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Description
Swift Wing slowly began to wake up. Her vision was still a bit blurred and she still had a tingling in the front of her brain. Her ears were still ringing, but the noise became quieter. As her vision cleared, she patted her hooves over her body to check for injury. Her wing was still the only thing broken. She rubbed the back of her pulsing head and looked around to see where she was. She made an annoyed sound when she saw her location. She was in a large prison cell. Gray stone walls surrounded her and thick metal bars kept her in. She noticed something on the walls that peaked her interest.

Bizarre, colorful symbols were scribbled all over the walls. Some were shapes like circles and triangles. Others looked like unidentifiable equations. Others looked like animals, like a monkey and an eagle. Swift Wing looked at them, unsure of what to make of them. Was it her imagination, or were they glowing slightly? She took her mind off of it when the tingling in her skull increased for a moment. She held her head to try and dull the pain.

"Problem?" said a mare's voice from behind her. Swift Wing wheeled around to face the other pony in the room. To her surprise, it was the blue earth pony that she had dueled with before she passed out. She still had her white cloak and red sash, but her horseshoes were gone, and so, figured Swift Wing, were the hidden blades that went with them. She fixed the mystery mare with a look. "You!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"The guards got me and arrested me. All because of your intervention!"

"You were going to take my prize! I wasn't going to let a money-maker like that slip away."

"Believe me when I say, there is much more at stake than you making a quick buck. Do you even know what you were trying to steal?"

Swift Wing shrugged. "No, but the princess seemed to think it was important, so it must be worth something."

"I doubt you'd make it halfway to the market with the Apple before they came for you."

Swift Wing thought about her cell mate's words. What did she mean by Apple? The other mare continued. "Yes, it's extremely important to Celestia. So much so that the second they realized it was missing, they'd hunt down the pony holding it and take it from their bloody corpse! A thief like you wouldn’t really be much of a challenge for a dozen armed soldiers." Swift Wing thought about what the mare was saying. "What could make someone that desperate?" she asked. She tried desperately to push the memory of her visions out of her head. The blue mare gave her a look.

"That thing holds powers that you couldn't even dream of. In the wrong hooves, it could spell disaster for the whole world." The mare turned away, and gazed at the window. "Look," she said. "I'd love to chat, but right now, I need to find a way out of here." The mare pulled something out of her sash and stuck it out the window. Swift Wing wasn't able to see what she was doing. The tingling in her brain increased again, so she sat back on her bed, which she found extremely uncomfortable.

She glanced over at the symbols on the walls. The tingling finally began to fade as she turned to her cell mate. "Not much for interior decoration, are they?" said Swift Wing in an attempt to lighten the mood. The other mare didn't move from the window. "It's a prison," she said. "What did you expect? Gray is pretty much the only paint color they have." Swift Wing looked confused. "I was talking about the things on the walls, not the walls themselves."

The other mare sounded confused. She paused whatever she was doing. "There isn't anything on the walls."

"Yes there is. There's a bunch of glowing symbol things on the..." She froze when she returned her attention to the walls. There wasn’t anything on them. They were plain, dreary, stone walls. The blue mare looked at Swift Wing. "I... I... Where?" stuttered Swift. "They were there a second ago!" The other mare trotted to her side, her face curious but serious. "What did they look like?" she asked, suddenly interested in her cell mate. "They were just a bunch of shapes and numbers," said Swift. "Some of them looked like animals."

Suddenly, the blue mare pulled Swift towards a wall. "What are you..?" said Swift angrily. "Shush!" said the mare, who guided Swift's face towards a spot on the wall. "Concentrate!" she said. "Do you have a tingling right behind your eyes?" Swift nodded, wondering how the mare knew about that. "Concentrate on it!" she continued. "Focus all of your senses on that point in your head! Sight, hearing, touch, etc., just put them all at that one point!"

Swift Wing struggled, but eventually something seemed to click in her head. By instinct, all of her senses seemed to flow into that one spot on her brain. The whole world seemed to change. Everything was bathed in a glowing blue iridescence. A low hum reverberated through her head. The cloaked mare seemed to glow light blue. A guard outside the cell seemed to glow bright red. The symbols on the wall returned, bathed in a golden glow.

"Whoa," was all that Swift was able to say. "What... What is...?"

"Do you see them, now?" asked the blue mare. Swift Wing nodded. The mare released her grip. Swift Wing continued to stare with her new vision. "What is this?" she asked. "We call it 'eagle vision'," responded the mare. "Think of it as a sixth sense. It let's us see the world in a whole new way."

"Do you have this?"

"Yes."

"Does everyone? Have I been missing out on something this whole time?"

"Technically yes. It's a skill that's hidden away in everyone. Most never find it. Some find it through extreme training. But to a few ponies it comes as naturally as breathing."

"Then how have I never seen this until now?" The other mare put her hoof to her chin. "I'm not sure. I've never seen something like this before." As the mare pondered, Swift Wing looked at the different colors in her sight. "Why is everypony different colors?" she asked.

"Each color means something different. Blue means somepony's an ally. Red means they're an enemy. Gold means it's extremely important for what your current task is."

Swift Wing was starting to lose her concentration. Her head began to throb. She placed a hoof on her head, and the blue haze faded away from the world. The blue mare looked at her. "It's tiring isn't it?" she said jokingly. "What's your name, kid?" Swift Wing looked at her. "I'm not a 'kid'. And my name is Swift Wing." The blue mare reached out her hoof to be shook. "I'm Sea Foam," she said. Swift shook her hoof. "Well," said Sea Foam. "I guess now I really would like to chat. Just let me finish giving my signal."

"Signal? Who are you signaling?" Sea Foam returned to the window. "Our way out," she said. Swift Wing smiled. "Oh. So it's 'us' now, is it?"

"You've peaked my interest." She turned her head to look at Swift. "I assume you do want out of here, don't you?" A grin appeared on her face. Swift rolled her eyes. "Yes," she said. She didn't want to admit it, but she was beginning to like this mare. "Well, alright then," said Sea Foam. She went back to waving her signal. Swift Wing sat back on her bed. She stared at the walls, still finding it hard to believe that she had her new gift. She tried turning it on and off a few times to test her skill with it.

"What are they? The pictures I mean," she asked. Sea Foam shrugged. "They were probably a message for somepony," she said. "A long time ago. They seem meaningless now." Swift Wing nodded.

"So," she said to Sea Foam a moment later. "If just having this 'Apple' is such a dangerous thing, why were you after it?"

"I was sent to take it and bring it into better hooves."

"By who?"

"I'm part of an order. Let's just say we're not a big fan of Celestia." Swift Wing chuckled. "I guess you and I have that in common, too," she said. "I can't stand the way she treats everypony. She acts like they're all a bunch of foals. We don't need someone to put us in a line. Why can't they see that?" Sea Foam turned her head to Swift. She smiled. "You'd do well in my order," she said. "We're all about the preservation of freedom, and the ending of those who'd take it."

"Literally ending it seems."

Sea Foam's smile faded. "Sometimes drastic measures have to be taken," she said. The two sat in silence for a minute. Sea Foam leapt down from the window. "Alright," she said. "They should be here any minute now." Swift Wing stood up. "What are you planning?" she asked.

"Me? I'm planning on sitting here and waiting."

"For?"

Suddenly, the two heard the sounds of combat coming from the next room. Sea Foam raised her eyebrows. "That," she said. The two glanced out through the cell door's bars. The patrolling guard rushed to the corridor exit. Before he could even raise his spear, an armored unicorn with a hood similar to Sea Foam's crashed through the door and lunged on top of the guard. The pale-purple stallion flicked a hidden blade out of its casing, and drove it into the guard's neck, killing him instantly. He took a ring of keys from the guard's belt, and raced to the cell door.

As he tried each of the keys, Sea Foam smiled at him. "Rescues get faster every time, Cannon Fire," she said. The stallion smiled back. "Well, you've given me multiple opportunities to practice," he said.

"Oh, hush." Cannon Fire grinned. Suddenly, the door lock clicked open as he found the right key. He flung the door open with his magic. Swift Wing and Sea Foam rushed out. Cannon Fire glanced at Swift. "Who's this?" he asked Sea Foam. "This is Swift Wing," she said.

"A friend?"

"I wouldn't quite call her a 'friend' just yet, but she's definitely on our side." Swift rolled her eyes. "Oh thanks, buddy," she said sarcastically. The three were interrupted by the sound of thundering hoofsteps coming from another corridor. Cannon Fire motioned for the mares to follow. "Come on!" he said. "Let's get out of here before they catch up." With that, the three took off down a corridor.

"We'll need weapons," said Sea Foam as they galloped. "The royal armory isn't that far," said Swift Wing. She ran to the front of the group. "Follow me!"

The group ran down a few more halls until they came to a set of relatively large doors. A large padlock held them shut. "Great," said Sea Foam. "Now what?" The sound of guards was rapidly growing louder. The group could hear them shouting orders at each other. Swift Wing examined the lock. "Keep them off me," she said. "I'll get this thing open. The hooded ponies nodded, and they prepared to fight. Swift Wing reached back and pulled two large feathers out of her good wing. She stuck them in the lock, and got to work.

By then, the guards had caught up, and the two hooded ponies stood their ground. A guard swung his spear at Sea Foam, but she dodged his attack. She grabbed the spear and punched the guard's horn, causing him to drop it. She spun the spear around and drove it into the guard's skull. Sea Foam readied her new weapon and Cannon Fire flicked out his hidden blades. The two sides slashed at each other as Swift continued to pick the lock.

A guard swung his blade at Sea Foam, who blocked it with her spear. The guard was stunned at her reaction speed for a split second. Sea Foam used that split second to end his life. By then, Cannon Fire had driven his blades into two more guards, who fell lifeless off of the metal. He turned quick enough to see three guards about to fire arrows into him. With lighting speed, Cannon Fire grabbed the nearest guard and used him as a shield as the arrows were fired. He dropped the corpse and charged at the archers.

"How's it coming?" asked Sea Foam to Swift as she pulled her spear out of another dead opponent. "Almost...,"
said Swift, locked in concentration.

Four guards were left. One came at Sea Foam, sword pulled back and ready to strike. Sea Foam quickly ducked down and reared her back legs. She bucked the guard's face, causing him to real back. Spinning her spear for show, Sea Foam drove it into his back, pinning him to the ground. When she tried to pull the spear from the body, it snapped in two. "Dang it!" she exclaimed. "Lousy piece of wood!" Another guard galloped towards her. She dodged his attack, but his blade still managed to slice her foreleg slightly.

She winced and saw that the guard was about to land a killing blow. He never got the chance, however, as Cannon Fire came from his left and ended his life before he could end Sea Foam. Sea Foam looked around to see that her friend had taken care of the last of the guards. Cannon Fire looked at Sea Foam's wound. It was hardly even bleeding. "Got it!" shouted Swift in victory. She dropped the padlock and opened the armory door. She turned to her allies. "Come on!"

The three rushed in and looked for suitable weaponry. Sea Foam found a large crate filled with hidden blades, probably taken from her fallen allies. She strapped on a pair and continued to look around. Swift glanced inside the chest. The blades looked so tempting. She reached in and strapped on a pair of her own. "These should come in handy," she mumbled to herself. By then, her hooded allies returned carrying new daggers. The three nodded to each other and ran out of the armory.

They twisted through corridors until eventually they came to an exit leading to a large balcony. They all looked over to see that they were about ten stories up, directly above a canal. "Right. Time to jump," said Sea Foam. Swift looked at her. Her wounded wing winced a little "Are you insane? We can't make that jump!" she said. The hooded ponies looked at her. They climbed on the railing. "You'll never get anywhere with that attitude," said Sea Foam jokingly. Suddenly, the two leapt from the balcony.

Swift Wing stood there, unsure of what to do. She heard another squad of guards coming her way. Nervously, she climbed the railing. She looked down at the canal. She couldn't see the hooded ponies anymore. The guards began to bang on the door behind her. After looking back and forth a few times, she closed her eyes and spread her wings. She took a deep breath as the wind blew through her mane.

Swift stood motionless for a moment that seemed like hours. Soon, an eagle cried somewhere in the distance, and she took a leap of faith.

Description
Swift Wing slowly began to wake up. Her vision was still a bit blurred and she still had a tingling in the front of her brain. Her ears were still ringing, but the noise became quieter. As her vision cleared, she patted her hooves over her body to check for injury. Her wing was still the only thing broken. She rubbed the back of her pulsing head and looked around to see where she was. She made an annoyed sound when she saw her location. She was in a large prison cell. Gray stone walls surrounded her and thick metal bars kept her in. She noticed something on the walls that peaked her interest.

Bizarre, colorful symbols were scribbled all over the walls. Some were shapes like circles and triangles. Others looked like unidentifiable equations. Others looked like animals, like a monkey and an eagle. Swift Wing looked at them, unsure of what to make of them. Was it her imagination, or were they glowing slightly? She took her mind off of it when the tingling in her skull increased for a moment. She held her head to try and dull the pain.

"Problem?" said a mare's voice from behind her. Swift Wing wheeled around to face the other pony in the room. To her surprise, it was the blue earth pony that she had dueled with before she passed out. She still had her white cloak and red sash, but her horseshoes were gone, and so, figured Swift Wing, were the hidden blades that went with them. She fixed the mystery mare with a look. "You!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"The guards got me and arrested me. All because of your intervention!"

"You were going to take my prize! I wasn't going to let a money-maker like that slip away."

"Believe me when I say, there is much more at stake than you making a quick buck. Do you even know what you were trying to steal?"

Swift Wing shrugged. "No, but the princess seemed to think it was important, so it must be worth something."

"I doubt you'd make it halfway to the market with the Apple before they came for you."

Swift Wing thought about her cell mate's words. What did she mean by Apple? The other mare continued. "Yes, it's extremely important to Celestia. So much so that the second they realized it was missing, they'd hunt down the pony holding it and take it from their bloody corpse! A thief like you wouldn’t really be much of a challenge for a dozen armed soldiers." Swift Wing thought about what the mare was saying. "What could make someone that desperate?" she asked. She tried desperately to push the memory of her visions out of her head. The blue mare gave her a look.

"That thing holds powers that you couldn't even dream of. In the wrong hooves, it could spell disaster for the whole world." The mare turned away, and gazed at the window. "Look," she said. "I'd love to chat, but right now, I need to find a way out of here." The mare pulled something out of her sash and stuck it out the window. Swift Wing wasn't able to see what she was doing. The tingling in her brain increased again, so she sat back on her bed, which she found extremely uncomfortable.

She glanced over at the symbols on the walls. The tingling finally began to fade as she turned to her cell mate. "Not much for interior decoration, are they?" said Swift Wing in an attempt to lighten the mood. The other mare didn't move from the window. "It's a prison," she said. "What did you expect? Gray is pretty much the only paint color they have." Swift Wing looked confused. "I was talking about the things on the walls, not the walls themselves."

The other mare sounded confused. She paused whatever she was doing. "There isn't anything on the walls."

"Yes there is. There's a bunch of glowing symbol things on the..." She froze when she returned her attention to the walls. There wasn’t anything on them. They were plain, dreary, stone walls. The blue mare looked at Swift Wing. "I... I... Where?" stuttered Swift. "They were there a second ago!" The other mare trotted to her side, her face curious but serious. "What did they look like?" she asked, suddenly interested in her cell mate. "They were just a bunch of shapes and numbers," said Swift. "Some of them looked like animals."

Suddenly, the blue mare pulled Swift towards a wall. "What are you..?" said Swift angrily. "Shush!" said the mare, who guided Swift's face towards a spot on the wall. "Concentrate!" she said. "Do you have a tingling right behind your eyes?" Swift nodded, wondering how the mare knew about that. "Concentrate on it!" she continued. "Focus all of your senses on that point in your head! Sight, hearing, touch, etc., just put them all at that one point!"

Swift Wing struggled, but eventually something seemed to click in her head. By instinct, all of her senses seemed to flow into that one spot on her brain. The whole world seemed to change. Everything was bathed in a glowing blue iridescence. A low hum reverberated through her head. The cloaked mare seemed to glow light blue. A guard outside the cell seemed to glow bright red. The symbols on the wall returned, bathed in a golden glow.

"Whoa," was all that Swift was able to say. "What... What is...?"

"Do you see them, now?" asked the blue mare. Swift Wing nodded. The mare released her grip. Swift Wing continued to stare with her new vision. "What is this?" she asked. "We call it 'eagle vision'," responded the mare. "Think of it as a sixth sense. It let's us see the world in a whole new way."

"Do you have this?"

"Yes."

"Does everyone? Have I been missing out on something this whole time?"

"Technically yes. It's a skill that's hidden away in everyone. Most never find it. Some find it through extreme training. But to a few ponies it comes as naturally as breathing."

"Then how have I never seen this until now?" The other mare put her hoof to her chin. "I'm not sure. I've never seen something like this before." As the mare pondered, Swift Wing looked at the different colors in her sight. "Why is everypony different colors?" she asked.

"Each color means something different. Blue means somepony's an ally. Red means they're an enemy. Gold means it's extremely important for what your current task is."

Swift Wing was starting to lose her concentration. Her head began to throb. She placed a hoof on her head, and the blue haze faded away from the world. The blue mare looked at her. "It's tiring isn't it?" she said jokingly. "What's your name, kid?" Swift Wing looked at her. "I'm not a 'kid'. And my name is Swift Wing." The blue mare reached out her hoof to be shook. "I'm Sea Foam," she said. Swift shook her hoof. "Well," said Sea Foam. "I guess now I really would like to chat. Just let me finish giving my signal."

"Signal? Who are you signaling?" Sea Foam returned to the window. "Our way out," she said. Swift Wing smiled. "Oh. So it's 'us' now, is it?"

"You've peaked my interest." She turned her head to look at Swift. "I assume you do want out of here, don't you?" A grin appeared on her face. Swift rolled her eyes. "Yes," she said. She didn't want to admit it, but she was beginning to like this mare. "Well, alright then," said Sea Foam. She went back to waving her signal. Swift Wing sat back on her bed. She stared at the walls, still finding it hard to believe that she had her new gift. She tried turning it on and off a few times to test her skill with it.

"What are they? The pictures I mean," she asked. Sea Foam shrugged. "They were probably a message for somepony," she said. "A long time ago. They seem meaningless now." Swift Wing nodded.

"So," she said to Sea Foam a moment later. "If just having this 'Apple' is such a dangerous thing, why were you after it?"

"I was sent to take it and bring it into better hooves."

"By who?"

"I'm part of an order. Let's just say we're not a big fan of Celestia." Swift Wing chuckled. "I guess you and I have that in common, too," she said. "I can't stand the way she treats everypony. She acts like they're all a bunch of foals. We don't need someone to put us in a line. Why can't they see that?" Sea Foam turned her head to Swift. She smiled. "You'd do well in my order," she said. "We're all about the preservation of freedom, and the ending of those who'd take it."

"Literally ending it seems."

Sea Foam's smile faded. "Sometimes drastic measures have to be taken," she said. The two sat in silence for a minute. Sea Foam leapt down from the window. "Alright," she said. "They should be here any minute now." Swift Wing stood up. "What are you planning?" she asked.

"Me? I'm planning on sitting here and waiting."

"For?"

Suddenly, the two heard the sounds of combat coming from the next room. Sea Foam raised her eyebrows. "That," she said. The two glanced out through the cell door's bars. The patrolling guard rushed to the corridor exit. Before he could even raise his spear, an armored unicorn with a hood similar to Sea Foam's crashed through the door and lunged on top of the guard. The pale-purple stallion flicked a hidden blade out of its casing, and drove it into the guard's neck, killing him instantly. He took a ring of keys from the guard's belt, and raced to the cell door.

As he tried each of the keys, Sea Foam smiled at him. "Rescues get faster every time, Cannon Fire," she said. The stallion smiled back. "Well, you've given me multiple opportunities to practice," he said.

"Oh, hush." Cannon Fire grinned. Suddenly, the door lock clicked open as he found the right key. He flung the door open with his magic. Swift Wing and Sea Foam rushed out. Cannon Fire glanced at Swift. "Who's this?" he asked Sea Foam. "This is Swift Wing," she said.

"A friend?"

"I wouldn't quite call her a 'friend' just yet, but she's definitely on our side." Swift rolled her eyes. "Oh thanks, buddy," she said sarcastically. The three were interrupted by the sound of thundering hoofsteps coming from another corridor. Cannon Fire motioned for the mares to follow. "Come on!" he said. "Let's get out of here before they catch up." With that, the three took off down a corridor.

"We'll need weapons," said Sea Foam as they galloped. "The royal armory isn't that far," said Swift Wing. She ran to the front of the group. "Follow me!"

The group ran down a few more halls until they came to a set of relatively large doors. A large padlock held them shut. "Great," said Sea Foam. "Now what?" The sound of guards was rapidly growing louder. The group could hear them shouting orders at each other. Swift Wing examined the lock. "Keep them off me," she said. "I'll get this thing open. The hooded ponies nodded, and they prepared to fight. Swift Wing reached back and pulled two large feathers out of her good wing. She stuck them in the lock, and got to work.

By then, the guards had caught up, and the two hooded ponies stood their ground. A guard swung his spear at Sea Foam, but she dodged his attack. She grabbed the spear and punched the guard's horn, causing him to drop it. She spun the spear around and drove it into the guard's skull. Sea Foam readied her new weapon and Cannon Fire flicked out his hidden blades. The two sides slashed at each other as Swift continued to pick the lock.

A guard swung his blade at Sea Foam, who blocked it with her spear. The guard was stunned at her reaction speed for a split second. Sea Foam used that split second to end his life. By then, Cannon Fire had driven his blades into two more guards, who fell lifeless off of the metal. He turned quick enough to see three guards about to fire arrows into him. With lighting speed, Cannon Fire grabbed the nearest guard and used him as a shield as the arrows were fired. He dropped the corpse and charged at the archers.

"How's it coming?" asked Sea Foam to Swift as she pulled her spear out of another dead opponent. "Almost...,"
said Swift, locked in concentration.

Four guards were left. One came at Sea Foam, sword pulled back and ready to strike. Sea Foam quickly ducked down and reared her back legs. She bucked the guard's face, causing him to real back. Spinning her spear for show, Sea Foam drove it into his back, pinning him to the ground. When she tried to pull the spear from the body, it snapped in two. "Dang it!" she exclaimed. "Lousy piece of wood!" Another guard galloped towards her. She dodged his attack, but his blade still managed to slice her foreleg slightly.

She winced and saw that the guard was about to land a killing blow. He never got the chance, however, as Cannon Fire came from his left and ended his life before he could end Sea Foam. Sea Foam looked around to see that her friend had taken care of the last of the guards. Cannon Fire looked at Sea Foam's wound. It was hardly even bleeding. "Got it!" shouted Swift in victory. She dropped the padlock and opened the armory door. She turned to her allies. "Come on!"

The three rushed in and looked for suitable weaponry. Sea Foam found a large crate filled with hidden blades, probably taken from her fallen allies. She strapped on a pair and continued to look around. Swift glanced inside the chest. The blades looked so tempting. She reached in and strapped on a pair of her own. "These should come in handy," she mumbled to herself. By then, her hooded allies returned carrying new daggers. The three nodded to each other and ran out of the armory.

They twisted through corridors until eventually they came to an exit leading to a large balcony. They all looked over to see that they were about ten stories up, directly above a canal. "Right. Time to jump," said Sea Foam. Swift looked at her. Her wounded wing winced a little "Are you insane? We can't make that jump!" she said. The hooded ponies looked at her. They climbed on the railing. "You'll never get anywhere with that attitude," said Sea Foam jokingly. Suddenly, the two leapt from the balcony.

Swift Wing stood there, unsure of what to do. She heard another squad of guards coming her way. Nervously, she climbed the railing. She looked down at the canal. She couldn't see the hooded ponies anymore. The guards began to bang on the door behind her. After looking back and forth a few times, she closed her eyes and spread her wings. She took a deep breath as the wind blew through her mane.

Swift stood motionless for a moment that seemed like hours. Soon, an eagle cried somewhere in the distance, and she took a leap of faith.