//------------------------------// // Bullets and Blades // Story: The Shogun Six // by Warwolf //------------------------------//  The Shogun Six     Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or any characters belonging to Hasbro or any other companies listed herein. All original characters mentioned here are my own creations. I do this solely for entertainment purposes and in no way make any profit from it. Chapter Five: Bullets and Blades     Dusk, Flash, and Ash Jade had set out just before the rest of the Jade family would have normally awoken. Leaving a message that the boys were going out to take care of some errands and do a little investigating at Ash's insistance since he didn't want the family to worry, the trio of colts had begun making their way through the still largely asleep town of Ponyville towards the occasional home of the Baron. The Baron was a typical noble, in Dusk's view. Many he had met were pompous in the extreme, believing their positions, granted by the Shogun, whether to themselves directly or to family members whose positions they had inherited, made them somehow better than the rest of the populace. It was also common for them to try to increase their own standing and 'political capital'— whatever the hell that even meant— at the expense of one another and the so-called 'common' ponies or others seeking asylum in Equestria.     Dusk's general view of nobles wasn't a good one, as one might expect. He had met a few decent nobles. But they were so few and far between as to be almost non-existent. Only the Shogun truly counted as a great noble in Dusk's mind, as he was always putting his subjects before his own wants ninty-nine percent of the time. Granted, he was Prince of the Night and if he actually wished to, could cause the change of day to night and vice versa at will by affecting the planet's orbit. So he couldn't get much more powerful than that. Thus, he felt little guilt in what he was planning to do alongside his two friends.     The Baron's house was fairly well fortified. From the front. It seemed that there were less fortifications in the rear of the mansion the Baron had had constructed on the outskirts of the opposite side of Ponyville from the Jade family mines. It didn't make much sense to the Jade clan on the whole why the Baron would park himself so far from the land he wanted to own. But Dusk was pretty sure he saw the tactic in it for what it was. While the Baron might have a residence in the Ponyville area, he didn't always reside there. But if anything happened, such as the explosion at the mine, he could have witnesses to either back up his claims of being at the residence or of being abroad at the Imperial Capital if the law came calling. Being so far from the Jade's mines also meant that if he had hired someone to attack the mines as Dusk suspected, he could also cite the distance between the two areas in case he was home when and if the matter came up during an inquiry by the law.     Dusk could also feel the large amount of magic dampeners circling the property almost before they even got within twenty feet of it. It likely was designed to impede attempts at teleportation. Both to deal with unwanted intruders, and as a gesture of the Baron wanting to further protect himself from scrutiny. Barriers like this one were strong. Only the Shogun could punch through something this strong. Or at least Dusk was pretty sure only the Shogun could do it. He'd been told he could do things with magic that no other colt his age could, and that he had the potential to be even more powerful as he grew older. He wasn't sure how to take it, honestly.     They managed, with a little difficulty and some clever thinking on all their parts, to get past the patrols and onto the grounds, with Dusk looking out for anything magical that might impede their way. While all ponies had access to magic, Dusk's very skill was magic itself, and he was far more experienced on the subject than either of his two friends. As a unicorn himself, the Baron was clearly possessed of some skill that he wouldn't have expected from the blowhard, as Dusk found himself having to make allowances for variances in the magical field around his property that were working to dampen his magic. He imagined Flash was having similar difficulty, and Ash, who didn't seem the type to exercise his magical capacity much probably wouldn't even notice the difference.     "Y'all okay, Dusk? Yer lookin' a mite strained there." Ash asked. The indigo pony realized his appearance must have given away some of the effort he had to exert to deal with the fields in place.     Dusk turned to the stetson-wearing earth pony and grinned. "I'll be fine, Ash. Just a minor issue with the magic fields the Baron's set up around here to dampen magic."     "No kidding." Flash groused. He looked to be feeling the effects a little worse than Dusk was. Possibly because he was used to working his magic in the forges more than he was used to exerting it in the field. Not that he was incapable of doing so. Up until now, it had never been this big of an issue however. But the artificer forged on— no pun intended— with his friends. They slowly made their way towards the rear of the mansion. They counted themselves fortunate, for it was almost completely unguarded from the back end. Dusk snorted in amusement as he noted that the Baron, like so many other nobles, seemed to believe that anypony who would try to break in would do so from the front, rather than the sides or the rear of the mansion. He believed that the magic barriers would make ponies desperate to achieve their goals and thus foolishly attempt a frontal assault.     While the defenses were light, they weren't gone. Only a pair of guards, both in pony form, barred the way into the mansion. Both were Earth ponies. Dusk frowned. He had expected it given that the Baron was generally of the idea that most earth ponies were intended by nature to be servants to unicorns— The Baron had always detested the idea of Earth Ponies in positions of power, particularly when they were more important in the governmental structure of the Shogunate than he was— and that anything else would be uncivilized. The Baron, Dusk noted to himself, was an ass of the highest caliber. The ponies didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about being there either. Given that they were earth ponies, Dusk surmised that the baron had put them at the back of the house to 'hide' their presence. Though he employed earth ponies to serve him, that didn't mean he liked having to see them when he could avoid it.     "Any ideas, brah?" Ash asked as the three, looking on the bat doors from the cover of some of the shrubbery laid about in what was essentially the mansion's backyard. Granted said backyard was several acres, but that didn't change much.     "I'd suggest a sleep spell." Flash said. "Quick, effective, painless, and they won't be able to resist it, not if the magic dampeners are giving them even a third the trouble they're giving us." Dusk gave him an impressed look.     "Not a bad idea. I'd like to avoid unnecessary bloodshed myself if I can avoid it. Just because the Baron is a bastard doesn't mean those who're working for him necessarily are." Dusk replied with a nod. "The problem is we don't know how many others are inside."     "Mah guess is not many." Ash interjected. "If'n the Baron knows he's already th' chief suspect f'r what happened in the mines, mah guess is he's gonna keep down th' level of guards, just so's he don't look like he's up ta somethin'."     The two unicorns mulled that thought over. Neither was entirely sure they agreed with the reasoning, but it might end up being the correct assumption. For the moment, the big issue was removing the guards at the entrance. Focusing power into his horn, Flash took the initative, much to Dusk's surprise. He knew that Flash was trained in various forms of combat including magical forms, but he didn't expect him to take the lead.  Dusk knew Flash was no slouch though, and if he wanted to take a shot at this, why not let him? He began focusing his own magic, preparing it in case his silver-white coated friend needed the help. It proved to be unneeded though, as the guards began to feel drowsy, and then fell asleep within a few minutes.     "Nice one." Dusk chuckled.     "Thanks. I'm not exactly great shakes with tranqs, but I do know how to use the spell when I need to." Flash replied with a smile of his own, gesturing with one hoof to the back entrance. "Shall we?"     The trio of friends made their way inside the mansion cautiously, with Dusk setting up a passive scanning spell. He trusted his senses to protect him, but he had two friends to look out for now, and he wasn't sure Flash knew this particular spell, and AJ didn't seem to make use of his own magical ability at all beyond the standard transformation between the two forms. They were doubly lucky. Inside the house, the magic suppression field was non-existent, and so the trio quickly changed into their anthro forms. There was little telling if they would need the extra advantages the half-human form gave them. Ash seemed far more comfortable with having hands ready to use with those gunblades of his anyway, as he seemed slightly less tense than before, though he was still on his guard. Dusk wondered as to why the suppression field would be set at such a low level inside the house. Either the Baron was out of the area altogether— and thus so would be the majority of his servants since he liked to keep his best attendants on hand when he traveled, which meant that he wouldn't bother keeping the field up within the house since he believed anyone trying to get in would be caught well ahead of time— or else he was so assured of his current situation being unassailable that he had decided to chuck all caution to the four winds.     Either way, it was making things easier for the trio of young colts. They didn't want to fight anyone if they could help it. They were good fighters, true, and Dusk and Flash had some decent reach with their particular weapons and the gunblades would give Ash a wide range from which to fight, but they didn't want to shed any more blood than was absolutely necessary. Combat, while a part of Equestrian life, wasn't the goal here. The goal was evidence gathering. They didn't exactly have the place mapped out, but they had a general idea of where the stuff they were probably looking for wasn't going to be. The trio had a few close calls, as there were still some servants in the house, and none of them were the greatest hand at stealth, though they weren't rank amateurs, either. Eventually, they managed to make it to the second floor.     "Where to now?" Flash asked. Ash looked down the various corridors.     "Don't rightly know." he replied. "Ah never actually been inside the place before, 'member?"     "Right, sorry." Flash returned with an abashed chuckle, and even Dusk grinned.     "Well, if the Baron works here the same way he does when he's in the capital, that means he'll go for the cushiest place to set up shop for his bedroom, and the place that has the greatest sense of 'gravitas' for his so-called study, which would be where he'd keep anything of importance to him." Dusk answered a few moments later. "I've been to his place a few times with the Shogun as part of my education into life at the Imperial Court, and one of his less thrilled servants mentioned it to me when I was waiting for them to conclude their business." He added, answering their confused looks.     With that bit of information now in hand, the three friends felt they actually had a better idea of where to go. They soon found what looked like it pretty much couldn't be anything but the Baron's study. Making their way in, the three shifted into anthromorphic form, and began to carefully rifle through the most recent bits of paperwork, doing their utmost to make sure that anything they moved was put back where it came from just in case, as they didn't want to let the Baron know anyone had been on to him, or that they had managed to get into the mansion. They looked through the place for the better part of twenty minutes, but couldn't find anything that looked like evidence connecting the Baron to the explosion and cave-in at the Jade's mines.     "Reckon we might'a come out here fer nuthin', brah." Ash said to Dusk after a few minutes more searching. The young gunblade wielder found himself feeling annoyed that the Baron hadn't left anything behind they could use. It meant that the whole mystery of who set off the explosion in the family mine could drag on for who knew how long. He'd been hoping Dusk's hunch that the Baron had been involved and might have left some kind of clue behind would pay off. "Seems if th' Baron was behind it, he did a good job coverin' it up."     "You could be right, but let's try just a bit more searching. I want to be sure there's really nothing here, because our only other hope would be the Baron's bedroom, and frankly, I don't think I want to know what he does in there in his spare time." the indigo unicorn joked, causing Ash to crack a grin and Flash to roll his eyes in amusement. It was a rare thing for Dusk to tell even a halfway decent joke, so seeing the amusement in his friends' faces warmed him in a way that even the feel of magic flowing through him did not. They continued searching the Baron's study. Ash gave a frustrated sigh after another few minutes worth, in which they again checked all over the study, making sure they'd left no stone unturned. And they had come up with the same thing as before. Namely not a damn thing.     "Ain't nuthin' here, Dusk." He said, and closed one drawer with a little more force than necessary due to his frustration. Dusk's ears went up and he walked over to where Ash was, and pulled the drawer open again. "What in tarnation' are you doin'?" the miner pony asked, as Dusk began removing papers from the drawer and putting them in a neat stack in reverse order.     "This drawer has a false bottom. Didn't you hear the way it sounded when you closed it a minute ago? That sound that something was in there that was a lot heavier than just some papers or a loose-leaf notebook?" Dusk said as he pulled out the last paper. Ash and Flash looked curious. And now that Ash thought about it, the drawer looked like it should be a lot deeper and yet Dusk hadn't taken more than maybe two thirds of its size out. The indigo unicorn knocked lightly on what appeared to be the drawer's bottom boarding, and as he suspected, it sounded somewhat hollow. He took a moment to find where the latch was and soon enough pulled loose a book of spells. And by chance, there was a marker indicating a specific page that the Baron wanted to keep in mind. Flipping the book open, Dusk began to read, and then went as pale as his indigo coat would allow, and he facepalmed despite himself.     "That idiot..."     His two friends peered over his shoulder curiously. Ash, sadly, was no great magical theoretician. Flash was a little better however and frowned.     "Dusk, I'm not nearly as good with magic theory as you've proven to be over the course of our short association, but am I reading this right? Did the Baron actually...?"     "I'm not entirely sure, Flash," Dusk replied, "but I'm starting to think he might have, yes. These pages detail ingredients needed for a Summoning, and a powerful one at that. I hope he understands the risk he's putting himself and others into. Because this kind of thing is dangerous on levels I don't even want to consider. This is the kind of thing that even most accomplished mages balk at doing unless they have no other choice."     "Is this gonna be enough evidence to bring to the law?" Ash asked. He still wasn't entirely sure what the two unicorns were talking about, as he used his magic largely as a means to enhance his own innate toughness and strength more than anything else, and had resisted most of his grandfather's offers to teach him anything more advanced as Earth Pony magic went.     "Maybe. As the Shogun's Ward I'm one of the few people who can go anywhere for any reason and search places without a warrant. If we can get this to Proper Procedure, I think we have a shot at sewing this up pretty tight." Dusk replied with a firm nod. "It's probably the second best thing to an outright confession from the Baron himself."     "Would you like it in writing?"  The trio looked up to see the Baron, who looked enormously smug as he stepped into the room in his anthro form. "Nice try boys. I've got to hand it to you, Shine. You're as skilled as the rumors say. My staff should wake up with no idea whatsoever as to why they suddenly fell asleep. If I hadn't had a special charm set to alert me if anyone not keyed into it used any form of magic against my staff in any form of offensive manner, I wouldn't even have known you were here. Just my luck I was only halfway into town when I felt the alarm spell."     "Credit where it's due, you pompous windbag." Dusk said, gesturing to Flash, who gave a dry look to the Baron, who seemed to be surprised by this.     "Oh, look. You've made yourself a friend." he drawled. But then he did a double-take as he gave Flash a look over again, trying to commit his face to memory, and found something unexpected. "Well, well. Not High Aspirations' boy, surely?" he said, and chuckled at the look of astonishment on the faces of the two unicorn colts. "Come now, Dusk. You didn't really expect me not to know about the offspring of a former member of the nobility, did you?"     Dusk would have kicked himself had he had the time. Flash had told him that he was the son of a former princess. Of course the Baron would have known of her. He had to have had some knowledge of present and former peers. He made use of his political muscles any chance he could get.     "You realize I can't allow you to just strut in here and steal from me, don't you?" said the Baron. His tone was light and playful, but the smug look in his eye was such that Ash wanted to take a gunblade to his face. "Particularly seeing as you have something that could cause me a lot of trouble."     "More than you know, Baron." Dusk snorted. "Do you have any idea what kind of forces you're dealing with here? There's a reason why most practicing magicians don't screw around with this kind of stuff!"     "Yes, yes. The horrors that Summonings can conjure up and the price they might extract. Really, boy. I heard all this well before you ever came along. I know what I'm doing." the Baron ground out in annoyance. "You seem to think that just because you're Lunaris' pet, that it means you can lord it over me. I don't give a damn how good at magic or combat you are, boy. I'm not some backwards country bumpkin like your earth pony friend over there who doesn't know the risks."     "Considering you're using something as dangerous as a summoning just to try to scare a family that never did you any harm into selling their land to you, I think calling you a country bumpkin would be an insult to actual country bumpkins. And Ash is no idiot, Baron." Flash suddenly cut in. "He may not be classically educated, but he's a damn sight smarter than you. What do you think would happen if something happened to us, with the police already aware that we're investigating this issue? I mean seriously, did you really think that if something happened to us that nobody would suspect anything? My father is a well known artificer. Ash's grandfather runs an abundant and fruitful mine, despite it being relatively remotely located. Dusk is the Shogun's ward and apprentice, for crying out loud!"     "Ah, yes. And what do you think the Shogun will say when Dusk is arrested for breaking an entering, theft, and using magic against ponies without due cause?"     The three colts stared at the Baron as though they believed he had completely lost his mind, as they were pretty sure that would be a ridiculously hard idea to sell. And the Baron stared back as his assistant from the night before arrived.     "Problems, Baron?" he asked.     "None whatsoever. It seems we arrived just in time." The Baron replied. But then gave Dusk an askance look at the smug expression on the indigo unicorn's face.     "Wrong." Dusk said, as his horn lit up, and there was a great crunching noise as beams of wood ripped upwards, smashing into the ceiling and creating a makeshift cage around the Baron and his assistant.     "Break for it!" Dusk shouted to his companions and the three of them dashed past the cage. Dusk held it in place with his magic as long as he could with the Baron focusing his own magic against it. It held long enough for them to get down to the first floor. The guards and servants were still asleep, but the trio of colts knew they wouldn't stay that way for long. They scampered past them even as they heard the Baron bellowing in rage as the cage gave way and he thundered down the stairs after them with his assistant not far behind him. They headed out the back in order to head off any threats from the front, and ended up scattering away from one another to avoid several magical bursts and even a few bullets. Luckily, none of the three friends was any slouch in the agility department, and Ash proved to be a capable sharpshooter in his own right, firing his Gunblades with such accuracy as to destroy incoming bullets, protecting the three from serious injury, as each bullet he fired was enhanced by Earth Pony magic. Dusk and Flash added their unicorn magic to the fray, covering one another and Ash in magic fields to repel spells and bullets. The three came back together from where they had scattered as they approached the borderline of the Baron's property.     "You won't get away from me, boy!" The Baron called after them as Dusk threw up a massive barrier of ice which extended in a line towards the Baron, which he countered with a spell designed to melt the ice, only to have it start detonating due to a secondary effect Dusk had woven into the spell. Neither the Baron nor his assistant were harmed, but the explosions and smoke had been enough to slow them down long enough for the boys to escape.     The trio arrived in Ponyville about twenty minutes or so after their escape from the Baron's estate. All three were exhausted from running at nearly top speed. They stopped near a small store somewhere in the middle of town.     "That was too close." Flash panted. "Shogun's wings, Dusk, I thought we'd be done in there and then."     "You and me both, brah." Ash said as the trio worked to regain their breath. "But if'n we got enough evidence to put the Baron away, Ah'd call it a risk worth takin', personally."     "This isn't over. We need to get this to the cops, and I need to make a vidcall." Dusk replied to his friends. Despite the hard run, the three were quickly off to the police station, where they were met at the front desk by Proper Procedure himself, who was checking in. He was shown the book, which he was told was evidence that the Baron had been involved in the incident at the mine. After Dusk had explained what the Baron had done, the officer was all for destroying the book, but Dusk immediately shot this down.    "This is heavy magic, chief." Dusk said firmly. "This kind of magic is rarely used and for good reason. Bad enough he's used it, but to use it in the way he has makes it worse. The Shogun needs to be brought in on this. I need access to a hololink."     Ten minutes later in a private room, the Shogun's visage was rendered in full three dimensional holographic form. And as Dusk explained more and more of what was going on, the more the Shogun looked fit to explode.     "Dusk, you took a major risk on this matter. I understand that the Jades are friends of yours, but you've got to be more careful. You know what's at stake." Lunaris said. But his features softened as he saw the chastised look on his ward's face. "I'm not saying you did the wrong thing by helping the Jades. If I were in your position I'd like to hope I'd have done the same thing. But you should have planned your infiltration better than you did. You were lucky to escape. I'll send a contingent of the royal guard to aid the police in arresting the Baron."     Dusk nodded. "That's good. I'm worried though. If he's been stupid enough to go this far, who else is? For that matter, who else was in on it among the nobility?" the indigo pony said with a frown. "For all we know he could be working with the Griffons or the Dragons."     "It's possible." The Shogun nodded after a moment's thought. "I'll put some of my best agents on the case, see what we can find in his other estates. You do what you can to help the Jades finish their cleanup and then get back underway, alright? You still need to find the other Incarnates."     Dusk nodded, and despite the severity of the situation, smiled at Lunaris. "I won't let you down, your majesty."     The Shogun snorted. It was an old joke between the two, as he had often told Dusk to either call him by name or just Shogun. But sometimes Dusk used the proper stylization that came with the title and throne. After a few minutes more discussing some of the plans Dusk had for finding the Elements of Bushido, Dusk exited the room, where he met AJ and Flash, both of whom were expectantly waiting on him.     "The Shogun's sending members of the Guard to assist the cops here in town to bring the Baron in. He's shut down totally, at least for now. But I don't expect he's going to go down without a fight. He may make one last push against the town, or even the mine, now that he knows he's been exposed. I've seen it happen before with other Nobles." The indigo unicorn told them.     "If'n he's gonna try something 'gainst mah family, then Ah better get back there fast." Ash said. The idea of the Baron attacking his family's lands and livelihood making him angry enough that his southern drawl actually became more pronounced.     "You won't be going alone, AJ. Not if Dusk and I have anything to say about the matter." Flash replied, and Dusk nodded. And so after asking for a small squad of officers to accompany them to the mines from Proper Procedure, the trio of colts, now in pony form, were sprinting out of town to the Jade family mines.     The trio made their way to the gates of the Jade property with the escort and found Strike Jade waiting for them on the front porch. He seemed to be halfway between furious and relieved at the sight of the trio. He gave Ash a light cuff to the side of the head as he came within arm's reach.     "Don't go scarin' me like that again, Ash." he said sternly. "I thought th' Baron had come and run off with ya and yer friends. Cut's been makin' vidcalls to the police all day!"     "It was my fault, sir." Dusk said, moving up to stand next to Ash. "I was the one who was planning to infiltrate the Baron's home in hopes of finding some evidence to link him to the attack on the mine. Flash and AJ were bound and determined to back me up and wouldn't take no for an answer. So if you have to blame someone, you should blame me."     "The hell he will." Ash said sharply. "Ah made th' choice ta help ya an' Ah'm stickin' by it. The Jades look out fer their own and the day we turn tail on a friend is th' day hell freezes over." The stetson wearing colt turned to give his grandfather the sternest look he could muster. "Do whatever you gotta do, Grampa, but Ah ain't about ta apologize fer doin' what Ah saw t'be right. They done stuck their necks out fer us when the mine collapsed, an' Dusk even spoke up 'gainst the Baron for us when he didn't haveta. Ah wouldn'tve felt right leavin' them to do this alone."     Strike gave Ash a contemplative look for a few minutes, then sighed, shaking his head, before letting out a low chuckle.     "Yer def'nitely yer dad's son, Ash." the old stallion before he turned back towards the front door. "Well, c'mon. Breakfast's ready, an' the station called to tell us you were on yer way back, so we got enough fer ever'one who wants some."     The trio were more than happy to oblige and were just about to dig into what looked to be a small feast for breakfast when an inarticulate roar sounded through the Jade estate. Jumping to their feet, the Jades, Dusk, and Flash darted outside, and stopped in pure disbelief of what stood before them.     "You gotta be shitting me..." Dusk said, which summed up the feelings of all present.     Before them stood a being that looked like a semi-amorphous quadrupedal being made of burning shadows. How such a thing was possible, only a few of the truly great magicians in the world could have explained. All that anyone knew was the thing was there. It didn't look like a pony, a griffon, a dragon, a human, or anything else native to the planet.     "That sonuvabitch! He actually did it!" Dusk raged as the sight confirmed in his mind just how foolish the Baron truly was. "He summoned a demon!"     "Well, at least we know one thing now." Flash deadpanned as he pulled his Naginata loose and held in in an aggressive fighting stance. "The Baron really is as idiotic a git as he seems."     Ash gave the artificer a confused look. But then shook his head and pulled his gunblades free and crouched, waiting to see what the monster the Baron had unleashed was going to do next. Dusk pulled his twin Katana free. He was sure of the strength of the one he'd gotten from the Shogun. It had been made by the Shogun himself from within the heart of a neutron star. It would take far worse than this creature to destroy it. The other was a good blade, even if it didn't have the benefit of the Shogun's hand as its creator. But whether or not it would hold up against a demon, he wasn't sure. He crossed the blades near the tips, before pulling them away from one another and creating a small electrical flash of light, before he settled into a combat stance of his own.     "This isn't going to be an easy fight, guys. I think you two should worry about getting the rest of the people here to safety. I'm no archmage, nor am I a combat Master, but I can buy you enough time to get everyone out safely before this thing shreds me." Dusk said.     "You're right about one thing, Dusk." Flash said. "This won't be an easy fight. But you won't be doing it alone."     "Flash, I'm serious. This thing would give Samurai with more experience then I'll ever have in a lifetime trouble. We can't win this fight! At least if I buy you some time, you and Ash and everyone else here can escape, bring back the police, or the guard, or someone who can help!" Dusk said, real fear entering his voice now. His friends couldn't possibly be so foolish as to throw their lives away. "Besides, I'm an orphan! If I bite it here, nobody will miss me. You two don't have that luxury!"     "The Shogun'd miss ya, Dusk." Ash said calmly. "That is, if'n yer tellin' the truth 'bout bein' his apprentice an all—"     "Do you think I'm stupid enough to lie about something like that?" Dusk snapped.     "No. Ah know when someone's tellin' th' truth most'a the time. An' few dishonest folks'd stand up fer people they only known a day or two when they come under fire like this. But yer wrong if you think nobody'd miss ya if you kicked it here. The Shogun'd miss ya. Flash'd miss ya. Ah'd miss ya, an th' family'd miss ya. Yer our friend, Dusk. An' like Ah keep tellin' yah: It'll be a cold day in hell 'fore a Jade cuts an' runs on his friends."     Dusk almost recoiled from the strength of purpose in the Earth Pony's voice. But then smiled even as he closed his eyes  and shook his head in something between wonder and amazement, laughing lightly. "I never looked at it like that." Dusk said as he opened his eyes again. There was a harder look present there now. "Well then guys, make me one promise;" he grinned. "Don't either of you let this bastard kill you. I plan on having you two as my friends for as long as I live and it'd be pretty hard to do if you two were worm food."     The other two shared a look with Dusk before the entire trio grinned at one another, and as one, the three moved to attack.     The creature was fast. Faster than any of the three were individually. But facing a three-pronged attack meant that the odds were against it getting away without taking damage. However, as the trio of young ponies closed in on the thing, odds seemed to be the last thing on its mind as it grabbed all three in a magical grip and smashed them all together. Dusk's skull practically bounced off of Flash's, and Flash's head was sent careening into Ash's off that contact, leaving all three with spots in their vision momentarily, even as Ash tried to pull a bead on the creature and fired, only to see it almost lazily tilt itself to one side, the bullet going wild by almost a half a foot. However this turned out to be what Ash was hoping it would do, as his second gunblade roared to life, striking it solidly in the upper left shoulder and ribcage. The tactic was enough that the magic holding the three began to destabilize.     Flash took advantage of the magical grip coming loose to charge forward and break it altogether, jamming the blade of his weapon into the chest of the monster, right below where he figured the heart would have been in a mortal being, and heaved, trying to force it through whatever it might have had that would pass for a spine. The creature bellowed again, but then reared up on its hind legs and used its forelegs to grasp the naginata and yank on it, causing it to slip free from Flash's hands, causing him to tip over, though Dusk quickly caught him in his magic and set him upright on his feet even as he darted in and tried to slash out the tendons in the creature's lower hind legs. The creature pulled the Naginata loose at almost the exact moment Dusk's blades cut into the flesh of its leg and it turned, smashing the pole of the Naginata into Dusk and sending the young ward of the Shogun tumbling end over end nearly twenty feet. Only by luck did he manage not to be injured by his own blades despite keeping a firm grip on them.     "Damnit...we're gettin' nowhere fast, guys!" Ash said as he laid down some suppression fire to cover Flash as he used his magic to pull his weapon back into his hands and in turn cover Dusk who was just regaining his feet. "I dun' suppose either of yah got some kinda one hit kill spell or somethin' y'all can throw at this ugly bastard?"     "If we did, I'd like to think we'd have used it first, my friend!" Flash returned as the creature decided to show off just what it meant to challenge one of its ilk by spitting a number of fireballs at the trio. "Dusk? Please tell me you haven't been holding out on us here."     "I haven't." Dusk said as all three of them were diving for cover as the fireballs landed and detonated with incredible force. "I wish I knew what to do here. I've read about Summonings, but they're extremely rare for a reason. Most people aren't so screwed up that they would run the risk of bringing something Demonic into this world. Not after the way things went down during the Age of Heroes!" The demon launched more fireballs their way, sending them each scurrying for some kind of cover. Think, Dusk, think! the indigo unicorn berated himself mentally. You've studied all kinds of magic since the Shogun took you in! There has to be something in those books and mechanized files you've had your nose stuck in that can help!     The creature stomped the ground, sending a line of flame outward which split into three and homed in on the current cover each of the three were hidden behind. Ash and Flash darted backwards just in time to avoid the explosive reaction that ensued between their respective hiding places and the demon's attack. Dusk was a half a second slow, still trying to think of some spell or enchantment that might help, and was again sent end over end, this time sporting several light burns. His clamped his jaws shut to avoid giving voice to the pain of the flames that had licked at his body. He refused to give the Baron's monster that satisfaction.     As the trio began gearing up to counter attack, four new gunshots rang out and the creature bellowed again as it staggered backwards from the unexpected assault. Dusk and the others turned to see Strike and Cut, each armed with gunblades of their own standing about two hundred feet away. Ash winced. He hadn't seen his grandfather use gunblades outside of giving him lessons on using them before, and he'd never seen his sister use them ever. He made a mental note never to get on their bad sides. They just made a set of shots he was pretty sure he couldn't have made even if he'd had laser sights on his blades.     "Get the hell away from my grandson and his friends, ya freaky bastard!" Strike called to the creature. "You wanna fight someone, fight me, ya underbrained varmint!"     The creature looked all too willing to oblige. But the colts would have none of it, as both Dusk and Flash launched magical blasts from their horns even as Ash pushed every ounce of Earth Pony magic he could muster into the gunblades, firing massive glowing spheres of power at the creature. Strike and Cut added their own weaponsfire to the mix. The result was impressive, as the mix of magic and sheer kinetic energy combined to send the beast flying a good hundred feet back with a small explosion of force. It seemed to be genuinely hurt, too, as it seemed to now be 'bleeding' some form of odd glowing white ichor.  Dusk, Ash, and Flash began to regroup.     "Thanks for the assist!" he called to the two older Jade family members. "Keep everyone out of harm's way if you can."     "Ah'll lay down some coverin' fire if'n you need it while Cut gets the other folks clear. We still got workhands recuperatin' from the other day that haven't been able to get a spot over t'the hospital yet!" Strike called back as Cut was already in motion, circling the long way around, with the creature thankfully ignoring her in favor of the others, who were the larger threat. It was also, they noted, favoring its wounded side as it got to its feet.     "Great. Our job just got that much harder...." Dusk muttered to himself. But he shook his head and took a cleansing breath, trying to compose himself. "Okay guys...you heard him. Let's keep that thing's mind on us." That said, he began pouring magic along his arms and into his twin Katana, giving them a dark black-silver glow. "Keep it off balance. We know this thing can be hurt now. Let's see if we can't make it worse." And in the meantime, he thought to himself, maybe I can figure out some kind of spell to kill it. If we just keep attacking it, odds are good it'll kill one or all of us before we can really do it any real damage. It's hurt, but that won't stop it for long...     The creature quickly lived up to that prediction, and had apparently decided to mix and match attacks, sending out fireballs and that odd snaking fireline assault, trying to get the trio one way or another. Dusk poured magic into the blade the Shogun had given him and batted the fireball sent his way into the middle of the fireline at the point that it split in three to try to snuff it out at the source. To everyone's suprirse, the move worked, and Flash and Ash took quick advantage of it, as the unicorn fired several magical bolts through his horn wile the Earth pony fired magically enhanced bullets at the thing. Strike added in his own magically enhanced bullets to the assault, but this time the thing seemed to be ready for such an attack and had no wish to experience the effects of a combo assault of that nature again, raising a shield of raw flame, which withstood the bullets. And though the magical bolt fired by Flash caused it to snuff out, it did lost cohesion in the doing, allowing the monster to surge forward, trying to ram the silver-white unicorn. Flash responded to the bullrush by stabbing the Naginata forward and using the leverage of the impact to flip the creature overhead, thanks to a bit of magical reinforcement to his muscles.     "This is getting us nowhere fast. All we can manage is a holding action right now. Unless we can get some kind of reinforcements, we're screwed!" Dusk said as he leapt forwards, meeting the rising demon with a slash of his Katana to its back, causing it to bellow in pain and briefly collapse to the floor again. "Strike, by any chance, did you manage to get word back to town about what was going on?"     "If they didn't hear that thing screamin' its head off when it first showed up, they ain't comin'!" Strike Jade responded as he shot off another few rounds. Cut Jade could be seen out of the corner of Dusk's eye, doing her best to help the wounded to safety.     "Even if they were, you'll be dead long before anyone else will get here."     "Baron...." Dusk snarled at the sound of the familiar voice.....which came from the mouth of the monster they were fighting. Dusk narrowed his eyes. "Using a spell to see and communicate with us through your pet, Baron?" he sneered, leaping at the creature and corkscrewing through the air, cutting several gashes into whatever passed for its flesh with both his Katana, which were reinforced by his magic.     "Of course. How could I pass up the opportunity to see the demise of Lunaris' pet and the Jades all in one fell swoop? Almost a pity about Aspirations' boy, really. He could have been a great Samurai when he grew up."     "I'm not dead yet, you bloody demon trafficking wanker!" Flash said, slamming the Naginata home in the creature's lower right side when it reared up to try taking a swipe at Dusk. "But I'll be right glad to help Dusk and Ash dispell whatever plans you have like so much smoke!"     ....Oh fuck me. Why didn't I think of that sooner!? Dusk thought to himself, eyes wide. "Flash, you're a damn genius!"     "Well of course I am!" Flash replied. Then blinked, looking over to Dusk. "Wait. What? What've you got up your sleeve, Dusk?"     "Everybody fall back! Gimme some room!" Dusk shouted. His horn was lightning up slowly, but growing in strength every second. The Jades and Flash and the wounded that Cut Jade was working to evacuate give him as wide a berth as possible, moving as far away as possible, and hoping the young blade wielding Samurai knew what he was doing. Dusk's horn continued to glow, and it increased in power and light until it physically hurt to look at it, and then, as the monster the Baron had summon lunged towards the indigo colored unicorn, Dusk let out a massive spell that engulfed everything around them for roughly fifty feet around. There was a blinding flash of light and a thunderous sound like the firing of a thousand cannons at one time.....     When the light had faded, the demon was gone, leaving less nothing more than a small burn mark on the ground to show it was ever there in the first place. Dusk was nowhere to be seen. But one of his Katana lay thirty feet from where the two had been. Flash and Ash moved quickly to it, and spotted its twin laying not much further away, and just beyond that by perhaps another seventy feet....     "What the...." Flash stared. Ash stared. The Jades stared.     "...Uhm...is that normal for unicorns?" Cut asked, and Flash turned an incredulous look her way.     "That was a joke. Right?" he asked, his voice lacking all humor.     "Let's get him inside...." Strike said quietly.     Dusk had a pounding headache that just wouldn't quit.     "Ugggrrhh...anyone catch the number of that war cruiser that hit me?" He muttered, and winced, clutching his head, as his own voice seemed to hurt to hear, and his throat felt like he'd swallowed lava.     "Y'all had us worried, boy." Strike Jade said, coming into the room where Dusk lay. He carried a tray of food and set it down on the bed Dusk had been settled into. "Ah dunno what in the seven hells you used out there, but it worked. The demon's gone, an' the guard found the Baron and put him away. He's gonna be out of everyone's hair for a long time to come."     "Good to hear." Dusk said, no longer feeling any pain from hearing anyone speak. "How long was I out?"     "'Bout seven hours. The boys and Cut are waitin on yah to wake up."     "What about Shatter? I know he was nowhere near the fighting, but I hope all the noise didn't scare him too badly." Dusk asked. Strike smiled.     "Don't you worry none about him. Shatter sleeps like the dead and the demon popped up durin' his nap, Ah reckon. He was snoozin' without a care in the world when we brought you in." the old stallion said. "Dig in. You gotta get yer strength back. Flash filled me in on what you two're upta. Tryin' t'save the world, huh? Somehow Ah get the feelin' the world's in good hands."     Grinning a bit at the vote of confidence from the Jade patriarch, Dusk reached for some of the food, and stopped dead in his tracks as he got a look at his arm.     "What in—?!"     "Yeah...that was somethin' we were wonderin' ourselves." Strike said, rubbing his chin. "Never seen anything like this happen before. Thought maybe it was a side effect of whatever it was ya used on the Baron's monster. What didja use, anyway?"     "A high level disruption spell." Dusk said, still staring at his arm. Something told him however, that it wasn't just his arm that had been affected though. He looked around and quickly spotted a full-body mirror on a nearby wall. Moving the tray aside, he made to get out of bed. He stumbled briefly, but Strike was quick enough to help steady him. Once he was sure he could walk on his own, Dusk made his way towards the mirror and looked into it.     What stared back was a unicorn, sure enough. But instead of being an indigo coated unicorn with bronze streaks in a blue mane and green eyes staring back....     There was a unicorn with green eyes, a green coat of fur, and a green mane with silver streaks staring back at him......     How did this happen? Dusk thought to himself as he looked over the changes in his body. His tail was the same color as his mane before, and it still held true now. He shifted into full pony form, and saw that the changes were constant in both forms. The only thing that seemed to remain unaffected was his Warrior Mark. He tried to figure out what could have caused such a change, and began pacing, trying to replay the battle's conclusion in his mind. He stopped suddenly as something occurred to him. He felt....lighter. As if there had been some kind of restraint on him that he'd never before noticed and it was suddenly gone.     He frowned. The only thing he could remember at the conclusion of the battle had been the dispelling of the demon. He didn't know the exact spell that would send the demon back to its own dimension, so he had used the one spell that was designed to disrupt spells of almost any type. Only an Alicorn or equally powerful spellcaster could have repulsed it, and the Baron was no master sorcerer, nor was he close enough to the creature to give the summoning spell any reinforcement.     After a good ten minutes of pacing and not coming up with anything, Strike got Dusk to eat and then let the others come fuss over him for a bit, and after a bit, everyone had settled in for a good night's sleep. Everyone, save two.     "You sure about this, Ash?" Strike said as he and his grandson settled down at the kitchen table. "Ah ain't gonna stop ya, but you need ta be sure."     "Sure as shootin' grampa. Those two could use some help. An' let's face it, Ah've got a bit of wanderlust in me as much as dad did when he was a kid." Ash replied. "Me an' Flash already talked about it, an' Dusk'll prolly go along with it if he knows yer on board."     Strike smirked, before pulling his grandson into a strong hug. "Never could stop yer old man from doin' anything he set his mind on. You an' yer sister are the same way. You watch out for yourself and those boys, y'hear? Ah don't want to bury my grandson anytime soon."     "Ah'll be back, gramps. Me an' Flash'll help Dusk find them Elements of Bushido things an' the folks who're supposed to use'em, you just watch and see if we don't."     Grinning, Strike nodded.     "Ah better get ta bed. Ah figger Dusk'll put up a fight at first even if you are givin' the ok."     "You sayin' Dusk'd call ya a liar?" Strike asked, quicking a brow curiously.     "Naw. But he won't wanna believe it at first cause he thinks too much like an orphan. You saw what happened today. He figgered nobody'd miss him if somethin' happened to him. Boy's got a lot of courage in'im, but doesn't really think he matters as long as he gets the job done. Someone's gotta hammer some home truths inta the guy."     Strike nodded. "Makes sense. You think you can get through to'im?"     "Well, like Ah always say, honesty's usually the key to gettin' things done." Ash said with a grin as he got to his feet and tipped his stetson to the older stallion. "Night, Grampa."     "Night, Ash."         "I wonder...." Lunaris muttered to himself. He stood in the royal archives, poring over a number of data files on a large supercomputer.  The information he'd just been given by his old friend Strike Jade had triggered something in the back of his mind. A memory that danced just out of his reach. Something about the change wrought in his ward sounded so tantalizingly familiar. "Where do I know it from....?"     The answers weren't yet forthcoming. But he had time. He had no appointments for the rest of the afternoon before the sun set and the moon rose. He would find the information eventually. There was no rush.     Sitting in his cell, the Baron scowled. He had come so close. Then the Shogun's damned brat had appeared and it had all unravelled. He knew the Shogun had used agents to thwarts many of his agents and plans in the past. But then came the boy. And now his plans for the Jade Mines had come to a close.     "Such a pity." a voice sounded in his mind."With the aid I granted you, Baron, this should have been mere child's play."     The Baron was startled to hear the voice in his mind. He looked about, but saw no guards. "I underestimated those colts. They were stronger than I imagined. Almost unthinkably strong for boys of their age. Dusk's magical power alone is savant-like. No unicorn his age should be that strong. Flash Burst isn't that far behind him. And Ash Jade will be as dangerous a stallion as any who ever took up arms, regardless of the species or the magic."     "And so they quest together." The voice said. "Such a pity you fell so far after climbing so high, Baron. But then, Icarus fell too, didn't he?"     The Baron puzzled over the reference for a moment, before he realized it was a reference to a myth from Ancient Earth. The realization came with it a burning sensation beneath his skin. He groaned in pain for a moment, but it passed. "I have no intention to repeat his mistake." the Baron replied. A split second later, he almost doubled over in pain. Beneath his skin, his veins glowed brilliantly. "....What is this...?!" he ground out as his body began to heat up.     "I told you, Baron. Icarus fell. So it was, so it has come to be again."     The Baron's screams of pain sounded throughout the cells.     All that was found ten minutes later was a smoldering skeleton and flesh burnt to ash.      The guard who had served the Baron his food smirked as the screams made their way to his ears.     "Solus Infinitum."