Silence ruled in a sleeping Ponyville. The street lights were on, illuminating the roads for anything that decided to cross them in the dead of night. No movement at all. The whole town was asleep. The street lights remained there, burning their precious oil in vain. Or so one would think. Suddenly, shadows appeared on the houses near the lights, only to vanish as quickly as they appeared. Nothing knew they were there. The shadows moved towards one certain location. The library.
* * * * *
Four Unicorns emerged from an alley. Four Pegasi were standing outside of it, wating for the Unicorns. The head of the Pegasus group nodded to the Unicorns, as his broad wings unfolded from his side and lifted him to the libraries balcony. The other Pegasi followed. The lead Pegasus gently opened the door, without making a sound and entered Twilight's bedroom. He approached the bed, walking as quickly and softly as a shadow. Twilight was asleep in her bed, her hooves wrapped around Nyx, who was fast asleep. He turned to the other Pegasi and nodded to them. One of them, in turn, unfolded his wings from his sides and held them in an upright position. The Unicorns got the signal. all their horns glowed a dark blue as they turned into a cloud of smoke. The cloud flew into the open balcony door, then hit the floor without making a peep, the Unicorns rematerializing from the smoke, which was now dissipating. They all stood above the two sleeping ponies. The head Pegasus tilted his head down the stairs. Two of the Pegasi and one of the Unicorns went down the stairs, prepared for anything.
* * * * *
Wolf awoke from his sleep, certain he heard a noise. He looked around the room, scanning for anything unusual. He didn't see anything. Nothing was there. But he was certain he heard something. He stopped to listen again. Another noise. Something like wings spreading. He held his head high, trying to catch another sound. He did just that. Another sound, like something crashing against the floor. He wasted no time getting off the couch and searching under it, making sure to make as little noise as possible. His mind was racing, evaluating the situation, and sending his defensive instincts into overdrive. He searched under the couch, and grabbed the pistol he had kept under there. With his other hand, he unsheathed his combat knife. His left hand, which was holding the knife, came under his right, which was holding the gun. He steadied his wrists on top of each other, the left supporting the right, which would give it more stabillity, meaning the gun would be more accurate. His eyes having adjusted to the low light, he began to search the house. He scanned the main room of the library, finding nothing out of place except for a few books that were tossed to the side insted of placed on there shelves. He moved into the kitchen. What a mess he found there. Dishes were tossed into the sink, the table hadn't been cleaned yet, and pieces of food were dropped on the floor. He lowered both his arms, convinced that it was nothing. Something came behind him. He almost didn't hear it. Footsteps. They were light, too light. He had heard Twilight come down to the kitchen late at night, probably to grab a snack while finishing a book. This was nothing like her. Such silence could only be achieved through one thing. Training.
Instictively, his left arm swung behind him, hitting it's mark as it cut through the skull of the Pegasus behind him and killed it instantly. He swung too hard, the knife was lodged in it's head, and wouldn't come out. He took aim at another Pegasus ready to take the shot, only to have his gun knocked out of his hand by a black glowing arrow that came out of nowhere. He looked to the right to see a Unicorn concentrating on him, it's horn glowing. He turned back around to see a the other Pegasus lunge at him. It was too late. It knocked him down and caused him to roll. As he rolled back on his back, he kicked the Pegasus with all his might, sending him flying into the fridge. Wolf's hand glowed, and a deep blue spear appeared below it. He jumped to the left, narrowly avoiding another arrow, while tossing his spear straight into the Unicorns head. It found it's mark and sent the Unicorn falling to the floor, it's blood claiming more and more territory on the floor. He looked to his left and saw his pistol. He got up and ran to grab it, only to be struck head on by the Pegasus. It knocked him face down on the floor. Wolf's left elbow shot up and connected with the Pegasi's left ribs, breaking two and cracking the rest. He rolled to the right, pinning the Pegasus under his back. His right elbow repeated the left's movement and shattered it's right ribs. It reeled in pain as Wolf got up and dived for his pistol again. He landed face first on the ground, grabbing the pistol. He turned around, and took aim at the Pegasus that had summoned all it's energy to make one last desperate dash towards Wolf. He fired off three rounds, one cutting off his right wing, while a second hit the joint that connected it's left forehoof with the rest of it's skeletal structure. The third round hit him square in the neck. It collapsed on top of Wolf, gasping for breath. Wolf tossed it off him, and got up. He took aim and fired two more rounds into it's head. It's irregular breathing ceased. He gasped for breath as the adrenaline surge wore off. A thought hit him, freezing him in terror.
"Twilight..." He whispered.
He dashed to the kitchen, and pulled a knife out of a knife block on the counter. He took out his old one and loaded a fresh magazine into the gun, then sprinted up the stairs.
* * * * *
Three loud bangs startled the head Pegasus, who looked down the stairs. He shut the door and locked it, turning back to the remains of his group.
"Hurry." He ordered them in a soft tone. Twilight tried to scream, but her cries were muffled by the gag in her mouth. She desperately tried to break the bonds on her hooves, but with no success. She tried to cast any spell to distract them. She failed, as they had place some sort of ring around her horn. All she could do was watch in terror as one of the Unicorns walked over to a whimpering Nyx, who was being held down by the remaining Pegasus, as well as having a gag in her mouth as well. Her heart nearly burst out of dread, as the Unicorns horn glowed and a sharp knife levitated out of a pouch on his back, followed by a small bottle, both heading straight for Nyx's right rear hoof.
* * * * *
Wolf reached the door, and placed his ear on it. He could easily hear both Twilight and Nyx's desperate shrieks. Without thinking, and with a single kick the door fell to the ground. He was met with the sight of two Unicorns charging up two more arrows. He took aim and shot one right between the eys, and aimed to do the same to the other. He was forced to abandon that plan, as both arrows shot forward directly at him. He dived to the floor, narrowly avoiding the arrows. As he rolled directly under the remaining Unicorn, his right fist shot up and hit the Unicorn's chin, sending it flying into the ceiling. If the powerful uppercut didn't kill it, the impact with the ceiling certainly did. He took aim at the other Unicorn, who had a knife buried deep into Nyx's hoof, while collecting the blood from the wound in a small bottle. He shot at it's head. The bullet found it's mark, causing blood to splatter on the wall behind him. The pegasus that was holding Nyx down leaped off of her, trying to catch the bottle. One of it's fore hooves inadvertently hit the knife, causing it to cut deeper into Nyx's leg. Wolf tried to shoot it, but was grabbed by the lead Pegasus. It grabbed his arms with his forehooves, holding them back. Wolf used it's own weight against it, and threw it to the ground. He slammed his fist into the Pegasi's stomach, then took aim at the other one. It almost had the bottle, but bolted out of the balcony door as it saw Wolf aiming at it. He turned around to the other Pegasus, only to be met by one of it's forehooves. It slammed into Wolf's face, sending him down to the floor. The pegasus stood over him, on his rear hooves and using it's wings for balance, moved to finish the job. Wolf grabbed the kitchen knife he took with him and threw it at the Pegasus. It hit it in the right forehoof, causing it to yell in pain. It took a few steps back. It then scowled at Wolf, and jumped off the ground, and dived for the bottle. It grabbed it, then quickly recovered as he flew out the balcony door. Wolf got up, grabbed his pistol and chased the Pegasus. He reached the end of the balcony and emptied his mag into the sky. As it clicked empty, he tossed it away, then ran back into the room. He took out Twilight's gag and broke her bonds with ease. He then removed the 'collar' from her horn.
"Are you alright?" He asked her, hoping that she wasn't hurt.
"Nyx..."
Wolf took no time and dashed to the other side of the room, where Nyx lay. He fell to his knees above her. She was whimpering, trying to fight the pain.
"Oh shit..." He muttered as he glimpsed how deep the knife was in her hoof.
"Shh...Shh..You're okay, it's just a scratch." He took the knife out with a quick yank. He was lucky, it didn't cause her any more pain than she was already in. He ripped a large piece of the sheet near him and tied it around her leg as a makeshift bandage.
"Twilight! Do you have a first aid kit?"
"Y-yes we do..."
"Get it for me!"
Twilight stumbled around for a moment, the shock just now hitting her.
"Twilight! Go! NOW!"
She shook her head then galloped down the stairs.
"Wolf..."
"Shh..don't talk save you're strength."
"Wolf..."
"HURRY UP TWILIGHT!"
"Wolf..."
"You're okay! C'mon, stay with me!"
"Wolf...I'm scared..."
"It's okay, I'm here!"
"And so...tired..."
"No, don't fall asleep! No, Nyx NO!"
All Nyx heard before losing consciousness was Wolf screaming for Twilight to hurry up with the first aid kit.
End Chapter 21.