(A/N) Well I'll start by saying thank you to everyone who's been reviewing this so far. Your feedback is what keeps this story going. I've got a couple of responses to some of the reviews.

Glimpse: I'm glad you liked the whole hive mind idea, I figured the Harrowed would need to at least have some form of intelligence. As for Robotnik, he might have had a part in it. Just have to wait and see though ;)It's a valid point you bring up about Mobians calling humans Outlanders, but just remember that the Harrowed are neither human nor Mobian.

Gold: Good to know you liked that bit with Angel. He can be an annoying little shit sometimes, but I think that's why most people love him. I like your idea about giving everyone their own sub story as to how they joined the Paladins. I was planning on including flashbacks of sorts of their time back on Mobius during the war, so it's definitely something to consider. I'm afraid I won't be spilling the beans just yet, haha. There's still a few more mysteries and chapters to go until we get to that.

Now then, onwards to the story!

"So where do you think Connor went?" Flare asked the others once they were all in the one room.

Celestia had put them all up in the castle for the night, it was where they would stay until they found somewhere else to go. The fact that she had come to trust them so quickly was something of a surprise to them, but Twilight had explained that Celestia was known for being a good judge of character. So for now, it appeared they were in the clear for the time being.

"He could be anywhere by now," Scott replied. "But if he's still the same man I've always known, then he'll be finding us something we can use."

"You seem to be putting an awful lot of trust in him," Glimpse noted.

"That guy has pulled my ass out of the fire more times than I care to count. I'd trust him with my life."

"Alright alright, the last thing we need is to start doubting one another," Gold cut in.

"I'm just saying, they filled him up to his ears with anesthetic when I was at the hospital with him. He should have been that drugged up, he wouldn't have been able to get out the window," Glimpse said.

"He burns it up quicker than most people would," Scott explained.

"Is that because...uh," Sora started, rubbing the back of his head

"Because he used to have a drug addiction! There, it's been said. Now get over it already!" Scott growled

"Let's change the subject," Flare jumped in. "We need to figure out our next move."

"Well Connor's AWOL for time being, but he'll turn up later," Gold began. "We need to figure out our situation with the Harrowed."

"The what?" Glimpse asked.

"I'm guessing he never told any of you either," Gold sighed. "It's what those things are called, the Harrowed."

"Well, it's a fitting name," Sora commented.

"Right, well we need to figure if they'll be following us. I'm sure we all remember they had a major hard on for the Paladins. It'll be at the top of their list to find us and put us down."

"You make a good point, but does anyone have any ideas on how we can find out if they know where we are?" Flare asked.

Everyone fell silent at Flares question, it seemed as though they were all drawing a blank. Out of nowhere, an arrow shot through the open window in the room and embedded itself in the wall. On closer inspection, a scroll of paper could seen wrapped around the body of the arrow. Gold took the scroll off of the arrow and opened it up. With two simple words, they knew who had sent the message and exactly what they meant.

"They're coming."

The sun had finally set mere moments after Connor had sent his friends his message, he now sat atop a rooftop out of sight of prying eyes. The reason he'd sent the message through an arrow rather than speaking to them directly was because he had one last thing to do, one last secret to keep. With his legs dangling over the edge of the roof, Connor pulled the decryption device out of his backpack again and sat it down next to himself. Using his left hand, he spread the eyelids of his right eye apart and held his eye open. With the fingers of his right hand, he reach up and plucked his eye from its socket. Reaching back into his backpack, the next thing to come out was an eyepatch. Even though his closed eyelids may have been covering the now empty socket, the last thing Connor needed was the chance of anything getting inside. Even a simple grain of sand could end up becoming a very annoying irritation, so the eyepatch to cover it up completely it was.

Connor spun the eyeball in his fingers around so he could see the back of it, he placed a finger on the center of it a pushed upwards. A small panel slid up and revealed a rectangular socket. The fact that his eye was cybernetic meant it was able to download small moderate amounts of data, and upload it to other servers if need be. He picked up the decryption device and replaced the needle with a plug before connecting it with his eye. The device sprung to life and ran through its programs. The file Connor was trying to access was one the device couldn't decrypt itself, he had to manually decrypt it himself. The file held answers Connor had been looking for, for quite some time. He didn't want the others knowing about it just yet. He had his suspicions as to what the file contained, but he couldn't know for sure until he got it open. If he were being completely honest, he hoped his suspicions were wrong.

Within one of the many rooms back inside the castle, Gold lay peacefully in his bed. One moment he was laying in his bed, not a sound around him. Next thing he knew, he could feel a soft breeze blowing in his face. Gold opened his eyes and found himself staring up at a clear blue sky. He instantly knew where he was, he was back in the Ion. Moving up into a sitting position, Ionia could be seen standing a short distance ahead him. She appeared to be simply staring off into space.

"Ionia? Why did you call me here?" Gold asked as he stood up.

"I can sense you do not completely believe me," Ionia replied.

"Believe you? Believe you about what?" Gold asked in confusion.

"About your fellow Paladin, Connor," Ionia explained, finally turning to face Gold.

"Well sure. I mean, you were right about him not telling us the name of the Harrowed. But that has a simple explanation, he either forgot or he didn't have time to tell us. I need more proof than that."

"Which is exactly why I brought you here."

"What do you mean?" Gold asked.

"Come to me."

Gold didn't hesitate to walk across to the goddess of Eon. He had no reason to be wary of her. Once he'd made it to her, Ionia placed a hand on one of his shoulders. The world around them shifted into darkness, the only light emanating from Ionia herself. Slowly, the area began to take shape around them. Crates appeared next to old walls, metal pillars rose upwards to hold the roof above them. It appeared as though they were now standing in an abandoned warehouse.

"Ionia? What's going on?" Gold asked.

"I am showing you an event of the past," Ionia explained.

"I didn't even know you could that."

"It is a difficult thing to do, but there is something I wish for you to see. This took place nearing the point where you went through the Star Post and arrived in Equestria."

Gold turned his attention to the happenings in the warehouse, a figure slowly began to take form. He recognized who it was immediately, it was Tails. A door at the end of the room opened, a second figure stepped through and entered the warehouse.

"Tails. I'm surprised you'd be willing to speak with me" the figure stated.

Gold instantly recognized the voice, it was Connor.

"Hear me now, Connor. I will never forgive you for what you did" Tails explained, somewhat coldly. "But now isn't the time to hold grudges. I have news," he added, his tone lightening up slightly.

"Well, what is it?"

"It's about that matter we discussed earlier, the one I'd caught wind of. It's all true Connor, all of it."

What ever it was Tails was talking about, it seemed to shock Connor. He let out a breath and stumbled back a couple of steps. Gold watched on as Connor collected himself and began pacing backwards and forwards.

"No, it's not. It can't be," Connor slowly said. "I would have heard something... anything."

"Not even your contacts would have been able find anything about this Connor, but I know you won't take my word for it. That's why I brought this," Tails replied, holding something out in his hand.

"What is it?" Connor asked, coming to a standstill.

"Proof, it's everything I could find," Tails replied as Connor took the object from his hand and turned around to look over it. "But Connor, you can't keep all these secrets of yours for much longer," he continued. "Once they get out, and they will eventually, it'll change everything. You need to tell the others, if they find out you've been keeping all this buried, who knows how they'll react."

"No," Connor said to him. "There will come a time, but now is not it. I'll take care of this, but they can't know. At least not yet."

"This could be a mistake Connor, you-" Tails began.

"I know it could be a mistake!" Connor shouted, spinning back around to face Tails. "You think I don't know that? It's for their own good though, they don't need any distractions. The less they have on their mind, the better."

"If that's how you feel," Tails sighed. "There's one other thing though, something I'm not completely positive about."

"Yes?"

"It's about-" Tails began to say, only for the scene to suddenly dissolve.

Gold and Ionia found themselves back in the grassy field from before. Gold began searching around himself out of surprise.

"Go back," he urgently said. "I need to know what Tails was about to say."

"I'm sorry Gold, that's all I could put together. It is much too difficult for me to do any more," Ionia explained. "If we were on a Mobius I would be able gather more, but we are not there."

"All you've done is given me more questions that need answers," Gold sighed, pressing against his eyes with his thumb and index finger.

"Which is exactly what I wanted. I could understand your trepidation before, I needed to give you more evidence. Connor is not a bad man, I've seen that. But secrets can be a very dangerous thing. Even if he believes you are better off not knowing, that is not always the case. The way Tails spoke to Connor during their meeting, it is clear that this is something big. It could be something personal to Connor, or it could be something that affects all Paladins. Either way, surely you see that this is something that needs to be brought out in the light."

"Is there anything you can tell me about this at all? Something I might have missed?" Gold asked.

"There may be one thing," Ionia explained. "That object Tails handed to Connor was a flash drive, he was handing over some form of information. If they were being so secretive about it all, then there's a strong possibility that whatever that information is, it would have a strong security around it."

"That would mean Connor would need time to decrypt it," Gold said.

"Which also means he would need to transport it with himself, he'd keep it somewhere that would make it difficult for others to get at."

There was silence between the two for a moment, Ionia stared at Gold as he tried to find an answer. Suddenly the realization hit him.

"His eye!" Gold exclaimed. "It's a perfect place to keep it hidden."

"Precisely," Ionia agreed. "If you could get a copy of the file, you could find out what it is he wants to keep hidden. What it is he believes would be a burden on you and the others."

"Wait, get a copy of the file? Are you kidding me Ionia? First off, I'm not a professional in decryption. Second, how would I even get hold of Connors eye long enough to make a copy of the file?"

"It will be a matter of patience," Ionia replied. "You'll need to wait for just the right moment. As for the first issue you brought up. You may not have all the necessary skills, but there are others who do."

"Who else knows anything about decryption other than Connor? The rest of us have powers, none of us really needed those sorts of skills before."

"I can not give you all the answers Gold. It is part of your role as an Eon Warrior to overcome any obstacles you may come across, this is one of them."

"Alright," Gold sighed. "I need time to think about all of this."

"Very well, I will send you back to the real world. I will wait for as long as it takes for you to to come to a decision."

Gold could feel himself fading out of the Ion, returning to the land of the living.

"Don't forget Gold," Ionia said right before she disappeared. "Secrets can be a very dangerous thing."

When Gold opened his eyes up, he once again found himself staring at the roof of the room he'd been given in the castle. What Ionia had just shown him was now stuck in his head, the events in the warehouse replaying over in his mind. He could feel his trust in Connor faltering slightly, why one man would keep so many secrets was a mystery to him. For the time being, he would have to bide his time. Wait for the right moment, just as Ionia had said. First, however, he would need to make a decision as to wether he was willing to begin digging into what Connor was keeping hidden.

For Princess Celestia, every morning was more or less the same. She would wake from her sleep and then raise the sun, it all ran like clockwork. Celestia rose from her bed and made her way over to the center of her chambers. Slowly, the Princess began to float off of the ground and stretch her body out. In synchronization, she arced her forehooves and wings upwards. The sun reacted to the spell and rose up, bringing forth the beginning of a new day. As Celestia floated back down to the ground, a peculiar smell suddenly tickled her nose. It smelt like something was burning. Suddenly she realized what it was, it was tobacco smoke.

"Now that's just showing off," a voice commented.

Celestia turned around to find a figure standing next to the open window in her chambers. She only now realized the window had been open when she'd gotten out of her bed, she just simply hadn't taken notice.

"I've seen some impressive things in my time, but never in my life did I think I'd see someone raise the sun," the figure remarked.

"Well I'm glad you enjoyed the spectacle," Celestia replied. "Not many ponies get to witness me raising the sun, aside from at the Summer Sun Celebration that is. Now then, Connor," she continued, showing she knew who the figure was. "Would you kindly put out that cigarette and explain why you decided to intrude into my chambers. Actually, first you can tell me how you managed to get in here. My guards would have happily stopped you."

"How did I get in here? I used the window," Connor explained, looking at the window he stood beside while tossing his cigarette out it at the same time.

"The window? That's a straight drop," Celestia noted in surprise.

"Yeah, well. We all have our own talents," Connor replied with a smirk. "Now, my reason for being here is because we need to talk."

"Do you suppose this could wait until after breakfast, your friends will be able join us as well that way," Celestia cut.

"Suit yourself," Connor replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Celestia led the way, opening the doors with her magic so the two could leave the room. Needless to say, the two guards stationed outside were rather taken aback when they saw Connor exiting the room with the Princess. Being the way he was, Connor gave the guards a wink as he walked past. A scowl quickly grew in their faces as they followed the two. Celestia led them all to the dining room. It appeared everyone else was all there, the Mobians and the mane six.

"And so the human finally graces us with his presence," Sora shouted across at them with a smirk.

"Better late than never," Connor replied.

"What the hell were you doing all night?" Scott asked as Connor sat down next to him.

"Taking a tour of the city, seeing the sights; catching up on the local gossip. You know, just the usual," Connor answered.

Scott simply chuckled and shook his head at the reply. Down from them on the other side of the table, Gold stared across at Connor. Remembering clearly what Ionia had said and showed him. He knew resorting to humor was something Connor sometimes used to avoid answering questions, and for the most part, it more often than not worked. Gold wasn't going to be fooled this time however, he couldn't help but wonder as to when the lies would stop.

"Did everypony have a good nights sleep?" Celestia asked, making conversation.

She received some rather perky yes' from the girls, but only seemed to get grunts and mutters from the Mobians in response.

"Goodness darling," Rarity very suddenly piped up. "What are those red and black streaks in your mane?" She asked, directing the question towards Connor.

Connor raised a hand up a ran it across the top of his hair, bringing his hand back down and having a look to see what it held. There were now several red and black flakes in his hand, Scott leaned over to have a look at them.

"Hm, never actually noticed that until now. It looks like blood," he noted, rather casually.

Several gasps of shock suddenly came from the ponies at the table, Celestia herself included.

"What?" Connor asked, looking up at them all. "It's not mine."

"Perhaps you should have a wash after we're done here," Celestia slowly suggested.

"Whatever you say," Connor sighed, spreading some jam onto a slice of toast.

That little surprise aside, the rest of their meal went rather well. Celestia explained the land they were now in to the Mobius group. The fact that it was called Equestria seemed rather ironic to them, considering its main residents were horses, or ponies as they found out after accidentally insulting their hosts by calling them horses. Twilight was more than happy to explain some of the more detailed aspects, much to the chagrin of one Rainbow Dash. The term, Egghead, was used more than once. After the brief history lesson, everyone soon began leaving the table to go about their business. Connor ducked off to take a bath as Celestia had suggested. For the most part, it was to stop Rarity nagging about how filthy he looked. Soon it was just Gold, Glimpse and Celestia left at the table.

"Is something bothering you Gold? You seem troubled," Celestia spoke.

"It... It's nothing," Gold replied.

"The hell it is," Glimpse cut in. "You've been out of it all morning, what's going on with you?"

"I can see you're carrying a heavy weight on your shoulders," Celestia explained. "We can help you Gold, even if some of us haven't known you for very long."

"No, Celestia. You can't help me, neither can you Glimpse. At least not yet anyway," Gold replied. "I'm going to take a walk, I need time to think," he explained as he stood up, calmly walking to the door and leaving the room.

Celestia looked across at Glimpse, receiving only a shrug in response.

Celestia had confined the Mobius group to the palace for time being, at least until she could explain the situation to her subjects so they wouldn't run away screaming when they saw the Mobius group.

At the moment, they were all killing some time in what turned out to be the ball room. Apparently, it was a room that was used to hold an event called the Grand Galloping Gala every year. Gold and Sora were kicking a ball they'd found across to one another, most of the others were more of less just standing around. Scott was sitting down at the side of the room with his back against the wall, flipping through files on a holographic screen floating in front of him. The screen was displayed through a special chip that had been implanted in his wrist, all Paladins had received one. It was a functional way to transport documents they wished to keep, though using it to store high level files was not recommended. The chip was also used for communication purposes, no longer did they need to carry around a radio. It was replaced with two other chips implanted in their bodies. One went into one of their teeth so could speak to one another, the second was planted in their ear for audio. Feeling like someone had taken a jackhammer to your tooth and having a terrible ear ache for a few days was worth the end result.

"What're you doing?" Glimpse asked, walking over to Scott.

"Looking through some old files," Scott explained. "Just for shits and giggles really."

It was at that moment that Connor walked into the room, his hair was still a little damp from his wash, though his clothes were still somewhat dirty.

"Hey, Connor," Scott called out. "Remember this?" He asked with a grin, pulling up a picture on his screen.

The picture he'd found was one of Connor, a mug shot to be precise. As with most mug shots, Connor was standing in front of wall holding a name plate in front of himself. His face was a bit of a mess. He had a split lip, a busted nose, a black eye and a cut along the side of his forehead.

"Of course you would find that," Connor sighed, face palming as he spoke.

"What the hell is this all about?" Glimpse laughed.

"That's what happens when your best friend starts mouthing off at someone bigger than you," Connor explained. "I was stupid enough to jump in and try to help out."

"Hey, I helped by clearing everything up afterwards," Scott replied.

"You could have helped by lending a hand when he started beating the shit out of me," Connor countered.

"How is it you two were never sent to prison?" Glimpse asked.

"We made up for it by helping the police more than we hindered them," Scott answered.

"It's not like it was a constant thing, but we certainly did have our moments," Connor smirked.

"Well I would prefer if it never became a thing at all in my land," a voice behind Connor spoke.

Connor spun around to find Princess Celestia and her sister Luna standing behind him.

"How long have you been standing there?" Connor asked.

"Long enough to hear that you and your friend were quite the rebels in your world," Celestia replied.

"They could help keep the guards on their hooves, things have been quite quiet as of late after all," Luna said, a hint of a smirk on her face.

"The last thing we need is an incident," Celestia countered.

"You're no fun sometimes," Luna muttered.

Celestia shot her head round to look at her sister, finding Luna with an innocent grin on her face.

"Anyway," Celestia continued, turning her head back to the Mobians. "I've come to something of decision regarding all of you."

"Well, let's hear it," Gold said as he and the others walked over to her.

"I've decided that some of you shall travel to Ponyville, it will help the citizens of the town feel safer around you over time," Celestia explained. "The rest of you shall stay here in Canterlot, for the same reasons. I feel you will be spending much of your time in these two places, so we can't have my subjects constantly fearing you."

"Alright then, who's going where?" Flare asked.

"I will leave that up to all of you to decide," Celestia replied. "You will have until tomorrow to decide, my sister and I shall wait for your answer."

"Until then, we have other duties we must attend to," Luna explained. "Until next time."

"If you still wish to speak with me, Connor. Then feel free to come find me later on during the day," Celestia said to the human.

Celestia and Luna gave the Mobius group their goodbyes before exiting the room, leaving the others to make a decision.

"So who's going where?" Sora asked.

"That's a good question," Scott replied.

"Well then let's get it out of the way and make a decision," Gold explained.

Though he didn't say it to the others, Gold had already made his decision. Wherever Connor went, that's where he was going. He needed answers, and he was going to get them. It was only a matter of time before the right opportunity presented itself, that would be the moment when he'd get what he was looking for.

(A/N) There you have it, more secrets and lies from our resident human from Mobius. Gold is now on a mission to figure out what exactly Connor is keeping, do I see a battle of wits approaching? There was a little more backstory into Connor in this chapter I'm sure you noticed.

On the subject of backstories. To everyone who has an OC in this, you're more than welcome to PM me any ideas you have to expand your character, so to speak. After all, they did just live through the mass genocide of Mobius. I'm sure it would have something of an effect on everyone. So like I said. If there's anything you'd like me to include, it could be something about your character that you've already made, or you could make up something from the time during the war, please feel free to PM me. I'd like to try and flesh out everyone's characters, so to speak, and I don't think I can do that without your input. It's your character after all, not mine. And I must stress, if you do have anything, please send it through a PM and not in a review.

And now for something random that doesn't have anything to do with this story. I recently bought the first volume of RWBY on DVD and I realized something. There's character in it called Nora who has a shockingly close resemblance to Pinkie Pie. They're both random and crazy at times, it's awesome :D As for the second volume of RWBY, I have only one thing to say about the first episode. Most epic food fight you will ever see. Seriously, check it out. It's awesome :D

Until next time

Catchya :)