The unbridled wildernesses of Equestria, like the Everfree, were home to unknown dangers, so mysterious that no one who laid eyes upon them had ever been seen again. Their screams, on the other hoof, sometimes lasted up to a week after said vanishing. But none of these aberrations could compare to when a pony simply decided to alter it's path down a darkened route. In fact, these natural monstrosities stepped aside in order to let them pass. Or even aid them in hopes of favor.
Which was why Mercy was running a large magical saw to cut her way through the thick, thorny vines that sprouted up everywhere and tried to snare her. Sometimes the ends of the vines would produce a mouth full of sticky venom, that would lash out at her. But she managed to hold them off without breaking step, or her neck. All the while screaming like a school filly.
A vine whipped out for her left fore hoof, only to be sliced apart by the saw. Andromeda leapt onto a rock and to try and get off of the ground and fend off the branches from there, figuring that the stallion was no longer chasing her. She ran the saw around her in circles, screaming, cursing and praying loudly. Hoping somepony might get her out this mess, or tell her what to do. Then the rock beneath her began to break, and she yelped as the thorns burst through, sending up dust and gravel. She ran to the edge of the boulder, and looked down to see a writhing mass of vines and mouths reaching out for her. She cried loudly and split the saw into three, spinning them faster than before. Raising a filly could make any mare a marvelous multi-tasker (colts were so much less needy), and she did her best to she set the saw in different rotations to help close off gaps against the vines. All the while, her little island in the living sea was breaking apart.
---WARNING!!!---EARTH PONY TALISMANS LOW ON CHARGE---LOSS OF GROUND CONNECTION IMMINENT---
Minister Twilight did say that it wasn't perfected. Earth pony magic, so easy to shrug off, yet impossible to perfectly replicate. Go figure. One of the snapping mouth slipped through a chink in her armor, she shifted one saw to intercept while she moved her hoofs' positions as the rock crumbled apart. The head plopped onto the ground near her front hooves and wiggled about, snapping and spitting, then fell through a widening crack and into the tangled mass.
---EARTH PONY TALIMANS DEPLETED---RECHARGING---
Her hooves slipped, her connection the earth was severely weakened. She scrambled wildly in an attempt to stay atop, but the vines were hammering against the saws, pushing her across the surface of the stone. With a shriek, she hooked a hoof into a crack to help steady herself, but then found it to be a horrible idea. The thin piece of rock she had braced herself upon began toppling over, sending her screaming into the rising thorns.
---WARNING!!!---UNSAFE LANDING AREA---ANCHOR FOR TETHER---BRACE FOR IMPACT---
But there was no impact. The vines caught her before she hit the ground and began to wrap about her like a cocoon, constricting her all the while like hungry pythons. She screamed and cursed as they began to cover her helmet. Her heart beat rapidly in terror, and she couldn't use the saws safely now, or she might kill herself. The vines restrained her hooves, pulling them tightly together. They covered up every inch of her, containing her magic, and the saws sputtered out of existence. The thorns began to lower, towards the ground, which opened up like a grave, pulling the mare down into the dirt.
But Andromeda wasn't ready to go just yet. She had more than just her own life to worry about. In those few moments before she touched bottom of the hole, she invented a new trick.
In a burst of brilliant purple, a swirling mass of the magical cubes was generated from within the mass of vines. Andromeda stood up and yelled to the sky in victory. Apparently the DMCs weren't allowed to work on her, Ministry safety features for the win, which allowed he to generate a bunch of them and by trying to pull them closer to herself with her own magic, they would instead orbit around her.
Vines shot towards her, only to be reduced to nothing. She pulled the cubes away from her helmet and looked out in a mixture of terror and childish fascination. A mouth lunged for her helmet, and she let out a rather undignified yelp as she closed up the gap again, shredding it.
"You can't touch me," she screamed at the vines as though they could understand her, "I'm invincible. Hahahaha."
"Oh? Really?"
Andromeda squeaked, subconsciously deactivating her shield. She looked about for whoever spoke, but they seemed to be absent. The vines appeared to gone as well, except for the dead ones. But then again, she was inside a hole, and couldn't see much to begin with. "H-hello? Was that you, ugly-stallion-who-stole-my-sandwich? Well, don't come any closer, I-I'll cut you to ribbons."
"A cute trick," the voice said again. It was too high-pitched to be a stallion. Maybe she was friendly. "But only foals have a use for ribbons." That sounded like threat.
"So much for a friend," Andromeda muttered to herself, coiling her legs and leaping out of the hole. She was amazed that she managed to pull it off. "Huh. Never thought I could do that."
Back above ground, the vines were gone, and the broken rock was practically a pile of gravel and shale. She gulped looked about for the owner of the voice. She tried to laugh, but it came out as a whimper. "Come out, come out, wherever you are. This isn't funny."
A cackling broke out, and there was a rustling in to the tree tops, then a rush of wind. Three figures dropped down to the ground with hardly a sound, laying flat to the dirt to hide their forms. Then, like creeping shadows, they rose up and flashed their pristinely pointed teeth at Andromeda. The small ponies, not foals, just small, two earth ponies, male and female, and a female unicorn. Their coats were dyed dark green, manes and tails braded tightly together to keep from tangling in the flora, and they had metal spikes literally imbedded in their legs and the fronts of their fore hooves. But their most distinct features were the tattoos, a purple and black checker smile about their mouths, and circles of the same pattern around their eyes.
Andromeda wasn't sure how they wanted her to react. But, she was pretty sure her laughing wasn't it.
The three ponies stared at her with wide eyes. This mare was laughing at them for some reason. Their sinister expressions faded away quickly and they looked at each other in confusion. Sure, she had destroyed the tainted vines, but they had special defenses from generations of manifesting dark arts. She should have known this.
Andromeda managed to get her self under control and cleared her throat, stifling another laugh. "I'm sorry, it's just... oh, you look so bucking ridiculous. I mean, come on. Did your parents let you get those horrible tattoos, or those over-the-top piercings? Kids, those are going to get in the way of some rather intimate interactions with some special someponies."
The three ponies took a few steps back and looked down at their legs in concern. The stallion, after taking a good look at the mares, discretely closed his hind legs together protectively. The mares rolled their withers and flanks in discomfort and tested the sharpness of the spikes, cringing at what they found.
Andromeda suppressed a smile. She had played her cards right. She had been a little unsteady after escaping the vines, even if she was shouting to the world how invincible she was, and then these three showed up. It really was terrifying, and she just couldn't deal with them like she had with the plants. These were ponies for crying out loud. Even when she was threatening the unicorn that had chased her, she knew she could never really do such a thing.
As for the three ponies in front of her right now, she could now tell they were teenagers. Hopped up on hormones and an incessant need for attention, probably what drove them to act so threatening. But they were still inexperienced and susceptible to intimate implications. That older unicorn had a lot to answer for. This was usury of an abominable degree. The Princess and the Ministries would hear about this. Along with Promise, she added to the list after a little thought.
"Look," Andromeda persisted in a soft voice, "I understand the youthful desire to rebel against the 'system'. But, you have to remember, the rules and ideals put in place aren't always there to ruin your fun. To quote an old friend: the bars on the cage are not their to protect the tiger, and you're not the tiger. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
The two mares tilted their heads in confusion. The stallion, however, seemed to be listening to her words, a contemplative look in his eyes. That was a relief, at least the male was paying attention. She just needed to get the females' attention now without losing the male's.
"All we need is a little mutual respect and understanding," she continued in as calm a voice as she could muster. "We're all ponies. We all have a common enemy, there's no need to start fighting the system, when the system is fighting for us. Equestria was built up friendship and understanding, nothing should be able to take that from us. We ponies are supposed to work together, because...," she pulled herself into a straighter stance and cleared her throat, "...united we stand, divided we fall. A house divided against itself will not stand. Which is why you need to just drop this childish behavior, fight the good fight, and grow up."
That shocked them. The three teenagers' jaws dropped, showing their pointy teeth. Andromeda gave them all a sympathetic look and took a cautious step forward, and stopped when they tensed a little.
She smiled and let out a little sigh. "Perhaps, I'm not the one to talk. I enjoy my toys, and games, and my comic book collection."
The stallion snickered, receiving withering glances from the mares. But he was not intimidated, he took a couple steps forward and pointed at Mercy. "I could tell."
"Oh?" Andromeda tilted her head and looked at him, sitting down. "How?"
He chuckled at her and waved his hoof up and down at her. "Because you're dressed exactly like..."
"What's going on here?"
Everypony jumped. Andromeda screamed. They all turned to see the unicorn who had been camouflaged like a stump, he was seething with rage, sides heaving after a long run. He looked at the mare in anger, and at the three teenagers in raging disgust.
"Why is she still alive?" he demanded of his cohorts.
The three teenagers scrambled to get in some sort of convincing formation around the strange mare. They bared their teeth and growled weakly. The small unicorn mare spoke up.
"We were just trying to lull her into a false sense of security, Master Hunter," she said in a hurried voice that wouldn't of convinced a toddler. The other two nodded in agreement.
Andromeda remained silent. These teenagers were obviously afraid of this stallion. Saying anything to contradict what the small unicorn had said would only make things worse for them. But she couldn't help but glare at that stallion as he marched up like an angry dog, snapping his teeth. She hoped he would bite off his own tongue.
"You useless, toddling, buck-worthy worms," he screeched, coming up and smacking the earth pony mare over the skull. Andromeda gasped when she went skidding across the ground. The little mare didn't make a noise, but curled up into a quivering ball, ignoring the spikes that she pressed against her body. The unicorn turned to the next one. "You stupid, milk-suckling infant."
The other earth pony was his target. The little stallion kept his gaze forward as the unicorn came at him with a raised hoof, making no motions of trying to get away. He was going to let the unicorn strike him, fully accepting the punishment as though he were just a piece of property to be abused.
The unicorn's hoof came down strong and fast. "Worthless bung-shuffled bilge..."
"Enough."
The unicorn almost spat out a lung as he was forcibly launched into the air when Andromeda attacked him. She had charged while his attention was on the earth pony, he obviously didn't think she was a threat since she had run off before, and then turned around to kick him with both hind legs. The earth pony talismans had apparently recharged themselves.
Andromeda growled threateningly at the unicorn, making the other ponies shy away from her in shock. She approached the stallion with strong, threatening steps. "You coward. Fight somepony your own size."
The stallion grunted and stood back up, limping a little on his right fore hoof due to some broken ribs. "You foolish, whore. I'm going to tear you out of that suit and make you..."
Andromeda had never used the lasso on another pony, ever. But this seemed appropriate. Right now she had him in a strange hold of purple magical cord. "If you're going to act like an rabid animal, I'll treat you like one."
And with that, she whipped her head about and flung across the ground. The earth pony talismans bracing her to the ground as she managed to heave his great weight. He watched as he rolled across the ground until his stomach hit a tree with a juicy thud. She smirked in satisfaction when the stallion let out a groan of pain.
"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" she demanded with a few angry steps in his direction. He didn't seem so threatening now, not since her helmet had repaired itself some time ago.
"Kill her, and I'll forgive you three this once," the unicorn commanded in anger.
The three small ponies obeyed without hesitation, lunging for Andromeda, mouths open and spikes slicing through the air. Andromeda felt them collide with her suit, knowing that they would leave quite a few bruises. She grunted at the pain, but kept still, glaring at the unicorn. She would not retaliate against these teenagers, and show them that she was not their enemy.
After several minutes of attacking, the three ponies ceased and backed off one-by-one. The earth pony mare rubbed her skull where the unicorn had struck her and looked at her companions in concern. This unicorn mare would not go down, nor would she so much as turn her eyes.
"Master Hunter," she said in a low voice, "we have no affect."
The unicorn stallion looked at them as she staggered to his hooves. He wore a worried expression as he looked into the mare's determined eyes that almost seemed to pierce his soul. There was something wrong about her, something that he just couldn't place.
"You don't have to follow this so-called stallion," Andromeda spoke up in a clear, commanding tone. She lowered her head and bared her teeth, taking a step forward towards the stallion. With some satisfaction, she watched him flinch. "He's nothing but a bully and a user."
"We can't just stop," the little earth pony stallion said, watching her face down Master Hunter. "We can't help what we are."
"You're ponies," Andromeda said simply, looking back at him with a smile that shocked him and the two mares. "You're young, you need somepony to follow and trust. You all just made the wrong choice. You don't deserve such a life."
They could not believe what they were hearing. No pony had ever spoken to them in such a way. She spoke to them as though it didn't matter that they had just tried to kill her. They began to feel strange.
"Why are you saying these things? We're trying to kill you," said the little unicorn, pointing her hoof at Mercy and trying to look fierce. But her body was twitching with uncertainty.
Andromeda turned from Master Hunter and stepped softly over to the mare, raising a hoof and touched it gently to her spiked one. She smiled and shook her head slowly. "My bruises will heal in time. But your futures could be lost forever in darkness."
"B-but we've killed before," the mare said, finding herself unable to remove her hoof from Andromeda's gentle touch as she tried to make sense of the confusion. "W-we're murderers, and thieves and..."
Andromeda never lost her smile. She used her magic to pull the little mare close and into a soft embrace. Or as soft as she could manage with the mainframe about her neck and the pipbuck on her hoof. The mare tensed and struggled a moment as though she expected to die. But the earth pony talismans held her firm.
"You three are not to blame for any of it," she, pushing the mare away gently and looking into her eyes with a maternal expression. "Don't worry, if they knew what kind of life you're leading, they would do the same thing as I am."
The mare cringed. "A-and what's that?"
Andromeda pulled her into another hug and chuckled. "Forgiving you of course."
There must have been some sort of magic in the dyes, as it became a lighter shade and almost transparent, almost allowing their true colors to shine through. The smiley face tattoos faded a little, and tears started to well up in their eyes. the unicorn stallion looked on at them in abject horror, unable to comprehend what was happening right before his eyes. he coughed and sputtered as he limped back more than a few paces.
"What's happening? What are you doing to my..."
"They're not yours," Andromeda snapped angrily at him, releasing the mare and taking a defensive stance between the stallion and the teenagers. "They're their own ponies, no one else's. They have their own hopes and dreams. You cannot control that. How dare you even attempt such an abominable thing. When I'm done with you, Cerberus will be bucking your parasitic plot until Tartarus freezes over."
"You think you can heal their crimes with a couple hugs and sappy words?" the unicorn spat, trying to take an intimidating stance. "You think they can truly just stop what they've been taught since birth? I'll beat the memory of you out of them, and they'll thank me for it. Isn't that right you worthless foals?"
The earth pony mare dropped her head and nodded. "Yes, Master Hunter."
The little stallion did the same. "Yes, Master Hunter."
Master Hunter smiled triumphantly and began to chuckle, but it caught in his throat when he saw the small unicorn step beside the strange mare and crouch down into an aggressive stance.
"Never again, Master Hunter," she hissed, flicking her tail from side-to-side.
"Do you want to die?" Master Hunter roared at her, taking another step forward, and almost falling down from the pain.
"No," she returned simply. "But I'll gladly do it if it means I'll never be beaten again. Never have to be treated like dirt ever again. Never have to kill an innocent pony again."
"Who says their innocent?" the unicorn stallion growled back. "You don't know that. You might be making the world a better place."
"You've grown old, Master," the earth pony stallion said, gaining confidence form his companion's defiance. He stepped forward and crouched beside Andromeda, baring his teeth. "You don't care about making the world a better place. You just want the next generation to grow up as miserable and jaded as you. Because you just can't stand the thought of another pony finding just a little... joy.
"Well, I think we like it. I'll stand with Cold Wind, if it means I can finally have some dignity. And you'll never touch my sister, Pepper Shot, again. I'm going to cut you apart, one cut for each and every little thing you've done to us. I'll make you suffer."
Andromeda didn't know which surprised her more; the speech, or the fact that this was the longest any of the three small ponies had talked. She watched as the small earth pony came up and stood by her brother. She could now see that she was bleeding from where Master Hunter had struck her.
"And I'll stand by Cold Wind and Pintsize Slasher," she said with a flick of her mane.
Andromeda turned back and smiled at the stallion. "Looks like you're outnumbered, Mister Hunter. I've never killed anypony in my life. Nor have I ever wanted to. But, after hearing that just now, and seeing just how much they all hate you for the abuse they've taken, I think I can do it. Funny what a little isolation can do for you."
The stallion's eyes widened, and he backed up. "You'll never survive the night."
With that, he raised his head up and gave three short howls into the sky. A moment later, there were several answering howls. The stallion looked at the four ponies and smiled a toothy grin. "You fools."
Andromeda looked at the three teenagers. There was no fear, no second thoughts, only resolve. She reached her magic into her saddle bag and produced the pistols, looking at the backs to see that they had recharged themselves. Then, with a confident smile, she produced three DMC saws. "Shadows can only exist if there is light, but as soon as light touches it... it dies."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" the stallion demanded.
"Doesn't matter," Andromeda said as she sent the saws spinning towards the stallion, not wanting to waste any of the pistols' power. She watched coldly as the saws raced towards the stallion and then... vanished, leaving the stallion untouched. She blinked in surprise. "Uuuuh, Peppy? What just happened?"
---DIGITAL MAGIC CUBES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE USED AS WEAPONS AGAINST PONIES---
Her eyes tabled and she let out a groan. "That just seems racist."
"Who are you talking to?" Cold Wind asked out of the corner of her mouth. She was beginning to grow a little concerned when this strange mare seemed to be talking to herself.
"My pipbuck," Andromeda said with a sigh, showing the small mare the display. "Apparently I can't use the digital magic on other ponies."
"That's a stupid design," Cold Wind said flatly. She wanted to ask what digital magic was, but refrained, as there were more pressing issues at the moment.
Andromeda didn't comment. She instead carefully maneuvered one of the pistols in front of her and looked down the sights. Her eyes narrowed as she centered on Hunter. Or tried to. The stallion was gone.
"Where'd he go?" she asked, looking around nervously.
"What do you mean?" Pepper Shot asked, pointing at empty space. "He's right there. Your pipbuck should be able to tell you that."
"That feature wasn't necessary in my line of work. Though it would have been useful at one time. But the fact remains, that there is no pony there."
The three teenagers were baffled as to how the strange mare couldn't see the stallion. He was standing right in front of them, smiling and watching them with an evil glint in his eyes. All she had to do was shoot, him, but she wasn't doing anything. Pintsize growled and lunged forward. "He's right here. Why can't you..."
He made a grab at the stallion, but then yelped in surprise when his hooves connected with nothing and he landed on the ground in a heap. He scrambled back to his hooves and looked about in worry. "He left a decoy. He could be anywhere."
"Not just anywhere."
Everypony turned to see Hunter materialize up out of the ground like a shadow, which was quite insulting after Andromeda's little speech about shadows and light, next to Pepper Shot, who stared in paralyzed terror of him. His injuries apparently gone for the moment, lashed out with both front hooves, crashing them down upon the young mare's skull with a sickening crack. Pepper Shot's eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she fell to the ground with blood spilling from her broken head.
Andromeda screamed in horror, but this was drowned out by the cry ringing out from Pintsize. The young stallion charged the unicorn, his face a mask of rage. But Hunter sunk back into the ground and fled away like a shadow with a sinister laugh. Pintsize collapsed next to Pepper Shot and pulled her close, managing to keep all his spikes away from her limp body.
"Com'on, Pepper," he said through unfamiliar tears, "get up, I know you're tougher than this. He didn't hit you that hard, he's old and weak. It was just a head wound. Besides we've always had thick skulls. Heehee... Pepper? Pepper?"
Andromeda stepped over softly and looked down at the torn colt and his sister. She watched with tears in her own eyes as he looked up at her, his lower lip quivering.
"My little sister won't wake up," he sobbed. "Please, you're a mare. Tell me what to do. How can I make her better? I'll do anything."
Andromeda turned her head to the side, unable to look him in the eye anymore. This was too much. "There's nothing anypony can do, Pintsize. I'm so sorry."
"This is your fault," Pintsize said.
Andromeda's ears fell and she lowered her head in acknowledgement. She could feel his glaring eyes upon her, and looking just affirmed her suspicions.
Pintsize kept his hate filled glare upon her for a few moments, and then softened it. "Thank you. You let her die free of this place. Free of Master Hunter's chains. Free of the Marauders. You forgave us of crimes no pony should be forgiven of. Perhaps that's what we all need. Just a little forgiveness. For the first time since I can remember, you gave us a little hope."
Andromeda sniffed and tried to wipe her eyes, but the glass was in the way. She sat down beside the colt patted him on the back, clearly a motion he was unfamiliar with. "There is no hope without forgiveness, Pintsize. But you must be willing to both give and receive it in return for it to have any power. Aaaand, unfortunately, I don't think our new friends are willing to do either."
"Friends?" Pintsize asked, looking around, and seeing what she meant.
Nine smiley face tattoos upon nine large ponies, five earth ponies and four unicorns, and they were laughing at the poor colt's plight. Cold Wind was watching them while keeping close to Andromeda and Pintsize, growling all the while. Andromeda turned and shouted incoherent profanities at them while wildly firing her pistols. This caused them to scatter, still laughing, and they vanished into the trees. Several trees exploded into splinters, giving them something to think about.
Andromeda took a deep breath and let it out with a hiss. "They've messed with the wrong mare." She then produced a couple large DMC shields for protection, and set them spinning around her and the teenagers. "I am sick and tired of everypony I come across acting like an animal. And just when I find some that have a shred of morality, the others try and take them away. What is wrong with Equestria? This is a sick world, we're living in, just sick."
"You're not alone," Pintsize said, getting up and wiping his eyes tenderly. He looked at Cold and nodded, she nodded back. They took up positions to watch three different directions, the small stallion protectively placing himself over his sister's body. They watched the trees carefully.
Andromeda hovered two of the pistols to the small ponies. "Can either of you use these?"
They nodded wordlessly and took the grips in their mouths, aiming them this way and that. They were noticeably light weapons, and wouldn't handicap them in the least. Then, the laughter stopped. Everpony stood ready, waiting for the attack.
It wasn't a long wait, a shot rang out and a bullet glanced off harmlessly of shield in the direction of Cold Wind. The mare retaliated quickly, timing her shots between the shields' movements. Then more shots began to ring out. The battle for their lives began.
* * *
Amidst dim candlelight, a single unicorn with his head bent down, eyes shut. He sat alone at the edge of a still lake, his reflection dancing in the water. The lake was nestled deep in the heart of Dusky Dale, where the gnarled trees stood on all sides like silent sentinels.
For a while, the unicorn had sat in silence on the edge of the lake with only a few nearby candles for company. The light from the tiny, flickering flames fell upon his coat and mane, which had been dyed from its natural color to pitch black. Even his cutie mark had been covered by the dyes, his flank appearing utterly blank.
Only the quiet sounds of the forest were audible. The creaking of the trees, the shifting of the lake waters, and the occasional buzz and chirp of insects. In all, it was a scene of tranquility, and it was just what the unicorn needed to prepare himself for transpiring events. Yet, as he took a deep breath, hoofsteps began to echo across the trees.
"Sir, we have a problem."
The black unicorn took another deep breath, and his turquoise eyes opened as he turned to look at the pony who had approached him from behind. "What is it, Master Hunter?"
The camouflaged unicorn stopped respectively and inclined his head. "A pony, a unicorn, has come onto our land. She seemed like a good hunt."
The black unicorn tipped his head up slightly in disgust. Knowing full well the intentions and appetites of his followers. "What of this mare?"
Master Hunter looked ashamed. "She is a powerful unicorn, sir. She can run without tiring, and stand her ground against the tainted roots, as I saw evident by their remains on the forest floor. I grew weary and sent three acolytes after her..."
"She killed them?" the black unicorn asked, tilted his head forward with minor interest. A lone mare to display such ferocity was interesting.
"No, sir," the other unicorn said with a solemn shake of his head. "She turned them against me."
That was a surprise. Acolytes should not be capable of such things. It was programmed into them at he youngest stage. It was then that the black unicorn noticed the injuries about Master Hunter's body. "She did this to you? By herself? There are no bite marks or gouges, so the acolytes could not have done this."
Master Hunter nodded shamefully. "I was too injured to do more, sir, so I fled. But not before striking down one of them and calling my apprentices to take care of them."
The black unicorn took yet another deep breath as he contemplated what he had just heard. "So, Hunter, the best of the Harlequin Mask Marauders, loses to a powerful mare, and then sends his students to take care of her. Is this what I'm hearing?"
Master Hunter took a step back. Though the black unicorn didn't show any sign of aggression, he couldn't help but feel intimidated and scared. "I had no choice, sir. I was injured, I barely had enough magic left to become a shadow. The mare wanted to kill me."
"And so you instead gave her your inexperienced students instead," the black unicorn said, blinking his strange eyes. He watched Master Hunter start to shake.
"Y-yes, sir."
"Go back to them," the black unicorn ordered him. "Bring me back the mare and the remaining acolytes."
"Of course, sir," Hunter said, nodding quickly as he began to limp away. "Right away, sir."
"Oh, and Hunter," the black unicorn said, a smile spreading upon his face as he watched the other turn and look at him in fear, "they had better be alive, or you and your remaining students had better not come back at all. Have I made myself clear?"
Master hunter nodded as he began to strain his body for more speed. He also began to light up his horn and use what little magic he had to become a fast shadow. "I will not fail you, Spell Nexus."