward, taking the egg from her grasp and positioning the egg beneath his tongue. "Let's go," he said to the three on the ground, grasping Abacus and lifting him onto his back. Shock and Wolf simply flew up, positioning themselves between his spines.

"Princess," Steam Shock said, looking over at Cadence. "Thank you."

"Thank me not, Mister Jolt... It was your friend who suggested it."

With that, Pitch walked away, where Cadence smiled softly and waved.

As the dragon exited the empire after a short time, he unfolded his wings and flapped once, kicking off of the ground and stirring up gales of dust as he took to the sky. Whilst Pitch flew, rarely beating his powerful wings upon the wind, Wolf Heart hugged Steam Shock as she had initially, her mane blowing back into Abacus Oak's face as he deadpanned.

Shock smiled softly as he flexed his left forelimb, which was now simply a copper, prosthetic wing. Swiveling his head, the pegasus looked over his shoulder to see Wolf Heart smiling up at him. Steam brought back his right limb, gently positioning his hoof on her knee.

Even in the cold air of the higher elevation that Pitch preferred to fly at, Wolf Heart's cheeks flushed slightly as she turned her head to avoid looking at the stallion.

Steam Shock chuckled to himself before shifting his gaze forward, seeing, in the distance, a large area of trees far below. At seeing how high they really were, the stallion went pale, his eyes wide with fear. In spite of his winged heritage, Shock possessed an immense fear of heights. "Uuuh, Pitch?!" he called out over the wind gales. "Can you maybe fly a little lower?!"

"Not unless you'd like to be killed by the ponies who fear my kind," Pitch replied flatly.

"Fantastic," Shock grumbled under his breath.

-An Hour Later-

Pitch slowly circled over the Everfree forest, allowing himself to be pulled down by the force of gravity on his immense, multi-ton weight. After a few minutes of circling, Pitch ducked below the tree-line and landed in a small clearing near the edge of the forest.

Steam Shock slowly looked over his shoulder, feeling a comforting weight between his shoulder blades. Wolf Heart's head was nuzzled against his back and she was asleep, eyes closed to indicate this as such. The mare had subconsciously clutched the softer feathers of Shock's right wing in her sleep and her breath was acting as a warm, gentle breeze against his wing. The stallion smiled to himself, looking up and seeing Abacus with a goofy grin on his face that elicited pure deadpan to replace his own smile.

"Get off," Pitch's gruff voice ordered, almost instantly startling Wolf Heart into waking as she yelped, jerking to attention.

Steam Shock frowned and turned his head before his ears flattened slightly. "You're a good guy now, Pitch. Be a little nicer," he grumbled as he slid off of the dragon's back and lifted his arm and wing for Wolf Heart.

"You mistake me not being a villain for being a hero," Pitch snorted with an eye roll as the mare sheepishly slipped into Shock's arms, where he gently set her down.

Shifting, the stallion moved to Abacus. "Well still, try to at least pretend you're not an ass," he said as Abacus merely jumped off of the dragon, face planting into the dirt. Steam Shock looked down at the earth stallion with a flat expression. "Abacus... are you retarded?" he chastised as said stallion stumbled to his hooves.

As Oak reacquired his bearings, Pitch growled softly at Shock. "No, just stupid," Abacus acknowledged with a grin.

"This is where I leave you," Pitch's voice interjected.

"What? Pitch, you need to go see Luna," Wolf Heart chided, pressing a hoof against his heavily muscled forelimb. "She needs to know that you're okay."

The dragon looked down with a flat look crossing his scarred snout before he simply lifted his leg, where Wolf Heart fell to the ground with a yelp. "No," he grumbled. "All she needs to know is that I won't be of any threat to her or her subjects anymore," Pitch said, turning to walk away.

Steam Shock glared over at the dragon as he helped Wolf Heart back to her hooves. "Then you are turning your back on the ones you cared about!" the pegasus shouted at him as he walked away, stopping the dragon in his tracks.

Pitch turned and squinted over at Steam. "And what made you the almighty ruler of my mind, pony?" he snarled back. "I may not be with the villain anymore, but as I stated previously, I don't like your kind. They hunt and kill my kind merely because we are a potential threat to them. They treat us like the dirt under their hooves, like we are unintelligent animals!" the dragon growled, looming over Shock and casting a shadow over him. "There is nothing left for me here anymore, so... this is where I leave you." With that, the dragon turned and trudged away.

"Dingus," Wolf Heart chided her friend. "You could've just gotten yourself killed because he moved his leg and made me fall," she said with a deadpan expression. "If he doesn't want to make things right with his family, then that's his problem, not yours."

Steam Shock sighed. "Well, let's go find the others, I guess," he suggested through a shrug, turning to face Ponyville.

"Agreed," Wolf nodded as Abacus trotted up beside them.

Pitch slowed to a stop, turning his head to look over his shoulder at the trio of friends as they advanced towards Ponyville. The dragon looked down at his feet, careful not to drop the egg in his partially opened jaws. For the first time in decades, the most infamous dragon known to Equestria felt sorrow and he felt guilty.

-Moments Later-

Wolf Heart walked alongside her friends, flexing her new wings with a soft smile upon her face. If she had to admit, she would indeed miss the more organic feel of her own wings, but she found that these were equally beautiful. After a couple of moments of walking carried out amongst the trio, the winged unicorn's expression dulled in a manner that was all too noticeable to Steam Shock and Abacus.

"Wolf?" the pegasus stallion queried, looking over at her with a worrisome expression. "You alright?"

Wolf Heart sighed. "I'd rather talk to you about it when we're alone," she whispered, eliciting the stallion to flick an ear before he turned to Abacus.

"You go on ahead, we'll catch up," Steam exclaimed to Abacus, nodding towards the ever-nearing Ponyville. "You don't mind, right?"

"Nah, that's fine," Abacus said with a shrug before trotting away.

Steam Shock turned to Wolf Heart, whose gaze was loosely trained upon the earth stallion as he moved away from them. "Talk to me," the pegasus insisted, coming to a stop and turning to face his first love with a slight frown edging across his lips.

Wolf Heart sighed and leaned back on her haunches. "Before Pitch took me... I... I really hurt you, didn't I?" she murmured guiltily. "I know something hit a nerve for you to have responded the way you did." Wolf Heart looked up to see a look of shame on Steam Shock's face. While she had been thinking upon the events mentioned since they happened, Wolf had been unable to discuss them until now.

Steam Shock sighed and dipped his head. "I was the one who lost my temper. I saw that it hurt you more than it did me anyway," he stated, his voice growing solemn as he gazed over at her. "I am sorry for what I did. The last thing that I would ever want is to lose you, especially to my own aggression," the stallion clarified.

Wolf's vision grew slightly blurry as she looked up at Steam Shock. "Dapper, this... this isn't your fault. None of it. I'm so sorry for upsetting you that way, for ruining what little time we've spent together in almost... in almost a decade..." Wolf Heart trailed off, lifting a hoof over her snout and ducking her head to where her bangs shadowed her eyes, tears trailing her cheeks. "I-I'm sorry-"

"Hey," Steam Shock cooed in a gentle, almost fatherly voice, pulling her into his arm and wing as she started to cry. "Please don't cry," he whispered, holding her tightly. As he spoke, he forced back tears of his own. In response to this strain, Shock's grip grew stronger, like he didn't want to let her go. "Please," he murmured.

Wolf Heart cried softly into his shoulder, though with the comfort of his strong hold and the soft feeling of his feathers against her, the winged unicorn calmed slowly. A lot may have changed about the pegasus over the years, but one of the constants was the comfort and support that Dapper provided simply through his touch. Namely through his hugs.

As her crying calmed, Wolf Heart sniffled and gently pulled away, looking up to see the stallion's cheeks streaked with tears of his own. His already slightly bloodshot eyes were even redder and his breath came heavy. Wolf smiled softly and gave the stallion a hug of her own, her arms around his neck. "You know something, Dapper?" she whispered into his ear. "I love you." With that, she gently leaned back, gently craning the stallion's head down to match her height before she pressed her lips to his.

At this, Steam Shock couldn't help shedding what tears he still had left, a smile spread across his muzzle at her sincerity as he graciously returned the gesture. "I love you too," he murmured. Gently, he pulled away and looked down, where ocean blue eyes met jade green as the two studied each other with warm feelings.

Wolf Heart flexed her silver and crystal wings with a soft smile, lifting a tender hoof to Shock's face and wiping away the tears that stained his cheeks.

Steam Shock leaned into her touch and closed his eyes, as he had done when they were first reunited, lifting his clawed wing and warmheartedly holding her hoof. "I don't deserve a mare like you," he whispered, softly kissing her hoof and looking at her.

The winged unicorn's cheeks flushed a slight red in hue as the stallion moved his claw away from her hoof so that she could lower it to the ground, a smile clad upon her face. "We should probably catch up before Abacus starts to get the wrong idea," she giggled sheepishly.

This elicited a slightly embarrassed chuckle from the stallion as he fell back on recent events involving the manner of their reuniting. "Agreed," he finally stated.

-Canterlot-

The large black dragon approached the gate, his expression quite mellow and placid as he advanced. Pitch's movement was little more than a lumbering trudge as his tail, held lower than one would deem normal for a dragon, swayed back and forth. As he approached, the two celestial armored guards at the gate lifted their weapons, horns glowing as they took up battle stances.

Pitch rolled his eyes as he approached, ushering an annoyed sigh before he stopped a short distance from the two, wordlessly shifting his gaze back and forth between each guard.

"Begone, beast!" the one right of Pitch shouted, lifting his spear. "You will not cause bloodshed here today!"

The dragon snorted, gently moving the egg gifted to him from his jaws and to the palm of his hand as he spoke. "Tell me, pony... Are you aware of what Dragonfear is?" he questioned the bold stallion, gazing down at him with a calm, relaxed expression.

The guard remained unmoving as he spoke. "It is a twisted sickness that neither myself nor my compatriot will be exposed to, now leave the premises and we will not call upon Princess Celestia to kill you, Demon!" he barked.

"No, you're right. You won't be exposed to it... if you simply let me in. Want conflict, I do not. I simply wish to speak with my adoptive mother, Princess Luna," Pitch explained with a nod to the guard.

The stallion cocked a brow before he turned and looked to his ally for support, only receiving a shrug and wide-eyed gaze. He looked back up at the dragon. "Who are you?" he questioned, cocking a slightly confused, but curious brow.

The dragon pridefully lifted his skull. "Once, I was a conqueror of the Badlands and the Lord of the Dragons. I was a commander in the Crystal War and, while I am not proud of it, I was once King Sombra's ally. But let it be known, King Sombra is dead, killed by my claws. My name is Pitch, and I have returned to the place I once could call home in the hopes of cleansing my scales of my bad deeds," he said loudly.

Slowly, the guard came to the realization, where he simply hefted his spear. "You are the dragon whom Celestia has been seeking to kill! We will not let you in today, or any other day! Now, die!" he shouted, hurling his spear with full force at Pitch with a shout.

The dragon rolled his eyes as the spear simply sparked slightly against his hide before it bounced off, clattering to the brick roadway. "I am not here to kill you," Pitch snorted. "But I must get in."

"Never!"

Before either could do anything more, a loud voice echoed out. "Enough!"

Pitch looked up and the guards whipped around to see a deep, navy blue winged unicorn flying just above the gate, a glare upon her face and blue energy slithering from her eyes.

"Your Majesty!" the two guards said in unison, falling into a bow as she slowly hovered down and acquainted her hooves with the roadway, looking up at Pitch.

"Rise," she said without looking away.

The dragon looked down. "Mother," he said, leaning back on his haunches.

Princess Luna dipped her head and sighed. "Tungsten," the mare said. "Why have you come here?" she questioned incredulously as she looked back up.

The dragon dipped his skull at hearing the name. It was one that he had not heard for decades, and it was one that Pitch had dreaded hearing again. "I came to make things right," the black dragon finally said, the soft, guilty tone in his voice defying the usual coarse, powerful visage that he was most often seen with.

Luna shook her head. "You can't just make things right by showing up, Tungsten," she chided in a gentle voice, flying up to look the dragon in the eyes. "It would take a lifetime of good deeds to erase all that you have done over the past few decades, and that breaks my heart," the alicorn exclaimed, grabbing his snout. "I will always be your mother, and you will always be my son, but you have done things that no mother should have to bear to know."

"I know," Pitch whispered, dipping his head with visible sorrow in how his large wings had fallen slightly and his tail was no longer elevated off of the ground. Slowly, he lifted the egg up. "I brought this for you... I can't be a father, but I know you can be a good mother to the chick," he exclaimed, gently placing it into her hooves before rising to his clawed feet. "Raise it as you did me," Pitch muttered, turning and spreading his wings.

"Tungsten," Princess Luna cooed, halting the dragon as he prepared to take off. "Do you know why I called you that?" she said, seeing him turn his head to look at her. "I called you Tungsten because I knew that you would have the strongest will of any dragon, the strongest scales. I knew you would be a great leader one day, perhaps even take the Bloodstone Scepter so that you would be hailed King of the Dragons. Tungsten is a strong element, one of the strongest... It never bends to the will of others under normal circumstances, but that will can be shattered. You let King Sombra shatter your will, Tungsten." Princess Luna looked down at the mottled, silver and black egg. "Please don't do that again. And please... come back when you can, I miss my son," she said, furrowing her brows with visible sadness.

Pitch sighed and dipped his large head. "I will," he replied before he beat his wings once, kicking off of the ground and lifting his heavy weight into the air. As he lifted into the air, flames erupted from his jaws and eye sockets, where they also rose from his vertebrae. The outline of his chest scales began to glow with a fiery orange as he rose higher into the air, and before long, every scale on his body was outlined with magma hues. The dragon turned and looked down to see Luna a quarter mile below him, and with his hawk-like vision, he could see her smiling. Unhinging his jaws, Pitch allowed a thunderous bellow to erupt from his jaws before a detonation of blinding red and orange discharged from his body, a shockwave of black exploding outward.

As the light died, Princess Luna moved her hoof away from her face and looked up, seeing a cloud of black ash gently fluttering to the ground. Shifting her gaze a little further up, Luna smiled at seeing the sun reflecting off of a dragon whose scales glinted a beautiful silvery-black, with accents of deep, electric blue at the edges of the wing membranes.

Tungsten roared out again, an echoing, awe-inspiring sound that lasted for a good few seconds before the dragon fell into a dive, swooping low over Canterlot with a blast of wind that flowed through Luna's ethereal mane. Arching his back and curling his wings up slightly, the large dragon rushed upwards before he disappeared over the mountain that Equestria's capital was built into, his roar echoing out over the land.

Princess Luna smiled to herself, looking down at the egg that she cradled in her hooves. Holding it up to the sunlight, she could see, through the shell, an almost fully developed dragon chick with recurved horns and thicker jaws, a spiny tail curled up over itself. "I'll call you Platinum," the alicorn murmured to herself, lowering the egg as Princess Celestia emerged from the castle and rushed to her sister's side.

"Sister! What happened?! I heard the roar and saw the explosion, who is attacking?!" Celestia said with wide eyes before she paused, seeing the egg in her younger sibling's hooves. "Sister? What is this?"

"A gift from my son," Luna smiled, kissing the surface of the egg as a joyful tear slithered down her cheek.

-Ponyville-

Steam Alan Shock's gaze was trained up at the sky, his eyes wide and jaw lowered a couple of inches as ash fluttered to the ground. Wolf Heart was no less shocked, though her expression bore a bit more joy than surprise. It was then that confusion hit her. "He said his scales weren't always stained black," she exclaimed. "I didn't know they were silver though."

"I saw it when I was trying to negotiate with him, under his chin," Steam Shock noted.

Abacus looked up with awe etched across his face before the trio was approached by a familiar pegasus and unicorn. "So you didn't die," Falcon Wing exclaimed, chuckling as he approached them. "You're hard to kill, Jolt, I'll give you that."

Steam Shock grumbled before noticing the split second of disappointment on Falcon's face. "You hoped I would die," he noted as Jackpot Ace trotted towards them with a slight smile. "You wanted me to go after Wolf so that Sombra would kill me!" the pegasus shouted, eliciting mutual looks of doubt and concern on Wolf Heart and Abacus Oak's muzzles.

Falcon Wing rolled his eyes as Jackpot slowed to a stop, turning to face Falcon at the realization. "Finally!" Falcon groaned in exasperation, slapping a hoof to his face. "I may be a commander, but a commander's gotta do what a commanders gotta do. I never exactly wanted you dead, just decommissioned, y'know? 'Out of order', so to speak," he explained. "Why do you think Wolf Heart was wanted for striking a superior officer, Jolt? Because she found out just what was going on here." With the words, Falcon Wing lifted a folder whose tab was labeled "Dapper Alan Jolt".

"You, messed with the file?!" Steam Shock shouted with anger.

"Of course, I did," Falcon Wing snorted. "You weren't even supposed to make it out of that God-forsaken war in the first place! So, I decided to have you charged for leaving your post without permission, but when you were never found later, you were labeled MIA. All quite genius really," Falcon Wing said with a prideful smirk.

Steam Shock, at this point, was trembling with rage, Abacus and Wolf Heart wearing worried expressions as Jackpot took a few steps away from the pegasus. Abacus soon followed suit.

Wolf Heart refused to relent, however, seeing the wing-blades glinting in the feathers on Shock's right wing. "Dapper, don't... He's not worth it," she whispered in an attempt to calm the stallion.

Before she could stop him, however, Steam Shock surged forward, wings unfolded as he ushered a loud battle cry. "I'm going to kill you!" he roared in fury, throwing a hoof at Falcon Wing with eyes fuming. The golden-feathered pegasus rolled his eyes as he effortlessly dodged to the side, lifting a hoof and jabbing at Shock's ribs.

"You can try," he growled as Steam growled at the sudden jolt of pain that shot through his body.

Swinging around, Shock leered over at Falcon Wing fiercely.

Wolf Heart's expression transitioned to horror as the two circled each other before she shook away her surprise and moved forward. Before she was able, she felt Jackpot and Abacus grab her by the wings, holding her back. "Let me go!" she shouted.

"Wolf, this isn't your fight!" Jackpot ordered, giving her a strong, but gentle tug so that she was jerked back. "Also nice wings, but this isn't a fight that you need to involve yourself in. If Dapper wants to fight Falcon Wing, let him... I have hope that he can emerge on top."

"But, but!... He-you-" Wolf Heart spluttered with wide eyes. "Falcon Wing is a damn commander! Dapper hasn't fought anypony in seven years! Let alone a leader of armies!" she shouted. "I won't lose him again!"

Abacus sighed. "Jackpot is right, Wolf... I have confidence. Dapper is a fierce fighter and literally fought a dragon only a few hours ago," he agreed, eliciting a cockeyed confusion to cross Jackpot's muzzle. "We can fill you in later," Abacus acknowledged before he turned at the sound of metal clashing, that of which halted Wolf Heart's attempts to rush in and interfere.

Currently, Steam and Falcon were locked in combat, wing-blades sparking against each other as the two stallions engaged in a power struggle. Slowly, Falcon Wing began to push Steam Shock back, breathing heavy as he inched forward. His adversary struggled against him, mechanical clicks audible as his prosthetic wing locked to prevent him from sliding, the claw that he walked on digging into the dirt roadway.

Wolf Heart watched with clenched teeth and wide, worrisome eyes as Falcon Wing abruptly pulled away and whirled around before Shock could react, bucking him square in the jaw. As he staggered back, blood pooling in his mouth, Falcon whipped back around with surprising speed, bringing his blade down.

The winged unicorn shouted in fear, ready to see her best friend's head roll across the ground as his rival swung for the base of his neck. The mare turned away just in time to hear a metallic clang. Turning, the mare wore a confused expression before seeing Steam Shock leaning back, his wing lifted and deflecting the attack.

"Nasty world out there, Jolt," Falcon growled, pushing against the stallion with all the force that he could muster.

Steam Shock's wing locked, preventing him from moving any further as he slowly lifted his right wing and allowed a wing-blade to slide out of hiding.

Seeing this, Falcon pulled away from the pegasus before hurling his own wing-blade at the stallion as the whites of Shock's eyes melded into lime green and violet wisps of smoke slithered from the corners of his sockets. "And I think it's catching up with you."

Steam Shock was just too slow to avoid having the commander's blade slash across his face, blood running down his cheek as he threw his head back with a pained growl and dropped his blade. Glaring forward at his rival, the pegasi's nostrils flared. "Guess all I have left then is doubts... doubts and scars," he barked back. With that, he charged forward with a war-cry, lifting his metal-plated forehoof over his head and slamming it back down.

Falcon Wing lurched back just as it punched a hole in the dirt where he had been, throwing a hoof and striking Steam Shock in the face.

Wolf's expression transitioned to horror at noticing the crystal blue that usually made Shock's irises so appealing was now a deep, demonic crimson. She remembered what the stallion had said about King Sombra's scythe poisoning him with dark magic, and now the poison was taking effect, dark magic leaking from his eye sockets.

Before she could do anything to potentially stop the dark magic's effect, Steam Shock stumbled away from Falcon Wing and collapsed with a pain-filled shout, holding his snout with a hoof as he glared up at his adversary.

Falcon Wing slowly approached, a disappointed look spread across his muzzle. "You're not the fighter you used to be, Jolt," he said whilst shaking his head. "You've grown weak."

Steam Shock shifted his view down with a growl, steam rising from the joints of his mechanical wing as they worked overtime to remain cool. Just in front of him was a wing-blade whose edge was made red with blood. The pegasus glared up at Falcon Wing, who wore a smug expression.

"Go ahead and take it... You won't win," he smirked.

"I already have," Steam Shock barked snidely, grabbing the blade before hurling it at his rival, bearing a strength that was, in part, thanks to the dark magic pulsing through his veins and venting from his eyes.

The blade impaled the golden feathered stallion's shoulder with a crunch, nearly emerging through the other side of his arm. Abacus Oak sucked in a breath with a grimace as blood flowed freely from the wound and the commander cried out in pain.

Jackpot Ace smiled. "C'mon, Dapper, kill him," he muttered to himself.

Wolf Heart's expression was fear, however. Aerenth poisoning was no joke and Steam Shock had only managed to inflict so much damage on his rival because he himself was inflicted with dark magic.

Shock rose to his hooves and proceeded to kick Falcon Wing away, where he fell with a dull thud. The pegasus advanced upon his rival, grabbing his wounded shoulder and flipping him onto his back with an enraged glare. Shock snatched Falcon by the scruff of his neck with the claws of his wings, lifting his hoof over the pegasi's face. With a shout, Steam swung his hoof, striking Falcon in the jaw with a spray of blood whilst knocking loose a few of his teeth.

All three who watched winced as Shock punched him again.

Falcon Wing coughed, blood spilling onto his chin as his rival held him.

"You were my friend!" Shock roared in his face as the pegasus stallion lifted his hoof, slowly and painfully removing the blue-maned pony's blade from his shoulder.

"Forgive me... brother," Falcon choked before he slowly buried the blade in Steam Shock's stomach.

Wolf Heart gasped in unbridled horror as Shock's eyes went wide and blood began to drip from the corner of his mouth. Looking down, the pegasus gazed upon the blade for a moment before the green and red enveloping his eyes transitioned back to ocean blue and white, the violet smoke dissipating as he struggled to breathe.

"NNOOOOOOO!" Wolf Heart screamed as tears stained her cheeks, lunging forward as Steam Shock fell onto his back and Falcon Wing rose to his hooves. Before Falcon could react any further, Wolf Heart revealed one of her wing-blades and swung with all of the force that she could muster before she landed with a plume of dust.

As the airborne dirt particles settled, the pegasus stallion turned to face her with a bloodied smirk before his head fell to the ground with a dull thud, crimson ichor spurting from the base of his neck before the headless body also fell.

Abacus Oak yelped as Falcon Wing's head rolled a short distance and brushed against his hoof, where he jumped a full three feet into the air and clung to Jackpot Ace, who wore a slightly disgusted expression upon his face.

Meanwhile, Wolf Heart had collapsed next to Steam Shock, where she cradled his head in her arms. "Dapper, don't you give up on me now," she choked as he gazed into her eyes with a weak smile. The mare stared into his eyes, her own watering as she stifled a sob.

"Well," the pegasus breathed weakly, looking down to see his stomach bleeding profusely, the blade still embedded in his body to slow the process of him bleeding. "That went poorly," he gasped with a soft, strained chuckle, his voice ragged.

"You... Why? Now you... you're. You're dying" Wolf Heart sobbed, holding his head upright and laying a hoof across his chest.

Steam Shock coughed, struggling to breathe. "This was n-never my story... to begin with," he gasped, lifting a shaking hoof and pressing it against Wolf Heart's cheek. "I... never wan-ted to be... the hero." The stallion struggled to talk, his eyes rolling back slightly as he fought to hang on to the last thread of life he had.

"Please... don't leave me," Wolf cried, burying her head in the crook of his neck. "I can't... I won't lose you again."

"H-hey," the stallion breathed. "Wolfie... l-look at me." The mare looked into his eyes. "Y-you have to... you have to let me go," he gasped with a weak smile, brushing his hoof through her mane before noticing the tears streaming from her eyes. "Your eyes... so beautiful... P-please don't cry," he asked.

Wolf Heart stifled a sob at his words. "Please, don't go," she whispered.

Abacus Oak and Jackpot Ace watched on with sorrowful expressions as Steam Shock kissed her snout.

"I-I love you... Wolfie," he choked before his head fell in the crook of her arm, the life in his eyes leaving him.

Wolf Heart stared down, a flurry of tears falling from her cheeks and rolling off of her chin as she cried, pulling Steam Shock's lifeless body into a tight hug and crying into his shoulder, her own shoulders shuddering with each sob. "I'm sorry," Wolf whimpered. "I'm so, so sorry."

Several minutes of sorrow carried out, Wolf Heart refusing to release Steam Shock's body as her tears stained the fur of his shoulder. The mare lifted her head slightly before, at seeing the lifelessness in the stallion's eyes, she broke, unrestrained crying audible as she screamed into the dead stallion's shoulder, a cry that was as much a shout as it was a sob.

After a while, Jackpot approached, leaning down and gently placing a hoof on Wolf Heart's back with a sorrowful expression crossing his face. The winged unicorn flinched to his touch, but remained in her position, hugging Steam Shock's body.

"I want to bury him," Wolf Heart's muffled voice whispered through a sniffle, gently running a hoof through the stallion's shoulder length, blue mane. With that, she gingerly leaned back slightly and kissed his cheek, her breath heavy and wavering.

Abacus slowly approached, looking down at Steam Shock's body whilst holding back tears of his own. "Then we bury him..."

Epilogue: The End of a Lineage

-The Outskirts of Ponyville-

Abacus Oak adjusted the stone that sat on top of the rock pile, a frown touching the corners of his lips as Wolf Heart hung back in Jackpot Ace's arms, sobbing. Jackpot, in an attempt to comfort the winged unicorn, gently rubbed her shoulder, watching sorrowfully as Abacus placed the last stone onto the grave. His hooves were gritty and face smeared with dirt as a result of digging the hole and covering it back up once his friend had been laid to rest.

Following this, the earth stallion forced a wooden cross into the ground in front of the grave that read;

~Dapper Alan Jolt~
~Those That Keep the Peace, Forever Shall They be Blessed~

Wolf Heart gently pulled away from Jackpot, slowly approaching the pile of various rocks before she knelt down, lifting one with her hoof as her vision blurred. The mare looked down, seeing Dapper Jolt's former, prosthetic wing positioned before her, fully unfurled to show the detail in the imitation feathers and each individual line of engraving clad upon the copper frame, including the R.A.B carved into the padded plate that would have typically held it to his shoulder. Slowly, she shifted her gaze away, the clawed limb a heavy reminder of who the stallion had become. Leaning back on her haunches, the mare dropped the stone she held and cried, burying her head in her arms and wrapping her tail around herself. Her prosthetic, crystal and metal wings seemed lifeless in how they laid on the ground in a show of sadness.

"Dapper may not have been my best friend," Jackpot started as he sat beside Wolf Heart. "But he certainly cared. Falcon Wing chased him down because Dapper represented everything that he feared most in the world."

Abacus dipped his head, his ears falling flat as his eyes misted over. The stallion sighed deeply, removing his hoof from the wooden cross and moving to where he could see the wording upon it. His expression of despair transitioned into a slightly sad smile as he recalled the time before Dapper Jolt had become Steam Shock, a time when they were still in high school even. "He was so... upbeat. It was almost hard to get angry with him," Abacus chuckled weakly.

Wolf Heart slowly lifted her head from her arms and looked up at Oak, tears slithering down her cheeks. She looked back on the referred time... and it only worsened how she was currently feeling. Back then, Dapper had been the type of stallion who liked to make ponies smile, always boasting about his sexy mane. Back then, Dapper could give Wolf Heart a hug, tell her everything was alright, and she'd believe it. He never stopped caring for her, even when she didn't want to be cared for and even when those he spoke to her of chastised him for it. He was one of the few who had been a shoulder to lean on, an emotional support in Wolf Heart's life.

The mare lowered her head and wept, pushing herself to her hooves and walking away, not wanting to see the pile of stones and 't' shaped planks of wood that comprised the grave of her best friend any longer.

As Wolf Heart moved away, carrying her sorrows and despair with her, Abacus and Jackpot looked to each other with mutually saddened expressions before Jackpot rose to his hooves. "C'mon," the unicorn stallion muttered solemnly, nodding towards Abacus.

The earth pony shook his head with a sigh. "She... she needs some time to herself, Jack. She cared about him more than anypony else did, give Wolf some time to recover," Abacus Oak retorted, closing his eyes. "I'd like to stay here anyway, never got to... to say my goodbyes." With that, he turned away from Jackpot, squeezing his eyes shut with clenched teeth and forcing back tears.

Jackpot sighed before he turned, slowly following Wolf Heart back to Ponyville with the tavern in mind.

-Ponyville-

Rivet Blitz wiped down his hooves with a dirty washcloth, scratching his brown and grey beard with a wince at the pain in his back. Sliding out from under the carriage, the strong earth stallion rose to his hooves, tossing aside a size twelve wrench and leaning against the frame of the door that opened up to his shop. Lifting a large mug, the stallion took a swallow of coffee and adjusted his Harley Neighvison Motor-Carriages hat, looking on as ponies ambled down the street on their daily commute. With that, he lit himself a cigarette, taking a long drag off of it and allowing the smoke to emerge from his nostrils.

It was then that Rivet noticed a mare with a horn and mechanical wings walking by, her head low and tears staining her cheeks. Cocking a brow, the earth stallion looked back and forth down the road before trotting up to meet her with a slightly concerned expression.

"Hey," he said in a gruff voice, drawing her attention up to him. "You alright?" he asked the mare as she slowed to a stop.

"I-I'm fine, Sir," she muttered, shaking her head and turning her face away from him.

Rivet Blitz deadpanned. "Lemme get you something to eat, ya look hungry," he smiled kindly, his azure blue eyes twinkling.

Looking up at his bearded face and seeing the lack of ill intent in his eyes, the mare acknowledged. "Okay," she said hesitantly, following him back to the garage. As they entered the building, the stallion rummaged through a small red and white cooler that acted as his lunch box, pulling a hay sandwich out and handing it over to her.

As the mare unwrapped the food and took a bite, Rivet studied her wings with fascination. "Crystal Empire?" he queried, noticing the small, jeweled details lining the frames of them.

The winged unicorn looked up and simply nodded.

"What happened?" the stallion asked, furrowing a curious brow. "Ya musta seen some action in your time to need both wings replaced," he exclaimed, flicking his cigarette before grinding the stub into an ashtray so that the cherry died. "Those kinda look like th' kind of wings I used to make, actually," he continued.

The mare looked up and furrowed a brow, lowering the hay sandwich from her mouth.

"What's yer name?" Rivet asked.

"Wolf Heart," she replied, eliciting a look of curiosity on his face. "You... used to make wings?" the mare repeated.

The earth stallion shrugged. "Not for five, six, maybe seven years now, but sure," he acknowledged before he spoke again. "Say, I feel like I've heard your name somewhere before," Rivet said with a thoughtful expression. "Did you go to Canterlot High School by any chance?"

Wolf Heart nodded.

"Then y'knew my son, Dapper Jolt. Good kid. Wouldn't stop talkin' about ya when he was in school, though." Rivet's expression grew sullen. "Haven't seen him since a short while before I gave up the wing-crafting business," he sighed, slight guilt visible upon his face.

"Are... you Rivet Blitz?" Wolf finally asked, beginning to grow ever-fearful that the news of Dapper's death would reach his father.

Seeing her worried expression, Rivet nodded slowly. "Yyyes? Why? Where's my son?" he demanded.

Wolf Heart dipped her head, tears running down her cheeks and off of her chin.

Rivet Blitz furrowed his brows, a frown touching his lips as disbelief spread across his face. "Where's my son?" he repeated firmly, though his voice shook with a building fear.

"He and I fought together in the Crystal War. You gave him a prosthetic after he disappeared, presumed dead." Wolf Heart's voice wavered as she struggled to keep her composure. "Somepony wanted him dead, and when he didn't die in the war... h-he tracked Dapper down." At this point, the mare was audibly crying, her breath heavy as she lifted a hoof to her snout, pointing with the other towards the Everfree. "The grave... the grave..." She cut herself off and broke down, collapsing with a sob.

Rivet Blitz moved by her, turning and staring towards the forest and refusing to acknowledge what the mare said to him. "No... You're lying," he accused, shaking his head in disbelief.

Wolf Heart was unable to respond, her cries coming muffled.

Moving out into the street, Rivet shook his head again. Not another minute passed before the stallion was gone, galloping towards the Everfree whilst becoming oblivious to all else around him.

-Moments Later-

Rivet Blitz could see the cross with a pony beside it, his heart pounding in his ears. The pain shooting through his body told him to relent and pause, but he refused, unwilling to admit defeat. Bolting ahead, Rivet was soon forced to skid to a halt, startling the only other equine who was still within the radius of the gravesite. He didn't need to see the name carved into the cross to know whose grave he was looking at, for a prosthetic wing with blue feathers was laid across a pile of stones.

The earth stallion beside him rose to his hooves with a wide-eyed stare as Rivet heaved for breath, staring down at the wing with growing sorrow. "My boy," he muttered, falling to his knees as his eyes became shadowed by his short bangs. "My boy," the mechanic repeated, looking up at the wording of the cross and seeing the name of his only son etched upon its surface.

Rivet Blitz shook his head, his eyes beginning to water as he looked up to the sky.

Abacus Oak looked down at the stallion. "Sir?" he queried before Rivet looked up at him.

"Get out of here," he ordered firmly. "And don't look back."

Without argument, the earth stallion walked away. As he moved through the stagnant air, shoulders tense, he heard a loud bang ring out. Abacus didn't look back, as he had been told, an anxious grimace crossing his muzzle as he flinched to the sound. Before long though, curiosity got the better of him. Slowly swiveling his head, Abacus could see the stallion slumped over, the silhouette of a magic blunderbuss visible limp in his hoof.

Horror crossed his face at the realization before Oak's pace moved to a trot and he moved swiftly to try and find Wolf Heart. Eventually, he did indeed find her purchasing a train ticket from the Ponyville station. "Wolf Heart? Where are you going?" he chided, trotting up to her side.

"Away from here," she explained solemnly, not looking away from the ticket salespony.

"You can't," Abacus Oak said, placing a hoof on her shoulder and turning her away from the ticket booth to face him. "Dapper Jolt wouldn't want you to leave," he sighed. "He wouldn't want you to run away from your problems. He would look you in the eye and tell you that you were going to be okay, that everything was going to be okay. I heard what he said, Wolf... Dapper asked you not to shed tears for his sake," Abacus scolded, a firm expression spreading across his muzzle.

Wolf Heart furrowed her brows with visible sadness. "But he's not here to say that everything is going to be okay," she retorted softly.

Abacus let his ears fall flat, a sigh slithering from his nose. "Then I will be. Okay?"

With the words, Wolf Heart slowly moved into the earth stallion's arms with a soft sob. "I miss him," she cried quietly. At this point, her tears had been spent, and now she was unable to shed any as Abacus wrapped her arms around her, his vision blurring.

"Everything will be alright," Abacus whispered, a tear slithering down his cheek and rolling off his chin.

"If we have to fight, we fight. If we have to run, we run. If we must die, we'll die... But we will stay free."