(A/N) That's right, I have an actual chapter for you all, not just some note about an upcoming event. This chapter has been a long time coming, and I apologize to those of you who have been waiting quite some time for it. I'm not going to beat around the bush here, so I'm just going to let you get right into. I must thank all of you though for being patient as I put this chapter together, I hope you enjoy it.

A small amount of dust jumped up around their boots with every step they took, the group of soldiers cautiously made their way through the streets. The entire town was deserted, not a single soul could be seen. The once lively town had practically been reduced to a ghost town. A snap echoed out through the surrounding area catching all of the soldiers by surprise, they immediately fell into a defensive standing. From above them a body fell to the ground, hitting the dirt with a heavy thud. A bullet hole could be seen in the chest of the now deceased, along with some very visible blood.

"What in the hell was that?!" One of the younger soldiers cried. "Are we under attack?!"

"Stand down soldier," one of the others, his commanding officer, replied rather calmly. "That was our Overwatch, you can thank him later."

Through the scope of his rifle, Scott could see one of soldiers give him a wave before the group began making their way back down the street. He lifted the bolt and pulled it back, pushing it forwards again and sliding another bullet into the barrel.

"Good shot," he heard a familiar voice say beside him.

Scott looked beside himself and saw Connor gazing through his spotters scope. Connor had taken the role of working as his spotter, and his backup should the need arise. The two of them had always worked together, whatever the mission. Some people had compared them to Sonic and Tails on the odd occasion, they had a bond like only brothers could have.

"We've got more movement," Connor noted, snapping Scott back to attention. "Couple of buildings down the street, rooftop again." It didn't take long for Scott to find what Connor had seen, one lone man with a weapon in hand. "He's got an RPG, that's not a friendly. Take him out."

Scott lined up the shot, placing his target in the center of his crosshairs. He exhaled slowly and began to squeeze the trigger, letting the shot surprise him as the rifle fired. The man on the rooftop dropped mere moments after the bullet had left the barrel of the gun, falling over the side of the building and down to the ground below, another confirmed kill.

"Another one down, how many's that now?" Connor asked.

"Uh, six. I think," Scott replied.

"You know, that's more than any of the other Snipers got yesterday. That's all of their kills added together, I mean," Connor explained.

"That's not exactly something to be proud of," Scott sighed.

"I didn't mean it like that," Connor replied. "It's impressive is all I'm saying."

Scott contemplated what he was going to say next, he had a question he wanted answered.

"Hey, Connor," he began. "I've got something I've been wanting to ask you."

"Go ahead," Connor replied.

"I've been hearing a few rumors around the place. There've been whispers that a new division is being put together. I've also heard that Sally is in charge of it all."

Scott waited to hear a reply from Connor. Though for whatever reason, the human didn't reply.

"Connor?" Scott asked.

"We were hoping to keep that quiet for the time being," he heard Connor sigh. "As I expected though, it would seem that someone has loose lips."

"So it's true then?"

Again, no reply came from Connor. Just before Scott managed to speak this time, Connor beat him to it.

"Scott," Connor said warily. "I'm seeing movement again, near the body of the guy you just plugged."

Scott shifted himself as he gazed through the scope of his rifle again, pointing himself towards the body of the man from earlier. Just as Connor had said, someone did indeed seem to be moving towards the body. The most likely reason, was to retrieve the RPG that had fallen to the ground with him. What Scott didn't expect though, was who was the one moving around. It turned out to be a boy, he looked about eleven years old. Scotts heart skipped a beat when the boy bent down and clumsily picked up the RPG, struggling place it over his shoulder. When the boy did however, he went about aiming it directly towards the spot Connor and Scott were currently positioned.

"Scott, you need to do something," Connor said cautiously, still watching the boy.

Scotts grip on his rifle tightened, his trigger finger began to shake. It felt as though everything was suddenly beginning happening far to quickly.

"Scott, pull the trigger," he heard Connor say.

His finger twitched as he placed it on the trigger, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull it.

"Scott," Connor repeated, more urgently this time. "Scott, Scott!"

"Scott," a new voice spoke.

Everything around the hedgehog suddenly began to break down. The buildings collapsed in on themselves, the ground turned to dust. All this happened as Scott felt himself being lightly shaken.

"Scott, hey Scott," Sora said, lightly shaking Scotts shoulder to wake him up.

Scott let out a quiet grunt as he woke up again, rubbing his eyes as he spoke. "How long was I asleep?"

"Practically the whole trip," Sora replied. "You dozed off soon after we left, the trip's a few hours long if you remember."

"Alright," Scott yawned. "So I guess we're nearing our destination then?"

"Yeah, the train's about to pull into the station. Won't be long now," Sora answered.

Sora left his side and walked further down the train car, taking a seat next to Flare. A few seats behind them, Scott caught sight of the girls who had accompanied them to Canterlot. They appeared to be having a friendly conversation amongst themselves, completely the opposite of the Mobians on board the train. Scott let himself slouch down into his seat slightly, crossing his arms over his chest. With his arms across his chest, he felt that his pistol was still in the holster under his jacket, knowing it was there made him feel much more at ease.

The dream Scott had just witnessed was one that had lingered with him for quite some time, it was a memory that he couldn't seem to be rid of. He had taken the lives of many men during the war, all would have taken his had he not beaten them to it. Some residents of Mobius had joined forces with the Harrowed, it all came down to the basic instinct of self preservation. The people of Mobius had put up a fight the moment the Harrowed had arrived, possibly more of one than they had been expecting. Some time into the war, the Harrowed gave out the opportunity to fight alongside them. Those who joined would be spared just as long as they fought loyally alongside the invaders. That meant every man and woman who accepted the offer. Sadly, sometimes children had been caught in all the conflict.

"Attention passengers," a voice, most likely the conductor, could be heard over the speakers on the train. "We will be arriving at Ponyville station shortly, please collect all your belongings and prepare to disembark."

"About time," Flare sighed, stretching his back. "There are better things we could be doing than sitting on a train."

"Of course there are better things we could be doing," Pinkie Pie jumped in. "Like throwing you all a party!"

"A party? Seriously?" Scott asked, walking over towards the others.

"Yeah, parties are kind of Pinkies... thing," Rainbow explained. "They're a bit unexpected sometimes, but totally worth it."

"Ain't nopony in town who can throw a party like our Pinkie Pie," Applejack added.

"We might have to skip the party, we've got other things we need to take care of," Scott explained.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with Scott on that one," Sora agreed.

"What could you possibly have to take care of?" Pinkie replied, far to happily for her own good. "The only thing you'll have to take care of is enjoying yourself at your party."

There was a moment of silence amongst everybody in the group, Pinkie quite often had that effect on people.

"There's no way for us to get out of this is there?" Sora asked the ponies.

"Not if you know what's good for you," Applejack chuckled in response.

"Attention everypony, we have now arrived at our destination," the conductor said over the speakers once again. "We welcome you to Ponyville and wish you all a great day."

"What is it with the way they talk around here," Sora said to Flare as they left the train. "It's all everypony this and anypony that, can't they talk normally?"

"Considering we're in a completely different dimension right now, I imagine it is normal for them," Flare replied. "Differences amongst cultures and all that."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Sora sighed.

"So what do you guys think we should do first?" Scott asked the other two.

"Well we could show ya'll around town," Applejack said, having heard Scotts comment. "We didn't exactly get a chance to get that out of the way earlier."

"I actually just thought of something," Flare cut in.

"What's that?" Sora asked.

"Where are we supposed to stay?"

Everyone simply looked at one another, not knowing what to say. Where the Mobians were going to stay was one thing none of them had considered up until now.

"Now I know she ain't much to look at," Applejack explained, pushing the large door open. "But it's dry, and warm enough that you won't freeze your flank off during the night."

The Mobians stepped past the farmer pony and walked into the barn she had offered them to sleep in. They inspected the inside of it, checking out all that could be seen.

"It'll do," Scott said. "Hell, I'm sure we've all slept in far worse conditions. I know I have."

"Wait, what do you-" Rainbow Dash began.

"Hey guys!" Pinkie shouted out to the others. "What are those things?!"

The fact that Pinkie had used the word, things, sent an instant feeling of dread through the Mobians. All three of them sprinted straight out of the barn to see what the pony had spotted. Off in the distance amongst the many apple trees, three dark figures could be seen making their way towards the barn. One of them raised their arm, directing it towards the group.

"Ooh, ooh look!" Pinkie practically shouted. "One of them is pointing at us," she added, waving her hoof at the figure.

"Pinkie! Get down!" Scott screamed, racing towards the pony.

He dived, grabbing hold of her and taking them both down to the ground. The moment they hit the dirt, several spikes flew over the top of them and embedded themselves into the wood of the barn wall.

"Spiky, spiky's bad. Very, very bad," Pinkie trembled underneath Scott.

"You girls need to get to safety. Now," Flare explained, turning to the ponies.

"Get to safety?! Are you kidding me?!" Rainbow Dash countered. "We can take them!"

"No," Scott replied, standing up and letting Pinkie do the same. "They're like nothing you've ever seen, and you've probably never faced anything like them."

"Pfft, as if," Dash scoffed. "We faced Nightmare moon and took care of her no problem. How would this be any different?"

"Dash, I think we should listen to them," Applejack warily said. "It sounds like they know what they're talking about."

"Forget that," Dash replied, taking to air and flying off before anyone could stop her.

"Aww, crap," Sora muttered. "Find some cover and wait for the all clear," he added, speaking to the girls.

"The what?" Applejack asked.

"Just go!" Flare shouted at them as he and his comrades ran off.

Pinkie Pie and Applejack quickly made their way back inside the barn, though it appeared Fluttershy had already ran inside before being told to do so.

Back outside, the three Paladins were hurriedly making their way towards their attackers. Up ahead, they could see Rainbow Dash already fighting the three beasts. The Pegasus pony flew through the air at incredible speed, flying straight towards one of the dark creatures. Her right front hoof connected with one of them, sending it hurtling back through air and slamming into one of the many apple trees. Before she had slammed into it, Rainbow Dash had gotten a fairly decent look at the creature.

As far as height went, it was about the same size as the Mobians she had meet, if not slightly taller. It's body had something of muscular look to it, it definitely appeared as though it was prepared to fight. It's right arm appeared to be somewhat more muscular than its left, several pulsating sacks were laid out upon several points of its arm. Within each sack, what appeared to be a spike poked out of the front of them. Its head was something of a gruesome sight. Like most Harrowed, its eyes were a deep red. Though unlike the Hunters, pupils could clearly be seen in its eyes. Its jaw looked as though it were dislocated, hanging loosely and wobbling with every slight move. The bottom lip seemed to be gone from its mouth, a number of dark decaying teeth were visible due to the missing flesh.

The creature got itself back up onto its feet, a sickening gurgle escaped its throat as it stood up once again. Rainbow Dash wasn't frightened by the appearance of the creature, but it did send some chills running down her spine. The beast raised its right arm and let out a sound that sounded like a mixture of a gurgle, a shriek and a roar. Black spikes shot out from its raised arm and began shooting right at the cyan pony.

"Woah!" Rainbow Dash shouted, leaping into the air and allowing her wings to hover her above the ground and over the lethal projectiles.

She directed her attention towards the creature that had tried to bring harm to her, finding it aiming its arm straight at her again. Just like it had happened moments ago, more spikes began speeding towards her. Rainbow Dash quickly got to flying and weaving through the air, doing her best to avoid the spikes flying around her.

The ground around the creature suddenly began to freeze over, turning into a sheet of ice. It didn't notice until the ice had crept up its feet up to its ankles. It diverted its attention from the pegasus in the air to ice covering its feet. Another gurgle came from the creature as it looked up and saw another figure running towards it, Flare had been the one responsible for the unexpected material on the ground. Just as it raised its arm to let loose some more spikes, Flare dived and rolled forwards and placed his right hand on the sheet of ice. Fire erupted from his hand and melted the ice, leaving the creature standing in a puddle of water. It was caught off guard when Flare got himself out of the way and Sora jumped towards it. His hands went to the water and electricity quickly arced out from them. Volts of electricity rushed through the water and straight through the creature. It shook and jolted around as Sora kept the attack going, only stopping once its body began to smoke and crackle. It fell backwards onto the ground, clearly dead.

That still left two more behind, though one was quickly dealt with when a gunshot rang out across the field. Smoke flowed out from the barrel of Scotts pistol as the second one fell to the ground, he wasted no time lining up his second shot, the last creature beat him to it though. It shot one of the spikes from its arm, managing to embed it in the right wrist of the hedgehog. Scotts pistol fell to the ground as he let out a cry of pain, he grabbed ahold of the spike in his wrist and ripped it out. Blood quickly began to flow from the wound, trickling out past his left hand as he gripped the wound and dripping to the ground below.

Sora sent a bolt of electricity at the creature, simply stunning it. Flare used his left hand to freeze a spot on its belly, punching it with his right hand once he'd approached, breaking through and digging it inside of the creature. Fire came from his hand inside of it, the sickening stench of its flesh and organs burning hit his nose, he ignored the smell and forced more of his power to his hand. Rather suddenly, fire erupted from the creatures mouth, ears and eyes. Some of its skin began to peel away, chunks of flesh even broke away and fell to the ground. Its chest started to open up, revealing its ribs and what was left of the internal organs underneath. Flare cut off the fire and pulled his hand free, he was panting heavily as he stumbled back a few paces. The creature fell down to its knees before finally falling down onto its front, the last one was finished.

"I'm going to hazard a guess that those were those, Needlers," Sora stated.

"They're the ones," Scott answered, bending down and picking his weapon back up. The wound on his wrist had stopped bleeding and was beginning to close up.

"We should probably let the girls know that it's over now," Flare suggested.

"Probably," Scott agreed, shoving his pistol back into its holster.

Back over at the barn, the girls had noticed that everything had gone quiet. They cautiously made their way back outside, Pinkie seemed to be a little more held back than her usual bubbly self. Rainbow Dash still hadn't shown up, and that was one thing that was beginning to worry the others. They found the three Mobians making their way back towards them.

"So what's happenin'?" Applejack asked. "Is it over?"

"For now," Sora replied.

"Um, where's Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy was next to ask.

The entire group spared a moment to look around themselves. It was true, the rainbow maned pegasus still hadn't shown herself since the earlier encounter. Though just as things were starting to seem grim, the pony in question finally made herself known.

"Hey, guys," Rainbow Dash started, walking out from behind the barn. "I don't feel so good."

A feeling of shock hit the group as Rainbow Dash suddenly collapsed. Applejack raced to her side, immediately noticing the black spike embedded in the side of her friends neck. She gripped the spike with her teeth and made to pull it out.

"Wait!" Scott shouted, racing towards the two.

His warning came too late however. Applejack had heard him far too late, and the spike was removed before she could be stopped. A spurt of blood sprayed out after the spike, and more blood continued to pump out through the now open wound. Scott dropped to his knees and pressed both his hands against the injury, doing his best to stop as much blood escaping as he could.

"We need Gold here! Right now!" He urgently said to the others.

"There's no way he could get here in time, Canterlot is too far away," Flare replied.

"Why do y'all need Gold?" Applejack asked.

"Now is not the time for telling you any of our life stories!" Scott shot at her. "Is there any way for us to get Gold down her?!"

"Um... maybe Celestia could teleport herself and Gold down to us," Fluttershy quietly suggested. It was obvious that she was scared, and it was understandable too.

"But we'd need Spike to send a message..." Applejack began, trailing off at the end. "Fluttershy!" She shouted, startling the pegasus. "You need to get Spike and bring him here, fly faster than you've ever flown before!"

"Um... I'm not sure..." the timid pony started, scraping the dirt with her hoof.

"Fluttershy! Rainbow Dash is going to die!" Scott shouted.

Fluttershys eyes went wide, her body began to shake. It was as if the reality of the situation had suddenly hit her.

"Oh my gosh! No, no, no!" She cried, leaping into the air and flying off faster than any of her friends had seen her fly before.

"H-how," Applejack started. She paused, swallowing heavily. "How long does she have?"

"Your friend here seems to be alright for the time being," Scott explained. "Though she would have been better off if you hadn't pulled out that spike, it was plugging the wound while it was there," he added, causing Applejack to look down at the ground, a guilty look could be seen on her face.

It wasn't long before Fluttershy appeared again, a very confused Spike in tow. She dropped the dragon on the ground and rushed to Scotts side, worriedly checking on her injured friend. Flare noticed that Spike was holding a quill and a piece of paper, he walked over to him and took the items from his claws. He wrote a quick message on the paper before shoving them back into Spikes hands.

"Send it," he said to the dragon.

"What's going on?" Spike asked in confusion, having not been given any information as to the situation they were in. "No on one told me-" he continued.

"Just do it!" Flare shot him, cutting him.

Spike jumped back in surprise, a look of shock on his face. He wasted no more time doing as he had been told. A burst of green fire erupted from his mouth and enveloped the scroll, sending it in the air and straight to the Princess.

"How long will it take for her to get it?" Flare asked.

"Not long," Spike replied. "Princess Celestia usually received letters this way almost instantly."

Even though Scott was doing all he could to minimize the amount of blood Rainbow Dash was losing, it wasn't enough to to stop what came next. Her whole body began shaking, her breathing became increasingly rapid and she was beginning to sweat.

"What's happenin' to her?!" Applejack asked worriedly.

"She's going into shock," Scott answered. "We need Gold, and soon."

No sooner had the words left Scotts mouth, the entire group was momentarily blinded by a sudden white flash of light. At the source of the flash they found a concerned Celestia and a somewhat confused looking Gold.

"Why does everyone have my name on their lips all of a sudden?" Gold asked.

"Over here," Scott said to him.

Gold looked over towards the hedgehog, finding him on his knees on the ground with Rainbow Dash in front of him, the blood escaping past his hands was visible on the pegasus' neck. Golds eyes widened and he rushed over to the scene, replacing Scotts hands with his own.

"Stand back," he said to Scott.

Gold looked down at his hands and inhaled deeply, slowly letting his breath out again afterwards. His Eon began swirling around his body before moving down to his hands. For a brief moment, blood began dribbling down Golds neck from the same area Rainbow Dash had been injured. The flow quickly came to a stop and the wound that had caused so much distress was finally healed.

"There," Gold sighed. "She'll be okay now."

He looked back down at Rainbow Dash, though it wasn't a pony he saw. On the ground in front of him was, Sonic the Hedgehog. Three jagged gashes had been sliced down his side, his ribs were visible through the injury along his chest as was his lung underneath them. Several more cuts has been made on his face, revealing bone and the inside of his mouth through his cheek. Gold stared at him in horror, fear beginning to build up inside of him. He would have kept staring had a voice not dragged him away from the sight before him.

"You let him die," a far to familiar voice said. Gold looked up and found Tails staring down at him. "You saved so many others," Tails continued. "But you couldn't save him, the one person who was truly important."

"I did all I could," Gold gasped.

"You're pathetic," Tails growled. "They only brought you in because of your healing abilities, but they overestimated even that. You have no place here, you're nothing. It should be you who died, not him."

"Gold? Gold?" Sora said, snapping his fingers in front of the fox's face. Gold blinked and gave his head a shake, turning to face the hedgehog. "You zoned out for a second then, what was that about?" Sora asked.

"It..." Gold began. "It was nothing, this can tiring sometimes is all."

"I wish I could stay longer," Celestia suddenly cut in as she stepped forwards. "But there is much I still need to deal with Canterlot. Please, inform me of Rainbow Dash' condition once she wakes up again. Will you be coming back to the city, Gold?"

"Yes, I will be," Gold answered, stepping towards the Princess. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Very well, until next time," she said to the others, giving them all a light nod.

The girls all gave Celestia a bow as she teleported herself and Gold back to Canterlot, the Mobians simply nodded in return however. Once they were gone, Scott crouched down and carefully picked up Rainbow Dash. Applejack led the group back to the family house, they'd leave her on one of the beds and wait inside for her to come to again. Things had taken a turn for the worst that day, but Scott, Flare and Sora knew better than anyone that things were bound to get worse sooner or later.

With a bright flash Celestia and Gold reappeared in the castles throne room, Gold stumbled forward a few steps, leaning forwards and placing his hands on his knees, he still felt somewhat drained after having healed Rainbow Dash. The room was completely empty, Celestia had ordered it cleared before she had teleported the two of them down to Sweet Apple Acres. No sooner had they returned, guards began moving into the room again and started taking their positions.

"I wish I had more time to make sure our dear Rainbow Dash will make a full recovery," Celestia sighed. "But there is still much that requires my attention today. I must ask though, have you thought over my request?"

Gold stood himself back up properly and stretched his back before turning to face Celestia.

"I'm sure she would be happy to meet with you," he replied. "Ionia spends most of her time watching over the Ion. I imagine she would like to see this world with her own eyes."

Celestia appeared to tilt her head to the side slightly, an inquisitive look on her face.

"I would be interested to hear more about this 'Ion' someday, it sounds quite intriguing," she said.

Gold gave her a simple nod before turning back around and making his way out of the throne room.

Aside from the earlier attack at Sweet Apple Acres, and the one within Canterlot, the rest of the day went by like any other. Celestia received word that Rainbow Dash had woken up again at some point during the day, she was fine and had made a full recovery. The Princess had made sure that Gold heard the news, she had also expressed the girls and her own gratitude for what he had done. The day had ended and night had once again taken its place, the streets were nearly empty as Gold made his way through the city. Only a few ponies could be seen wandering the streets, most had returned to their homes while others were seen enjoying the nightlife. Gold opened the door to one of the bars that were currently open and walked inside, business appeared to be relatively quiet at the moment. Seated at a table in one of the corners of the room, Gold saw Connor sipping a drink while reading a book in one of his hands. He figured the drink was most likely whisky, it seemed to be Connors choice of alcohol after all. Connor looked up at Gold as he approached, closing his book up and placing it on the table. As the fox took a seat, he downed the rest of his drink and slid the glass to one side of the table.

"So what brings you here?" Connor asked. "It's not often you seek me out, and I hardly believe you've come to join me for a friendly drink."

"I wanted to talk about earlier," Gold replied. "What happened at Applejacks farm."

"Yes," Connor sighed, leaning back in his seat. "I didn't think the Harrowed would manage to send another group through so soon, unless they came through at the same time as the Hunters." Gold didn't reply, and Connor was quick to notice his silence. "There's more to it than that though, isn't there?"

Gold let out a heavy sigh, placing his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. One of the barmares walked over towards them before Gold replied, she approached the table and picked up Connors now empty glass.

"Two more of the same please, Flow," Connor said to the mare.

"Sure thing hun, coming right up," Flow replied, walking back towards the bar. Flow was a unicorn, the horn on her head gave it away. She had a grey coat and a black mane and tail.

"I heard Rainbow Dash took a hit down there at the farm, scared the hell out of Twilight and Rarity," Connor said to Gold.

"Scared is a bit of an understatement," Gold replied. "They practically interrogated me until they were absolutely sure Rainbow was going to be okay."

"Which means you healed Rainbows injury," Connor continued. "Are you still having trouble with your own power?"

That statement made Gold flinch slightly, he stared back at Connor as he asked his next question. "How do you know-?"

"I notice a lot things that many people miss," Connor cut in. "Every time you've used your Eon in fight you've been more or less fine afterwards. But every so often, after you've healed someone, you look to be a little... shaken. Guilty, almost."

Flow appeared back at the table as Connor finished his sentence.

"And here are your drinks," she stated, placing two glasses of whisky on the table.

"Thank you very much, Flow. Just put them on my tab," Connor replied.

"We don't normally allow ponies to start tabs, but-"

"Well it's a good thing I'm not a pony," Connor quickly cut in.

"But," Flow continued with a giggle. "You did do that favor for the boss, so I think he might allow it for you."

"Or you could just not tell him and set one up anyway," Connor replied with a grin that was far to innocent.

Flow simply stared at him for a moment before replying. "You're lucky you're cute," she said before walking away, a small smirk on her face.

"She thinks you're cute?" Gold asked.

"Nah," Connor chuckled. "I've been here for a little while, I've had a few chats with her. She's got a good sense of humor, we've been joking around a bit."

"Okay then, I guess that makes sense."

"But now we're getting side tracked," Connor said, his voice becoming much more serious. "You seem to have some sort of guilt buried deep inside that head of yours, something that involves your healing abilities. I can only guess you failed to save someone... Sonic."

"Stop. Talking." Gold growled, clenching his hands into fists. "You have no idea. I didn't fail."

"I'm not the one you need to convince, Gold," Connor continued. "I know what happened." That caught Golds attention, his eyes shot straight to Connor. "You had no idea what you were walking into, you never could have. You did all you could, and even if it wasn't enough, it isn't you're fault that he died. The Harrowed killed Sonic, not you. If you can't come to accept that, then this is going to haunt you for the rest of your life."

There was silence between the two for a short while, the only sounds were that of the activity inside the bar. Gold had relaxed his hands, he simply stared at the drink in front of him. He looked up to find Connor had gone back to reading his book, sipping some of his drink as he did so.

"I'm not sure how you feel about the ponies here," he heard Connor say to him. "But the mare sitting by herself a few a tables across from us has been giving you looks ever since you walked in here, and they aren't just simple glances of curiosity."

"Seriously?" Gold asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course," Connor chuckled, looking up from his book once again. "Why don't you go over there and sit down with her," he suggested. "Offer to buy her a drink, have a friendly conversation. Just to meet someone new if anything, you need some sort of distraction. And if anything else comes of it, then so be it."

"I don't know," Gold sighed. "I think I just need some more rest, we have to much going on for any sort of distraction."

"Gold," Connor interrupted. "We have a moment to breath. If anything were to come up, then we would be able to handle it, we always are. I'm simply making a suggestion, whether you take it or not is up to you," he finished, going back to reading his book.

Gold sat in his chair, once again finding himself staring down at the drink in front of him. He picked up his glass and downed everything within it in one gulp. Standing up from his seat, he made his way across to the mare in question. She was an earth pony, her coat was white and her mane and tail were blonde. Soon enough, Connor could hear the sounds of friendly conversation coming from the two.

"Well, they look happy," Connor heard a familiar voice say, he looked to the owner to find Flow coming over to collect the empty glasses at the table again.

"Happy enough," Connor replied. "After everything that's happened, even the comfort that comes from a simple conversation with a stranger is a luxury." He was quiet as he stared off into space, closing his book and standing up before speaking again. "I'm going out for a smoke, I'll be back shortly."

"I've actually just finished my shift," Flow stated before Connor walked away. "Maybe you could buy me a drink when you come back in. We could have a proper conversation... and if anything else comes of it, then so be it."

Connor stared at the mare before him, he almost seemed to be studying her. A small smirk eventually made its way into his face.

"Now what are you doing working in a bar?" He chuckled. "You seem far to clever for your own good, and you have a sharp tongue. That's a dangerous combination"

Flow simply smiled and took a seat at the table. She looked up at Connor before speaking again. "I'll be waiting for you."

Connor shook his head and chuckled to himself as he walked away.

"Using my own words against me," he muttered with a smirk. "Interesting."

(A/N) To be completely honest, I don't really think that this is some of my best work, but I'll let you be the judge of that. I can really only hope that you might think that this makes up for the long wait. As always, let me know what you thought in the reviews. Also, let me know if there's anything that you'd like to see later on. I know some of you have been wanting to see more dialogue as far as the pony characters, but I will get to that eventually. So until next time.

Catchya =)