Back in Ponyville.....
“Twilight, have those ‘missing’ posters been sent throughout Equestria yet? We’re getting nowhere!” Spike said.
Twilight sighed as she paced around her throne room. “Yeah. They started posting them in Canterlot as we were leaving, and I heard that there are posters in pretty much every town right now. I just hope that they help. Fire Fight may be a tough little colt, but he surely can’t be lasting this long without getting homesick, nor those other foals that he took with him…….Maybe it’s just best for us to wait for them to come back on their own. I mean, forcing them back home without a choice would be just as heartless as what they went through already.”
“No way!” Spike exclaimed. Twilight looked at him in surprise. “If we did that, we’d be betraying the hope of all those parents whose hearts are aching for their foals right now, including Ms. Fight! Not only that, but what about the CMC and the rest of Cheerilee’s class? They want to find Fire Fight as much as anypony! We can’t let them down either!”
Her assistant’s words reignited her hope a little, and Twilight smiled. “You’re right, Spike.” She said. “But we’d still have to convince them to come back. Forcing them back wouldn’t help very much.”
“Yeah, you’re right about that at least.” Spike said. “Ya know….I’ve been thinking about that ‘Crazylocks’ filly that Princess Celestia told us about. You think maybe Fire Fight freed her and took her with him? I mean it’s pretty obvious that he was down there.”
“Hmm…..that would explain why no trace of her was found…..I just hope that she’s okay…..” Twilight said.
“Yeah….I can’t imagine what she must have gone through. That ‘Gene Splice’ guy-” Spike suddenly began choking lightly as though to hold back a burp. He and Twilight knew that a letter from the good princess was about to emerge. After a second, Spike belched out a green flame that materialized into a letter with the royal stamp on it. “Gee, that was kinda sudden.” Spike commented as he opened the letter.
“What’s it say?” Twilight asked. Spikes eyes suddenly widened in horror as he read the letter and began trembling. Twilight grew quite concerned. “S-Spike?”
Spike nervously handed her the letter. “I-I-I think you should just read it yourself.” He stammered.
Now worried, Twilight carefully read the letter. It was another report about the Gene Splice incident, but the news that came with it left her horrified. “WHAT!?” She dropped the letter out of complete shock. Spike jumped back despite expecting this. “G-G-Gene Splice…..WAS FOUND DEAD!?!?” She read through the letter once more to make sure that they weren’t crazy, but sure enough, he had been found buried in a hole that had clearly been dug and covered in a pile of his dead chimeras. What was even more shocking was his autopsy report: ‘Single stab wound piercing the heart, causing fatal bleeding. Weapon not yet determined, but thought to be a small triangular dagger or otherwise sharp object of some nature’.
Wait…..‘triangular dagger’?...... “No…” Twilight rushed to her bedroom with Spike following suit. She rummaged through one of her drawers until she found the odd dagger that Zecora had found in the ruined castle. “It couldn’t be!” Twilight thought back to her encounter with Air Slash’s father. He had warned her of the existence of the Shadewalkers…..She had read about their mythos, but their very mention in all of Equestria’s surviving literature and historia is practically nonexistent. They couldn’t actually be real……could they!?
“Where’d you get that, Twilight?” Spike asked.
Twilight looked back at her little assistant and mustered some determination. She wrapped the dagger in some packaging paper and tied it up. “Spike, take a note!” she ordered.
“Umm…o-okay.” Spike did as she said and took out a sheet of paper and his quill pen.
“Okay….‘Dear Princess Celestia, I received the disturbing news concerning the late Professor Gene Splice. Despite his transgressions, we will grieve for him. Not only for the life he has lost, but also for the life he could have led in place of his malefic actions. However, that is not mainly why I write to you. This strange dagger that I’ve sent to you is not the weapon that took the professor’s life, but I believe that it is the same kind as the one that did. Prior circumstances have led me to believe that this is somehow connected to the runaway colt, Fire Fight. I ask that you deliver this to the autopsy technicians that operated on Gene Splice’s body to see if my theory is correct. I will gladly meet with you to discuss the finer details whenever you are free, but there is one thing that concerns me most right now that I must ask you about during our meeting: Please tell me everything you know about the Shadewalkers. Your truly, Princess Twilight Sparkle’….” Twilight said aloud.
Twilight handed Spike the wrapped dagger just as he finished tying the letter, but looked at her curiously. “What are the Shadewalkers, Twilight?” he asked.
Twilight sighed in worry. “I should let the Princess be the one to explain that…” she said.
“O-Ok…” Spike decided to trust in Twilight’s words, and with an exhale of his green flame sent the letter and package to Canterlot.
“Maybe I should go talk to Zecora. She’s the one that found that dagger.” Twilight thought aloud. “Spike, hold down the fort for me here, ok? I need to go somewhere.”
Spike gave a confident nod. “Aye-aye!” With that, Twilight exited her castle, and she made her way towards the Everfree forest.
At Zecora's hut.....
“Hmm…..So much searching, but still nowhere to be found. Perhaps I am not covering enough ground?” Zecora was pondering to herself. That green-eyed figure shrouded in the mist gnawed at her thoughts…..what was it? Did it actively seek her out? If so, then why? Furthermore……why did it feel somehow…..familiar?
She heard a knock at her door. “Zecora? It’s Twilight. We need to talk.”
Zecora snapped out of her train of thought upon hearing that. “Please come in.”
Twilight opened the door and entered the hut. “I hope I'm not interrupting anything.”
“Not at all, my child. Come when need be. Now what is it that you wish to discuss with me?” Zecora asked.
Twilight explained the events of Baltimare that ultimately led to her learning of Gene Splice’s ultimate demise. She also mentioned that the odd dagger that she had found in the ruined castle sounded strikingly similar to the description of the possible murder weapon in the autopsy report given to her. “Fire Fight has to be connected to all of this. I just know it! So, if that dagger matches the stab wound….”
Zecora was understandably flustered at Twilight’s explanation. She could never have imagined that one strange little relic could hold so much significance. “Oh my stars……” Zecora snapped out of her shock. “Well, if you have come hoping that I have more of those knives, I am afraid I have found only the one. Finding more will not be so easy. I do not imagine that they are just lying under the sun.”
Twilight sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that….”
“However….I too have small problem that might not concern Fire Fight. Would you kindly hear my plight?” Zecora asked.
“Oh, sure! What’s up?” Twilight replied.
Zecora explained the incident involving her losing her supply bag that ultimately led to her encountering the mysterious figure blanketed by the mist. “Never have I seen such a being in these woods. It’s glowing green eyes stared into my soul so deep. I have searched tirelessly for this entity as it continues to haunt my sleep. It’s strange….I sensed no malevolence….no ill will, yet it conceals itself still.”
Twilight found Zecora’s story to be somewhat unnerving. If a Shadewalker was out here and Zecora found his/her dagger, then did they try to contact her? It would make sense, but wouldn’t they try to contact Twilight too since she was given the dagger? “Zecora….do….you know anything about the Shadewalkers?”
“No….I have never had that name. Why is it you ask?” Zecora replied. Twilight explained what little mythos has ever been told about the mysterious clan of ponies. They hide in the shadows, apparently use an indiscernible form of magic and fighting arts, use strange weapons that have never been seen, and even have the nerve to kill. Everything else is a complete and utter mystery. Even their potential origin is anypony’s guess. “Oh my….” Zecora was rattled by the explanation. She was rich with worldly knowledge, but never had she heard of such a clan existing. “And you believe that Fire Fight is with one?”
Twilight sighed in worry. “Zecora…..I’m scared…..What could happen to him? What am I supposed to tell his mother!?”
Zecora shushed her. “You must remain calm even in a situation as grave as this. Even so, we do not truly know what is amiss. I can see that Fire Fight may be in danger, but I doubt that he would so readily trust a stranger.”
“I know, but….everything just adds up….Unless there’s something we’re missing, then that’s the only conclusion I can draw.” Twilight said.
“Then let us if there is something we do not understand. The being that I witnessed, it is somewhere within this land. If we find that it is somepony we may speak to, perhaps they would have information for you.” Zecora suggested.
It was a shot in the dark, but Twilight decided to trust the wise zebra. If this being was a Shadewalker, then she’d have a lot of questions for them. “Ok, Zecora. Let me go get Spike and Fluttershy. They’ll be able to help us.” She said.
Zecora nodded. “Thank you, my child.”
In Canterlot....
Princess Celestia had just received Twilight’s reply and was nothing short of shocked. The odd dagger found in her old castle coupled with the mention of the Shadewalkers made the solar sovereign have to take a deep breath to calm herself down. “Windrider, see that this item safely reaches the medical examiners in Baltimare with this report from Princess Twilight at once!” she ordered.
“Yes, milady.” The steadfast pegasus mare took what she was to deliver and soared into the Equestrian sky.
Celestia had to take another deep breath to soak in what she had just received from her former student. Beside her sat her lunar sister, who seemed about as worried as she was. Having a notorious name in Equestrian mythos suddenly appear brought both of them unrest. “Luna….Tell me, do you know if the Shadewalkers truly really exist? Do they stalk the night with blades at hoof hidden in the darkness?” Celestia asked.
Luna sighed. “If they do, then they are clever enough to conceal themselves even from the light of my moon. Never once have I sensed any sort of presence, even during my imprisonment.”
“I see…..Would you accompany me to Twilight’s castle when we make plans? I feel that we should both divulge what we know…..or at least…..what we think we know.” Celestia said.
“I agree.” Luna responded. The lunar sovereign then returned to her thoughts. Worry for the Battle Foals began to build as they were becoming closer to being uncovered, and they had yet to fulfill their mission. “My dearest Battle Foals…..know that my moon serves as a beacon to guide you. May it’s light continue to clear your path…..” she whispered to herself.