Once A Shadow - From the other side

"...and if there's one thing I know, it's that the good guys always win. That's the way it has been, that's the way it will be, and I don't see how this should be any different." I said.

He laughed. "But here's the question: how do you decide who the good guys are and who the bad guys are? From where you're standing, I may seem like a pretty bad guy, but then again I've done some good before I became what I am now. So tell me, how do you decide who is a bad guy and who is a good guy?"

I stood there and thought, before smiling. "A good guy is someone who is willing to defend their people, their families and their countries till their last breath, regardless of the situation or circumstance. I know this because that's what I was, that's what I am, and what I always will be."

He chuckled. "Very good, then you know not to become someone like me, a slave of someone else's will. One last question for you hermano," I raised an eyebrow. "did I ever tell you the definition of, insanity?" I smiled again and chuckled a little as I tightened my grip on the trigger, looked away and fired.

Hours beforehand, at the start of the day

I stifled a yawn as I woke up, ready for the long day that was ahead of me and everybody else that I knew. I got up, made breakfast, spent a few minutes tinkering with my knife, before putting on my vest and Wonderbolts suit over it. I headed downstairs and found Spitfire, my team, Ni's team, Soarin and Blaze in the sanctuary. I went and joined them before someone came down. It was Crystal! I raced up to her and hugged her.

"Whoa, if I'd known you'd miss me this much..." She said.

"Sorrow Curse said he'd taken you!" I replied.

"Well, obviously he lied, to keep you occupied." Spitfire said, trotting up to me.

"Right, that means he could be going to do something very soon, most likely at the wedding today." I concluded "The question is, what is he planning?" Unfortunately that question would not be answered, as the most stubborn pegasus (A.K.A Shadow) in all of Equestria entered the room.

_Spitfire trotted up to me. “I'll take Solemn off your hooves Shadow. In the meantime, I'd like to introduce you to a few ponies. Medic squad, say hi to the fastest pony to climb the ranks since myself a millenia ago.” She said as I gave her Solemn.

One of the ponies trotted over to me. His muscular features and steel colored coat along with his dark blue mane and tail made me think of this guy as the pony you didn't want to fuck with in a bar brawl. He held out a hoof. “Nice to meet you, name's Bloodbank. I've got advanced first aid training, but nothing much more than that in terms of being a medic. I can fight though, so I guess it makes me more like the group's 'bodyguard'.”

I shook his hoof. “Shadow Flash. Good to meet you.”

Bloodbank rejoined his group, while another pony trotted up to me. His white coat and red mane led me to believe he's more the medic type than Bloodbank. He shook my hoof. “Bandages. I've got more training than Bloodbank when it comes to being a medic, but that doesn't mean I'm helpless in a fight. If you get hurt in the midst of combat, I'm the one who's got your back.”

I nodded. “Good to hear. I look forward to working with you in the future.”

Bandages trotted back to his team, and an average sized pony came up to me. The guy had marks all under his eyes on his face, like somebody had carved up tally-marks through his dark green coat, and straight to the skin. He shook his black and green mane out of his eyes to see me better. “Sawbones. I'm the squad's lead surgeon. I've got over three hundred years of experience, so you won't find a better doctor in all of Equestria. It sounds like boasting, but I'm just stating the simple truth. That being said, I'm not much of a fighter. If possible, I stay out of the combat.”

I nodded. “If you don't mind me asking, why does it look like somepony carved up tally-marks on your face?”

“These? I put them there.”

“Why would you do that?! There are like forty!”

“Forty-six to be precise. Although I'm the best doctor in Equestria, that doesn't mean I can heal any wound. There are some beyond my capabilities, and each of these marks is a pony I've failed. They remind me to get better, and be able to heal any injury.”

Talk about hardcore. “Uh, right. I look forward to serving with you.”

Sawbones nodded and went back to his group, and another pony trotted up to me and sized me up. This guy seems different than the last three. More hardass-ish looking with his Big Mac build, brown mane, and red coat. But hey, looks can be deceiving. When he finished, he smiled and held out a hoof. “So you're the one Hornet told me about, huh? Call me Buckshot. You look like you can handle yourself in a fight pretty nicely, so that makes you alright in my book. Honestly, I'm pretty new to this whole Fugiens Mones thing, but I'm no stranger to a fight. I've also got more than twenty years' experience as a combat medic, so I guess this squad suits me more than your spec ops team, or assassins, or whatever your squad is called.”

I smiled and shook his hoof. “You don't look like you're bad in a fight either. There's something different about you, but I can't quite figure it out...”

He grinned. “You're also sharper than you look. I'll let my 'captain' tell you.” He said captain with a hint of reluctance. I wonder why....wait, did he say captain?

Buckshot trotted back to his group, and the last one, this one with a brown coat, approached me with a smile on his face. One of his red eyes was covered up by his half black and half red mane. Wait...whoa, what the fuck happened to this guy? He's got griffon wings instead of normal ones, and some sharp ass teeth. Are those from a dragon?
When he got up to me, I was still staring at his wings. He cleared his throat to get my attention, and I jumped. “Uh, sorry about that.”

“No problem. To be honest, this feel is still new to me. It was a pretty recent incident that made me have to get a few 'changes' made to my body.”

“Wait a sec...I've seen something similar to this before.....necromancy!” I jumped back and activated my hidden blades. “You're an abomination!”

His group got ready to move, but he held up a hoof for them to stop. “Yes, I'm an abomination now. Believe me, I didn't see myself becoming an abomination three days ago, but here I am. I'm not an average abomination though. I've still got my mind, and I know where my loyalties lie. If you calm down, I'll explain.”

I retracted my hidden blades and slowly nodded.

“Thank you. I know my appearance is pretty unsettling to say the least, and I realize that. An accident happened a few days ago, causing me to nearly die. Before I did, however, a known rouge necromancer saved me the only way she could; she killed me and turned me into an abomination.” His eyes lowered. “I know it may sound far-fetched, but this is the truth. I owe my life to that necromancer, because she was kind enough to save it.”

I relaxed a little bit, but still remained cautious. “A rouge necromancer? I'm not sure if I believe you.”

He gave me an apologetic smile. “Yes. I knew it would be a little too much to try and believe given your history with them, so I'll let her speak for herself.” He said before a robed unicorn mare with a white coat and golden mane trotted from behind the medic group.

It took every ounce of control in me not to slash her throat right there. That aside, it was obvious that I was very agitated.
“It's okay Shadow. This is Crystal Tears. She's the necromancer that saved me.” The captain said.

She trotted closer to me, and I kept my eyes on her, just daring her to make a move.
“I understand what you must feel right now, but believe me when I say this; I'm not with them.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And how am I supposed to believe that? What if you just fixed up the captain here so you could get close to our base?”

“That's enough, Shadow.” Spitfire said as she trotted over.

“You believe her, Spitfire?”

She nodded. “I do.”

I sighed. “....Alright.” I turned to Crystal Tears. “But just so we're clear, I'm watching you.”

She nodded. “I understand.”

Just then, the captain let out a breath he was apparently holding in. “Well now that we've got the fact that I'm an abomination out of the way,” He held out a hoof. “I'm the recently promoted captain of the medics, Hornet.”_ -chapter 34-

It took him a minute to make up his mind before he decided to shake my hoof.

_“If Spitfire vouches for you two, you can't be that bad. Wait, have I seen you before, or is it my imagination?”

“You've seen me before, although it was before I had this happen to me.” He said, gesturing towards his teeth and wings.

“Really? When?”

“It was only briefly, and we didn't speak. I was the one who delivered the information to Spitfire about the necromancers' hideout in the desert while you were present.”

I thought for a moment. “Oh yeah, I think I remember now. You know, I gotta say those griffin wings are barely noticeable, which helps explain why I didn't recognize you.” I said with a bit of sarcasm.

“Thanks, and your big head doesn't make you look like any less of an ass.”

“Now you two-” Spitfire started to say, but was cut off by the Hornet and I bursting into laughter.

We bumped hooves and laughed for a moment longer. “I think we're gonna have a good friendship going Hornet.”

“Heh, I couldn't agree more. Oh, and before we continue on with our conversation, there's one more thing you need to know about me. Well, me and Buckshot.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What is it? It can't be more surprising than you being an abomination.”

“Well, me and Buckshot here are uh, how do I put this so you don't freak out? Well, there's no way to do that, so I'll just say it.”

Oh God he better not be coming out.

“We're human.”

“....Come again? It sounded like you just said you and Buckshot over there were human.”

“Because I did.”

I rubbed my temple with my forehooves. “Ugh, why couldn't it have been something as simple as coming out of the closet?”

“No you ass, I'm not gay. I'm going out with Spitfire.”

My eye twitched. Yep, surprise overload. I think I'm gonna faint now.....aaannyy second....ah, now._

Shadow collapsed, and landed with a thud.

"Is he going to be alright?" Blaze asked.

"He's fine, he's just being melodramatic." Spitfire replied.

"I don't know, Ni and Soarin fainted too." I said.

"See? He's fine." Spitfire said.

_“Ughh...too many surprises...”

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Yep, definitely fine.”

I sat up and looked at Hornet. “...So you used to be human, eh?”

He nodded. “I won't go into much detail, but I'll tell you the basics. I'm former military, and I was flying a jet fighter before being attacked and killed. I got the chance to come here, so I took it. Soon after, I'm in the Mones. As time passed, Spitfire and I got closer to each other.”

I got back up on all fours. “I never thought Spitfire was going out with someone, because I definitely wouldn't have told Soarin to ask her out if I did.”

“So you're the one who told him to ask me out, huh?” Spitfire said, getting closer to me.

I frantically backed up. “Uhh, what I meant to say was that I-ow!” I was cut off by Spitfire pounding my head

I rubbed my head. “Owww, what was that for?”

“It wouldn't be fair if I hit Soarin, but not you.”

I sighed. “You're not nice, ya know that?”

She shrugged. “I never said I was.”

“Heh, I guess you're right.” I turned to Hornet. “So meeting you means that there's only one more captain for me to meet. Given each of you captains had your own little surprise about you, I'm guessing the archery captain is no exception?”

Spitfire smiled. “Depends on what your definition of the word 'surprising' is.”

“I'll take that as a yes. Oh well, it can't be any more surprising than a former human, now part pony, griffon, and dragon.”

“You say that now.” Spitfire said, grinning.

“Okay, now I've gotta know. What does the archery captain look like?”

“You'll get to see him soon enough.”

I hung my head. “Man, this is gonna drive me crazy trying to figure out what's up with the last captain.”

“You'll get over it. Now, you were out for a couple of hours, so I recommend that you rush back to Ponyville ASAP.”
I looked at a conveniently placed clock on the wall next to me. It's two' o clock, so that gives me....shit.
I jumped up and ran for the exit. “Oh, when Soarin and Ni wake up, tell them they're my groomsmen! Also Spitfire, I need you to take Solemn to the wedding when she finishes training!” I shouted before Spitfire could protest, and left the sanctuary._

After a few minutes of waiting for Ni and Soarin to wake up, I trotted up to them. "Hey, you awake?" I asked them.

"Yeah..." They replied groggily as they got up.

"Shadow says you're going to be his groomsmen for the wedding, just letting you know." I said bluntly. They fainted again, slumping against each other. I chuckled as Spitfire gave me a bit of a scolding look. "What, I couldn't help it. Besides, they had to find out at some point anyway." She just smiled, rolled her eyes and walked off. We spent the next half and hour or so getting ready to go to the wedding, we made sure Ni and Soarin were up to the task of being the groomsmen (as I'm sure neither of them had experience in that sector of life) and we we put on some formal attire. I stuck to my Wonderbolts uniform, clean and simple. Spitfire went for an elegant dress which I'll put in the comments, which most likely could be taken off and stored at a moments notice. Blaze went for her Wonderbolts uniform too, probably because she didn't have anything better to wear. Ni and Soarin went for armor hidden under tuxedos, and surprisingly the armor didn't stick out.

After a while we finally headed out to Canterlot, everybody in a mixed state of excitement and nervousness. And I mean, why wouldn't you be? If a group of bloodthirsty necromancers were coming to crash your wedding, you'd be pretty freaked out too. We arrived at the gates of the castle and stopped for the guards, and they simply nodded and let us through. Looks like the VIP stuff has its perks after all.

We all stopped in front of the castle before Spitfire got our attention. "Alright, we need to scout out the city before the wedding, just in case there's something hidden. Ni, I need you and your team to scout the east side to the city, while Hornet and his team scout the west. soarin, Blaze, you're coming with me to the castle to meet the princess. Report back here before the wedding starts, then fall in with the rest of the crowd. Got that?" We all nodded and spread out.

Like Shadow brony, I'm not very good when it comes to passing the time with this sort of thing, so I'll time skip ahead to just before the wedding starts.

I kept stepping my forehoof up and down in impatience, as I waited for my squad to return. They arrived one by one, each arrive slightly later than the last. "You guys are almost late." I said.

"Sorry about that, Sawbones got lost in some alleyway." Bandages joked.

I rolled my eyes. "Never mind about that, find anything?

"Nothing, at least nothing visible."

"Okay then, I'll take it as an all clear. The wedding's about to start. Let's go." We all merged into the crowd as everybody went inside the castle. The inside of the castle was utterly stunning. Tapestries accompanied with red and gold streamers, banners along every column through the room created a beautiful sight to behold. We all took our places and waited for the ceremony to start. Shadow and Ni entered after a few minutes of waiting, walked down the aisle and stood next to Princess Celestia. Rainbow followed suit and did the same.

_Rainbow and I turned to Princess Celestia, and she began. “Mares and gentlecolts, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Rainbow Dash and Shadow Flash. Before I continue further, does anypony have an objection?”

So help me God...gah! Motherfucker!

I groaned and rubbed the side of my head, trying to soothe the pain of a wrench thrown by Thunder. I then promptly caught a dagger thrown by Nesral and threw it back at him, purposely hitting him in the face with the hilt, and sending him into sweet unconsciousness.

Princess Celestia coughed. “Well...now that we have those 'objections' out of the way, I'll continue.”

Jesus Christ, that wrench hurts like a bitch.

“Their commitment is clear, and their love, undeniable. Would the two care to state their vows?”

I nodded to Rainbow, and she began to speak. “Shadow, I-”

“Princess...Celestia! The...city is under....attack!” A bloody guardpony said as he barged in, interrupting Rainbow, and the wedding entirely for that matter._

I turned to look at the bloodied guard for a split-second, before zipping out with Spitfire, Blaze and the rest of my squad. "Sawbones, Bandages, go back there and take care of that guard and any others that wind up there. Buckshot, you stay there as well and keep them safe. The rest of you, on me." I said, taking off my uniform superman style before shoving it into one of my vest pouches and drawing my knife. They nodded and turned around to head back. We got outside the castle, only to find the city was overrun by what appeared to be an army of skeletons.

"Mother of Celestia..." Blaze gasped.

“Clear these skeletons out! We need to make sure that none of them get inside!” Spitfire shouted. She snapped back into action and charged some of the skeletons. I went in for a strike, along with Spitfire and the others. while the skeletons were very numerous, they were also very weak, allowing us to chain up large combos.

“Alright, good job everypony, we've secured the castle courtyard. We need to move out and deal with the rest of these things. Hornet, your squad is with me. Blaze, you think you can handle yourself?” Spitfire said.

Blaze nodded. “Of course. I'll be a bit lonely, but not much thanks to my new companion.” She responded, gesturing towards her scimitar.

Spitire chuckled. “Right, how could I forget? I did introduce you two, after all.”

“That's right. After I felt so useless that time you saved me from that demon, I wanted to learn how to use a weapon. Thanks for teaching me.”

Spitfire waved a hoof. “Just looking after family. Now, we need to get a move on. Good luck, kid.” She said before flying off.

We continued to fight and after taking down about fifteen I stopped, seeing a giant blue explosion on the other side of the city. In the distance, I could see Ni and Soarin heading towards the explosion site. As we continued to fight, I could see some ponies trying to escape through the gate. One of them, a pegasus with a snow white coat, blonde mane and tail and a blue shield/gold heart cutie mark, was holding off some skeletons. He got knocked down by one of the skeletons, of which was now going to behead him. I threw my knife into an attacking skeleton and whipped out my crossbow, lined up the sights and fired. less than a second later, the bolt impacted and shattered its skull. Realizing that he wasn't being attacked anymore, the pegasus got up, looked over at me and waved, before fleeing with the rest of the ponies.

I smiled, grabbed my knife from the remains of the skeleton I just killed and kept on fighting. We cleared the area, when Bloodbank suddenly clutched his head, screaming in pain. He then stopped, and stood there blankly, wide eyed and expressionless. "Hey Bloodbank, you okay?"

Bloodbank simply punched me in the chin, sending me backwards. "Hmmph, weak willed fools" He said.

"Bloodbank, what the hay did you do that for?" Spitfire asked in confusion.

"The mind is quicker than the eye. Had you been using your mind rather than you eyes you would have figured it out." Another voice said.

Just then a pony came out of the shadows. He had a light brown coat, a similar tail, a goatee and no mane. He wore a necromancer's robe with the hood down, but from what I could tell he was no necromancer. In place of the mane, was some kind of device, most likely one of Sorrow Curse's contraptions. "Who the fuck are you?" i asked.

"You fight a pointless war against us, trying to protect your unjust and corrupt form of society. Only complete faith in me and my comrades can protect you. Only total compliance will save the lives of you and your family. Empty your mind, and submit to my will. I am Yuri. Obey me." Both he and Bloodbank said in unison. This 'Yuri' had a russian accent about him, and a stare as cold as ice giving him an eerie presence.

"So, Yuri is it? What is it exactly that you do?"

"The brain is a Pandora's box of electrical charges we can only begin to understand. Most brains are but receivers; however, some are advanced, sending and receiving charges as they choose. I am one of those chosen, and I use my 'gift' to manipulate the weak willed minds of others, like your friend over here."

"So, you can control minds huh? Then why didn't you take control of someone more powerful, like me or Spitfire?"

"Hey, don't give him ideas!" Spitfire said.

"You are smarter than you look. While I CAN control the minds of others, I can only control them if their will is weak enough to submit to my will. You and your friend here are too powerful for me to control, however I still have many that I can control. Take my servant Vaas, for instance." Suddenly Bloodbank collapsed, and another figure stepped out from the shadows. "I am not controlling him directly, however I do not need to. My 'experiments' on him have given his loyalty to me.

"Good to see you again hermano, I trust your marefriend is okay?"

"You see, I have a device installed in his brain. He has what's left of his partially insane mind, but he choses to fight for me, because if he does not, he will die."

I smiled before charging Vaas. "I wouldn't do that if I were you hermano." Suddenly I was blasted by some kind of wave, knocking me backwards.

"The mind is the greatest weapon that has ever been created. It can conquer the minds of the weak, it can adapt and survive, it can be used for so many things. In this case, my mind can be literally used as a weapon. Now submit to my will, and join our great cause of creating the perfect society, or choose to fight for your corrupt society, and die."

"How about this: you can do this the easy way and give up nicely, or you can choose the hard way and die painfully. Please say the hard way, it's been a while since I've had a good fight, and I'm not counting all your skeleton goons."

"Very well then. You wish for a fiight, then a fight you shall get. Yuri then proceeded to send out some kind of psychic wave. We clutched our heads in pain. "Come comrades, I am in need of your assistance. All obey yuri." Suddenly ponies wearing necromancer robes came from all directions, staggering like zombies towards us chanting "All obey Yuri".

"We- we need to find some kind of way to block his power!" spitfire shouted to me.

"Agreed, but how?" I said back to her.

"No idea, but I'm pretty sure we don't want to take too long, I don't want my brain to become a fried egg."

I managed to break out a smile, despite my head feeling like it was being pounded in with a hammer. "Well, we still need to deal with these uninvited guests, just try not to die okay?" She smiled before getting up and starting to fight. I got up as well, and lunged at the mindless slaves. Normally they would have been downed within a minute, but it's a little harder when you're brain feels like they're slowly getting crushed. After a long and painful fight, we collapsed to the ground, my head feeling like it was about to explode.

"You show very strong wills, and while I can't control your minds, I can still access them." Yuri said. "Cpt. Daniel Walters, USAF. A.K.A Hornet. Hmm, you used to be a human, that's unexpected. But no matter, Your friend Vaas here has given me a good idea of what you weak willed humans are capable of."

"Wait, you're human too?" Vaas said. Yuri then stopped his psychic attack.

"Apparently so. Look, just try not to die, I'll see if I can do something to help you later." I said.

"Hmm, it appears I have chosen my servant well. I now have an unfair advantage over you." Yuri said, smiling.

"And what might that be?"

"Reading your thoughts, I know you won't hurt him voluntarily being the good peacekeeping soldier you are, and I know you won't risk killing me in case you end up killing him too. So now, I bid you farewell, as I have much to do, but do not fret. I will leave you in the capable hands of your friend, and I'm sure you are both VERY eager for a rematch." Spitfire zipped in front of him, putting a dagger to Yuri's throat.

"Why leave? we were just getting started." She said, smiling.

"That was unwise, just because I focus on mental attacks, doesn't mean I'm helpless at close range." He said, swatting her away.

She fell to the ground, and wiped a bit of blood from her mouth. "Oh that does it, Hornet! You know what to do." I nodded and pulled out my crossbow, aiming at his head. Seeing this, Yuri sent Vaas to disrupt my shot. Vaas tackled me, but not before I had my hoof on the trigger. I fired, but instead of hitting his shiny dome, it hit the device on top. He put his hooves up to his head, catching the shattered bits and pieces.

"You fool! Do you realize what you've done!?" Yuri cried out.

"Umm, I've stopped your evil plans once and for all?" I asked jokingly.

"You've destroyed the device! The built up psychic energy has has now become extremely unstable,and with an advanced brain such as mine, it could cause a large scale blowout!"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, stop. In english."

"Meaning that it will cause the entire city will go insane from the psychic energy stored in my brain!"

"Over here!" Vaas interrupted. I ran over to him. "I need you to do something for me, but I'm sure that you won't want to do it."

"What is it?" I asked. He whispered in my ear. "No, I won't do it! You know I won't do it Vaas, you know I won't kill you. I want no preventable casualties here, you included."

"Come on man, you barely even know me. Besides, there are some things that I did that I need to make up for, both as a human and here."

"Look, I know you've done some bad things. But I know you're still a good guy,and if there's one thing I know, it's that the good guys always win. That's the way it has been, that's the way it will be, and I don't see how this should be any different." I said.

He laughed. "But here's the question: how do you decide who the good guys are and who the bad guys are? From where you're standing, I may have seemed like a pretty bad guy, but then again I've done some good before I became what I am now. So tell me, how do you decide who is a bad guy and who is a good guy?"

I stood there and thought, before smiling. "A good guy is someone who is willing to defend their people, their families and their countries till their last breath, regardless of the situation or circumstance. I know this because that's what I was, that's what I am, and what I always will be."

"Very good, then you know not to become someone like me, a slave of someone else's evil will. One last question for you hermano," I raised an eyebrow. "did I ever tell you the definition of, insanity?" I smiled again and chuckled a little as I tightened my grip on the trigger, looked away and fired. I knelt down next to Vaas, and closed his eyes.

"Silent enim finis interitus est. Requiescat in pace." (Be silent, for death is not the end. Rest in peace.)" I turned my attention to Yuri, who was fiddling hopelessly at the remains of his device. "Now, where were we?" I said, before I started to attack him. I layed on punch after punch, reaching a combo of forty hits, before I grabbed and threw him across the courtyard. "That's for Bloodbank!" I shouted as I continued to pummel him. "That's for Spitfire! And THIS is for Vaas!" I gave him a powerful uppercut to the jaw, sending him up in the air.

He got to his feet, and wiped some blood from his face. "You do realize this is pointless right? In just a few moments, my mind will destroy itself, unleashing a wave of psychic energy. All in the blast radius will become permanently insane, and there is NOTHING you can do about it." Yuri said.

"I beg to differ." I retorted.

"Hmm?"

"If you had the power to do something like that, then you would have done it already. While you may seem self preservative, I can tell that you would sacrifice your life, because you are loyal to your goal, no matter what may happen to you."

He laughed. "You are right, I was bluffing. I was not lying about dying though, so you may want to stand back."

"What happened to the evil, methodical Yuri that was here about a minute ago?"

Yuri smiled. "Just because I am evil and methodical, does not mean I am without respect."

I simply nodded and stepped back. "I thank you, you are the first to defeat me in battle, and to earn my respect. Goodbye, comrade." He said calmly, moments before his head exploded. After standing next to his body for a few seconds, I turned around to go help Spitfire.

"I'm fine, go see how Bloodbank's doing." She said standing up. I ran up to Bloodbank and gave a quick look over.

"He should be fine, he'll wake up shortly. You should take him back to Bandages and Sawbones, I'm going to see how the others are doing." I said. She nodded and flew off with Bloodbank on her back. As I walked through the courtyards, I found that things had calmed down in most areas. I kept walking until I found a body slumped up to a tree. I went up and examined the body. Well you're definitely no necromancer, that's for sure I thought to myself. What are you, a servant or something? Just then, Crystal came running at me. "Crystal! What are you doing out here?"

She came up and hugged me. "Spitfire told me what had happened, and I thought I could help in some way."

"Actually, there is something you could help me with. Do you think you could resurrect this guy?" I asked.

"I guess I could, but it would only be temporary, I never really learned much when it came to resurrection." She started to recite a spell, before her horn began to glow. The body coughed up some blood and sprang back to life, to which I flinched backwards.

"what happened to you?" I asked.

"Hah, I was taken down by some mare called Blaze, good fighter she was."

I smiled. "By the looks of things you're no necromancer. Let me guess, merc?"

He smiled back. "Yup, name's Providence, nice to meet you."

"Likewise.Now tell me, what's someone like you working for someone like Sorrow Curse?"

"Now something like that should be self explanatory. Listen, I know about your little mission to the Griffin territory, and-"

"Wait, how do you know about that?" I asked.

"Three words: Yuri, psychic connection. He usually is assigned to relaying info to one another, just in case one of us gets taken down by somepony and that same one comes after the rest of us. Look, I won't bore you with the details, so lets just cut to the chase. Yes, I know about your little mission happening in the near future and as my goodwill being a merc, I might be able to help you. For a price of course." he said.

"(of course)...I'm listening."

"I run or well used to, run a group of mercs. They should be able to help you with your little adventure, provided they're given the correct motivation. Take this," he held up a set of dog-tags "show 'em the one on the left, they'll understand. You can keep the other one, I'm sure you'll find a better use than me."

"Thanks. Now even though you've been very helpful, you're supposed to be dead. So I think we'll leave you now, goodbye."

"Right, before you go I have one request. If you see that Blaze character, tell her I'll buy her a drink." He said before exhaling his last breath.

"Yeah, I'll do that." I said, smiling. "Come on, we've got to find everyone else, make sure they're okay." She nodded and followed. We were heading in the direction of what sounded like a large battle when Spitfire and the rest of the squad came around a corner and caught up to us. "Hey, just in time. You feeling better Bloodbank?"

He rubbed his head. "I've got a bit of a headache but otherwise I'm fine."

"Great, now let's get going." We continued to where we had heard a fight going on until we found Shadow, Rainbow Dash, Ni, Blaze, Thunder Gunner, Twilight, shining Armor, Princess Luna and some weird kinda ninja guy.

_Shadow looked over at Rainbow and smiled. “So...we getting married or what?”

Rainbow giggled, a few tears still rolling down her face. “You idiot...of course we are.” She said before putting her lips against Shadow's.

Everypony that had been defeated by Sorrow gathered around the couple. Ni was the first to speak. “I think we should get these two some medical treatment.”

“Say no more.” A voice behind the group said.

Everypony turned to see Hornet and his squad, along with Spitfire.

“Don't worry, we've got 'em.” Hornet said as Bloodbank and Bandages trotted passed him to look at Rainbow Dash and Shadow.

Spitfire looked around. “Where's Soarin at?”

“After giving him a second black eye for a reason I'd rather not think about at the moment, we agreed to split up. I was to come here, and he was to go back to the castle and make sure it was secure.” Ni replied.

Spitfire nodded. “Good.”

“Where were you though? You weren't here to help us fight Sorrow Curse! Everypony here was nearly killed, and Shadow lost a leg!”

“Speaking of that missing leg, Sawbones, I think you should get Shadow to surgery ASAP. I don't know how, but he's still alive after taking some pretty serious punishment.” Bandages called out.

“On it.” Sawbones said as he rushed over to Shadow.

Spitfire looked at Ni. “Hornet's squad and I had our own fair share of trouble. Besides, I had faith you could do it.”

“If you say so...”

“C'mon, we need to see everypony here to some medical treatment. Let's get out of here.”

Ni nodded. “No arguments here.”_

The next few days were harsh, especially for the people of Canterlot. Word spread around fast of the incident, and within 12 hours of the invasion having ceased, relief was pouring in from all over Equestria.It was amazing how the people of Canterlot were recovering from the disaster in terms of reconstruction, however I don't think the same could have been said about recovering from their losses. Rumors started to spread about our group, however the princesses were quick to hush it up, calling us "a quick thinking force of civillians and equestrian guard". They did have make sure there was no mention of Spitfire or the other well known Wonderbolts though, that would have caused some controversy. Things quieted down, and a few weeks afer the invasion a service was held to commemorate those who lost their lives in the attack. Many a tear was shed, and even though some of them may have been trained soldiers, nothing can prepare you for losing something you hold dear.

Three days after the service

_“...I now pronounce you mare and colt.” Princess Celestia concluded.

The crutch-supported and bandaged Shadow Flash leaned over to meet Rainbow in a passionate kiss before turning to the cheering crowd.

“IT'S TIME TO PARTY EVERYPONY!” The pink ball of energy yelled.

How lucky can one guy be,
I kissed her and she kissed me,
Like the fella once said,
Ain't that a kick in the head

“Never leave me again, Shadow.” Rainbow said.

Shadow laughed. “I don't plan on it.”

The room was completely black,
I hugger her and she hugged back,
Like the sailor said, quote "ain't that a hole in the boat",
My head keeps spinning,
I go to sleep and keep grinning,
If this is just the beginning, my life's gonna be beautiful

So Hornet, does this give you any ideas?” Spitfire asked.

“Yes, does it?” Crystal Tears added in, both mares eyeing him seductively.

“Uhh, look over there!” Hornet yelled, making the two mares turn their heads before dashing off._

After realizing what had just happened, Spitfire and Crystal race after me. I stopped outside on a balcony and the two mares caught up seconds after.

I've got sunshine enough to spread,
It's like the fella said,
Tell me quick ain't love like a kick in the head,
Like the fella once said,
Ain't love like a kick in the head

"You still haven't answered our question, Hornet." Spitfire said.

"To be honest, it doesn't give me any thoughts on the matter, at least not in terms of getting married." I said.

"Why not?"

"Well, just think about it. If I do end up getting married to one of you, the other would most likely end up neglected. Secondly, think of the media uproar. if something like that were to go public, the media would be swarming us like flies, which intern could jeopardize the secrecy of the Mones. Besides, we wouldn't want to upstage Rainbow and Shadow's wedding now would we?"

They both laughed. "Good point."

"And anyway, I think things are much better the way they are right now, wouldn't you agree?" we all smiled and headed back into the party.

"By the way Hornet, where's Buckshot and the rest of the squad?"

She's telling me we'll be wed,
She's picked out a kink size bed,
I couldn't fell any better or I'd be sick,
Tell me quick, oh ain't love a kick,
Tell me quick, ain't love a kick in the head!

"I think Buckshot went off to try and hit on Applejack, and the rest of them are chatting up some random mares. But never mind that, shall we dance?" They simply smiled and kissed me on either side of the cheek. "I'll take that as a yes then!" They laughed as we headed onto the dancefloor.

And so there you have it! The ending to the other side of the story, I hope you enjoyed it. First of all, major kudos for Shadow Brony for giving me the idea of a side story, I really appreciate it. Sorry if you think my chapters are smaller compared to his, it's just I'm not a good a writer as he is. Anyway, thank you for reading this story, and if any of you have questions please don't hesitate to ask. The song I replaced was 'Ain't that a kick in the head' by Dean Martin.

OC's:

Hornet, Medic Squad: Me

shadow Flash, etc: Shadow Brony

Ni:Dragon'z Wrath

Nesral-SupahBrony301

Pureheart-Llink148

Everybody else worth mentioning should be in Shadow Brony's list. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy any further installment by me or Shadow Brony.
Dasvidaniya Comrades!