The Non-Relic

by Zackrobbman

#8 Night Mare

"What!?" exclaimed Luna in a sharp whisper. "Are you SURE sister?"

"Yes." nodded Celestia. "Both I and the coroner can confirm it. It bore the same cutie mark as they did before."

Luna looked down as she and her sister walked down one of the numerous hallways of the Canterlot Mental Health hospital. She'd been there many times in the past to aid doctors with her ability to enter ones dreams. Despite her experience and the clean and safe look of the hospital, she still viewed it as a mad house. Mentally ill ponies had the worst nightmares.

"But...that means-"

"I know." said Celestia as she raised a hoof in understanding. "That is why we're going to talk to it's killer. We may be able to obtain information regarding their plans, and what they're doing now."

Luna stared at her sister hard. She examined every inch of her face, looking for doubt or worry. But she didn't see any. Was she trying to stay calm for her? Or was she actually confident that she could handle this?

"Then what?" asked Luna, nearly making Celestia stop in her tracks.

"..."

"...Sister?"

"One thing at a time Luna." said the white alicorn with a sigh. "If we're going to make a guess, we're going to make an educated one."

---

Minuette looked very comfortable in her straight jacket. One could even say that she looked at home. Sure, she was in a small padded cell blocked off by a magical force field that nullified her magical abilities, but it could be worse. She COULD have gone to jail, and from what she'd learned, their cells weren't padded and they didn't give you anything to keep you warm and cozy. They didn't even let her whistle! But this place though, it was a welcome change of scenery. She could whistle a happy tune all she wanted and the guards outside the cell wouldn't even flinch! It was quiet too. No angry cell mates across the hall to call her names or yell threats at her. No guards that would walk up to her cell for no good reason and read her file to her in front of everypony. Then they'd laugh at her and the inmates would give her horrified looks as she cried and begged them to stop...

She whistled louder.

Nope! No one to make ol' Minuette feel bad here! It was just her, her cozy coat, and her comfy cell. No one else. She'd been worried when the guards came into her house to arrest her. Scared even. But maybe, since Celestia was there, they'd decided to go easy on her. Maybe she'd recommended a cell like this because she knew she didn't like the other ones. Celestia always was nice to her. Almost like a mother. She never called her crazy or worthless or...

She began to bob her head to the tune she was whistling.

She sure wished she had a book to read. Moondancer had tons of books. Most of them were about science and were really hard to understand without her help, but it was something to do nonetheless. She was so smart, but she never talked down to her like she was dumb or something. Ever since Twilight came over, Moondancer had really began to show her true colors. She was really fun to be around, always making those crazy experiments. Lemon Hearts and Twinkle shine were nice too. They never asked her about her files. None of them were ever concerned about her files. Her files didn't matter to them.

Her whistling became quieter and softer.

She loved her friends. She didn't know what she'd do without them. Any time it was hard to whistle, they were there for her. She couldn't wait to see them again.

"Minuette." called a soft and motherly tone. Opening her eyes, Minuette looked up and stopped whistling. At some point, the magical force field separating her cell from the hallway had dissipated and the princesses had entered.

"Hey!" said Minuette, her eyes focusing intently on Celestia. "You came back! Thanks for the cell by the way. It's nice and cozy!"

"How are you doing Minuette?" asked Celestia genuinely.

"I'm great! Oh, sorry. Where are my manners? How have you been princess Luna?"

Luna seemed taken a back by the question, looking to her sister. Celestia merely gestured for her to respond.

"I've...been better." replied Luna wearily. The mare in front of her was much too cheery. From her experiences, she'd learned that the happy ones were the worst kind of crazy. They'd always smile at you and ask you how you how you were doing before vehemently explaining how much they'd like to gut you. And they'd do it too if given the chance. She'd nearly learned that the hard way.

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that." said the odd mare, putting on a sad face. "You should try whistling a tune! It helps keep those bad thoughts at bay! Like this!"

Before Minuette could start whistling, Celestia decided to get to the point of their visit.

"Minuette," called Celestia, halting Minuette's impromptu whistling lesson. "What happened?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you kill that stallion?"

"..."

"Minuette?"

"I don't know."

Celestia squinted. She loved Minuette dearly just like anypony else, but as a ruler, she'd come to learn that outcomes don't over-rule motives. She'd killed a creature that needed to die. But it looked like a stallion. Based on what she'd just said, she didn't KNOW it wasn't a stallion. That made things painfully complicated for Celestia.

"You don't know?" asked the white alicorn. "How do you stab a pony that many times and not know why?"

"I blanked out." said Minuette with a shrug.

"How did you blank out?"

"I was on my way to Moondancer's house to help her move out and decided to take a shortcut through an alleyway. Then I saw this black, pony-like mass with two, beady, red eyes. It lunged at me. The next thing I know, I'm on a rooftop, covered in blood, levitating a bloody knife."

Celestia sighed. So much for an educated decision.

"So you don't remember anything? Nothing at all?"

"Nope!" said Minuette happily.

"Well, that confirms it." said Luna looking away in thought. Celestia nodded and massaged her temples.

"Confirms what?" asked Minuette. The princesses looked at each other. She was a civilian, but she wasn't a normal civilian. Normal civilians freak out and start causing problems if they learn of something that frightens them, but civilians like Minuette just keep smiling. No matter what. But Celestia had know about Minuette and her problems for years now. She knew that despite her cheery attitude, Minuette was dead inside. She'd done terrible things that she could never forgive herself for. Due to this, Minuette was always at a constant struggle with herself, trying desperately to forget her past and move on, not letting anything get to her.

She'd been doing so well for the past seven years. She'd gotten a job, a place to live, and many great friends. One of whom was her star pupil. Celestia no longer checked up on her in fear, but with joy. It made her happy to see Minuette stop and look at her friends, appreciating what she'd thought she'd never achieve. Other than the pills she had to take on a daily basis to keep herself from having a break-down, her life was fulfilling and normal. One would never guess that she'd done the things she had done. Or believe it.

But now, despite her demeanor, Celestia knew Minuette was on the verge crying. In her mind, she'd killed somepony. In her mind, she was guilty. In her mind, she'd never be able to see her friends again, and would lose everypony's trust and love forever. She was just in shock, not wanting to accept this vile reality she was trapped in.

So Celestia decided to put those fears at ease.

"You didn't kill anypony Minuette." said Celestia in a soothing tone as she stepped forward. Minuette stared at her blankly.

"But...I-"

"What you killed...was a vile creature. A threat to equine life as we very well know them to be."

"But when I peeked over the roof-top-"

"It looked like a stallion?" Interjected Luna. "They are like Changelings, but far worse. They can shape-shift to take the form of any creature, but instead of feeding off of love, they feed off of hate."

"Like king Sombra?" asked Minuette. Luna shook her head.

"No. The hate they thrive from is...different than the hate king Sombra used. This hate is chaotic in nature, even otherworldly."

"It apparently exists in all of us." continued Celestia. "A hate much more feral and violent than the hate we know. It moves ponies to do...unspeakable things."

Minuette looked back and forth between the two princesses. They were talking about her.

"We're not pointing you out or anything." said Celestia with a dismissive hoof. "It's just a fact that it exist in us all, often triggered by extreme circumstances. When festered to fruition, it causes the pony to lose that mental pillar that supports a genuine love for life, the one thing that even king Sombra and many other villainous ponies have had in the past. This kept them from...breaking the rules so to say."

"This is true." said a hauntingly familiar voice from seemingly no-where. Discord entered the room from a wall like a ghost, a practice the princesses had unfortunately grown accustomed to. "Although I may have seemed like a tyrannical jerk, I never had the heart to kill anypony to get what I wanted."

"And as such, we didn't have the heart to kill you." said Celestia with a smirk.

"Speak for thine self." sneered Luna to Celestia's dismay.

"Good to see you too Lulu." said Discord as he made a baby face, causing Luna to grind her teeth. No matter how much she tried to deny it, he was much older than both of them. "But, yes. I knew that Twilight and her friends possessed the power to usurp my impromptu throne, but I never once entertained the thought of doing away with them. I felt bad when I caused them to lose hope in all that they'd believed in! Let alone kill them."

"I like how you made it rain chocolate milk!" said Minuette with a giddy smile.

"...Thank you?" said the draconius wearily. "So did Celestia. Anyway, that's what this particular form of hate dismisses. IT doesn't care about up-holding standards or proving points. It skips all the morality and gets straight to solving the problem in the most horrid way possible. That's what makes these creatures' so dangerous. They are made of nothing but hate. The really hateful kind of hate that we've been talking about. "

"One that YOU are responsible for creating."added Luna.

"No, now," said Discord while wagging his finger. "She doesn't need to hear any of that. Save it for Twilight, since I'm SURE she wants to know what all the fuss is about. What this pony here needs to know is that she's unique in more ways than one."

"How so?" asked Celestia.

"Well, you and I both know that these creatures feed off of hatred. We also know that the victims they feed from get incinerated on the spot."

"With haste now!" said Luna irritably, stomping a hoof. To her, every word that came out of the draconius's mouth was a jest.

"Easy there Lulu." rebutted Discord. "Because of this particular hatred's chaotic nature, I can sense residue of it. And from what I'm seeing, the creature that this pony turned into cottage cheese had actually fed off of her, which is odd because she's not a smoldering pile of ash right now."

"I see." said Celestia thoughtfully. "Why?"

"Beats me!" said Discord with a shrug. "That's what I think we're going to find out if we know what's good for us."

"You want us to study her?" asked Celestia, her tone displaying her disdain for the idea.

"Or we could release her back onto the streets of Canterlot so that they can find and assassinate her." said Discord darkly. "I visited the coroner and did my own little autopsy of the creatures mind. There's residue of a clairvoyance spell in it's brain."

"So they all saw her kill it from wherever they're hiding." finished Luna thoughtfully.

"Yes. And I'm sure that any other scouts already here or soon to visit will make it their prime directive to tie up loose ends. She survived an attack. Whether they know why or not, I feel it would be safer for her to remain in your care until this blows over or blows up."

Celestia gave Discord her famous poker face. He stared back at her expectantly. It wasn't really his place to aid in making decisions, seeing as he had pretty much zero experience in leading a nation, but he felt he'd had something worthy to contribute.

Celestia smiled.

"My thoughts exactly." said the alicorn with a nod. "The safety of any ruler's subjects is always foremost in their minds. We will keep Minuette in custody until we can find a way for her to return to the public without attracting any un-due attention."

"But...what about my friends?" said Minuette in a meek tone.

"Another reason we will be keeping you in custody is for the safety of others." answered Celestia. "There's no telling what you'll do if you blank out again. I wouldn't want you to harm anypony. Please understand."

"Ok!" said Minuette cheerily. Celestia sighed. She wished that Minuette would be more forthcoming with her. She hated seeing her mask her hurt with that blasted smile. It made her sick to the stomach every time she saw it.

"I'll find a way for you to keep in touch with your friends. But for now, we're going to move you to a more secure location."

"Road trip!" said the blue mare enthusiastically, causing Celestia to shake her head hopelessly.

"Very well then." said Luna as she turned around to leave the cell. "I shall make the arrangements and meet up with you later Tia."

Celestia nodded in agreement as she watched her sister leave the room. When he was sure she was gone, Discord snapped his talon and a sound proof bubble formed around him and Celstia.

"Something you want to tell me?" asked Celstia calmly.

"Yes. I couldn't risk her having a temper tantrum and getting us off topic."

"What is it?" asked Celestia, turning to face him.

"It concerns the boy." said Discord with a serious look.

"I've already sent him to Ponyville."

Discord stared at her hard, as if he was replaying her statement in his mind over and over.

"Before I continue," he said, holding up a talon. "Why did you send him to Ponyville?"

"I've been watching the village for years." said Celestia, reminiscing over all the times the small town shined where other larger ones didn't. "Everpony there is trust worthy and hard-working. Not to mention the elements are there."

"So if something goes awry, your assuming they can just shoot it with a giant friendship beam of death?"

Celestia tapped her chin with her hoof, feigning deep thought.

"It's never failed before. It even worked in another dimension with creatures similar to him."

"He's not from there!"

"I know, but if something does go wrong, the elements will be our last hope. They're stronger now than ever, and I really don't want them to be far off when...IF something does happen."

Discord pondered over her words. He'd been hit by that terrifying beam of feelings more than once, and he could vividly remember how utterly powerless he was before its might.He felt confident nothing could stand up to it, but he still had his doubts. The kid had brought things with him when he'd first arrived. New things that Celestia and her sister had never dealt with before, things that didn't play by Equestria's rules. He was around when these things showed up, but he was a statue. If it weren't for the surprisingly talkative guards that watched over him day in and day out, he would've never known about them.

Back then, the elements weren't strong enough to deal with the problems that arose, but it wasn't because of the elements. It was because of it's two bearers. Luna's heart had been filled with rage and hate at the time, causing a massive backfire with horrible consequences.

"Very well then." said Discord, dismissing the matter. "I needed to talk to you about the scout. As I mentioned earlier, it had traces of Clairvoyance residue in its head."

"And since they lack the ability to cast that spell, you believe somepony is working with them."

"Yes." said Discord with a nod. "I've even heard chatter in Manehattan about a bounty being placed on his head."

Celestia sighed.

"I don't understand." she said as she shook her head dejectedly.

"I know." said Discord. "What kind of pony would be willing to work with a bunch of savages whose only intent is to wipe out ponykind as we know it? Doesn't this pony understand that NOPONY wins in that scenario?"

"...Well...either way, I sent dozens of our best guards to accompany him, including captain armor himself. They should be able to handle anypony that tries to get to him."

Her horn glowed and the sound bubble popped. With a popping noise and everything.

"You're confident?" asked Discord as Celestia walked passed him to exit the cell.

"All four of the Steam operatives are there." said the princess, stopping at the doorway. "And the guards aren't the only ponies there to be afraid of."

"Hm?"

"Minuette?" called Celestia. "I'll be back to check you out shortly."

"Sure thing princess!" said the blue mare with a wide smile. Discord knew what insanity was from personal experience, but her smile still unsettled him.

Celestia left the cell and trotted down the hall. It wasn't until her hoof-steps could no longer be heard that Discord decided to raise his head out of it's confused stupor. His gaze panned over to the open cell door.

"But you hate bounty hunters."

---

As usual, Sugar-cube corner was bustling with buisness. The cakes and everypony's favorite pink pony were hard at work trying to meat the sweet demands of their customers. It would've been a lot harder had Pinkie not had the ability to seemingly teleport to and from the kitchen. She'd appear at someones table, ask them what they wanted, and then disappear. It was another oddity that Ponyville had grown accustomed to. They had to with Pinkie around. Any time she wasn't zipping around the town or jumping around like a pink, fuzzy, spring, ponies knew something was up. Or down, as she'd often correct them.

Her cooking skills were un-matched by any in ponyville, but that's because her skills were impossible. She could bake a cake that took thirty minutes to bake in ten seconds. She could mix cake batter at the speed of sound without letting a single drop land anywhere. She could even pull ingredients out of her hair. Yes, she was an impossible baker. Her life defied many laws, but she seemed to be oblivious to it.

One of those laws were that her cupcakes were irresistible.

"You're really not going to eat that?" asked Backbone, three pieces of cake still in his mouth. The kid made no response, choosing to simply stare at the little cupcake with indifference. It freaked Backbone out. He loved food, and if it weren't for Sugar-Cube corner, he'd probably avoid Ponyville as much as he could. Why else would he return to the town where three fillies tried to kill him? And let's not forget the orange farm mare that seemed to be stalking him at every turn. Applejack was sitting at a table on the far side of the bakery, and she hadn't stopped staring at him since he walked in.

Daring finished her second cupcake and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"Can't say I'm surprised." said the former adventurer. "He IS a different species and all that."

"So what does he eat?" said Backbone, his mouth still filled with cake.

"Maybe he's a carnivore." said Daring with a shrug. Backbone chuckled, nearly choking on his cake that he absolutely refused to swallow.

"This little guy? Daring, don't be stu-"

"And now I present to you!" said Pinkie's high-pitched voice from seemingly everywhere. Then she popped up from under the table holding a dome-covered, metal, platter. Backbone began to choke. "THE MEAT CAKE!~"

The party pony then removed the metal dome-lid.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Daring as she reared back at the sight. On the platter was a piece of meat that looked like it'd been molded into the shape of a cupcake. It didn't even seem to be baked. "What is THAT?"

"A meat cake silly!" replied Pinkie, holding the platter out to the kid. His eyes followed the dish like a moth to a flame.

"A cupcake that's made of MEAT?" gestured Daring, as if to ascertain a fact.

"Well it's not made of PLANTS silly!" said Pinkie with a giggle.

"...H...How did you even make that?!"

"Celestia sent me the recipe!" said Pinkie as she set the meat-cake down in front of the kid. "She said it was his personal favorite. But I didn't need it."

"Why?"

"I've had LOT'S of practice."

Daring's eyes widened, and Backbone forgot that he was choking.

"...What?" said Daring, wondering if she'd stumbled into a story she'd read.

"A griffon came by one day." replied Pinkie simply. Like you, Daring's mind was also brimming with questions. Most of which she was much too scared to ask. She stared at Pinkie for a few seconds, waiting for her to continue the story, but she didn't. She just stood there, smiling at her with those cold, blue, eyes. The silence implied something that Daring didn't want look further into.

"...Ok." said Daring with a slow nod.

"Eyup-eroonie'! Enjoy!" said Pinkie before disappearing in a pony-shaped cloud of smoke. Daring looked around for where she could've gone but couldn't find her anywhere. Didn't matter. She appeared to be gone, and that put Daring at ease. She slapped Backbone on the back, causing him to cough his food out of his mouth and onto the plate in front of him.

"It's official." said Daring. "That pony is NOT just eccentric." After Backbone stopped coughing, he raised his hoof and nodded.

"I...I second that." agreed the mechanic. "Her and those kids...there's something wrong with them."

"And applejack?" said Daring. Backbone turned slightly to peek at the orange mare. Her sultry gaze hadn't swayed away from him in the slightest. He jerked his back.

"Can we just hurry up and leave?" asked Backbone with a shudder. "I don't want to eat anymore."

"Sure. Just as soon as the kid finishes his...meat-cake." Both Daring and Backbone looked at him. Daring had a more fascinated look while backbone had one that practically yelled hurry-up-so-we-can-get-the-hell-out-of-here. He took it as his cue to grab the meat cake open his mouth to take a bite.

Sharp. It was the only word Daring could think of as she stared hard at his teeth. She'd only had a glimpse before he chomped down on the meat cake like it was nothing new, but she could clearly see the rows of wickedly sharp canines in his mouth. He was definitely a carnivore.

A few ponies sitting at tables close to them stared in horror as he chewed the piece he bit off and swallowed it before taking another bite. They could hear bit's of bones being crushed like potato chips as the kid grounded them into something he could swallow. Red liquid that Daring assumed was leftover blood trailed down his chin before he used a hand to wipe it off.

As the kid threw the last piece of the meat cake into his mouth, Daring looked around and noticed the increasing number of ponies that were staring at them. She was already wearing an admittedly stupid disguise to begin with and she didn't need the extra attention. She imagined it would be a nightmare if she was discovered.

"Ok, let's go." said Daring as she quickly got up and headed towards the door. Backbone didn't hesitate to get up and follow her, and neither did the kid.

Daring peeked behind one last time before exiting the building, looking at everypony's curious stares. They were acting like they'd never seen a griffon eat meat before. But then again, he wasn't a griffon. So perhaps it came as a bit of a shock that the town's newcomer ate raw meat? Or maybe most griffons had the decency to have their meat cooked and prepared before digging in? Either way, she felt that they were overreacting. It wasn't like he would eat a pony or anything like that. He'd have done it by now.

During that quick peek, daring couldn't help but notice one white stallion staring at the boy. Unlike all the others, he was smirking at him.

As if he'd just won the lottery.

---

"So what'tre you gonna do now?" asked Backbone before stopping in front of his shop.

"I dunno." answered Daring. "You?"

"I have to finish a few more projects before meeting with my old team in a few hours."

"Oh, right."

"Yeah. You gonna be good on bits?" asked Backbone as he pointed at her. "I had to pay for the food at Sugarcube corner."

"Backbone, I'm famous." said Daring with a dead-pan look. "It's just taking a while for my stuff to get here."

"How long do they expect you to wait?"

"Shouldn't be more than an hour or two. Until then, I'll be fine."

"Ok." nodded Backbone. "And him?"

Daring looked down towards the kid, who seemed to be watching the various ponies that passed by. What about him? She didn't know what she was supposed to be doing with the kid in the first place. Was he there just to annoy her? Cause so far, he wasn't that bad. Sure it bothered her a little that he followed her everywhere and he was a little creepy, but he hadn't done any of the things that seriously annoyed her. Like try to kill her or flatter her like an overzealous fan.

"I'm going to go talk to Twilight." replied Daring. "i don't really know what to do with him."

"Seems like a good idea." nodded the mechanic. "So I guess I'll see ya around?"

"Yeah." replied Daring as she scratched the back of her head in tandem with Backbone.

"Uh, Ok."

"Yep."

"..."

They both knew why they couldn't just say goodbye and go about their business. Daring was a writer, meaning that she most likely read alot of books in her spare time. She knew that in most romance novels, situations like this always ended with a kiss or some show of affection. It wasn't that she thought hugs and kisses were stupid, it was just that she was in public, with at least a dozen ponies in the immediate vicinity. Something about showing her feelings in public made her want to gag. She didn't want to do it, but she also didn't want Backbone to feel bad.

Backbone felt a similar way, although he wouldn't have minded if she went in for the kiss. He was tough guy, but he was still a little shy about putting his feelings out there. When he recited that corny poem to Daring while they were in the hospital, they were alone. Now, with all the ponies around him, he was too afraid to so much as hug her. Would she take it the wrong way if he didn't? Would he seem like less of a stallion? A coward even? Or would Daring understand that he just wasn't into that corny love-story stuff?

So for the next minute, they just stood there, avoiding eye contact in awkward silence. The kid was looking back and forth between the two, waiting for something to happen. Backbone pretended to be looking at something of interest on the street and Daring appeared to checking her hoof for scuff marks.

"I love you!"

The three of them turned their heads to the sound of the mare's voice. They saw a pink mare and a tan stallion rubbing their snouts together in front of a lettuce stand.

"Not as much as I love you!" replied the stallion.

"Oh, I don't think so!" said the mare before pecking him on the lips.

"Please, schmoopy-poo, I need to get back to work."

"I just wanted to kiss my hubby-bunny goodbye!"

"And I appreciate that angel baby."

"Oh, alright." said the mare as she broke away and began to leave."Cuppy cake."

"Gum drop." waved the stallion.

"Gummy bear."

"Honey pie."

"Hubby wubby."

"Lady bug!"

"Big daddy!"

PLEASE! shouted Chrome Discord as he ripped off his ears. SOMEPONY KILL THEM!

"Puddin'!"

"Pookie bear!"

"Sugarplum!"

"Sweetums!"

Eventually, the mare was too far away for the romantic banter to continue.

Backbone and Daring had never seen anything so horrifying in their entire lives, and they'd seen some stuff. Their faces were so twisted in fear that one would need to make up a new word to describe their expressions. Or be a better writer than me. Cause I don't have a very large vocabulary. They looked at each other.

Without another word, Backbone went into his shop and Daring trotted away with the kid behind her.

---

Twilight vigorously paced back and forth in her room, deep in thought. The clock mounted above her bedroom door read five o'clock. She'd been waiting for a while now, and she knew she still had a few hours at best before Celestia's letter came. She didn't know how to feel about the kid, about the guns, about her brother, about the whole situation. There were so many questions unanswered and she couldn't relax. They agitated her to no end, not allowing her to focus on her work as a princess. She'd finished reviewing the various friendship letters she'd planned to read, but her duties didn't end there. As the princess of friendship, she felt obligated to study everything she could regarding the elements, whose capabilities relied solely on the power of friendship. Her new-found resources as a princess and her access to the underground library underneath the princesses old castle enabled her to study the elements and their abilities more thoroughly than she'd ever imagined.

After reviewing her friendship reports, she'd planned to finish her day by reading a few dozen books, but after the fiasco with the kid and all the guns, she just couldn't focus. She'd been sending letter after letter to princess Celestia about her concerns, hoping to get an early reply. Unfortunately, the only thing that did was make her assistant very tired.

"Twilight..." gasped Spike while laying on her bed in a heap of exhaustion. "I know I've said this at least a hundred times today...but you need to calm down."

"Calm down?!" exclaimed Twilight as she turned sharply to look back at him. "Spike, do you know what guns are for?"

"...Keeping the peace?"

"No! Think Spike. Why do guns even exists?"

Spike genuinely thought about it. He'd heard Applejack joke about having a musket once, but it was never confirmed.

"...Because...earth ponies needed a way to defend themselves?"

"No! Well, yes, but no! The ammunition for guns is harvested from an element that defies all magic. A pony could take down Celestia with just a few shots!"

"Oh."

"That's why Celestia banned them. They're too dangerous and they're only good for ONE thing!"

"C'mon Twilight, it's not like killing is something new to equestria." said Spike as he sat up. "Remember that old dragon that went senile and tried to torch a family in Canterlot a year ago?"

"Yes." said Twilight irritably, knowing what he was getting at.

"If I can recall correctly, Celestia shot a white hot beam through his head before he could hurt anypony."

"But that was because it was sudden! She didn't commandeer an army of gun-tooting guards to wait outside of Canterlot! She'd went to the dragon her self to try and reason with him, but he was too far gone."

"So she did what she needed to do."

"This situation isn't like that Spike!"

AS the little Dragon held his hand up to make a retort, his cheeks bulged, he went cross-eyed, and he belched, sending a scroll to the floor in a dissipating flurry of green flames. Twilight wasted no time in running up to it to discover that it had Celestia's royal seal.

"YES!" shouted Twilight as she used her magic to unravel it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I read through the mountain of letters you sent me, and I truly DO understand your concerns. I've taught you to win battles though acts of kindness and through the power friendship rather than violence. So now that you've seen your brother with a weapon that practically symbolizes the one-way path of violence, you are confused. Angry even. You may even think I've been lying to you all this time while stockpiling the worlds largest gun supply for war. I can assure you I have not. The way you were taught was and still is the right way. Love has never failed before, and it will not fail now if we strive show it in our actions. And those guns? I barely have any. The ones you saw with your brother are more than half of my supply. I only keep them for emergencies. You see, evil...is real. TRUE evil. The kind of evil that doesn't accept reason, or kindness, or love. There are some evils that must be dealt with before they can spread and cost somepony their life. You must understand this, because that evil is now among us. It is why I had the boy sent to you sooner.

Love never fails, but love has many forms. Love is what made me kill that dragon a year ago. Love is what made me banish my own sister to the moon. Love is what held me back from aiding you in many of your adventures. If I had intervened, you may have begun to rely on me too much. You see, I've ruled by the same virtues I've taught you, only I've been around long enough to put those virtues to the ultimate test. I have had to do things I am not proud of, things that plague me every single night and occasionally during the day. But I did these things for those whom I loved, and for love itself. Cadence helped me to realize this.

But that aside, the weapons you saw your brother with are NOT to be used on anypony unless completely necessary for the preservation of an innocents life. I've forbidden the guards to use them other wise and only as a last resort. But that should never happen, since the guns aren't there for ponies. The guard is perfectly capable of handling anypony without the use of firearms. You may have thought the guns were there for the boy, but if he were to...revert back to what he was before he was imprisoned, I can assure you that they would be completely useless against him. No, I have a different threat in mind and they are definitely not equine, nor person, But as for the boy, I want you to make it your prime goal to teach him all there is to know about friendship and love, the same things you have learned through your many adventures with YOUR friends.

The same goes for Daring. She thinks I've fired her, but in actuality, I'm forcing her to learn the value of companionship. You'd think she'd have learned from her encounter with you and your friends, but she has many inner demons to sort out due to an event I'd rather not discuss without her permission. For the past year, she's been trying to handle them on her own, not even accepting MY help. So I sent her there with the boy as a dual learning experience, AND because the boy technically counts as a relic, and we all know she's the best when it comes to those. I trust she'll keep him safe and out of the wrong hands.

So please, don't worry yourself. Friendship and love will always be the right way, but there are different kinds. Give the boy and Daring the full friendship experience. And remember to just keep doing what you've been doing. I don't just trust you because you were my student, but because you ARE my friend. I'll be keeping in touch to keep you informed on what to do and what not to do.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia.

"So?" said Spike, now by her side. "What's it say?"

When she didn't answer, he started poking her in the side. After re-reading the letter a few more times, she sighed and set it down on her bedside table with her magic as she trotted over to sit on her bed. The letter had relieved her, but had also left an unsettling feeling in her gut she knew would be there for the rest of her life. If it came down to it one day, would she be able to take a pony's life for the greater good?

"What'd she say about the guns?" asked Spike, his interest fully peeked. "What's gonna happen with the creature?"

She didn't like asking herself that. She'd never really had to, seeing as most villain's she'd dealt with had never really forced her to make that choice. Now things were changing. Apparently there was a villain out there that couldn't be swayed or turned into stone by the power of friendship. This one would simply need to...disappear.

"Twilight! Hello!?"

But it would be the right thing to do. If evil that bad was allowed to carry on, the consequences would far out-weigh any guilt or sorrow. She could recal the elements turning Discord to stone because of the good that was still left in his heart. If he'd had none, would they have simply killed him? She hated the thought of him being dead. Although he was extremely annoying, he was kind of like a fun uncle. The bad kind that would always get you into trouble and teach you how to cuss like an adult. But if that were the case, it would mean that Tirek still had a sliver of goodwill left somewhere in his heart. Despite his crimes and the fact that he'd actively tried to kill her, he was salvageable. So perhaps the same could be said of this so-called, irredeemable villain.

But like with all redeemable villains, she'd need some understanding.

"Spike?" called Twilight as she lifted her head.

"...Yeah?" said Spike, irritated.

"Could you watch the place for bit?" asked the alicorn as she hopped out of bed. "I've got some studying to do."

---

"So we can't see Twilight at the moment?" asked Daring.

"Sorry, no." replied Spike apologetically. "She was stressing out earlier, but then she just left, saying she had to do some studying."

"Right." said Daring with a sigh. "Did she say where she was going?"

"Nope. I tried to ask her, but when she thinks she's on to something, she sorta blocks out the world around her. Maybe I could help?"

"I was hoping to talk to her about the kid here." said Daring as she gestured in back of her. Spike peeked around her and saw the kid standing at the bottom of the steps.

"Oh!" exclaimed the tiny dragon as he ran passed her towards him. "I don't think I got to properly meet you." Once he was standing in front of him, Spike held his claw out. "My name's Spike. I'm Twilight's number one assistant."

The kid seemed to hesitate before slowly raising his hand. Spike shook it happily. It wasn't everyday he got the chance to shake hands with somepony who had fingers.

"What's your name?"

The kid shrugged.

"You...don't know?" said spike quizzically.

"Yeah." confirmed Daring. "And he doesn't talk either."

"Oh." said Spike awkwardly. "Why?"

"I think I can remember him agreeing that he CAN talk, but he just doesn't."

"Why not?"

"I dunno." said Daring with a shrug. "If he could talk, I'm sure he'd explain." Spike thought for a few seconds. He'd met mute ponies before, and he had a simple solution for it.

"Can he...can YOU write?" asked the dragon, earning a nod from the kid. "Good!" Spike then stepped back bulged his cheeks. A fiery belch followed that materialized a piece of paper on a clipboard, and a quill. Daring knew she'd be trying to figure that one out for at least a week.

"Would you mind writing why you don't talk?" asked the dragon as he held the quill and clipboard up to him. Nodding, the kid took the clipboard from him and wrote something before handing it back. Spike examined the paper carefully, eager to see if the reason was something he could fix with Twilight's help. But, of course, there was a problem.

It looked like gibberish.

"Um...I can't read this." stated Spike, confused. "Is this another language?"

"Let me see." asked Daring as she trotted over to him. As Spike had stated, it was gibberish. Almost. Looking at the shapes on the paper rattled her memory and caused her to remember something similar she'd read about in a book. No, not similar. Just like it.

"Can you read this?" asked Spike, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"...Uh, no. No."

"Well that's one idea out the window." said Spike before burning the clip-board and quill up with a breath of green fire.

"Didn't see that one coming." quipped Daring.

"Worth a shot. So!" said Spike. "What did you want to talk to Twilight about?"

"What to do with him." said Daring matter-of-factly. "As much as I love him following me everywhere, I was wondering if there was anything...constructive for him to do. You know, to pass the time?"

"...Hm...maybe he could get a job?"

Daring chuckled at the suggestion.

"You think somepony would hire him?"

"Sure! He may be new to town...and this world, but the ponies here are pretty excepting. I mean, look at me!" said Spike as he twirled around. "I turned into a giant, treasure-hoarding dragon once and everypony still thinks I'm cute."

A few mares laughed at the little dragon as they walked passed, making Spike blush in embarrassment. Although it had its perks, the cute thing was ruining his reputation.

"You also live with Twilight, so that probably helps." said Daring. "He's a never-before-seen creature that eats-"

"I wouldn't say that." Interjected Spike. "Twilight and I once visited a world with a bunch of creatures that look almost exactly like him, but they weren't as...."

"Creepy looking?"

"I was going to say unique. Anyway, I'm sure somepony will give him a chance."

---

"So no pony hired him?" asked Rarity in surprise.

"Nope." said Daring, exasperated from running around the town. "I see word gets around pretty fast here."

"Cons of a small town my dear." said Rarity as she was taking the measurements for a new dress. "But if you don't mind me asking, what 'word' is getting around about him?"

"That he eat's ponies." said Daring with chuckle.

"Good lord!" exclaimed Rarity, turning to look at the kid. "He...doesn't, right?"

"No." said the pegasus as she waved a hoof dismissively. "I'm certain he doesn't." Then Daring turned her head slowly to look at the kid beside her. "You don't right?"

The kid shook his head, but only after a pause. A very short pause, but a pause nonetheless. A pause just long enough to instill a speck of doubt and fear in Daring's mind. It wasn't one of those questions you needed to think about. At all. Not even for the smallest interval of time, because there was only one right answer.

"Oh." said Rarity, calming down. "That's good. But where did the rumor come from?"

"When we were at Sugar-Cube corner, your pink friend served him a cupcake made entirely of meat and bits of bone. And he ate it."

Rarity had a little more than few questions regarding why her friend had such a confection to begin with, but she was experienced enough to know that one does not simply question Pinkie Pie. Especially with terms such as 'why'.

"Oh." said Rarity. "I guess that's a little unsettling, but we've had griffons visit us too. I don't understand why everypony is so hesitant to give him some work."

"That's actually the reason I'm visiting you." said Daring. "I was wondering if you had something for him."

"So you're not here to replace that dreadful looking cloak?"

"...No."

"Oh." said Rarity before biting her lip. "Well, as much as I'd love to help you, I already have an assistant, and he can get a little...competitive."

"..So...no?"

Rarity nodded.

"Great." huffed Daring.

"Are you sure you've asked everypony?"

When Daring thought about it, she wasn't entirely sure. She'd gone house to house and asked pretty much any pony she'd encountered on the street. The ones that didn't run away or slam the door in response claimed they didn't want a creature on their staff that the towns-folk were clearly avoiding. Even Sugar-Cube Corner turned her down. They claimed that having one odd creature on their staff was more than enough.

Even the massage parlor, who'd posted a help-wanted sign on the door, decided to forgo her offer. At first, they were enthusiastic to hire somepony new. Especially one with fingers. They'd brought the kid in to let him test his skills on a volunteer and taught him the ropes, but when the kid tried his hand, he ended up nearly snapping the stallions spine and making him scream like a filly. Thankfully, the volunteer form he'd signed kept him from pressing charges.

"Well...no. I haven't asked all of your friends. I was going to try Applejaack next and maybe Fluttershy afterwards."

"Hm. Well, you can try Fluttershy, but I get this feeling that the animals there wouldn't except him."

"Yes, I'd also assumed as much." said Daring matter-of-factly. "No offense kid."'

The kid shrugged.

"Ok, then." said Daring as she got up and readied herself to leave. "Guess we're off to visit the stalk-...Applejack."

"If you don't mind me asking," began Rarity before she could make her way to the door. "Why are you so adamant about finding him work? You've both barely had anytime to settle in."

"I...just think it would be good for him to keep busy doing something productive." lied Daring. "Maybe the town will warm up to him if they realize he's just another hard-working citizen."

"Hm?" said Rarity. "And here I thought it was because you just wanted to get rid of him."

The kid turned his head to Daring curiously.

"What?" said Daring nervously. "No! No, that's preposterous! I mean, he may be a little strange, but he's alright."

"...Oh. Ok." chuckled Rarity.

"What's...so funny?" asked Daring.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that I say that about alot of my friends nowadays."

"Oh...well, we'd best get going then." said Daring as she and the kid headed towards the door. "I wanna do this before it gets dark."

"Toodaloo!" waved Rarity. "Do be safe!"

---

The path Daring and the Kid took to Sweet Apple Acres was quiet and serene, with the only noise being the skittering woodland animals in the trees on either side of the path. It was a welcome change for Daring, and it gave her ample time to think. When she'd went to court to receive her punishment, Celestia told her she was being sent to Ponyville for her physical and mental protection. Why? Celestia knew Daring was pretty good at taking care of herself. Because of the large amount of ponies and creatures alike that wanted nothing more than to see her mangled corpse in a coffin or a barrel full of acid, she was always in danger. Despite this, Celestia never felt the need to send her away to a safer place. Ponyville wasn't even that safe to begin with! it was actually ranked as one of the top 3 worst places to live because of its close proximity to the Everfree and just the general crap that happened to it on a regular basis. There were even rumors circulating about a portal to Tartarus that somepony opened up. Daring already had a tendency to attract trouble wherever she went, so every second she spent there made her feel like a big red target that just kept getting bigger.

So what exactly was she being protected from that was worse than all the lunatics she'd dealt with? Was it a giant, walking, conglomerate of snakes? Cause that would've actually been scary. If it was anything snake related, she'd understand, but that was unlikely.

And what about the mental aspect? Was she worried that Daring would go nuts? Why would she? She'd dealt with plenty of things that should've sent her off the deep end, the most effective one being the temple in the Everfree. If you could call it a temple. Even then, she came out mentally unscathed.

Are we THERE yet? groaned chrome Discord.

Well, mostly. She BASICALLY came out of there mentally unscathed. She was sure he'd go away if she just kept ignoring him. Just like certain memories of hers. Out of mind, out of existence. That's how sane people handle the bad things that happen to them right?

You know, you're almost as quiet as my old roomie' here. quipped the chrome draconius as he floated lazily around them. I guess thats another thing you two have in common.

Daring's eye twitched again, a habit that was beginning to scare her. Maybe Celestia was right. Maybe she was losing it and was just working too hard to notice it. It wouldn't be surprising if all the concussions she'd accumulated over the years had finally culminated into one big mental disorder. Maybe she just needed some time off. Celestia had offered her numerous vacations in the past, but she'd always brush the princess off, saying she'd get around to one eventually. And she'd actually planned to. For Daring, adventuring was an addiction. She'd tell herself that she'd relax and take it easy for a while, but then she'd remember some old myth or legend. She'd then start researching it and whammo'. Another long, perilous, adventure. So for her, researching was like being an alcoholic and walking into a bar on free beer night.

The worst part about it was that her wanton adventuring would often lead Ahuizotl or some other nut job to whatever she was looking for. This would turn a somewhat casual venture into something where the fate of Equestria was involved. It was very annoying. She often wondered what her enemies were doing while they weren't trying to kill her. It seemed like they were always watching her, waiting to jump out and give some dumb monologue they'd spent the month preparing about how they'd finally beaten her.

It brought her a great deal of joy just knowing they'd never gotten the chance to finish one.

A white picketed fence with a sign that read 'Sweet Apple Acres' marked the entrance to the famous apple orchard. There was also another sign beside it that read 'Do not eat, throw, or touch these apples without buyin. Or else! I'm talkin' to you R.D!'.

So they owned every apple in the orchard and didn't want anypony touching them. This made her feel reluctant to enter the orchard at all. If she'd owned the orchard and somepony just waltzed in without permission, she'd probably tie their legs with their own tail and watch them hop away. But that was just her. Maybe the ponies here were different. Plus, she was looking for employment opportunities. How else would she apply?

Just then, two small colts hopped onto the path from the trees. One was tall and orange, the other was short and grey. Each had an apple firmly grasped in their teeth, looking at Daring and the kid like two deer in a cars headlights.

"...MONSTER!" shouted the grey one, dropping his apple on the ground and taking off.

"Seriously?" said Daring as she watched him run passed her. She turned her head to look at the orange one, who strangely, hadn't moved an inch.

"What's wrong with your fri-"

"MONSTER!" interrupted the orange colt as he spat out his apple and ran after his friend. Daring squinted her eyes in anger. At least she knew how the rumors were being spread so fast. Darn kids. What they needed was a reality check and good old fashioned spankin'.

"They act like they've never seen a monster in Ponyville before. Sheesh." said Daring as she resumed her walk. She stopped when she didn't hear the kid following her. When she turned around, he was wiping off one of the apples the two colts had dropped. After inspecting it to make sure it was clean, he took a bite out of it.

"I thought you only ate meat?" asked Daring in confusion. The kid shook his head. "So you can eat vegetables and fruits then?" The kid nooded before taking another bite. "...So you just don't like sweets then?" The kid nodded again.

So he was an omnivore. It wasn't unheard of to her. She'd met a few in her travels, although most of them were ponies that decided to explore outside of the food chain designated to them at birth. She had the bite mark on one of her hind legs to prove it. But something didn't make sense. As a filly in home-school, she learned that carnivores had all sharp teeth for tearing flesh and herbivores like her had flat teeth for grinding veggies. Omnivores would have a combination of both,but the kid didn't. As far as she'd seen, every tooth in his mouth looked sharp enough to chew through steel.

It was as if he'd been born an omnivore and somehow ended up with a carnivores teeth later on in his life. She'd ask him if that was really what happened, but as you already know, that would be fruitless. She'd need to talk to somepony that knew all about him.

Daring heard hoofsteps rapidly approaching from her left and deftly jumped backwards to avoid the charging form of Applejack coming out of the trees. She wasn't wearing her trademark stetson, and she was angry.

"GOTCHA NOW YA LITT-" Applejack stopped when she realized the pony she was talking to was neither little, grey, or orange.

"You ok?" asked Daring. Applejack looked at her for a bit before looking left and right. Then she saw the kid...eating an apple.

"Wha-...are you two the ones those two little thieves were workin' for?" asked Applejack, getting angry again.

"...No, but I did see the two colts your talking about run passed us less than a minute ago."

Applejack stared at Daring hard, as if she were trying to use sheer willpower to determine whether or not she was lying. Then she looked behind her at the kid, who was just finishing the apple he was eating. He swallowed his last bite slowly, feeling the hostility radiating from Applejack's fierce glare.

"Then why's he eatin' one of mah apples?"

"He didn't pick that one from one of your trees." said Daring, shaking her head. "When the those two colts saw him, they screamed, causing them to drop the apples in their mouths . Because he can't read that sign over there," she said, pointing a hoof at the sign on the fence. "He picked up one of them and ate it, not knowing he wasn't allowed."

Applejack pondered Daring's story carefully, staring deep into her eyes. Then, not being able to label Daring as a liar, she gave the kid the same look, looking for any scrap of dishonesty. But he was different. His eyes yielded nothing to her. No lies, no truths, no emotion whatsoever. The longer she stared into them, the more she felt this growing sense of fear. They were just so black. She'd been taught that the eyes were the gateway to the soul growing up, so it sent a visible shiver down her spine to imagine what this creature's soul was like.

"What's wrong with his...eyes?" asked Applejack as she turned away.

"I don't know. Look, I was actually on my way down here to ask you if you could let him work for you."

Applejack looked at her blankly.

"...Work fer' me?"

"Yeah. I figured some work would be good for him and help him fit in around here. I tried everywhere else, but didn't have any luck."

"So ya just brought him here?"

"...Yes."

Applejack put a hoof to her chin in thought before looking at the kid again, this time avoiding his eyes and sizing him up. Twilight had told her to be nice to the kid and treat him as she'd treat anypony else. She couldn't turn him away just because he was different...and creepy. She could also always use a helping hoof...or hand in this case.

"Alright." said the farmer with a shrug before she trotted over to him and held up a hoof. "Tha'names Applejack. Pleased ta meet'cha."

After casting a quick glance at Daring, the kid reached up his hand and grabbed her hoof the best he could. Without warning, she swung her hoof up and down hard enough to make the kid leave the ground a few times.

"What's yers'?" asked the farm mare with a genuine smile.

"He doesn't talk." said Daring as she walked up to them.

"Oh. So...what's his name?"

"He doesn't know."

Applejack scratched her head.

"...Uh...alrighty' then."

---

Sweet Apple Acres was as beautiful as ever in the glimmering sunlight. The apples on the trees and in the buckets surrounding them had a special shine to them that made them look as if they were all made of gold. Even the trees they grew from looked vibrant and alive despite their old age and the frequent bucks they got on a regular basis. Daring could imagine herself lying down by a tree, relaxing in the afternoon sunlight after a hard days work. That image would be complete if she had a pith helm to pull over her eyes as she slept.

"So," began Applejack, eager to break the awkward silence as they made their way to the barn. "If'n ya don't mind me askin', what did ya do to end up in Ponyville?"

"...You guys know I'm not here by choice?" asked Daring.

"Well, when Twilight told us to keep an eye on you to make sure ya didn't try ta' leave Ponyville, I sort of figured somethin' was up."

"Oh."

"...Ya wanna talk about it?"

Daring was bothered by the whole fiasco, but she didn't feel embarrassed. She FOUND the center of the Everfree, the one thing no adventurer had ever done. And LIVED, that is. All she wanted to do was brag about it to somepony. She also wanted some cash to compensate her troubles, but one out of two wasn't bad. Especially when Luna wanted to lock her up. Or kill her.

"Well," said Daring with a smirk. "You guys ever heard of that old legend regarding the center of the Everfree?"

"...The center?" questioned Applejack. "To be honest, I didn't know it had one. Granny told us the place was just wild."

"To an extent, you'd be correct. Some of the creatures you've seen coming out of it are just animals that mutated as a result of years of exposure to the Everfree's chaotic energy. But there are creatures inside that weren't affected. Creatures that had originated from the Everfree itself."

"Huh." said Appleack thoughtfully. "So Manticores are just mutated lions?"

"Some of them. But the deeper in they are, the more consumed by the energy they become. Eventually, their minds become so consumed by the chaos that they become downright evil."

"Timberwolves?"

"All evil. They come directly from the center."

"You're sayin' that the Everfree created those things from it's center?"

"Yes. But that isn't common knowledge. I could count the number of ponies that know about it on his hands." said Daring as she pointed to the kid. "It was a myth, a desperate hypothesis made to give the Everfree some form of rhyme or reason. But the thing about myths is that-"

"They always have a bit of truth in em." continued Applejack as she picked her fallen stetson hat up off the ground. "I'm a firm believer in that."

"Your wise to be that way Ms. Applejack." said Daring with a curt nod. "Because as it turns out, there really was a center. A few old texts I'd read talked about a temple at the center of the Everfree that contained its power source. That's what I set out to find."

"Sounds a bit risky."

Daring chuckled.

"Yeah, it was. I lost count of my near-death experiences during the first three days."

"...Ya weren't scared or nuthin'?"

"Terrified. Most of the creatures inside were completely new species and I had no idea how I'd handle them. I'd even lost my pack halfway through leaving me with no food or water that wouldn't melt my insides on contact. But that fear is my number one tool when it comes to staying alive. It keeps my mind sharp."

"Heh. I can relate." said Applejack with an easy smile. "Ma' sister's been in more life-threatening scenarios than I'd like ta admit, and I'm always worried about losin' her. Its like I have some sorta sixth sense that goes off whenever she's in trouble."

"Like a sister sense."

"I guess you could call it that. Anyway, so you found this center of the Everfree and then what?"

"Well...after nearly being killed by this weird chrome copy of Discord-"

"Discord was there?" siad Applejack as she stopped and turned her head.

"No. Just a chrome colored COPY of him. Although it claimed to have been a guardian created by the real Discord."

"Oh." said Applejack as she resumed walking. "So this thing nearly took you out?"

"Yep. Successfully drowned me in some chrome goop that I think was the roof of the temple. I thought it was the end."

Applejack's eyebrow rose curiously.

"...An then ya' just woke back up?"

"No, it brought me back to life somehow. Inside the temple. He claimed to have done so because of a message he'd received on this little black box from the real Discord, basically telling him not to kill anymore ponies that ventured too close. It had arrived right on time too."

"Message on a little black box?"

"I don't know." shrugged Daring. "I've actually omitted parts of the story simply because I can't understand them. At all. I nearly went nuts in there."

Nearly?

"Anyway," continued Daring. "He started talking nonsense before revealing the source of the Everfree's power."

"And what was that?"

"Him." said Daring as she pointed behind her at he kid.

Applejack turned around and looked back and forth between Daring's hoof and the kid, as if to ascertain that it was in fact pointing at him.

"...Him?" said Applejack as she gave Daring an incredulous look. Daring nodded in reply. "But he's so...small. How could he have been the one causing all of that ruckus in the Everfree?"

"The question of the week, Ms. Applejack. I don't know. But I'm sure the princesses do,"

Applejack craned her neck to get a better look at the kid once more.

"I mean, his eyes might be creepy an all, but he don't look evil. If the Everfree had a center, I was expectin' somethin' a bit more...well evil lookin'."

"Me too." said Daring as she glanced at the kid. "But looks can be deceiving. Anyway, to make a long story short,
i barely escaped with the kid, got rescued by Backbone, the Everfree started to die out, and then I was nearly killed by Luna."

"Whoa, nelly!" said Applejack with a furrowed brow. "Now why in Sam hill would she do that?"

"The same reason Celestia never asked me to search for it despite the Everfree's many dangers. They didn't want him to be found."

Applejack stopped again. From what she was hearing, and she tended to be a good listener, the princesses knew about this fabled center of the Everfree and not only did nothing to do away with it, but tried to keep it a secret. It tugged at her heart to think the princesses were doing it with ill intentions, but she'd learned to give ponies the benefit of the doubt. Especially ones that had proven time and time again that they cared about those around them. So the gears in her head began to turn. The Everfree had been responsible for the deaths of many ponies over the years, many of which nearly being her immediate family and friends. The princesses knew this and did nothing.

"Why?" asked Applejack more to herself than to Daring.

"Can't say." shrugged Daring. "I've got a few ideas, but none of them have a solid enough basis to start spreading around."

The answer did little to comfort Applejack, but she could respect Daring's answer simply because she knew what it felt like to have semi-false rumors spread around town about her. Slander was like an acidic glue, maddeningly painful and hard to get rid of once applied. But it wasn't like she couldn't keep a secret. True, her lying skills were satirically bad, but she wouldn't have to lie. She'd treat the secret just like all the other secrets she kept, by simply telling ponies that she didn't want to tell them.

No, the main reason she didn't try to rattle Daring's mind for more info was because in Sweet Apple Acres, the trees had ears.

"Applebloom!" called Applejack irritably. "Ah, thought I taught you better'n ta ease-drop on ponies! Get outta that tree!"

"Doh' hayseeds!"" exclaimed the adorable voice of a an adorable filly. The trio watched as a yellow filly with a red mane and tail with a matching bow-tie on her head dropped to the ground in a heap. Following her was an orange filly pegasus with a purple mane and tail, who had tried and failed to stop her abrupt descent by flapping her tiny wings like a hummingbird. She reminded Daring of a chicken for some reason.

"Ow!" yelled Applebloom when her orange friend landed on top of her. "Get offa' me Scootaloo!"

"Sorry!" said Scootaloo as she got off her friend and dusted her off. "Guess those lessons from Rainbow Dash haven't really set in yet."

"Right." said Applebloom as she got up and righted her bow.

"All right you two!" said Applejack authoritatively. "Apologize to Ms. Do!"

Sighing, the two fillies trotted up to Daring and hung their heads low, making Daring uncomfortable.

"We're sorry." said the two fillies in unison.

"But we were only listenin' because we saw that thing with her!" said Applebloom as she pointed at the kid.

"Yeah!" continued Scootaloo. "We heard that there was some bi-pedal creature in town that ate ponies!"

"He don't eat ponies!" said Applejack irritably. Then she looked at Daring. "He doesn't, right?"

"*sigh* No."

"See?" said Applejack as she pointed a hoof at Daring. "Ms. Do here's been with him all day and he ain't done nothin' to'er! Who told you he ate ponies?"

"...Snips and Snails." said Applebloom, knowing that she wouldn't like that answer.

"Applebloom," said Applejack as she closed her eyes and shook her head. "What did I tell you about listenin' to those two?"

"But we weren't listenin'!" said Applebloom. "We ignored em' at first, but then we saw it walkin' with ya'll and panicked."

"Yeah!" added Scootaloo. "But you guys didn't seem afraid of it so...we kinda hid in that tree and listened in. But it was only to make sure it didn't have you guys under some hypnotic spell."

Daring laughed. Hypnotic spell. First he ate ponies. Now he could hypnotize them. It was starting to get so bad that it was funny. Sooner or later, ponies would be telling each other that he was a changeling spy that took a form from another dimension.

...

It comforted Daring that she wasn't an extrovert thinker.

Applejack shook her head as she repressed a laugh.

"He doesn't have us under some hypnotic spell." said the farmer as she stepped aside to give them a full view of the kid. "He's new ta town and he don't mean us any harm. Right Ms. Do?"

"...Yes." hesitated Daring.

"Right. So he'd probably appreciate it if ya'll quit treatin' im' like a creature outta the Everfree."

Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at each other briefly.

"...But ya'll said he WAS a creature outta the Everfree."

Applejack face-hoofed.

It vexes me how that doesn't seem to hurt you ponies.

"Ya'll know what I mean! Now," said Applejack before facing the kid. "You don't talk or nuthin, so I'll introduce ya. This here's ma little sister Applebloom and her friend Scootaloo."

The kid looked at the two and did a little wave. The action helped solidify the notion that the kid wasn't some wild animal and made them feel more at ease. As a result, the two waved back.

"So...what's his name?" asked Scootaloo as she stepped forward.

"He...don't know." said Applejack as she scratched her head.

"He don't know his own name?" repeated Applebloom. "Did he hit his head or somethin?"

"Something like that." replied Daring.

"...Well, can't he just ask his friends or his family?"

Then, just as Appleboom had finished that sentence, the two fillies saw a glint of red flash in the kid's eyes. It was a piercing glint, making the two fillies want to look away in fear. But just as soon as it happened, the kid shut his eyes hard and grimaced, as if he'd had a brief but extremely painful migraine. He started massaging his eyes.

"...You ok mister?" asked Applebloom, not understanding what she just saw. Applejack and Daring looked back to see him nodding and blinking a few times before resuming his normal, un-readable look.

"...What happened?" asked Applejack. "You alright?"

The kid nodded again. Applejack wasn't completely satisfied with the gesture, but if he said he was alright, she'd hold him to it. She had a job for him after all.

"Well, alrighty then." said the farmer as she turned and resumed her trot to the barn. "I got a job that should be just perfect for you."

---

"So, as ya can see," beagan Applejack. "The barn's lookin' good and all, it just needs to be repainted. Big Mac gave it a fresh coat a month ago, but he bought the wrong paint."

Big Mac, who was walking out of the barn with an empty cart, gave his sister a stubborn glare. The barn looked sturdy, but that was it. There wasn't a drop of paint on it anywhere. There were what seemed to be a dozen separate gallons of paint sitting against it on the outside, none of which had been opened.

"Because of that, the paint started chippin' away. I had to scrap it all off. I was gonna do it ma'self when I got the time, but seein' as you got hands and all, I figured you could paint it alot easier than me...think ya could do that fer me?"

The kid looked up at the barn, as if to take a guess at how much time it would take to paint it. He nodded.

"Much appreciated." said Applejack with a smile.

"If you don't mind me asking," began Daring. "How much will you be paying him?"

"S'a fare question." responded Applejack. She looked at the kid. "How does forty bits sound?"

Daring looked at the kid. There was no telling how long he'd been Equestria, seeing as there was no way to pinpoint the time the Everfree had been created, but it would be safe to say that it was a VERY long time ago. Ten bits could probably buy a house back then. Now, ten bits could barely buy somepony a decent sofa. In Canterlot, ten bits might get you fancy pen.

Before Daring could tell the kid that forty bits was actually decent pay for painting a barn, the kid nodded. Had Celestia brought him up to speed on Equestrias currency system? Or did he just not care? Either way, he accepted the job, and he'd be out of her mane for a spell.

"Great!" nodded Applejack. "Guess I'll leave ya to it then."

"Can we help?" asked Applebloom as she stepped forward. Her sister gave her a quizzical look. She'd already completed all of her chores and had the whole day to play. Why would she want to spend the rest of it painting a barn with a being that talked less than Big Mac?

"Why?" asked Applejack. "What're ya'll plannin'?"

"Nuthin'." replied Applebloom as she shook her head. "We just figured we could help im' out is all. It's the least we could do for eavesdroppin' on im'.

"And I like to paint!" exclaimed Scootaloo cheerily.

"...Alrighty then. You can help."

The two young fillies jumped into the air with a triumphant 'yes'. Applejack shook her head and began to leave. Then she noticed how high the sun was and remembered something.

"Say, Scootaloo," called Applejack.

"Huh?" said the orange filly.

"Shouldn't you be out practicin' how ta fly with R.D right now?"

"Yeah." said Scootaloo as she scratched the back of her head. "I went to the usual spot we meet up at, but she wasn't there."

"Really? You sure she just wasn't runnin' a bit late?"

"I um...sort of waited there for...three hours. I think something might've come up at her job."

Applejack squinted. It was most definitely NOT like Rainbow Dash to leave somepony hangin'. If she said she was going to be there for somepony, sure as sugar is sweet, she was there. Especially for Scootlaoo's training. She was only free to hangout with her one day out of the week, and she made sure the weather-ponies in Cloudsdale knew that. If they scheduled her to work on that day, she'd tell them no flat-out. It usually never even came to that since they didn't mind working around it in her schedule. So why hadn't she showed up?

"...Have you seen her?" asked Scootaloo.

"...Actually, come ta think of it, I haven't seen her fer two days."

"Two DAYS?" repeated Scootaloo. "Is she alright?!"

"Ah'm sure she's fine." said Applejack with a dismissive hoof. "Sometimes she'll go outta town to participate in some race and forget to tell anypony.

"Oh."

"Eeyep. Now ya'll be careful paintin' that barn."

As Applejack turned and trotted away, the kid made his way over to the cans of paint and picked one up.

"Here!" said Applebloom as she rushed inside the barn to grab a screwdriver. "Use thi-"

The kid took a finger and wedged it into the seam of the can before popping the top off, revealing the shiny red paint inside.

"...Oh..." said Applebloom, dropping the screwdriver. "Must be nice havin' fingers and what-not."

"It's like having a bunch of tools on your hooves!" said Scootaloo.

Daring watched the scene with a contented smile. She had a feeling he'd be just fine without her. She was turning to leave when she heard hoof-steps approaching from behind her.

"Um...hello, Ms. Do." said a familiar voice. She turned around to see Scootaloo staring up at her nervously. Daring stared back at her, awed by the cute little filly's face.

"Hey'a kiddo." said Daring with a kind smile. "Your name's Scootaloo right?"

"Y-Yup." said the orange filly. "So you're THE Daring Do?"

"That's what it says on my library card." chuckled Daring. "Although, I'd appreciate it if you and your friend kept that a secret."

"Not a problem!" saluted Scootaloo. "Your identity is safe in my hooves!"

"Thanks. I wouldn't want any over-zealous fans following me around everywhere."

"You mean Rainbow Dash?"

Daring blinked.

"You know?"

"Of course!" said Scootaloo as she rolled her eyes. "She's ALWAYS talking about something she read in one of your books. She'd totally freak if she knew you were here."

"Heartwarming."

"Is it true that the stories you write are actually real things that happened to you?"

Daring ruffled her wings. This kid seemed to be pretty close with Rainbow Dash. That probably meant that she'd heard about how they'd been on an adventure together. Or maybe Rainbow Dash went around town bragging as she showed everypony the book she'd co-starred in. It was only the one book though. No other copy included her for her own safety. She'd only sent her that one as a thank you gift.

She didn't really want ponies to know that most of what she wrote was non-fiction, but at this point, the cat was clearly out of the bag.

"Yeah. Well, most of them." said Daring with a shrug. "Some of them I just have to make up to keep my publisher out of my mane."

"Cool!" said Scootaloo as she hopped up and down. "It must be real fun having all of those adventures."

Daring wanted to deny that. She wanted to deny it hard. There wasn't anything enjoyable about her near-death experiences. A bullet grazing your cheek, an ax giving you a close shave, a dragon nearly chomping your legs off during a narrow escape...how the hell could any of that have been fun? True, one might feel a sense of accomplishment to have survived these scenarios, but that's normal. Her books gave ponies the wrong idea because they excluded any of her more graphic encounters. If she'd kept that stuff in there, her books would be labeled a horror genre. Or worse. A generic slasher. Books Celestia herself didn't approve of. And me.

"You'd be surprised, Scootaloo." said Daring with a dead-pan look that defied her smile."Sometimes it dawns on you that you only have one shot at this life.It can get PRET-TY scary sometimes."

"Scary." repeated Scootaloo. "Boy, does that bring back memories."

"...Huh?"

"One day, me and Rainbow Dash were out camping and I got totally scared by some story she'd told me. I tried to hide it from her, but ended up having to tell her anyway. I can remember her telling me that she was scared by that same story at my age."

"Rainbow Dash? Scared?"

"Yeah, she said that if I told anypony, she'd deny it. Anyway, after that, she told me she'd take me under her wing and we became like sisters. It was first day we really got to hang out. I can remember her zooming through the air while holding me up above her...it was awesome. That day, I decided that I'd grow up to fly just like her." After stating this, Scootaloo paused and hung her head low.

"...You were really looking forward to training with her today weren't you?" asked Daring.

Scootaloo nodded.

"Yeah...she's never missed a day before. For anything. I hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she's fine." chuckled Daring. "From what I've seen, she can porbably handle herself."

"Yeah."

From what Daring could hear in the filly's tone, Scootaloo wasn't so sure. But Daring was never good with telling other ponies that everything would be alright. She'd done that before, and everything turned out worse than she'd imagined. Ever since, she'd grown accustomed to telling ponies that things probably wouldn't work out, but they could still be happy. You might be able to guess that ponies didn't react favorably to her when she said that. The truth is often painful to stomach, like drinking a bottle of NyQuil in one continuous gulp. She eventually decided to just keep her mouth shut. Sometimes, there's just nothing to say to some ponies.

But she couldn't just do that to the filly in front of her. She looked sad, and it tugged at Daring's heart as it would any normal being. The only problem was that she didn't know what so say. So she did the only sensible thing one would do when the current topic ran out of rope. Changed the subject.

"...Well," started Daring with a shrug. "I could teach you a few pointers."

Scootaloo's eyes went wide.

"Really?!" said the filly excitedly. "You wouldn't mind?"

"Nah. I mean, I may not be as fast as Rainbow Dash, but I've learned a thing or two from my adventures."

"That would be AWESOME! I can't wait to tell Rainbow Dash when she gets back!"

Daring smiled.

"Ok, then. I guess we should find an open spot to train. But first, we'd better ask Applejack."

"Hey, Applebloom!" called Scootaloo. Applebloom was struggling to open a can of paint with her bare teeth when she heard her.

"Yeah?" she called back.

"Do you think your sister would mind if me and Daring trained out here?"

"...Hm, nah. Just make sure ya'll use an open field."

"Great!" said Scootlaoo as she jumped into the air and buzzed her wings.

---

The day went buy quickly for them. Applebloom and the kid were having a blast painting the barn. Well, Applebloom was. The kid was more or less disinterested in it. He occasionally stopped painting to give attention to one of Applebloom's crazy CMC stories. He didn't respond or even react facially, but she got the feeling that he was a good listener. Anypony else would have begged her to be quiet.

Despite her constant story-telling, the barn was completely painted by the time the sun had set. For a kid who didn't seem to care about anything, he sure could paint fast. Being able to easily open a can without having to use a tool on the ground probably helped. Applebloom had tried to open cans like him with her teeth, but only succeeded in giving herself a major toothache.

Daring and Scootaloo had a blast, to say the least. Scootaloo was surprised to find out that Daring was almost as fast as Rainbow Dash. Even her control and aerodynamic ability rivaled the cyan pegasus. As Daring held the filly high in the air as she flew, Scootaloo flapped her wings as hard as she could. She imagined that she was older, flying in the sky like she always wanted to. She had no fear of falling. It filled her heart with determination, just like it did when she was with Rainbow Dash. She almost couldn't tell the difference. At the end, she didn't feel like she she'd missed a day of training. She felt content.

Daring knew she was replacing a pony she'd never be able to match in speed without a few more years of training, but she really wanted to make the filly happy. She didn't know why. She'd barely known Scootaloo, but something about the situation reached out to her. It was as if she felt the filly's pain somehow. The pain of being abandoned. She wasn't sure if that was the case with Scootaloo, but she wanted her to stop feeling that as soon as possible. So, despite her recovering wing and the doctors orders to not use it for a week at the least, she put her all into making the filly feel like she was with her idol.

She surprised herself. She honestly didn't know she was that fast. She did wing push-ups on a daily basis, but she was certain she didn't train as hard as Rainbow Dash. Perhaps her conditioning came from the numerous encounters she had with griffons? She may have been too scared of being eaten to realize how much she was exerting herself. The griffons chasing her were often part of a very large cult that was known for eating it's enemies alive for some stupid, spiritualistic reason. Even if that was where her conditioning came from, she was happy to have gotten it. The orange filly was shouting gleefully as she held her. She didn't seem at all disappointed.

This made Daring's day.

After the kid and Applebloom were done painting the barn, the went over to where they saw Daring and Scootaloo flying. Applebloom was going to call out to them, but when she saw how much fun Scootaloo was having, she decided not to. She loved seeing her friends genuinely happy. So, she just sat down and watched, enjoying the atmosphere.

"...She sure looks happy." said Applebloom. "It's like she's with Rainbow Dash."

The kid looked up at the two pegasi curiously. Daring flew close to them a few times,allowing the kid to see the look of joy on both their faces. All day, Daring had looked bothered. Angry even. Now, it was like she was a different person. The sky was her domain, and none of her problems seemed to follow her there.

"I can remember when Rainbow Dash took me fer' a spin." said Applebloom as her eyes followed her friend in the sky. "I thought it would be scary, seein' as I'm not suppos' ta fly an all...but it was actually really fun. That feelin' o' weightlessness...I gotta admit I'd never experienced anythin' like it."

The filly turned her head to the kid, who was also watching the two fly around in the beautiful sunset.

"I'm only guessin' here, but I reckon you can't fly right? I mean, ya got no wings."

The kid nodded, not taking his eyes off the two pegasi in the sky.

"Ya ever thought about what it's like ta fly?"

The kid didn't answer immediately, as if he needed to think about it. He watched Scootaloo and Daring a little longer before finally nodding his head.

"Then why don'tcha ask er' fer a ride then?" said a familiar voice. The kid and Applebloom turned around to see Applejack also looking up into the sky. Then, once she realized her question had an obvious answer, she face-hoofed and shook her head.

"Hey!" called Applejack. "The kid want's a ride too!"

Hearing her, Daring hovered back to the ground, setting Scootaloo down. She looked at the kid curiously. She was a little tuckered out, and her wing was hurting pretty badly, but like Scootaloo, she didn't want him to feel left out or abandoned. She turned to the side and folded her wing.

"Ok." she said with a shrug. "Hop on."

The kid looked at Applejack, as if to ascertain that he hadn't actually said anything. Thinking it was a look of appreciation, she smiled and gestured for him to go ahead.

"C'mon kid." said Daring. "Before the pain in my wing gets worse."

Reluctantly, the kid walked towards her. When he hopped onto her back, Daring instantly noticed that he was heavier than Scootaloo. Not too heavy, but it was noticeable. If her injured wing could talk, it would be begging her not to do this. She felt his hands reach around her neck. They felt cold, as if he hadn't been walking around in the sun all day.

"Ready?" asked Daring as she craned her neck to look at him. The kid shrugged. "Good enough. Hold on!"

With that, the kid felt a rush of air as she took off high into the sky. Daring felt him tighten his grip as she strained her wings to get higher. Once they were up high enough, Daring looked behind her to check on the kid. His expression still hadn't changed, but it could've been the look of excitement...or fear. It was hard to tell, since he always looked alert. She also noticed that he wasn't looking at her. He seemed to be looking straight through her at the setting sun. She cocked an eyebrow and waved a hoof in front of his face. His eyes didn't follow it.

"You ok?" she asked. Then, she thought she saw a speck of radiant blue appear briefly in his eyes. It could have just been her exhaustion, but when she saw it, a strong feeling of contentment washed over her. Then, a memory of her mother reading her a bed-time story seemed to force its way to the front of her mind. It was vivid, as if she was experiencing it for the first time. She could almost smell the cinnamon apple shampoo in her mother's hair. She could feel her mother's warmth as she sat beside her, bundled up in her bed-sheets.

Daring shook her head and rubbed her eyes. When she opened them. The kid was looking at her.

But, for the first time since they'd met, looking into his eyes didn't fill her with dread. They were still blacker than night itself, but they didn't seem endless anymore. For the first time, she felt like she was looking at a being with a functioning soul. When she realized that she was staring, she chuckled nervously and shook her head again.

"Sorry." said the former adventurer. "I think I'm getting tired. Let's hurry up and give you the full-flight experience before we both drop out of the sky eh?"

The kid nodded, and she took off again, albeit a bit slower for the kid's safety.

---

By the time Daring had decided to land, it was dark out. The night sky bathed the land in a brilliant, calming moonlight. Scootaloo had already gone home and Applebloom had leave so she could do her homework. Applejack had originally planned to call the kid and Daring inside so that they could eat, but decided to wait a little longer. The kid had done a good job painting the barn, and he'd done it fast too. He deserved a some hang-time.

"Ok," panted Daring as she landed, nearly toppling over. "I think...that's all I got for today."

"I reckon ya'll look like ya been working in the orchard all day Miss Do." chuckled Applejack. "Whenever your ready, there's some food Granny cooked right inside the house."

"Th-thank you." said Daring between breathes. "Now...if you wouldn't mind kid, could you please...get off my back?"

Nodding, the kid hopped off, making Daring feel like a hundred pounds had been lifted off of her.

"Sure thing, Miss Do." Nodded Applejack with a smile. "I reckon ya'll deserve a meal for a day's hard work."

"...But all I did was fly around for an hour or two."

"And ya look like ya gave it yer all." joked Applejack. "Plus, most places are closed about this time and I'd feel bad if'n I sent ya'll home starving."

"Oh...well, thanks again."

"M-hm. I'll be in the barn tidying up when ya'll are ready ta collect yer pay."

Daring nodded in acknowledgement, and Applejack left. Afterwards, the two of them just stood there for a moment, admiring the night sky. Daring still found it hard to believe that a pony as blood-thirsty and judgmental as Luna would be capable of presenting such beauty. From the moment Daring was given the duties Celestia had bestowed upon her, Luna didn't like her. It wasn't that she'd done anything wrong, it was just that she didn't trust Daring. And she had every right not to. It would be easy to use a relic to do something evil. Too easy.

But at every turn, Daring had proved her wrong. Although her methods of procuring them may have seemed extreme and at times morally disputable, she never used a relic for selfish gain. Despite this and her sisters admonitions, Luna still doubted that she could be trusted. Whenever she'd arrive to submit a relic to Celestia, Luna would always be there, looking at her with this strange glare. As if she knew something about her. Something very bad. It's like that look your best pal would give you after you shagged his wife...and killed his dog.

But as far as Daring was concerned, she had no secrets. Why? Because secrets are no longer secrets once revealed, and Celestia had discovered all of them. None of them, except maybe one if one were to look at it the wrong way, were cause enough for that kind of treatment.

When Luna found out about Daring's unauthorized dealings in the Everfree, she must have done a little victory dance before heading off to kill her.

"It's a pretty nice view right?" said Daring as she laid down on her back with her hooves behind her head. "Even after all these years, I can still appreciate it. Makes me happier to be alive you know?"

The kid put his hands in his pockets as he looked up at the moon. Daring knew he couldn't respond, but she got the feeling he was listening.

"Staring up into the sky like this," continued Daring. "Without a care in the world...it reminds me of myself when I was a kid. I did alot of studying and training with my parents back then, so, some days, my only free-time would be at mid-night. Too tired to do anything, I'd just lay outside on the grass and stare at the moon, wondering how it got there and all. I used to come up with some rather hilarious ideas, one of which involving princess Luna cutting a massive cheese." chuckled Daring. "I wanted to be just like my mother, having all the answers to everything."

"So eventually, I started taking some of my dads books outside with me when I was star gazing. I could barely read, but I tried my best to understand them. Before I knew it, I was nose deep in more than one book at a time, analyzing them for patterns and connections. In time, I started reading up on the relic my dad was looking for at the time. He'd been spending weeks trying to find it, but to no avail."

"He was about to scrap the search for later, but I came running up to him with an open book in my mouth, practically shouting the relic's whereabouts. I'll never forget what it was called. The Amethyst Horn. The legends I read about it all said that it came from a crystal alicorn born from the earth itself. Supposedly, it could create any mineral it thought of, making a particular colony very rich."

"From what I'd read, the alicorn was blown to pieces by a king who felt it's powers were corrupting the people with greed. All that was left was its horn. The king took the horn and hid it far away from the colony. He took its whereabouts with him to the grave. Ever since, ponies had been trying to find it. When I tried to tell my dad where it was, he laughed, ruffled my mane, and told me he appreciated the enthusiasm. It kind of made me mad."

"SO...I stole his blimp when they were sleeping and went after it myself. Believe it or not, I was more scared of him finding out about what I did than I was getting killed along the way. It would take over a day to get to the spot I'd marked in the book, so I was certain I'd get found out if he hadn't already noticed his blimp was gone. But I was so mad that I didn't sleep the whole way there."

"I kept wondering why he didn't take me seriously. It couldn't have been because I was wrong. All the details led to that specific position. I thought he ignored me just because I was filly. He didn't think I was smart enough to do it on my own. But I'd show him. It was easy to pin-point the Horn's whereabouts. It confused me how he missed it. I wanted to show him up so BAD kid. It was the only thing on my mind on the way there."

"I almost jumped out of the blimp when I saw the temple. I'll never forget the feeling of being right. I just KNEW the artifact would be in there, so it came as a big surprise whenWHOAH!"

Daring moved her head to the side just fast enough to avoid the arrow. It nipped her ear before embedding itself into the ground with an alarming 'thunk'. Her instincts kicked in like a switch, and she was on her hooves, looking up into the sky for the assailant.

"Kid," said the adventurer as she moved close to him. "I'm gonna need you to stay as close to me as you can and do as I say, ok?"

He nodded quickly, his eyes still fixated on the metal, black arrow that had sunk itself into the ground. Daring's ears picked up on a faint, yet irregular sound in the distance, causing her ears to twitch. She deftly moved her head to the right and cleanly avoided another arrow. Now she knew where it had been fired from, and that whoever had shot it was good. The first arrow had been shot upwards and had arc'd down towards her. The second one was a straight shot. Both would've turned her head into a kebab.

They seemed to only be aiming for her, but she didn't take any chances as she bit the kid's shirt and practically yanked him behind a tree with her. Even if they were aiming for her, they could easily use the kid as bait. But she still had one glaring issue. She didn't know where the assailant was now. The second shot seemed to have been fired from a different spot, meaning that there was more than one, or that the sharp-shooter was very fast.

She remembered something her father had taught her about long-range attackers. Most would think that the farther away you are, the better your chances of survival. He'd taught her the opposite. At a longer range, an attacker wouldn't require as much movement to adjust their sights on you and aim more quickly. Close-up, hitting a moving target would be much more difficult. Especially one as fast as Daring, who he'd trained to be faster than the pull of a trigger. But first she'd need to get close, and before that, she'd need to locate the sniper.

She started to lean her head out from behind the tree, but another arrow practically grazed her nose, forcing her to rear her head back. Even though it was dark out, the sniper could see her from far away. It didn't matter anyway. Daring knew where the arrows were coming from. Knowing the sniper would have to reload another arrow before being ready to shoot, Daring dashed out of cover to where the sniper was firing from.

Just as she anticipated, she heard the flapping of wings as the sniper changed position. She was also able to distinguish the sound of the sniper cocking the arrow in a slide, signifying that the arrows weren't coming from a bow, but a small harpoon gun. The lack of fire from other directions also proved that their was only one sniper. Daring grinned as she she kept her eyes on the silhouetted pegasus as it flew from tree to tree, cleanly missing her with every shot. As she got closer, she could hear the pegasus mare cursing under her breath in irritation.

The pegasus flew frantically, trying to keep as much distance as she could, but Daring kept her on the move. The pegasus kept shooting frantically, her shots becoming less and less accurate as she panicked. Daring seemed to be everywhere now, appearing from behind trees in an unorthodox manner. She'd even managed to catch one of the arrows in her teeth at one point. With each passing second, it began to feel more and more like a game of whack-a-mole, only with a harpoon gun and with the settings turned up to impossible. On top of everything, she was running out of ammunition. But she didn't notice until it was too late.

When she reached behind her to grab another arrow, she felt nothing. She turned her head nervously, but managed to find one. Her last one. She turned back around and loaded her harpoon gun, but something was wrong. She could hear nothing. She flew higher into the air and did a full 360 as she looked around for Daring. There were just too many trees, and no way of telling which one she was behind.

Suddenly, something hit one of her wings hard.

The pegasus cried out in agony before failing to keep herself air-born with one wing. And so she went plummeting to the ground. She landed in a tree, bouncing off all of the branches before finally hitting the ground hard enough to have the wind knocked out of her. Out of fear, she recovered quickly, looking around her for Daring. She saw nothing, only trees. She looked at her wing, discovering what ha hit it. There was an arrow in it, close to the base of her left wing. She might never fly again.

Angry, she raised her harpoon gun in front of her, her teeth ready to bite down on the trigger. She scanned the area again, afraid to move, but too prideful to back down and surrender.

"Bring an actual rifle next time." said Daring from above her. The pegasus aimed up and let shot the arrow through the foliage of the tree, missing a grinning Daring. A hoof connected with the pegasus's snout, sending her careening backwards. She recovered quickly and extended the blade strapped to one of her hooves. Daring landed in front of her, her red eyes boring holes into her own.

"You're a pretty good shot, you know that?" quipped Daring. Even angrier, the pegasus lounged forward with the blade. It passed through air, leaving the mare confused. She then felt a powerful buck to her side, cracking a few of her ribs. The blow knocked her to the ground, making her hold her side in pain.

"You probably already know what I want to ask you." said Daring as she walked up to the pegasus and put a hoof on her cracked ribs. "Who are you and why are you here?"

The pegasus didn't respond, choosing to glare up at Daring spitefully. Daring pushed down, breaking a rib off and causing the pegasus to yelp in pain.

"A doctor once told me that ribs grow back." said Daring as she kept her gaze fixed on the bat-pony's face. "I found out that they DON'T. Either way, you can live without em. So I won't feel bad for breaking a few. I don't think you want that though, so answering my question would be the smart thing to do, yeah?."

The bat-pony slowly opened her pained eyes, hatred brimming forth along with tears. She opened her mouth.

"Ms. Do?"

Daring and the sniper turned their heads to the sound of the filly's voice. There, standing a few feet away, was Applebloom. The look on her face was one of utter disbelief.

"...W-What're you doin'?" asked the filly.

"Applebloom..." began Daring nervously. "T-This isn't-"

The side of Daring's head exploded with pain, and everything went black.

---

When she came to, her vision was hazy, and her right ear was ringing. She felt like a grenade had gone off right next to her head, leaving her with a headache she knew she'd never forget. Had Luna showed up again and tried to blast her with another personalized moon death-ray? Groggily, she tried her best to ignore the pain and the metallic taste of blood in her mouth as she rose to her hooves. As soon as she'd done so, she saw a large figure rushing towards her. Instinctively and half-awake, she dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding something that made her feel like her whole body was made of thin wood. She looked behind her and her vision began to clear up.

In front of her was a very muscular stallion that almost reminded her of backbone. He was twice her height and covered in black fur. He had cold blue eyes to match the stare he was giving her.

"Oh...h-hell." she croaked out before he charged again. She jumped and flew upwards. Her wing exploded with pain, but she managed to avoid his attack. Unfortunately, she fell to the ground like a sack of rocks, making her head-ache even worse. When she looked up, she saw the stallion charging at her again. Every synapse in her head was telling her she would die if she didn't move, but she just couldn't do it fast enough. The stallion raised his hoof as he charged, ready turn her head into tomato paste.

THOOM!

A shock-wave of air and raw force passed over her following the loud sound, causing her to instinctively shield her head. When she uncovered her face and looked up, she saw who appeared to be the kid, standing in front of her.

Confused, the stallion blinked at the kid, as if uncertain he was there. He then looked over to his hoof, which the kid had stopped with his hand. He then looked into the kid's face, who's eyes appeared to be over-shadowed in the moon-light. Irritated, the stallion raised his other hoof and swung at the kid. The kid's other hand shot up and blocked the blow, stopping it instantly.

The stallion grunted angrily as he tried to move his hooves forward, using every muscle in his body. But the kid didn't move an inch. It was like he was pushing up against an unmovable object. Suddenly, the stallion saw two, tiny, red, dots appear slowly in the kids over-shadowed eyes. They filled the stallion with terror, a feeling he hadn't felt for years. When he tried to pull back, the kid reached above his hooves and grabbed his forelimbs, squeezing them hard enough make crunching sounds.

Screaming in pain and fear, the stallion tried even harder to get away, but it was useless. The kid kept staring at him, squeezing his forelimbs harder and harder. Eventually, his fingers broke the stallion's skin and seeped into his meat, causing blood to spurt outwards and onto the kid's face. Then, just when it seemed like he was going to rip his forelimbs off, the kid shook his head and the red dots in his eyes faded away, along with the shadow that seemed to cover them. The kid looked up at the stallion, and then looked at what he was doing to him. He then looked behind him at an injured, but completely awe-struck Daring.

"DAAGH!" yelled the stallion as he struggled to get free."HELP! HEEEEELLP!"

The kid looked back at him with a blank expression, loosening his grip on his forelimbs.

Then he pulled him into a head-butt.

The blow sent the stallion flying backwards like an arrow, fragments of his bloodied teeth scattering everywhere. The stallion hit a tree hard, causing it to splinter and crack. By the way he landed on the ground, it was safe to say he was unconscious. Maybe for the next year even. He'd need some serious plastic surgery on his snout too.

Daring didn't know whether she should be shocked or not. To the average eye, he didn't look that strong. His arms seemed well-toned for a creature like himself, but definitely no where near buff enough to do that. It didn't make sense. Then again, he was found at the center of the Everfree, the power house of things not sensible, so it made sense that he didn't make sense.

Still in massive pain, Daring slowly stood up on her hooves. She spat out another glob of blood and put a hoof to the side of her head. When she brought it out in front of her, there was blood on it, just as she'd expected. It was hard to believe that the stallion wasn't armed with some kind of mace or hammer. The fact that he was using only his hooves scared her. The only other stallion she knew to be that strong was Backbone, but if he'd been the one that hit her, she'd have been taking a dirt nap.

She slowly trotted up to the kid. After head-butting the stallion, he didn't move. He just kept standing there, looking at the stallion's crumpled up form at the base of the tree. As she got closer, she could see his hands twitch every now and then, his fingers dripping with blood.

"Hey...kid." called Daring. Getting no answer, she trotted up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Still nothing. "Kid? You spacin' out on me again?"

Then she heard a click. A very familiar click. She looked to her right and barely had time to process what she saw. The downed bat-pony was lying on her side with her arrow-gun raised. The arrow in her wing was gone, leaving a bloody hole. She was aiming at her with a look that didn't care about anything else around her. Just the target.

No, she wasn't aiming at her.

Without barely any time to react, the bat-pony shot the arrow, straight at the kid's head. Daring raised her hooves as fast as she could, getting ready to push the kid out of the way. By the time her hooves touched his back, the arrow wasn't even three feet away. Daring pushed him forward as hard as she could, hoping the brute force she'd exerted would be enough to compensate for the arrows speed.

It missed, grazing the back of the kid's neck and cutting off one of Daring's bangs before hitting a tree somewhere in the distance. Daring fell forward and so did the kid, but Daring recovered quickly, and gave the bat-pony a glare she'd never forget.

Scared, the bat-pony turned and fumbled around trying to get back on her hooves. But her crushed ribs didn't agree with that, causing her to fall down again. As soon as she hit the ground, she felt something land on her back hard, shoving her face into the dirt.

"I'll never understand you assassins."

The bat-pony felt something grab her wing and yank it upwards, causing her to shriek out in pain.

"You get seriously injured on the job, and always decide to carry it out, as if you're fulfilling some ludicrous duty or something."

She feels her wing twist a full 180, causing her to wail desperately.

"You could be on your last leg, slowly dying, and all you can think about is killing your target and cashing it in? What's wrong with you? Do I have to completely cripple you so that you can understand how pointless this all is?"

Her wing is yanked sideways, causing her to turn onto her back. She see's Daring's red eyes staring down at her with a look she'd never expected from the adventurer. Her eye's almost seemed to glow with hatred in the night.

"If you can be that dedicated to something, why not consider a career change? Accounting, maybe? Or, based on your cutie mark, you could teach ponies to shoot arrows or something. How's that sound?"

The bat-pony chose to be silent once again, this time looking at her with a look of fear. She could tell just by looking into her eyes that Daring had seen things. Done things even worse than she'd done. Killed more ponies than her. It felt like she was staring into the eyes of a psychopath...or a monster.

"....No answer?" said Daring, giving the bat-pony a curious look. "Huh. I'll give you some time to dream on it."

With that, Daring gave her a swift blow to the temple. The bat-pony stopped shaking in fear and went limp, slumping into unconsciousness. Daring stepped off of her, shaking her head. She'd given that speech before to other assassins. Each gave her the same, stubborn reaction, as if killing ponies was their destiny or something.

Daring didn't believe in Destiny. The term itself was a curse word to her.

Listening out for any other try-hard, die-hard assassins, she walked back to where she'd pushed the kid. She found him sitting on the ground, still looking at the stallion he'd head-butted to a tree. She could see a cut bleeding ever so slightly on the back of his neck.

"You okay kid?" she asked, beginning to get annoyed by his catatonic state. Once again, he didn't answer. With her mind made up, she trotted over to him and bopped him lightly on the head.

"Hey!" she called, stepping around to face him. "I'm talking to you here!"

The kid brought a hand up to his head and rubbed the spot she'd hit before looking up at her.

"Do I have your attention?" said Daring, bringing a hoof to the side of her aching head. The kid nodded. "Good. Now...are you OKAY?"

The kid stared at her for a little, as if pondering the right answer. He looked back at the stallion. Then he slowly shook his head.

"....Wh-"

"WHAT IN TARNATION IS GOIN' ON OUT HERE!?"

---

"Ow!"

"Hold still now." said Granny Smith as she swabbed the wound on Daring's head with an alcohol soaked cloth. "The burnin' means its workin'."

"That fella sure got ya good." said Applejack as she watched with sympathetic pain.

"Did you tie them up with something?" asked Daring as she sat in front of Granny Smith calmly.

"Big Mac tied em up tight and threw em into the barn." replied Applejack as she looked out her living room window. She saw Big Mac's silhouette walking out of the barn looking tired. He shut the doors and locked them behind him. "Who were those two?"

"Beats me." said Daring as she looked at the kid on the couch. He was lying down on his side, turned away from them all. He'd expressed that he wasn't okay. She didn't know what that meant or how she felt about that. "I think they meant to kill us both though."

"...Anyone you might know with a grudge against ya?"

"Oh, tons of ponies." said Daring with a chuckle. "Too many to single one out. But, since they both appeared to be bat-ponies, I'm guessing...the Red Flares?"

"Who'er they?" asked Applejack as she trotted to the couch the kid was lying on and sat on it.

"Just another bunch of low-life assassins that pretend they're doing the world a favor by killing ponies. They're strictly just bat-ponies, and they...ow...they may be mad at me for intervening in an assassination attempt on a friend of mine."

"How many of them are there?" asked Applejack with a worried look.

"After I revealed them to Celestia a few years ago? You probably have a third of them in your barn right now. The rest of them are in jail. Or worse."

"Oh."

"...How's Applebloom doing?" asked Daring, noticing the look on Applejack's face.

"She's fine." said the farmer with a nod. "A little shaken up, but she ain't hurt or nuthin'."

"That's a relief." said Daring with sigh. "I saw her before I got hit."

"Yeah, she'd run back to get me as fast as she could, sayin' some monster was attackin' you. I told her to stay in the house while Big Mac and I went out see what was goin' on."

"Where is she now?"

"In her room. I went ta check on er' a few times." Applejack grimaced worriedly. "You think there's more of em...out there?"

Daring winced again as Granny Smith dabbed at her head. It was certainly possible that the duo could've been a trio or more, but at the moment, she wasn't being attacked. If there were more assassins on the orchard, they were waiting for the right chance to strike, or they were running away with their tails between their legs. After seeing what the kid had done, most likely the latter.

"I doubt it." shrugged Daring. "I get the feeling they've seen enough." she said, pointing to the kid.

"Yeah." said Applejack as she turned to look at the kid. Although he was lying down, his eyes were wide open. "Hard to believe that a little guy like him could do that to a stallion three times his size."

Granny smith finished cleaning the wound and placed a bandage on it along with some ointment to help it heal. Daring's head was still hurting like crazy, but the sharp pain coming from where the stallion had hit her dulled a little. She could imagine the pain the stallion would feel when he awoke. If he awoke. Maybe it'd be a mercy if he didn't.

"There ya go." said Granny Smith as she leaned back in her chair placed her medical supplies on a stand near her. "It's all cleaned up. I'm no doctor now, but I suggest you don't sleep for a few hours at least."

All Daring wanted to do was sleep, and that's an understatement. She was already tired from all the flying and fighting. That coupled with her head-ache made her feel like falling out on the spot. But she had something to do first.

"Yes." said Daring as she rose to her hooves, wobbling slightly. "Thank you Mrs. Smith. I should go find a guard. I think this fits into their job description."

"Ya'll gonna be okay?" asked Applejack, getting off the couch.

"Only time will tell." answered Daring, walking over to the kid. She tapped him on the shoulder. "You ready to go kid?"

The kid did nothing. He just continued to stare into the couch blankly, causing Daring to worry. She wanted to ask if he was alright, but she felt like repeating that would only make it an even stupider question. Daring sighed. She wasn't good with this kind of thing, and she hated saying sappy things. She didn't even know what was bothering the kid. Did he feel bad about beating down that stallion and saving her life? Was he some kind of pacifist? She hoped not, or their relationship was going to become very difficult as time went by.

Daring heard the creak of the rocking chair Granny Smith was seated in with her hoof-steps soon following it. Daring watched as she approached the kid and brought a hoof to his head, caressing it as she would a child. The kid visibly shuddered.

"C'mon now," said Granny. "I'd feel much better knowin' you were there to protect Ms. Do on her way inta' town."

The kid didn't move, allowing the old, motherly mare to stroke his head for a while. Daring watched the scene, confused about what rubbing his head was supposed to do. She didn't seem at all afraid of the kid, her eyes reflecting the same look of motherly affection Daring recognized from her mother. Was she really this excepting, or was she just a crazy old mare?

The kid sighed, got up, and stepped off the couch.

"Good boy." said Granny with a smile. "Now, before ya'll leave, come on into the kitchen and get yer' self some food. All ya can eat. I'd say ya earned it for the day."

Author's Note:

Whew! Is this my longest one? Anyway, sorry about the wait. I get writers block and get scared of writing sometimes. And by sometimes, I mean every other day. If I'm not having fun while doing it, I don't write. Also, I've been busy with stuff. Bills don't pay themselves, and I don't sleep at night. Seriously. It's 4:37 AM right now and I'm barely sleepy. Might not go to bed till six. Then I have to be up before twelve to start my workday, which ends at one in the morning. So yeah, been busy. But it's mainly just writers block. Especially when I read what I've written. It makes me too anxious to carry on. But fear not! I shall continue! I have very little to do with my life at the moment anyway! Sorry about the wait, and i hope you like the new chapter.

Comments

[Seeking Dusk]

Wow that was a long one... Snips and Snails do not learn, do they? Anyway, I think Granny has the best approach for the kid.

[StarzGecko]

This was amazing chapter!

[Zackrobbman]

7091455 Thanks pal! Much appreciated.

[shinikage]

please, please just don't go and have rainbow dash get killed and made into the meat cupcake by pinkie pie, or just don't kill her because that is one of the most classic cliché a writer can fall on, the I am going to have the one pony of the mane six I don't like killed because I don't want to write about her, but then again making a cameo of cupcakes pinkie has become a cliché on its own.

[Enternal]

I love this story man, I'm looking forward to the next chapter!

[Zackrobbman]

7092051 lol don't worry pal.

[Zackrobbman]

7092838 Thanks! Pleasure to serve pal!

[Mother3Forever]

I forget, DID we ever hear about RD's location?

[Schroedingers_Katze]

You know, for ONE little moment, I expected Rainbow to be the assassine with the arrow-gun. Don´t know, why, I just did.

[Zackrobbman]

7098220 Hm...probably not. XD

[Zackrobbman]

7098453 Good thinking! I'm lovin' it over here! But you may have thought that because I described the pegasus as being very fast.

[Schroedingers_Katze]

7100217
Hmm, nah, I think more because it would be a cruel and surprising plot twist.

[Zackrobbman]

7100719 Ohoho, tempting! XD

[Emperor]

Daring Do tripped the most dangerous flag of them all: she became a resident of Ponyville. By next week encounters like at the end will be passe for her.

[SilentMech]

Calling it now, the kid will some how become an honorary Apple. Also, yes, I know I am late to this. My browser didn't want to stay open on this story for no good reason.