Shadowheart had finished his adventure in the alley and to his dismay Pinkie Pie had requested to go with them to Hoofsville. Twilight had said yes and that was that. Pinkie however didn't stop watching him until they finally arrived at the train station. Normally he would take the balloons because they were faster, but he would rather be in public when Pinkie Pie tried to slit his throat. The had arrived in Hoofsville and immediately headed to the town hall. Once again to Shadowheart's dismay, Twilight being a princess made Celestia feel it appropriate to have her accompanied by royal guards. Something that would and did bring attention to them. This was the last thing he needed if he was going to get his friend to help.
They entered the hall and the guards took positions in and around the building.
The mare at the front desk looked shocked to see what would appear to be a military invasion. Shadowheart walked over to her and motioned the guards that followed him to step away.
"Ma'am. I'm looking for a purple earth pony with a pet jackalope that moved here recently?
Do you know here I can find him?"
The mare looked at Shadowheart then to his sword, "I hope nothing has happened to him and Corona or by Celestia Bud Light."
"Corona? Bud Light?" Twilight asked.
The elderly mare looked at Twilight and replied with a bow, "Why yes princess, Fire Heart and Corona had become a couple while working at the bar together. Bud Light is Corona's son.
The three of them have been working together in tough times and Fire Heart and Corona have been inseparable for a while now. Please, if this helps here is his address."
She scribbled the address down on a piece of paper and passed it to Shadowheart.
"Thank you miss..." Shadowheart began.
She spoke up, "I'm FrontDesk. If there is anything else I can do to help just ask."
"Will do." he replied as he turned to leave.
Twilight and the others followed him closely behind leaving no more than a five hoof gap between anypony in the formation. As they walked down the dirt road they had drawn a crowd that seemed to follow out of curiosity of either the guards around the Alicorn, Princess Twilight in the middle, or the unicorn in the front with the sword. Twilight noticed some police ponies approaching them from the sides. Shadowheart stopped and looked to a large red unicorn just a few inches taller than Big Macintosh with a hat that looked like Applejack’s resting on his head. The guards stepped in between him and Shadowheart.
"Stay where you are." one said.
The red pony stopped in front of them blocking their path with the other law ponies.
"What is the meaning of this. Why are you here?" he asked with a slightly annoyed look.
"We are here on a pony hunt for Prince Cassius. If you interfere then you will be immediately detained and tried for treason. Now step aside." a royal guard stated.
The pony stepped back with hesitation and an angry scowl. He grudgingly Stepped aside to allow them passage. They continued to an average looking large two story house that had the address on the paper. Shadowheart told everypony to look for a purple earth pony with dark red sunglasses and a burning heart as a cutie mark. The guards dispersed and began the search. Pinkie Pie hopped out of sight which made Shadowheart uncomfortable. Twilight flew into the air for a birds eye view, Shadowheart approached the door and gave it a knock with his hoof. After a moment he heard a shuffling in the house. Another knock and the door slowly opened and revealed a small jackalope was waving to him.
With a smile he said, "Hi Jackie. It's been a while. Where is Fire?"
Jackie pointed to the staircase in the very blue house. Outside it was the normal design for a Ponyville home, but it was very blue on the inside. Well that was his favorite color, Shadowheart thought. He walked up the stairs and heard a loud scream from the bedroom. Shadowheart drew Dragonslayer and charged the door. He slammed through it with his horn glowing and Dragonslayer pointed straight out in an attack stance. Another scream greeted him followed by a scramble in the room for the occupants.
"What the Hell!? Shadowheart!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" yelled a purple earth pony with sunglasses.
He was laying in bed under the covers of the blanket with a unicorn mare who covered herself up to her muzzle, both were blushing furiously. Shadowheart was stunned with a blank expression on his muzzle as his face turned bright red instead of its normal white, He turned around letting his front legs go limp and without another word walked on his hind legs letting Dragonslayer drag on the floor and walked out of the room closing the mangled door behind him with his magic.
A few minutes later the purple earth pony came down the stairs with the mare he was sleeping with. Shadowheart was sitting in a chair in the kitchen still with the same look as before and still letting Dragonslayer hang from the clamp that held it to his hoof. Jacky was waving her little arms around and occasionally slapping him to try and snap him out of the shock. He just looked ahead with a blank stare.
"Corona, I'm sorry about that, but I need to talk to Shadowheart. I will see you at the bar ok?" the earth pony said to the Corona.
"I will be waiting for you there."- She leaned in and kissed him on the lips before whispering in his ear. -"Don't be long."
She trotted out passing Twilight and giving her a quick bow before exiting the house. The earth pony bowed when he saw Twilight. She returned the gesture and noticed Shadowheart in the chair.
"Are you Fire Heart?" she asked.
"I am and you are princess...?" he asked letting the hint sink in.
"Just call me Twilight. Um... What happened to Shadowheart? He looked like he saw a ghost." she said walking next to him.
"Um... I wouldn't say that. But he is in shock."- Fire Heart walked over to him. -"Shadow? You home buddy." He waved a hoof in front of his face.
"I have an idea." Twilight said.
She walked outside. Fire Heart was confused but took this opportunity he was given. He walked over and turned to Shadowheart's chair to face him. Fire heart looked around to make sure he was the only other pony in the room. When he was satisfied, he removed his sunglasses to reveal his dark purple dragon eyes. He looked Shadowheart in his hazel green eyes and blew a smoke ring him his face. Shadowheart began to cough at the sudden lack of breathable air.
Fire Heart smiled and placed his sunglasses back on.
"Shadow, We never speak of what you saw to anypony. Alright?" said the smiling dragon pony.
Shadowheart nodded while trying to clear out his burning lungs. Twilight walked in with Pinkie Pie and the two approached them.
"How did you get him to snap out of it." asked the purple Alicorn.
"I'm an old friend of his. I know how to push his buttons." He said smiling even bigger.
"So what brings you here?"
"Well, Shadowheart is trying to help me find Prince Cassius. A bad dream made him want to find you." Twilight said.
"I think he ate some bad food at the castle. Wait, if he did then Princess Celestia would have eaten the same bad food too. Twilight, we have to warn Celestia her meal is poisoned! Her number hasn't been drawn yet!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she galloped out of the house.
"Pinkie Pie, where are you going?" Twilight called as she chased after her pink friend.
"Well Shadow, you know how to really pick your special someponies." Fire heart said trying to hold in his laughter.
"Neither of them are my special somepony." the white unicorn replied as he got off the chair.
"Well that's a shame. Now what brought you to find me after all of your searching? Did you finally kill him?" Fire Heart asked with a hint of excitement.
Shadowheart shook his head, "No, he still breathes, I came here because of him though. Um.. Do you mind if I have a drink?"
Fire Heart walked over to his refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of tea and placed on the table. He poured a cup and passed it to Shadowheart. The white unicorn slowly sipped the cup savoring every bit of it.
Fire Heart smiled as he leaned against a wall, "You always did saver your drinks. So what happened?"
Shadowheart explained why he was hired by the princesses of Equestria. He told Fire Heart about his time with Twilight, the attack from Pinkamena or Pinkie Pie, he wasn't sure what was wrong with her,and his dream about Flamearch and Cassius. When he got to the part about Crystal Glare's predictions coming true, Fire heart nearly fell over from shock.
"Wait, the Dark Libra incident was the first sign? Damn it, then Flamearch is the controller and Prince Cassius is the Nocturnal Guardian reborn?" Fire Heart asked.
Shadowheart nodded, "Will you help me Fire Heart. This is more than me or Flamearch now. This could be the end of us."
Fire heart glared at him for a moment. A faint smirk broke the serious expression on his muzzle.
"Now if I left you to die alone, where would I find a replacement for your sorry flank.
Count me in to the end Shadowheart. I never go back on my word and you know I don't leave friends to die."
Shadowheart closed his eyes and quietly said, "Thank you."- he looked over to Fire Heart. -"Lets find Cassius and stop all of this before it gets out of control."
The two left after Fire Heart had Jackie jumped on his back and locked his house.
He was going to have Corona watch her while he was away and spend what was left of his night with her before leaving with Shadowheart tomorrow.
**************************************************************
Flamearch sat in his chair, the event of the night before left little Cassius drained from all the excitement. From his reaction to Flamearch after their adventure in the dream realm, he would say that the little unicorn was considering him a friend rather than a pony who took him from his mother and was using him to get back at another for his family's deaths. Flamearch had decided to send two of his best assassins to try and kill off Shadowheart while he was busy.
This was probably a waste of time, but he knew they would return with news of some kind if they failed. He leaned back in his chair and watched Liz go to town on the journal and taking notes on Cassius as he slept. Anything for your research ay Liz, he thought.
**********************************************************************
Gold and Sparky had boarded a train to Hoofsville as per Flamearch's instructions. Gold was an average sized earth pony with a black mane and tail and bright yellow coat. His right eye was a very dark blue and left was a sightless, milky grey that had a scar running from the top of it, all the way down to his muzzle and his cutie mark was a bloody dagger. He had his katana that sat inside a hilt that was made to look like a bronze dragon. He sat across from Sparky in the train car with it held tightly in his hooves. Sparky was a slightly shorter than average pegasus.
He had a black coat with a Mohawk mane that was blue with a yellow streak in it. He had yellow eyes and his cutie mark was a microphone with an electric bolts around it. He sat there playing with headphones and a music device of his own creation listening to Vinyl Scratch's latest song. The two unlikely partners were longtime friends and had known each other since they were foals. Sparky being the fun loving jester with the targets and Gold the ruthless killer with the ones that got in the way. They always got their targets no matter the cost or any life that were unnecessarily thrown away, because they wanted to be a hero.
"Gold. You still itching to kill Liz?" Sparky asked in a louder than necessary voice.
"Keep your voice down you idiot." Gold hissed.
Sparky stopped his music and leaned in, "Ok, but are you?"
Gold shook his head, "Not any more. I was being... unreasonable. After all it was just a sandwich. No need to kill a friend over."
"But, it had mayonnaise in it." the black pegasus chimed.
Gold shot up and slashed the couch Sparky was on with his sword and growled, "I HATE mayonnaise!"
"Hay, dolt. Volume control." Sparky said while laughing.
"Why you..." Gold began as the train began to decelerate.
Sparky immediately stopped laughing and got up. The two walked off the train without another word. Their mission was officially on and there was no time to play around. They headed to the town hall to try and get information on where Shadowheart was. Flamearch had given them a detailed description of him and told them he was going to Hoofsville. What he didn't tell them was where he would go in the town. After a few hours of asking around and getting the same answer of him with guards and an Alicorn princess. They met with her and asked where he was.
She has asked what they wanted and they told her they were friends of his that wanted to help in any way they could. To their luck she believed them and told them he was at the bar, the only place they didn't look. The bar had a lack of guards around which was good for them.
They entered to the sight of a group of very loud ponies singing and participating in a variety of drinking games. Across the stage was a karaoke stand and an open microphone.
"Time to work my magic. Find Shadowheart Gold, I'll go for the kill when you get him in the open." Sparky said walking to the machine.
Gold surveyed the bar from the back wall near the door. Eventually he found his mark at the bar itself. He was talking with the owner and a purple earth pony behind the counter. He also noticed a young unicorn stallion mixing drinks with his magic.Gold closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He would rather do the killing than get cozy with the target. That was usually Sparky's job, but he probably wanted to show off and have a little fun.
He deserved it after taking down the dragon that nearly killed Gold a few weeks ago.
Still he hated crowds, and this was too much too fast. He needed to keep cool and get this over with. Gold walked over to the bar. He heard Shadowheart say something about the little unicorn being Corona's son. From the gesture he gave, Gold figured it was the unicorn owner he was talking about. He began to close the gap as the karaoke machine began to play and Sparky began to sing like a professional.
"The unneeded meaning of start and end"
Gold decided to ditch the plan and go for the kill. He hated crowds as much as mayonnaise if not a little more.
"To the disappearance of this soul"
He drew his sword.
"Who remembers characters?"
Gold Charged Shadowheart who was looking at Sparky.
"From the window of madness. Goodbye"
Gold went in for the killing blow.
"Hello, myself"
Shadowheart ducked and landed a blow to Gold's ribs with his left hoof.
"Haven't we met before?"
Fire Heart told everypony to run.
"Goodbye, yourself"
An arch of electricity shot from Sparky's hoof as he sang and it struck the door.
"So, want to talk?" He continued to sing like nothing happened.
Shadowheart drew Dragonslayer from his side and slashed at Gold.
"iNSaNiTY. Like floating on air"
Gold parried and kicked him in the side.
"PSYCHoPaTHY,A carefree life
Fire Heart ran and kicked the back door's opened to let everypony escape.
"iNSaNiTY. An illusion that can't end"
Shadowheart and Gold were striking swords left and right. Neither could land a hit one another.
"CaPTiViTY. Unable to run away"
Fire Heart galloped to Shadow and kicked Gold in the side. The earth pony staggered while still parrying Shadowheart.
"iNSaNiTY. Like floating on air"
Sparky launched another arch of lightning at Fire Heart.
"PSYCHoPaTHY. A carefree life"
The purple earth pony jumped behind the counter while Shadowheart continued to fight off Gold with every swing of his sword.
"iNSaNiTY. An illusion that can't end"
Shadowheart fired a dark energy bolt at the pegasus on the stage as he finally got a hit on Gold's back
"CaPTiViTY! Like the corruption is continuing" He sang while ducking to avoid the ball of death.
The black pegasus fired another arch at Shadowheart and threw a throwing knife at Fire Heart who stuck his head out from behind the counter, but quickly retreated back.
"The discovered conclusion, disappearing. Outlines fading to black"
Fire heart had enough of this singing. He shot up and spat a continuous stream of fire from his mouth.
"In the darkness, there's no such thing thing as light. From the inside of madness, goodbye"
Gold stomped a hoof into the ground and a wall of earth shot up and blocked the fire.
"Hello, myself. Haven't we met before? Goodbye, yourself. So, want to talk?"
Sparky let his grin drop and he charged an orb of energy between his hoofs. Gold had managed to find an opening in Shadowheart's stance and slashed his right foreleg.
"iNSaNiTY. Like floating on air. PSYCHoPaTHY. A carefree life. iNSaNiTY. An illusion that can't end."
Fire Heart was starting to burn through the wall of earth when it exploded into shards from the other side. Sparky had sent the orb to him and was trying to kill him with the bits of electrified earth.
"CaPTiViTY, Unable to run away, iNSaNiTY, Like floating on air, PSYCHoPaTHY, A carefree life, iNSaNiTY, An illusion that can't end, CaPTiViTY, Like the corruption is continuing"
Shadowheart used his magic to try and bind Gold, but the earth pony was surprisingly stronger then he looked and was able break of the attack.
Suddenly another voice began to sing, "Hey, haven't we met somewhere in the past? Hey, you're special to me, I want to talk to you! Hey, what time is it? What's today? I don't know. Hey! It would be great if we completely forgot"
All four stopped and looked to the open doors of the main entrance.
"iNSaNiTY, It's like floating on air, PSYCHoPaTHY, A carefree life, iNSaNiTY, Dark? Light?, iNSaNiTY, iNSaNiTY"
A dark mist covered mare walked in on her hind legs holding a Nerrix blade and a demented smile clearly visible from the black mist that consumed her.
Sparky sang the next line, "sAnIty,Can't see the dark already"
She quicken her pace, "pUrIty, The days are longer"
Gold went for another blow on Shadowheart.
"sAnIty, But that also must sink"
Before his blade could hit the distracted unicorn the Nerrix blade caught it.
"sAnIty... WHAT IS THAT!?"
Pinkamena slashed up giving Shadowheart his opening. He charged and stabbed Gold in the stomach.
"GOLD!" Sparky shouted.
Fire Heart slammed into Sparky and began to shoot more fire at point blank range. The black pegasus used his mastery of his gift to create a stunning field around him to not only deflect the fire but shocked Fire Heart. Shadowheart pulled his sword out and went for the killing blow.
Gold blocked it with his sword and slashed at both of them nearly removing Pinkamena's head. She sidestepped and ducked bringing her blade up and parrying the bombardment of slashes from the enraged earth pony. Shadowheart ran to help Fire Heart believing Gold was out of his league with the pink psychopath. As he got to them Fire Heart was sent into the air by an detonation of the electric barrier. Sparky stood on his hind legs with two hidden blades that were about the length of his own legs. Shadowheart could see that the blades where collapsible which explained how they were the length they were. This was going to be a fight to the death and for once he was glad to have Pinkamena at his side.