Luna grimaced as she stepped into a puddle of muck, but it didn't distract her for long as she marched forward through the streets, darkened by both the fog and massive buildings that ran along the streets. Her eyes were constantly searching, never on one place for more than a second. A few noises caught her attention, her head snapping to her side, only to find Twilight looking at her with worry.
"Princess? Are you alright?" The purple unicorn asked.
"Yes, yes. We- I am fine, just on edge." Luna answered, slowly turning back to look around the foggy street. "Just on edge." She repeated, though in a murmer. Twilight drifted back to her friends, who quickly huddled closer.
"The Princess is acting really weird." Rainbow whispered and Applejack nodded.
"Eeyup, she was lyin' when she said she was fine." The farmer stated quietly, staring at the Princess of the Night with narrow eyes.
"Um, girls? You're acting kind of mean." Fluttershy said with a slight frown, then she let out a little squeak when the pegasus and earth pony spun around to stare at her.
Twilight frowned at this, this wasn't like her friends. Of course Rainbow Dash was brash, but not Applejack, was she even being brash? Twilight shook her head and glanced at Pinkie and Rarity, both were in a quiet conversation, something that surprised Twilight. So, being the extremely curious unicorn she was, she slowed down slightly to get closer to the pair.
"-ut only a few things work in that sort of pan, like honey, sugar, glitter and those sorts of things." Twilight heard Pinkie say.
"What about bl- oh, hello Twilight." Rarity said and Twilight jumped slightly, not expecting her to notice her.
"Hello Rarity, hello Pinkie, are you two ok?" Twilight asked, managing to salvage her attempted eavesdropping. But as the girls chatted and Luna glaced around, a Brass Knight walked out of an alley and locked onto the group. The knight was different from the rest, having a torn red cloak that hung around his shoulders. He turned on his heel and walked towards them, ignoring Luna's glacing about. The Knight was finally noticed by Fluttershy, who screamed as the Brass Knight raised a sword to attack Luna.
"Watch out!" Twilight yelled as she shot a blast of magic at the sword, flinging it from the Knight's grasp and causing him to stumble back and almost fall over. Then Rainbow burst forward and slammed her hooves into the Brass Knight's chest, denting it and making a dark substance spray from the gaps it the Knight's armor. Yet the Knight didn't fall, instead he grabbed the pegasus and threw her away from himself. Then he grabbed his chest and hunched over.
Luna watched as the Brass Knight grunted and tried to straighten back up, only to fall to his knees and make more liquid drip from his body. Only for the liquid to turn into Fog and cover the Knight, then the Fog cleared and the Brass Knighy was no more, but instead a brass helmet was left on the cobblestone path.
Twilight walked up to it and picked it up with her magic, examining it. It looked nothing like the helmets that the normal Brass Knights wear, instead it was similar to something that knights of ancient times would wear, except it was more suited for a human. The visor was the most interesting part of the helmet, as it looked like it's wearer was meant to have his head down to actually see out of the large hole in the visor. Twilight turned it around a bit more, then flipped open the visor.
To see an orange eye staring back at her.
"Twilight!" Rainbow yelled when the purple unicorn screamed and dropped the helmet, which shattered when hit the ground. "Are you ok?!" Rainbow asked as she hovered over to Twilight, who shook her head.
"That was weird." Twilight mumbled then looked at Rainbow. "Wha- Oh, yes I'm fine." Twilight said with a slight smile, which turned into a snarl as she shot a bolt of magic at another Red Cloak Knight, who was reaching out to grab Rarity and Pinke, who were still in deep conversation. The Red Cloak was sent flying by the force of the spell, slamming into the cobblestone path a few metres away.
"Girls! This way!" Applejack yelled and quickly disappeared down an alleyway, only to be thrown back by a Cleaner. Then something strange happened.
The Red Cloak Knight got to his feet, charged past the ponies and slammed into the Cleaner and grappled with him, before knocking the Cleaners hands aside and grabbing his throat, lifting him up into the air. The Knight snarled when the Cleaner threw a punch at the Red Cloak, but it did nothing but anger the Knight to snapping the Cleaner's neck. Then a thick Fog overcame the Knight and, as soon as the Red Cloak appeared, made him disappear.
"What the buck was that?!" Rarity screamed, then quickly covered her mouth as her friends stared at her. "I-I didn't mean to say that!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Yeah, well. You didn't seem to hesitate to say it." Rainbow said smugly as she lazily hovered in the air.
"Get off her back, Dash." Twilight ordered with a frown, she looked around and saw Princess Luna. The Princess' eyes were wide and glued to the spot where the Red Cloak disappeared for the second time. "Lu- Princess Luna?" Twilight asked the frozen Princess.
"They're here, oh Faust, they're still here." Luna stuttered, then noticed Twilight's stare. "Yes, Twilight?" Luna asked, her voice normal.
"You looked scared, Princess. Like something terrifying was staring you in the eyes." Twilight said slowly, Luna slightly sighed.
"Yes, something very old and-" Suddenly Luna glanced into the air, then flew after it. Twilight blinked then shouted to her friends to follow her. The group followed as best they could after the swift Princess, but soon skidded to a stop at the edge of a muck filled street. Standing amongst the sludge was a tall human in a large trench coat and wearing a unique hat, one familiar to all of the girls. Except his hunched form confused them, it seemed like him but it wasn't... or was it?
"William?" Twilight cautiously asked, the Captain snapped his dim golden gaze onto her. At that moment, Twilight knew two things. This man was William Sharp, Captain of the Lunar Guard and one of the few 'pure' humans in Equestria... and that this thing was corrupted, for its stare was full of fear, anger and something that scared Twilight somewhat, it was sadness. But then, her friends made themselves known, the Captain hunched over and suddenly leapt at them. No grace or smooth form to be seen, only beastly rage. It was then, as the Captain attacked, Twilight realised that their chances of bringing William back just got cut to little bits.