Soul's Poison: Princess of the Rogues.

“That’s just ridiculous,” Rainbow Dash complained.

“Easy there,” Twilight replied.

On the next day after they arrived to the Griffonstone, they went towards the Maretonia. As old Gruff said, they were allowed to pass into the country without a hitch. There wasn’t any guard post on the border if being truthful, but still, everypony was quite stressed, while moving towards the destination.

The problems started in Upper Bridlethorpe, the small village, where, as old Gruff said, they could’ve stopped for a little rest. They were planning that, but in a matter of minute after they entered the village, the local militia tried to arrest the whole group.

Instead of being lawful and proceed with their arrest, ponies escaped, while beating a couple of maretonians.

After that, they ran. At first, they were zigzagging, since they had to get rid of their followers. After half an hour, they started to return slowly to the road. After another hour, they were quietly walking towards Farshire. Quietly for a group of armed individuals, that were walking next to the road and not on it. They also were hiding their presence if there was some kind of a movement on said road.

In the middle of that process, the group started to relax bit by bit. With the relaxation, came the realization and the groupmates started to grumble.

“Ah agree with Rainbow,” Applejack added. “That's not normal to attack on sight. We’ve done nothin’ wrong. We don’t even look all that strange.”

“There is certainly some logical explanation to that,” Twilight replied.

“Fine. Go on,” Rainbow encouraged.

“Huh, let’s see,” Twilight started to quickly ponder about the situation. “We’ve came here in order to find the caravan’s master. He disappeared here because of some sort of a trouble. The caravan came here from Griffonstone. We came from there too, so this means that we need to solve that problem and escort the gryphons back to Griffonstone.”

“But since we were met so welcomingly in Bridlethorpe…” Rarity was saying, but Twilight break in.

“Upper Bridlethorpe,” Twilight said.

“Whatever,” Rarity shrugged it off, trying to recollect the thoughts. “Where was I? Ah, yeah, of course! If we were met that way in that little village, then this make the problem at least region-wide.”

“We will find a solution,” Twilight concluded. “We always did.”

The road ahead was going on for another hour and a half, but they eventually came to Farshire. The city twice as big as Ponyville was surprisingly empty. There was a couple citizens here and there and guards at the gates, that took the entry taxes from Twilight and her friends, but aside from them, there was little to no living beings at all.

“Is it me, or…” Rarity was about to comment a newly found empty stall, that was fourth or fifth one. Two stalls were still in use, but due to the assortment of the goods, they were on their way to mimic the state of the first stall, they’d seen. “This city looks as if we are in the middle of a siege.”

“Or a riot,” Rainbow added.

“You are quite right,” someone added as well. Everypony turned in the direction of the voice and they found there an old maretonian unicorn. He stood there in all black with a hood on his head, which casted a shadow on his face. Despite that, Twilight and others still could recognize his grey fur, which seemed darker due to the shadow and short white beard. “By the way, isn’t the weather nice today?”

“What…?” Rainbow asked, taken by surprise with a sudden question. “What do you…”

“Keep it quiet, Rainbow,” Twilight shushed Rainbow, discerning a possible source of information. She then quickly gathered her thoughts and said, “Ah, yeah… Yes, it is pleasant, to say the least.”

“Good to know that you share my opinion,” the old unicorn said. “The weather team has did a great job at keeping the climate at bay.”

“They are doing the good job,” Twilight agreed.

“Are you from Equestria, by the way?” The old unicorn asked. After a nod, he continued, “Oh… And, is that true, that in Equestria, the weather teams are much more active and they control the weather throughout the whole of Equestrian territory?”

“Right,” Twilight answered positively. “We don’t cover the territory completely though. There are some secluded areas that the weather teams ignore because they uninhabited or they are just too dangerous.”

“And the weather factory!” All of a sudden, the old unicorn exclaimed. “There is one hovering over the Sunset-city, but I’ve just heard so many tales about yours.

“Oh, you can’t compare them,” Twilight replied. “Ours has the whole pegasi city of Cloudsdale built around it. The city is even somewhat independent as there is that undercity part of Cloudsdale, which is located on the earth and creates the goods necessary for Cloudsdale’s needs.”

They were speaking nonsense for another minute when Rainbow Dash finally intervened. She coughed a little, reminding the two unicorns about the presence of others.

“Twilight,” she said. “Can we move on already?”

“No, Rainbow,” Twilight replied. She then turned to maretonian and said to him, “You won’t have spoken to us if you didn’t had something in mind.”

“And you won’t have replied to me if you didn’t had something in mind either,” the unicorn replied. “So, can I know what it is you seek?”

“Ya haven’t introduced yerself,” Applejack brashly said.

“Oh, where are my manners?… Nevertheless, I am used to be called Ripper,” the old unicorn said in reply. “Grim Reaper, that’s the full name.”

“But you are maretonian!” Twilight contended.

“Does that change anything?” Reaper smiled. “Anyway, you, newcomers, definitely require something. Is it information that you seek?”

“Maybe,” Twilight replied slyly. “But what are the guarantees of safety?”

“Judging by your looks, that’s me who will need guarantees of safety,” Reaper wisely noted. There was some truth in his words, as a single unicorn had little to no chance against the team of Twilight.

“I see that as well,” Twilight agreed with Reaper on that. After a momentary thought and quick glance at the girl, she accepted the offer. “Well… If task isn’t all too hard, then we might consider.”

“Great!” Reaper beamed victoriously. “Now, follow me!”

At first, he was leading them outside the city. Once they got outside, he looked sadly at the forest and went there. Ponies followed.

“What do we need to do exactly?” Twilight asked after about fifteen minutes.

Instead of a reply, the old unicorn started to sniff all of a sudden. He then said in a strange tone, “Can you sense that?”

“Uh… No,” Twilight responded, while sniffing the air.

“The smell of rot?” Fluttershy said all of a sudden.

“Aha, great, great,” Reaper nodded, while coming closer to Fluttershy. “Where had you been growing up, miss?… Ah, old me! Please, can anyone of you introduce yourselves?”

“Well, I’m Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight introduced herself. “Here is Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Sunset Shimmer, Applejack and Pinkie Pie.”

“Aha… So, Fluttershy,” Reaper smiled and looked directly in her eyes. “You’ve got great senses.”

“Um… Thank you,” Fluttershy mumbled and looked away.

“You are welcome,” Reaper chuckled. “So, the smell of rot… You see, we are going to fight with the horde of undead and their master.”

“We will fight a necromancer?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, we will,” Reaper nodded. “Don’t worry, we had already cleaned most of his hoard.”

“We?” Rainbow noticed.

“I have two disciples,” Reaper mentioned. “One of them is away, so that is why I needed you. Besides, we are not sure if two of us can handle the necromancer without any troubles…”

“You have a point,” Twilight said.

“If you want to know, our necromancer was my disciple, as well,” Reaper dwelled into his past. “We’ve got a little argument and he decided to leave me. Unfortunately for him, he decided to terrorize the region, but it just happened so, that I owe a favor to the local governor and we need to eliminate the necromancer.”

“Are you a necromancer yourself?” Twilight asked all of a sudden.

“I don’t like that word,” Reaper replied. “I prefer to be called dark magister, but only in the official atmosphere. For you, I’m Grim… Wait!”

He stopped there. After listening for a second or a couple, he ran forward. He stopped next to the nearby thick bushes.

“Look,” he murmured to the ponies who came by. When he put the bushes away, ponies saw a little clearing where there was another maretonian, fighting with skeletons and zombies of different levels of rotting away.

Young maretonian was hard to describe. He definitely had fur of black or at least some other color similar to black. His short mane had been of fiery ginger, but when ponies looked at it, it was covered in sweat and dirt. The eyes of the stranger were hidden, as he had his back towards ponies.

He had been wearing a once pristine white shirt that now was grey with brown spots all over the surface. That shirt also had multiple cuts in various places. Brown trousers had been saved from that fate only because it was brown and dirt was just hard to notice on them. In his right hand, he held a sword with straightened bow blade, which looked similar to the scythe’s blade.

In a second after ponies looked at the maretonian, three skeletons rushed at him, two of them from behind. They were pretty close so ponies had little to no time.

Something whizzed through left skeleton’s spine, immediately killing him, or rather invaliding him. Rarity, with her reflexes, managed to throw the knife at the other skeleton’s skull, but it was to no use, as the skeleton was still on legs and moving. The maretonian, however, jumped away from the blows of both skeletons. In that direction, there was a zombie, but maretonian attacked him and dodged the counterattack. The cut on the zombie’s chest didn’t disturb the movements of that zombie, though.

“You are not losing your grip, Mortimer,” someone’s voice came from behind the trees on the other side of a little clearing. Right after that, another maretonian unicorn came from that direction.

He was dressed in a gambeson, black gloves and reinforced breeches. Aside from that, there wasn’t much more details in his equipment. As to his looks, he had oak brown mane, fur of dark burgundy and scarlet eyes. A small copper earring was hanging on his left ear.

“You are dead, Jack,” Mortimer shouted. “You know the rules.”

“The life taught me the other way of seeing things,” Jack replied. “Besides, something tells me that you don’t here to bring justice, but rather make a favor to the mayor.”

“Nevertheless,” Mortimer said, while starting to move to Jack. “You know how this will end.”

“Yeah,” he responded. “Kill him!”

All the undead started to move in the direction of Mortimer. Mortimer increased his pace, while also dodging blows of the undead or undead themselves. He also backlashed a couple of times.

By the time Mortimer got close to Jack, the gunshot was made. Due to the distance or something else, Rainbow Dash’s bullet didn’t reached its target. It hit the left ear of Jack, almost cutting it. The broken earring flew to the side.

Things from that point escalated quickly. Jack grunted, but cast something at Mortimer, nevertheless. Mortimer jumped at him, but the spell made him grunt and miss.

Ponies jumped out of the bushes and attacked the undead. Since they went to Griffonstone practically unarmed, they had to improvise.

Sunset was using her magic. Applejack had a club that she made from a branch. Pinkie was armed in similar way as Applejack, but she had spear instead of a club. Rainbow had a little knife and “Silverwasp”, the revolver that she was given as the reward by Falk. Rarity also had knife and in the middle of the battle, she managed to snatch the knife she threw. Fluttershy held “Skywrath”, the spear with a gilt tip. Falk aside from unique weaponry bestowed quite a big sum of silver gryphonian coins upon them.

The fight didn’t went on, however. Twilight, almost immediately shot a stunning ray at Jack. He definitely had been preparing some nasty spell for Mortimer, but Twilight ray brought him to the brink of unconsciousness, which gave Mortimer just enough time to end all that business with a single strike.

The undead army, who consisted of fifteen animated bodies, immediately stopped any resistance without the master’s control. All of them fell “dead” afterwards.

“It was a hard task, wasn’t it, Mortimer?” Reaper asked.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Mortimer chuckled. There was some truth in his words, since he barely kept himself conscious. He was on his knees, heavy breathing and kneeling on his sword.

“I believe, I already told you not to kneel for the sake of kneeling,” Reaper reprimanded Mortimer. “A true dark mage kneels only before a creature who proved that he is stronger or if kneeling will save mage’s life. Otherwise, dark mages either stand or lie down.”

“You were saying that,” Mortimer coughed and after trying to stand up, he fell to the ground.

After Reaper realized that Mortimer wasn’t going to rise up at all, he came closer to him and pulled out a small doctor’s bag.

“Any help?” Reaper asked and ponies came closer to the duo. They put him face upward and then Reaper with Fluttershy started to tend the wounds of Mortimer.

Soon after, they were shuffling towards the city. In a couple of hours, they came to one of the city’s gates. Under the bewildered looks of guards and citizens, they brought Mortimer to one of the houses, which turned out to be owned by Reaper.

They were living in an ordinary two-stored house. It was pristine, but the decorations were a bit poor. Twilight hadn’t been emphasizing the decorations too much, as she noticed different books on the shelves. After reading the names on the book covers, she found however that all of them were plain.

While eating the dinner, which Reaper prepared from the humble leftovers, ponies started asking different questions to Reaper and Mortimer.

“So, what kind of business do you need help with?” Twilight blurted out blatantly.

“Well, you helped me just enough,” Reaper admitted. “Tell me how I can help you in reply?”

“We are looking for a gryphon named Strider,” Rainbow confessed.

“Oh,” Reaper turned his gaze away and nodded to his own thoughts after a little musing. “I know that gryphon. I can arrange a meeting… But you should help us with a small business first.”

“And what if we won’t help you?” Rainbow suggested.

“Then, all I’m going to help you with is only telling you he is here,” Reaper smirked.

“Fine,” Twilight admitted their losing position after looking at Reaper for some of the time. “So, what’s the deal? What should we do for you?”

“Nothing,” Reaper made even more cunning smirk, but after looking at everyone’s dead serious looks, he corrected himself. “I myself don’t require anything from you. Mortimer however has a business that he won’t mind having help with.”

“I can do my business by my own,” Mortimer retorted.

“Not now,” Reaper replied. After a little though, he added, “Well… Except for that one business… Hah, technically, you can’t do that business by oneself. Nevertheless, it will wait for later. You have another work to proceed to.”

“What that business is about?” Applejack asked.

“There is a smuggler’s hideout somewhere in the middle of the road between Farshire and Maremouth,” Reaper said.

“And?..” Twilight drawled.

“And we were asked to find it and get rid of it,” Reaper answered. “I’ve been thinking how two of us are going to do that, but since you all are here, I think you wouldn’t mind helping us out?”

“Why, of course,” Twilight nodded, while musing something. “But… Aren’t there anyone else who could help us?”

“Elder Four, perhaps…” Reaper said, after a little thought. After noticing six questioning looks, he quickly explained, “There are four old friends of mine. Technically, we are Elder Five of Farshire. At least, that is how we are called in Maremouth. I do not spend a lot of time with them. They are great friends within their own group, but to all outsiders including me, they act pretty… Predatory.”

“Predatory?” Rarity and probably everypony except Mortimer asked.

“Yes,” Reaper nodded. “Let’s say, they have that tendency to make anyone owe a favor to them. The thing is they do that amidst a simple talk. If you go to them in order to ask a favor, then be sure they will turn into a bunch of usurers.”

“Aha…” Rarity cried out. “So… Is that why you don’t want to go ask them for help?”

“Pretty much, yes,” Reaper nodded once again. “Aside from them, I don’t have any actual friends that might help in that kind of a business. We are but a trio… A couple of humble magicians, who earns just enough to live a normal life.”

“All right…” Twilight sighed, rubbing her nose bridge. “So, when should we start the job?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Reaper said. “You can stay in my house… If you find the place to lie down.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said.

“Argh,” Rarity grunted. She had been grunting most of time they had been on the way, but if being honest, everyone from their team had been going through the same. Except one.

“I don’t envy you, guys,” Rainbow declared. She flapped her wings for show and take off, but quickly landed.

That night, Rainbow slept on the clouds, while others slept in Reaper’s house. Reaper gave them a couple of sheets but it still was as if they slept on the floor.

“Stop with bickering, you, all,” Mortimer shouted, stopping the quarrel before it would start. “We are coming closer to smuggler’s den. Be careful around here.”

“May I ask you a question?” Twilight said all of a sudden.

“Go on,” Mortimer nodded, while simultaneously looking around, searching for something or someone.

“Why we are here and not the mayor himself?” Twilight asked. “Shouldn’t he send out guards or something?”

“You are pretty much right, however…” Mortimer was about to say something, when a soft rustle of leaves disrupted him. He turned his head in that direction, ears on the ready and eyes watching carefully. After a moment, however, he turned and sighed, “Probably, some animal… So, where was I? Ah, right. Ahem… As I meant to say, the governor is afraid that the operation will likely to fail. He believes that there are smugglers’ associates in the ranks of his guards. Not like, he thinks that without a reason, although. Smuggle appears somehow in the city.”

“And what exactly we are going to do there” Twilight asked.

“We should closely watch the encampment,” Mortimer suggested. “Look for any flaws in their defenses, like some guards who sleeps or otherwise are distracted. Also look for some important stuff like documents or something. If we are lucky, you might notice someone who stands out. That will probably be a guard. Tell me about it if that will happen.”

The rest of the way was completed in an absolute silence. After a moment of walking, they turned towards the forest. Their pace changed a bit, as they didn’t know exactly where the hideout was situated.

When the group get closer to their destination, Twilight and Mortimer began to murmur another conversation.

“Mortimer, can I ask another question?” Twilight began.

“Hah… Go on, Twilight. But, be quick!” Mortimer encouraged her.

“So, I wanted to ask you about the criminal groups in Maretonia,” Twilight told him. “What do you know about the situation in the country? What can you say about these smugglers?”

“Not much,” Mortimer replied. “Reaper believes that the group we are going after is local. He says that there is only one global maretonian smuggler’s clan, which is owned by Harvey, and the local member of the clan told Reaper that they don’t have any connections to these smugglers.”

“You trust them?” Twilight mumbled another question.

“We don’t alternative,” Mortimer sighed. After a little thought, he added, “If being honest, nor I nor Reaper can’t tell much about the actions of the illegal bands in Maretonia. Most of outlawed magicians don’t associate with simple outlaws, but instead they work for government. Reaper says that otherwise the government would vanquish the mages with other outlaws, as we all are the same for them. I personally agree with him.”

“That is rather clever,” Twilight hummed. “To say the least.”

“I see you agree with that statement as well, huh?” Mortimer smiled. He then quickly looked around. “We’d better stay vigilant. Who knows when we will stumble upon the encampment?”

These words were truthful to some extent. After fifteen minutes, they heard voices and other sounds. Soon, they were looking at the camp, hidden well in the woods.

The foliage was creating an impenetrable roof over their head. It was not like a pegasus tribe was the most multiple among the Maretonians, but judging by how actively the two presumed watchers were eyeing the sky, the band was afraid of an actual air-raid for real.

Or, maybe they are just counting clouds, Twilight thought. That idea came to her mind after how easily they crawled up to the camp.

They watched the camp’s life for somewhere between five or ten minutes. They didn’t notice any flaws in the defenses of the camp, but it wasn’t like there were any

They had already been planning the attack, when the unexpected came. Some sort of noise came from the direction of the road. Then, the two maretonians came into the view.

Nothing was outstanding about them, but despite that, Mortimer was able to recognize the newcomers.

“Look what we’ve got here,” Mortimer said excitedly. When Twilight turned to him, silently asking the question, Mortimer continued, “That mare… Sergeant Meredith. And the stallion… Huh, Interesting. I don’t know him, but something tells me, it’s a newbie. If I’m not mistaken, they were replacing some undependable elements. Besides, look! He’s shivering. I bet it’s his first time in that kind of business.”

Twilight nodded, learning all she needed to know. Mortimer meanwhile continued.

“We need to come up with a plan,” he said. “How about we stun the guards and then jump on the smugglers.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Rainbow immediately replied. Twilight however looked questioningly at Mortimer, since she couldn’t believe that he would come up with such a dumb plan.

“Nah, we might get overrun,” Mortimer said, declining his own idea. When he briefly looked in the direction of the camp, he however noticed something. “Oh, look, these two are leaving. Rainbow, Applejack! Can you follow them and get rid of them?”

“Aye,” Rainbow replied and two of them went around the camp and soon they disappeared from sight. They returned after five minutes and said to the team that they kicked the shit out of two smugglers and even tied them to a tree with their own clothes. Mortimer sighed and told them to be faster next time.

To their luck, the smugglers and the maretonian duo weren’t planning to end their meeting soon. The team couldn’t hear the conversation between the two leaders except for some words they shouted due to strong emotions. It wasn’t like it actually mattered, however.

The sudden attack began with two rays. The two maretonians immediately fell unconscious. Before anyone else in the camp were even able to realize what is happening, the team was already creating havoc in the camp.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were swinging their bats. Fluttershy was poking the enemies with the spear. Mortimer and Rarity had their blades widely used. Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle after shooting down two maretonians, started to cast spells on the rest in the camp.

The battle was soon over. Around twenty opponents were halved in less than a minute. Those who were still alive, after coming to a realization that they were attacked, tried to bring up some kind of resistance, but it was in vain. With the fire support of two battle magician, the group quickly suppressed the last bits of enemy forces.

Mortimer during the battle proved to be the fearless combatant. After jumping into the fray, he immediately started swinging just like when they fought skeletons. He even received a wound, a slightly gushing gash on his arm.

Nevertheless, he was the first to notice the ending of the battle.

“All done!” He shouted. He then looked around and commanded, “Gather the bodies and tie them up somehow.” He then turned to two unconscious maretonians. “Get ready to carry these two straight to the mayor’s…”

“No need for that,” Twilight interrupted him. “There is a cart. We can take it.”

“Great!” Mortimer nodded. “Now…”

“Now we will take care of your wound,” Fluttershy immediately joined the conversation.

“It’s nothing,” Mortimer tried to wave away Fluttershy.

“No, it’s not, mister,” Fluttershy retorted. Mortimer was about to retort in reply and be replied by retort when he zoned out for a moment.

“I believe… We have time for that,” Mortimer agreed. Soon, he was made to sit and Fluttershy quickly started to look for medical supplies. She tore away a piece of fabric from the tent, washed it in the barrel with rainwater and bandaged the Mortimer’s wound.

When the wound was treated, the smugglers, both dead and alive were tied up and the cart was ready to move, the group went in the direction of the city.

“Cover the cart with something,” Mortimer commanded. Rainbow Dash immediately flew back and brought a tent, but Mortimer replied the unasked question. “We will go through the city, so let’s not cause any suspicion… And by the way, how long the stun spell works?”

“The strongest version of the spell makes anypony unconscious for around fifteen minutes,” Sunset replied.

“You need to recast it when we will be near the city gates,” Mortimer said. He then looked at the team and asked, “Questions?”

After getting negative headshakes, he nodded and made a gesture to start moving.

Amidst their way, Twilight came up to Mortimer. “Can I ask you something?”

“Go on,” Mortimer replied.

“Back in the camp…” Twilight reminded him. “Was it me or did you fight too selflessly?”

“Why have you thought that way?” He asked.

“Well,” Twilight mused a bit. “You were the only one who got wounded. You also went right into the middle of things, while girls were always near the edge of the forest, um…”

“No need to continue,” Mortimer said, already understanding what Twilight meant to say. “That… is a habit of mine. The one that master Reaper tried to get rid off.”

“Huh?” Twilight raised an eyebrow to that revelation.

“You see,” Mortimer sighed. “I just… I can’t help it but the battle always made my blood boil. I lose my head all the time… And now…”

“What is special about it?” Twilight asked, after Mortimer stayed silent for a longer period of time.

“That was…” Mortimer gathered his thoughts. “At least, it was meant to be a repeated test. He wanted to know how good I learned his lessons?… And it was, of course, a punishment.”

“A repeated test? A punishment?” Twilight asked.

“Why do you think, Reaper didn’t go with us?” Mortimer asked in reply. “Don’t think he has some important business there. He wanted me to overthink my ways, because I failed the first one, back when we had to fight the Jack’s risen bodies. I was supposed to think, to keep the head cool and that sort of things… But I just started to hunt down the undead, letting my strength slip away.”

“That’s cruel,” Twilight replied, horrified by what Mortimer said to her.

“That’s Reaper for you,” Mortimer smiled at that. Then, his face got very serious and he lowered the volume of his voice, “Twilight… May I ask you a favor?”

“Go on,” Twilight parodied him, but lowered her voice nevertheless.

“Twilight,” he began. “I wanted to ask if you can help me out with the business, Reaper was talking about?”

“The one that you wanted to do by yourself?” Twilight asked for reminding.

“Yes…” Mortimer replied, but he realized something right away. “Actually, no… Right now, I have changed my mind. After that fight, I believe I should start to be more cautious and sensible… Besides, the last time, I went there, I was almost caught.”

“Alright,” Twilight agreed.

After that, nothing extraordinary happened during the road. Just as they agreed, more stunning rays were cast on the guards in the cart, when they were coming close to the city. Mortimer led them to western city gates, which were guarded by Mortimer’s friends. In the city, they immediately headed towards the mayor’s office.

There, ponies saw Farshire’s mayor for the first time. Beforehand, however, Mortimer asked them to wait a little and look after the cart, while he was trying to make an arrangement.

They weren’t waiting for long, though. After a couple of minutes, Mortimer appeared followed by another maretonian. White fur, mane of fresh hay’s color, blue eyes and a prominent stomach that revealed the owner’s lack of troubles with nutrition were his characteristics. Judging by the classical stallion’s suit and the fat, he had, Twilight guessed that that stallion was the mayor. Twilight also noted the strange mix of emotions, which could have been seen on his face.

At first, a feeling of anticipation could have been read there. This was no surprise to Twilight due to circumstances. What Twilight was surprised to see was the expression on his face when he glanced towards Mortimer. It was an expression of pure disdain and hatred. It was barely hidden.

He however managed to keep himself at bay and even continue to speak with Mortimer without much scenes. Not that there was anything special about it. Mortimer and girls just passed the crime associates to the mayor and the city guards and parted away.

What they eventually arrived to the house, Reaper met them by the door. He smiled at them and asked how things went during the mission. Mortimer blurted a brief replied and entered the house. Girls didn’t say anything at all and just followed Mortimer, though Twilight noticed a slight smirk on Reaper’s face.

In the house, girls encountered something unexpected. A young maretonian mare was sitting in the kitchen. She had a little basket with her with almost eaten meal. Weathered hay, solid as rock hardtack and a waterskin, with who knows how much water in it.

Mortimer, who was not as surprised as much as other girls were, immediately came up to the table and took one of the pieces of hardtack. Immediately a cracking noise appeared and it wasn’t clear whether it was the hardtack or Mortiner’s teeth. Judging by what came next, it was actually the latter.

“Ah!” Mortimer screamed. “Ouch… How were you able to eat these?”

“Try to put ‘em into some stew and you won’t even notice how tasteless they are,” she replied and turned to Reaper, ignoring other mares, who were standing in front of him. “Teacher, your task is done. Here is what you were asking me for.”

She pulled out a bundle from under the table and stretched her hand with it over the table. Mortimer immediately grabbed the bundle and passed it to Reaper. The old maretonian quickly untied the bundle and after a brief check, he nodded confirmatively.

Only after all that, she turned her attention to other mares in the room. “So… Reaper told me about you. Had helped us with those smugglers as I can see. Well, thanks… By the way, my name is Ysabell… Hey, Mortimer! Where are you heading to?”

“I have something to prepare for!” Mortimer immediately replied when Ysabell noticed him heading to his room upstairs. “Master, there are no troubles with that?”

“Of course,” Reaper nodded, though he was probably more interested in the bundle brought by Ysabell.

Ysabell only sighed at that. Twilight suddenly noted to herself how strangely she was looking at Mortimer until he left the room.

Nevertheless, Ysabell turned her attention to the ponies in the room. The maretonian mare had her questions and she asked them. Overall, they had a great time together.

By the night, all of them got tired and went to sleep, all while Reaper promised them a meeting with Strider.

Twilight however couldn’t sleep. In the dead of the night, she met with Mortimer.

“I knew, I can be confident with you, Twilight,” were his only words before they headed somewhere.

At first, they went to the western gates, but once they crossed them over, Mortimer lead Twilight to some place in the forest.

They began their way by walking a good distance by road. After they disappeared from the view of the guards though, they quickly changed the direction of their movement and went to forest.

Soon, the moonlight started to shine through the woods. When the clearance could have been seen through the woods, Mortimer asked Twilight to look around for unwanted guests and just stay on guard in general.

Twilight agreed to that, but after a moment, she immediately peeked through the bushes.

As she expected, a moonlit clearance was there. The scenery in front of her wasn’t awe-striking, but it had its beauty. The mass of flowers, among which were dandelions, chamomiles, cornflowers and buttercups, basked in bluish light of the moon. The looks of them would have been better though, if the flowers would have blossomed.

But all of them were closed, deep in slumber, waiting for the sunlight to bring them back to life. The two maretonians though, who nestled under a tree on the other side of the clearance weren’t sleeping nor waiting for something.

Mortimer as well as other maretonian were simply enjoying the moment. Twilight couldn’t really hear that, but they were talking and laughing.

Twilight wasn’t able to see Mortimer’s protégé at first, but fortunately Mortimer stood aside, revealing a young maretonian mare.

Twilight, looking at two happy maretonians, remembered Ysabell and how she was sighing at him.

She wasn’t sitting in her hideout for long. Quickly remembering of what Mortimer had tasked her to do, she rose and started to go around the clearance.

After one complete circle, Twilight was about to start another one, when she noticed how two maretonians began to walk in her direction and therefore in the direction of the road to the city.

Twilight quickly stepped away and after two maretonians walked past her, she followed them.

Maretonians weren’t moving in the straight line, like she and Mortimer did. They were constantly changing the direction of their movement. Their zigzagging wasn’t pointless as Twilight first thought. At one turn, she almost head-butted into someone.

The maretonian’s look reminded Twilight of nobles’ lackeys from older times. He was dressed if not in the latest fashion, then still stylishly, but those clothes weren’t providing any additional functions. The blade in his hand wasn’t looking as useless as his clothes though.

Twilight managed not to encounter that lackey only because of her luck, keen sight and reflexes.

When she ran after the maretonians, at some point, something strange happened. A couple of birds flew almost into face of Twilight and they came not from the direction where she was running.

Twilight immediately noted that, which made her wonder. An interruption made her stop there for a moment.

That moment allowed the aforementioned lackey to come closer. The bushes started to rustle, making Twilight startle and jump away behind the closest tree.

When lackey at last came into sight, he started to look around. Twilight was acting without thinking and she threw a stone in the direction from where she came from.

To Twilight’s dismay, lackey didn’t follow the source of the sound. To Twilight’s even further dismay, he turned his head in that direction thus noticing the trail left by three ponies, one of whom was nearby.

Twilight without even realizing that she had made a mistake, jumped out from her hideout casting the stunning ray.

Only after the body of the lackey fell to the ground, ruining the chic garments, Twilight was finally able to continue to run after Mortimer and her companion.

Twilight was hard to keep up after the two maretonians after that moment. A little stop wasn’t enough for Twilight to catch up her breath, so she had to run the long distance with little to no energy.

The trio didn’t run immediately for the western gates. They ran around the city, so they crossed a little industrial zone in the south, big fields in the east and the road in the north known by Twilight all too well.

However, a nasty surprise was waiting for them at the western gates.

Mortimer stopped at a safe distance from the gates, murmuring curses under his breath.

The four guards that were forming the two pairs, the day shift and the night shift, were well known by Mortimer and Reaper and other necromancers in town and all of them were constantly using that fact.

That time, however, the gates were guarded by the two completely unknown individuals.

Mortimer, being a creature of action, wasn’t cursing everything for long. He turned around and went in the different direction and since he still was holding the hand of the mare, she followed.

Twilight was surprised by the change of direction, but followed them nevertheless. Since Twilight was behind them, she couldn’t see the reason for the change of direction of walking, and therefore she wondered why. After a moment of wondering, she came to the right conclusion that something made it impossible to pass through the western gates.

She also wondered about their destination, but she quickly witnessed it, or rather smelt it. In the little ravine, there was a small stream, which was coming from a small tunnel.

Sewers. The smell couldn’t be mistaken with anything else. Even though, her experience with sewers was small with the latest being back in the Trottingham, she still cannot mistake what is about to come.

Nothing happened on their way back to the city down in the sewers, except for the whining of Mortimer’s companion that echoed through the corridors of the sewers. Twilight only smiled at those complaints.

Nothing happened in the city likewise to be honest. Mortimer was taking some dark back alleys until he eventually stopped near a two-stored mansion in the middle of the city.

Mortimer and the mare, still unknown to Twilight, were standing in front of that mansion for a minute or two as both of them didn’t wish to part ways.

When they actually did part ways, Mortimer still stood there, waiting for something. At that moment, Twilight came by.

“Mortimer,” she said, making him startle. “Goodness… What’s up with all the running?... And who was that mare?”

“She…” He breathed out heavily. He didn’t even realize that he was holding his breath all that time. Besides, just like Twilight, all the running took a lot of energy from him. “Oh… Her name is Keli… And she is the daughter of the mayor.”

“Oh…” Twilight nodded. “That certainly explain everything.”

“Explain what?” Mortimer looked questioningly at her.

“Back when you brought the two guards to the mayor, he was looking at you in such way…” Twilight revealed her observations.

“Eh… Well,” Mortimer mumbled in confusion. “Alright… Shall we go home?”

“You did everything you wanted to do?” Twilight asked.

“I guess…” He started to look around searching for something, but after a moment, he nodded to his thoughts and followed Twilight. On his way, he was turning his head around, searching for something. When the mansion was about to disappear from sight of Mortimer, he finally saw what he wanted.

Keli looked out from her window. She inspected the mansion’s surroundings and quickly finding the maretonian stallion, she was looking for. She didn’t do anything except for a smile. The one, which Mortimer would remember for a long time.

Soon, they came back to Reaper’s house. Much to Twilight’s surprise, someone was actually waiting for them.

Ysabell was sitting in the dining room and from her spot, she immediately noticed both Twilight and Mortimer. Twilight and Mortimer noticed Ysabell as well.

“Ah… Twilight,” Mortimer said quietly, looking how Ysabell was looking at them both. “You can go. I have business to attend to.”

“Fine,” Twilight replied and went to her bed. She didn’t had time nor strength to do anything, so she swept aside all the thoughts about Mortimer’s sudden business.

The next day, Reaper, as he promised, brought Strider to them. After a little chat, he learned why ponies were looking for him and he agreed to go with them and bring the rest of the caravaneers. None of the ponies bothered to ask why the caravan ended up in that situation, as they weren’t tasked to do that.

After the caravan made it safely to Griffonstone and ponies were on their way back to Equestria, Gruff invited Strider to a dinner.

Eventually, the two gryphons were alone in Gruff’s workroom. Gruff immediately pulled out a bottle of beverage, which he had prepared beforehand. When he filled up the mugs, he began the conversation.

“So, Strider…” Gruff looked straight into Strider’s eyes, as he pushed one of the mugs to him. “What can you tell me about… That?”

“That?” Strider smiled and took a sip.

“That…” Gruff sighed, as he understood what he wanted and pulled out a small purse with coins and shoved it to Strider.

“Well… Where should I start?” Strider nodded, as he settled down the story he is about to tell. “The caravan was doing its route… Until we were stopped in Maremouth. Some of my gryphons were even arrested.”

“And why?” Gruff asked away, but Strider only smiled at that. Gruff sighed once again, that time louder and with more emotions. Soon, another purse was in claws of Strider.

“We were accused of aiding the rebellion,” Strider replied. “We were able to convince the government that we have nothing to do with the rebellion, although we had to leave a couple gryphons behind. As for the rebellion…”

The prolonged silence after that sentence was a hint, but Gruff didn’t sigh that time. He silently tossed him a coin, which he had previously brought up. Strider clenched his beak, but continued his tale, since he knew that he already was asking for information more than it should have costed.

“The information was hard to get…” Strider admitted. “In Maremouth, we were under surveillance and we didn’t want to raise any more suspicion. In Farshire… Rebellion was not present there, so all that we learned came from rumors…”

Another coin was tossed to Strider. Meanwhile, the old gryphon started to remember things from the past.

Strider had a nasty personality. He was capable of selling his own parents, if he had any. Gruff took Strider from the orphanage when the orphan was mature enough to developed aforementioned personality.

Despite his arrogance and commercialism, Strider was still brilliant and gifted gryphon.

“The rebellion is led by someone, who is called… Bastard,” Strider meanwhile continued to tell the story. “Since the name was given by the government members, no one can say if that Bastard is bastard indeed. His rebellion organized a couple of attacks at governmental structures, guard’s barracks and other important places. Because of that, the country is brought to the brink… This is it.”

“…Thanks,” Gruff said after a moment of thought.

They had a little conversation afterwards. When the two gryphons, they finally said their goodbyes and parted away.

“Rebellion?...” Gruff mumbled under his breath. “Need to keep abreast of the whole situation.”