**********Appleloosa**********
Shining Armor stepped off the train and surveyed his surroundings. It was a small town, nothing much to look at. He could see it in its entirety from the station; it wasn’t very large. It was also a quite pleasant view, but Shining Armor had a mission and nothing could distract him from it. As he moved across the platform, his two companions followed close behind.
“Shining Armor, there is a saloon in the middle of town,” Long Bow offered. “It would be best if we started our search there. Also,” he looked Shining Armor up and down. “It would be best if you remove your armor.” Meat Grinder nodded in agreement.
“My armor is a symbol of my rank and dedication to the princesses,” Shining growled. “I will not remove it. In fact you should be wearing yours.”
“This is the outskirts of our country,” Long Bow countered. “There are a lot of different species out here and not all of them think very highly of our royal guard. Trust me, it’s better if you don’t wear it.”
“This is still Equestria,” Shining Armor turned away from his teammates. “And I want that monster to know I’m coming for it.”
Long Bow and Meat Grinder exchanged a knowing look before following Shining Armor. The three of them walked through the small town together. They drew a few hostile stares and curious glances but none dared approach them. In fact, there was a small crowd gathering behind them. Long Bow and Meat Grinder had noticed and were keeping track but Shining Armor’s single minded determination made only his goal visible to him. Eventually they came to a stop. The sign in front of them identified the building as the Salt Block. Shining Armor straightened his helmet and kicked the door open, and walked inside.
Every eye was focused on the three soldiers as they walked to the bar. Long Bow heard the smooth sound of blades being drawn and tensed up, ready for action. Meat Grinder’s focus intensified readying herself to draw her own weapons. Shining Armor took a seat while the other two soldiers stood facing the other patrons. The saloon was mostly filled with ponies but there were a few others as well. Angry griffon, minotaur, and buffalo faces glared at them. Seemingly immune to the tension in the air, Shining Armor waved the bartender over.
“Cider. Hardest you got,” he demanded.
Bemused by the situation the bartender poured a mug of cider for the captain and slid it down the bar. He then leaned against the bar and waited. A show was about to start and he didn’t want to miss it.
Shining Armor grabbed the mug and downed all in one gulp. He slammed the mug into the bar and spun the tool towards the bar’s patrons. He stood up and slowly walked towards the middle of the floor. The room tensed as everyone’s grip on their weapons grew tighter. “Calm yourselves. I’m not here for you, today. The Guard looking for strange creature. Bipedal, shorter than a minotaur, taller than a diamond dog. That description ringing any bells?” Shining paused. Silence drowned the room. “No? Then how about a group of griffons? This symbol look familiar?” He waved a poster in each creature’s face with his magic. “Still nothing? Think real hard. They were here a day ago. I realize that it may be difficult for you to try remembering so far back but try anyway.”
“I don’t appreciate the royal guard barging into my bar and harassing my customers,” a green, serpentine dragon flew into the room and lie down on the bar. “So I hope you appreciate me telling you to leave. Now.”
“However new this town may be,” Shining marched up to the dragon. “It still falls under Equestrian jurisdiction. So I hope you appreciate me telling you to hand over any information you have related to the griffon Valkyries.”
In a single moment, the dragon shrunk its body until it was eye level with Shining Armor. Recognizing the danger from his Everfree training, Long Bow leapt into the air as fast as he could. But he was too late. In one swift motion, the dragon knocked Shining Armor through a wall with his tail. The dragon returned to its normal size and flew up to the ceiling.
“You forgot where you are, guard,” it said. “This is Appleloosa. There is no guard here. We make our own law; we settle our own problems. Understand?”
Shining Armor blasted his way back through the wall. “This entire building is now under lockdown. A pink force field formed around the saloon. “You will all submit to individual questioning either by choice or by force.”
That was the final straw. The bar patrons gripped their weapons and attacked. Long Bow and Meat Grinder leapt into action. Meat Grinder drew her axes and immediately knocked backed several minotaurs. Long Bow took a position near the ceiling and scanned for the targets while knocking enemies out of the air. Shining Armor blasted away a diamond dog and then grabbed another in his forcefield. He threw the diamond dog at the dragon. The dragon effortlessly weaved through Shining Armor’s projectiles and blew bursts of flame at him. Shining Armor blocked the flame and without moving from his spot, grabbed the dragon in a forcefield. The dragon chuckled as it enlarged its body, shattering the spell.The dragon blew intense streams of fire that engulfed everything in their path. Shining Armor and Meat Grinder dove for cover, narrowly avoiding immolation. Meat Grinder signed a plan to Shining Armor, who could only grasp the basic details. He nodded despite his lack of understanding and created a wall of magic. Meat Grinder jumped behind the wall and threw her axe at the dragon. The dragon dodged the axe, only for Long bow to fly in and catch it. He drove the axe into the dragon’s skull with all his might. The dragon slumped to the ground and groaned. Retrieving her axe, Meat Grinder could already see the dragon’s wound begin to close. Snorting angrily, she jumped back into the fight.
Long Bow gripped a griffon in mid air and flung it to the ground. After finishing his attack with a divebomb, he noticed something strange. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that there were several shapes that were avoiding the fight and moving towards the door. He turned his head to get a better look and his eyes grew wide.
“Captain, they’re going for the door!” Long Bow shouted.
“They won’t get pass my- argh!!!” Shining Armor recoiled as he felt the pain of his spell being shattered. He looked around and saw the dragon grinning as fire consumed his forcefield.
“It’s bad for business if people get captured in my bar,” the dragon said calmly. “But it looks like they’re getting away. You might want to chase after them.”
Shining Armor glared intensely at the dragon. “I’ll be back for you,” he declared.
“And I’ll be waiting,” the dragon smirked.
“Forget the dragon,” Long Bow shouted. “We have something more important to do!”
Both Meat Grinder and Long Bow ran out the door. Shining Armor snarled and followed them. The Valkyries were reaching the edge of the town as Shining exited the building. Long Bow wasn’t far behind them and Meat Grinder was sprinting to catch up. Shining Armor teleported to Meat Grinder.
“Throw me at them,” he commanded.
Meat Grinder took the unicorn and threw him as hard as she could at the griffons. Shining Armor sailed past Long Bow and was about to reach the closest griffin when the one in front turned back and collided with him instead. Startled only for a second, Shining captured the griffon in a bubble.
“Boss!” one of the griffons screeched.
“Finish the mission,” the captured one replied. The griffons nodded and flew faster than they had been.
Shining Armor levitated himself to the ground and glared towards the fleeing griffons. As his companions approached, he grinned. “Check it out: I got one. And I think this one is their-”
Shining was interrupted by a hoof hitting his jaw.
“What the name of-”
Long Bow grabbed him by his collar. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will have the princesses strip you of your rank and kick you out of the Guard. Understand?”
“What are you talking about?” Shining pulled free of his grip. “I can hold myself up for a few minutes. I wasn’t going to fall.”
“I’m talking about that performance in the bar you idiot,” Long Bow seethed. “You jeopardized our entire operation, provided a distraction that allowed our targets to get a head start, and created new enemies for the guard, and just made every future interaction we have with this town more difficult.”
Shining grit his teeth. “I am captain of the royal guard and I-”
“Exercised the worst judgement I have ever seen coming from one who bears that title,” Long Bow said. “Whatever your obsession is you need to-”
“Maybe I just care more about this than you,” Shining shouted. “This is personal for me!”
“And it isn’t for us?” Long Bow countered. “Did you know my closest friend is currently with Sasuke? Starlight Shimmer is, as we speak, with a monster that almost permanently damaged my and my subordinate’s wings! That’s right, Swift Arrow has suffered more than you. Meat Grinder’s family serve as King Steel Sword’s personal soldiers. And they watched as his pet timberwolf chewed up and spit him out. Personal? This is personal for all of us!”
“You can’t talk to me like this; I’m a captain! Captain of the Royal Guard!”
“Newsflash plothole: we’re the same rank! I’m Captain of the Everfree Forces! And just between us, captain to captain: you need to get your shit together!” They stood in silence for a time afterward, testing each others’ will with their eyes. “Going back to town is a bad idea. We’ll set up camp out here and interrogate the prisoner.”
***
With the sun set, the only light came from the campfire and the pink bubble containing the griffon. She sat in a meditative pose with her eyes closed. Shining Armor sat in front of the bubble watching her every move. Long Bow and Meat Grinder were several steps away from the camp having a hushed conversation. They paused to look at the bubble before joining Shining Armor.
“I’ll be conducting the interrogation,” Long Bow announced. “Be prepared to follow my instructions.” Shining Armor growled but said nothing. “Hello there, Valkyrie. I feel bad calling you Valkyrie. Will you tell me your name?”
The griffon opened her eyes. “My name is Aoife. What is yours?”
“I am Captain Long Bow, this is Meat Grinder, and-”
“Captain Shining Armor,” Aoife grinned. “Sasuke had a lot to say about him.”
Shining started to say something but Long Bow cut him off. “Speaking of Sasuke, what’s he been up to recently?”
“No idea,” Aoife smiled. “All I know is what I’m supposed to to do.”
“I see,” Long Bow said. “Compartmentalized to prevent plan leaks. Smart. Aside from Sasuke, who knows the entire plan?” Aoife laughed. “No one, huh. Hmm. So why would Sasuke want his best soldiers out in the middle of nowhere? What brings you out here?”
“You should give up now,” Aoife said as she inspected a talon. “Even if you knew why were here, you couldn’t even begin to piece together his plan. His mind is an endless and ever changing maze.”
“That is unfortunate,” Long Bow scratched his chin. “Are you hungry Aoife?”
“I could eat,” she replied.
Meat Grinder pushed food against the bubble. When it didn’t go through, she looked at Shining expectantly.
“Absolutely not!” Shining protested. “Why are we feeding her? Why aren’t you pushing harder? We should find out where the rest of them went and-”
“And what, Shining?” Long Bow said, sounding tired. “Fight them while outnumbered and trying to keep a prisoner? They are an elite squad. Each of them are equal to one member of our task force. Not only that but how would we restrain them? How many individual shields can you maintain? And to even get that far we have to first find them. In a few miles this will become a desert. Sand shifts all the time which would blow away tracks while at the same time our targets fly not leaving many tracks in the first place. Not to mention we don’t even know the general direction they went.”
“Then we should force her to reveal their objective,” Shining shouted.
“How do you propose we do that?” Long Bow sighed. “Valkyries train to withstand extreme pain and killing her will get us nothing. The Guard is forbidden from using mental spells unless given explicit permission by the princesses. We will take her Canterlot so that the princesses can examine her mind.”
“And what makes you think that they won’t try to come back for her before we leave?” Shining pressed. “What do we do if they come back for her?”
“They won’t,” Aoife said nonchalantly. “We have a mission to complete. Coming back for me would be a waste of time and effort. Besides, Sasuke would be quite upset if we failed in our mission just to rescue a captured teammate.”
Shining started laughing. He laughed so hard he fell to the ground. “That’s who you swore your allegiance to? A monster that abandons his allies?”
Aoife smiled. “You misunderstand me, Captain. I only said that my team would not be coming for me.”
A chill passed through the International Anti-Sasuke Taskforce.
“Shining Armor, I will take the first watch,” Long Bow said. “Put enough power into your spell to last through your sleep. Meat Grinder, you will take the third watch.”
Meat Grinder nodded and lie down. In mere moments she was fast asleep. Shining Armor filled his bubble with power then cast a sleep spell on himself.
“Just you and me now,” Aoife said as Long Bow made himself comfortable.
“It would appear so,” Long Bow confessed. The sounds of the night swirled around them. “Is Starlight ok?”
Aoife smiled and leaned back. “That mouthy unicorn? She’s doing fine. She and Sasuke have taken a liking to each other. I don’t think they could actually stand to be apart now.”
Long Bow breathed a sigh of relief and smiled to himself. Starlight was alright and apparently she and the creature were getting along. He couldn’t help but chuckle. Of course Starlight could find common ground with a monster. ‘Just wait, you silly mare,’ he thought. ‘I’ll find you soon.’
***
Shining Armor glared intently at the prisoner. He was tempted to shrink the bubble to get more information out of her but he managed to restrain himself. Barely. This gave him pause. Why was he acting so recklessly? The situation in the bar could have been handled with more finesse...right? His mind clouded slightly. Of course not, that was the only way to treat the scum that gathered in that town. As long as he was in pursuit of the worst criminal the world had ever seen, no action could be going too far. In fact, most actions didn’t go far enough! Shining knew a few mental manipulation spells and was fairly good at using them. Maybe the princesses would forgive him. They would definitely forgive him. And if something went wrong, they would have an easier time peeling the information from the husk of a griffon that would be leftover. Shining began to charge his spell.
“Oh,” Aoife said, taking notice. “What are you up to now?”
“I’m taking the information I want,” Shining replied. “One way or another.”
“How scary,” Aoife giggled. “I’m not sure your buddies will like that.”
“Maybe not but they will appreciate results.”
“Ah the better to ask forgiveness than permission route,” Aoife grinned. “Sasuke told me about that. And about you of course.”
Shining’s new spell evaporated. “What could that monster possibly know about me?”
“Well let’s see,” Aoife scratched her chin. “Captain Shining Armor of the Equestrian Royal Guard. Fiancee to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, who was his childhood friend and younger sister’s, Twilight Sparkle, babysitter. Very pretty mare even by my standards. Is that why you couldn’t even talk to her the first time you saw her? How did it feel to laughed at on stage like that? Although I guess he’s your friend now so bygones and all that. Of course after the show and dance you and Cadence started dating. How am I so far?”
Shining Armor was stunned.
“Oh and one more thing,” Aoife grinned. “Sasuke wanted me to give you a message if I ran into you.”
“What is it?”
“Lights out, Shining!”
“What’s that supposed to mean,” Shining asked. Aoife said nothing and smirked.
“Now what am I going to do with you, Aoife,” a voice behind Shining Armor made his blood run cold. “You went and got yourself captured.”
Shining Armor turned around to see Sasuke staring directly into his eyes. Shining dropped his bubble spell and fired a magic blast at Sasuke. “Sasuke’s here!” he screamed.
Long Bow and Meat Grinder shot up from where they were sleeping and took battle stances.
“He went this way!” Shining raced off after Sasuke leaving his companions in the dust. Long Bow immediately started following him while Meat Grinder held back. She gazed toward Aoife, who was already flying away, before following her group.
Shining Armor ran as fast as he could but he just couldn’t catch up. It frustrated him to no end that no matter how fast he ran, no matter how many times he teleported, Sasuke was always out of his reach. It was also clear now that Sasuke was leading them towards the town and that pissed Shining off even more. Shining wouldn’t give up though. He kept running, pushing his body to its limit. As he ran, he heard wingbeats approaching.
“Which way is he going, it’s too dark for me to see,” Long Bow yelled.
“He’s heading for the town,” Shining responded. “See if you can cut him off!”
“It’s no good; I can’t see him,” Long Bow said. “When he gets inside the town put up a forcefield. Luna gave me the spell gem that blocks his teleports. We’ll try to trap him.”
Shining nodded. They were almost at the edge of the town now and Sasuke was standing in the shadow of a stack of boxes, taunting him. Shining ran into the town and created his barrier. The entire town was surrounded by a wall of purple light. The town was dimly illuminated casting wild shadows in all directions.
“Shining!” Long Bow screamed. Shining Armor searched for the pegasus only to find he and Meat Grinder on the outside of the forcefield. “Let us in!”
“Don’t you want to finish this?” Sasuke goaded. “Just you and me. Hand to hoof, no magic, no ninjutsu.” Shining hesitated. “Just imagine if you bring be back, defeated, to the princesses. What would Cadence think about that?”
“Don’t you dare speak her name!” Shining Armor shouted. He knew shouldn’t fall for this. It was a trap of some kind; it had to be. But…. this was a chance he might never get again. He had to take it. “I accept. I’ll stomp you into the dirt, demon!”
“I still can’t see him, Shining!” Long Bow cried out. “Don’t fall for any of his traps!”
Sasuke grinned maliciously. The two stepped onto the main street and began circling each other. Long Bow yelled for Shining Armor to lower the barrier but was ignored. Meat Grinder attacked the forcefield as hard as she could but found no weakness. They watched helplessly as it began.
‘Higher center of gravity but with longer reach. Lower top speed, higher agility. Natural gift for all combat. Godlike in close quarters combat.’Shining Armor studied his enemy. “Godlike, huh?” he snorted. “No offense princess but I’m about to lay your god out.” Shining darted towards Sasuke and attempted a buck with both hooves. Sasuke sidestepped him easily and slammed his elbow into Shining’s back. Shining buckled under the force but quickly scrambled to his hooves. He spun around and managed to sink his forehoof into Sasuke’s torso. Seemingly unaffected, Sasuke punched Shining, in the face knocking him to the ground again. This pattern repeated over and over. Sasuke dodged nearly every blow and the ones that did land did nothing. Shining Armor, however, was barely staying conscious. Sasuke’s blows were heavy and unrelenting. Shining’s eyes were swollen and he could barely see, he was close to choking on his own blood, and he was fairly sure his right foreleg was broken.
“I-I-I-I’ll s-s-stop you,” Shining croaked.
“No, you won’t,” Sasuke said calmly. “Not now, not ever. I am the thing that keeps you up at night. The evil that haunts every dark corner of your mind. I will never rest and neither will you.” The sun peeked over the hills and shined in Shining’s eyes, blinding him. “But it looks like our little play date is over. See you soon, Shining Armor.”
Shining Armor rolled onto his back, exhausted. His lack of strength caused his forcefield to shatter. Meat Grinder and Long Bow rushed to Shining as fast as they could.
“I’m sorry,” Shining choked out. “I thought I could beat him.”
Long Bow checked the extent of the damage and dressed Shining’s wounds. “Meat Grinder observed the entire battle,” Long Bow started.
“I know already,” Shining Armor groaned. “I didn’t stand a chance. Did she learn anything new? Any clues about Sasuke’s fight style?”
Long Bow hesitated for a moment. Meat Grinder put a reassuring hand on his back. “Sasuke wasn’t here,” Long bow finally said. “We have a theory but we know for sure: you never encountered Sasuke.”
“What,” Shining sputtered. “That’s impossible! I have the injuries to to prove it! Unless you’re saying they just randomly appeared!?”
“Our theory is Sasuke used an illusion to trick your mind into thinking you were fighting him,” Long Bow explained. “Then your magic responded to your altered reality and made your injuries real. What we can’t explain is the trigger. Did Aoife do or say anything out of the ordinary? Anything that might have activated the illusion? Where there any hints to when you were placed under his power? Is there anything you haven’t told us?”
“That’s ridiculous,” Shining scoffed. “I only had brief contact with the prisoner.”
Meat Grinder and Long Bow looked worriedly at each other. Meat Grinder signed something to Long Bow very quickly but Shining Armor was unable to catch it.
Long Bow sighed heavily. “Under the authority of General Meat Grinder, Shining Armor, due to the suspicion that you are under the influence of enemy illusions you are hereby declared mentally unfit to continue service in this task force. We will escort you to Canterlot in order to have your mind checked and cleansed of manipulation by the princesses. This operation is over.”
**********Equestrian Border: Badlands**********
“We are not going back for her.”
“But, but-”
“But nothing,” Andraste sighed. “I’m in command now. And I know, just like you know, Aoife wouldn’t want us to abandon the mission for her.” Andraste looked over her crestfallen comrades. “Besides, she can take care of herself. Are you doubting her?”
“I would never!”
“Then pull yourself together,” Andraste looked towards the sunrise. “Or you won’t survive this mission.”
“Yes ma’am,” the young Valkyrie walked away to gather his things, few though they were.
Andraste sighed. She was worried about Aoife too! They knew that, right? But this mission was important to Lord Mephisto. So important, in fact, he had sent all but one of the Valkyries. And as if he was expecting the worst, Lord Mephisto had given them-
“We’re ready to move, ma’am.” Andraste was pulled from her thoughts.
“Take flight,” Andraste ordered, flaring her wings.
The Valkyries all leapt into the air and the eight of them flew in formation. Andraste flew at the front of the formation, guiding her comrades with a special compass crafted by Starswirl. Luckily the wind blew in their favor and they only needed to ride the air currents. Andraste looked down. The sand all looked the same to her. If it wasn’t for the compass, she would be hopelessly lost. ‘Maybe I should go back for Aoife.’ Andraste shook her head clear. These thoughts would only cloud her judgement. Besides, if she actually did delay the mission in order to go back, she only have Aoife’s anger to look forward to. Along with a demotion.
“The Badlands suuuuuuuck!”
Andraste ignored the young Valkyrie and kept her pace. But he did have a point. The sun was intense and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The sands shined and reflected the sunlight back upwards. Put simply, it was really freaking hot. But at least they were getting closer. The compass’s arrow, was getting shorter, indicating that they were approaching the target. Andraste spotted large white stones in the stand. As the compass’s arrow got shorter, the amount of stones increased.
“Time to land,” Andraste said. Each Valkyrie landed on a stone and stood at attention. “We’re about to face a monster that’s a level higher than a fully matured alicorn in terms of raw power. Keep in mind that it is vengeful, obsessive, and hates insincere flattery. However, it loves one of a kind objects and if we manage to win it over, it will be loyal to us forever. For this to work, we can’t fight it. If we try, we will surely die. If things go bad, we will have to run. Lord Mephisto says that if we try to use spell gems, they will recoil. Understood?”
One of the Valkyries raised a claw. “Quick question: can we opt out of this suicidally insane plan?”
“No.”
The griffon sighed. “Understood.”
“Good.” Andraste started walking and the others followed. As they moved through the stones no one spoke. The clicks of their claws echoed through the desert. The griffons were all very nervous. What had they really agreed to? Stronger than an alicorn? Could they really pull off diplomacy without Aoife?
While walking, the Valkyries came upon a flat area. The ground changed from white stone to a translucent blue dotted with glimmering white stars. The arrow on Andraste’s compass vanished.
“Everyone stop,” she ordered. “It should be here… And impossible to miss....” Andraste looked around. All she could see were the white stones surrounding her. Then, she looked down. Her eyes grew wide when she finally realized what they were standing on. “Valkyries!” she screamed. “Get to the rocks! Now!” Each griffon quickly dashed away from the translucent ground. Andraste watched carefully but nothing happened. Nervously, Andraste prepared herself. “Scorpio!”
The ground shook violently. The translucent blue surface rose from the sand and shook the rocks from its body. Its massive body blocked the sun from the griffons’ view. They stood in the shadow of a giant constellation beast, Scorpio. It’s eight eyes all shifted around until they saw the griffons. All of the eyes focused on Andraste, who stood in front.
“What do you want?”