Three months later...
I was in the kitchen making Shadow and myself some dinner when I heard a knock at the door. I nearly knocked over what I was making at the sudden sounds, and quickly shared a glance with Shadow. Working her magic she changed us both into our more known forms and I approached the door.
"Who's there?" I called returning to my accent again. I had been teasing Shadow with it for a while and when I looked back she was shaking her head at me. I grinned before turning back to the door. Reaching behind me, I brushed my pistol, making sure it was still there before opening the door, the chain stopping it a fraction of the way open.
In front of the door stood a lone Diamond Dog of average height, her fur midnight black while her eyes were a deep purple, which accented strange patterns of lines that stemmed from a necklace around her neck which was also purple. She was wearing light leather clothing that appeared to give some protection while keep her full range of motion unhindered.
"How can I help y'all?" I asked, recognizing her as one of those two who had left the cave with Zin. Although the lines were new, akin to the ones Zin now wore across his body. Her eyes flicked from the door to my head, centering on my forehead.
"I can't sense your thoughts, you have been trained well." she said, her voice light and melodious. I didn't move a fraction of an inch as she spoke though, keeping my head level with hers.
"Well you sure are a strange one." I said, "You talk mighty well for a Diamond Dog."
"And you have awfully augmented abilities for a simple pegasi." she retorted. Touche, I thought.
She smiled at me, "What a lovely home you have here. May I come in?" she asked in a soothing tone. I turned my head, looking at Shadow who merely shrugged. No harm in letting her in I suppose. She obviously didn't mean any harm, and despite that she wouldn't get far if she did.
Closing the door, I slide the chain off and opened it again, providing her with admittance. She promptly entered, her gaze first going to Shadow then absorbing in her surroundings. "It took me quite a time to find you two. Nopony could point me in the right direction except for a purple unicorn living in a tree."
Twilight. I rolled my eyes, "Oh yes. She is good friends with us. So what brings you here...?"
She ignored my question and instead moved over to where Shadow sat. She tensed quickly, but the Diamond Dog simply got on her knees and put an ear on Shadow's stomach. I was almost as shocked as her at this, but the dog quickly got up and said, "You're going to give birth to a very healthy baby, but not a pegasi." turning towards me.
"Miss, I think it would be best if you had a seat." I said, motioning for her to sit in one of the three chairs surrounding the fireplace. She nodded, taking the one in the middle while I took the one on the left as Shadow was already occupying the one on the right. "Now let's hear that name," I prompted.
"My name is SilverClaw. I come from the clan that you're friend Zin has been taken into." Shadow and I stared at her, waiting for more details. "I have come to tell you this if you did not already know: There will be a war with the various clans of Diamond Dogs and ponies. The center of which you both will play a role in preventing."
I looked shocked at her. How did she know all this? She said before I had been trained well... She must have tried seeing into my mind. That necklace, it is almost identical to the one Zin has, only purple not blue. "That necklace around your neck," I said, "What is its purpose?"
She smirked at me. "This is what gives me the powers to do what I do. It has special... Properties, those of which I shall not reveal to you." I sighed, sinking into my chair. More secrets, why couldn't anypony just get straight to the point? Oh wait. I thought with a grin, remembering my little fiasco with Zin.
"Alright, well since you wont tell us, is there anything else you wanted to say?" I asked finally after a minute.
"Yes in fact there is. I came to warn you, Zin is still imprisoned in Celestia's castle, but he won't be for long. I ask that you will bring no harm to him or my clan as a result of this. They both mean... A lot to me." she said staring right at me.
I shook my head. "Well if he tries to get out I can't right stop him. He's been there for long enough that everything he was going to say he has already said. Stubborn kid." I said, shaking my head at the thought of him.
Silver laughed, the sound ringing through the cottage, "Yes he is a little arrogant. But all things change with time and his is still a long ways off."
"We'll see about that miss," I said, doubtful of that part ever changing of him. "When will he be making his attempted 'escape?'"
"Tomorrow, right after the sun rises will he escape. I will be back at our cave by then, but I ask you to look after him and make sure no harm befalls him." I nodded. The whole reason I had asked was to see that no injury befell him or others.
Shadow for the first time said something, "I'll go with you. I'd like to see him off without injury."
I smiled at her, "I'm not stopping you. Together we can go and you can finally repay him for what he did." She nodded, happy that I had agreed. Not that if I had said no would she have stayed anyway.
SilverClaw go up then, walking over to the door, "I thank you for your time in helping me with this. I have to be off now before those of my clan come looking for me. I came here under the pretense of a meditation session and if I'm gone for to long they will have gotten it into their heads that something had happened to me."
I got up and walked over to the door, and held it open for her, "Thank you kindly SilverClaw for coming to us with this. Your help is greatly appreciated." She nodded and stepped over the threshold of the door. Shutting it behind her and locking it, I looked through the window to see her running off across the field in-front of our house, heading south to her clans cave.
I came back to my chair, sitting in it as Shadow said, "Its good that she came to us with that. No telling what trouble Zin would have gotten himself into if we weren't there."
I laughed aloud, giving her a smirk, "All kinds of trouble. Trouble seems to follow that kid like bread to butter. I just hope Celestia doesn't catch us in the act, else we get into the thick of it with her."
We arrived at the castle early in the morning, before the sun had even peaked over the city. Shadow and I found a comfortable place to rest while we awaited what would inevitably happen. We decided to wait about fifty or so meters from the entrance. "How long do you think before it happens?" she said in a low whisper.
"I don't really know." I whispered back, "Although I don't think Celestia will be ignorant of his attempt. She'll probably try to marshal some of the Guards together to try and stop him." There already were a few Guards idling around in front of the door, nothing worth mentioning though.
"If that happens he better not hurt any of them," she hissed, "I couldn't forgive him for that, no matter what he did for me." I cracked a small smile at this, even though she couldn't see. She cared a lot about the Guards, for all they did for us.
We waited another hour before the sun finally began to break through the windows at the back of the sun room, basking the whole area in a glowing orange light. The light warmed us after sighting so long inactive and was a welcome companion.
Almost as soon as the light erupted in the room, there was sound coming from the adjacent halls. drowning out all other sounds. It was the sound of hoofs stomping on the ground, a sounds we were afraid to here.
"She's going to try and stop him," I cursed, annoyed.
"There's nothing we can do," Shadow said sighing, "Let's just hope nothing happens to either side."
The Royal Guards appeared from two side passages in-front of the door, their hoofs echoing as they marched rank and file into formation in front of the door. Three ranks of ten Guards across. She must really not want to lose him, that's almost the entire palace Guard. Not soon after they had marched into place was there a small explosion, followed by a dull ringing that reached up from off to our right, somewhere in the dungeons.
"Here he comes then..." I whispered, almost hoping it wasn't true. But sure enough, there he was, coming sprinting down the corridor, his robe flapping behind him. “I have no wish to harm any of you. You gain nothing by keeping me here, so why do it?” he called, centering himself in front of the Guards.
“We have orders, stallions. Let’s keep to ‘em.” I recognized it as #1's voice, one of the two Royal Guards to have brought me here. Oh please, I thought, don't let anything happen to him. I might have to hurt Zin if anything does.
He moved his hands in-front of him, his sleeves moving down to his elbows as he concentrated. He looked at the floor, concentrating deeply. Suddenly a sprout of blue flames erupted from his right hand, harmlessly touching his fur as it flicked into existence. “Last chance.” he called to the Guards, although they all held their place. They knew their jobs and they did it well. Suddenly throwing the ball of flame up in the air, it winked out of existence at its peak, disappearing from sight. Oh dear Celestia, I thought wildly, he's not doing what I think he's doing. A few of the Guards near the front let out a laugh. Shaking his head, Zin pointed upwards at the now reappearing fireball. Only this time, there were multitudes of them, all headed straight for the Guards.
Oh Zin, if you kill any of them... I thought vehemently. The fireballs hit just in front of the first row, sending up tile and fire into the air. Several of them hurled backwards while all of them were thrown to the ground. Several moans of pain followed this as they recovered from their shock and the injuries set in.
With a quick glance around at them, Zin quickly ran out of the gates, not paying another glance back as he finished his escape. Oh Zin, we're having a few words about this if I see you again, I thought none to pleasantly. Forgoing caution, Shadow and I uncloaked ourselves and ran over to the fallen Guards. After a brief check of them, we deemed that none of them had any fatal injuries and that all had survived. We began to give medical attention on those most badly injured from the blast. The worst we encountered was a broken wing after having been thrown into the air and crashing to the ground.
We worked quickly, making sure all the major wounds were healed, not wanting to be here when Princess Celestia came down to inspect what had transpired. Suddenly from behind us there was a door slamming and as I turned around, I spotted Princess Luna, looking frantically around. Her eyes planted on us and she took flight, flying straight past us with such force that the wind moved a few of the Guards on the floor around.
I hope whatever she does to Zin doesn't bring him back here, I thought before returning my attention to the Guards. It took us nearly half an hour to return all of them to stable condition and by the time we were done, Luna had already returned, off towards the door on the right, probably to confront her sister.
Shadow walked over to me, her eyes careworn with all the work she had just done, "Come on Aces, lets get out of here. No telling what will happen next and we've done the best for them that we can."
I nodded, "You're right. Although I'm going to have a word with Zin if I seem him again..." I said, shaking my head in disgust. "Such a blatant disregard of magic I have never seen."
"I know, I know" she said softly, her own rage showing in her voice. "But now isn't the the time to get angry over it."
I nodded at her, and stepping around the Guards we exited from the palace into the courtyard. I turned to her before we took off, "I don't think the Princess will learn of us being here. The Guards are loyal to her, but after helping them I doubt they will say anything.
She nodded to me, "You're right, best to go back to our home and act as if nothing was amiss." At that she took off, flapping her wings hard and soaring into the sky. I watched for a minute as she soared in front of the sun and decided, not for the first time, that she was the most beautiful mare I had ever seen. Flapping my own wings, I quickly took flight, rising and falling in close behind her as we returned back to our forest home.