Ode to a Monster

by Tekkonair

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Violence, Main 6, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash
Length: 44615

A crash landing in the Everfree turns Rainbow Dash's life upside down, and unleashes secrets and conspiracies that should have remained buried forever. Ancient powers have been unleashed, and Equestria must prepare for the war that has come to light.

Monsters, forbidden magic, and ancient secrets better left forgotten litter the world, the detritus of terrible wars from dark years long before the founding of Equestria. However, when Rainbow Dash crash-lands in a long-abandoned shrine deep within the Everfree forest she stumbles across secrets that should have remained buried, and the mysterious 'Order'.

Rainbow Dash must now deal with the consequences of her actions and mistakes, while the Order's secret war looms overhead and threatens the peace Equestria has enjoyed for a thousand years.

This story takes place near the end of Season 3, but before Discord's reformation.

Rewritten as of 22/05/2020

Art by the talented Little Tigress

Published 2012-10-03 18:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-06-28 19:07:46 UTC

Prologue - Sacred Duty

Deep within the Everfree Forest, a lightly misted clearing lay at the base of a semi-circular cliff, a set of massive standing stones finishing the circle. Another circle of pillars stood closer to the centre, with similar pillars flanking a path to a doorway carved into the cliff face. Time-worn runes were carved into the pillars, occasionally pulsing with a dull orange glow. A chill filled the air, and the clearing was eerily silent despite the surrounding forest. The moon hung above the clearing, illuminating it in a pale light as a pair of ponies stepped from the treeline. Both wore dark cloaks, armoured and unhelmeted. The first was an older, midnight blue unicorn stallion with a close-cropped black mane and piercing grey eyes, the second a younger unicorn stallion with a similar mane and light grey fur.

“Well, here we are.” The lead pony said, gesturing around the stone circle as the second looked around in wonder, before his eyes strayed to the middle of the circles.

“Is that..?” He lifted a hoof, pointing at an altar of solid black stone, off-white runes dulled by age carved into the surface, sat atop a raised stone dias.

“Aye, that’s the altar.” The lead pony walked into the first ring of stones, stopping the second just outside the circle. “Last chance to turn back, lad. The moment you step over this line, you leave your old life behind for good. You’ll serve no other purpose than to guard this shrine, sacrificing life and limb if necessary, understood?”

“I understand, Master.” The second pony dipped his head. The lead pony, Master, nodded and stepped aside, allowing the second to step into the circle.

“From this point on your name is Shield. You know no other name, for that is your purpose. Come, I will show you the shrine proper, and how to raise the alarm in case of emergencies.” The newly-named Shield nodded, taking a moment to digest his new name before following.

“How likely is an emergency?” He asked, looking at Master.

“...” Master was silent for a moment. “There are three alarms,” he continued, opting not to answer the question. “One is for an assault you cannot repel alone. That one is rarely required, and you should be more than capable of holding the shrine until reinforcements arrive. The second is for the case that the shrine has been or is about to be overrun. This has only happened twice in the Order’s history, neither time at this shrine, and in both cases the situation was contained before the worst could happen. The third alarm is for that eventuality,” he turned to Shield, his normally stern expression turning deadly serious. “The third alarm has never been required, and it is our duty to ensure it is never needed. This alarm is to be used if the shrine’s prisoner has been released. You understand how dire a situation that would be, yes?” Shield nodded.

“In the event of the prisoner breaking free, any and all measures necessary to capture the prisoner are justified. Any and all creatures in the way of this objective are forfeit. Capturing the prisoner supersedes all other duties,” quoted Shield, easily calling to mind the years of training and education preparing him for this duty. Master nodded, satisfied with his answer.

“Correct. If the third alarm is raised, all members of the Order will attempt to reinforce your position as quickly as possible. However, if the prisoner is hostile it is unlikely they will arrive in time to save you. In the event of the prisoner escaping, it is absolutely imperative that you distract the prisoner for as long as possible, by any means necessary. Should that require you to goad the prisoner into further tormenting you, you will do it without hesitation. Whatever you have to do to keep the prisoner here for as long as possible. Is that clear?” Shield steeled himself before nodding again.

“Absolutely, Master.”

“Good. Now, let’s acquaint you with your new home. The Hunters operating in the area will introduce themselves next time they patrol past here. They will be your link to the outside world. This is a lonely task, so enjoy the time to socialise when you get it. They will also be responsible for your supply runs beyond what you can acquire in the surrounding forest. I would recommend asking for a few luxuries, you’ll come to appreciate them.” Shield followed, listening to Master as he glanced back at the altar. The runes were well beyond his ability to decypher, one name stood out plainly, a name he had become well-acquainted with during his training; Marabas.

Author's Note

Prologue of the rewritten story! Not much has changed here, just some better descriptions and characterisation.

Chapter 1 - Storm Breaking

The scratching of quill and the sound of Twilight’s muttering, as per usual, filled the Ponyville library. The unicorn in question was sat at a desk, and on the desk was a battered, aged book bound in mouldering brown leather made of plant matter, its yellowed pages turned with the utmost care for fear of damaging the delicate paper. Twilight didn’t even dare use her magic to turn the pages, instead levitating a wood dowel and using that to turn them. Next to the book, Twilight’s quill scribbled down observations as she combed over the tome, the ink well kept far away from the tome, on a shelf below the level of the desk in case of spills. She was suddenly torn from her musing by a loud crash above her. She yelped, dropping the dowel and quill and throwing up a shield to protect the tome as her head snapped around to see Rainbow Dash, predictably, upside down in the side of a bookshelf. “Hehe… Hey Twi!” Dash grinned at her in embarrassment, waving a hoof. Twilight sighed and facehooved, closing her eyes.

“Dash, do you really have to burst in like that every time you visit?” She lowered her hoof and looked up, glad to see Dash hadn’t actually broken the window this time.

“Sorry Twi, hit a wind shear. You know how it is.” She disentangled herself from the bookshelf and landed on her hooves, turning to see Twilight’s deadpan stare.

“Dash, I’m a unicorn, so no, I don’t know how it is.”

“... Right, yeah…” She sheepishly scratched the back of her head as she looked around, eyes settling on the shield still covering the book. “Oh hey, since when could you do that?” She asked, pointing a wing.

“Oh, that,” Twilight glanced to the shield, dropping the spell. “After the Changeling invasion, Shiny thought it would be best if I knew how to properly protect myself, so he’s been teaching me some defensive spells when he can.”

“Woah, so can you blast the bad guys now?” Dash asked, excitedly rearing onto two legs as she pantomimed blasting away at invisible foes.

“No, no.” Twilight shook her head rapidly. “Just defensive spells, like that shield. I don’t know any offensive spells, and I’m happy to keep it that way.” Dash blinked, dropping back to all four hooves.

“Seriously? But combat magic is so cool!”

“No, it isn’t! Combat magic is designed to hurt other creatures. I know why it exists and why the Guard need to know it, but I don’t like that it exists at all!” Dash opened her mouth to respond, but closed it when she saw Twilight’s upset expression.

“Right, sorry, forget I mentioned it.” She scratched the back of her head again. “So uh, what’re you working on?” She asked, trying to change the subject back to more comfortable topics.

“Oh!” Twilight’s ears perked up, the almost-argument immediately forgotten. “Princess Luna sent it to me! She found it in her personal library whilst looking for something.” Dash cautiously approached the desk, tilting her head and grimacing at the book’s condition.

“Looks kinda… Mouldy. I thought those libraries were meant to have fancy preserving magic to stop that happening?”

“They are enchanted to prevent degradation, yes. But Princess Luna said that this book was in this state already when she added it to her library.” Dash grunted in understanding.

“So… What is it? That writing isn’t Equish.”

“Nope! No one knows the language, not even the Princesses! Princess Luna said it must predate Equestria! Imagine that, Dash! We know almost nothing about pre-Equestria history! Even the Hearth’s Warming Eve story is only known about because of oral tradition, but this book contains information about what came before Equestria!” Twilight bounced in place in excitement, and Dash couldn’t help but smirk before looking back to the book.

“But, if no one knows how to read it, how can you translate it?” Twilight paused in her bouncing, looking to Rainbow Dash.

“We have an extremely similar alphabet, so it’s likely modern Equish has at least some similarities with this old language. Some of the words are similar enough to Equish that they can be reliably translated, and some are almost identical. For instance, this word here.” She pointed with the dowel.

“Antiqua? Sounds like ‘antique’.” Twilight nodded rapidly.

“Yep! And this one here, ‘prima’. If it isn’t just a coincidence, ‘prima’ could mean ‘primary’.”

“Like feathers?” Dash turned to Twilight, extending a wing for emphasis.

“Or ‘primary’ as in ‘first’. It’s… A lot of trial and error. More than I’d like, really, but translation is like that. Once you understand the context, it’s a lot easier to fill in the blanks. It helps that some of the words used in higher academics or magic studies are almost certainly lifted from this language, or at least share a common source.” Dash frowned in confusion at that, tilting her head.

“How do you mean?”

“This word here.” She points to her notes. “’Scuptae’. The Scuptae school of magic concerns shield magic. Like the one I used earlier.”

“Ohhh. Like how some military ranks still have the same name after centuries? Like, Commander. We know Hurricane from the Hearth’s Warming tale was a Commander.”

“That’s… Actually a very good observation, Dash.” Twilight said with some surprise, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully. “Maybe that’s why these words are the same or very similar, because they carried over from the past… We already know that languages change over time, just look at how Princess Luna talks. So given enough time… It’s a guess, really, but Equish could have developed from this language!”

“Languages change that much?”

“Maybe. But it’s a fair assumption that Equish developed from this language, and it could make translation easier if my guess is right…”

“So um, why did the Princess send you this in the first place?” Dash asked, once again scratching the back of her head.

“Oh, right. Apparently she was trying to translate it back before the whole… Nightmare Moon thing. And when she found it again, she decided to send it to me.”

“She couldn’t translate it?”

“She says she doesn’t have enough time to dedicate to it. Which, well, she is a Princess after all. She’s been very busy with the Guard lately; the Changeling invasion has highlighted some… Weaknesses.” Twilight winced a little.

“Yeah, she wasn’t exactly happy after the wedding.” Dash cringed a bit at remembering how Luna had responded to finding out about the invasion. “That doesn’t really explain why she sent it to you know though. I mean, it couldn’t have waited?” Twilight shrugged as she looked at the book.

“I don’t know either. She just said that she remembered it being important, but everything beyond that was a bit hazy and she doesn’t remember why it was important.” Dash nodded, and shot Twilight a grin.

“Well, whatever the reason, she definitely chose the right pony!” Twilight blinked, turning back to Dash with wide eyes.

“You really think so?” She asked, a little uncertain, causing Dash to roll her eyes.

“Oh come on, Twi! You’re the smartest pony I know. Except maybe the Princesses, but alicorns don’t count.” Twilight blushed a little at the compliment.

“I’m not that good…”

“Twi, I thought we went over this after the whole Trixie thing.” Dash rolled her eyes again. “You’re not gonna turn into a braggart like her if you accept a compliment once in a while.”

“I suppose you’re right… Wait, did you just use a word like ‘braggart’ in a sentence?” Twilight smirked as Dash’s eyes widened.

“Gaaah you’re starting to rub off on me Twi!” She groaned, shoulders slumping. “I gotta get out of here before I turn into an egghead as well.”

“Like you thought reading Daring Do was going to?”

“...” Dash coughed, looking away as she blushed a little. “That reminds me, is the new one here yet?”

“As I told you yesterday, you’ll be the first to know.” Twilight blinked. “Well, third, after Spike and I, obviously.”

“Right right. I’ll uh, I’ll leave you too it. Oh, you still coming to lunch with the girls?”

“Of course, looking forward to it!” Dash grinned, nodding at Twilight’s answer.

“Great! Well, gotta dash!” She grinned, spreading her wings, but caught herself as Twilight moved to shield the book, shooting the pegasus a glare. “Right, right. Sorry… Hehe, bye Twi!” She said, instead trotting out of the library via the door. Twilight sighed, relieved Dash hadn’t done anything to damage the book. Her relief lasted until she turned back to the bookshelf she had crashed into, and the mess she’d left behind.

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Equestria to Dashie, come in Dashie.” Teased a bubbly-voice, its owner on the brink of launching herself at the pegasus. Rainbow shook herself from her memories and turned to Pinkie.

“Huh?” Asked Rainbow, blinking and yawning. “Sorry Pinkie, I dozed off. You were saying?” She looked around the table, the six friends about halfway through lunch.

“We were busy discussing our previous romantic exploits.” Said Rarity, a smirk on her face. “And you’ve been oddly quiet this entire time. Something you’re hiding from us?” She asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Oh, right. Nothing serious, no. I talked about the thing with Gilda back in flight school, but that’s the closest I’ve come to a proper relationship.” Dash’s expression turned a little sour at the mention of the gryphon, but returned to normal after a second.

“Well, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before someone catches your eye, or you catch theirs.” Rarity said with a smile.

“Heh, thanks Rares.” Dash shot her a grin before taking a bite of her sandwich.

“Don’t mention it, darling. Oh, on an unrelated note.” Rarity took a sip of her tea, setting the cup down. “Are you free later this afternoon? I had a reservation at a restaurant in town, but my friend had to cancel and everyone else is busy.” The other mares at the table nodded.

“This afternoon? I should be free, but there’s likely to be a storm coming in this evening from the Everfree, so if something happens I’ll need to run. If that happens, just let me know what I owe you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Understandable. And don’t worry, it’s not one of those ‘fancy’ places you detest.” She said with a teasing tone, causing Dash to sigh in relief. “The table’s booked for six o’clock, no dress code or anything similar.”

“Six, got it.” Dash nodded, grinning. Applejack looked to Dash, concern creasing her brow.

“Ya said a storm’s comin’ in? Anythin’ we should be worried about?” She asked.

“Probably a good idea to do your normal storm prep. Make sure no branches are gonna come down, that sort of thing. Plan is to break it at the edge of the Everfree, so your farm and your cottage might get caught.” She nodded to Applejack and Fluttershy in turn. “But storms out of the Everfree are unpredictable anyway, so… Just do your normal prep and keep an ear out for the sirens.”

Later that afternoon, Rainbow Dash took off from her cloud home, gently gliding down into town. She glanced over to the Everfree, frowning at the dark clouds hanging over the forest. That’s probably going to hit tonight… She shook her head, putting it out of head for the time being as she angled her wings, spotting the restaurant, a place called Solo Mio. She landed outside, taking a second to detangle her mane before trotting inside, smiling at the hostess stood inside. “Hey, there’s a table under the name Rarity?” She asked. The hostess nodded, looking down and squinting at the table reservations behind the stand.

“Just over there, corner table. Miss Rarity just arrived a minute ago.”

“I see her, thanks.” She gave the hostess another smile before trotting over to the white unicorn. “Hey Rares!” She called out once closer, sliding into the chair across from her, causing her to jump a little.

“Goodness, Rainbow, you startled me.” She put a hoof to her chest for a moment. “Sorry, must have been lost in my thoughts.”

“Heh, sorry, might have been a little loud.” She gave an apologetic smile to patrons who had looked over at her greeting.

“No worries, darling. You certainly took ‘no dress code’ to heart.” She said, appraising Rainbow’s appearance with an arched eyebrow. Rainbow blinked, looking down at herself before looking back to Rarity, noticing the necklace she was wearing.

“I mean, I showered at least?” She said with a nervous grin.

“I… Suppose that’s fair, I did say no dress code. Still, would it kill you to, I don’t know, do something with your appearance?” She asked, keeping her tone gentle.

“I guess I could have done something with my mane maybe? Never really felt the need to do that, though.” Rarity hummed, nodding.

“I suppose your mane is already flashy enough.” Rainbow turned to look at Rarity, raising an eyebrow of her own.

“You ok Rares? You don’t normally go on about this unless you’re trying to talk me into wearing a dress.” Rarity paused for a moment, glancing around at the other patrons, before sighing.

“I suppose Applejack’s absence is no excuse to not be honest with one another. Very well. That nasty business with Discord has made me examine some of my behaviours a little more closely than before, and I’ve come to the realisation that I may be somewhat jealous of you.” Rainbow blinked in surprise, opening her mouth to speak before stopping herself as a waiter trotted over.

“Good afternoon, ladies, and welcome to Solo Mio.” He said, deftly sliding a pair of menus out of his saddlebag and setting them before the mares. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“A glass of Chardonneigh, please.” The waiter nodded, looking to Rainbow.

“Just some water, please. Can’t drink while on-call for storms.”

“Very well, I’ll be back with your drinks and to take your orders.” He dipped his head before retreating. Once he was gone, Rainbow looked back to Rarity.

“Hang on, you are jealous of me?” She asked.

“Well, a little bit. Specifically about how little effort you have to put into your appearance and still pull your look off. Low-maintenance just suits you, whereas I have to put a lot of time into my own looks.” Rainbow blinked, mulling over her words for a moment before answering.

“Yeah, I guess I don’t really put effort into styling my mane or makeup or anything. I mean, I still like how I look and I’m proud of that, but I wouldn’t call it low-effort. I spend a lot of time working out and practicing, and that keeps me in shape. Besides, remember I’ve seen you after we’ve fought some bad guys or been through the Everfree and you still pull that off.” She said with a smirk.

“Hmm, I never really considered that your workouts might be your equivalent of my time spent styling,” Rarity replied with a thoughtful look. “And please, don’t remind me of our Everfree adventures. So much dirt.” She said with a shudder, causing Rainbow to laugh.

“Fair enough, forget I mentioned it.” She grinned at Rarity, who smiled back.

“Thank you, and thank you for putting my mind at ease. I suppose it’s a little foalish to worry about.”

“Nah, I get it. You put a lot of effort into how you look and you thought somepony else was able to pull off a good look with no effort. I’d feel the same way if I met an athlete who could keep up with me and never seemed to put any effort into working out.” Rainbow gave Rarity an encouraging smile.

“Regardless, thank you. Now, on a much more relevant note, I’m sure you guessed by the name that this is a Roaman restaurant, and I can highly recommend the roast vegetable lasagna....”

During the meal Rainbow Dash had been glancing out of the window, keeping an eye on the sky as it darkened and the wind picked up more and more. Eventually, inevitably, the weather team’s storm siren sounded. “Sorry Rares, I-” She was cut off by Rarity raising a hoof.

“No need,” she smiled warmly. “When duty calls, correct?” Rainbow grinned, before running out, nodding to another pegasus who was also running, quickly discarding their waiter’s uniform and taking to the air. Dash looked towards the Everfree, grimacing at the sight of the stormfront rolling towards Ponyville. Lightning crackled between the clouds and the entire storm was slowly spinning. “Damn, a supercell...” Dash climbed higher and higher, joining the crowd of pegasi forming above the town. Thunderlane, along with other full members of the weather team, was shouting instructions.

“Alright everypony, listen up ‘cause this is serious! The storm’s become a supercell, so it is really important we do this right! Weather team volunteers, you’ll be operating in groups under a full member of the team. Your job will be to break up the flanking line and move clouds away from the supercell once the main teams have moved them to a safe location. There will be two main teams. The first team will tackle the rear flank downdraft, the second will try and break up the wall cloud. It looks like the storm’s got a rear shearing anvil, so be really careful about updrafts, and as always for these storms watch out for forming tornadoes. I know we just recently made the tornado to resupply Cloudsdale, but that was under controlled conditions, don’t think that means you can handle flying in a rogue one! Dash, you’re our strongest flier, you’re in charge of the wall cloud team.” Dash saluted with a hoof, rounding up some other members of the weather team and racing off towards the storm.

As the team flew under the shelf of the storm, they were soon pelted with heavy rain. Rainbow squinted, flinching as raindrops hit her face but powered on through, mindful of the strong winds closer to the heart of the storm. “Let’s hit it from the north!” She shouted to her team over the sound of the storm, a series of yelled affirmations reaching her ears as the team banked around to hit the main bulk of clouds from a better angle. “I’ll hit it in the centre, the rest of you break up the fringes, and be careful of that updraft!” Waiting to hear her team acknowledge her orders, she ducked her head and hurtled forwards, the team forming up behind her. As they hit the clouds, she twisted her body into a spiraling roll, breaking through the clouds and dragging a large chunk in her wake and away from the storm, her team doing the same to the outer edges of the wall cloud.

They repeated their passes two more times, each pass reducing the size of the cloud wall, before the first inklings of disaster appeared. The team formed up for another pass, hurtling once more into the heart of the storm before Dash felt a prickling through fur. All pegasi know the feeling of static electricity, especially those working with storm clouds, and what a build-up in a storm meant. “Static, scatter!” She bellowed out, immediately angling into a dive as her team scattered, creating as much distance between themselves as possible while Dash tucked her wings in, dropping like a stone and trying to get close enough to the trees for the lighting to discharge into them instead. Before she could, however, the clouds discharged in a deafening boom, a bolt striking Rainbow Dash. She screamed through the thunderclap, her body convulsing as she plummeted through the air, forcing herself to keep her eyes open as she fell. She unfurled her wings as best she could, trying to control her descent, but to no avail. Her muscles were twitching too much thanks to the shock for her to control. She grit her teeth, looking ahead to see her trajectory would take her into the Everfree. Oh this is going to suck, was her last thought before she hit the canopy, crashing through and losing consciousness as her forehead struck a branch, knocking her out cold.

Chapter 2 - Shelter from the Storm

“Urgh… My head…” Groaned the downed pegasus as she stirred. “I don’t remember drinking…” She muttered, opening her bleary eyes, blinking away the blurriness. “… What the buck?” She asked, her eyes rolling around as she took in her surroundings. The twisted, gnarled trees, the oppressive gloom, the scent was all too familiar. “I’m in the Everfree.” Her breathing began to quicken. “I’m in the Everfree. I’m in the bucking Everfree at night.” She gulped loudly, looking around. “O-Ok, calm down Dash. Just get to your hooves. You can do this. You’ve been in the Everfree plenty of times. You’ll be fine” She told herself, her voice cracking slightly as she struggled to her hooves. She winced every time she moved, her back flaring with pain, and she cried out in pain as she tried to put weight on her front left hoof. “That’s broken. That’s fine, just gotta fly out of here instead.” She looked back at her wings and gasped. “My wings!”

Her wings had been badly charred by the thunderbolt, the feathers burnt away completely, and the skin badly burnt. Her left wing hung awkwardly from her side, and when she tried to move it, she cried out. “Ok, so that’s broken as well.” She said, gritting her teeth and forcing tears back. “Ok, ok… Is there anything here I recognise?” She asked herself, turning around and jumping slightly. “Whoa…” Her crash site was right at, what appeared to be, the entrance to a ruined shrine of some kind. Ancient, monolithic stones encircled the site, which was a small clearing bordered by a semi-circular cliff face and the stones themselves. Further in, past the stones, what were once intricately carved pillars stood, the engravings worn away by the ages. In the middle of it all, a solid black altar with dull, off-white lettering carved into its surface rested atop a stone platform. Behind it all, an ornate entryway was carved into the cliff face. The place was permeated with the weight of ages, and the site promised knowledge of ages past, insights into the lives of ponies that lived thousands of years ago.

All this was lost on Dash in her current state, whose only thoughts were that Twilight would love this, and that it looked like a scene out of a Daring Doo book. She grit her teeth and limped forwards, moving carefully as she approached the shrine. “Hello!” She called. “Anypony here?” She paused, hearing only her echo. She frowned, and continued limping forwards, passing between two pillars that flanked the path.

“Well, well, what do we have here, sisters?” Dash froze as a voice echoed across the clearing, hollow and sinister. She awkwardly spun round as the voice giggled, and her eyes widened as a shadowy figure stepped out from behind one of the standing stones. Vaguely equine in shape, a pair of blazing red spheres formed its eyes and dark mists gathered at the ends of each leg.

“Looks like a downed pegasus, sisters.” Responded another voice, a second shadowy figure stepping out from another stone.

“What shall we do with it, sisters?” The first shadow asked. “It looks so lonely...”

“And so tasty.” Rainbow began to back away from the shadows, shivering as she stumbled backwards. She yelped as a feeling of intense cold swept across her back, and almost screamed as she saw a third shadow leering over her. As Dash gazed upon the shadow, more features became distinct. The angry orbs of scarlet swirled before her eyes, shapes forming and dispelling before she could identify them in a maddening display, flecks of other colours appearing and disappearing. In an attempt to save her mind, she turned her gaze slightly downward, away from the eyes and to where she judged the mouth to be.

A part of her expected the creature’s mouth to be similar to that of a pony. That expectation was shattered by the impossibly twisted maw of the beast. The fangs that lined the infernal orifice were jagged shadows, of a barely lighter colour than the surrounding shadow. As opposed to the shifting, roiling darkness that comprised the rest of the creature’s body, the gloom which inhabited its mouth was unchanging, an endless abyss that, try as she might, she couldn’t tear her gaze away from. The jaw closed and twisted into a smirk.

“Oh sisters, I think she’d make a lovely meal. Wouldn’t you agree, pony?” Asked this third shadow. The shadow leered at her, a dark tongue snaking out of its mouth to lick its lips as they spread into a grin. Rainbow shivered as the other two shadows drew closer, paralysed with fear by these shadows. Inwardly, she screamed at her hooves to move, to swing at the shadow. To do something, anything to try and avert a gruesome fate. A tear formed in her eye as she realised her body wouldn’t respond.

Oh Celestia, not like this. Any way but this. Please, no… Another shiver went through her as the shadows drew close around her, leering at her as they licked their lips and bared fangs. She screwed her eyes shut as the first shadow bared its teeth, silently praying it would be quick.

“Back shades! Back!” A new voice shouted. “You won’t be eating today!” The shadows turned to face the new arrival, and instantly shrank back. Rainbow turned to see a unicorn stallion shrouded in a black cloak brandishing a burning torch in his magic. He jabbed it at one of the shadows, which reeled back with a hiss.

“It burns us sisters!” It keened as a lick of flame traced across its ‘hoof’.

“Back! Back into the darkness!” He shouted again, chasing the shadows back. “Leave this place and do not return! Back!” The first shadow hissed again.

“Come sisters, we will not win here.” It said, turning and retreating from the shrine. The other two reluctantly followed, one looking back and snarling.

“We will have you.” It glared at Rainbow, who was still frozen in place. The stallion brandished the torch again, and the last shadow left. Once they were out of sight, the stallion relaxed, lowering the torch and sighing.

“Too close… “Are you alright?” The stallion asked Rainbow, turning to look at her. Illuminated by the torch, Rainbow could make out a long black mane, light grey fur, and green eyes.

“What…” She gulped, tasting bile in the back of her throat as she caught her breath. “What were those things?”

“The ponies that built this place called them ‘singulti’. I prefer to call them shades. Creatures that vile do not deserve proper names.” The stallion said. “Now, are you alright?”

“I-I think so. S-save for my wings, and leg.” She said, clearly shaken by what happened. He nodded, walking towards her steadily.

“Let’s get you inside and tend to those injuries.” He said, gently guiding Rainbow towards the doorway carved into the cliff. “You got hit by the storm, right? Trying to break it up? Takes a brave one to dive into the heart of a supercell like that.”

“Y-yeah, though I think those shadows are scarier than a storm…” Shield chuckled at that, nodding.

“I’d have to agree with you there. Just be glad they didn’t take you.”

“Why? What do they do?”

“To be honest, I don’t actually know. But, given they talk about eating ponies, and that I’ve never found any remains of their victims…” He tailed off as he saw Dash’s face going pale. “Right, sorry, freaking out a crash-landed pegasus probably isn’t the best idea.”

“Y-you think?” She huffed, looking back out to the treeline and shivering. “I’ve never seen anything like them before.”

“They’re attracted to this site, best I can tell. Oh, where are my manners. Call me Shield.” He said, stepping into the doorway. Rainbow followed, blinking as she passed a boundary of warm air.

“Rainbow Dash. It’s warm in here…”

“One of the benefits of magic, I don’t need a door to keep the elements out and the warmth in.” He said, walking over to a burning fireplace. “Let’s get you bandaged up. I’m not a healer, unfortunately, but I know at least enough to dress and splint and stop infection.” She nodded, limping after him and carefully sitting by the fire. She watched as he boiled some water, soaking bandages in the water to sterilise them before hanging them to dry as he fished out a bottle of whisky. “I’m out of regular disinfectant, so whisky’s going to have to suffice. This is going to sting, ok?” She nodded.

“I’ve had disinfectant on wounds before, just get it over with.” He nodded, and started pouring alcohol on her open wounds. She hissed in pain, clenching her jaw as he cleaned her wounds, before bandaging them with the dried bandages and splinting her leg and wing.

“Now, where are you from, Dash? We should try and get you home as soon as possible.”

“I live in Ponyville, but I don’t know how to get back from here. Not on the ground anyway.” She said, looking at her bandaged wings and flinching. Shield nodded.

“Afraid I don’t either. I know how to get to Manehattan, but in your condition…” Rainbow nodded.

“I know better than to try and get through the Everfree like this… But I still need to get home.”

“That you do. The good news is that I should be getting a supply run soon. They know their way through the Everfree, they’ll be able to get you home.” Rainbow nodded, then blinked.

“Wait, a supply run? There’s more than just you out here in the Everfree?” She asked, tilting her head.

“There’s a few of us. Not really at liberty to say more than that.” Rainbow frowned, opening her mouth to press the issue before deciding against it.

“Right, right. And they can take me to Ponyville?” At Shield’s nod, she continued. “How long until they get here?”

“Hmm… They’re about a week out at best guess. Plus or minus a couple of days, depending on their progress each day.”

“A week?! B-but my friends…” She stopped as Shield raised a hoof.

“I know it’s not ideal, but it’s a week’s wait, or a trek to Manehattan through the Everfree on one broken leg. Plus you might have a concussion, since you hit your head. And I can’t leave this place unattended either, so you’d be doing it on your own. Sorry. On the plus side, they’ve got a proper healer with them and I requested additional medical supplies, so… Silver lining?” He offered.

“I guess it’d be pretty stupid to try and make it on my own… Why can’t you leave this place?” She asked, tilting her head. Shield was silent for a moment, staring at the fire.

“You remember how I said those shades were attracted to this place?” She nodded slowly. “It’s to do with that. I can’t tell you any more, sorry.”

“You keep saying you can’t tell me, or you’re ‘not at liberty to say more’. Sounds like you’re under orders of some kind.” She said, squinting a little.

“Well, you’re thinking clearly at least, that’s a good sign. You are correct in that I’m under orders not to say anything. But, look at it this way. Even if I’m under orders not to tell you anything, I still helped you, right?” She nodded slowly. “It’s a good thing there was someone here, otherwise you’d be in the Everfree on your own. And if I was a bad guy, I wouldn’t have saved you or treated your injuries, right?” Rainbow nodded again.

“Alright, I get your point.”

“Good! Now, you’re probably cold and hungry, and it’s been a while since I’ve gotten news from outside the Everfree. We’re going to be here for a while, so I’ll get some food going, and let’s talk.”

Rainbow Dash had to admit it. Shield was a good cook, and surprisingly easy to talk to once her initial shock and trepidation had worn off. There were a lot of gaps in his knowledge of recent events, though if he’d spent as long in the Everfree as he claimed, that was understandable. “Alright, I’m going to camp out here. You’re injured and need a proper bed.” He pointed to one of the doorways inside the shrine. “Just through there. I changed the sheets when you were eating, and there’s a washroom if you want to clean up, just avoid getting the bandages wet. If you do, we’ll need to change them.”

“A washroom? In the Everfree?” She asked, blinking as she looked at him.

“Rainwater. So, it’ll be cold unless you want me to heat it up.”

“No, thanks, I can deal with cold water.” He nodded, sitting back down by the fire. “I think I’m going to go sleep now…”

“Alright, sleep well. If you wake up with a headache or throw up in the night, let me know, you’ve probably got a concussion if that happens.” She nodded, limping through the bedroom Shield mentioned. She quickly looked around, taking in the bare room. Few decorations save for some roughly whittled figures, some odds-and-ends likely collected from the forest, a few books, and little else besides Rainbow sighed, carefully climbing into the simple bed and lying on her belly, closing her eyes and quickly nodding off.

“Why do you dare disturb me?” A thousand voices asked at once, a pair of light blue orbs turning to gaze upon the three assembled shades. “This had better be good.”

“Oh, it is, isn’t it sisters?” Hissed the first one, all three grinning. “One of the Elements has chanced upon the shrine of Marabas.” The orbs widened, and there was a rustling as their owner stood.

“Are you positive?” The voices asked again.

“Yes, we saw her with our own eyes.” The voices chuckled darkly, white teeth forming a grin beneath the eyes.

“Oh, this is excellent news.” The voices purred. “Such raw power in the shrine. We must not allow this opportunity to pass us by. Keep watch by the shrine. If Marabas does indeed take notice of the Element Bearer, we must be ready. Failure is not an option. I believe you three know the punishment should you fail?” The voices took a dangerous edge towards the end, and the three shades shuddered in recollection.

“Yes, we sisters remember.” They hissed as one.

“I shall send more Singulti to assist you in apprehending the Element Bearer when, and if, Marabas has finished with her. Do not interfere with Marabas, nor will I allow you to harm the Element Bearer should Marabas ignore her. If, however, Marabas does not ignore the Element, use whatever force necessary to bring her in. Do I make myself clear?” The shades nodded.

“What shall we sisters do about the unicorn?”

“The Guardian? If Marabas does not kill him, then you shall do so. But do not attack if Marabas ignores the pair of them. He may be useful later if the Element is left untouched.” The orbs narrowed at the shades again. “Now, go. And do not fail me, Singulti.”

Rainbow Dash woke with a start and a yelp as she jerked her injured limbs, blinking in confusion. “... Right, the crash and the shrine.” She said, groaning as she worked the stiffness out of her body before carefully stepping off the bed, limping back out into the main room of the shrine. Now that she was rested, and sunlight was pouring in through the doorway, she could get a better look at the interior. A high vaulted ceiling was carved into the rock of the cliff, and a number of closed and barred doorways led deeper into the shrine. A number of bedrolls were spread across the hall, a large bookcase, and several chests, weapon racks, and stands holding enough arms and armour to equip a Guard platoon.

“Morning,” greeted Shield from the fireplace. “I made coffee, figured you’d need some. Sounded like you had a bad night.” He said, setting a steaming mug on a table. She took it gratefully, carefully sipping.

“Yeah, nightmares I think.”

“Nightmares? Mind if I ask what about?” He asked, sitting across from her with his own mug.

“Lightning, I think. Pretty sure it was lightning, and falling.” Shield nodded, sipping his coffee.

“Makes sense I guess, after the storm yesterday. No nausea or dizziness?” She shook her head.

“Little bit of a headache, but nothing else.”

“That’s good, sounds like you got lucky on that count. That bump to the head could have been really bad.” Dash nodded. “So, after breakfast I figured we should probably check to make sure there’s no other physical damage. Between getting hit by lightning and the fall, I want to make sure we didn’t miss anything.”

“Alright then, sounds good. What’s for breakfast?” She asked, following with her eyes as he stood up and went to one of the chests.

“Let’s see what we’ve got…” He opened one of the chests, cold mist drifting out of it.

“You have an ice box?” She asked, surprised.

“Well, a chest enchanted to act as one. I often don’t get to resupply regularly, so I need to freeze some. That one there acts like a fridge.” He rooted around in the chest, pulling out a wrapped lump of… Something. He blinked once, looking to Dash, then back to the lump. “… Not that.” He dropped it back in and closed the chest, moving to the one he’d called a fridge. “Might be a bit unorthodox for breakfast, but I can do some fried peppers?”

The next few days passed in much the same way. Breakfast, followed by Shield checking and redressing Dash’s injuries, some conversation, lunch, more conversation and limited physical therapy, dinner, some more conversation, then bed. The dull, repetitive days were grating on Dash, and to make matters worse, some of the damage to her wings seemed to be permanent. “These burns from the bolt look like they’re going to scar. No way to tell how much they’ll impact your performance yet, you’ll need time and a proper doctor to figure that out.” Shield had told her one morning, sympathy lacing his voice.

Her nightmares were getting worse as well. She slept fitfully that night, the storm that caused her crash flashing in her mind. The other weather ponies, the whipping winds, the searing pain, the Everfree rushing up to meet her. She muttered and shifted in her sleep, her dreams straying to darker places. Images of her friends desperately searching for her, of Scootaloo waiting for her, her parents worried sick… Of Shield, cloaked in black, turning to face her with the awful red eyes and terrible maw of the shades-

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Waaah!” She flailed as she jerked awake, briefly tangling her good hooves in the blanket. “S=Shield?! What the buck?!” She blearily looked up at Shield, who was standing with a look of worry.

“You were having another nightmare, this one sounded really bad. You were screaming.” She paused, suddenly noticing how dry her mouth was.

“I… I was, yeah. The storm again, and my friends looking for me…” Shield hummed thoughtfully.

“Sounds like the crash really rattled you, might be worth talking to someone when you get back? Lots of ponies who survive stuff like that need to talk to someone who can help. Crash landing in the Everfree, coming face to face with a shade… That’s pretty traumatic. Let’s get you something to drink, I’m guessing you’re unlikely to go back to sleep after that?”

“Probably not, no.” She shook her head, standing to follow him. “The Everfree is bad enough on a good day, let alone the day I crashed.”

“I will admit, it creeped me out when I first came here. Wild places like this set ponies on edge. The weather resists pegasi, the ground resists earth ponies, and unicorns… Well, it just feels wrong.” He said, setting some water to boil.

“How long have you been here, anyway? You said it had been a while, but you never gave a number.”

“Hmm… Just about ten years, give or take.” He said after thinking for a moment. Dash’s eyes widened as her jaw dropped.

“Ten years? How do you deal with it for that long?” She asked, incredulous.

“As I said, you get used to it. I can filter out the feeling pretty well now. Plus I’m not exactly roughing it. I’ve got shelter, a bed, a range, food. All the essentials for long-term survival.”

“You still haven’t told me why you need to be here.”

“I told you, I’m the guardian of this place.” Dash groaned in frustration.

“Yes, but why does this place need a guardian? You said it had something to do with the shades, but you never went any further than that. In fact, you’ve been really vague with almost all your answers! You won’t talk about where you’re from, your family, or anything else I’ve tried to talk about beyond basic smalltalk!” Shield sighed, rubbing the bridge of his muzzle.

“You’re right, I have been vague and unhelpful and that’s not fair to you, but it’s not up to me. I have my orders, and more than that I swore an oath. Just,” he sighed again. “Just focus on recovering. You’ll be home with your friends soon, and then you can forget about the strange stallion you met in the forest. And never mention this place to anyone.”

“Are you kidding? Twilight would love this place! She’d totally nerd out over it! And I can’t just lie to my friends!”

“I’m deadly serious.” He turned to meet her eyes, his gaze piercing, causing Rainbow to shrink back a little as she remembered the eyes from the nightmare. “The fewer ponies know about this place, the better.” He blinked as a rune on the wall started glowing, before trotting towards the entrance.

He’s hiding things from you.

What? Rainbow blinked, looking around swiftly for the voice. Shield frowned as he approached the entrance, peering out. His eyes widened, and he turned back to Dash.

“Rainbow, I need to ask you a question, and it is imperative you answer honestly. Are you in any way a user or carrier of any powerful magic?” He asked, voice low and level. Dash swallowed, her mouth dry again.

“W-well.” She set her mug down. “I-I’m one of the fastest pegasi alive, and did a Sonic Rainboom.”

“Impressive, but not enough.” He shook his head, pacing and looking to the entrance.

“Erm, there’s the… I’m one one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.” Shield’s eyes grew wider as his head snapped back to her.

“Oh buck. Oh buck!” He swore.

“W-what? Is something wrong?” She asked, standing.

“Yes, we have a serious problem.” He swore again under his breath, dashing back to the entrance to peer out into the night.

He means HE has a problem. He doesn’t want to help you.

“Come take a look,” said Shield. Dash warily limped over.

He’s going to leave you to die, a sacrifice for the singulti to save his own skin. Dash shook her head, looking out the doorway and gasping.

“Why is the altar glowing?” She asked, a little scared. The runes on the black altar were glowing white, whilst the altar itself was surrounded by a nimbus of pulsating purple.

He’s trying to distract you.

“Get away from the door.” He said, pushing her back and lighting his horn, a blazing sigil appearing in the doorway before being replaced by a wall of force.

“W-what’s going on? And why can I hear somepony in my head?” Shield stumbled at that, staring at her in horror for a moment before racing across to the other side of the chamber.

He’s not helping you. You’re trapped in here now.

Shut up! Rainbow shouted in her head, trying to ignore the voice.

“We can’t leave until the altar stops glowing,” Shield said to her, muttering worriedly under his breath as he rushed around the room.

See? Stuck. He’s been in the Everfree for ten years and he doesn’t know where Ponyville is? And he’s strong enough to fight off the singulti with just a torch, he couldn’t have protected you on the journey back? You’d be home by now, in a proper hospital with a proper doctor. Instead, you’re stuck in the Everfree, and who knows how bad the damage to your wings is thanks to the lack of proper care. And aren’t you worried about your friends? Or that little Scootaloo? Dash froze, the guilt and frustration that had been mounting over the last few days coming crashing down.

“Let me go.”

“What?” Shield asked incredulously, turning to look at Dash.

“I said let me go! I can’t believe I actually trusted you when you said you didn’t know where Ponyville was! I was breaking a storm that was going to hit the town when I crashed, I can’t be that far! After ten years, you must know where it is! My friends are going to be worried sick!” She pressed, stepping forwards and glaring as the voice egged her on.

“I can’t do that. I promise, I really don’t know where Ponyville is,” said Shield, his incredulous expression changing to worry. “And besides, even if I did, with the altar like that-”

He’s lying. You need to get home, to your friends, to Scootaloo. The voice rattled and scratched around inside her head, dragging forth memories of the orange filly, images of her and the Crusaders desperately, recklessly looking for her. They’ve always been reckless, what if they go into the forest looking for you?

“Stop lying to me!” She shouted, the guilt tearing at her strengthened by the voice. “I need to get home before Scootaloo does something that’ll get her hurt!”

I can help you. All you need to do is accept my help. I can make you all better, fix your wounds, and show you the way back to Ponyville.

“I’m not lying.” Shield replied, doing his best to remain calm as he looked her in the eyes. “Listen to me, I’m begging you. Do not listen to the voice. On my honour, I swear that I am not lying to you, and want to help you.”

“Buck your honour!” Dash shouted, pushing him away.

“Rainbow Dash, please listen to me! If I drop that shield, we could both die here!”

*More lies. You and your friends have survived hydras and manticores, and none of you are soldiers. But he mentioned pyromancy, ACTUAL combat magic.*

“I thought you were supposed to be able to fight?! So what’s stopping you?”

“That!” He waved his hoof at the altar. “I can’t fight that. Rainbow, please, you have to listen to me!” He begged.

I can HELP you. Just accept my help, say the words. ‘Marabas, help me’.

Fine! Marabas, help me!

“My pleasure.” The voice, dark and alluring, powerful and terrible, echoed across the clearing, audible to all. Shield froze in place, eyes wide in horror as turned to the altar again. The nimbus around the altar grew larger, the runes beginning to float away from the surface of the black stone as the nimbus was leached away to a point hovering above the altar.

“Now, sisters?” Hissed a shade, prowling around the edge of the stone circle.

“Wait, sisters. Not yet.” Hissed one of the Singulti, as several of the others almost leapt forwards. “We were ordered not to interfere with Marabas, sisters.”

“You wouldn’t get through that shield anyway sisters.” Hissed another. “We wait until Marabas has finished.”

“I hope she leaves that unicorn alive, sisters.”

“Oh yes. A good meal for us, sisters.”

“Shh my sisters. She’s starting…”

“What have you done?” Asked Shield as he backed deeper into the chamber, dashing towards a large chest. “What have you done?!”

“I-I… S-she promised to fix my wing. She showed me images of my friends, Scootaloo…”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve just unleashed?!” He shouted as he threw open the chest and pulled out a sword; a double-edged longsword that narrowed to a fine point, the flats of the blade covered in runes. Dash eyed the sword with wide, terrified eyes as Shield also retrieved its scabbard, sheathing the blade and discarding his cloak, revealing a cutie-mark of a sword over a moon. “Too late to explain now.” He muttered, rearing back as his horn flashed. A suit of armour was engulfed in his aura and flew off the stand, closing piece by piece around him, runes flashing all across the surface and fading again. Armoured, he strapped the scabbard across his back and ran to the wall, pressing a rune that pulsed red at his touch. Third alarm, under my watch as well. Stars damn it, Rainbow Dash!

“W-what do you mean too late-” She began, before the orb of pulsating light above the altar flashed and rocketed towards the chamber. She reeled back as the orb slammed into the layers of force blocking the entrance and shattered them. Her eyes went wide and she tried to run, but the orb easily caught her and Shield, expanding to cover them both. The pair were dragged from the shrine and deposited roughly on the ground in front of the glowing altar. The two ponies quickly got to their hooves, Rainbow much more sluggishly thanks to her wounds, to see a figure stood atop the altar.

She stood tall, much taller than either of the ponies before it, and sported wickedly-pointed horn and a pair of draconic wings, marking her as an alicorn. Her fur was dark purple, with a pattern of pure white lacing itself through her fur, mane, and tail. The mane and tail were unkempt, spiking randomly and both were a paler, greyer shade of purple. Two metal bands adorned each of her legs, each featuring a small metal disk, unique runes carved into each one. Her most striking, terrible feature, however, were her solid, bright yellow eyes. No pupils, no sclera, just perfect yellow orbs, slight variations in shade swirling across them.

Before Rainbow Dash could do anything Shield let out a war cry and charged, leaping forwards as a set of four blades resembling long claws sprung out of each gauntlet, the blades surrounded by a field of crackling energy. The alicorn contemptuously swatted Shield down with a blast of magic before turning to Dash. “W-who are you?” Asked Dash, shaking quietly. The alicorn grinned at her, showing a maw of sharp teeth.

“My name is Marabas.” Replied the alicorn, the voice making Rainbow shiver. It send chills down her spine and scratched in her ears. “And you are Rainbow Dash, Bearer of the Element of Loyalty. I thank you for freeing me from this… Dismal place.” Her grin turned to a smirk. “And I do believe I have a debt to pay to you.” Marabas spread her draconic wings, revealing her cutie mark, a pattern of runes on each flank.

“What are you going to do?” Asked Dash, backing away slightly.

“Just what I said I’d do. Make you all better, and show you the way back to Ponyville.” Said Marabas, runes appearing in a circle around Rainbow Dash. “Now, please remain still as-” The alicorn was interrupted by Shield leaping from behind her and raking along her side with the claws, the attack drawing black, brackish blood. Marabas hissed, a circle of runes appearing in front of her before a beam of white light flashed out of it and blasted Shield into one of the pillars around the shrine. The pillar broke upon impact, crumbling on top of Shield. “Irritating specimen.” She muttered, more runes flaring to life around Dash, forming a dome around her.

“What are those things?” Asked Dash, shrinking away from them slightly.

“The runes I will use to repay my debt. Now, please remain still.” Marabas said, grinning again as they grew brighter.

“U-umm, I… I don’t think this is a good idea anymore.” Said Rainbow, eyeing the runes.

“Nonsense, you want to be healed, no?”

“Actually I think… I think I should just go.” She tried to leave the dome, but the runes threw her back. “H-hey, let me go!”

“I must insist that you let me repay you for all you’ve done.” Marabas grinned, as the runes passed over Rainbow, her skin crawling. Rainbow opened her mouth to protest as she backed up, but stopped as she felt her broken wing squirm. Grimacing, she looked at her broken wing, which had begun to shift under the linen bandages. The bandages on both wings slowly fell away, revealing the scarred and damaged wings. She watched, mouth agape, as the bones in the broken wing, to her surprise, painlessly shifted beneath the skin and muscles, resetting in their correct positions.

“W-wow, that’s amazing! I’m surprised that didn’t hurt..”

“Oh, that comes next, little pony.”

“What?” Rainbow turned back to Marabas, and froze before throwing her head back, screaming in agony as every nerve was set ablaze.

“My reward for freeing me. I do hope you enjoy it.” Marabas’ mouth curled into a cruel grin as Rainbow writhed, the shadows pressing in as Marabas laughed.

Author's Note

Oh boy this is a fair bit longer than the original version...

Chapter 3 - First Blood

Shield groaned, shrugging off the rubble as he shook his head, stumbling to his hooves. His runed armour had saved him from the worst of the impact, but the sheer force behind the attack still took its toll. Blinking the stars from his eyes, he glanced around quickly to find himself near the standing stones, freezing as he spotted what was lurking just beyond the edge of the circle, breath catching. Shades. Dozens of shades, prowling at the border and snapping their jaws. His head snapped around to the altar again as he heard Rainbow start screaming. Rainbow! Seeing her writhing on the ground as Marabas watched with glee, he snarled and charged forwards, drawing his sword, the hilt surrounded in a golden haze as it slid smoothly from its scabbard. He gave a low war cry as he charged, the sword held at his side as he galloped across the clearing.

“Still here? You are testing my patience…” Marabas snarled, runes appearing in front of her, a searing white beam lancing forth.

Now. Shield vanished in a flash of light, reappearing behind the alicorn and bringing his sword in an upwards slash across her hind legs, the blade biting flesh. Marabas hissed in pain before kicking back. Her hoof glanced off his armour, but the blow was still sufficient to knock him back, causing him to gasp for air. Marabas spun around, sweeping her head as she tried to gore him with his horn. The tip of his sword swept up to deflect the strike, before parrying the second horn thrust. Marabas followed through, snapping her jaws at him. Shield hopped back to avoid the bite, and Marabas leapt back, opening the distance. Shield’s eyes widened as he saw her charge a spell, too far away for him to physically disrupt her casting, and there was no way he could effectively counterspell. Horseapples. He raised his gauntlets to shield his head from the blast, thrown back into the air. Twisting as he flew through the air, he landed heavily on his hooves before leaping forwards again, teleporting the short distance to her right side and lashing out with his clawed gauntlet, the crackling blades parting her skin with ease. The enraged alicorn struck with the leading edge of her wing, catching him across the neck and sending him reeling.

He rolled to the side to avoid her snapping jaws, and watched as the slash across her legs was already knitting shut. Alicorn regeneration, buck. He swore internally, teleporting again to appear at her left side, before instantly teleporting again as she swung her left wing, this time appearing above her. Plunging his sword down, he brought his hoof down on the pommel to drive the tip into her right shoulder, and Marabas shrieked awfully as the blade sunk deep. Raking her back once with his gauntlets, Shield leapt clear as her mane erupted into white fire, lashing above her back before returning to normal. Shield rolled as he landed and whipped around, throwing up a barrier as she charged a spell. The blast crashed against the barrier, filling the air with dust and smoke.

“Damnable pest!” Marabas howled into the haze, snarling as she prowled back and forth, her right wing twitching against her side in pain. Hidden in the haze, Shield weighed up his options briefly. He, currently, had the advantage in speed and agility, but she was still fast. And whilst Shield had landed hits against her, they amounted to very little, and he was certain a single good hit from Marabas would end the fight.

She’s almost certainly got more endurance than me as well. Think Shield… He racked his brain, trying to think of a way to end this quickly, before reaching a grim conclusion. This must be what master meant. ‘Keep it occupied until help arrives’. No way am I killing her on my own, so… He set his jaw as he made his decision, channeling his magic into his armour, activating the runes woven into the metal. Offensive magic, almost useless against an alicorn. Focus on staying alive, and keeping her attention. He took a deep breath, focusing on the sound of her pacing before throwing himself forwards out of the haze again. Leaping at her, he tucked his shoulder and rolled between her legs, lashing out with his gauntlets, slashing along her legs and barrel before teleporting clear as she trampled the ground beneath her. Appearing at her right side, he grabbed his sword, still lodged in her shoulder in his magic again and ripped it free, opening her shoulder further.

“Insolent whelp!” Marabas cursed him, head low as she growled, lashing out with a hoof to widen the gap. Shield didn’t relent, slashing at the limb as it came close before moving under her guard and slicing at her armpit with his sword before backing clear as she thrashed her head, her teeth grazing his ear.

Too close. Shield grimaced, sweeping his sword around to parry a thrust from her horn, forced onto the defensive as she slashed at him, deflected again as Shield moved his sword around in circular motions to guard against her viciously sharp horn. Marabas winced, pulling her head back as an attempt at a stab got her a cut across the nose for her troubles. She snorted, narrowing her eyes before lowering her head and charging. Shield’s eyes widened as he leapt to the side and rolled clear, skidding briefly on his hooves before stopping as Marabas lowered her head for another charge. Shield barely cleared her charge this time, swearing under his breath as he jarred his shoulder in the roll. He grit his teeth as she charged yet again, leaping to the side. This time Marabas was ready, and swung her head to the right as he leapt, the tip of her horn catching between the armour plates.

Pain exploded in his leg as her horn parted the skin and cut into the flesh, Shield landing awkwardly and skidding on his side before rolling to his hooves with a wince. “Got you that time, pest.” Marabas taunted, grinning malevolently. Shield breathed through clenched teeth, not taking his eyes off her. “This would be so much easier for you if you just let me kill you.” She rolled her right shoulder as the wound began to knit shut, the wing flapping once.

“Buck that…” He snarled, readying his sword again. Marabas smirked.

“I can at least appreciate spirit. Have it your way.” She raised her wings, and gave one powerful flap, launching into the air. Beating her wings again, she charged and fired another blast down at Shield. Shield disappeared just before it struck, appearing in the air beside her, disappearing again as she wheeled to face him.

The wound is healing, but it’s still there. A plan formed in his mind as he appeared on her left side, then her right side, and finally above her, sword raised as he plunged towards her with a yell. She rolled over in the air, horn ready to fire another blast. As she loosed the spell, he vanished, appearing below her and launching his sword with as much force as he could focus. Augmented further by telekinesis, the blade rocketing up, piercing her right shoulder and carrying on straight through. Marabas howled as her right wing was severed completely, her left wing flapping uselessly as she hurtled to the ground. Shield teleported once again, making sure to transfer his momentum horizontally, rolling along the ground instead of being thrown straight into it. He grunted, rattled as he was tossed across the ground, rolling to his hooves in time to see Marabas crash into the ground with a sickening thud. Limping slightly, he caught his falling sword in his magic as he turned to look at the fallen alicorn.

“I must say I am impressed, pest.” She spat the words as she struggled to her hooves. “Teleporting that many times that quickly… But, that must take a lot out of you.” She snarled, yellow eyes meeting his. “How much more can you take, I wonder?” She grinned, spitting blood before roaring, white light gathering around her horn, firing a blindingly bright beam. Shield swore, galloping to avoid the beam that swept after him, eventually taking cover behind one of the pillars. He glanced over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes at the sight of the shades cheering the alicorn on quietly, peering around the pillar once the light stopped, yelping and barely avoiding the horn lunging towards him. Shield desperately moved his sword, barely able to defend against the wildly striking horn and gnashing teeth, being forced back towards the altar, and the still-screaming Rainbow Dash.

He swore under his breath as he backed up. He parried strike after strike, the sword jarring in his magical grip with each blow. He bit his cheek as his leg flared in pain, hard enough to draw blood. Just when he thought the assault might relent, a loose stone slipped under his injured leg, rolling his ankle. His eyes went wide as he fell, before crying out as the horn moved into the opening, spearing his left shoulder. Blinking back tears, he went to bring his sword down on her neck, but before he could she jerked her head, throwing him clear with a spray of blood. He grunted as he hit the ground, rolling over once and skidding the rest of the distance. Trying to stand, he yelped as he put weight on his left leg, wincing as he held it clear of the ground.

“Finally, a telling blow.” Marabas chuckled darkly as Shield limped around to face her, sword still held ready. “Really, I do not understand why you keep trying.” She prowled around him. “You must know you cannot defeat me on your own.” She snorted, a thought occurring to her. “Surely you must. So why are you here alone? Unless…” She paused, before a wide grin split her face, exposing her fangs. “Ah, so that is what is happening. You are not meant to defeat me, you are just meant to keep me occupied until more arrive.” Shield’s eyes went wide.

Oh buck, she figured it out. Shield gave a cry, charging forwards despite his pain, only for Marabas to grab a piece of the destroyed pillar in her magic and fling it at him. He barely had time to raise a barrier, and the impact still threw him into the side of the altar. He tried to stand, but another rock crashed down on top of him and shattered, driving the air from his lungs as something in his chest cracked. Coughing and struggling to stand, he watched as Marabas turned to leave. “Ma... Marabas… We… We’re not finished here…” He held his sword still, standing on shaking legs.

“No, and I hate to leave a job half finished, but I cannot afford to be here when your friends arrive. And besides, I believe these fine creatures will be more than able to finish the job.” She grinned cruelly at him as the shades moved into the circle, the horde of them tittering and giggling maddeningly, pressing in and surrounding the stallion. Shield swallowed, glancing around at the shades hemming him in against the altar. He tried to cast a fireball to disperse the group, but winced as his horn sparked, sword wobbling dangerously.

Damn, used too much of my reserve. Too many to fight without pyromancy, not in this state. His vision blurred, fatigue and pain taking its toll as he shivered. End it now, better than being taken… He glanced at his sword, before snapping his head around as something next to him whimpered. Squinting, he could barely make out the blurry form of Rainbow Dash, curled into a foetal position. The Element Bearer! How could I forget..? Looking back at the shades, he snarled as he widened his stance. Can’t let them take her. Will not let them. “W-what are you waiting for, then?” He snarled, grinning through the pain as he grit his teeth. “Come... And have a go… If you think you’re hard enough.” The shades bristled as one at the challenge, snarling and growling in response as he stood protectively over Rainbow Dash. I’ve still got enough to activate runes… He winced as he focused his magic again, the runes on his sword igniting and erupting into flame, wreathing his sword in a magical inferno. I can hold them off for long enough… I have to believe that… “Come on then!”

One of the shades shrieked and leapt forwards. Strong, but stupid. Shield swung the sword in a short chop, the burning blade taking the shade’s head off, the two parts turning to smoke. The horde cried in outrage at the death of their ‘sister’, and charged as a group. Shield kept his back to the altar, sweeping his sword in wide defensive patterns, keeping the horde back as best he could, slashing at limbs and heads when they pressed too close. Shadowy claws scratched at his armour, the freezing chill leaching through, slowing his limbs and numbing his mind. Shield kept fighting through the cold and the pain, beheading another shade as it went for his throat, but there were just too many, the circle of hissing and snarling monsters pressing closer and closer.

Finally, one landed a telling blow, a claw finding a gap in his armour and piercing his chest. He gasped as the cold gripped his heart, its beating slowing. Giving a final snarl, he hacked off the offending shade’s limb and then its head, before forcing more magic into the runes on his blade and slamming it into the ground, the super-heated tip melting into the ground and erupting in a ball of flame, incinerating the closest shade and throwing the rest back. His magic spent, Shield fell to his side as the flames licking around his blade faded. Shield panted, unable to even stand as the shades rallied, and began to press in again, cautious but confident of their victory now. I’m sorry Master… I’m sorry Rainbow… I failed you both… Spitting at the closest shade in defiance, his head hit the stone. The last thing he saw was the bottomless maw of a shade closing in, before the shade erupted into flames.

“-bas has escaped. Had it not been for the singulti then maybe-“

“We can talk about maybes all day. The fact is she has escaped.” Shield’s ear flicked as sound filtered back into his world, his mind sluggishly processing the noises as words.

I’m not dead? His eyes slowly opened and he winced against the light. How? Did they get here in time...? Slowly blinking as his vision cleared, the familiar roof of the shrine chamber came into view.

“Master, he’s awake.” A mare’s voice said, and Shield’s vision was filled with a stern, midnight blue unicorn’s face with piercing grey eyes.

“Shield, it’s a bloody miracle you’re still alive.”

“M-master? How..?” Shield tried to sit up, gasping in pain before being pushed back down.

“Don’t try and sit up, you’re badly injured.” Shield nodded, greedily drinking from the offered water skin. “Do you remember what happened?”

“M-Marabas… She escaped. I tried to keep her here, but…” He winced as his shoulder flared. “She figured out what I was trying to do, and left me to the shades.”

“How did she escape?”

“Rainbow… The blue mare with me. She crashed at the shrine, badly injured. She- She’s an Element Bearer, but Marabas did something to her…”

“Blue mare..? The one we found next to you at the shrine?”

“Y-yeah. Is she ok?” He asked, carefully turning her head to look for her.

“She’s alive and uninjured, though if Marabas did something that would explain a couple of things.” Shield’s blood ran cold as more memories returned.

“I-I failed… I failed you Master, and I failed her.” Shield slammed his hoof against the bed, biting his tongue as his shoulder flared again.

“Shield, look at me.” He ordered, and Shield met his eyes. “You kept her alive. That’s a damn sight more than many could do in that situation, against that many shades in the state you were in. Both of you are lucky to be here right now.” Shield was silent for a moment, before nodding, averting his eyes again.

“How… How is she?”

“We’re… Not sure yet.” The mare answered. “She hasn’t woken up. We’re keeping her in a shield right now, in case she’s violent when she wakes up.”

“What did Marabas do to her?” Shield turned to look at the mare, a white pegasus with a red mane. She grimaced, mane covering her eyes.

“We’re not fully sure, but-” She was interrupted by the sound of a scream of terror.

“She’s awake!” A stallion shouted.

“Let me see her.” Shield grunted, trying to sit up.

“You need to rest-”

“Let me see her,” he repeated, struggling. “She’s not going to recognise any of you, but she’ll recognise me.” The mare was silent for a moment, looking at Master. He nodded, before lifting the bed in a blue field. The bed was carefully levitated across the chamber, over to where a group of armoured ponies stood.

“Make room!” Snapped Master, the ponies stepping aside as the bed was set down. Shield swallowed, gritting his teeth and grunting in pain as he finally managed to sit up, turning to the shield.

“Rainbow?”

Author's Note

Shorter chapter, but a bit more action packed. Enjoy

Chapter 4 - Ponyville

“Oh, that comes next, little pony.”

Dash jerked awake, phantom pains lancing through her momentarily. She groaned, rubbing her eyes, aching all over. Oww… What… Did any of that actually happen..? Blinking rapidly, she squinted as her eyes focused on the grey stone floor, recognising the floor of the shrine. Still here then… But what about..? She raised her head, frowning as she saw a domed shield surrounding her, armoured ponies stood outside it. Who are they? What did Marabas..? “Hey! Lemme out of here!” She shouted, getting to her hooves and growling as she punched the shield, before freezing as she saw her left hoof. Or, rather, what used to be a hoof. Instead of sky-blue fur, rough, dark grey scales replaced the fur from the elbow down, her hoof replaced with a four-clawed foot. Wickedly sharp talons tipping each toe, the innermost claws curling in like Spike’s thumbs. Her eyes widened as her heart rate skyrocketed, falling back on her haunches as she stared, throat finally loosening enough for her to scream.

Unable to tear her eyes away from her twisted limb, Dash sat in mute horror as she trembled, her screams now dying in her throat. At length, she became aware of a voice shouting. “-ainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!” Her ear flicked in the direction of the voice, blinking once. “Rainbow, please! It’s Shield!”

Shield. Dash blinked again, finally tearing her eyes away and looking out of the barrier again. Her throat clenched again as she saw Shield, bandaged and sat in a bed by the barrier. He looked scared, or worried, she couldn’t tell which. “S… Sh… Shield..?” She croaked out, her voice raw.

“You still remember, thank the stars.” Shield’s shoulders sagged as he relaxed a fraction. “We… We were worried you wouldn’t remember after Marabas…”

“Shield…” Dash repeated with wide eyes.

“Yes..?” He frowned.

“Shield… W-what… What happened to me?” The stallion winced, biting his lip.

“I… Marabas broke free. She did something to you. I tried to stop her, but she beat me, and left me to the shades.” He swallowed. “We… We would both be dead if the Order hadn’t arrived in time.” He gestured with his good hoof to the armoured ponies standing nearby.

“Did something… What… What did she do?” She asked with an audible gulp, tasting bile. Shield chewed his lip again, looking to a stern, blue unicorn. “What did she do?”

“We don’t fully know.” Rainbow’s head snapped to the midnight blue unicorn stood beside Shield’s bed. “We know she’s responsible for the claw, and for fixing your wounds. What else she’s done, we have no way of telling at the moment. What we know about Marabas is that she takes deep pleasure in torment and corruption, so it’s possible that there will be more changes in the future, but we can’t be sure.”

“M-more changes? N-no. T-this can’t be real…” She shook her head, eyes watering. “Th-this is a nightmare. I… This can't be happening.” She looked desperately to the stern unicorn and Shield. “T-tell me I’m dreaming. O-or hallucinating.” Master sighed, shaking his head sadly.

“I’m so sorry, Ms. Dash.”

“No! This isn’t real!” She shouted, lashing out the ground and carving furrows in it with her claw. “It can’t be real! P-please!” She fell to the ground as she pleaded.

“The Order will help you, I promise you that. We’ll help you get back on your hooves in any way we can.”

“N-no… P-please…” She begged, tears falling from her eyes as she trembled. The unicorn sighed, and nodded to another pony. Rainbow’s eyes rolled back before closing as she passed out, a spell putting her to sleep.

“That should help her…” Master shook his head. “Poor mare…” He turned to Shield who had all-but collapsed. “She’ll be alright, lad. You said she was an Element?”

“Yes…” He shook himself, lifting his head to meet Master’s eyes. “She told me herself.”

“Hmph.” Master turned to an earth pony stallion. “There’s a gap in our network. We missed something as big as the identities of the Element Bearers. Find out why we missed this.” The stallion nodded, trotting away to talk to another pony as Master turned back to Shield. “Why was she here?”

“Like I said, she crash landed here. She was part of the weather team trying to break up the storm.”

“Did she say where she came from?” Shield nodded.

“Ponyville.”

“Ponyville… Small town next to the Everfree, about a day’s travel from here. If she’s from there, then it’s likely the other Element Bearers are as well. Shield, I have new orders for you.” Shield’s ears perked up. “The Elements of Harmony are one of the most powerful tools in the defence of the New World. Regardless of what Marabas has done to Ms. Dash, we cannot allow the Elements to lose their connection. Especially not with Marabas on the loose. You are not in any condition to protect this shrine, and with its captive free, it no longer requires a Guardian. Instead, you and a small team of ponies from the Order will accompany Ms. Dash back to Ponyville and ensure her reintegration back into, at the very least, the Element Bearers. You are permitted to tell the other Bearers what is necessary to explain why Ms. Dash has changed, but nothing more.” Shield ducked his head in a nod.

“I understand, Master.”

“I’m not finished.” Shield blanched a little, keeping his head ducked. “Ms. Dash has garnered Marabas’ attention. This means it is very likely others will be looking for her. With any luck, they will not, but if other groups of interest find her, we may have to come in from the cold.” Shield’s head snapped back up.

“But Master, the Celestial Sisters…”

“I know. The Sun is unlikely to… Approve of our methods, and the Moon is still an unknown quantity. However, we may not have much choice. My hope is that we are able to locate and imprison Marabas once again, and undo whatever happened to Ms. Dash before the Celestial Sisters find out. Keeping this situation contained is of vital importance, we cannot let the populace find out about the horrors of the old world. If absolutely necessary, detain the Element Bearers to prevent knowledge spreading.”

“Understood, Master. We die in the dark…”

“So that others may live in the light.” He nodded. “Good.” A rare smile crossed his face. “You’ve impressed me today, Shield. It is no fault of your own that Marabas realised your intentions. And given what we know about her, not many in the Order could have survived for that long against her, let alone damaged her like that. We found her wing; that was a good cut. No doubt she’ll regenerate, but regardless, fine work.”

“It still wasn’t enough,” Shield said, remorse colouring his tone. Master sighed, and put a hoof on Shield’s good shoulder.

“No, you are right it wasn’t. We’ll have to address our security at the other shrines after this; we may have to increase recruitment. That will strain our secrecy, but we may not have any other choice.”

“Does the rest of the Order know?”

“Yes, the message has been sent. They’re on their guard and are sending us additional forces. We’ll be using this shrine as the operations centre for hunting down Marabas.” Shield nodded, looking at Rainbow with clear concern. “Something on your mind?”

“She mentioned a filly, somepony named Scootaloo…” Master grimaced, running through the various possibilities.

“That could complicate things. Depending on the situation, you can tell her the same as the Bearers, and detain her if necessary. But exercise your discretion, Shield, the fewer creatures that know, the better.”

“Yes Master.”

“You’ll also have to train the Bearers to protect themselves if they don’t already know.” Shield’s head jerked back up.

“Master?”

“One of the Bearers has already been targeted. Others may target the rest. The Elements must survive, that supersedes all other directives.”

“I understand, Master. I will do as the Order commands.” Master gave him an encouraging smile after a moment.

“I’m sure you will. And, of course, make sure you get enough rest. The ponies assigned to you will take orders from you; they will do the leg work. We need as many Guardians as we can manage in fighting shape.”

Day had broken by the time Rainbow woke up again. She didn’t move immediately, several minutes spent with her eyes screwed shut, silently pleading that it had all just been a nightmare. Taking a shaky breath to steady herself, she opened her eyes slowly, looking down to her hooves. A sob caught in her throat as she once again saw her new claws. She started slightly as a weight settled next to her, and she looked over to see a pegasus mare in armour like Shield’s laying next to her. “So you’re awake then?” When Rainbow didn’t respond, she turned to face her. Dash recoiled slightly; the white mare’s face was marred by a large scar across her left eye, trailing down her cheek. The red mane prevented her from seeing how far up it went, and an eyepatch covered the socket itself, leaving a single blue eye to meet Rainbow’s eyes. A chunk had been cut out of her right ear, leaving it as a rough white triangle. “Not a pretty picture, hm?”

“Umm…” Dash’s ears went back, flat against her skull, afraid she’d insulted the mare. “Just not used to seeing injuries like that…”

“I suppose that makes sense, Equestria has been largely peaceful.” She nodded. Rainbow nodded, sniffing. “Master thought it would be best for me to talk to you, as someone else maimed by our little war in the shadows.” The mare’s wings moved under her cape, emerging to show her right wing had been replaced with a metal construct, runes glowing on its surface, the hiss of metal sliding smoothly against metal accompanying each action. Rainbow’s eyes widened as she saw the mass of scar tissue at the base of the wing.

“W-what happened?” She squeaked out.

“A monster, same one that took my eye. I got reckless, pressed my attack too hard and wasn’t watching for any incoming attack. It gouged out my eye, and then it ripped my wing off.” Rainbow shivered, looking ill. The thought of losing her wings terrified her just as it terrified any pegasus.

Thank Celestia I didn’t lose a wing in the crash… Rainbow nodded after a moment, tearing her eyes from the metal wing. “What kind of monster?”

“How best to describe it… Imagine a timberwolf and a bear merged together, the wood bits turned to bone, and make it twice as large and five times as angry.” Rainbow’s eyes widened as she pictured it.

“And you fought something like that?”

“I killed something like that. The intention had always been to kill it before it attacked an innocent, but it taking my wing and eye made it personal. The socket still itches sometimes.” Rainbow nodded slowly as the mare rubbed the eyepatch.

“So, you and Shield are in the same group? He talked about monsters as well.”

“We are, yes.” She held up a hoof to halt the follow up question. “I believe Shield wants to wait to tell you and your friends at once, instead of repeating the same story multiple times. You will have your answers, as many as we can provide in any case.”

“Right, makes sense I guess… W-wait!” Her eyes widened. “I can’t see my friends like this!”

“Unfortunately, Rainbow, you have to. If it were anyone else, then perhaps, but… You’re an Element of Harmony. We can’t allow the bond between the Elements to break. I’m sorry, but we don’t have another option here.”

“But… My hoof, I can’t!”

“You can, you must, and you will, even if I have to drag you there.” The single blue eye narrowed. “The world needs the Elements, everything else is secondary to that.” Dash gulped, lowering her head as she realised her point. “However, I’m not going to simply deposit you in the middle of Ponyville for all to see.” Dash’s head snapped back up. “If you have a preferred way to go about it that doesn’t involve the entire town, then we’re all ears. A preferred order to contact your friends, perhaps?”

“Applejack first. She’s the Element of Honesty, the others will trust her if she tells them we’re not lying… Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy last. Pinkie is… a lot, and Flutters is scared of new ponies.” She swallowed, looking around the room. “Oh, I didn’t catch your name?”

“You did not. I’m Desert Skies, most people just call me Skies.”

“And, what do you do? Shield said he was the protector of this place…”

“No harm in telling you now, I suppose. Shield is what we call a Guardian, somepony trained to defend locations like this, often on their own. I, on the other hand, am a hunter. I stay much more mobile, tracking and killing monsters that threaten the populace. We’ve also been acting as Shield’s supply line, he may have mentioned us.”

“So are you a better fighter than him?” She tilted her head as Skies laughed.

“Better than Shield? Stars, no.” She shook her head. “Under most circumstances, assuming we’re both in full fighting form, Shield beats me every time. He’s stronger than me, even without his magic, and on the ground he’s just as fast.”

“What about in the air?”

“He can teleport, very rapidly actually, and if I’m in the air he doesn’t have to worry about collateral resulting from his area of effect spells. And even if he doesn’t engage me whilst I’m in the air, his barriers will stop my arrows, usually. Plus I’d have to come back down to engage him in hoof-to-hoof, and given that Shield is an exceptional defensive fighter…”

“Right, right. So, how would you beat him?”

“Make sure he’s exhausted his magic reserve if possible, and most importantly make sure he doesn’t see me coming. If he’s not in his armour, there’s nothing he can do to stop an arrow if he doesn’t know it’s coming. Guardians are powerful, but they’re not invincible.” Rainbow nodded, looking around the chamber at the other ponies.

“Are the rest of them hunters as well?”

“Most of them, with a few exceptions. That there is Tender Care, one of our healers, that’s Star Flash, an arcanist, and that’s Peppermint, our historian.”

“Wait, you have historians?” Skies smirked.

“You’d be surprised just how useful they are in our line of work. And finally, the boss pony there,” she pointed at the blue unicorn, “is Master. He’s our fearless leader.”

“Some of you have strange names. ‘Shield’ and ‘Master’.”

“For Guardians and our commanders, it’s important they sever ties to their former lives. A Guardian might abandon their post if our enemies find out who their family is and threaten them, same with our leaders. It’s to make sure they stay the course, and to protect their former families. It’s better this way.” Rainbow nodded slowly, looking back to Skies.

“And what about you?” Skies gave her a sardonic grin.

“Mum thinks I packed up and left to join a mercenary outfit in the Gryphon Kingdoms. She doesn’t exactly approve, as you might imagine. I still write them, sometimes, let them know I’m still alive, and I send money to get my baby brother through school.”

“That’s rough…”

“It is, but it’s better than telling them the truth and seeing them get hurt because of it. Besides, if I ever do see them again, mercenary work’s a good excuse for this.” She tapped her eyepatch and flicked her right ear.

“What about the wing?”

“There’s a glamour spell imprinted into it that I can activate, making it look like a normal wing. I don’t bother with it unless I need to be discreet.”

“Why not?” Rainbow asked, tilting her head.

“The spell drains my own reserves. Not much, but in this line of work… It’s like flying around with a few bricks in your saddlebags. Normally, not a problem, but if you need to go fast it’s going to slow you down a bit, and even a little bit of wasted magical energy can be the difference.” Rainbow nodded, getting that part at least.

“Can’t they do the same for your eye?”

“Not really. Making a long-term illusion that mimics my other eye perfectly is difficult from what I understand. I’d more than likely end up with a fake eye that wanders all over the place. Plus, I like to think the eyepatch makes me look roguish.” She gave Dash a grin, chuckling. Dash gave a small laugh after a moment, warming up to this mare. “Right, we’ll be leaving soon. Shield’s ready to move again, he’s just packing up what he’ll need. The old plan of going via Manehattan isn’t going to happen now, so we’re trekking through the Everfree.” Dash paled, swallowing. “Oh don’t give me that look, you’ll be fine. You’ll have Shield and four hunters with you, including myself. True, Shield’s injured but still, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“You just had to bucking say it!” Screamed Rainbow as they fled through the forest, Shield held in another unicorn’s magic.

“Oh shut up and keep running! Hydras are territorial; it’ll stop chasing us soon!” Skies shouted back, dropping to the floor as she slid under a fallen log before running again.

“I thought you guys were monster hunters! You guys can’t take on a hydra?!”

“We can, but we’ve got one injured pony and one Element Bearer to look after! Not worth risking either of you just to prove we can!” Rainbow nodded, crying out in alarm as she leapt over a tree that fell in her path.

“How much further?!”

“It shouldn’t chase us past this river!” Skies nodded ahead as the river came into view, a churning current crashing between jagged, broken rocks.

“Wait, that river?! That’s too wide to jump, and you can’t swim that! How are the non-pegasi going to get across?!” Skies grinned at her before whistling.

“Oi! Hooves, you’re up!” The earth pony with the group nodded, lowering his head and charging forwards with a low bellow, straight towards a tree by the river. Slamming his fore hooves down at the last moment, he twisted his back end around and kicked out, transferring the momentum of his charge into a savage buck. The tree cracked under the kick, and with a thunderous crash the tree fell across the river. “Across the bridge, move it ponies!” Skies flapped her wings, launching herself across the river with Rainbow and the other pegasus in the group, whilst the earth pony and unicorn raced across the log. The hydra burst from the treeline behind them, coming to a stop at the bank of the river with a roar, pacing back and forth with a snarl briefly before turning back into the forest. Safe from the hydra, the ponies took a moment to catch their breath, Shield gently placed back on his hooves.

“If… That’s the same hydra, then we’re not far from Ponyville…” Dash panted, sucking down air.

“Same hydra?” Skies looked at Rainbow. “You’ve had a run-in with it before?”

“Once. We were lucky to get away last time.”

“And you didn’t think to tell us there was a hydra?” She asked flatly.

“I don’t know the Everfree that well! And the last time we saw it was at the Froggy Bottom Bog!” Skies frowned, and looked at the earth pony, a tan furred stallion with a dark green mane.

“Hooves? Froggy Bottom.” The pony frowned, looking up at the sky, then at the trees, before pointing south.

“’bout three miles that way I’d reckon. Outer fringes of the territory for a hydra that size, not unreasonable though.” Skies nodded.

“Definitely getting close then. Do you know of anywhere private we could bring your friends to inform them?” Dash swallowed, still terrified at the idea of meeting her friends like this.

“There’s a farm, Sweet Apple Acres. That’s where Applejack works, there’s some hills that nopony goes. We could bring her there to see me, and after that we could use the barn if she’s happy with that…” Skies nodded again.

“I think I know the hills.” Said ‘Hooves’, tapping his chin. “Little fir trees growing nearby?”

“Yea. How’d you know that?”

“Grew up in Ponyville ‘fore joining the Order. Decided fighting monsters sounded more interesting than working a stall in the market.” He smirked, standing and trotting onwards into the forest, the others following.

“Huh…” Rainbow looked to Skies. “And what about you, Skies?” Up ahead, Hooves and the unicorn shared a laugh. “Something funny?”

“Those two find my story funny.” Skies rolled her eyes, chuckling. “I picked a fight with a hunter in a tavern after having too much to drink, and we knocked the lights out of each other. After that, he came back the next night and bet that I couldn’t take on a timberwolf. After proving him wrong, he offered me a job.”

“For the record,” the other pegasus, an orange stallion with a black mane, interjected. “I was winning until you bucked that table into me.”

“And I then proceeded to put you through that table.” Skies grinned back at him and winked her one eye with a jerk of her head. Rainbow looked between the two of them before giggling. “That was back in a little border town called Rocky Falls, near the Gryphon Kingdoms. Nice place, if a bit rough around the edges.”

“Right.” Dash nodded, frowning. “You never told me how you lost half an ear.”

“Didn’t I? Huh, must have slipped my mind. Nothing really special, I was fighting a pony with an axe. They aimed for my neck, missed, and clipped my ear instead. I dealt with him before he could recover.” She shrugged as Dash’s eyes widened.

“W-wait, you fight ponies? I thought you were monster hunters?”

“Sometimes ponies are the monsters. Not everything in this world is smiles and sunshine, Rainbow Dash, and not everypony is a good pony."

“What about you?” Dash paused, watching Skies carefully. “Are you a good pony?”

“Hmm… That’s an interesting question. I don’t consider myself a good or a bad pony, just a pony who does bad things for a good reason. Ultimately, hunters are ponies that spend a great deal of time actively looking for a fight. I don’t think anyone who looks for fights like that can really call themselves ‘good’, but that’s just my view. I know not everyone agrees with me on that.” She shrugged. “Philosophy isn’t really my thing. Leave that to rich ponies with nothing better to do with their time except pass judgement. I prefer to spend my free time drinking, gambling and breaking things.” Rainbow nodded slowly, hurrying to catch up again.

“Skies, Ponyville’s just up ahead here,” Hooves shouted back. Rainbow looked over at Shield, limping along with the help of the other unicorn. He’d been silent for the trip, eyes narrowed in concentration. She looked back to Skies as she spoke again.

“Hooves, you know the location?” The stallion nodded. “Take the others and go there. Rainbow, you said Applejack works at Sweet Apple Acres?”

“She does, yeah, but… Wait, it’s Sunday right? She’ll probably be at the market, running the stall.” Skies blinked, then sighed.

“That complicates matters. Right, what does she look like?”

“She’s an orange earth pony, blonde mane, green eyes. She’s always wearing a Stetson.” Skies nodded.

“I’ll go into town and find her. Anything I can tell her to make her trust me and get her to follow me?” She turned to Rainbow.

“Well, she’s the Element of Honesty, so lying won’t work. Just… Tell her that you’re with me, and that I need to meet her privately.” Skies nodded.

“Right then, see you good ponies later.”

“Err, Skies? The armour?” Skies blinked, looking down before facehoofing, muttering an ‘ow’ as she smacked herself in the face with a gauntlet. She sighed, taking her cloak off, revealing her armour. It was lighter than Shield’s armour, the metal plates limited to plates on her flanks, shoulders and chest, along with greaves and gauntlets on her legs, and metal along the leading edge of her organic wing, the gaps filled in with thick cloth, chainmail, and leather that Rainbow hoped was made of plant-matter. An unstrung bow poked out of a quiver across her back, with a sword and scabbard at her waist, an assortment of pouches, daggers and hoof-axes. Skies removed her armour and weapons with practiced ease, rolling her shoulders and stretching before throwing her cloak back on after activating the glamour on her wing, the metal wing now apparently flesh and bone, the knot of scar tissue at the shoulder disappearing. She slipped one of her daggers and an axe back under her cloak, and donned some saddlebags. Rainbow watched, primarily interested in the armour, and noted that Skies looked strong. Sleek muscle lined her body, the white fur doing little to hide her toned physique. Or the scars that dotted her body. Rainbow winced, not daring to imagine what could have caused them all. The last thing to catch her eye was the mare’s cutie-mark, three claw marks overlaid with an arrow.

“Better?” She asked, looking to Hooves with a raised eyebrow.

“Cloak’s still going to draw attention,” he replied flatly.

“So’s a single mare walking out of the Everfree. Any of us going in is going to raise a few eyebrows, and ponies are less likely to bother the scary, scarred mare. Just stick to the plan.” She looked to Rainbow. “You going to be ok?”

“I hope so.” She swallowed.

“Good. Hooves? Over here quickly.” She jerked her head over as she walked a short distance away. Hooves trotted over casually. “So you knew about the hydra?”

“I did.” He nodded slowly. “Well, figured we were near its territory.”

“And you neglected to tell anyone because..?”

“If we didn’t run into it, no problem. If we did, wouldn’t be too dangerous to us, plus it’d distract the blue one. Best to keep her thinking about things that aren’t what happened at the shrine, I figure.” Skies nodded after a moment, sighing.

“Makes sense. But next time, tell me if there’s a bucking hydra, alright?” She cuffed him over the back of the head lightly. “Right, see you all in a bit!” She called over, before trotting off as Hooves rubbed the back of his head.

“What was that about?” Asked Dash.

“I was the tracker for this leg of the trip, and I missed the signs of a hydra’s territory. Skies was making sure it doesn’t happen again.” He nodded, putting his hoof down again.

“Oh. That makes sense.”

“Yes. Now, let’s move. Skies isn’t going to be happy if we’re not there when she arrives. Oh, and put this on.” Hooves threw Dash a cloak. “We don’t want you to be seen by any random pegasus.”

Trotting out of the Everfree at a leisurely pace, Skies looked around at the town before her. Huh, so this is Ponyville? Cute place. Shrugging, she trotted down the path into the town, eyeing up the pegasi flying around near the Everfree. Could be search parties. That’s a problem. Frowning slightly, she picked up the pace a little, before entering the town proper. Quaint thatched buildings lined the street in an assortment of random colours, most featuring window planters, picket fences and well-tended front gardens. There were a few ponies out and about at this end of town, most of whom eyed the newcomer with curiosity and suspicion.

“Mummy, why does that mare have an eyepatch?” Skies suppressed a chuckle as she heard a foal quietly ask, before being shushed and hurried along by the mother. A few mutters followed her deeper into the town, her eye flickering around to take in her surroundings. Over there a sea-green unicorn mare with a cream earth pony mare, Skies momentarily distracted by the… Unusual way the unicorn was sat on the bench. She tore her eye away after a moment, spotting an earth pony mare with a dull pink coat and straight hair sat looking forlorn at a table with a white unicorn mare. Her ears flicked towards a grey pegasus mare wearing a mailpony hat being scolded by another pegasus, looking sheepishly at the dropped crate next to her.

Skies smirked at the little scenes of life here, before her ears flicked over at the sound of a very loud gasp off to her left. Looking over, she recoiled as her vision was filled with pink. Blinking, she realised the pink was in fact a blue-eyed pony with curly pink hair and a very large smile. Wait, didn’t she have straight hair a second ago? Hang on, she’s talking to me.

“Ohmygoshanewpony!” She shouted excitedly. “Hi, welcome to Ponyville! I’m Pinkie Pie, Ponyville Party Planner Extraordinaire! Are you new?! You must be new because I know eeeeeeeeveryone in town and I don’t know you so you must be new!” Skies slowly leant back, one hoof held limply in the air as the pink pony babbled on, eye wide as she lost track of precisely what was happening. Eventually the pony shouted something about a party before leaping into the air and zooming away. Skies was silent, still leaning back and blinking rapidly as the white unicorn approached her.

“Are you alright, dear?” Skies’ ear twitched at the refined voice, flicking towards the unicorn.

“I… Pink?” Skies asked, looking towards the voice to see the white unicorn from earlier smiling at her. The smile was slightly strained, and all the makeup in the world couldn’t totally hide the bags under her eyes.

“That would be Pinkie Pie. She’s… A bit much when she gets like this, I must admit. I hope she didn’t scare you too much.”

“Uhhhhh…” She slowly lowered her hoof and fell to her haunches, blinking as she watched the pink pony bounce off down the street. “What just…”

“Pinkie Pie is very… enthusiastic when it comes to meeting new people. I must admit, it’s nice to see her smiling again, she’s been taking it rather hard… Oh, where are my manners?” She forced a wider smile. “I’m Rarity.”

Right, Rainbow mentioned Pinkie. And Rarity. “Desert Skies. Taking what hard?” She asked after regaining control of her jaw.

“One of our friends is missing, she disappeared over the Everfree in a storm last week.” Rarity frowned, looking between the mare, her cloak and the forest. “Have you just come from the Everfree?”

“I have, yes.”

“Have you seen her? A blue pegasus mare, rainbow mane?” Rarity asked, a tiny shred of hope entering her voice.

“Sorry, I haven’t.” I hate lying like this… Skies adopted a concerned expression. “I’ll keep an eye out for her, though. I guess that’s what the pegasi are doing over the forest?”

“You will? Oh, thank you.” She smiled again. “And yes, we’ve been hunting high and low for her. There’s not a lot us unicorns and earth ponies can do now, we’ve searched what we can but it’s too dangerous for us to trek further than we’ve already gone.” Her smile dropped, replaced with tired concern before she blinked. “Wait, keep an eye out… You’re going back out there?”

“Err, yeah. I’m something of an explorer. I like wild places.” Rarity nodded, giving Skies an appraising look.

“That certainly explains the um…" She caught herself. "Well, thank you. Oh and we must do something about that cloak.” Skies tensed as Rarity’s magic tugged at the hem, Skies gripping it.

“Leave the cloak.” She said sternly, biting back to urge to snap.

“But darling, it’s simply filthy! I simply must replace it, I can’t bear the thought of allowing somepony to walk around wearing something like that.” Skies didn’t relent, narrowing her eye.

“It has sentimental value.” She said in a low voice, eye locked on Rarity’s. Rarity blinked first, and sighed, releasing the cloak.

“Well, if it is sentimental then I suppose it’s acceptable. Regardless, I insist that you stop by Carousel Boutique later to make you something more appealing to the eye, and to patch up that cloak of yours. It’s no trouble at all, I promise.” Rarity smiled kindly, before pausing. “Ah, yes, and in case you didn’t catch it amongst Pinkie Pie’s… enthusiasm, the party is planned for half past seven tonight.”

“Wait, party?” Skies blinked, tilting her head.

“Pinkie Pie likes to throw a party for every pony new to town. It’s… Really better if you attend. She gets quite upset if the guest of honour doesn’t attend. And given the fact that Rainbow is missing, well, I think everyone could do with at least a little relaxation. Besides, it’s not like the search can continue after dark.”

So much for trying to keep a low profile. “I see.” Skies glanced around for a clock tower, frowning as she spotted it. “Half past four already? Later than I thought.” She frowned. She turned back to Rarity. “I don’t suppose I could ask a small favour?”

“Of course, ask away.”

“I need to stock up on supplies, and I’ve got a serious craving for apples. Haven’t had a good apple in months.”

“I think I may be able to help with that. My friend Applejack runs the apple stall, I’ll introduce you. The market’s this way.” Rarity turned, making sure Skies was following before trotting towards the centre of town. “Do you mind if I ask where you’ve come from?”

“Not at all. And nowhere in particular, really. I just like to travel, lend a hand to earn enough bits to keep moving on.”

“You did mention being an explorer.” Rarity said with a nod.

“I guess? If a place feels right I might settle down for a little longer, but I always move on.” Rarity nodded after a moment, gears turning in her head.

“I see. Well, welcome to the Ponyville market.” Given the hour, things were starting to wind down at the market, but there were still plenty of ponies, customers slowly making their way between the stalls and sellers trying to offload the last of the stock for the day. A few eyes turned to look at the stranger, but suspicious glances faded after seeing Rarity with her. “I apologise for the cool reception, but ponies distrust the Everfree, and, well, you do look particularly roguish.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Skies grinned at Rarity, following her through the marketplace. Rarity nodded and greeted ponies as she passed, heading for the furthest stall, where an orange pony in a Stetson was loudly selling apples. Joining the back of the queue, Skies waited patiently as the line moved forwards in fits and starts. As they got closer to the front, Skies studied the mare behind the cart. The bravado of the farmer seemed a bit forced, and Skies could spot the bags beneath her eyes, the too-earnest smile. Something was clearly on this mare’s mind. Rainbow, in all likelihood.

“Well howdy Rarity. Heard Pinkie shoutin’ somethin’ about a new ‘pirate friend’, didn’t think she was bein’ serious.” Rarity chuckled tiredly.

“That’s our Pinkie. Applejack, meet Desert Skies. Skies, Applejack.”

“Nice to meet you Applejack.” She held out a hoof to shake, before digging in her hind legs as the proffered leg was shaken violently by Applejack.

“It’s a right pleasure to meet ya, Skies. Strong hoof you got there.” She eventually released Skies’ hoof, the pegasus blinking as she recovered, gingerly placing her hoof back down.

“Pleasure to meet you too, Applejack.”

“Skies was looking to buy some apples. Poor dear hasn’t had one in months, she says.” Applejack’s eyes widened in horror.

“Whu- No apples for months?!” Her jaw dropped, looking at Skies with a mixture of shock and sympathy.

“I’ve been on the move for a while now.” Skies offered by way of explanation.

“Well you’re in luck! The Apple family grows the best apples in all of Equestria, yes siree! Here, first one’s for free, need to shift the lot before the end of the day anyway.” She passed Skies a shining, deep red apple. Skies took the apple, her stomach growling loudly, causing the mare to blush a little.

“Sorry, haven’t had anything to eat since dawn.” She explained.

“I don’t imagine the Everfree would give much opportunity to stop for lunch. Sorry to cut this short, but I must return to the Boutique, I have some orders to finish before Pinkie’s party. See you both there!” Rarity smiled before trotting away.

“Bye Rares.” Applejack turned back to Skies. “Well? Go ahead if you’re starvin’!” Skies nodded, biting into the apple, her eyes widening.

Oh stars that’s delicious. At her stomach’s urging, she quickly devoured the rest of it, core and all. Licking her lips, she sheepishly looked at Applejack. “Heh, sorry. I was just really hungry.”

“Don’t sweat it, partner. So, Pinkie’s throwin’ you a party? It’ll be good to raise ponies’ spirits at least a little.” Skies nodded.

“Rarity stressed that it was important I attend, so…” She shrugged.

“Sounds like her alright. Anythin’ else ah can get ya?” Skies looked back to the cart thoughtfully.

“Hmm… Two bushels of apples, and one apple pie please.” Applejack nodded, collecting the items as Skies looked around. She nodded, seeing the two were alone. “And, I have some news about Rainbow Dash.” Applejack froze, slowly turning to Skies.

“Ya do?! Where- Wait.” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What do ya know?”

“That Rainbow Dash is alive. We found her after her crash.”

“Who’s we?” She asked, voice tinged with suspicion.

“My travelling companions. Rainbow Dash is safe, my friends are with her at the moment. Something happened in the Everfree, and she wants to see you before seeing anypony else.” Applejack stared at her for a while.

“Well, ya aint lyin’. But why’s Rainbow want to see me first?”

“She said something about trust and some of the others being a bit much? Whatever her reason, she wants to see you first. She was very clear about that.”

“Hmph, ya aint tellin’ me everythin’.” Applejack squinted at Skies, eying her up, causing her to sigh.

“No, I’m not, but I promise you that my intention isn’t to hurt you, or put you in a position to be harmed. We just want to help, but we have to be careful. The sooner we can go to her, the better.” She passed her eyes over the cart “And don’t worry about the rest of your stock, my friends are just as hungry as I am, we’ll buy the lot.” Reaching into her cloak, Skies dropped a pouch of bits onto the cart. “Should be enough in there, plus extra.” Applejack slowly took the pouch and hefted it in hoof before nodding.

“Alright partner, where are we meetin’ her?”

“Rainbow mentioned some hills near your farm, near a copse of fir trees?”

“Ah know the place. Mind givin’ me a hoof packin’ all this up?”

“Of course, just tell me what to do.”

By five o’clock, the two mares were heading up the trail towards Sweet Apple Acres, Skies carrying some very over-full saddle bags as Applejack towed the cart. “Ah’ll just need to put the cart in the barn, ya don’t mind keepin’ some of what you bought there for now?”

“Not at all, we’re not planning on leaving yet.” Applejack nodded.

“So, Rainbow..?”

“As I said, she is alive and uninjured. I won’t lie to you, and I doubt I could successfully, it’s… Something happened out there, but you need to see it for yourself.” Applejack frowned, concerned for her friend. Waiting for them at the farmhouse were two other ponies, a gigantic red stallion silently listening to a much smaller yellow filly bouncing around in a circle. As they got closer, the two ponies noticed Applejack and Skies.

“Big sis! You’re back early!” The filly shouted, rushing over whilst the big stallion nailed Skies with a suspicious look.

“Howdy Apple Bloom. Yup, Desert Skies here bought everythin’ that was left.” The filly blinked, just now noticing the cloaked pegasus.

“Woah… Are you a pirate?” Skies blinked, before looking at Applejack.

“Why does everypony default to pirate?”

“The eyepatch, ah think. And the ear.”

“Right, right.” Skies smiled, looking down at Apple Bloom. “Nope, not a pirate.”

“Then why’d ya wear an eyepatch?” The filly tilted her head in confusion, her large pink bow bobbing as she did.

“Hmm.” She mused as she thought over a foal-appropriate explanation. “Your big sister ever warn you about places like the Everfree?”

“Uh huh.” Apple Bloom nodded.

“Listen to them. Trust me, it’s not a place for little fillies to go.” Apple Bloom blinked, not getting it immediately, before her eyes widened.

“… Oh.” She nodded rapidly. “Got it miss!” Applejack gave Skies a slightly reproachful look.

“What? I was under the impression you Apples liked honesty.” Skies protested.

“Still, she’s just a filly.” Applejack sighed. “Can’t be helped now. Big Mac, give us a hoof with the barn?” The red stallion nodded, eying Skies before walking over to the barn, opening the doors for Applejack.

“So ya bought all the apples?” Skies looked down to see Apple Bloom still looking up curiously.

“Well, what was left, yes.” At the filly’s incredulous look, Skies continued. “I’m a very hungry pony, and my friends need food as well.”

“Do your friends have eyepatches as well?”

“Nope, they’re all smarter than I am.” She looked back up as Applejack trotted out of the barn. “Ready to go?”

“Yup.” She turned to see Big Mac looking at her with a raised eyebrow. “Big Mac, Apple Bloom, ah just need to talk to Skies about a coupla things privately. Might be a while. Apple Bloom, you help your big brother and granny with dinner, alright? Pinkie’s throwing a party tonight for Skies, so ah’ll be eatin’ there.”

“Ok Applejack!” Apple Bloom nodded, dashing into the house. Big Mac watched her leave, before turning back to Applejack, then looking at Skies again.

“Big Mac, ah’ll be fine, promise. Skies just needs to talk to me about a few thin’s is all, promise.” Big Mac didn’t take his eyes off Skies, chewing the stalk in his mouth in silence before nodding.

“Eeyup.” He turned and walked back into the farmhouse.

“Sorry about Bic Mac. ‘e’s not much for talkin’, and ‘e’s a mite protective.”

“I understand. I believe you know the way?” Applejack nodded, trotting out into the orchards.

“I take it your friends will be waitin’?”

“They will be. One earth pony, two unicorns and a pegasus.” Applejack nodded, glancing over to Skies.

“Yer a strange pony, Skies. Just ‘ow long were you in the Everfree?” Skies took a moment to answer before remembering the futility of trying to lie to her.

“Before today it’s been eight months since I last left the Everfree, and that was just a resupply trip to Manehattan.” Applejack stopped to gape at Skies.

“Eight months? Ah know Zecora lives there but she aint exactly deep in the forest. Just what are y’all doin’ stayin’ in a place like that?”

“That’s a question better answered when the rest of Rainbow’s friends are all together, rather than telling the same story six different times. Rainbow’s already asked, and we gave her the same answer.” Applejack nodded, and picked up the pace.

“Right, right. The place is just over this hill.” Skies nodded.

“Make sure you’re ready for anything, Applejack. Rainbow’s fragile right now, emotionally. She needs her friends more than ever.”

“I get it, Skies. I’ve been friends with Dash for years now.” Skies nodded as they crested the hill.

“Shield, two contacts.” Shield looked up from the small campsite they’d set up, looking over at Hooves. “It’s Skies and an earth pony mare, orange fur, blonde mane.”

“That’s Applejack.” Said Rainbow, pulling her cloak closer around herself. Shield nodded, standing with a wince. “Are you alright? You’ve been limping since we set off…”

“I’ve had worse, Rainbow. Marabas got me good, is all, and the shades didn’t help.” She nodded, looking guilty. “Come on, you’ve got a friend to meet. This one’s the Element of Honesty you said?” Rainbow nodded. “Right. No lies then, ponies.” A chorus of affirmatives sounded off as he nodded.

“Skies, over here!” Hooves called, waving a hoof.

“There they are, Applejack.” Shield smiled as he heard Skies’ voice. “Come on, Rainbow’s with them.” The two ponies crested the hill, Hooves staying in his sentry post.

“Rainbow..?” Applejack asked hesitantly, spotting the sky-blue mare wrapped in a cloak.

“H-hey Applejack.” Her scratchy voice hitched as tears started to form. “S-sorry for scaring you all…”

“Sugar ah can’t tell you how good it is to see you.” Applejack grinned at her, sniffing.

“I-it’s great to see you too.” Rainbow sniffled with her. “I um, how much did Skies tell you?”

“Not much, just that somethin’ bad happened.”

“Th-that’s one way of putting it. It… It’s probably best if I just show you.” Rainbow took a shaky breath, before discarding the cloak. Applejack’s eyes went wide as she saw Dash’s former hoof. “P-please don’t run away.” Applejack just stood frozen in place, her eyes flicking around, brain slowly processing exactly what she was seeing.

“D-Dash… W-what in tarnation happened..?”

“I… L-long story, but these ponies saved me.” She swallowed, a tear falling. Applejack nodded after a moment, her eyes returning to Rainbow’s face, just now registering how terrified she looked. Swallowing, she took a single step forward.

“C’mere Dash.” Dash ran forwards, the two ponies hugging as they cried. “W-we were so worried!”

“I-I’m sorry! T-the storm, I-I got hit by lightning and I couldn’t get out of the forest!” Skies and Shield looked at each other awkwardly, embarrassed to watch the emotional display.

“Err, Shield. A word?” Asked Skies, walking a short distance, waiting for Shield to limp after her. “We’ve got a situation. Some of the other Elements saw me, and the one known as Pinkie Pie is expecting Applejack and I to attend a… Party.”

“… A party?” Shield sat flatly, staring at Skies.

“Yes. A party. And I’ve been warned that it wouldn’t be a good move to simply bail on it.” Shield sighed, dragging his hoof down his face.

“That complicates things.”

“It does. However, the one known as Rarity seemed to expect that Applejack would be in attendance, and indicated that she would be there as well. It’s not unreasonable to assume that the rest of the Bearers would be at the party. It would be a good opportunity to bring them to Dash as a single group, and it would give me time to gather more information on the other Bearers.” Shield nodded, thinking the matter over.

“Alright. Go to the party. Will you be bringing anypony with you?”

“No. Apparently this Pinkie Pie knows everypony in Ponyville, more unfamiliar faces would bring more suspicion, and the only ones that currently know there’s more than just myself are Applejack and two of her family members, who would have found out anyway if we end up using their barn.”

“Alright, we’ll talk it over with Rainbow and Applejack.” He looked over to the two tearful mares, as Rainbow haltingly filled Applejack in. “When is this party?”

“Half past seven, so a couple of hours from now. Best if I leave weapons here.”

“How’s the glamour holding up?” She lifted her cloak and gave her wing a flap.

“Still going strong, not in any risk of failing.”

“Good. And the cloak?”

“It’d be odd to wear it for the whole party, so I’ll go without it.”

“That’ll raise questions.”

“I’ll handle it. Let the mare who’s actually had social interaction in the last ten years do this.” She smirked.

“Alright, social butterfly you.” Shield teased. “Enjoy the party, Skies, we don’t get to relax very often.” She nods.

“I’ll see if I can grab some drinks for you lot.”

“Thanks. Now come on, we need to talk to those two about the party and the other Bearers.”

Author's Note

Sorry about the late upload on this one. I got Total War: Warhammer 2 a couple of days before this chapter was supposed to go live and I completely forgot to upload this. That game is really fun.

Anyway, the chapter itself. I'm a little concerned I've been overblowing Dash's (and other people's) reaction to the claw, but they're also in emotionally vulnerable places right now so... I find it hard to judge exactly how much of a reaction is appropriate for a character. Let me know what you think!

Also, yeah, long chapter. Couldn't figure out how to break it up to my satisfaction.

Chapter 6 - Settling In

Shining Armour stood just outside the throne room, shuffling his hooves slightly. The search detail to look for Rainbow Dash was assembled, and he was just waiting for the final call to say they were ready to depart. Looking over at the sound of hooves, he saw an earth pony guard trotting towards him before saluting. He returned the guard’s salute. “Corporal. Is everything ready?”

“Ready to depart as soon as we have clearance, sir!” Shining Armour nodded.

“Good. Report back to the chariots, I’ll be along shortly.” The guard nodded, saluting again and trotting off once Shining returned it. Shining then turned to the Royal Guard standing outside the throne room. “Captain Shining Armour requesting an audience with Princess Celestia.” The guards nodded, opening the doors for him.

“Princess Celestia!” Shining Armour saluted as he entered the throne room, looking just past Celestia’s shoulder. “The search detail is ready to depart on your order.”

“Glad to hear it, Shining.” She smiled warmly at him. “Bring her home, Captain.”

“Yes your Highness.” He saluted again, turning and marching out again. Once clear of the throne room, he sped up to a trot, soon reaching the chariot landing port. “All units prepare to move out!” He hopped onto one of the chariots. At a bellowed order from the lead chariot, the pegasi pulling them began to depart, taking off only when the chariot in front was airborne. A sweep over the entire Western Everfree. This will be fun, he thought sardonically.

“Captain,” the communications gem in the chariot spoke. “ETA in Ponyville, two hours.” Shining pressed a hoof against the gem.

“Thank you Lieutenant. My team will ensure the safety of the other Element Bearers and will establish a command centre in the town hall. All other teams, be advised; initial fly-overs have reported unusual magical anomalies in the Everfree. We’re still not sure if that’s due to the Everfree being the Everfree, or if something else is going on, so stay alert. The Everfree is still an unknown quantity. I want all teams to sign in every fifteen minutes, every five minutes if investigating possible contact. If you see anything, call it in before investigating. Lead out.” He removed his hoof from the gem, looking out towards Ponyville, a slight frown on his face.

Applejack was up with the sun, as usual. Yawning and stretching, she took a moment to look around the barn. Her friends were still in a rough circle in the middle of the barn, whilst the ponies of the Order were scattered around the edges, with the exception of Cirrus and Skies. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she left the barn quietly, finding Cirrus sat outside staring with narrowed eyes at the Everfree forest in the distance, and Skies sleeping against the outside wall of the barn, cloak wrapped around her. “Mornin’ Cirrus,” Applejack said with a yawn. Cirrus grunted in response.

“Timberwolves usually come that close to the edge of the forest?” He asked, not taking his eyes away from the treeline. Applejack followed his gaze and grunted.

“Sometimes. Why?”

“Not exactly happy with the idea of them that close to a home with a filly. Want us to take care of it?” He finally broke his staring contest with the forest, looking to Applejack.

“Nah, those ones aint any trouble, they keep away.” Cirrus nodded after a moment, looking back at the forest. “Skies slept out here?”

“Skies is weird. I still reckon she should have been born as a wolf or something similar.” Cirrus chuckled.

“Yeah…” Applejack looked at Skies and frowned. “Ah’ll get the others up.” Applejack ducked back into the barn. Cirrus’ ear flicked before he turned his head to look at the farmhouse, a large red stallion walking over with a frown.

“You must be Big Mac.” Cirrus looked up at the pony stood over him. Big Mac stared down impassively.

“Eeyup. And ya’ll’re Applejack’s guests. Others're in the barn?”

“Yep, Applejack’s getting them up now. I’m Cirrus. I’ll wake Skies in a bit.” Big Mac nodded, looking at the sleeping Skies.

“Heard her singin’ last night, faintly. Not the kinda song I’d be happy with Apple Bloom hearin’.” Cirrus nodded after a moment, rubbing his face with a hoof.

“Yeah, I get that. I’ll talk to her, don’t worry. Speaking of Skies, you got a stick anywhere?” At Big Mac’s raised eyebrow, he continued. “Need it to poke Skies awake.” Big Mac nodded, wandering off to grab a stick from the orchard, passing it to Cirrus before trotting back into the house as the ponies inside the barn stepped outside, with the exception of Rainbow Dash who stayed just inside the entrance. “Gonna wake Skies now.” The Order ponies nodded, moving between Skies and the Bearers, leaving a respectable distance.

“What’s going on?” Asked Twilight, rubbing her eyes. “Why are you using a stick?”

“Just watch.” Cirrus started poking Skies with the pole. “Skies, up you get.” Skies grumbled once, shifting a bit before falling still. Cirrus gave another tentative poke, only to have the stick suddenly ripped from his hooves as Skies spun around, the stick snapping in her grip as she reared back on her hind hooves before halting, one hoof in front of her in a ready stance, narrowing her eye at Cirrus for a second before blinking.

“Oh. Morning.” She dropped back to four hooves, yawning. She turned to see the six mares gawping at her. “… I don’t like being woken up.” She said, rubbing her foreleg self-consciously.

“That was sooooo cool!” Pinkie Pie gushed, rushing over. “The way you just moved like wooooooah!”

“Just some zebra martial arts I’ve picked up.” Skies tried to brush it off, leaning away from the pink mass of excited energy.

“That was a rather… Explosive reaction to being woken up, darling. And I thought Sweetie Belle was cranky on the mornings,” Rarity said, eyes still wide.

“… I really don’t like being woken up.” After remaining silent for another moment, she clapped her hooves. “Right! So, game plan for today. Shield? Got any bright ideas?” Shield rolled his eyes, sighing.

“Well, Applejack has a farm to run, Fluttershy has her animals, Twilight has the library, Rarity has her business, Pinkie Pie has the bakery, and we need to help out Rainbow Dash. Five ponies to keep six safe. What kind of defences do you have?” At the deafening silence that followed, Shield facehooved. “So none.”

“W-well, I suppose I can ask George…”

“George?” Cirrus raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, he’s the bear that lives near my cottage. He’s a big sweetie and loves to help me out.” Fluttershy smiled, eyes closed. Skies was certain her heart would stop if she looked directly at her for too long.

“… Right, that’s Fluttershy largely sorted. Hooves, I think it would be best if you stayed with Applejack since you’re the only earth pony.” Hooves gave a salute, smirking. “I’ll go with Twilight; maybe the library has something useful. Tender Care, you used to bake right?” She nodded. “You’re with Pinkie. That leaves Rarity and Rainbow Dash.” He turned to the two pegasi.

“I’ll look after Rainbow, if she’s happy with that,” said Cirrus. “Skies needs some time to chill the buuuuu…” He caught himself, looking around to make sure no fillies were around to hear. “Needs to chill the buck out for once in her life.” Skies threw some dirt at him. “Plus I believe Rarity was planning on making her something pretty?” The Order ponies looked at Rarity, then Skies, and grinned.

“… Buck you, Cirrus,” Skies sulked, pouting at him.

“It’s settled then. Familiarise yourselves, and for stars’ sake ponies try to keep things inconspicuous,” Shield said, giving a pointed look at Skies who whistled innocently. “No armour, minimal weaponry. Stash the rest here for now. Applejack, got anywhere we can store the rest where Apple Bloom isn’t going to get into it?”

“We can stick it in the cellar with the hard cider. Apple Bloom knows she aint meant to go in there, and we keep it locked anyway.” Shield nodded.

“Good. And when I say minimal, I mean it. One small weapon at maximum. Small weapon, Hooves.” Hooves huffed, setting his poleaxe down. “Oh don’t give me that, anything that’s going to come after us here and now we can handle without our main arms.”

“Says the unicorn,” Skies snarked at him, wandering into the barn.

“Says the mare I’ve seen put a manticore in an arm bar,” Tender Hooves said, rolling her eyes.

“Details, details.” Skies waved a hoof, before picking up a dagger and a hand axe, weighing her options. At length, she picked the axe, placing the dagger back in the pile. “Right, ready to go.”

“Umm, excuse me?” The Order ponies paused to look at Twilight. “What do we do about the search? We can’t really just leave the search on-going if we know she’s safe.”

“That’s… A very good point,” said Shield, looking at Rainbow, who was still hiding in the barn.

“I don’t want the town to see this,” she said, lifting her claw.

“Hmm....” Shield frowned, thinking, before Twilight perked up.

“Rainbow, if you make a fist with that, how comfortable is it to walk on your knuckles?” Rainbow blinked, looking down and trying it uncertainly.

“It’s alright, might get uncomfortable after a bit.” She said, looking back up to Twilight as the unicorn nodded.

“Umm, Tender Care, right?” Twilight looked at the green unicorn who nodded with a smile. “Can you fashion up a cast or something that covers her leg, with some padding at the end?”

“Hmmm… Yeah, I can do that. It’s going to be important you take it off at night though, and probably a couple of times during the day to stop it from cramping up.” Rainbow nodded, looking back to Shield.

“Alright then. How do we want to break the news?” He asked, looking to the Bearers.

“Hmm, probably best to do it at the morning briefing for the search teams. That’s pretty soon, so we’ll need to do it quickly,” said Twilight.

“Ok, what’s our story? I don’t think Skies should be involved in what we tell the town, it’d raise suspicion,” said Shield.

“I have an idea.” All eyes turned to Cirrus. “We say Tender Care and I found her and treated her. The story’s that we came from Manehatten and went into the Everfree to look for herbs and other plants for medicines, and I went with Tender to keep my friend safe. We saw the storm, and saw Rainbow go down and went looking for her. We found her and took her to our camp where we treated her, before finding our way to Ponyville.”

“Sounds good, but what if they ask about Skies? Two separate groups of ponies leaving the Everfree at roughly the same time in the same place? That’s going to raise suspicion,” asked Shield.

“I can say I guided them from Manehattan to where they set up camp and then went on my own way,” Skies said with a shrug.

“That makes sense. Hooves?” Hooves hummed for a second, before looking at Applejack.

“Need a seasonal worker? I’m a decent carpenter, so we can say I’m doing some work for you if that makes sense?” Applejack thought for a moment, before nodding.

“It aint a lie if ah actually have work for ya. Could do with some help, and the barn’s not in the best shape, so if y'all could take a look at that?” Hooves nodded.

“Alright by me. What about you, boss?” He asked, looking at Shield, who blinked.

“Hm… With my injuries it’s probably best if I stay out of sight.” He said.

“We could say you’re a friend from Canterlot? Maybe a guard who’s on leave because of their injuries, so you decided to spend some time in the country?” Twilight offered, to which Shield nodded.

“Sounds like we have a plan. Applejack, the ponies here trust you?” She nodded, smiling broadly. “Alright, so probably best if we have Twilight and Applejack at the brief, along with Cirrus and Care. I’ll wait here with Hooves. Skies, I believe you have business with Rarity?” Shield asked with a smirk.

“Not getting out of that? Fine. Question though, how do we meet up without it looking strange?”

“Ohohoh!” Pinkie hopped up and down in place. “I know, I know! You’re allllllll new to town, except Skies but she got a party yesterday. Soooooo, I’ll throw a party for you four, and you can meet up there and become fast friends!” She finished, beaming.

“That… Actually works out. Alright, let’s do it.” Shield nodded, before passing around gemstones to the Order ponies, and one to Fluttershy. “Emergency signals.” He explained to Fluttershy. “If something happens when you’re not with one of us, break the gem and it’ll send the rest of us a signal.” Fluttershy nodded, gulping. “Right, have fun!”

Skies followed after Rarity, heading towards the Boutique. “Are you ok, dear?” Rarity looked at Skies with concern.

“Hm?”

“You’re walking a little stiffly. Bad night’s sleep?” Rarity guessed. Skies paused, looking around. The town was mercifully empty at this time in the morning, only a few ponies moving about. Almost all the ponies already up were at the briefing which had become the announcement of Dash’s return.

“I’m trying to avoid… ‘Moving like a predator’ as Applejack put it. Trying to make myself a little more approachable whilst I’m here.” Rarity nodded.

“I’m quite familiar with adjusting behaviour to better fit in. The fashion industry is surprisingly cut-throat, and a single stray mannerism could be disastrous. But I wouldn’t worry too much about Ponyville; they’ll warm up to you eventually. The… incident with Zecora opened our eyes to how close-minded we can be.” Rarity winced at the memory.

“Zecora incident?”

“Zecora is a delightful zebra mare that lives a short distance into the Everfree. She’s quickly established herself as the local herbalist and potions-mare, and I must say she’s a very theatrical storyteller.”

“Zebras are fantastic storytellers from my experience.” Skies nodded with a grin. “Sorry, continue.” Rarity nodded.

“Until Twilight arrived in town, I’m ashamed to admit we were rather… Prejudiced towards her, and we’re all very grateful she was so forgiving in the end. So, it may take a little while but people will warm to you.”

“Well, glad to hear that.” Skies relaxed, and Rarity suppressed an instinctual shiver as Skies slipped back to her prowling stance.

“Though I must admit I am curious; why do you move like that?”

“It’s just normal for me now. When I started moving like this it was to help with the hunt. Longer strides are more efficient over long distances, the wide stance means I’m more stable and can move with less noise, and the lowered head just helps with stealth. After moving like this almost every day for years, it becomes hard to break the habit.”

“I think I understand. So, why don’t your friends do the same, if I may ask?”

“Hooves is too big to sneak like that, you’ve seen how he compares to Big Mac. Cirrus moves better in the treetops and clouds than on the ground/ Shield doesn’t do hunts, he’s a static defender, and Tender Care is a medic, not a hunter. She’s a good fighter still, but… Yeah. I'm the sneakiest in the group.” Rarity nodded.

“And by the end of the day, with any luck you’ll also be the best dressed.”

“Oh, right, dresses. Yay,” Skies said flatly, looking at the Boutique looming over them. To Skies, it resembled a huge, multi-tiered cake.

“Oh come now, darling, you are going to look fabulous by the end of the day, I guarantee it.” Rarity held the door open for Skies. Skies trotted in, looking around at the interior, momentarily stunned.

“… Ok. I’ll admit, this place is gorgeous.”

“Why thank you, dear. Now, if you could just leave your cloak and saddlebags just there and stand juuuuust here?” Skies nodded, quickly checking the glamour on her wing was still in place before folding her cloak and leaving it and her saddlebags to one side. Standing where Rarity indicated, she blinked and recoiled as several strips of fabric started levitating around her. “Hmm, white and red, white and red…” Rarity mused, trotting around her as Skies eyed the floating fabric warily. “A red dress would certainly flatter your coat, and it would complement your mane and bring out your eyes. Hmhmmm. Something grey perhaps… I think I have an idea!” Dropping the pieces of fabric, Rarity picked up a tape measure in her magic and started measuring Skies, the pegasus moving according to Rarity’s instructions, soon closing her eyes to avoid getting dizzy from watching the tape measure move.

As Rarity worked, she quietly took measure of Skies’ many scars, trying to figure out how best to cover them or work them into the design. She paused briefly, blanching a little as she noticed a scar that wound its way around Skies’ neck, barely noticeable due to the fur layered over the top of it. I dread to think what that scar is from… She thought with a shiver. Maybe some sort of collar to cover the scar? Skies tensed up with a quiet snarl as she felt the tape measure around her neck. “Oh, sorry darling! I just needed to measure around your neck,” Rarity apologised, and Skies nodded. “Just in case we decide to incorporate a collar or choker of some kind.”

“Nothing around my neck,” Skies said stiffly. “Sorry, just… Nothing like that.”

“Very well, darling, whatever the client desires,” Rarity said with a nod. “We’re all done with the measurements, I’ll get to work. Feel free to take a seat.” Skies nodded, relaxing and sitting down. As Rarity set down to work, Skies opened her mouth to ask a question before looking at the door to the Boutique as it was slammed open.

“Rarity! Mum and dad dropped me off!” Skies leant back, surprised by the volume coming from the small white filly. The filly trotted in, the door swinging shut behind her, before freezing as she looked up at Skies. “Woah… Are you a pirate?”

“Why does everypony think I’m a pirate?”

“Oh hello Sweetie! Skies, this is my sister Sweetie Belle. Sweetie, this is Desert Skies, she’s been helping the pegasi look for Rainbow Dash.”

“Ohhhhhh. Hello Desert Skies!” Sweetie waved at her excitedly, Skies waving back after a moment. “Whatcha making for her?” Sweetie dashed over to Rarity.

“Well, I thought I’d start with a dress and go from there. I do believe she’d carry off a suit quite nicely as well.”

“A suit?” Skies perked up a little. “Now that I could go for. No ties, though.” Rarity nodded and resumed her work as Sweetie Belle trotted over to Skies. Skies looked down at Sweetie, and braced herself as Sweetie beamed up at her.

“Why do you have an eyepatch?” She asked innocently, tilting her head.

Here we go. “Because I only have one eye.”

“Oh…What happened to the other one?”

“Sweetie, it’s impolite to ask questions like that!” Rarity scolded.

“It’s ok Rarity, foals are curious.” Looking back to Sweetie Belle, Skies smiled. “It’s not a story for fillies anyway. All you need to know is that, when your parents say to stay out of places like the Everfree? Listen to them; they do know what they’re talking about, even if they are a bit annoying.” Sweetie nodded, giggling as Skies winked, before a thought struck Skies. “Say, do you know a filly called Apple Bloom?”

“Yep! She’s one of my best friends! And Scootaloo! We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Skies leant back again, ears back at the volume of Sweetie’s voice.

“… Crusaders?” She managed to ask after a moment.

“Yep! ‘Cause we’re on a crusade to find our cutie-marks!”

“Ahh, got it.” She nodded with a smirk.

“What’s your cutie-mark mean?” Skies raised an eyebrow, glancing at Rarity who now had an ear turned in their direction.

“It’s an… Archery cutie-mark.” I’m not completely lying!

“Archery? Like, with bows and arrows?”

“Yep!” She raised a hoof to stop the follow up question. “And no, I can’t let you have a go. My bow is way too much for a filly to use.”

“It’s that hard to use?” Sweetie Belle tilted her head.

“Yep! It takes a surprising amount of strength to use it.” Skies jokingly flexed.

“… I guess you do look kinda strong…” Sweetie Belle gasped. “Oh oh! You could help us try and get strongmare cutie-marks!” She shouted excitedly, hopping up and down. Rarity cringed over at her workstation.

“Strongmare? Sorry Sweetie, can’t help you with that.” Skies smiled apologetically at her, her eye tracking the bouncing filly.

“Aww, why not?” She pouted.

“Because it’s dangerous for little foals to try putting on too much muscle. You need to wait until you get older or you could do serious damage to yourself.” Sweetie sulked, but nodded.

“I guess…”

“Sorry, I’m not going to be much help to fillies like you and your friends. My skills aren’t skills you fillies should try and learn.”

“Awww…” Sweetie looked up at Skies, pouting still, giving her a pleading look.

“… Stop that, how are you doing that with your eyes?” Skies stared back, determined to resist the filly. “It’s not going to work. I mean it. Please stop?” Skies trembled before breaking eye contact, slumping. “Fiiiiiine we’ll find something to do.”

“Yay!” Sweetie Belle dashed off upstairs. Skies watched her go, and then turned to Rarity.

“Your sister is some kind of devil-filly, you know that right? How does she do that with her eyes?” Skies asked flatly.

“Sweetie Belle and her friends are all very good at persuading older ponies.”

“So I see…” Skies looked back to the door as Sweetie rushed back in, a make-up kit balanced on her back. “… What is that?”

“Make-up!” Sweetie Belle grinned, opening the box as Skies’ eye widened, starting to back up from the brush levitating towards her.

“Rarity, save me!”

“Well, all in all that went pretty well.” Cirrus looked back to Rainbow and Fluttershy, the latter of whom was reluctant to leave Rainbow’s side.

“Yeah… Kinda get how you feel, Flutters. There were a lot of people trying to talk to me,” she said, swallowing.

“You’ll be fine, you’ve just been through a lot and need some time to process it. You’ll bounce back,” said Cirrus, Fluttershy nodding and smiling in agreement. Cirrus blinked, looking past the two mares as an orange blur hurtled toward the group. “Incoming.” The two mares frowned and looked back as well before the blur impacted into Rainbow’s side.

“Oof. Hey Scoots,” she said, smiling as she put a hoof around what Cirrus could now see was an orange filly, clinging to Rainbow with her face buried into her fur. “You ok, kid?” She asked, before blinking as a wet sniffle was audible.

“Y-you’re b-back,” came the sobbed words, the filly shaking a little. “Y-you’re safe.” Rainbow gently patted her on the back.

“Yeah, I’m back. Hey…” She carefully knelt down, lifting the filly’s head to look at her. “Look at me. I’m back, ok?” The filly met her eyes with her own bloodshot ones, tears streaming down her face. She nodded, before burying her face back in her fur.

“I-I was s-so s-scared!” She cried, sniffling again. “Th-they said y-you crashed i-in the Everfree a-and no one knew wh-where you were,” she hiccuped out. “W-we wanted to go a-and look for you b-but Pinkie made us P-pinkie promise not to go.” Rainbow sighed and chuckled a bit at that.

“Remind me to thank Pinkie, then.” At Scootaloo’s sniffle, she continued. “Scoots, I know you were scared and worried, but I want you to promise me something,” she waited until Scootaloo looked up at her again before continuing. “No matter what happens, promise me you’ll never run off into dangerous places like the Everfree, alright?”

“B-but we could h-have helped-” Scootaloo halted her protest as Dash gently put her hoof up.

“When I was out there, do you know what scared me the most?” Scootaloo shook her head. “I was terrified that you, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle would run into the forest to look for me." Scootaloo was silent after that. "I know you wanted to help, and that's great. But until you're older, you need to be careful, ok?" The filly nodded after a minute, sniffling. "Good. We'll catch up later, yeah? I really need a shower and some rest." Scootaloo wrinked her nose at that.

"Yeah, you really do..." Rainbow chuckled. "A-alright, see you later." Scootaloo hesitated for a moment, before running off. Rainbow let out a sigh of relief, shoulders sagging.

"So... She seemed close to you," said Cirrus, looking at Rainbow.

"Yeah. That's Scootaloo. She's... Kind of like my honourary little sister. I'm just glad they had the sense to not run into the Everfree after me, even if Pinkie did need to make them promise..." She was silent for a moment, before perking up again. "So, we should get to my house." She took to the air, waiting for Fluttershy and Cirrus before turning and flying towards a large floating house made of clouds, a rainbow waterfall adding some colour to the exterior.

“So, this is your house, then?” Cirrus looked up at Rainbow Dash’s house. “I’m not sure why I didn’t figure that out earlier, what with the rainbows.”

“Yeah, that’s it. Built it myself.” Her eyes widened. “Wait, is Tank ok?” She looked over at Fluttershy, who giggled.

“I made sure he’s ok, don’t worry.” Rainbow relaxed a little as the trio landed outside her door. Fishing around in the clouds by her door, Rainbow produced a key, unlocking the door and letting them both in, closing the door behind her.

“So, welcome to my home. Fluttershy, you tidied up?” She asked, looking at the yellow pegasus who looked down.

“W-well, I was up here a lot to feed Tank and make sure he was ok, so…”

“Heh, thanks ‘Shy. Make yourselves comfortable I guess, I need something to eat.” She gestured towards the front room, before heading to the kitchen, rejoining the other two after a minute with some snacks. “Hey Cirrus? Mind if I ask what your cutie-mark means?” Cirrus glanced back at his mark, a snowflake overlaid with a wispy cloud.

“I’m very good when it comes to cold weather, be that very high altitude or just arctic conditions.” He sat on one of the sofas, relaxing into it. “I actually used to work up north at a blizzard-breaking station, and I sometimes work as a Winter Wrap-up specialist if we’re somewhere that needs it at the time.”

“Huh, that’s kinda cool. Does it help with your… Other job?”

“The hunts? Yeah. Flying at high altitudes means it’s easier for me to scout over long distances and go undetected, plus if we’re hunting something like a wendigo, having a pony that isn’t nearly as affected by the cold is very useful. Plus I can use clouds to create shards of ice as a weapon.”

“… Ok that’s very cool.” Rainbow managed a smile at him as Fluttershy hid behind her mane a little at the talk of weapons. “What did the rest of your group do before all this?”

“Hooves is a carpenter, good one as well, still practices his trade on the road, and Tender Care was a nurse.”

“What about Shield and Skies?” Cirrus frowned at the question, tilting his head back and forth as he considered his answer.

“I don’t actually know much about Shield’s life before the Order, but that’s standard for Guardians really. The Order tries to pick people with as few ties as possible to their old lives to be Guardians. I know he was picked up by the Order before he got his mark. As for Skies… I don’t think she actually has any skills that have any real application outside the Order.”

“Really? She’d make a great Guard.”

“Actually she’d be pretty bad as a Guard. She would detest having to follow orders in that way. It is something that bothers her; the rest of us would be fine outside the Order, even Shield, he’d do extremely well in the Guard. But Skies… She’d probably end up actually joining a mercenary group somewhere.”

“Wow… I kinda feel bad for her now,” said Rainbow, scratching the back of her head as Fluttershy whimpered a little.

“That’s so sad…”

“Yeah. There aren’t many of us in the Order whose talent is exclusively in Order work. They’re some of the best, no doubt, but it’s rough on them. Whilst the rest of us can blend into society relatively well with our skill sets, the best Skies can manage is busking on a street corner or singing rowdy songs in a tavern.”

“She seems so upbeat though.”

“She’s generally pretty upbeat, and she’s no social cripple. She’s just… Very aware that her skill set has no place amongst normal ponies and would have no real source of income.” Cirrus replied with a sigh, before looking up as a tortoise, suspended by a propellor, drifted into the room. “... I’m going to assume that’s Tank?” He asked, looking at Rainbow as the tortoise drifted over to her and gave her a lick on the cheek, causing her to giggle.

“Yep, this is Tank.” She said, gently nuzzling him.

“Not what I was expecting, but fair enough,” he said, nodding.

“Not what I was expecting either when I asked Flutters to help me find a pet.” Fluttershy beamed happily. “Right, I’m going to take a shower. Help yourselves to snacks in the kitchens, ‘Shy knows where everything in the house is if you need anything else.” Cirrus nodded as Rainbow left, before turning his attention to the pictures on the walls.

“Big Wonderbolts fan, huh?” He asked, looking to Fluttershy.

“Oh yes, she’s trying really hard to join them one day. She’s the best flier I know, so I’m sure she’ll get in.” She nodded, smiling.

“Heh, kid’s got aspirations I’ll give her that. Think she’s going to be ok?”

“I think so. Rainbow Dash is strong. It’s like you said, she just needs some time.” Cirrus nodded.

“Good, good. Wonder how the others are doing…”

“So Hooves.” Applejack started as they stored the Order ponies’ equipment after she returned from town. “What’s yer story?”

“Not that interesting. Grew up here in Ponyville, moved out when I grew up, started working as a carpenter. Monster attacked the town, helped fight it off, and some pony convinced me to take up monster hunting. Been working under Skies for a few years now.”

“Ah thought Shield was in charge of yer group?” Applejack looked over curiously as she left the cellar, followed by Hooves.

“Shield’s been placed in command of our group for the time being, but this is the first time he’s been properly attached to the group. Normally it’s just Skies, Cirrus, Tender and I. Skies is normally in command. Given that her cutie-mark is in hunting, makes sense for her to be in charge.”

“Huh, so that’s what ‘er cutie-mark is? She seemed reluctant to talk about it last night.”

“The story about her getting it isn’t fun. I’ll leave her to tell that one.”

“Right. Ya said yer from Ponyville? Any relation to Time Turner? Lotta folks call ‘im Doctor Whooves.” Hooves thought for a second.

“Name doesn’t ring a bell, sorry. Doubt you’d know my uncle, he raised me here but he left town shortly after I did.” Applejack nodded.

“So, yer alright helpin’ me ‘round the farm?”

“That’s the idea. I’m meant to be here protecting you, figure I can help out by way of thanks for accommodating us. I’m strong enough to haul and carry, and like I said I’m good with carpentry.” He gestured to his cutie-mark, a saw crossed with a plank of wood.

“Well, that’s mighty kind of ya. Ah mentioned that the barn’s roof needs some work, if yer up for it?” Hooves nodded, sitting to root around in his saddlebags.

“What’s the problem?”

“Bit of a leak in the back left corner, and some of the roof beams look a bit worn,” Applejack said watching Hooves nod.

“Alrighty, you got a ladder?” He asked, standing again after closing his saddlebags.

“In the barn. Ah’ll be workin’ just outside in the trees there.” She pointed at the copse of trees between the barn and the fence closest to Ponyville.

“Shout if you see anything, alright?” He said, walking back into the barn.

“Anythin’? Like what?”

“Anything out of the ordinary! Like a monster or some such!” Hooves called back, setting up the ladder and climbing up to have a look at the roof beams.

“Got it!” She called back, wandering out into the field to start collecting the apples. Should probably tell them sometime about all the monster attacks we get…

“So you worked in an emergency room?! That’s super cool!” Pinkie shouted, bouncing along beside Tender Care. The unicorn chuckled.

“We called it ‘accident and emergency’ in Trottingham, but yes, the idea is the same.” She smiled, nodding to her cutie-mark, a roll of bandages. “I specialised in physical injuries, like broken bones, lacerations. I was a paramedic for a time as well, which is actually how I met Hooves. We’d gotten a call out to the outskirts where there were a lot of injured ponies. We arrived, and started emergency treatment when a monster came out of an alleyway right at one of my patients. I don’t actually remember what happened next, I just remember seeing red.”

“It was red?” Asked Pinkie, tilting her head in confusion.

“No, it means ‘got very angry’. From what Hooves tells me, he was about to attack the monster, but I got to it before he did and fought it off. He chased after it, and later that night told me all about the Order, and asked if I was interested in joining.”

“What kind of meanie would attack a hurt pony though?” Pinkie huffed. “Big meanie monster.”

“You see why we hunt them, then?”

“I gueeeeeess but can’t you try convincing them not to be big meanies? Oh, you could throw them a party!” Tender Care blinked, watching Pinkie jump around.

“Throw a party for something like a hydra? I don’t think that’ll work.”

“I guess but you can’t zap them with something like the Elements?” Pinkie asked. Tender Care stopped and smiled at her.

“I appreciate the fact that you’re trying to find a nonviolent solution, but ultimately, unless the Elements of Harmony can be everywhere at once, we have no choice but our methods. Believe me; I would love to live in a world where the Order isn’t required, where monsters don’t threaten innocents. Where we can all go back to our old lives without having to worry about things like Marabas. We’d be a lot happier. But we don’t, and we can’t. So, we continue to do our duty.” Pinkie nodded, trying to think of a happier topic.

“So... Shield said you used to bake?”

“Oh, yes!” Tender Care smiled. “Never professionally, but I’d sometimes bring a cake or muffins to the hospital or for the paramedics.”

“Well, we shouldn’t be tooooooo busy today but you’ll be doing a lot of baking!” Pinkie said, dashing into Sugarcube Corner. Tender Care shook her head, chuckling as she followed her in. “Hey Mr and Mrs Cake! Oh!” She dragged Tender Care over, one hoof around her shoulders. “Thiiiiiiis is Tender Care! She’s a friend of Desert Skies, the new pegasus! Tender Care, this is Mr and Mrs Cake!”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Tender smiled, nodding to them both.

“Hello Ms. Care. We heard that someone had rescued Rainbow Dash, so thank you. Pinkie’s been inconsolable with her missing,” Mr. Cake replied, the pair smiling at her. “Desert Skies, was that the one you said was a pirate, Pinkie?”

“Yep! Except she says she isn’t a pirate!”

“Oh, that’s… Good? You’re sure she isn’t a pirate?”

“Skies is an interesting pony, to be sure, but she isn’t a pirate, I can vouch for that.” Tender chuckled. “Pinkie said something about me helping out in the kitchen?”

“Oh yeah!” Pinkie bounced over to the Cakes. “I thought that since Pound Cake isn’t feeling very well that we could use an extra pair of hooves so somepony can take care of him and not leave us understaffed in the kitchen!”

“Pound Cake?” Asked Tender Care.

“Our son, baby pegasus.” Mrs Cake said, glancing upstairs with concern. “He’s not very well at the moment. Since Pinkie trusts you, if you’re willing to help out that would be very helpful. Do you know how to bake?”

“I do, but I’m actually a nurse.” She turned so they could see her cutie-mark. “I could take a look if you want?”

“Oh, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Not at all.” Tender smiled reassuringly. “What are his symptoms?”

“He’s running a temperature, and has been crying on and off since really early,” Mr Cake said, motioning for Tender Care to follow him.

“Has he been fed this morning?” She asked, following along.

“He has, he threw some of it back up though.” Tender Care nodded, thinking the symptoms over as she followed Mr Cake to the foal’s room, finding a unicorn filly chewing on the side of her crib. “That’s Pumpkin Cake, Pound’s twin sister.”

“Aww. Has she started surging yet?” Mr Cake looked at her, and then pointed at a scorch mark on the ceiling. “… Ah. Bit of a handful at that age.” She chuckled. “I take it that’s Pound Cake’s crib?” She pointed at the other crib in the room.

“It is, yeah. He should still be in there, but, you know, baby pegasus.” He chuckled nervously, peeking into the crib. “Yeah, he’s here.” Tender Care trotted over, peeking in. The pegasus filly was clearly upset, kicking his legs into the air as he burped.

“Hmm, let’s see.” Tender Care gently reached a hoof down to Pound’s forehead. “Running a bit of a temperature…” She frowned as Pound burped again, arching his back and kicking his hooves. “Right, I think I know what the matter is.”

“You do?” Tender Care nodded, sitting down.

“The fever is quite common amongst foals, and his temperature isn’t high enough for me to be too worried. As for the crying and throwing up, I suspect acid reflux. Nothing too worrying, I’d try feeding him smaller, more frequent feedings, and keep him upright and quiet for about half an hour after feeding. Not easy with a baby pegasus, I know, but it will help. Foal pain relief should help with the fever.” Tender Care smiled as she watched Mr Cake practically deflate.

“Oh thank Celestia. You’re sure it’s nothing serious?”

“It doesn’t appear to be. Obviously, if the symptoms worsen, or if they don’t improve in the next day or two, I’d recommend seeing a doctor. These kinds of symptoms are common amongst foals.”

“Are you a foal care nurse, then?” He asked curiously, watching Pumpkin Cake as she started gnawing her blanket instead.

“Actually I’m accident and emergency. I learnt a lot of the foal care out of necessity; you would not believe the number of scared parents that present to the A and E with foals. Or, maybe you would.” She gave him a good-natured smile.

“I think I can understand where they’re coming from.” He chuckled, returning her smile. “We’d best get back down to the kitchen, my wife wants to look after Pound today.” Tender Care nodded, following him back out. Pausing at the top of the stairs, he turned back to her to whisper. “Do you mind if I ask you something?” Tender Care blinked, but nodded. “Desert Skies. Is she, you know… Safe? I don’t like asking that, but…” He looked to the foals’ room. “I have to prioritise my foals, you know?”

“I know. Mr Cake, I can vouch for Skies. She’s an intimidating pony, I’ll readily accept that. I do understand your concern, but I promise she’d never do anything to hurt a foal. Stars, I’ve seen her jump in front of a rampaging manticore to save a filly before.” Mr Cake nodded, hanging his head.

“Sorry for asking you something like that about your friend.” Tender Care smiled.

“It’s really no big issue. Parents are protective of their kids, it’s only natural. Just, try to avoid letting Skies know that? She’s acutely aware of the effect she has on other ponies, and it’s something that really bothers her.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He nodded, before continuing downstairs. Tender Care looked back at the foals’ room before following.

If anything does attack us in Ponyville, it better be smart enough to stay far away from those foals, for its own sake.

“So, you live in a tree? Which is also a library?” Shield walked after Twilight, limping a little thanks to his shoulder.

“Yep, I’m the town librarian.” She grinned at him.

“You like your books then?” He asked with a chuckle.

“Oh very much so, I am Princess Celestia’s student after all.”

“Right, that.” Shield winced internally. “So, what’s the library’s inventory like?”

“Surprisingly good, actually. There are a lot of books there that I haven’t found anywhere else.”

“Good to know, we might find something useful then.” Twilight nodded, sighing.

“I hope so… I can’t imagine how Dash is feeling right now…”

“It’ll be a lot easier for her with the help of her friends, just remember that.” Shield smiled at her as she opened the door to the library.

“You’re right.” She nodded, closing the door once Shield was inside as well. “Spike will still be asleep, I think. Whilst we wait for him, do you want some tea?”

“I’d love some, thanks.” He followed her through to the living areas of the library.

“So, Skies said you were a ‘Guardian’? She said you protected dangerous places?”

“That’s the general idea, yes.” He sat at the table, rubbing his injured shoulder.

“Right. How does one pony do that? The Guard deploys at least a squad to defend locations.” She asked, looking at him as she set a kettle to boil.

“Guardians are some of the best fighters the Order has. Most fighters in the Order would be more than a match for a single Guard, and many of our hunters could probably beat a squad on their own. Guardians are even more potent. For my part, I’m capable of summoning barriers almost instantaneously and can teleport multiple times per second. I’m also a skilled pyromancer, to say nothing of my hoof-to-hoof fighting ability. Ultimately, however, for all our martial prowess, it is unlikely that a single Guardian would be able to defeat a prisoner like Marabas. There simply aren’t enough Guardians to dedicate multiple to more than a hoof full of sites. So at the other sites, against a threat like Marabas the duty of a Guardian is to keep whatever it is occupied for long enough for help to arrive. And if that means goading something like Marabas into torturing us to keep it distracted, then so be it.” Twilight flinched, ears going back.

“That’s awful! Why not tell the Princesses, or the other nations? They’d be able to help.” Shield grimaced.

“You’re the Princess’ student, so I assume you know a lot about magic? Precisely, the focus and power that certain spells require?” She nodded after a moment. “So you know that teleportation is fairly intensive, even over short distances, and tends to disorient the user briefly. Plus it takes a good amount of focus.”

“That’s right, yes.”

“I’m capable of teleporting rapidly in the middle of a fight without disorienting myself, and I’m still capable of generating powerful barriers and pyromancy spells. With the exception of some high-ranking soldiers and specially trained units, how many in your Guard would actually be able to deal with a fighter like myself?”

“… Ok I get your point.” She sagged a little.

“Don’t get me wrong, the Guard are extremely important. En masse the Guard would overwhelm me, there’s only so much one pony can keep track of, and a single pony can’t win a war because they can’t be everywhere at once. The Guard serve a vital function; it’s just a very different function to mine. I’m pretty bad at other things. For instance, I’m useless at anything stealthy. Or ranged combat without my magic.” He chuckled. “Something Skies and Cirrus just love to remind me of.” Twilight nodded, smiling back at him.

“I think I understand. Still, I don’t like secrets being kept from the Princesses…”

“I know, but it’s better this way. Some things from the Old World are too dangerous to spread knowledge of.” His ear flicked. “Something upstairs is moving.”

“Oh, that’ll be Spike, I’ll go get him.” She trotted out of the room and upstairs, leaving Shield with his tea. “Spike, is that you?”

“Oh, hey Twilight.” The young dragon yawned, rubbing his eyes. “You didn’t come back last night. Good party?”

“Sorry Spike, but something really important came up.” She gave him a nuzzle as she apologised. “Speaking of which, we’ve got a guest downstairs, he has some important news.”

“What kind of news?” He asked, walking down the stairs.

“Very important. He’s in the kitchen.” Twilight followed him back down. Spike entered the kitchen first, pausing to stare at the unfamiliar, bandaged unicorn. “Spike, this is Shield. Shield, this is my assistant, Spike.”

“A dragon assistant? I’m not sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t that.” He chuckled, setting his tea down. “Nice to meet you Spike.”

“Uh, yeah. Hi.” Spike was staring at the unicorn’s heavily bandaged shoulder. “What happened to your shoulder?”

“You should see the other pony.” Shield chuckled, before catching Twilight’s disapproving glare. “Sorry, bad joke. It’s related to what I’m here about, actually. I heard your conversation; you want me to tell him?”

“I don’t think we should exclude him,” replied Twilight, Spike looking between the two of them.

“Right. Spike, Rainbow Dash is alive, and is in Ponyville. My friends and I found her in the Everfree.” Spike’s jaw dropped.

“Wait, she’s ok?! I need to go tell Scootaloo!” He made to sprint off, Twilight caught him in her magic.

“Easy there Spike, there’s… Still a problem.”

“Huh?” He looked totally lost. Shield sighed as he met Spike’s eyes.

“A monster we call Marabas did something to her. She’s still herself, but we don’t know the full extent of what happened yet. Take a seat, there’s a lot to tell if you want the full story.”

“So that’s how you and Dash met, huh?” Asked Cirrus, listening to Fluttershy’s story.

“Mhm, and we’ve been friends since then. We drifted apart a little after flight school, but after we both moved to Ponyville we reconnected.”

“That’s good. True friends are good to keep close.” He said with a smile, heading to the window. “Wow, Dash has got a good view from up here. Wait…” He frowned, squinting into the distance and fishing a spyglass out of his saddlebag.

“What is it?” Asked Fluttershy, tilting her head.

“Something in the forest.” He peered through the spyglass, training it on the Everfree. His eyes widened, lowering the glass. “Buck. Something’s coming.”

Author's Note

Chapter six is a little late thanks to the site technical issues! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7 - Monster Attack

“You and Dash stay here,” ordered Cirrus, stowing his spyglass and running for the door.

“What? Why?” Fluttershy asked, eyes widening as Cirrus bolted.

“Something’s incoming, just stay put. We’ll handle it,” he said, flying out the front door as he fished his communications gem out. “Cyclone Two to Cyclone Actual, barghest sighted inbound. Repeat, barghest sighted inbound!” After a moment, Skies’ voice replied through the crystal, slightly distorted.

“Copy, Cyclone Two. Cyclone, all units to Vigilant! Cyclone One, bring the gear. Move it ponies!”

Skies returned her gem to her saddlebags and quickly started wiping her face clean as she made for the door. “Skies, what’s going on?” Asked Rarity, standing from her workstation as Sweetie looked deeply confused. “Who is ‘Cyclone’? What’s a barghest?”

“No time right now, just stay inside, we’ll handle it!” She shouted, flinging the door open and launching off, speeding towards the library. Of all the things, a bucking barghest? Hurtling through the air, she spotted Cirrus diving towards the library as well. She swept into a landing, skidding along the ground briefly and leaving small gouges in the dirt, she barrelled into the library. “Cirrus is inbound, Shield if you’ve got any enchantments I could really use them.”

“Hey, what’s going-” Twilight was cut off by Shield.

“I’ve got nothing, sorry. I can help you armour up quickly once our gear gets here.”

“Um, excuse-”

“Our gear? Shield you’re not going up against a bucking Barghest in your state, you are going to stay here.”

“I’d really appreciate-”

“Fine, fine, I’ll stay here. But if anything happens to any of you I’m coming to haul you out, got it?”

“Please just-”

“Alright, that’s fine.”

“I’m trying to ask you something here!” Both ponies recoiled as Twilight shouted, Cirrus entering the library a moment later. “What is a barghest, to start with?”

“Big monster, dangerous, likes to eat ponies. Cirrus, how big are we looking at?”

“Large. We should be able to take it, but it’s not going to be a pushover.” Skies nodded.

“Just need to wait for the gear, then. Even I’m not crazy enough to take on a barghest with just a hoof axe,” said Skies, looking to the door as Tender Care galloped in. “Good, now just Hooves.”

“He’s coming from Sweet Apple Acres though, won’t that take too long?” Twilight asked with a tilted head. Skies chuckled.

“Just wait and see.”

“Copy Cyclone Two. Cyclone, all personnel to Vigilant! Cyclone One, bring the gear. Move it ponies!”

“Buck buck buck.” Hooves dashed into the cellar, Applejack close behind. Grabbing the bundle of their equipment, Hooves slung it over his back, grunting under the weight. “Hells, Shield’s armour makes this heavy, bucking…” He tailed off, climbing the steps back out of the cellar.

“Hooves, what is goin’ on?”

“Big monster, need to save the town, they’re waiting at the library.” He ran over to the farm gate and stopped, taking a deep breath.

“Uh, what’re ya doin’? Why’d ya stop?”

“Just watch,” he said, digging in his hooves and closing his eyes. Applejack blinked, before her eyes widened as she saw the earth beneath his hooves shift and rise slightly. Hooves’ eyes shot open, and he tore off towards Ponyville, propelled forwards by whatever he was doing to the ground. Applejack’s jaw dropped as she watched the dust cloud speed off.

“Ah have got to learn how to do that.” Hooves sprinted away from the farm, hurtling into town. The wind howled in his ears, squinting against the flow of air. He grinned despite himself, feeling the earth move beneath him. As the library came into view, he started slowing down, eventually skidding to a halt before running in through the door to catch the tail end of the conversation.

“Just wait and see.” Skies said to Twilight, before looking over as the door opened. “Hooves, there you are.” Hooves ran over, dropping the bundle and rolling it out, ignoring Twilight’s gawping. Each pony’s equipment was surrounded in Shield’s aura, helping each pony get into their armour. “We’re dealing with a barghest, large size. Cirrus, any notable variations?”

“None that I could see.”

“Right, here’s the plan. Tender, your priority is evacuating civilians. Any ponies in that thing’s path, get them somewhere safe and then come help us. Cirrus, your job is to slow it down however you can. Ice to stop it, fog to blind it, whatever you can do. Hooves, you’re on damage control, try to limit the amount of collateral. I’ll try and maim it from range before we move in to finish it. Got it?” The other ponies nodded, Hooves hefting his poleaxe. “Right, move it!” The four ponies galloped out of the library, leaving a tense Shield with a gawking Twilight and Spike.

Cirrus and Skies shot into the air as Hooves and Tender galloped towards the east side of Ponyville. “Skies, down there!” Cirrus pointed towards the east side of town, Skies following his hoof. There, stalking between the buildings, was their target; a massive, hulking mountain of pitch-black fur and muscle. Its head rose above the surrounding buildings, glowing red eyes scanning its surroundings as it snarled, baring its teeth before throwing its head back in a howl that set chills down Skies’ back.

“Got it, now go!” Skies hovered in the air, dropping the glamour on her wing to save energy, producing her longbow and stringing it, keeping her eyes locked on her target. Barghest, right. Thick hide, weak points in the joints, eyes and inside the mouth. Piercing and slashing weapons have limited effect outside of weak spots, too sturdy for bludgeoning attacks short of minotaur strength. This is going to be a long day.

Hooves charged towards the east side of Ponyville, separating from Tender Care who ran to start evacuating civilians. Come on, giant wolf, giant wolf, how hard can it be to find a giant wolf? Cringing slightly as he heard that spine-chilling howl, he turned towards the source of the noise. Rounding the corner, his eyes widened as a pony screamed, a mare with a foal pinned against a wall, the barghest prowling towards them. Oh no you don’t. Gritting his teeth, he lowered his head and charged towards the creature. The mare screamed, shielding her foal as the barghest lunged.

The mare remained still for a second before realising she wasn’t dead, and hesitantly opened an eye. She gasped as she saw the armour-clad earth pony grunting, holding the giant wolf’s jaws open, shaking with the strain. “What’re you waiting for?!” He shouted back at her. “Go, run!” The mare yelped, dragging her foal with her as she ran. With the innocents clear, he turned back to the barghest, his limbs shaking as the wolf tried to snap its jaw shut on him. With a yell, he pushed against it before leaping clear, the fangs closing mere inches from him as he landed. Hooves twisted quickly, spinning on his front hooves before lashing out backwards, kicking the barghest square on the nose. The beast yelped, flinching back with a snarl. Growling at Hooves, its attack was stalled by Cirrus, hurtling past and dragging a freezing mist with him. The barghest snarled and struggled as its paws were frozen to the ground, Hooves running clear to get some room to move.

In the distance, Skies exhaled slowly, nocking a narrow-tipped arrow, drawing the bow back as she aimed at the struggling barghest. Squinting along the shaft of the arrow, she loosed the arrow between beats of her wings, the bow creaking as the arrow flew through the air. She smirked as the beast howled in pain, the arrow sinking deep into its right eye. She tapped her gem once. “Barghest right side blind!” Lowering her bow, she flew forwards, circling to a better position as the barghest thrashed, freeing its paws in its frantic movements. Hooves nodded as his gem transmitted what Skies said, running to its right side, rearing to his hind hooves and grabbing his poleaxe, stabbing with the tip at the barghest’s armpit. The creature yelped before swiping at him with a paw, Hooves rolling under the swing and backing up again as the wolf turned on him, snarling with blood running from its right eye.

Cirrus circled overhead, gathering the remnants of the freezing mist into a single cloud before hurtling down with the cloud, halting between Hooves and the barghest before slamming his hooves into the cloud, a swarm of ice crystals flying at the creature. The beast flinched back, covering its eyes and nose with a paw, yelping as a broad-headed arrow from Skies lodged in its elbow. Snarling, the wolf barked, missing Cirrus with its paw, but the swipe dispersed the cloud. Hooves’ eyes widened as the wolf lunged at him, before he was yanked back, looking over to see Tender Care galloping towards him. “Thanks for the save, Tender! The civilians clear?” He shouted, starting to circle the barghest .

“Streets are empty now, the rest should be staying in-doors!” She shouted back, bringing the brace of blades held in her magic around for a series of slashes at the barghest’s face. Hooves nodded as Skies flew closer.

“Keep wearing it down, it’s getting slower!” She shouted, wheeling away again and nocking another arrow as Cirrus shot past it, racking its sides with his wing blades. The Barghest swiped at Cirrus before snarling and charging Hooves and Tender Care. The two ponies scattered, running in opposite directions, the barghest swerving to follow Tender Care. She swore, a swarm of blades flying out of her cloak in her telekinesis, slashing around the wolf’s nose and eyes. It flinched, breaking off from Tender Care to swipe at its face. It growled as an arrow bounced off its back, its one remaining eye locking onto Skies. “Aw hells.” She started flying backwards as it raced towards her, her next arrow going wide as she turned to flee, the beast snapping at her heels and barking. She pumped her wings, launching higher into the air, only to yelp as the barghest caught her tail and threw her into a building.

Hooves’ eyes widened as Skies was thrown through a window, before picking up speed as he charged, bringing his poleaxe around to slash at its ankle. The barghest staggered, its leg yanked out from under it as the wound bled heavily, swatting Hooves aside with a swipe of its tail as it wheeled around. Hooves raised his poleaxe to block, taking the brunt of the force as he was flung back, rolling back to his hooves. “Cirrus better be doing something useful!” He shouted to Tender Care as she went for its eye again with her swarm of blades. It growled, eye shut as it wildly snapped at her, the unicorn leaping clear.

Inside the building, Skies groaned as she stood and shook the debris off herself, wincing as she noticed the collecting of scrapes and scratches she’d gathered from the window. Hearing a whimper from beside her, she turned to see a terrified pair of fillies and their parents cowering in the corner. “Monster attack, just stay inside!” She lifted her bow, huffing as she saw the snapped string, and returned it to her quiver before launching herself out of the window and levelling her spear, hurtling at the barghest and spearing it in the hip, leaving a shallow wound before gaining distance again. She tapped her gem as she circled it from out of its range. “Cyclone One, I need a shot at its underjaw. You’ll need to time this right.” She turned and sped away from the barghest, gaining altitude as Cirrus bombarded it, diving down with javelins made of ice.

“Copy,” was all Hooves said in response, flipping his polearm around to the hammer head, breathing heavily as he glanced at Skies, before focussing back on the barghest as Cirrus and Tender kept it occupied, the unicorn harassing its nose and eye with the swarm of knives whilst Cirrus did his best to keep it in place, javelins freezing the ground and fur on contact, slowing the beast. Skies braked hard, turning in the air and narrowing her eyes, gripping her spear tight for her charge.

“Cyclone One, about to engage. Keep it facing west. Five seconds to contact.” She flattened her wings to her sides, diving before pumping her wings, plunging towards the ground in her diagonal dive. Skies grit her teeth, squinting and struggling to keep her eyes open, the wind stinging her eyes as her organic wing burnt with the strain, the join between her metal wing and her body similarly flaring angrily. On the ground, Hooves snorted as Cirrus and Care goaded it to turn west, the beast snarling and swiping blindly, tearing great furrows out of the ground with its claws, unable to open its eye thanks to the swarm assailing its face.

Four, he counted down, the earth once again shifting beneath him as he readied his charge. Cirrus gained altitude, raining javelins from above to keep it in place. Three. Cirrus flipped over into a dive, twisting and slamming his hind hooves down on the top of its head, its head jarring down into range of Hooves. Two. Hooves suddenly charged forwards, the earth launching him at blistering speed as he brought the polearm up in a vertical swing. One. The hammerhead impacted its jaw with a sickening crack, the barghest’s head snapping back, exposing the underside of its jaw. Contact. The two ground-bound ponies stumbled, struggling to remain standing while Cirrus dropped to the ground to avoid being thrown out of the air as Skies hurtled past, staccato booms shattering windows and punching into Hooves' chest as she grazed the sound barrier.

The barghest was thrown back as the spear slammed into its jaw with a sickening squelch, puncturing the skin and piercing through into its mouth, the roof of its mouth, and finally into its brain, killing it instantly. Skies released the spear as she continued past to avoid ripping her shoulder out of its socket. Her eyes widened as her wing clipped the creature, upsetting her flight path and sending her spinning out of control. This is going to hurt… She grimaced, tucking into a ball as she hit the ground, skidding and rolling through the dirt, bouncing a few times before sliding along, eventually coming to a stop. Her entire body screamed in pain, her wings felt like they were on fire whilst her shoulders ached from the impact with the barghest.

Trembling, she slowly uncurled as her muscles stopped seizing, flopping with a loud groan. “Oowww.” She coughed, grimacing again, her eye slowly opening. She paused, her blurry vision clearing to reveal a pair of blue hooves. Squinting, she looked further up, seeing white legs, then purple and gold armour with a pink star on the chest, and finally the stallion’s face, staring at her in shock, his expression mirrored by the trio of guards stood behind him. “H-hello Captain Armour.” She groaned. “I can explain… Later.” Her head hit the dirt again as she coughed. “Medic…”

“You stupid, reckless, idiotic, borderline suicidal,” Skies winced as Tender Care prodded her, checking for damage. “Rash, senseless, irresponsible nag!” She yelped as Tender Care jabbed her in the shoulder. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that move was? If your armour weren’t enchanted against that kind of trauma you could have died! And even with the enchantments you are stupidly lucky that you didn’t give yourself internal bleeding! What the buck were you thinking?” Skies looked very sheepishly at her as Tender Care treated her injuries. “And you’re bucking lucky that when you got your metal wing they reinforced the shoulder joint otherwise that move could have ripped it off!” She poked the wing for emphasis, wincing as she touched the still-heated metal. “I have no idea how you managed to bucking survive before I came along, it’s miraculous you haven’t died from all the stupid buckery you perform!”

“Um, sorry to interrupt.” Both mares looked over at their audience. The Element Bearers were assembled, along with Captain Armour, a crowd of guardsponies, and a good number of Ponyville residents, all staring at the scene before them. The barghest was very dead, slumped onto its side and bleeding into the street, while Cirrus and Hooves were discussing how best to move it, and Shield sat next to Skies. “But, I think we have a few questions,” Twilight continued, looking around.

“… Yeah that’s fair. Library?” Twilight nodded after a moment, looking to Shining Armour before walking to the library, the Order ponies following after her, Tender Care helping Skies along. Shining Armour sent some of his guardsponies to watch over the corpse of the barghest and help the ponies of Ponyville as he followed with his own personal guard. They soon entered the library, Skies collapsing into a chair. “Aahahaoww stars that bucking hurts. Tender Care, please tell me you have pain relief?”

“I do but if I give you some, you need to promise not to overdo moving, got it?” Skies nodded, and Tender Care’s horn lit up, surrounding Skies in her aura, the pegasus immediately relaxing into the chair.

“Ohhh that feels better. Right, I can answer questions now.”

“What was that thing?” Asked Twilight.

“Monster called a barghest. Big evil wolf, likes to eat ponies.”

“Who exactly are you ponies?” Asked Shining Armour, standing protectively by Twilight.

“I’m Desert Skies, that’s Tender Care, that’s Shield. The earth pony is Hooves, and the pegasus is Cirrus. We’re monster hunters. Since I’m guessing you want the full story, let’s get started...”

Skies slumped at the end of her explanation, bringing Shining Armour and his guards up to speed with the Elements. During the explanation, Shining Armour had subtly moved slightly between Twilight and Skies.

“So, that’s everything I’ve told you ponies. Pinkie, you have a question.” She turned to the pink pony, whose hoof had been raised for the entire latter half of her monologue.

“What happened to your wing? You didn’t have a metal wing earlier.” She tilted her head.

“Right, the wing.” She looked back at the metal wing, sighing. “There was a glamour, a type of illusion, over the wing this entire time. Making it look organic means fewer questions get asked.”

“H-how did you lose the wing?” Fluttershy squeaked from behind Rarity.

“Fighting a monster. Same one that took my eye, actually.” She tapped her eyepatch. “The Order gave me this to replace it. I dropped the glamour because it drains too much energy whilst I’m in a fight, and now, why bother activating it again since you ponies have all seen it?” She shrugged, cringing as her muscles protested against the movement.

“And what exactly is this ‘Order’?” Asked Shining Armour.

“Good question,” said Skies. “I assume that no matter how I answer, you’re going to drag us all to your Princesses so they can decide how to proceed?” Shining Armour nodded with a snort after a moment. “In that case, since I hate repeating myself unnecessarily, I’ll answer that question when the Princesses ask me.” She smiled sweetly at Shining Armour, causing the stallion to narrow his eyes at her.

“Fine. Prepare them for transport, we’re going to Canterlot. Lieutenant, the search parties we brought along, task them to begin helping clean up the town and patrolling the Everfree border.” The earth pony mare stood beside him nodded, saluting before barking orders into a communications gem. “I’m going to have to ask you to surrender your weapons and armour.” Skies sighed.

“Fine, fine. Not like I can stop you right now. Bucking barghest complicating things…” She sat still as her weapons were taken off her, the other Order ponies surrendering their equipment as a guard trotted up with a pair of suppressor rings.

“Are the suppressor rings really necessary?” Asked Shield, eying the two black rings warily.

“Yes, you ponies are an unknown quantity and based on what you’ve told us, we can’t allow you access to your magic until we know more.” Shield sighed, nodding and allowing his magic to be restrained. Skies groaned in pain as Tender Care stopped her spell.

“Owwww. Tender, you don’t have any normal painkillers?”

“Nope, sorry, used my last ones on Shield.”

“Shield I will bucking hurt you later.” She glared at him, as the unicorn smiled sheepishly back.

The flight to Canterlot was tense. The Element Bearers all flew in one large chariot, whilst the Order ponies were spread between a few smaller ones, Skies flying in Shining Armour’s chariot with one of the Guard’s medics ensuring her injuries were taken care of. “So, have you ever been to Canterlot?” Shining Armour asked.

“Nope, I’ve always tried to avoid the cities. More ponies to stare at me. Ponies in villages and remote towns tend to understand better.”

“Understand?” He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“How a pony could get injured like this. They respect the dangers out there more than city ponies.”

“Ah, I see.” He nodded. “I am curious, why are you more scarred than the rest of your team?” Skies grumbled from the floor of the chariot.

“Shield doesn’t do field work in the same way so that’s him ruled out. Tender Care is something of our second line, so she rarely gets injured anyway. Hooves is an earth pony, much better constitution than me. Cirrus attacks mostly from range. Plus, I tend to put myself in harm’s way over the rest of my team.”

“Now that I understand, but to this extent?” Skies looked up at him for a moment, before answering.

“Fine, fine. They can all be something else if they left the Order, and looking like me could stop them doing that. Me, I have nothing I can do outside the Order, so I take the hits.” She said, resting her head on the floor of the chariot. Shining blinked, processing the bitter undertone to her words.

“I’m… Sorry to hear that.” He ventured, looking away as Skies did the same.

“So, what’s the plan for when we get there?” Skies asked after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.

“We take you to see the Princesses, all three will be in attendance, and you will answer their questions.”

“What if I can’t answer them?”

“It wouldn’t be a good idea to withhold information at this time,” Shining replied with a hint of caution.

“No, but, what if I actually can’t?”

“If you don’t know the answer, then just say that you don’t know. If you are actually incapable of answering truthfully, then we’ll see.” Skies looked at him flatly.

“You are just the most reassuring pony I’ve ever met, truely. What about the rest of my team?”

“They’ll accompany you.” Skies nodded, relaxing a fraction. “That move you pulled off back there, I wasn’t aware there were any pegasi except Rainbow Dash that could break the sound barrier.”

“I can’t maintain faster-than-sound flight. I end up fluctuating between faster and slower, which leads to the repeated booms you heard, and I can’t get to that point without the enchantments on my armour and wing.” She explained. “Plus like Tender Care said, it’s a really stupid move.”

“So why do it?”

“Outside of a town, we’d have just kept wearing it down. Risks more collateral damage but avoids getting one of us too badly injured. But in Ponyville, that collateral damage could have been a pony. We couldn’t risk that.”

“I see. Well, we’ve at least got that in common. Willing to put ourselves in harm’s way to save others.” Skies nodded at his words.

“It’s not fun, if it was fun it wouldn’t be right.”

“You are once again correct.” He glanced up out of the chariot again. “We’ll be arriving shortly, get ready.

“Yay more walking, I can’t wait.” She wiggled her hooves and winced. “Ow…”

Mercifully, Shining Armour had arranged for a pair of hospital beds to be waiting for Skies and Shield, sparing the two injured ponies from walking. “So, what do they already know?” Asked Skies as they waited outside the doors to the throne room, looking over to Shining Armour.

“Everything you’ve already told us, including Rainbow Dash’s situation.” Rainbow for her part was looking around anxiously, checking the bandages on her leg. The corridor was empty save for the Elements, the Order ponies, and a select few guards.

“Right.” Skies nodded, wincing as she moved her shoulder. “Ok, promise me something. When we’re done here please someone just dose me up to my eyeballs in painkillers I hurt so bucking much.” She whined. Shining sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Fine, we’ll get you some pain relief,” he glanced at one of the Royal Guard as they nodded. “They’re ready for us now.” The doors opened, and the group walked in, Skies helped along by the guard medic. At the far end of the throne room, the Royal Sisters sat in adjacent thrones, Cadence sat just off to Celestia’s side in a throne of her own, whilst on Luna’s side sat a batpony stallion in dark blue armour. Skies walked ahead with Shining Armour, watching each Princess’ reaction. Celestia’s almost went unnoticed, the slight crease of concern around her eyes, whilst Luna remained totally impassive. However, Cadence’s reaction was far more noticeable, a hoof covering her mouth as she spotted Skies, whilst the batpony looked impressed, to only mild surprise from Skies. “Princesses, Major Aurora. Presenting Desert Skies.” Shining saluted the four ponies before stepping to one side.

“Thank you, Captain Armour.” Luna spoke first, the only Princess to return his salute. She turned back to Skies with an appraising eye, Cadence having remembered her manners and sitting neutrally once again. “Desert Skies, We must say that when We heard that a barghest was slain by a mere four ponies, We could scarce believe our ears. And the tales that accompanied stretched our belief further. However, seeing thou before us, We are more inclined to trust the tales. Yet, We believe there is more to be told of thine ‘Order’. So please, enlighten us.” All the ponies in the room looked to Skies expectantly. The mare sighed, nodding after a moment.

“Alright then. I’m no historian, so this’ll be the short version, just what everyone in the Order knows. It all started long before Equestria; there was a war. A vicious civil war brought about by a being far beyond the understanding of mere mortals. The war grew and grew, dragging other nations in, all spurred on by the being that started it, until other powerful beings were forced to intervene. Monsters and worse were set loose upon the world, and out of the death and the violence rose the Order of the Broken Crown. We couldn’t restore what had been lost, but we could put an end to the madness, and save that which was left. Ultimately, we were successful, the monsters were driven back, the beings that caused the Old World to fall were imprisoned, the weapons and magics of the Old World were locked away, and the Order disappeared into the shadows.

“It was agreed from the start that the Order of the Broken Crown would have no part in governing the world, our duty was to safeguard, not to rule, and knowledge of our Order’s existence would only tempt the newly emerging nations to try and gain access to the tools of the Old World. So, we did our duty in secrecy, protecting the New World from the perils of the Old, and I like to think we’ve made a very good showing of it.” She smiled. “Nowadays the Order recruits members from every nation on the planet, from all walks of life.” She cleared her throat as she stopped, looking to one of the guards. “Could I get some water? My throat’s dry after everything that’s happened today.” The guard looked to Shining Armour, who nodded, the guard walking out to fetch the requested water.

“An interesting tale, Desert Skies.” Celestia spoke. “The war you mentioned, does it have a name?”

“We call it the End of Innocence, but I’m not sure what the war was called in its day.”

“I have a question,” Cadence started carefully. “If your Order is dedicated to defeating monsters, then I have to ask, where were you during the Changeling invasion? Or when Discord terrorised Equestria?” Shining Armour grimaced slightly, while the Sisters remained impassive.

“Two good questions. To answer the first, the Order does not interfere with political strife unless influenced by the Old World. The Changeling invasion was based purely on a Changeling Queen’s own naked ambition, no external influence. As I’ve said, the Order does not exist to rule. Besides, you won in the end, and even if the forces at Canterlot had failed to carry the day, I have no doubt that Princess Luna would have seen Chrysalis off. We are fully aware of her martial prowess from records of the Lunar Rebellion.” Skies suppressed her smirk as Luna flinched. “As for Discord, we were very much aware of what was happening, but against a being like Discord there’s not a lot we could have done, and you had the Elements. Besides, we try not to interfere if the victims are capable of taking care of the problem; it’s easier to stay hidden that way.”

“And where is your Order based?” Asked Major Aurora.

“Everywhere. We have bases, safe houses, camps, and outposts all over the world.”

“You don’t have a centralised headquarters?” He pressed, raising an eyebrow.

“We do,” Skies replied after a moment of silence.

“Could you tell us the location of this headquarters, please?” Asked Celestia, causing Skies to cough out a laugh.

“Oh, absolutely not. Sorry, but when you good-as arrest us, slap suppressors on my unicorn friends, and march me up here to be questioned despite my injuries, I’m not particularly inclined to spill one of the Order’s greatest secrets just because you asked nicely.” She grinned defiantly as Princess Luna bristled, the guards in the room tensing. “I’m happy to continue answering questions, but I won’t betray the Order. Plus the longer I’m kept not dosed up on painkillers the worse my manners are going to get because I am in a lot of pain if you hadn’t noticed.” Silence filled the room as the Princesses glanced between each other, before Celestia nodded.

“Very well, Desert Skies. We will resume your questioning at a later date. For the time being, you and Shield will be treated in the castle infirmary, and your friends will be shown to guest quarters. Your equipment will not be returned to you just yet, however. We still know too little to trust you with them.”

“Fair enough. I expect you want to talk to the Element Bearers as well, so this is well timed.” She smirked as Luna nodded to Shining Armour, who then motioned to the guards, and the Order ponies were escorted out of the throne room. “Well that was fun.” She said to Shield, who shook his head.

“You shouldn’t taunt the Princesses like that, Skies.”

“Oh lighten up, Shield. They need the sticks up their arses wiggled every once in a while.” Her crass remark elicited a stifled snort from Cirrus, Hooves, and one of the guards, earning said guard a dirty look from the others. “Now, to make this pain finally bucking stop!” She cheered as she was escorted to the infirmary. Oh this is going to be a pain to explain to Master I can already tell.”

Author's Note

Chapter seven, and we get to see Skies' team take down a monster!

Chapter 8 - Explanations

Celestia watched as the five ponies from the Order were escorted out, feeling strangely off-balance for the first time in a long while. “Sister?” Celestia looked over to Luna as her whispered voice reached her. “You are unsettled.” Practically invisible to anypony save Luna, Celestia’s normally perfect mask had slipped; a tiny creasing around the eyes, a slight downward curve of the mouth, and a miniscule furrow of her brows.

“Ah, forgive me sister.” Celestia shook her head slightly, her perfect mask settling back into place as she whispered. “I am just unused to seeing a pony so scarred and still so eager to fight.” She looked back to the closing doors, struggling not to frown. “It’s not something that I often encounter in Equestria, certainly not recently.” Luna stared intently at her for a moment, making a humming noise in the back of her throat before looking back to the Element Bearers.

“My little ponies, we have much to discuss.” Luna gracefully stood from her throne and walked down to the six mares, focusing on Rainbow Dash. Celestia and Cadence were not far behind, Major Aurora following behind the Princesses. “Firstly, Rainbow Dash. We cannot begin to express how truly sorry we are for the events that have befallen you. We realise the question may be trite, however we must ask; how are you feeling?” Rainbow blinked, swallowing and looking up at the Princess, slightly surprised by the genuinely sorrowful expression on Luna’s face.

“Um, well…” She rubbed her foreleg nervously, looking back down. “I… I’m still taking it all in. This is just… Way bigger than I expected. Evil alicorns, monster-hunting ponies, ancient Orders. It just… It feels like a Daring Do book, almost. Except, this is real.” She waggled her bandaged leg, wings shifting anxiously behind her. Luna nodded sympathetically.

“Understandable. Do not be afraid to lean on your friends in times like this; We know better than most how damaging an unsettled mind can be.” She gave a rare smile to the mares, looking to the side as Celestia moved next to Luna, matching her smile.

“I already have ponies looking into this for anyway to help you, Rainbow Dash. We will help you however we can.” Rainbow nodded, swallowing, a lump in her throat refusing to disappear.

“Thank you, Princesses.”

“In the meantime,” Luna said, looking at each mare in turn. “There is the matter of this Order, and this Marabas. We are interested in your impressions of these ponies.” She looked to Applejack as she began speaking.

“Well, they’re honest about their jobs at least.” Applejack nodded, thinking about each pony in turn. “They’re dedicated, hard workers, and they’re willin’ to put themselves in harm’s way to protect other ponies, so they can’t be that bad, ah don’t reckon. Spent a little time with Hooves, he’s honest enough and likes to lend a hoof.” The Princesses nodded, looking to Twilight.

“Shield is definitely powerful, and is candid about his ability as a fighter. He’s nice enough, but I get the impression he doesn’t do much socialising; he’s very quiet in large groups. Though, I guess that makes sense given what his job is supposed to be.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “He seems to enjoy teaching; he was more than happy to fill me in on some things and answered my questions with more detail than I really expected.”

“Tender Care is super nice!” Pinkie interjected, skipping in place. “She’s really really good with foals! And she’s a nurse so that must mean she loves helping ponies! Oh, oh and she likes to bake cakes! She said she did it all the time when she worked as a paramedic!” Celestia chuckled at Pinkie’s exuberant opinion, nodding to her before looking to Rainbow Dash.

“Cirrus is alright. Good at reading ponies, I think. He’s pretty blunt, but he’s loyal to his friends. I kinda feel like he’s been there the longest other than maybe Shield. He just seems more… Reserved than the rest of them, I guess.” Rainbow shrugged, struggling to find the words for her thoughts. “His cold weather talent is interesting, and from what he was saying he’s good at high altitudes, and they’re not easy to fly in.”

“I think I understand,” said Celestia, smiling encouragingly.

“Desert Skies is… Intense,” Rarity began, looking uncertain as she fiddled with her hooves. “Of all of them, she worries me the most. I’m sure you’ve seen how she moves? It just sets me on edge. And she’s nice enough, certainly, but I definitely get the impression of something… Feral about that mare. The rest of them aren’t nearly as scarred as she is, and none of them act in the same way. When the others spoke about what they did, none of them seemed as… Proud of it.” She glanced nervously at the doors before continuing. “And, I didn’t want to mention this when she was here, but when I was measuring her for clothes, I found some scars under her fur around her neck, rough like a string.” The Princesses’ eyes widened, Luna and Celestia sharing a glance.

“That sounds worryingly like a ligature scar.” Looking at the confused faces on the Bearers, Luna continued. “The kind of scar one would get from being hanged by the neck.” The six of them recoiled in horror, each of them feeling uncomfortably around their necks. “We do wonder how she acquired a scar like that…”

“They’re all dangerous…” Fluttershy said quietly. “I-in their own ways. I-I think Desert Skies and Shield might be the most dangerous, though. Shield is very dedicated, and I think he’d hurt ponies to do what he thinks is right. And Skies… She’s a predator. Ponies shouldn’t be like that…” She shivered, Rainbow pulling her into a hug. Fluttershy whimpered before clinging to Rainbow as Celestia and Luna shared a look.

“I see.” Celestia said thoughtfully. “Thank you, all of you. You’ve all earnt some time to rest; I’ll have a room prepared. Now, Rainbow.” The mare blinked, looking at Celestia. “I imagine your family is worried about you. We’ll tell them you’ve been found. However, beyond that is up to you. If you wish to see them, or take some more time to process events, that is your decision..”

“I… I’ll need to think about it. I think I need a little more time…” Fluttershy gave her a comforting squeeze as Rainbow’s head dropped again.

“I understand.” Celestia nodded, smiling reassuringly. “In the meantime, I imagine you must be hungry? I’ll have breakfast sent to the room. These guards will show you there.” A pair of guards entered the room via a side passage. “We will talk more later, but only once you are ready.” As the Element Bearers filed out, Luna turned to Celestia, opening her mouth to speak once the door closed.

“Sister, you seem to have forgotten yourself,” she said with a slight frown. “You say you are no longer used to ponies similar to these Order ponies, but We very clearly remember a time when we both commanded entire armies of such ponies.”

“Luna, that was a thousand years ago. Equestria has changed; we no longer need soldiers like that.” Celestia sighed, her wings and head slumping as she turned to Luna.

“And yet every word they spoke was truth. The Changeling invasion has revealed failings within our guard, and our neighbours grow more and more powerful. Perhaps it is time to address the matter of our soldiers, a reform is long overdue.” Celestia mulled over Luna's words, before conceding the point with a nod.

“I suppose. You always had a better head for military matters, Luna.” Celestia smiled.

“You’ll have a hard time convincing the old duffers,” Major Aurora chimed in with the East Trottingham accent common to batponies. “Getting them to do anything differently is a challenge,” he added, distaste clear in his voice.

“Be that as it may, We will not sit idle and let our defenders decline further,” Luna replied. “Captain, Major. We expect reports on the rank structure and systems of promotion for our neighbouring nations by the end of the week. We also expect readiness and equipment reports from each regiment as soon as possible. It is long past time for some changes.”

The guest chambers were just as grand as any other room in the palace, save for perhaps the throne room itself. A large white-walled room formed the majority, with a number of side rooms with beds. To one side sat a large, dark wood table with chairs arranged around it, at which the Element Bearers ate breakfast. As the other Bearers contentedly munched away at the breakfast spread provided by the castle’s kitchens, Rainbow sat staring at her new claw, having removed the bandage as it was beginning to cramp, watching the light play across her new, shiny scales. “Y’aint hungry, Dash?” Rainbow blinked, looking to Applejack as the farmer’s voice dragged her out of her daydreaming.

“Sorry, just… Distracted I guess.” Frowning, she gently tried picking up a slice of toast with her claws, fumbling slightly. “This is weird, not having a hoof…” She eventually got a good grip, and started munching thoughtfully on the toast.

“I must admit, I am curious as to what the Princesses have planned for Skies and her group,” Rarity said, sipping her tea and hoping to distract Dash again. “Twilight? You’re the closest to Princess Celestia of us all. Any ideas, dear?” Twilight frowned, setting her tea down as her brow furrowed in thought.

“Well… I doubt she’s going to be happy about the Order. A largely unknown organisation with access to arcane secrets and training ponies to such an extent that they can take on monsters like the one that attacked Ponyville?” She shook her head. “Then again, they are, apparently, Equestrian citizens so they aren’t strictly here illegally. So they can’t be deported, but what if she exiles them? She could exile the entire Order but I doubt that would stop them continuing to hunt monsters within Equestria, plus how would you tell Order ponies from normal ones?” She looked at the others. “Except for Skies, would you really be able to tell any of them apart from normal ponies if you didn’t know?” Not waiting for a response, she looked back down at her hooves as she shuffled them on the table. “She might imprison them until they tell us more. That might be the most sensible thing…” She jumped a little as Applejack leant over to nudge her, turning to look at the farmer.

“You were ramblin’ there, Twi’,” she said with a smile.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just… This Order, there’s so much we could learn from them! Imagine if they have a complete history from the founding of the Order!” Twilight clapped her hooves together in excitement, grinning at the prospect of a complete history of early Equestria and what came before it. “I mean, I understand why Princess Celestia omitted Nightmare Moon from the history books, but actually learning about what happened!”

“Alright partner, we get the idea.” Applejack tried to get Twilight to calm down with a pat on the shoulder. “We still don’t know if they’re willin’ to share, though.” Twilight opened her mouth to reply, before closing it and deflating slightly.

“You’re right. And if Princess Celestia imprisons them then they probably won’t share.” She pouted slightly, fiddling with her hooves again before jumping as Pinkie gasped.

“Wait but if they’re in prison then they can’t help Dashie!” She shouted, looking at the former pegasus. “We can’t let the Princesses lock them away!”

“That’s… Actually quite a good point.” Rarity nodded in support of Pinkie. “They very well could refuse to help us if those five are imprisoned. Is there anything we can do to prevent that?”

“We could talk to the Princesses, that’s the most we can really do.” Twilight sighed. “Besides, I’m sure they’ve considered that possibility already.” Twilight looked at Rainbow, offering an encouraging smile as Rainbow deflated further. “Rainbow, it’s going to be ok. We promise, right girls?” The others nodded eagerly, each smiling at Rainbow Dash.

“Thanks girls…”

“Come on, let’s finish breakfast and go find the Princesses!” Pinkie was interrupted by the door opening, Princess Celestia walking in with a smile.

“Hello my little ponies.” The Bearers stood to greet her, all of them returning her warm smile. “I see breakfast went down well.”

“Yea, the castle kitchen’s as good as I remember.” Rainbow managed a grin.

“I’m very glad to hear it. Now, if we’re all ready, I’d like to address some possible concerns.” She sat at the table, pouring herself a cup of tea as the Bearers sat down again. “Firstly, despite my reservations regarding the Order of the Broken Crown, I will not be making a judgement on the group yet, nor will I be imprisoning the five ponies known to be part of this Order. It’s clear that we need to learn more about them before we decide how to proceed. To that end, I would like you all to befriend them and find out what you can about them.”

“Of course, Princess!” Twilight chirped happily, smiling broadly. The other mares nodded with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

“Thank you, my little ponies. I know this may not be the ideal time for all of this, however if even half of what they have said is true then we need to know more.” She paused to take another sip of her tea, letting the mares absorb what she’d said. “Now, I was going to start with Miss Desert Skies, the doctors should have a report ready. Mister Shield is also in the infirmary. Would any of you like to accompany me?” The Bearers glanced between one another, frowning.

“Ah think ah’d like to go talk to Hooves and Cirrus,” said Applejack. “Not sure ah can help with those two.”

“I think Fluttershy and I will speak with Tender Care,” Rarity chimed in, moving closer to Fluttershy. The pegasus smiled gratefully at Rarity.

“Oh oh, I want to share recipes with Tender!” Pinkie bounced in place.

“Guess Twi’ and I will see Skies and Shield?” Rainbow looked at Twilight, the unicorn nodding back with a smile.

“In that case, the three Order ponies not in the infirmary are in another set of guest quarters, the guards will show you there.” A pair of guards entered the room, standing to attention. Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie followed the two guards out, leaving Celestia, Rainbow and Twilight alone in the room. “So, shall we?” The two mares nodded, standing to follow her, Rainbow wrapping the bandages around her claw again.

The trio walked to the castle infirmary, shadowed by guardsponies. The castle was notably absent of visitors; typically, petitioners, guests, or simply ponies loitering around the castle to make themselves look more important could be found around the corridors, but today save for the guards and a few staff, the hallways were empty. The trio soon arrived outside the infirmary. “We’ll be meeting with Doctor Strings first. The infirmary should have completed their initial checks,” Celestia told Twilight and Rainbow as they walked into the infirmary. A unicorn stallion with a light blue coat and a yellow mane met them, a stethoscope around his neck. “Twilight, Rainbow, meet Doctor Strings.”

“Princess Celestia.” He nodded deeply to her. “Twilight, Rainbow. Welcome to the infirmary.” He gestured around at the sterile, white walls. “Am I to assume Twilight and Rainbow have clearance for this?” At Celestia’s nod, he nodded and continued. “Now, regarding the two ‘special interest’ ponies, I think it would be best to discuss in my office. Shall we?” He gestured with a hoof, turning to lead the three of them. Doctor Strings’ office was fairly simply, a placard on the door read ‘Dr Tense Strings, MD’, and beyond the door the office featured a wide desk, chairs for visitors, a few framed, official-looking scrolls on the walls, and a few filing cabinets. “My apologies, Princess, I’m not sure I have a chair suitable for you.”

“It’s quite alright; I spend most of my day sitting. I don’t mind standing from time to time.” She chuckled. Strings nodded gratefully back, gesturing for the other two to sit as Strings went around his desk and picked up a pair of folders in his magic.

“These are the notes on Desert Skies and Shield.” He set one folder back down, opening the second. “Starting with Shield.” He cleared his throat and began to read out the contents of the folder. “Unicorn stallion, thirty years of age. Displaying symptoms of magical fatigue, largely recovered. Physical injuries; minor burns, moderate contusions, multiple lacerations, severe puncture wounds to the left shoulder and chest, a fracture in the right tibia. Three fractured ribs, one break, and some internal bleeding. All in all, he’s lucky that somepony was on hand to tend to his injuries shortly after receiving them. The more severe injuries have been tended to; stitches, signs of magical healing, and the bandages. As for anything else, I haven’t been able to find any records on Mister Shield, so I have no idea about his history, blood type, or pre-existing conditions.” He set the file down.

“It appears that ‘Shield’ is an alias, or a new name. In any case, it’s not the name he was assigned at birth.” Said Celestia.

“That would explain it.” He nodded, picking up the other folder. “Now, as for Miss Skies, we were able to find her records. Pegasus mare, twenty three years of age.” Twilight and Dash blinked, surprised at her young age. “Born to Cloudy Skies, a pegasus mare, the father is unknown. Physical injuries; multiple lacerations, extensive contusions, sprained shoulders, sprained wing muscles. Pre-existing injuries of note are her missing eye and missing wing, along with numerous wounds that have healed. The eye socket itself is almost totally destroyed, and the wing has been replaced with an advanced prosthetic. We’re not sure how it works, or the metal it’s made of, but we know it works off magic, and that the wing shoulder has been reinforced with the same metal, presumably to ensure the wing doesn’t come free. She’s currently unconscious; she fell asleep shortly after pain relief was administered.”

“Thank you, Doctor. Your thoughts?” Strings looked at Celestia, thinking deeply as he tapped his hooves together.

“Both of them are physically strong, and clearly used to fighting. Shield has a very large magical reserve, and based on the reports you made available, Princess, he is adept with high-level combat magic. We haven’t gotten a reading on Desert Skies yet thanks to her injuries. As for her past injuries, some of them are potential causes for alarm. Most of them are likely to have been caused by animal attacks or by collisions, however some of them are almost certainly the result of magical attacks and weaponry. In addition there are the scars around her neck, which I have confirmed to be ligature scars. Based on these scars, Miss Skies has been involved in numerous violent confrontations with other ponies or other sentient beings. Unfortunately, that’s all I can tell you about either pony at this time. We haven’t had time for full-body scans, and the only reason I can legally say any of this is because of your authority, Princess. To reveal anything more would require a royal warrant to be issued, otherwise doctor-patient confidentiality prevents me from going further.”

“I understand, thank you Doctor.” Celestia nodded with a smile.

“As for Shield, he is currently awake if you wish to speak with him?” At the nodding of the three mares, Strings stood to lead them. “He’s in one of the private rooms, currently.” He led them out of his office and into the infirmary proper, walking to one of the doors along the left side of the room and opening the door. Shield’s room was a typical hospital room; sterile and cold, with a machine beeping away in the corner. The unicorn in question was lying in a bed with fresh bandages and an IV drip. He looked up as the door opened.

“Princess, Twilight, Rainbow.” He gave them a small smile. “I take it this isn’t just a social visit?”

“I am afraid not, though it is good to see you are being well cared for. How are you feeling?”

“Itchy, but this bed is comfortable, thank you. So, how can I help you?”

“I believe Miss Skies has already made your position on revealing anything more very clear, but the fact of the matter remains that there is a hostile alicorn loose within Equestria, and a largely unknown paramilitary group operating across national borders. I cannot simply ignore that. As such, I would like to request a meeting with your leader at the earliest opportunity.” Shield frowned, tapping his chin with a hoof.

“Hmm… I can certainly talk to him. I can’t guarantee he’ll meet you, however. We haven’t had official contact with any rulers in… Well, ever, as far as I know.” Celestia nodded. “How’s Skies? I didn’t see the stunt she pulled, but I heard the booms. She hasn’t seriously hurt herself, has she?” The ponies in the room turned to Doctor Strings.

“She’ll be fine. A few sprains, strains, and bruises are, surprisingly, the worst of it. Nothing some rest won’t fix.” Shield nodded gratefully, before looking to Celestia as she spoke again.

“In recognition of your actions in Ponyville, rescuing Rainbow Dash in the Everfree, and your cooperation with us, my sister and I have decided not to arrest you or your companions. However, your equipment will not be returned to you just yet, and we will need to assign escorts. You will have, more or less, free movement within Canterlot and the surrounding area, but you will be accompanied by guards.”

“I guess that’s fair, I’d do the same in your position,” Shield said, relaxing back into the pillows. Celestia nodded.

“I’m glad you agree. In that case, I must take my leave. The nobles are going to be furious that I’ve postponed Court this long.” She left the room, followed shortly by Doctor Strings, leaving Shield alone with Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

“So um, Shield?” Twilight started. Shield looked at her, raising an eyebrow. “I was wondering… This ‘Order of the Broken Crown’? Well, I’ve been studying this ancient book, translating it really, and the book includes the phrase ‘Broken Crown’ a few times.” Shield frowned at that information.

“Does the book have a name?” Twilight nodded, levitating a parchment out of her saddlebags.

“I haven’t been able to translate the name yet, but this is a copy of the text on the front cover and the spine.” Shield looked over the parchment, his frown deepening, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Well, looks like you’ve found a book of Old World history. Congratulations.” Master is definitely going to want to look at that…

“You recognise the title?!” Twilight squee’d happily, clapping her hooves. “How old is it?! Who’s the author?!” Shield recoiled as Twilight got right in his face.

“Ok, I don’t know that much about it. I know the language is Fallian, but that’s about it.” Twilight tilted her head, confused.

“Fallian?”

“The language of one of the Old World kingdoms. As Skies said, none of us five are historians, so we can’t tell you much more than that.” Twilight nodded, deflating in disappointment.

“I suppose I can understand that… I was just hoping for a breakthrough…” Shield chuckled.

“Hey, chin up. The fact that you’ve actually managed to translate some of it means you’re making a lot more progress than a lot of ponies could.” He smiled at her. “So, where are the others?”

“They’re talking to Hooves, Tender and Cirrus.” Shield chuckled at that, imagining Cirrus trying to deal with Pinkie.

“And how’re you holding up, Rainbow Dash?” He turned to look at Rainbow, catching her off-guard.

“Still… Processing. I’m just trying not to think about it too much.”

“Fair enough,” Shield said, before yawning and blinking. “These pain killers really knock you out, wow. I don’t mean to be rude, but I think I’m about to fall asleep. You should go to your friends before Cirrus causes a scene.” He chuckled, closing his eyes. Twilight and Rainbow shared a look before leaving the room, closing the door quietly.

“Come on Dash, we should meet back up with the girls.”

“Yeah, right behind you…”

Author's Note

Chapter 8, and we're starting to learn a little more about the Order!

Chapter 5 - Reunion

“So, you alright with the plan?” Skies asked Applejack, after her and Rainbow Dash had finally separated.

“I’d be lyin’ if ah said ah was ‘alright’ with it, but ah get why we’re doin’ things this way.” Applejack sighed. “So, at the party we round up the others and once things quiet down, we bring them out to the barn where this lot will be waitin’? Oh, and whilst the others are meetin’ with Rainbow, ah’ll let my family know that ya’ll be stayin’ in the barn for the night.”

“That’s the gist of it, yeah. Thanks for letting us use the barn, by the way," Skies said with a nod.

“Don’t mention it. Y'all saved Rainbow, couldn’t just leave y'all under the stars after that.” Skies chuckled.

“Eh, we’re used to roughing it. Still, thanks. Ready to go?” Applejack nodded, smiling at Rainbow who had donned her cloak again. “Good. Lemme just sort my things.” Applejack nodded again, sitting patiently as she watched Skies remove her saddlebags, then her axe and dagger.

“Wait, you were carryin’ weapons that whole time?” Applejack gawked at her.

“Hmm? Oh, these? Force of habit. I’m used to places much rougher than Ponyville.” She looked over and sighed as she saw Applejack’s disapproving expression. “Alright, I’m sorry, but I mean it, it’s hard for ponies like us to ‘switch off’. I promise I’ll tell you more later, but look, I’m leaving these here, ok? And the cloak, no way for me to hide weapons.” Applejack looked at her for a second before giving a slow nod.

“Alright, ah’ll trust ya, Skies.” Skies nodded and smiled, taking off and passing her cloak to Hooves. “… Land sakes Skies, and ah thought the eye and ear was goin’ to be the end of it.” Applejack looked Skies over, eyes widening again at the scars littering Skies’ fur. “Looks like y'all’ve been pickin’ fights with thorn bushes your whole life.” Skies tensed, but relaxed when Applejack didn’t stare at her wing.

“Heh, you’re not far wrong. But, as I said, questions later, ok?”

“Right. We’d best get a move on or we’re goin’ to be late.” Skies nodded, rolling her shoulders.

“Lead on.” Applejack nodded, looking at Rainbow again.

“It’s goin’ to be alright, Rainbow. Ah promise, we’re goin’ to fix this.” Rainbow gave her a small smile and nodded, her eyes red and puffy from the crying. Applejack gave her an encouraging smile before trotting back towards town, Skies following behind her. Once they were into the trees of Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack looked over at Skies. “Interestin’ cutie-mark ya got there. Doesn’t look much like an explorin’ one. In fact, ah know ya aint just explorers.”

“No? What gave it away?” Skies smirked.

“Well for one, yer friends were wearin’ armour and carryin’ weapons. Second, the way ya walk. I’ve been livin’ near the Everfree for long enough to see some of what comes out of there, and ya carry yerself like some of the predators in there. Almost like a timberwolf.” Skies blinked, looking back at herself as she considered what Applejack said.

True, I do walk with a longer, loping stride, but that’sjust more energy efficient over long distances, and the broad stance helps me move silently. The slightly lowered head is just a habit from monster hunting, and… “Ok, yea I’ll give you that one. Never really thought about that.” She looked back at Applejack, making a conscious effort to keep her head at a normal height. “Like a timberwolf, huh? I think I like it.”

“Third reason's that sorta talkin’. Most ponies don't like bein' compared to predators. And reason four, those muscles aren’t just from walkin’ and hikin’.”

“Muscles? Have you been checking me out behind my back, Applejack?” She teased, chuckling.

“Ya know what ah mean.” She snorted. “Ya look stronger than a lot of the Guards ah’ve seen.”

“I’ll take that as another compliment. And you’re quite right, we’re more than ‘just’ explorers. I said I’d answer those questions when all your friends are together, and that includes questions about my scars.”

“Right, right.” Applejack nodded, looking back ahead to Ponyville. “Ya know, despite everythin’ I’m glad ya came to Ponyville. Pinkie’s been real down, and it’s nice to see her out of her funk. Ah know she’ll be better when she sees Dash again, even with… Yeah.”

“Glad to hear it. The hoof going to be a problem with any of them?” Applejack shook her head vigorously.

“Ah know it won’t. We’ve been through too much to let anythin’ come between us.” Applejack nodded with confidence.

“Glad to hear it. Friends are precious.” Skies said, her shoulders slumping.

“Ya alright there, sugar?”

“Yeah, just… This is the first time I’ve really been able to relax in months, and even then I have to define this as ‘relaxing’. Plus the talk of friends, and being in a place like this.” She looked around Ponyville as they approached the town. “Reminds me of how few real friends I actually have. Sure, I know plenty of people, but I rarely spend any time with anypony except the four back there. Even Shield I don’t see too often.”

“That sounds pretty hard.” Applejack gave her a sympathetic look. “Gotta wonder what it is ya do for that to be worth it.”

“In due time, Applejack, in due time.” Skies' chuckle came out somewhat hollow. “So, the party. Where’s it being held and what can I expect?”

“It’ll be in Sugarcube Corner, and expect music, lots of ponies, party food and maybe some games.”

“Oh wonderful. Sounds claustrophobic.”

“Y'all scared of tight spaces?”

“Not scared, I just have some bad experiences in them. And the most important question; will there be booze?” At that, Applejack only grinned. “Perfect.” By the time they got to Sugarcube Corner, the party sounded like it was in full-swing. “That’s a lot of ponies in there… Why are there so many?”

“Pinkie’s parties are somethin’ else, and ah think everyone needs to relax a little. Plus ya made a bit of an impression when ya came into town. What did ya expect? Lone scarred mare in a cloak moseys into town out of the Everfree?

“… Fair point. After you.” She gestured with a hoof to the door.

“Well thank ya kindly.” Applejack smiled, trotting up and opening the door. “Pinkie Pie! I’ve got Desert Skies here!” Skies rolled her eyes and followed her inside, only for her vision to be once again filled with pink hair and blue eyes. A plush parrot perched on the pink mare’s shoulder.

“There you are! You’re late, silly! Come on, this way this way!” Skies blinked, finding herself being dragged inside before Pinkie put a hoof around her shoulders. “Hey everypony!” Skies winced as Pinkie started shouting next to her ear. “This is Desert Skies, the new pony in town!” Skies tensed as everypony turned to face the newcomer. Her brain stalled briefly as she realised that most of the guests were dressed up as pirates. Most of the ponies waved with a chorus of ‘Hello Desert Skies!’ being shouted, but even stunned as she was Skies didn’t miss the wary and shocked glances directed her way.

Have these ponies really never seen a scar before? And why is everypony dressed as a pirate? Skies slowly turned to Pinkie, who was grinning ear to ear at her. That’s… Unsettling. “Um, Pinkie was it? Pinkie, why is everyone dressed as a pirate?”

“Because you’re our new pirate friend, silly!” Pinkie explained like it was the most obvious thing in existence.

“Right… Except I’m not a pirate," Skies said slowly, drawing each word out.

“Well of course you are, silly filly. Why else would you be wearing an eyepatch?”

“… Because I only have one eye?” Skies blinked, her head slowly tilting over to one side, her bafflement with the pink creature only growing.

“… Oh! Wait, you’re suuuuure you’re not a pirate?” Pinkie squinted at her suspicious.

“Er, yes. I’m not a pirate.”

“Oh. Well, it’s too late to change the theme now! So we will make! This! Work!” Skies leant back as Pinkie leant closer with each word, flinching as Pinkie placed a bicorn hat on her head before dashing off into the crowd.

“I…” She looked helplessly over at Applejack, who had found a skull and crossbones bandana from somewhere. “… What even..?”

“That’s Pinkie for ya, best if you don’t think too hard about it. Come on, ah’ll introduce ya to the girls. And get you a drink, ya look like ya need one.”

“You are correct.” Skies nodded, sticking close to Applejack as she was led into the crowd towards the buffet table. A few of the ponies gave Skies a good amount of room, and even the more relaxed ones were very careful to avoid touching her. Applejack might be onto something with the ‘predator’ thing. Unless it’s the scars. Could be both. Ignoring them for now, Skies focused on getting to the buffet table.

“Looks like Pinkie got the drinks after all. Any preference?”

“Stronger the better, though I doubt anything strong's going by the bottle here, so just hit me with anything.” Applejack nodded, passing her a bottle of beer from Trottingham, judging by the label. Applejack used the edge of the table to pop the cap off, whilst Skies just popped it off with her teeth. “Cheers.” She took a swig after clinking her bottle against Applejack’s. “So, who’s first?”

“Easiest to get to is Rares. Come on.” Skies nodded, following once again as Applejack made a beeline for the white unicorn. “Hey Rares!”

“Applejack, there you are! And Skies- Oh, oh my,” her eyes widened a little. “That’s- Sorry, I’m being terribly rude.” Rarity’s ears pressed flat against her skull as she apologised.

“Don’t worry. Let me guess, more scars than you expected?”

“Well, to be perfectly candid, yes. I knew you were roguish, but even so… Did all that happen in the Everfree?”

“Not all of it, no. I’ve picked up most of them on my travels.”

“I see… And I must say, dear, you carry that athletic figure very well. A little over-muscular than ideal for my work, perhaps, but regardless I’m positive I can create something spectacular for you to wear!”

“I, thank you? And you’d just make me something to wear?” Skies found her head tilting over for the second time.

“Well of course! I am a clothes designer after all, and after seeing what you were wearing on your way into town I must insist that you let me create something for you.”

“Yes, I remember you mentioning.” She nodded, taking a sip of her beer.

“Oh, Rares, is Twi’ here?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, yes. Poor dear’s been running herself ragged organising the search. Spike had to drag her here so she could cool off a little.” Skies turned her sip into a swig to cover up her flinch, and Applejack nodded, coughing once.

“Y-yeah. Listen Rares, Skies needs to talk to the girls about somethin’ or other after the party. Can y'all meet us at the road to the farm afterwards?” Rarity blinked in surprise, looking uncertainly at Skies. “Not my place to say why, ‘fore you ask. But ah trust her in this. It’s important.” Rarity looked back at Applejack, and nodded.

“Alright, I’ll head there with the girls.”

“Thank ya Rares.” Applejack nodded, smiling. “Need to let the others know. Ya seen ‘Shy?”

“Fluttershy is being a wallflower as normal, I think Twilight is still with her. Lyra was going on about some gruesome pirate stories, and you know how Fluttershy gets.”

“I get ya. Come on, let’s go see them both.” The trio of mares worked their way through the crowd to a quieter corner, where a yellow pegasus was cowering behind her mane in the corner, a purple unicorn trying to comfort her. “Howdy Twi, ‘Shy!”

“Oh, hello Applejack, Rarity!” The unicorn waved and gave a weary smile.

“This is Desert Skies. Desert Skies, Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy.” Skies nodded and smiled to both mares. Twilight’s eyes widened a little as she saw Skies, and Fluttershy only whimpered behind her mane.

“Nice to meet you both.” Skies blinked, looking at Fluttershy. “Umm… Is she ok?”

“She’s decided she’s scared of pirates after what Lyra said.” Twilight shot a glare at a sheepish-looking sea-green unicorn.

“Oh. Well, if it makes her feel any better I’m not a pirate.”

“But, the eyepatch and the hat?” Twilight asked with a blink.

“I lost the other eye, and Pinkie gave me the hat.”

“Oh! That… Makes sense. Hear that Fluttershy, she’s not a pirate, you can come out.” The yellow pegasus shivered, before shakily peeking out from behind her mane and squeaking as she saw Skies.

“H-hello…” She whispered, barely audible over the noise of the party. “O-oh dear!” She quickly came out of her shell to inspect Skies’ scars. Skies for her part recoiled a little, but held still. “You need to take better care of yourself.” Fluttershy gently scolded her. “Some of these weren’t properly treated which is why they’ve scarred.” Applejack, Twilight and Rarity shared a surprised look as Fluttershy continued to gently scold Skies. “Next time you need to clean the wound properly and make sure you bandage it.” Fluttershy blinked once, before shrinking a little. “I-if you don’t mind, that is…”

“R-right, I’ll keep that in mind. Umm…” Skies looked to Applejack with a look that screamed ‘help’.

“Oh right. Girls, Skies needs to talk to us about somethin’ back at the farm after the party. It’s important, but she can’t talk about it here.”

“Tonight? I need to be up early tomorrow to keep organising the search…” Twilight muttered to herself.

“Twi, it’s real important. Y'all need to be there.” Twilight relented after a moment, nodding.

“Alright Applejack, if it’s important… We’ll be there, right Fluttershy?”

“O-oh, y-yes.” Fluttershy nodded.

“Great, now we just need to tell the pink one.”

“You mean Pinkie? She’s going to be a bit busy with the party for a while.” Twilight looked over at the party.

“Guess we’ll just have to wait.” Skies slid into a seat at the table, sipping her beer.

“Well, this party is meant to be about getting to know new ponies, so…” Twilight sat across from Skies, the other mares sitting as well. “Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself, Skies?”

“I’m not a fan of telling the same story twice in the same night, I’ll save my story for when Pinkie joins us. What about you four?”

Skies sat gawping at Twilight as she finished her story. Pinkie had eventually joined them after Applejack and Rarity finished, the four other ponies going before Twilight. “So wait. You’re Princess Celestia’s student. As in, the Princess Celestia? ‘Raises the sun’ Princess Celestia?” Skies asked incredulously.

“Yep, that’s me!” Skies stared for a moment, before slowly looking at Applejack accusatorily.

“Y'all’ve got no stones to throw in this glass house, missy.” Applejack grinned. “Yer the last pony to tell others off for not tellin’ everythin’.”

“You’ve got me there.” Skies begrudgingly relented. “Guess it’s my turn.” She said, changing the subject as the other mares looked between Skies and Applejack in confusion. “As you already know, I’m Desert Skies. I was born out in a border town near the Gryphon Kingdoms called Rocky Falls. Rougher than Ponyville, but it has its charms. My mother and little brother still live there, good folks. I ended up leaving town; got into too many fights. I know right, hard to believe the picture of innocence in front of you likes to fight?” She smirked, chuckling as the other mares exchanged looks. “So, yeah, the fight that made me leave town. I ended up picking a fight with another pegasus who'd just come into town. We knocked seven bells out of each other, even put him through a table, and after we recovered enough we got to talking once we’d both calmed down some, and I ended up leaving town to travel with him. He’s one of my best friends now, and we travel all over with a few other friends.”

“And you got all those scars from travelling?” Asked Rarity.

“Most of them, yea. One or two are from fights in Rocky Falls.”

“Does your family know where you are?” Fluttershy asked quietly, still half-hidden behind her mane.

“Not exactly. They know I’m alright though, I send them letters frequently.” Fluttershy nodded at her answer, giving a small smile.

“And where are your friends?” Asked Twilight.

“They’re nearby. Not in Ponyville, but I’ll be meeting up with them soon.” Twilight nodded.

“And you just came out of the Everfree? How long were you in there?”

“About eight months.” Said Skies, noticing that the other mares kept looking to Applejack, who was offering small nods.

“Eight months?” Squeaked Fluttershy. “I-isn’t that dangerous?”

“Give or take a month. What can I say, I’m a bit of a thrill-seeker.” She smirked as Twilight looked at her curiously.

“Do you mind if I ask about your cutie-mark?” Skies blinked, looking back at her flank, then back at Twilight.

“The story behind my cutie-mark is for another day, I think.” Twilight nodded, frowning slightly.

How does a pony get a mark like that? She wondered, thinking about the possible meaning behind Skies’ claw and arrow cutie-mark. After a few hours, the party was beginning to wind down, and eventually the last pony left, leaving the six mares at their table.

“Looks like everypony else has gone home. Hey Pinkie, mind if I grab whatever booze is left? It’s been far too long since my friends and I have gotten our hooves on any good drink.”

“Go ahead! I expected ponies to drink it all tonight!” Pinkie giggled as Skies nodded, collecting the few remaining bottles into a bag.

“You’re a diamond, Pinkie.” Pinkie giggle-snorted at that.

“Don’t be silly. I can’t be a diamond, I’m a pony!” Skies paused and blinked.

“I… Right, never mind. So, to the farm?” The other five mares responded in the affirmative, filing outside and waiting for Pinkie Pie to lock up before heading down the road to Sweet Apple Acres. “I’ll run ahead and take care of things. See you at the barn!” Skies dashed off ahead, taking to the skies. The other mares watched her, before turning to Applejack.

“I think, darling, that you have some explaining to do.” Said Rarity. Applejack swallowed and nodded.

“Yeah. Look, it’s complicated, and it’s really not my place to say. Ah promise y'all we’re safe though, ah wouldn’t lead you girls into danger. Just trust me on this on, ok?” The others relented after a moment, Fluttershy still looking scared.

“T-that mare scares me a bit… Reminds me of a timberwolf…” Rarity and Twilight looked at her curiously, Pinkie continuing to bounce along the road.

“Whatever do you mean, dear?” Asked Rarity. “I’ll admit she’s a bit… Wild, but a timberwolf?”

“No, ah get what she means, Rares,” said Applejack. “She moves a lot like one.”

“She’s definitely the kind of mare that Shiny would tell me to stay away from.” Twilight said slowly, frowning. “I get the impression she wasn’t telling us the whole truth.”

“Got that right, Twi, but she promised me that she’d fill us all in at the barn. Hard to lie to the Element of Honesty’s face.” The others nodded at that.

“Good point. Well, let’s not keep her waiting any longer.” Twilight paused, looking at Pinkie as she began vibrating violently. “Um, Pinkie? You ok?”

“I-I-I f-f-feel a d-doozy!” The mares all drew back.

“Another doozy?”

“Y-yup! A-at the b-barn!” Pinkie vibrated in place before starting to move up the path, buzzing along the road.

“We should get a move on, then. Come on girls!”

“Shield, we have a problem.” Said Skies, landing outside the barn and trotting in. Shield looked up from the magic light he’d conjured in the barn.

“Big?”

“Big. One of the Bearers is the personal student of Princess Celestia.” Shield blinked, his eyes widening as the other ponies in the barn looked over, before all eyes turned to Dash’s hiding place.

“Eheh, guess I forgot to mention that…” Came the quiet, embarrassed reply. Shield facehooved.

“Horseapples. That makes things complicated. Right, one problem at a time. They on their way?”

“Should be here any minute. Oh, and I picked these up.” Skies passed the bottles around. “Trottingham beer.” The hunters perked up at the mention of beer, gratefully taking the bottles and cracking them open.

“Right, this has to go off properly then. Dash, you ready?”

“Ready as I’m ever gonna be…”

“Good enough for me. Skies, wait for them outside.” Skies nodded, ducking back outside and waiting. A minute later, the five mares came trotting up the path.

“There you lot are.” She waited until they were at the barn, frowning as she saw Pinkie vibrating. “Umm, is she ok?”

“It’s Pinkie, don’t question it too hard,” said Twilight.

“Right… Well, let’s go in, try not to wake the Apple family, yeah?” The mares nodded uncertainly, before Skies opened the barn door and ushered them inside. Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie all froze, save for Pinkie’s vibrating, at the sight of the four unfamiliar ponies sat around the barn, Rainbow currently out of sight behind a hay bale. Fluttershy was the first to react, squeaking and trying to run, only to have Applejack catch her tail and usher the rest inside, closing the door. “Right, introductions. Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy.” She indicated the mares in turn. “Meet Hooves.” The earth pony stallion waved. “Shield.” Shield nodded. “Tender Care.” The other unicorn, a green mare, waved. “And the pegasus looking all surly in the corner is Cirrus, the pegasus I put through a table.” The orange stallion snorted.

“Are you ever going to let that go?”

“Nope!” She grinned. The four stunned mares looked between the new ponies. Shield had taken off his armour to let Tender Care change his bandages, but the other three were still in their armour.

“Why is the pink one vibrating?” Asked Shield, tilting his head.

“B-because I feel a DOOZY about to happen!”

“A… doozy?” Shield looked at Skies.

“I was told not to question it, don’t look at me.” Shield shrugged after a second, wincing as he moved his bad shoulder. The other three mares just kept staring until Shield cleared his throat.

“Right, since you’re here now, we can get started. I have good news, and bad news, about your friend, Rainbow Dash.” The mares gasped loudly, Applejack stood off to one side slightly, as Shield raised a hoof to forestall any questions. “The good news is she’s alive and uninjured, and yes, she’s here. The rest… Probably best to hear from Rainbow herself. Rainbow?” Rainbow gulped from behind the hay bale, before dropping the cloak and shakily stepping out from behind it.

“H-hey girls…” She stuttered out, head low as Applejack trotted over to stand next to her. The other four stared, eyes going wide as they saw her changed hoof.

“R-Rainbow? Your hoof, how..?” Twilight croaked out.

“I-I don’t fully know yet… B-but h-hey, it’s me! I-I survived the crash!” Fluttershy was the first to move, suddenly rushing over and hugging Rainbow, crying quietly into her shoulder.

“R-Rainbow I was so scared! W-when you didn’t come back I was so scared you were gone…” She whimpered, clutching Rainbow close. The rest of the mares quickly closed in as well to hug their friend. Skies sat by Shield, Cirrus coming over as well, giving the six mares some privacy.

“Well, that went better than expected,” Cirrus whispered to them both. “But that doesn’t solve the Princess-shaped hole in the plan.”

“We’ll deal with that if and when we have to. For the time being, we’ve kept them cooperating by promising to fill them in, and if we don’t I have a feeling we won’t be able to keep this quiet,” said Shield. “And we can’t exactly keep the Princess’ student detained.”

“You’re right, you’re right.” Skies sighed. “So what do you want to do?”

“We tell them as much as we need to make sure they keep quiet. Not everything, certainly not if we can help them. Can I trust you with that, Skies? I’d do it myself but I think I’m about to pass out. I am bucking exhausted.” Skies nodded with a quiet chuckle.

“Sure. You get some sleep, Shield.” Shield nodded, carefully lying down and dozing off, as Skies sat, waiting for the Bearers to compose themselves enough to listen.

“So.” Began Skies, sat across the magical light from the six Bearers, looking at them one at a time. Twilight looked the most interested, whilst Fluttershy and Pinkie sat either side of a tired Rainbow Dash. “I promised you all I’d tell you more when you were all together. So here’s our story. I’m part of an organisation that predates Equestria, dedicated to defending certain locations and hunting down monsters, as well as keeping certain things secret from the New World.”

“New World?” Asked Twilight. Skies frowned at the interruption.

“New World. The Order refers to everything from the founding of Equestria and after as the ‘New World’, and everything before that as the ‘Old World’. We were originally created to protect the world from the threats I mentioned. We failed in our task. Whilst we did defeat great evils and sealed them away, we were unable to save the Old World. Nowadays we are dedicated to ensuring the same thing doesn’t happen again. For my part, I am a hunter. I track down and eliminate monsters before they pose a threat to civilisation. Hooves and Cirrus are hunters as well, and whilst Tender Care doesn’t share the title of hunter, she still accompanies us as a healer. Shield on the other hand is a Guardian. Guardians protect certain sites, such as the shrine that Rainbow Dash crashed at.” Rainbow lowered her head a little. “Some sites act as the prisons for great evils, whilst others contain knowledge too dangerous to allow into the New World, and others are ancient arsenals from the Old World. Regardless of their precise nature, these sites contain things from the Old World that we cannot afford to release. Guardians are some of the best in the Order, trusted to defend these sites, often alone, against anyone or anything that would use or release whatever is contained within. Shield was, until last night, the Guardian of the shrine Rainbow chanced upon.”

“What happened?” Rarity asked, her expression unreadable.

“Marabas did.” The Order ponies bristled a little, and Rainbow flinched at the name. “The shrine was a prison for a creature called Marabas. Shield gave Rainbow shelter and treated her injuries, but during her time Marabas evidently tricked Rainbow into releasing her. It’s very rare that Marabas takes notice of anypony in her shrine, but the presence of a very powerful flavour of magic, such as one of the Elements of Harmony...” The Bearers, save for Rainbow, recoiled slightly. “Marabas tricked Rainbow into releasing her, and that’s when she did… that to her.” She nodded her head in Rainbow’s direction.

“Wait, but why would this… Marabas do that after being released?” Twilight asked, frowning.

“Because she could. Marabas is a sick, twisted piece of work.” Skies took a swig of her beer. “Anyway, after she cast her spell, Shield attacked Marabas. A Guardian has one duty; protect the contents of the shrine, and if you cannot, keep the assailant occupied long enough for help to arrive, at the cost of life and limb if necessary. Even though Marabas got away, Shield did well. He stood alone against an alicorn-”

“Wait, an alicorn?!” Twilight was ‘shh’ed by the Order ponies. “Sorry… But, an alicorn?”

“Yes, an evil one. Shield kept her occupied, even managed to cut one of her wings off, before Marabas escaped, leaving a horde of monsters for Shield to contend with. Both Shield and Rainbow are lucky we arrived when we did; Shield had just collapsed buying more time, and they were about to get overrun. He did us proud.” Skies smiled back at Shield, before looking ahead again.

“S-so, when you say you hunt monsters…” Fluttershy quietly began. “W-what kind of things do you h-hunt?”

“We limit ourselves to hunting monsters that pose a threat to civilisation. Animals like bears are normally smart enough not to bother ponies, but monsters like timberwolves will hurt ponies regardless, so we deal with them before they can hurt anypony.”

“That’s not completely true, sugar cube.” Applejack said, narrowing her eyes at Skies slightly. Skies sighed.

“Right, right, Element of Honesty. I was hoping to avoid this… So, as you’ve already been told we spend months at a time in the field, sometimes up to a year. Foraging and grazing is all well and good if all you’re doing is trying to stay alive and get from place to place, but the kind of energy we expend doing our duty can’t be maintained just on grass and berries. We have to take more… Drastic measures sometimes. And that means hunting for food.” The bearers looked physically sick at that, Fluttershy taking it the best to Skies’ surprise.

“Wait, you eat meat?” Asked Twilight, eyes threatening to bulge out of their sockets.

“We do. Not all of us enjoy it, but you don’t become a hunter if you can’t stomach meat.

“A-and you, dear? Do you… Enjoy it?” Rarity asked, morbid curiosity overriding her upset stomach. Skies was silent for a few seconds.

“Well, since you asked, and since I can’t lie.” She nodded to Applejack. “Yes. It’s very different to normal pony food, and it makes operating with groups in the Gryphon Kingdoms and other places easier since we can share rations.” The Bearers suddenly looked very uncomfortable being in the same room as Skies, causing her to sigh. “The practice only developed out of necessity, we don’t have the kind of supply lines that the Royal Guard has so teams of Hunters have to be self-sustaining. Besides, it’s not like we’re the only meat-eating ponies out there. Plenty of pegasi eat fish, and some specialist restaurants in places like Canterlot serve meat for foreign guests, and ponies eat at those places as well.”

“Still, it’s not exactly… Normal.” Twilight managed after a while.

“We’re not normal ponies. Normal ponies don’t go out looking for fights. Even the Royal Guard don’t really, or even the Elements. You all see a threat and act according to that threat, and then go back to your lives when the threat is gone. We’re different, we are always out there looking for a monster to fight. It takes a particular type of pony to do that, and I fit the mould better than most.”

“Is that why you left Rocky Falls?” Skies blinked, taken aback by Pinkie’s question.

“That… Is a story for another time. I promised you I’d give you answers, but I’m not going into my personal history for those answers.” Pinkie nodded after a moment.

“What’s the name of your Order? Is it just ‘The Order’?” Asked Twilight.

“More formally we’re the Order of the Broken Crown. The name comes from our pre-Equestrian days. It’s not a name you’ll find in many history books.” Twilight nodded.

“Do you know what, exactly, Marabas did to Rainbow?” Rarity asked quietly. Skies sighed.

“We don’t, unfortunately. Others in the Order are looking into it and will be working around the clock to find a way to fix this, and you’ll be the first to know if we find anything.”

“I just have one more question for tonight,” Rainbow Dash began. “Why go to all this trouble to help us?”

“Two reasons. The first is that you’re the Elements of Harmony. You are one of the main defences of the New World, we can’t allow you to cease to function. The second is the secrecy part, we need to be careful about how we go about informing those close to you about what happened to you, which brings me to my final point for tonight. We can’t afford to let too many ponies know about the dangers of the Old World, and if word gets around about what’s happened, there are… Certain groups that would try to harm or abduct you, Rainbow.” Skies looked up again. “We need to be very, very careful about this.” They sat in silence for a moment after that, before Skies stood and stretched. “Right, that’s enough for tonight I think, I need some sleep.”

"Do you mind if I ask one more question?" Asked Rarity.

“Alright, one more.”

“You’re clearly not a fan of ponies staring at you, and the eyepatch draws a lot of attention, so I have to ask; why not get a glass eye? I understand not wanting to wear one whilst ‘in the field’, but for going into towns..?”

“… Fair question. Do you really want to know?” The Bearers nodded after a moment. “Alright, it’s not pretty though.” Sitting down again, the Order ponies muttered amongst themselves as she reached up to the eyepatch, moving it aside. The Bearers recoiled as they saw the injury; the eye socket was almost completely destroyed and caved in, leaving a rough, scarred hole in her face. Even the eyebrow had been practically erased. “Too badly damaged for a glass eye to even fit, plus it wouldn’t hide the scarring. So, it’s an eyepatch or walk around with a gaping hole in my face where an eye should be, your choice.” After leaving it aside for a moment more, she moved the eyepatch back into place and nodded. “Thought so. Right, I’ll take first watch. Applejack, you want to tell your family so they don’t freak out at seeing a strange mare sat outside your barn?” Applejack nodded, silently walking out. “As for the rest of you, stay here or go to your homes, up to you.”

“I think it would be best if we stayed here with Rainbow.” Fluttershy said quietly, giving Rainbow a small smile.

“Thanks ‘Shy…” Rainbow gave her a quick nuzzle before settling down. Skies nodded, putting her cloak on to shield against the cool night air, walking over to the pile of belongings the Order ponies brought, fishing out an old, worn acoustic guitar.

“You play the guitar?” Asked Pinkie, tilting her head and blinking.

“I’ll keep the playing quiet, just something I do to unwind enough to actually get some sleep.” Skies explained, stepping outside and settling down, back against the barn, legs splayed in front of her as she tucked the neck of guitar into the crook of her left elbow, quietly tuning the instrument before plucking out a slow, almost mournful tune, using her wing for the chords, softly starting to sing as Applejack wandered back to the barn.

“Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree,
They strung up a mare,
They say who murdered three,
Strange things did happen here,
No stranger would it be,
If we met at midnight,
In the hanging tree.”

Inside the barn, the Bearers glanced amongst themselves as they settled down for the night around the magical light, listening to the quiet lyrics.

“Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree,
Where dead mare called out,
For her love to flee,
Strange things did happen here,
No stranger would it be,
If we met at midnight,
In the hanging tree.”

Rainbow frowned, finding herself slowly relaxing to the song despite the morbid lyrics, as Rarity glanced around, noticing the Order ponies tapping their hooves to the song, with the exception of Shield who had fallen asleep a while ago.

“Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree,
Where I told you to run,
So we'd both be free,
Strange things did happen here,
No stranger would it be,
If we met at midnight,
In the hanging tree.”

The Order ponies started humming the tune quietly as some began to yawn, Cirrus curled up in the rafters, Tender Care curled up on the floor, Hooves sat leaning back against the wall.

“Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree,
Wear a necklace of rope,
Side by side with me,
Strange things did happen here,
No stranger would it be,
If we met at midnight,
In the hanging tree.”

Pinkie finally found herself nodding off as well, yawning and letting her head fall slowly to the ground, the six Bearers curled up next to one another as the sound of Skies’ voice gradually faded.

“Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree,
Where I told you to run,
So we'd both be free,
Strange things did happen here,
No stranger would it be,
If we met at midnight,
In the hanging tree.”

Skies looked up to the stars, plucking the final chords to the song before letting out a slow breath, the tension of the day finally leaving her aching legs. Gently setting the guitar aside, she pulled the cloak tighter around her as she relaxed, appearing for all the world to be fast asleep save for the single eye peering around slowly, her watch beginning.

Author's Note

Chapter 5 is here, and more of the story of the Order is coming to light, as well as some small glimpses into Skies' story.

The song is, naturally, Hanging Tree from the Hunger Games. I wonder what kind of significance a song like that could have for Skies? The guitar I imagine for that scene is this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TASFljdT1BM

Enjoy!