> Red Velvet and the Red Dawn
>  by Blackdrag-rose
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Darkness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A pony groaned and tried to raise itself, but instead found that it was tied down to a bed with straps wrapped around both it's front and back legs. The smell of chemicals reached it's nose and it could only guess the nature of the combination that lingered in the air. It noticed the sweet smelling aroma of a familiar anesthetic agent, chloroform it recalled as it's mind struggled to awaken. Something was keeping it from truly awakening it's mind as it's eyes opened to reveal the most horrific of sights.

The room it was in was filled with a large variety of tools that belonged in the room of a surgeon, yet here they all were, hanging around for anypony to use whenever they wanted to. It moved it's eyes around and found that the room was actually a modified chamber of an ancient castle, but which it didn't know. It noticed a window and spotted a dead tree standing just outside, but with the limited movability it possessed it couldn't see very much.

"Ah, I see you have awakened," came a voice from in front of it, "It is good to know that the drugs are still effective and keep you sedated for an extended period of time. Truth be told I hadn't expected you to be under for the last six hours. I guess I will have to lessen the dosage for my next target."

The pony who had spoken was a bright red coated unicorn with emerald colored eyes, though he, judging by the voice, was currently carrying something in his magical grasp, which had been a toned down red color. The pony's mane and tail were similar shaped to the famous Rainbow Dash's own mane and tail, except that they were crimson red colored with a piece being a deep sapphire blue color. The stallion's cutie mark was what looked like a dark blue shield with a red colored pentagram inscribed on it.

"You must be wondering who I am and what I am doing to you." the stallion commented, putting down what looked like a shopping bag from the market. "Unfortunately I will not be answering your 'questions', Miss Berry Punch. You have a plum and a mulberry shaded mane and tail. Your cutie mark consists of a cluster of grapes with a single strawberry next to them. You are a mare of a respectable age, I would say at least thirty at the first glance, and yet you are known for drinking.

The only times you haven't been consumed in whatever your drinking is when you go out to the market of Ponyville to purchase supplies and essentials. You also participated in Ponyville's annual Winter Wrap Up and the Running of the Leaves quite recently. Not to mention that you and your sister participated in the Sisterhooves Social and ended up snatching the victory from anypony else."

The mare couldn't even remember her own name and life, yet this stallion spoke her name as if he had gotten to know her before this had happened. Almost like he had been researching her entire life and had been studying her for the last couple of days to know her routine. This one pony almost seemed like he cared that she was waking up and could hear whatever he said, but then again he had admitted he had drugged her to begin with.

"I can see that you have tried moving every part of your body at some point since you woke up," the stallion observed, his eyes flowing over the many tools and picking up a tool that was used to cut ponies open during operations, "and I am glad that the muscle relaxer has done a decent job making it so you can't thrash about and tear the bindings off. That could have caused unrepairable damage to all of your internal organs and could have bruised or even broken several of your bones if you had fallen off the table.

Allow me to explain something to you Miss Punch; I work for somepony who hasn't given me his or her name and they send me these black envelopes with either a single target named or a whole batch to be taken care of at my leisure. You may call me an assassin, a murderer, or whatever name that you can think of that would suit me in this profession, but it doesn't matter what you call me. What really matters is what I'm going to do to you, Miss Berry."

The stallion turned away from all the tools that were hanging and walked over to where Berry was strapped down, holding the scalpel he had picked up earlier. The tool gleamed in the small light of the room, which made Berry's eyes widen in terror as the stallion got closer.

"Don't worry too much, I have done this multiple times in the past," the stallion said, the scalpel resting against Berry's chest, "Don't look so surprised my dear, you aren't the first pony that I have abducted in the middle of the night and transported somewhere that they don't known about. By now your jaw should be working to the point you you being able to speak and scream and all the works, so feel free to scream. In fact, I encourage you to scream."

The sharpened blade plunged into Berry's skin and the nameless stallion began to cut her open, allowing her blood to pool around the floor. Berry screamed alright, she screamed as the stallion cut her open and snapped her ribcage open. If she tried to close her eyes the stallion would send a charge of electricity through her body, jolting her awake so he could continue his procedure. Oddly enough he didn't touch her organs, just worked around them with a smile on his face and not a care in the world.

"Why ... why are you doing this?" Berry weakly asked the stallion, hoping to get one answer out of him before she died due to the amount of blood she was losing. "Wh...who are you?"

"Simple," the stallion replied, setting down the tools and gripping her still beating heart with his magic, "Your name was in the latest envelope, like I explained earlier. And you can call me you Executioner."

With that last word leaving the stallion's mouth he tore her heart right out and Berry's eyes went lifeless, the last thing she ever saw was the murdering stallion holding her heart.
> The Blue Envelope
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Canterlot, the capital of Equestria and home to two of the most powerful Alicorn's in Equestria's history, was busy despite it being a Friday morning. Typical Friday mornings were usually empty as most ponies were at work or in school and weren't hanging around the marketplace of Canterlot. Today ponies of all ages and genders walked through the marketplace, but one stallion was in a hurry to get to the castle.

This particular stallion had a bright red coat and a mane and tail style that was identical to the infamous Rainbow Dash of Ponyville. His mane color was the strange mix of two crimson parts with a patch of sapphire caught between them. And, though some ponies thought it strange, his eyes were a strong emerald color. His cutie mark was a dark blue shield with a red pentagram inscribed on it.

This ponies name was Red Velvet, a unicorn of some high magical skill, and he was going to be late for a Day Court meeting that was supposed to be extra special. Not that every meeting wasn't special since Princess Celestia herself was hearing every case and point made on any particular subject. Sometimes her sister, Princess Luna, would stay up just a tad bit longer just to see how her sister ran her court so she could make some slight adjustments to her own.

"Excuse me," he called out, making a pair of ponies separate as he passed on by them. "Coming through."

To the ponies of Canterlot he was a respected member of Princess Celestia's royal court and she often teased him by saying that he was an invaluable adviser over the years. In reality he was a pony that was taking orders from somepony he didn't know and couldn't trust the motives of. He kidnapped his targets in the middle of the night and made sure to finish them off before he had to leave for home again. Only problem was since Berry Punch had slept so long she had cut into his sleeping time and thus caused him to be running late.

Of all his targets he was glad to have disposed of the wretched Berry Punch.

"Hey Red, thought we'd be starting without you," said an earth pony in front of him.

"Sorry about that," Red called, coming to a light trot as he neared the pony, "I slept in after all my studying and realized I'd be late if I didn't get a move on."

Red and his coworker walked into the throne room where Princess Celestia made all her appointments and held her sessions. It was going to be a long and boring day for Red, but he wanted to keep his cool and not arouse suspicion.

~Seven hours later~

Just as Red had expected, almost all of the court meetings were boring and bared no need to remember them in the near future. The only part of the meeting that had remotely caught his interest was a pony from Ponyville, he couldn't remember the name now, mentioning something about the disappearance of Berry Punch, the same pony he had abducted last night. Princess Celestia had promised that she and the royal guard would catch the pony responsible for kidnapping the last ten ponies and bring him or her to justice.

Red just walked home with his mind busy with activity, trying to figure out how he could contact his employer, who he didn't know, and set up a meeting with them. He was so lost in thought that he passed his mailbox and had to turn around so he could get the mail, which usually contained junk and bills. Today, however, it contained two pieces of treasure waiting for him. The first piece was another black envelope, which meant that he was going to be killing somepony, or someponies, in the near future.

The second piece was an identical envelope to the one he was already holding, except that the color scheme of this one was a blue color. Seeing as he had never gotten a blue envelope before he dared to hope that it would give him a clue as to who his employer was, so he quickly entered his house and locked the door behind him. He set down the rest of the mail, excluding the black envelope as he wanted to see who his next target was after opening the blue one, and tore open the blue envelope. Inside he found a single piece of parchment with three short lines written on it.

Saturday at dawn
Joe's Doughnut Shack
Outside if you can

Red couldn't believe his eyes and yet he was staring at it. Tomorrow at dawn he was going to finally meet his employer and get some answers to his questions. Grinning widely he placed the blue message to the side and opened up the black envelope to find a list with only two names on it; Prince Blueblood of Canterlot and Filthy Rich of Ponyville.

"About time I was asked to do in that annoying Prince," Red muttered to himself, folding the list in half as he walked to his private study, "I'm surprised that nopony has dared put him in his place for so long."

The fact that he had received a list so soon after his last assignment wasn't the part that interested him. It was the fact that he was soon going to be meeting his employer that both interested and excited him. He needed to make some last minute preparations if he was going to be going after Prince Blueblood soon, but he figured that he could wait until he had chatted with the pony responsible for starting him and his work. He only hoped that whoever his employer was was happy with what he had been doing for the last couple of weeks.
> The Meeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Red could hardly sleep, not with the impending meeting with his employer close at hoof. According to the letter he had received he was supposed to be meeting whoever his employer was at Joe's Doughnut Shack, which was fairly close to the Castle. The owner, Joe, had recently upgraded to having an outside area for customers to enjoy the morning as it peaked it's head over the city. It was the common sign that Princess Luna was stepping down from the throne to make way for her elder sister to rule over the day.

He sighed and threw off his blanket, quickly moving to his study table as he thought of the best way to capture the insolent Prince. According to the news circulating throughout Canterlot Prince Blueblood was living somewhere in the area where all the rich ponies, such as Photo Finish, were living. How he had managed to get enough bits to afford a place in that area was beyond Red's understanding, but he knew where the foolish Prince lived. The only problem Red faced was figuring out how he was going to kidnap the Prince and transfer him safely to his makeshift torture chamber.

Red scoured the blueprints for the rich sector of the city, which he had found in his mailbox after the first pony he had captured was done in. His mind was scouring the layout of the streets and buildings, hoping to find a way to get the Prince out of his fancy house and transport him to the waygate Red had constructed in his basement. The gate would allow him to transport himself and whatever tools he needed to his private chamber, and that included whoever his target happened to be. But how was Red supposed to get Prince Blueblood close enough to the gate so he could abduct him with nopony noticing?

Over the next three hours he scoured the blueprints he had for the rich sector of Canterlot and the surrounding sectors that bordered it, trying to locate a route that would allow him to accomplish his goal. He sketched possible twists and turns on a sketchpad, trying to make sense of the way the rich sector was designed in the first place. No matter what he did he just couldn't figure out how he was supposed to capture the stupid Prince and get him back to his house.

Red looked at the clock on his studies wall and sighed, it was a half hour till dawn and the appointed meeting time was so close he could taste it. It was going to be a good twenty minute walk to Joe's Doughnut Shack, but since there would be almost nopony around on a Saturday morning he could make it and have time to watch the change from night to day. He grabbed a small pouch of bits and his saddlebag, placing them on so he could leave without delay. Since he had stayed up so long he was going to need something to energize his body and keep him awake so he could meet his employer.

As Red had expected it had taken him twenty minutes to reach the doughnut shack, which was currently open twenty minutes sooner then it should have been. He immediately knew something was up, so as he approached the shop his eyes wandered around, searching every shadow in case he discovered a hidden soldier. He wasn't sure if Princess Celestia had begun her search or not, so he could be jumping at shadows while he thought the guards might have already found his nonexistent trail. Besides, even if he was forced to suddenly fight somepony he had a dozen magic spells he could use to disable them and a weapon hidden in his saddlebag that not even Celestia could detect.

"Hey Joe," Red called, seeing the unicorn baker as he pulled open the door, "I didn't know you were opening earlier."

"Red Velvet, its been too long since you've graced my shop with your presence," Joe remarked, though in truth he was teasing Red, "and seeing how most of my customers are getting up earlier to get their days started I figured I might as well do the same so they aren't crabby. When did you decide that you were coming back to my shop and ordering stuff again?"

"Just yesterday evening," Red answered, looking over the menu that hung above Joe's head, "and I see I did it at a good time. You've brought back several of your most popular drinks and specials."

"I have to keep the customers coming back now don't I?" Joe chuckled, "Now, what can I do for you my friend?"

"Let's see what we have here," Red said, staring at the items on the menu as he tried to decide on which to order, "How about an espresso, single shot and no whip cream, and a glazed doughnut?"

"Coming right up Red," Joe replied, turning his back on Red for just a moment, "The cost will be about fifteen bits and it will take a couple of minutes to make. Where will you be sitting this fine morning?"

"Outside will be fine for now," Red answered, taking out fifteen golden coins and hoofed them over to Joe when he was facing Red again, "I'd like to enjoy the morning sun before I have to start my day. Celestia knows that I've been busy and need to enjoy something as seemingly insignificant as the sun rising."

"I just let you ponies do whatever floats your boat," Joe joked, turning his head back to the machines behind him, "Go ahead and pick a seat as I finish the order. I will be right out in a couple of minutes."

Red nodded and returned to the outside of the shop, picking a seat not too close to the door in case any of the occupants inside decided to eavesdrop on him. Plus he wasn't too far from the door so Joe didn't have to walk so far to deliver his order to him. As he sat down at the table and placed his saddlebag to his right he noticed that there was only one other pony in the immediate area, a guard pony who was walking towards the castle.

"It is so good to finally meet you," said a voice from behind Red's seat, "Red Velvet, Pony kidnapper and Executioner."

Red's eyes widened as he slowly turned around, coming face to face with the hard truth that somepony had slipped past his magical sweep and was sitting with their back to him. The pony was dressed in a black robe or cloak, which meant that until the pony turned around and faced him directly he would never truly know what they looked like. The strange thing was that he could detect a hint of tiredness in the pony's voice, which meant the pony had stayed up late and was equally tired. It even explained why they had chosen this particular shop to meet at instead of someplace else.

"Please, take a seat," the shrouded pony continued, somehow aware that Red was still standing, "It would do us no good if your going to be standing throughout the entire conversation. Besides, if you continue to stand the guards might think your doing something suspicious and will come running to investigate before another pony is kidnapped. I promise we will get through all the bases you wish to cover before this meeting is over."

Red's curiosity was much more than his desire to be caught so soon, so he returned his eyes to normal and returned to his seat just as Joe approached. The stallion placed a coffee cup in front of him with a doughnut to the side, the order he had already forgotten about.

"Ah, Lady Artemis," Joe suddenly said, staring at the shrouded pony and somehow recognizing them, "I thought you were still in the wild, hunting that dangerous monster that was last seen near Canterlot."

"Not anymore Joe," the mare replied, as if she had expected Joe to recognize her, "I caught the foul and deceitful Changeling just before he could reach Ponyville and pierced his side with one of my special sleep arrows. I just got back from delivering him to the authorities in the Castle and decided I would visit one of my favorite shops before i retired to my bed. Besides, the Changeling will be spending the next couple of weeks in jail before Princess Celestia decides what to do with him."

"Can I get you anything?" Joe asked, as if the notion of hearing about ponies who had been harmed was a casual topic for him.

"Just a light espresso," the mare answered immediately, "I need to get my rest and a little caffeine will do me well to get me home."

"One single shot espresso coming right up," Joe said, turning around and hightailing it back into his shop, leaving the two ponies alone.

"So, your my employer?" Red asked, his back to the mare while his magic was ready in case she moved against him.

"That is correct," the mare answered, "I am the one who originally contacted you three weeks ago with your first assignment, that is your first test; the kidnapping and killing of one Bon Bon. At the time, that is before you abducted her, she was supposed to be one of the Candy Warlords, one of Princess Celestia's drug lords and loyal soldier to the throne. By slaying her you blew a hole in the inner workings of the drug ring that exists all around Equestria, nearly crippling them as a whole. The reason they still exist is because her partner, Lyra Heartstrings, has taken over and has them working twice as hard.

Of your original seven targets, the seven tests I called them, you downed six of them without failure; Bon Bon, then Snowflake the Muscle and thankfully I am glad he's gone, followed by the team of Sea Swirl the Mad and Melody the Tempest, then you took out Apple Fritter, one of Applejack's cousins or something like that, and then, last but not least, you took out that Cranky Donkey that Pinkie Pie was obsessed with."

"But that is only six," Red countered, hoping his employer wouldn't get mad at his interruption, "I finished off that irritable Berry Punch last night."

"Here you go Lady Artemis," Joe said, placing a steaming cup in front of the mare.

"How much do I owe you Joe?" the mare asked, a pouch filled with coins being drawn out.

"Nothing my dear," the doughnut shack owner replied, "It is a pleasure to repay the debt that most ponies are ungrateful to repay on their own. Take care now."

"To answer your question I had already known you would not fail in dispatching the drunken mare," the mare continued, carefully starting again when Joe was gone, "Your next two targets, namely the first one, are proof that I have confidence in your abilities. Maybe one day we can persuade the Changeling Empire to be at peace, but that is for another day and another time. You must have more questions to ask me anyway."

"Who are you exactly?" Red asked, focusing on his own cup as not to draw attention to himself, "I heard Joe call you by the name Artemis, but who and what are you exactly?"

"My name, my true name for the moment, is insignificant," the mare replied, nearly making Red choke back his frustration, "suffice it to say that Joe was correct to call me 'Artemis', as in the name that Princess Luna once assumed during her nightly hunts. I am a huntress, the same as Luna used to be, only I have grown to resemble her more than the natural form I was given at birth. I am just a simple unicorn, but a unicorn who is blessed with the abilities that Luna once wielded. For now that will be all I will tell you about my past."

"What is at the end of this kidnapping and murdering streak?" Red inquired, thinking far down the road now.

"At the moment I am unsure of how to respond to that particular question," Artemis answered, using her magic to pick up her own cup and take a small drink from it, "but for know you must know that there will be a great amount of knowledge, both magical and personal, waiting for you at the end of all this. When this is over I will make it as if you never had any part in my plans and you can live a normal life without hearing from me again. Anything else?"

"Why me?" Red asked. "Why choose me over all the other ponies who could have done this job for you?"

"Your mind is unique," Artemis answered, very direct Red thought, "and I know you will do some good with what you will learn from all of this. If you'll excuse me I need to retire to my house and rest before another monster is loosed on Equestria that requires my attention."

Red stayed sitting as Artemis got up and began to walk in the direction he had come from earlier that morning, yet she stopped as she passed him.

"And if your wondering how to get Prince Blueblood I would suggest trying a party that he couldn't refuse to appear at," his employer commented, causing Red to raise an eyebrow, "Its called thinking outside the box. You should try doing that more often. I bet you would enjoy the fruits of your labors if you did."

And with that said his employer vanished as the first rays of the sun his the shack, almost as if she had been a vision created by his own mind. The good thing about meeting Artemis meant that Red wasn't losing his mind or slowly going insane from the strange lists that appeared in his mail. And better yet he knew exactly how to draw out Prince Blueblood without having to go all the way to his house in the rich sector. Red was actually beginning to like his employer more than he liked Princess Celestia.
> At the Gala
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The following morning, after his meeting with his mysterious employer, Red announced that he would be hosting a miniature gala at his own house for all on the guest list. That list included a vast variety of rich ponies throughout Canterlot, such as Photo Finish and Fancy Pants, and some of the self righteousness and self proclaimed royalty. One of the members that Red didn't include was the annoying Prince Blueblood, but if he knew that the Prince would arrive anyway. There was no way that Blueblood wasn't going to show up sooner or later.

Red was currently dressed up in a tuxedo, showing that he was prepared to have some fun while he waited for his target to arrive. He had several means to incapacitate his prey, everything from napkins with sleep agents to cocktails with a sleep pill ready to be put in. If Blueblood arrived then he wasn't going to walking out of the house ever again, that Red was going to ensure.

"Ah, here's our host," said a pegasus, one dressed up in a blue suit and had a dark blue mane, "I must thank you for including the Wonderbolts in your guest list Mister..?"

"Red Velvet," Red replied, putting a smile on for Soarin as he sipped some of his none alcoholic wine, "I couldn't leave the famous Wonderbolts out of a Gala, especially when they aren't going to be busy for a couple of weeks. Have a little fun and mingle with those who adore you, though I'm quite surprised that there isn't a lot of ponies running to get an autograph."

"I'm glad for it," Soarin excitedly said, offering Red a smile, "I'm used to the fans, but every once and a while it just gets so overwhelming it makes me glad I'm a pegasus. I just wait for a good moment to flex my wings and I'm gone like the wind, leaving them in awe all over again. I take it the guests are behaving themselves for once this time?"

"They are surprisingly calm," Red was really paying the majority of them no mind as he checked the pocket watch he had, Blueblood was running later than normal, "I guess that's to be expected when the Elements of Harmony aren't running around making a mess of everything on accident. Besides, this is the first time I've ever held a gala in my house, so I'm glad nothing is getting pulverized."

"You waiting for somepony to arrive?" Soarin asked, noticing the movement with the watch, "Excuse me for asking about something personal, but it's just that I've never seen a host check the time so often."

"It helps me keep track of the time to be honest," Red replied, his eyes moving to the doorway again, "but to be more honest I know the reputation of a certain prince who barges into parties, balls, and galas that he is not invited to. I'm merely making sure of the time and it seems like he's late to the party for once."

"I hope for Celestia's sake that he doesn't show for once." Soarin said, surprising Red just a bit by how the stallion sounded, "He ruined the last gala I attended and I hope that he doesn't ruin another one...I might have spoken too soon."

Sure enough the white coated unicorn stallion named Prince Blueblood entered Red's house, immediately causing the ponies around him to groan. As Soarin looked away from Red  the unicorn could not help but hide his smile, the prince had finally arrived as Red had planned it. Blueblood would make his way over to Red, at which point Red would give him something to drink and soon the stallion would be out of commission. Then when the gala was over Red would take the stallion to his hideout and finish his business.

"Ah, Master Red Velvet," Blueblood said, accepting a cup of wine from Red, "I must say, this 'gala', as you call it, is simply glorious. Maybe not the best gala I was invited to, but definitely not the worst one I've been to."

Red really hated the stallion, he just wanted to grab the sword that hung above his fireplace and run it's sharpened edge straight through Blueblood. While he was certain that many ponies would thank him for the service he would end up in jail for doing him in in public. He blocked the stallion's mindless noise as he waited for the drug to kick in, which would allow him to get rid of the pony forever.

Spitfire was surprised, the vile Blueblood was actually late for a gala that he wasn't invited to. She would know, almost everypony knew that nopony in their right mind would include Blueblood on the guest list. She knew what was coming the moment the stallion walked through the door to Red's house; the end of the gala.

Come on Soarin," she called, heading for the door herself, "Let's blow this joint."

Red couldn't blame most ponies who ended up leaving, which was the vast majority of his guests. Blueblood had the reputation for ruining anything he came into contact with and Red was glad he finally had a chance to deal with him. His employer, the mysterious Artemis, had given him the best target he could have asked for, though he still wondered why he was doing it when she was the huntress.

"Hic...where's everypony going?" Blueblood was drunk, which was nice since Red had thrown in more then just the sleep agent into the cocktail he had given the stallion, "hic...the party...hic...just started..."

Red looked around and, for once glad that nopony was around them at the moment, took out his napkin and placed it over Blueblood's muzzle. Within seconds of breathing in the drugged air the stallion was out cold, allowing Red to finally discard his tuxedo and make his way towards his basement. He levitated the sleeping pony down to the hidden floor nopony else, excluding his employer again, knew about, locking the door behind him.

Once on the lowest floor he stepped up to a circular stone gateway he had been given by some moving company at night a few weeks ago. At the time he had wondered who had shipped him such a strange contraption, but know he knew what it did and who must have sent it to him. He stepped through the archway and he appeared in the same forgotten area where he stashed his targets until he cut them up. He just dragged Blueblood along, the stallion would wake up in a hour or two and he wanted to prepared for when the drugs wore off.

Oh how he loved being the employee of a huntress that gave him targets that everypony else hated or barely noticed in their everyday lives. He could kill and almost nopony knew it was happening right under their noses. Blueblood was in for one long night, that much Red was sure of.
> UnFORTUNATE End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Red approached the table where he retrained his victims and threw the unconscious Blueblood onto it, smiling to himself in complete pleasure. He locked the stallion's hooves up tight, making sure that they were almost unmovable for when his 'guest' woke up. As he started to move away he noticed that Blueblood had carried a saddlebag with him to his party, so Red smiled and ripped it off as he remembered one other thing. He plucked a metal band off the shelf and slipped it onto Blueblood's horn, blocking the magic so he couldn't escape later on.

Seeing how he had an hour or two before the stallion woke up Red walked over to his table, tore open the saddlebag and dumped the contents out onto the waiting woodwork. He noticed some expected items, such as a handkerchief, a tin filled mints or drugs to knock out unsuspecting mares, and the key to his house. What he hadn't expected to find was a letter directed to Blueblood, a leather bound book, and a real shocker, a jewel encrusted scabbard with a sword. Red drew the blade and was equally surprised to find that runes rested on the blade and even more surprised to find that the blade's edge was still sharp.

He had two questions; what was the foolish noble stallion doing with such a weapon in his possession? And where had he even acquired the weapon?

Red sheathed the sword and looked back at the wall that Blueblood would first see when he woke up, wondering if he had a place for such a weapon. The old castle of the Alicorn Sisters was abandoned by everypony, not even Twilight and her friends came around here anymore. The mystic known as Zecora stopped coming around when she had discovered that it was haunted by some unnatural spirits, but those were tricks on Red's part. He had a dozen places to hide the sword, so even if a pony wandered into the ruins he had no fear of them finding the weapon or his torture chamber.

Setting the sword aside Red picked up the letter addressed to Blueblood and opened it, his eyes skimming the first line before stopping.

Dear Blueblood,

I am aware of your tendency to throw away letters from anypony you don't wish to hear from, but let me make this frankly clear with you; this letter will remain attached to you until you have read the entire letter. It will also remain on your body until the meeting is finished. Your probably asking yourself this question; what meeting is this pony referring to? Well, since I am already laughing at you I will tell you what you likely have forgotten.

The Nexus Council will be meeting with Princess Celestia on Monday morning, just before the official time for the Day Court to start. We will be discussing the fact that ponies are mysteriously disappearing from across Equestria and the possibility that we might be dealing with an uprising. It is possible that another of the alicorn princesses, which one shall remain nameless in my letter, is plotting to take the throne from your Aunt Celestia. Or it could be a rebel unicorn who has acquired a mysterious magic that can stand up to her.

My point is that you shall come to the meeting on Monday and the letter shall force you to do so until the meeting is finished. The only possible way for you not to attend the meeting is to be dead, but I'm sure that death is the dumbest plan you could ever think of. Attend the meeting for we will come looking for you.

Sincerely,

Director Fury of the Nexus

The Nexus? The name didn't ring any bells in Red's head. And the pony, the one named Fury, was also unfamiliar to him as well. Somepony was commanding Blueblood to come to a meeting, but he would be disappointed to find that the 'Prince' would not be able to make it. Red was going to enjoy destroying the stallion when he woke up.

Red tossed the letter into his empty fireplace and placed some wood on it, wondering if there was an enchantment to prevent it from burning up. He chuckled and threw a spark onto the small pile, watching the wood slowly catching fire as he returned to the book he had found. By the looks of it the book was in fairly new condition, as if it had just been published and bought by Blueblood immediately. The name, however, gave Red the idea that Blueblood was beginning to train for a possible war, the same the mysterious Fury had mentioned.

The book was all about the weapons of the old world leaders, such as the spear Celestia used to use, Luna's sword, and the halberd of Discord. Weapons that were thought to be lost. There were countless others in the world, but the book also covered items of power that were thought to be destroyed, such as the Alicorn Amulet. Red chuckled as he read a couple of the entries, he knew that several of the items still existed and had heard several of the stories from Celestia.

Time slowly passed for Red, but every so often he would check on the letter and found that there was an enchantment to prevent the letter from burning. However, the level of the enchantment was very weak, and a corner of the letter had begun burning just half an hour after being in the fire. By the time two hours had passed nearly the entire letter had been destroyed, the last fragments crumpling as he turned towards Blueblood.

"Ugh... where am I?" the stallion asked, slowly opening his eyes to the area around him.

"Nowhere in particular," Red answered, showing his back to the stallion as he began to select his instruments that he would use, "Even I were to tell you where we were you would never figure out how to get home if I let you escape."

"I know you," Blueblood growled, "Red Velvet. Your the traitor that Fury warned me about. I should grab my sword and run you through."

"Go ahead, I ain't stopping you." Red knew that the prince's fate was already sealed, he just wanted to mess with the stallion before he killed him.

Blueblood activated his horn and reached for his saddlebag when he realized two things; his horn was not working and his saddlebag was missing. Somehow Red had discovered the method for restricting a unicorn's magic and had done it to him. And the stallion had snatched his bag, which meant that it was laying somewhere and Red had likely gone through every item he had...his sword. Blueblood had carried a weapon and now he had passed it into the traitors hooves, giving him another weapon to use against Celestia.

"I take it your planning a rebellion against the Princesses?" Blueblood asked, hanging his head low as he spoke, "To start a war that will likely destroy the whole of Equestria?"

"Nope," Red said, likely surprising the stallion as he grabbed a hammer, "I'm just doing my job. And what is my job you might ask? I get to take care of the annoying ponies whose names appear in my mailbox. Your name, my prince, has appeared at long last."

"So what, your going to kill me?" Blueblood swallowed, fear creeping into his heart.

"That's the end game plan," Red admitted, turning on the restricted stallion while he swung his hammer around, "but first I have some questions that need to be answered. If you don't answer them I will begin torturing you until you sing, and I promise you that I have some things that you are deserving of right now. My first question is simple; where did you acquire such a weapon?"

"The weapon was in an antiques store," Blueblood spat, "I bought it because I recognized the magic it held. It's not as powerful or well known as Celestia's spear or Luna's sword, but it is somewhere in that book of mine."

"The Nexus," Red asked, spinning the hammer for a second, "Who are they and who is their leader?"

"I don't know who or what your talking about."

Red swung the hammer and smashed Blueblood's back left leg, breaking the bone and causing him to scream in agony. The pain of breaking something always gave ponies what they wanted from their victims, so Red was expecting the stallion to come clean.

"They are a secret group who operate in the shadows," Blueblood spat, both words and blood this time, "They serve Aunt Celestia and act as her intelligence group, informing her of any dangers before her guards or her student catch wind of them. Their director is a stallion known only by the name of Fury. I have never met him and even if I did I doubt I remember what he would look like."

"Do you know what a Runestone is?" Red asked, simply for his own curiosity.

"A Runestone?" Blueblood chuckled, the word was familiar, but he would not let the stallion know he knew of the mythical stones, "Never heard of such a thing."

"Then why did you speak it's name as if you did know of it?"

Blueblood was trapped; the stallion knew that he knew about the stones. And for lying he received another blow to his leg, only this time Red broke the bone in his back right leg.

"I know of the mythical stones," he spat, coughing as he stared at Red, "Why do you ask me about such things?"

"Look up above me," Red said, turning to look at the back wall, "I'm quite sure you'll recognize what's there."

Blueblood was surprised; resting in the center of the wall was a circular stone with a light blue rune blazing in it's own center. It was one of the eight left in existence. Where had Red acquired such a stone?

"I came across this stone when I first explored these ruins," Red explained, switching the hammer for the sword he had found, "I have found that it allows the blood of my victims to gather in one spot, so I don't have to worry about cleaning up the mess myself. Directly below us is a lake, a lake now tainted by the Runestone and the blood of my victims."

"The Blood Rune," Blueblood spoke the word with dread, it was the worst stone of the eight, "What are you doing with that sword?"

"Oh this?" Red said, pressing the tip against Blueblood's chest, "I'm going to use the weapon you brought with you against you. I had time to read a couple of pages in the book and I recognized this one immediately; its known for the bloodstones in it's hilt. The Blood Sword, Blunmur it is called."

Before Blueblood could respond Red drove the blade straight through his heart, cutting off whatever response he was going to give him. He cut open Blueblood's chest as he pulled the sword out and let the blood drain out, watching it gather in the drainage area of the room he had carved out. Before he moved he also watched the blood drip off the blade and join the rest, leaving the weapon cleaner than before. Red sheathed the sword and smiled, he was glad to be rid of one more annoying pony.
> The Other Meeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

~The next day, Canterlot Courtroom, before dawn~

Princess Celestia was tired, it was going to be another dull and boring day of nobles and builders looking to get her permission to purchase new land or build houses in new locations. It was always the same with them, so sometimes she would drown out their voices and went to her daydreams until it was time for her to make a decision. She found that thanks to the strange kidnappings she couldn't daydream very often and had to actually listen to every report that came her way. But the more reports she listened to one confirmed the few facts that she knew.

They didn't know who was kidnapping other ponies, how he or she managed to get them out of sight without being noticed, and why hadn't any bodies turned up yet.

Celestia had thought to enlist the help of Twilight Sparkle, her faithful student, and her friends with the intent of using the situation as a test. But where she had been prepared to immediately appear before any of the foes that could have defeated the Elements she couldn't do this to them. She couldn't have the six of them go out and start searching for the mysterious pony responsible for everything that was happening, not without one or more of them seriously getting hurt.

"I see you have finally seen things the way I told you you should see them."

Princess Celestia looked up, she hadn't been expecting any pony to appear in the courtroom until it was time for her court to officially open. Yet there stood a stallion, one dressed up in a black cloak and wearing an eye patch over his left eye. As she watched him she was amazed that there were at least four ponies, each wearing a hood and cloak, following the stallion into the room. The stallion stopped in the center of the room, his back covered by the four, who had taken to being separated so every angle was covered.

"Director Fury," Celestia said, surprised the stallion had come out of the shadows to see her, "I was not expecting you to arrive until later today."

"Any later and we might have another pony napped under our noses," the stallion, Fury, stated, "Forgive me for sounding disrespectful, but what are the chances that a member of the Royal Guard or your personal staff are the ones responsible for the disappearances?"

"Slim to none," Celestia replied, shaking her head as she dismissed the notion, "I have screened all my guards and personal staff before they are even permitted to join either one and I have not yet come across anypony who would do this."

"Then perhaps it is a matter of your sister's choices," Fury continued, "I am very aware of the ice I am currently stepping on, but what are the chances that Princess Luna could be staging another rebellion against you?"

"There none Fury," Celestia said, her mind torn by the thought of Luna leading another rebellion to take her out and she dismissed the idea with haste, "She has been returned to normal by my student and now she has friends. She knows that there are ponies who love her nights and she accepts that we equally rule Equestria. Why would you consider her a threat to everypony?"

"You misunderstand me," Fury commented, making the Solar Princess's eyes tear up slightly, "I never said I considered her a threat to the nation, I only asked if there was a chance that she could be behind all of this...madness. I have bad news to report though; I sent a letter to Prince Blueblood earlier and explained that he would come to this meeting. He could not tear the letter apart, nor could he set it on fire with his level of magic, but there is something strange at work here."

"He's gone," Celestia guessed, receiving a nod from the stallion, "Where did he go?"

"That's the thing," Fury sighed, looking straight into Celestia's eyes before continuing, "He was attending a party last night, likely so he could get wasted and forget about the entire meeting, but the guests said he had left as soon as everypony else had left. Yet now we can't find him or the traces of the letter. Something powerful, like an alicorn such as yourself or Princess Luna, is interfering with our searches.

The only variable that doesn't make sense is that Changeling that Lady Artemis brought in a few days ago."

Celestia's ears perked up; she knew the name all too well. Over a thousand years ago, when she and her sister were far younger and played a lot, Luna had taken to hunting for fun and soon called the persona Artemis. A huntress that tended to ease tension by bringing something to Celestia whenever she needed it.

"Question the Changeling," Celestia said, her mind wandering again, "I need to think about things while the court is in cession."

"Very well Princess," Fury said, bowing slightly to Celestia before turning to the four behind him, "By the way, the Nexus will be keeping tabs on those we suspect that might be involved in this mystery. Let's move Council."

Celestia watched the five ponies exit the room, magic making their footsteps fade away into nothing as if they had never been there to begin with. It was simple magic, executed by the director of the shady network known as the Nexus with perfect timing. She had her own network that would keep tabs on whoever was suspected of aiding the disappearance of ponies. She only hoped that her sister wasn't caught up in it at all, otherwise it could literally mean all out war all over again.
> The Changeling
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Deep in the Canterlot dungeons, below the stone streets of Canterlot Castle, were dozens upon dozens of jail cells that all sorts of criminals were housed in. Guarded by a series of numerous twists and turns so if any of the inmates ever escaped from their cells they would be lost for hours on end. Only the Guards and the Princesses themselves knew the exact layout of the dungeon and the tunnels, giving them the advantage over the inmates.

One of those inmates was a recently wounded Changeling, one who had been shot through her side by the annoying hunter known as Lady Artemis. She was irritated, she had been on a mission for her hive and she had been caught by the Canterlot hounds along the way to her destination. She was a scout, one trained to run fast and get the intelligence she needed so she could report to the higher ups, but that wasn't going to happen now.

And Faust damn it her side was burning again.

"Could I get an aspirin and some damn water please?" she whined, her side itching and it was bugging the living Tartarus out of her, "My side is bucking killing me."

"Shut up already," a guard shouted, banging the iron door before returning to his post, "You've dealt with the pain for the last few days and you can deal with it until your executed."

"Oh come on, I'm asking politely," she continued to whine, "and I've only been able to deal with the pain since I've been given as aspirin every now and then. Seriously, this wound of mine is killing me."

"And I said to shut up," the guard, who turned out to be a unicorn, shouted as he brought her up against the bars forcefully, "You were given aspirin for three days and the would has healed up by now. Get over your 'wound' and return to being what you truly are, a prisoner locked deep beneath Canterlot Castle."

"She's just trying to hypnotize you," the other guard said, not even bothering to look at his partner, "Leave her and her 'wound' alone. We've got bigger prisoners to worry about."

The Changeling curled up in the corner of her cell and closed her eyes. Sometimes she wondered if the ponies she wanted to be around weren't so different than her Queen, mean and annoying to everypony else. Before she knew it she drifted off into sleep, as deep of a sleep as she could with the throbbing ache from her wound.

~Four hours later~

The hours had passed slowly for the Changeling, so slowly that she had drifted in and out of sleep several times while waiting for somepony to come talk to her. She had been waiting in the dungeons for days now and still not one pony, other than the guards themselves, had talked to her. The guards were supposed to give her an aspirin every now and then, but they had opted to ignore her and their duty to her...why was there a shadow in the doorway to her cell?

"Good, I see your awake at last," the pony said, though by the tone of the voice she recognized the pony as a stallion, "That wound must be troubling you still. I will have my agents bring an aspirin and some water right away."

"You have no right to give her anything," one of the guards, the same one from earlier, shouted as he entered the cell, "She is a prisoner who deserves nothing. I shall have you detained immediately."

Before either the Changeling or the guard could react the stallion tossed the guard against the wall, pinning him to the wall with magic.

"I have been ordered by Princess Celestia to talk to this young Changeling," the stallion countered calmly, another pony entering the cell carrying a cup of water and a pill, "I cannot do that while she's in pain and cannot focus her mind. Your lucky if I don't report your actions to the Princess and have you two transferred to another department, saw bathroom cleaning for the next several years.

Now get out before I 'have you detained.'"

The Changeling gave the stallion a small smile as the guards shuffled out of the cell, leaving her with the two mysterious ponies. The stallion nodded and the other pony gave her the pill and water, giving her some relief from the wound on her side. The second pony returned to the outside of the cell and waited there, apparently watching for anymore guards and the like.

The stallion was wearing a black cloak and an eye patch over his left eye, meaning he had served in the Royal Guard at some point and had lost his eye at some point during his service. He was also bald, which meant that he had done away with his mane in favor of speed and the like.

"Your eyes are energized," the stallion commented, "Let us start at the beginning. My name is Fury, I am the Director of a network known as the Nexus. The pony you just met is one of my agents. We serve Princess Celestia from the shadows, never being seen by those we wish to hide from. Now, what can you tell me about yourself?"

"Umm...not too much really," the Changeling replied, shaking her head to the side, "In my mind I like to think I'm on a mission for the hive, but in reality I'm just a Changeling that has left her hive behind. I'm an ex-scout, just a nobody in the hive that the Queen loves to torment every now and then. I have no name, no rank, and barely enough love to last me until my execution date. I'll be dead before that day happens."

"You must have some sort of name," Fury questioned, "like the name of the form you take the most often or the one you hold in the highest regard."

"There was one form I used a few years back," she answered, "I was lost and was taken in by a mare by the name of Bonbon, who treated me and helped me heal some of my wounds. I had been wandering through the Everfree Forest before I had met her, so you could imagine what types of wounds I could accumulate from being there. I was disguised as a simple light green coated unicorn with a cherry colored mane and tail. My cutie mark was supposed to resemble cherry taffy, something I made while I stayed with her. Wild Cherry I was called, a sister of Bonbon's from out of town."

"Would you feel comfortable taking the form again?"

She stared the stallion in the eyes and wondered if he was actually going to let her take the old form. It could have been a trick, but without much to go on she decided it was worth a shot. She closed her eyes and let her magic take over, changing her from a black coated Changeling into a light green coated unicorn. Seconds later her mane and tail, cherry colored, sprung to life as her cutie mark returned to her flank. The only similarity between her forms was her light blue eyes, the one thing that she took from one form to another.

"So, you go by the name of Wild Cherry in this form?" the stallion asked, receiving a nod from the already scared Changeling, "I took a look through Bonbon's family records a few weeks ago and found a mention of one unicorn by that name, which was odd since there isn't much on the pony anywhere else. She included you in her family tree, which meant she literally thought of you as her sister. I regret to inform you that somepony kidnapped her a week or two ago and we have yet to find her since. We believe that she, and the other kidnapped ponies, are already dead and we don't know whose next."

"Somepony killed Bonbon?" Cherry asked, receiving a nod from the stallion, "What about Lyra? Is she still okay?"

"Lyra Heartstrings is fine," Fury answered, "After Bonbon went missing she took over the candy shop and has been running it ever since. I take it you would like to see her again?"

"I would love to." Cherry replied, "But I want to help you guys track down the one whose been kidnapping ponies. Do you have any suspects?"

"I will pull some strings to get you out of here, but we do have one suspect," Fury said, "If you are released you will help us find and bring him to justice. After that your free to live your life as you see fit. The suspects name is Red Velvet."
> Recon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Red stepped off the train he had been riding for the last hour and looked at the station of Ponyville, a frown slightly appearing on his face. If he had a chance he would force Filthy Rich to write a will leaving half his fortune to his daughter, the little punkess by the name of Diamond Tiara, and the other half would go to the town itself. Maybe the Mayor would see it as a sign to improve the town just a bit and repaint some of the worn buildings that needed it.

He shook his head before looking for the hotel, that wasn't why he had traveled all the way from Canterlot to this nearly nameless town in the first place. Sure he had been here several times before, but that was when he was doing recon on the targets he had been given by the mysterious Lady Artemis. Now he was here, just one day after doing in Prince Blueblood, doing recon on Filthy Rich so he could best plan out his abduction. Not an easy feat in a town that seems to have a silent guardian, one mare named Pinkie Pie, but she hadn't stopped him before so he really didn't have to worry.

His mind returned to the strange mare he had seen on the train, the light green coated wild cherry color maned mare that had been staring at him the entire time. He had been reading a newspaper during the train ride, but when he had put it down he had noticed the mare staring at him in the window. Her eyes, eyes that seemed to be full with intense hatred, seemed to be focused on him and only him, as if she had been ignoring the other passengers. He turned his head just a bit and noticed her again, deboarding the train with her eyes still on him.

Something was wrong with that mare and he hoped that she would leave him alone soon.

~

Cherry had originally been surprised when Fury had told her that the Nexus had a suspect in the kidnappings and disappearances, one who was closely tied into Princess Celestia's work. The stallion, Red Velvet she had learned, was supposed to be Celestia's adviser, one of the few that could give the Sun Goddess any advice. As Fury explained the situation it seemed that Red could have used the position to erase any trace of him and throw the chase in the wrong direction.

She was also surprised at how fast the director of the shady organization had pulled the strings and had acquired the necessary paperwork for her to fit in anywhere. It was almost as if he had been expecting her to say yes and had previously prepared the paperwork before coming to her. All she had to do was say yes and he would have finished the paperwork with her new name, her cutie mark, her occupation, and any loose papers she might need.

The director, her new boss as it were, seemed to be well prepared in this line of work.

The stallion had been easy to track, seeing how he had barely left his house since the previous night and was only now doing anything different. All she had to do was follow him closely, record any of his actions, and, if it were come to pass, intercept him if he attempted to abduct anypony. It sounded like an easy job to her, but considering her mark was a master of magic that meant she needed to not use her own magic to follow him. She needed to use stealth and the shadows to her advantage, which meant she would be waiting until nighttime before she really did anything.

Right now he was currently heading for what looked like the hotel, likely to check out a room so he could isolate himself before nighttime arrived. If Cherry had been in the stallion's position she would almost do the same thing, the only difference would be that she would go out and make sure she got the stallion's routine correct. One little error and he would have to wait for the next night to grab whoever his target was, that was considering he was really the one kidnapping ponies.

Cherry watched the stallion for a few minutes, following him closely as he weaved his way throughout the streets of Ponyville, dodging other ponies and their stalls. He didn't seem like the type who bothered to make friends, as if he would rather avoid others whenever possible. Eventually he entered the hotel and vanished from her sight, leaving her to head to the one place she needed to visit. She needed to visit Lyra and see if she could even stay the night.

~

Red entered the hotel and approached the clerk, a fat brown coated stallion who barely looked up at him as he stopped in front of the desk. He quickly paid for his room and went upstairs, fully expecting the mare from earlier to come bursting through the door and order a room as well. He glanced back once and watched her continue down the street, leaving him to wonder why he suspected her of bad intentions in the first place.

Upon entering his room he locked the door and soundproofed the room, making it so nopony could hear any noise that would be going on in the room. He had diagrams to pour over and maps to scribble on as he made sure Filthy Rich used the same route tonight. If he did then he would grab him and head directly towards the makeshift gateway hidden in a shack on the edge of the Everfree Forest. If not then he would rethink his plan and grab him at a later time, hopefully before a couple more days had passed.

~

Cherry stopped at the door of an all too familiar house, the very same house she had stayed in for a few weeks a few years ago. This house was the very house of one Lyra Heartstrings and Bonbon, her dearest sister and one of her closest friends in all of Equestria. She prepared to knock on the door and stopped herself, wondering what Lyra would say if she suddenly appeared on her doorstep out of the blue. She didn't even know if Lyra would even want to see her after she had mysteriously vanished one night over three years ago.

Cherry made up her mind and prepared to knock as the door opened to reveal a surprised mint coated unicorn mare staring her in the face. Lyra had been the same as she had last seen her; a light greenish colored mane with a white streak, yellow eyes, and the familiar lyre cutie mark. Basically she looked the exact same as she had been over three years ago, only she looked more mature now.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" Lyra asked, shaking her head as she stared at the familiar mare standing on the other side of the doorway, "Wild Cherry?"

"Yeah, it's me Lyra," Cherry answered, offering the mare a smile.

Cherry found herself suddenly being hugged by the mare, who was now holding her tight with her front hooves wrapped around her. She hadn't expected the mare to suddenly hug her, but seeing how it was better than what she had been expecting she sighed and returned the gesture. For a minute they stayed like that before Lyra broke it and backed up, tears rolling down her face.

"Please, come in," Lyra said, beckoning to her as she entered the house.

The house's interior was the same as it had been three years; spacious with a couch, a kitchen fully stocked with all sorts of food, a bathroom, and three bedrooms on the second story. Lyra locked the door and drew the curtains in, leaving them in a darker room. Cherry expected something, but seeing how she had been surprised before she figured anything could happen.

"I take it you heard about Bonbon?"

Cherry had expected the question to rise until later on, after Lyra had made sure that she was actually Wild Cherry and that nopony was messing with her. Still, it caught her off guard and left her standing there wide eyed for a few seconds before she regained herself.

"I did," she responded, sighing as she dropped her only bag on the floor, "I had heard that ponies were disappearing at random from both Canterlot and Ponyville. I had hoped that Bonbon would have been left alone, but you should have seen me when I heard that my own sister had been kidnapped. Sure, I hadn't spoken to her in a few years, seeing how I was busy with work and might have missed her letters, but I literally freaked when I heard the news.

So I decided to come back to Ponyville and see if I could help the officials search for her and any of the other missing ponies. I wanted to make sure that the heartless pony, be they stallion or mare, responsible for this was brought to justice before everypony. Not so I could get revenge on them for kidnapping one of my family, but so everypony could rest easy knowing the monster was taken care of."

"Where were you for the last three years?" Lyra cried, tears running freely as she sat on the couch, "One night, during the Summer Sun Celebration, Nightmare Moon just suddenly appears out of nowhere and you vanish without a trace the following day. We looked everywhere for you, including the dreaded Everfree, and yet we couldn't find you. Where were you?"

"You were bound to find out anyway, I had just hoped it wouldn't be like this." Cherry said, her guise falling to reveal her Changeling side, "My 'Queen', as Chrysalis loves to call herself, found me shortly after Nightmare Moon was defeated and Princess Luna was restored to her former glory. I had already separated myself from the hive mind thanks to being away for so many months, the same months I stayed with the two of you.

After some threats to expose me to the rest of Ponyville, which would have lead to the town chasing you guys and myself out, I gave her what she wanted and left. For three long years I toiled away, giving her whatever information she wanted, making up whatever I didn't know so she would forget all about me. I made up lies in the hopes that she would be forced out into the open and the kingdom would break, giving me an opportunity to leave again.

Then the royal wedding happened and the hive was scattered across the whole of Equestria, blowing my 'family' to who knows where. I landed in Manehatten of all places, so I quickly got a job and stayed low for a while, hoping that I would see news of some kind from the others. After a year of waiting I decided to move back here, so I packed a small bag and made my way here on hoof. I was stopped by one Lady Artemis, who shot me in the side and locked me in a dungeon for being around in my natural form. I was offered out of there by a stallion by the name of Fury, a strange stallion who I swear must have served in the guard at some time in his life."

"Did Bonbon know that you were a Changeling?" Lyra asked, her tears appearing to have finally stopped.

"She found me in my Changeling form after I had wandered through the Everfree," Cherry explained, igniting her magic so she held the form she was familiar with, "She took me in, helped me heal my wounds, and taught me a couple of things about candy making. That was when I learned that I had a talent for making taffy, or to be more specific the cherry flavored taffy that you likely ate several times while i was here. Though I'm still surprised that she didn't tell you about me herself."

"There's a lot of stuff she didn't tell me," Lyra chuckled, "I take it you'll be needing a place to stay for while your in town, hunting the kidnapper?"

"Lyra, I came back to stay for as long as you'll have me," Cherry laughed, a smile appeared on the mare's face and seemed to brighten her spirits, "Though it seems I might have missed more than I bargained for. You need to tell me what I have missed for the last three years. Something tells me I might have missed something very important."

Lyra smiled again and Cherry was glad that she was accepting her back with open hooves, which was more than she could have asked for. Right now she was going to figure out what she had missed, then she was going to find whoever had kidnapped her sister and bring them to justice. Sounded easy, but she knew things were never easy these days.
> Night Route
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Nighttime, the time of the day when the sky was dark and the majority of the ponies were sound asleep, was the best time for anypony to strike out at whoever was wandering the streets alone. Red looked out from an alleyway and smiled as he noticed his prey, the stallion Filthy Rich, approaching from a safe distance. He drew back into the shadows and kept his cloak close, waiting for his target to pass him by before making his move.

During the nighttime Filthy Rich would make his way all around Ponyville, the original starting point being his house and the end point being the same. He would zigzag across the town, stopping at random stores on the same street every night, until he returned to his house after two hours. His first stop was the same every night, Sugarcube Corner so he could grab some coffee and a treat to keep him going before the store actually closed. After that he would go to any store that he felt like visiting, as long as it fell into place with his nightly route.

An hour had already passed and currently Filthy Rich was passing by the Golden Oaks Library, the tree that housed the home of Twilight Sparkle. He paused at the door, as if he wanted to knock and ask Twilight something, but he shook his head and continued onward. Red smiled and followed the stallion silently, his cloak making no noise as it blew in the wind. Spells had some useful abilities that a unicorn could use if they combined them correctly, but some felt that combining spells was dangerous. Red wasn't like most unicorns, he was dangerous and he was going to show the others exactly what he was capable of.

Red was a very patient pony and that night tested his mettle was he witnessed a second pony pass by Filthy Rich, ruining his perfect shot at getting the stallion. It wasn't the best idea to knock out another pony who might witness his actions and report him to the authorities, which is why he waited. If he timed it just right he would inject the knockout liquid into his target as he passed by and he could proceed with his mission.

Cherry was also patient, which had come from her training under the Changeling Guard, and she had a thing for staying in the shadows when she didn't want to be seen. Right now she was watching the stallion from at least a block away, keeping tabs on him in case he decided to strike out against somepony that night. She couldn't see much, but by the way the stallion was moving it made her think he had found a target and was waiting to strike.

Red smiled and darted out of his hiding place just as the second pony turned a corner and disappeared from his view. Before Filthy Rich could even realize what happened Red injected the liquid into his veins and watched as the stallion fell asleep. It was as simple as it usually was, now all he had to do as transfer his prey to his operating room and he could erase another name on his list.

Cherry was shocked, the stallion she was trailing was quicker then she had been expecting him to be, but she wouldn't let him get away. She ran forward to where the stallion had been and was surprised to find that there was nopony around anymore. Somehow Red had vanished from the area without so much as a puff of smoke to indicate his disappearance, but something else was weird. The pony that Red, and effectively Cherry as well, had been following was also gone, vanished from the area.

Red watched the mare from a different alleyway, making sure that she couldn't see both him and the unconscious Filthy Rich. Apparently he had been correct in his assumption that he had a tail, somepony that wanted to be sure of what he was going and likely catch him if they suspected him of some crime. As far as he knew Princess Celestia hadn't assigned any patrols to the area of Ponyville, nor had Princess Luna, which meant that somepony else was hunting him down. He already had his target, but seeing this other mare he wondered if he should take her down now and wring her out of existence.

Red silenced his breath as the mare neared his location, allowing the mare to get closer so he could get rid of her easily. Magic would be a bad idea, he knew, since Twilight Sparkle was no more than a few minutes away from his location. If he used any explosive magic it would alert everypony in the town and he would never be able to get away before somepony saw him.

"I know your still here," Cherry called out, hoping she didn't wake somepony up, "Come on out before I get you."

Red shook his head and used the shadows to leave the alleyway he was in, leaving a confused and distraught Wild Cherry behind. He wasn't in the mood for dealing with a mare that wanted to find him right now, but he knew that she had to be dealt with in due time. His employer would need to know that somepony was hunting him and maybe she could pull some strings to figure out who the mare was. And maybe she would tell him that the mare would be added to the list of ponies he had to take care of.

Cherry sighed, the stallion was gone and so was the pony he had been following. She was going to have to report the suspicion to her boss as soon as she got the chance. First things first though, she was going to scout out his house later on and see if she could find anything that would tell her if Red was the one. After all, what fun was there in being a Changeling if you couldn't steal intelligence and report back to your superior?
> Ransacking
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cherry landed just outside the house of Red Velvet, the seemingly imposing fortress that the mad pony made his home while he was in Canterlot. Right now the stallion was taking the other stallion he had kidnapped, she believed he did anyway, to someplace where he could execute him without having to worry about somepony intruding on them. So it gave her the time to fly to Canterlot and search his house while he was away, so she didn't have to worry about the stallion returning so soon.

The house itself was surrounded by a small magical barrier that Cherry suspected was to prevent intruders from breaking in and discovering Red's secrets. Cherry wasn't without allies, considering that she was now a part of the Nexus, in a small way at the moment, she could call on some highly skilled magicians to breach something like this. She only hoped that Fury would be willing to send her some help, otherwise she was on her own when she decided to breach the barrier.

"Recruit Wild Cherry," a voice to her left said, a female unicorn appearing out of thin air right next to her, "Director Fury received a warning that there was somepony coming into Canterlot and sent me along to find out who or what it was. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was our newest recruit. I take it you discovered something about the target?"

"Y...yes I did." Cherry wasn't an easy changeling to sneak up on, but her magic skills were lacking in some aspects if one pony could actually sneak up on her. "I tracked him to a hut on the edge of the Everfree Forest, but when he entered the place he suddenly disappeared into thin air. He took his target, one Filthy Rich if my memory serves me, with him to wherever his hideout is located. I decided that, since I cannot follow him to wherever he disappeared to, I should raid his house and search for some clues as to who his employer is or why he's doing this."

"And you need some help to dispel his protective barrier." the mare continued, studying the barrier in interest, "I was ordered to assist you in any manner you or I deem fit while you hunt the monster behind these attacks down. So, want to tear down this barrier?"

"I would love to miss...?" Cherry asked, trying to understand who her new partner was.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," the mare blushed, as if she was ashamed of forgetting to introduce herself, "My name is Written Quill, Cadet of the Nexus, and personal errand pony for the Director."

"Errand Pony?" Cherry asked, the notion of a pony running normal errands for the fierce but kind Director Fury confusing her, "That doesn't make a lot of sense. Why would the Director need an errand pony?"

"Maybe I wasn't clear on my duties," Written continued, still staring down the barrier as if she was thinking on which spell to use, "I do some of the things that the Director wouldn't normally do, like creep around the unsuspecting neighborhood and knock some thugs out before they did harm to Princess Celestia's daytime rule."

"So basically you snuff out those who oppose your pretty princess," Cherry snapped, wondering if it was the best move to insult the princess that the Nexus served in the shadows.

"She's your 'pretty princess' too you know," Written replied, chuckling as Cherry faced the other direction, "and in a sense I do 'snuff out' those who oppose Princess Celestia. Now, if we could return to the matter at hoof, I believe we have a barrier that needs to be eradicated."

Cherry looked back in time to see Written's horn light up and the barrier shimmed in the night light before cracking wide open in front of them. Somehow the unicorn had pierced the shield of what Cherry believed to be the arch mage of Celestia's schools and councils, which meant that something was wrong. Cherry was beginning to believe she had underestimated the stallion she had hunted for a single day and had briefly lost.

"An interesting spell," Written commented, tilting her head to the side as the two advanced into the courtyard of Red's house, "It seems that while Red is an experienced user of the arcane arts he is arrogant that the protection of such a barrier is enough to protect him. Now, let's see what our prey has to hide from us and the Nexus."

The door to Red's house was also magically locked, but while the barrier went down within ten minutes the door was unlocked in a minute. Red was definitely not thinking straight if they could pass by two of his barriers under fifteen minutes, which would have given the stallion time to prepare for their arrival if he had been home. But Red wasn't home, giving Written and Cherry the opportunity to see what he had stashed away.

"So what do Changelings do when they infiltrate an enemies lair?" Written asked, locking the door behind them with a charm in case another high level unicorn noticed the breach and came to investigate.

Cherry sighed and assumed her natural form, shaking her wings a bit before she lit the room with a light green that most changelings used.

"We usually light the area like so," Cherry replied, opening a door to find a study room, "If we are presented with a locked door we simply pull out our enchanted lockpicks and open the door the old fashioned way an ordinary thief would open the door. Once in a room we take a quick inventory of what lies where so that way we can freely trash the room while the ponies are gone and restore it to normal as if nopony had been there in a hour or two.

Naturally we Changelings like to tear into whatever we can get our teeth and hooves on, such as knocking the books off the shelves or the items out of the cabinets. Sometimes, if the scout is desperately hungry, they will eat something, anything really, that will fill them just a bit to prevent them from collapsing on the job. Some fighters like to copy pictures of the family so they can track them down later on and beat the daylights out of them while others decide to present them to the Queen."

"So in essence you could learn who to replace by breaking into a house," Written commented, opening a desk to find some writing tools and some paper, "Which families you could invade and where they are stationed in the city or town. And Chrysalis makes the decisions on who does the swapping?"

"She is the Queen after all," Cherry sourly replied, turning over a bunch of books before returning them to normal, "She blackmailed me into coming back to the hive after I had been away for so long and now I find out that Bon Bon, my sister, has been abducted and murdered by this cowardly stallion. I am going to end Red's life if he is the one responsible for her death."

Written knew some of Cherry's past, the bits and pieces she managed to gleam from the profile that Director Fury had on all the possible recruits that could join the Nexus. She had been surprised to learn that he considered a Changeling, one that had been there in Canterlot during the invasion, as a new recruit. She, along with the other members of the Nexus, never doubted the orders or wishes of the Director, as strange as some of them seemed to be. But when dealing with such a strange foe and an unknown enemy picking off ponies one by one Written guessed that seeking help from one's own enemy might be the wisest course of action.

Besides, Cherry was more likeable then her Changeling brothers and sisters that insisted on making every other pony a love slave to the hive. She was friendly and was quite easy to amaze, but there was the venom she held towards Queen Chrysalis after so many years of being apart from her sister and best friend. Chrysalis had ruined her life, in a way, and now she was trying to piece what little of it was left thanks to the murderous pony the Nexus was dealing with. In a sense Cherry would have every right to do whatever she wanted to Red when this was said and done, as long as they got the traitor she suspected that Director fury wouldn't mind letting her vent her anger.

Her silent alarm charm went off in her head and she tackled Cherry to the ground, pinning her behind the old sofa that sat in the corner of the study.

"Have you..." Cherry began before her mouth was slammed shut and their lights were put out in a heart beat.

"Shh...we have company." Written quickly explained, which let Cherry know it was time to be stealthy and see who was following them.

They peered around the corner and watched the darkness of the hallway as the shadow of a pony appeared on the wall by the front door. They had accidentally left the door to the study open, so if it was Red returning home then they knew they were going to get caught before long. The shadow told them more about they're mystery guest, but all they learned was that the pony was a normal pony with a unicorn's horn. Then, just as the shadow grew closer to the open door Cherry caught the glimpse of the one pair she had hoped she would never have to see again.

Sticking her head through the doorway, with her bow drawn and a arrow readied for firing, was none other than the pony who had shot her in the side a few days ago; Lady Artemis.

The mare walked into the study, her eyes scanning the room as if she was searching for something, or somepony for that matter, that didn't belong. She noticed the tossed around papers left on the ground, a sure tell tale sign that the room had been searched already, and a frown adorned her face. The arrow glowed for a few seconds before she returned it to her quiver and swung the bow across her back, but her eyes never left the room.

Cherry watched the black cloaked mare, her still not fully healed wound aching as she remembered the arrow piercing her chitin armor with ease. Somehow Lady Artemis was in league with the rebellious Red Velvet, that much Cherry could definitely see, but there was something else. Red was skilled in magic, but they had breached his barriers with ease as if he expected somepony to try invading his privacy at some point. His partner, if he had one, was likely Lady Artemis, somepony who had money, resources, and possibly a hidden agenda of her own.

Minutes passed as Lady Artemis eventually moved on to what Cherry assumed was Red's kitchen, leaving the two mares alone at last. Cherry heard the noise of hooves hitting the floorboards until she could hear nothing else, but even the silence did nothing to ease the feeling that they weren't alone. Written looked like she was going to get up and see if their unexpected guest was still there, but Cherry shook her head and held her down.

"Are you insane?" Cherry whispered, keeping her eyes on the doorway, "Just because she left doesn't mean that we can be completely sure that we are in the clear yet."

"So then what do we do?" Written quietly asked, silently drawing a dagger from her belt.

"Simple," Cherry answered, recalling the layout of the study room with ease, "There are two doors to this area; the one we entered from and the one across the room from us. If Lady Artemis is waiting for us to come out of this room I expect her to be aiming for the open door, waiting for one of us to foolishly step out into the open. So we will silently walk to the other door, open it up silently, and sneak out into the hallway that she can't see so we can get away fast."

"There's supposed to be a door across from the study," Written told her, "It leads to the basement, so if there is anything that could incriminate Red Velvet in the murders it would be in the one place nopony would think to look."

"We will move in three...two...one...now."

Cherry sneaked around the couch to the second door and applied the lockpicks to the keyhole, beckoning to Written to keep a close eye on the opened door. She unlocked the door with ease and silently opened it, sticking her head out to see if the coast was clear and finding that there was nothing around them. She silently walked over to the basement door and began to pick the lock, allowing her partner to keep watch while she...opened the door without even using her picks?

"Prepare yourself," Cherry whispered, her horn barely lighting up in case the enemy was behind the door, "if the door is unlocked then that means that our guest unlocked it and forgot to lock it when she descended the stairs."

To their surprise there was nopony on the other side of the door, only the stairs that lead them down to the well kept basement. The entire area had been cleaned, scrubbed of any dirt and dust, while the tools and other pieces of gear were locked in place. To their continued surprise there stood a huge stone structure resting against the back end of the basement, energy rolling around it before disappearing into the symbols.

"I don't know where this...gateway...leads, but it can't be anywhere good," Written commented, eying the portal with caution, "I am going to call in Director Fury and see if we can get some backup here. If this leads to where Red keeps his victims then there might be a chance that we could save everypony he's taken over the last few weeks."

"Go on then," Cherry said, facing the gateway, "I'll go through and see what I can find out about the layout so we can do this quickly. Get us some backup."

Cherry and Written never heard the hoofsteps behind them as something whacked Written in the back of the head, knocking her out as Cherry looked back. She stared into Lady Artemis' eyes again before something hit her in her wound and the pain surged through her body, knocking her out in seconds. Lady Artemis smiled; she had some new targets that she wasn't expecting to find.

Red was going to be very pleased.
> The Truth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Red smiled to himself as he wiped the blood of the sword he had acquired from Prince Blueblood, very satisfied with the outcome of his latest killing. Filthy Rich had screamed for the entire hour he had been awake, not that Red really cared so much about it since he had scream proofed his ears. During the death of his latest target he had ransacked the pouch he had found and discovered several bits laying around, giving him several more coins to add to his collection.

Now, however, Filthy Rich was dead and he needed to dispose of the body, which was quite easy since he had installed a disposal system that allowed him to drop the body into the lake beneath the ruins. Or more like the blood lake that was corrupted thanks to the continuous blood pouring into the water and the dropping of bodies into the depths. He flipped a switch and the bed raised itself as the body slid right off, right into the open pit and the corrupted pool that waited for it.

"I see you have made some changes to the castle since I was last here."

Red turned around to see his employer, the mysterious Lady Artemis, walk on in from the hallway, dragging two ponies in by their tails. One of them was a unicorn mare of similar age to the Elements of Harmony, dressed up like a spy with a suit that happened to cover her cutie mark. The second pony was a black coated changeling, one that wore a a wrapping around her side as if it had been harmed by something recently. The two of them looked like they had been bonked on their heads from behind and had been knocked out as a result of the action.

The question was; where had Lady Artemis acquired them from?

"I wanted to make it easier to dispose of the bodies," Red admitted, turning to face his guest as the trapdoor closed itself, "then it dinged on me one night, the forgotten lake below the ruins was the best place to dispose of all the bodies and all the blood. It has, in essence, become a blood lake. Now, who are these fine ponies you have brought to me?"

"I believe this is young Written Quill," Lady Artemis replied, strapping the unicorn into the table and placing a ring around her horn, "Apparently she is a member of the Nexus, the network that has dedicated its time to hunting you down and bringing you to justice. Their director, a stallion by the name of Fury, has recruited this changeling into helping them bring you in or kill you in the process."

"The times have truly fallen if the Princesses are resorting to using one of their sworn enemies to solve a personal crisis." Red said, locking the mare onto the table before doing to same steps to the changeling that had been following him, "I know Princess Celestia has talked with the mysterious Director Fury about catching me, but to actually send a changeling scout after me is something that I wasn't expecting her to do."

"Truth be told I wasn't expecting my sister to do something so stupid that could damage the foundation of Equestria," Lady Artemis continued, shaking her mane as the two ponies were locked down tight and had their magic suppressed, "I know Chrissy made a bad decision when she invaded our capital, but she was trying to help her subjects live better. Sometimes I think Tia does some of these things just to make it so she has something fun to do while her faithful student takes care of all the dangerous entities.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm supposed to meet with her royal sunbutt soon and it doesn't do me justice to be smelling of chemicals when we see each other."

Red looked ahead of himself for a few seconds, processing what he had just heard, when the truth dawned on him and he spun around. Lady Artemis had suddenly disappeared, as if she had never been standing behind him in the first place and the dust had moved as if he had moved it. There was a secret that she had spilled while in his company, one that could mean total war in Canterlot, if not all of Equestria, if anypony else knew what he had just heard. He sighed and went back to his tools, whistling as he decided which pony to carve open first and which tool he should use to begin.

Lady Artemis, having returned to the gateway she had used to enter the ruins, was glad that the stallion had not decided to follow her at all. Her slip up with how she referred to Princess Celestia must have given Red the idea that his employer was somepony else and not who she said she was. And that was the real truth; Lady Artemis was not who she appeared to be, but there was no way she was going to openly tell a murderer who he was working for. After all of this she wasn't willing her open mouth to ruin the plans she had been planning for the last few weeks.

~Canterlot, Fury's Headquarters~

Director Fury was not a very patient pony when the security of Canterlot, and sometimes Equestria as a whole, was being threatened by one pony that was murdering others. When he had to deal with ponies stealing or breaking into stores he was very patient, ever so he didn't have to really do much to convict whoever did the deed. The culprit behind the killings, the stallion Red Velvet they believed, was very good at hiding him or herself from the Nexus and they had yet to discover where they were hiding out.

Yet was the operative word, considering they had a disturbance with Written's state of mind, which was common among those who were out in the field. She had been knocked unconscious by something, which could very well mean that she and Cherry had found the hiding place they had been searching for for the last few weeks. It was a type of magical transmitter the Nexus used, but according to the various readings it seemed that Written and Cherry were...in the Everfree Forest?

Or more like the ruined castle of the Alicorn Sisters?

Fury was slightly shocked, the castle was a place that he and the Nexus were forbidden to search by the order of Princesses Celestia and Luna. That was an order he had considered to be wrong at the time of its issuing, but now that he had a firm point of where two of his agents had disappeared in he now had something that could aid them. All he had to do now was present some evidence that the pony behind the killings was in the ruined castle and he hoped he could convince the Princess to withdraw her order.

The room he was standing in was part of his underground and above ground headquarters, which was basically two stories above the ground itself and another two below the ground. So in all he had four layers of operations, allowing the Nexus members to move around freely without running into others at all. Fury himself stood in the center of the highest story of the building, allowing him to watch over the capital of the nation while the others focused on other threats.

"Director Fury," one of the mares called out, turning her head to face him, "We have received another notice from the castle. There appears to be two other lifeforms roaming the forgotten ruins. By their heat signatures they appear to be ponies as well."

"We got you Red Velvet," Fury shouted to the room, receiving a cheer from the various members present, "Golden Wing, give the order to begin assembling the army. Bronze Clock, make sure to set up a time lapse spell so we can make the most of our time."

"Sir?" one of the mares asked, "What about telling Princess Celestia about the ponies in the ruined castle?"

"Let's take care of the stallion and his helper before we report in," the Director replied, "We're heading to Red's house to access whatever Written and Cherry found to make them arrive in the ruined castle. I would prepare yourselves for a fight mare and gentlecolts, because our opponent is a skilled user of magic. One we will bring to justice before the Princess herself."

~Red's House, Basement~

Lady Artemis stumbled out of the gateway connecting the ruins and Red's basement, glad that she wasn't followed by the stallion. She knew enough about magic to know that the Nexus was tracking the mare called Written Quill, so now they knew where Red was. As much as she wanted her plans to continue she knew that now that Red was cornered the plan was up and she had to cut her losses. And that meant that Red was going to either die at the hooves of the Nexus or be brought before Princess Celestia and be punished however she saw fit.

She quickly passed through the basement door, down the corridor that lead her past the study room, and out the front door. She lifted up her hood and returned to the shadows, choosing to rest in the alleyway near Red's house to watch and wait. If she was right about the Nexus then any minute now an armed assembly of ponies would march down the street and stop in front of Red's house. If nothing happened in the next ten minutes then her suspicions were wrong, but knowing the Director's style the ponies would be there soon.

And sure enough she saw a group of at least twenty ponies advancing towards her location, being led by Director Fury himself.

She was very surprised, she actually wasn't expecting the Director of the Nexus to make a move against Red personally. She had expected the armed forces, a high number of ponies working in the Nexus to come together to face a common threat, but not this. If he was here then that meant he felt whoever was behind the murders was very dangerous and needed his immediate attention.

Red was screwed.

"Okay then," Director Fury said, loud enough for his forces to hear him and low enough so they didn't wake anypony up, "Inside this house is the murderer who has abducted several ponies over the last few weeks, ending in their permanent disappearance. Tonight we take the fight to Red Velvet, adviser to Princess Celestia, and make him pay for the crimes against Equestria and our citizens."

And with that said the twenty ponies advanced into the house, leaving Lady Artemis alone to the rest of her devices for the night.

~The Ruined Castle~

Red smiled again and pressed the edge of his scalpel against the front left hoof of the young Written Quill, feeling the tool break the skin easily. It was an unexpected bonus for his line of work, some bonus killings for a couple of ponies that wouldn't be missed too much once he was done. He knew that the unicorn would be missed by her classmates, if she was still in school, but seeing how she was in the Nexus he figured they would have teams looking for her quickly. The changeling, however, was never going to be missed, seeing how she had likely stolen one of his victims lives to get love easily.

Too bad he was going to end her life as well.

A rock slipped somewhere and he withdrew the scalpel, his ears listening for any other movement that was unusual for the area he was in. He had grown used to the silence of the Everfree Forest, the silence that came when all the creatures were silent for the night. Right now he could hear hoofsteps, hooves hitting what sounded like smooth stone as if they were searching for something in the area. Or more like somepony.

Red realized exactly what was going to happen; the Nexus had finally caught up with him and they were coming prepared to deal with a pony capable of killing others. He would show them what happens to those who decided to try and take down somepony who was skilled in high level magic, magic that nearly as powerful as Celestia's own magic. He gently placed the tool on the tray and picked up the sword, allowing the blade to come out of the sheath while he faced the opening. Be was ready for them, but if he were to fall in battle he hoped that the Blood Rune would do something to aid him after he died.

"I should have known you guys would have found me eventually," Red called out, the hoofsteps stopping for a second and giving him a moment to count how many there really were, "I was hoping that I would continue my murder spree without getting caught for a few more weeks, but you caught me by surprise. I should have known you would have kept a lease of all of your watchdogs, making them wait for your command before coming out and attacking me directly."

There was no reply, just the silence as if he had been speaking to nothing. But when he thought there was nothing he noticed a lurking shadow and he swung the sword, cutting into someponies leg within seconds. After the first scream all heck broke loose as he dodged magic blasts and cut into others, his eyes looking for the leader of the Nexus so he could end them all.

Director Fury, always the master of stealth, was not one for fighting a battle while there were innocent bystanders around. Before he really fought anyone he released Written Quill and dragged her back to the gateway, repeating the process with his new recruit. Fury was known for being sneaky, always appearing where he was least expected and taking enemies with the fewest casualties possible. That was why when he was sure the two were secured he sent a mental link to the others to withdraw, leaving him with the target.

"I see you have no wish for any immediate deaths," Red challenged, watching Fury appear out of the shadows with no weapons to be shown, "I have wounded several of your soldiers, not that you seem to care if I cut a few legs off during a fight. How about I stick this sword in your skull and topple the Nexus in one fell swoop?"

"One does not simply behead the head of an organization," Fury replied, eying the surroundings as he noticed the Blood Rune, "but let's see what your made of."

Red swung the sword and found it blocked by what appeared to be shadows turned into a pure blade, somehow stopping his own blade. Fury's own expression remained neutral while Red's grew to anger, fueling his rage as he tried again and again to cut into his enemy. The two danced, rage meeting shadow, while the rest of the Nexus watched the flash of steel on steel. Fury played silently, keeping his eyes focused on Red while Red grew even more angry at his own failed attempts.

That was until Fury stabbed Red right in the leg, forcing his concentration off and causing him to drop the blade to the ground.

"Foul play," Red said, staring Fury in the eyes as he slowly moved himself over the trapdoor, "I should have known that you would not have played with real weapons. Now I guess I'm paying for my ignorance."

"Come in with us Red," Fury said, his one eye staring at the stallion as he picked up the fallen blade, "and I won't run you through with your own blade. You have two choices; either come in with us and face the justice of Princess Celestia or die at the hooves of the weapon you dropped."

"Buck off." Red shouted, his horn lighting up as he drew the cord that activated the trapdoor.

Just as the trapdoor opened Red found the blade he had stolen from Prince Blueblood lodged in his chest with only the handle showing. Director Fury was true to his word, either he brought himself in or he would die by the blade he had taken. Red's eyes rolled back and he stopped breathing as his limp body plummeted down to the blood lake, the resting place of all his victims.

How appropriate, Red's last thought coursed through his mind, To be buried with my victims.

Director Fury watched Red's lifeless body hit the surface of the lake beneath the ruins and sighed. The murders were finally over and the killer responsible for all of it had been put down like the dog he had been. But as he and the rest of his soldiers made their way out of the ruins he had the nagging feelings that something was wrong still. Red had been the underling of somepony else, somepony who wanted to topple the structure of Equestria for no reason.

So why did he get the feeling that he and the Nexus hadn't seen the last of Red Velvet just yet?
> Canterlot Under Siege
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"So the culprit behind the murders was Red Velvet?" Princess Celestia asked, raising her eyebrow at Director Fury, who was kneeling before her in the courtroom.

"Yes Princess, he was the one behind the murders," Director Fury replied for what seemed like the fifth time, "We know there was somepony else in the ruined castle with him, but whoever it was managed to escape before my team and I arrived. We don't know if the second pony is one of Red's underlings, that is if he had somepony working under him, or if that was an employer that wanted him to weed out certain ponies. All we do know is that whoever the second pony was we have already lost them and they have likely disappeared by now."

Celestia sighed, it was troubling to know that one of her personal advisers was the pony responsible for the recent murders. Now that she thought about it she recalled how he had made a face when the murders had been brought up in court for the first time. He had known from the beginning about the kidnappings and the murders, and he just sat there, nearly right next to her, day after day until Fury had caught up with him. She was lucky he had been put down, otherwise she could have been injured in court and still would have been blind sighted by his trickery.

How she wished she could have gotten her magic around his neck so she could have personally snapped it herself instead of letting Fury handle the situation.

"I believe an order of rest is required for those who took part in the raid of the ruined castle," she finally said, causing the Director to look up at her, "and the same goes for the rest of the Nexus. You have brought a criminal who could have done great harm to the whole of Equestria and myself to justice. As such you and your network deserve a period of rest before you begin operations again. I will reward you with a medal if you wish, Director Fury."

"That will not be necessary Princess Celestia," the stallion replied, "The Nexus and I will take some time off, as you say, but we will return to active duty if the need arises. We'll take our leave."

Celestia watched the Director and his advisers, the nameless ponies who wore the black cloaks, leave the courtroom and her for the moment. She was still having mixed feelings about the one piece of truth that she withheld from the Director, but considering what had happened she was glad to have not told him. She really needed to have a word with her sister, that was if she had returned from her nighttime activities and was ready to speak with her.

Once the five ponies were out of sight Celestia got off her "royal rear", as some ponies had taken to calling her rear, and walked behind her seat to where a secret passageway rested. It was her only way of leaving the courtroom without anypony else knowing, and even if they knew it existed they wouldn't be able to follow her. She had designed the passageway to allow only her to enter and leave as she wanted, so anypony else was out of luck if they wanted to see what secrets she held.

Another question she wanted answered, but not in front of the Director, was if Red Velvet had found the dreaded Blood Rune at all. The passageway was home to hundreds of items that she and Luna had rather not let anypony else know the existence of, such as the other seven rune stones that complete the set. She had spent the last thousand years gathering all the dangerous items she could get her hooves on and stockpiled them far below Canterlot, farther than the crystal caverns were.

It was an ancient vault that housed the dangerous items in existence and only Celestia had the knowledge necessary to open it.

She would have liked to have taken the eighth rune stone and put it in the vault, but right now she had no idea if it still existed. Besides, she was more worried about what Luna might have to say to her, which was the reason she was traveling down the charm lit hallway and not the sun filled hallways of the castle. Ponies would tend to stop her when she was in a hurry, so this place was better since she could move uninterrupted as much as liked.

Not ten minutes after her departure from the courtroom did she appear in one of the hallways in Canterlot Castle, one of the more rundown and forgotten about ones. None of the maids and servants were allowed in this particular area of the castle, mostly due to the wards that Celestia threw up around the entrance. Only Luna had the necessary spell keys that allowed her to bypass the wards and enter the area, which made the place the perfect area for the two of them to meet and talk.

It was the perfect place for the two of them to talk without the fear of being interrupted in the middle of an important discussion.

Celestia walked down the forgotten hallway and turned on the first door she came to, opening it to reveal the beautiful night sky. It was a balcony the door led to, one that the two sisters could share while gazing at Luna's brilliant night. As usual Celestia found her sister already staring at the stars, sitting at a table while she drank some tea she happened to make herself. Celestia didn't care about the tea, if her sister wanted to drink while they chatted then it was perfectly fine with her.

"Ah, Tia, I was wondering if you were actually going to come tonight," Luna remarked, noticing her sister arrive, "Come, sit and have some cake. I had the chiefs make up a black cherry cake since you and your secret network have dealt with the stallion whose been murdering other ponies."

"Luna, you know why I'm here," Celestia slowly said, making her way to her seat and claiming it before casting an eye to her sister, "We have something very important to discuss tonight."

"That is what you said in your brief letter," Luna replied, shaking her head as she took a sip of tea, "Something about there being another pony involved in the murders and kidnappings. An underling or a superior to Red?"

"Don't play with me Luna, I'm looking out for your safety," Celestia commented, her sister making a face, "After all, it was our combined idea to eradicate some of the most dangerous criminals in Equestria, those the law couldn't put in jail. You decided to resurrect the ancient 'Lady Artemis' and use the name again, turning into the night huntress your choose her to be over a thousand years ago. You asked me to choose a pony who had the skill in magic to remain undetected for a certain period of time, one who could move in the shadows as necessary.

Our 'plan', if it can be called that, has worked out well. We may have lost a powerful mage, but in the end we have eliminated several criminals that could have caused trouble for the rest of Equestria."

"Director Fury might discover that the entire thing was a game designed by the two of us." Luna remarked, drinking from her tea again, "He might feel that we have betrayed his trust and he might decide to join somepony else, taking all our secrets with him and leaving us with little to truly defend ourselves."

"He would never turn on us," Celestia answered, shaking her mane while staring at the stars, "He's noble enough to where if we explained ourselves he might listen and forgive. But I must ask, did you see anything powerful while you were in the ruined castle? Like the Blood Rune?"

"I did not actually," Luna slowly replied, as if she had decided to say something different than what she was going to say, "Remember, that rune stone was destroyed years ago when Nightmare Moon was banished. I was fairly certain that I saw it shatter into a thousand tiny pieces."

~The Ruined Castle, The Blood Lake~

Deep beneath the ruined castle of the alicorn sisters rested a huge cavern, the same one that Red had found during the first couple of days he spent scouting out the ruins. It was here that he found an ancient lake, one that had become tainted by the Blood Rune that had been resting in its waters for over one thousand years. It was here that Red found the ancient rune stone and unearthed it, dragging it back to the worlds surface and the light that it had been missing for the last thousand years. It was here that the blood of past victims and Red's victims intermingled with the water, allowing the genetic code of all ponies to mingle in one place.

It was here that Red Velvet made his final resting place and joined the countless victims whose blood had been spilled into the very waters in which he now rested. Unfortunately the once still waters slowly began to bubble, slowly turning the peaceful waters into a raging storm area with water going everywhere. Far above the lake the Blood Rune glowed a faint, but steady, red aura, one that drowned the surrounding area with its red light. It was the rune stone that was causing the disturbance, not that anypony would know what was going on before it was too late to stop the stone's work.

A minute pasted before bodies began jumping out of the lake, landing on the stony area that surrounded the lake as each one faced the water they had just come from. The bodies were, in fact, past and present victims, brought back to life by the magic of the Blood Rune, but there was a complete difference between their old forms and their new forms. Their eyes had turned blood red, losing their original color, and they had grown fang like teeth, useful for biting into others skin and such. And all of them ended up growing a pair of bat wings, or if they were pegasus their wings changed from feather to leather.

But the worst was yet to come as the Blood Rune reached our for the one who had set in motion the ritual that would have resurrected him and others if he had fallen. The water rippled, acting violently as the final pony was being reached for, and the four dozen others watched in either awe or horror. Some were waiting in awe to see who their leader was going to be, while the others knew who it was and had no desire to see him again.

Far beneath the water the tendrils of the Blood Rune worked their magic, spinning around the fallen stallion who had set the wheel of change in motion. The stallion's bright red coat darkened to that of a crimson color, while his mane and tail became a pure black as night color. His cutie mark changed from a shield with a pentagram to a black pentagram with a blood drop in the direct center, giving him the new relation to blood. His form twisted and turned as bat wings sprouted from his back and fang like teeth grew out of his mouth and even the sword was torn from his body, but it eventually ended with one thing.

His eyes, his now blood red eyes, snapped open as the tendrils energized him to leap right out of the violent water, causing the area to shake as he landed on the ground. Some of the other ponies began to gather around him, trying to make out what made him so special that the rune brought him out itself. He just stood there, his head low to the ground as he sucked in the air, his mind, his magic, and his memory returning to him slowly. And with the return of his memories came the knowledge that he had succeeded in the long run of making sure he would be brought back to life if he had died.

The Blood Ritual had succeeded and now Red Velvet was born again, only this time he would best Director Fury and send his soul to Tartarus.

~Canterlot Castle, Forgotten Balcony~

Celestia was the first one to feel the unnatural magic of the Blood Rune at work, though she denied its existence since Luna had said that it had shattered. But she could not deny the evil feeling that she felt in the air, the Blood Rune yet still existed and this time it had chosen a champion to use against them. She and Luna had played a dangerous game in eliminating several criminals and they had given the rune stone exactly what it had been waiting for for over a thousand years.

They had delivered Red Velvet to the rune stone and had given it a champion, one who had a grudge to settle with they who defeated him. He would be coming to Canterlot to fight and destroy the Nexus, Celestia knew that much.

"We should not have played this game," Luna spoke up, her eyes still on the stars, "We should not have believed that the Blood Rune was destroyed within seconds of the moment of my banishment. Before the war we tried countless times to shatter the damned thing, only to fail time and time again. Last time I truly saw the rune was when our archmage at the time violated some of your laws and it was just hanging there. Needless to say you put an end to...whatever his name was and the schemes he was planning."

"His name was Twinkle," Celestia answered the unspoken question, "He was Starswirl the Bearded's son. A very powerful unicorn who was interested in the dark arts and nearly succeeded in completing a ritual that could have brought back the dead. He was and shall always be one of the most powerful necromancers in all of Equestrian history."

"So if Red Velvet and his victims were resurrected does that mean Twinkle and his victims were also resurrected?" Luna asked, fearing the worst if two of the most powerful unicorns were brought back into unlife and joined forces.

"If the ritual was completed, and I do believe it has been," Celestia replied, shaking her head as she moved towards the door, "then both Red and Twinkle will be resurrected and so will their victims. And if Red remembers how he traveled between the ruined castle and Canterlot then we could be facing an invasion any moment."

~Red's House~

"My basement..." Red said, his victims entering his basement through the gateway that was surprisingly still open, "My house...we're back in Canterlot. I am...surprised that the Princesses haven't shut down the gateway."

"Canterlot...a place I know nothing about." another stallion replied, one dressed up almost like Trixie would, "But the Princesses usually don't go around smashing magical gateways that still serve their purpose for collecting rare and powerful artifacts. At the time Celestia and her sister were in the process of building another castle high in the mountains, but Celestia had another motive for building this...Canterlot. She had begun to amass a collection of rare and powerful artifacts that she knew would be dangerous to the rest of Equestria and she needed a place to hide them all.

So she built a vault far beneath the soon to be castle, one that she had the keys to so none of the relics fell into the wrong hooves on accident. Luna knows nothing about the vault, because if she did then she would not have let it remain hidden for so long without the location being disclosed. Obviously Princess Celestia thought that I was to be trusted and, when the vault had barely been completed, she gave me a tour of the location. That was when I noticed the Blood Rune and stole it from her, right under her nose no less."

"Just who are you kid?" Red asked, his new underlings securing the two stories of his house as he and the stallion walked up to the first floor.

"Twinkle," the stallion replied, shaking his pure blue mane as the moonlight showed his gray coat, "Son of Starswirl the Bearded and First Archmage of the now Ruined Castle."

"I was, or rather am, Red Velvet," Red said, his eyes scanning the windows and the city around them, "Ex-Adviser of Princess Celestia. Seeing how I just died and was brought back by the Blood Rune itself it seems that I have been chosen to lead the assault on the Princesses themselves."

"Look dude, I really don't care who you are or were," Twinkle fired right into Red's face, "but I follow the Blood Rune and the Blood Rune alone. If it says your the one who is going to lead this band of vamponies in a war against the Princesses then I will do as it commands. If it says otherwise then I will gladly follow my orders to Tartarus, to fight the demons in that realm, and back to Equestria. And right now it is telling me to follow you into a war against Celestia and Luna, so right now you are the boss of this operation."

"You may be the son of the famous Starswirl the Bearded, but your a pain in my flank," Red commented, turning to the front door as he cleared his throat, "Okay then, listen up you fledglings. As you know there are only a few of us at the moment, say about twenty ponies given new life, but we will do something about this. Before I was caught and killed I amassed a collection of weapons that could be used against the guards and, eventually, the Princesses themselves. That's right, we're attacking Canterlot and the royal Princesses at the same time. Get whatever gear you want and be ready in five minutes."

While all the newly born vamponies milled around the two floors, collecting weapons and armor, one pony stood near one of the windows and stared at the city. The mare had a beige coat with a blue and pink colored mane and tail. Her eyes, now the same as everypony else's, were focused on the castle, but it was her mind that was truly elsewhere. Her mind was focused on her lost sister and the best friend she had left behind when Red had originally abducted her in the middle of the night.

She was none other than Bon Bon, sister of the Changeling Wild Cherry by law and best friend to one Lyra Heartstrings.

~Canterlot Castle~

"I do not envy fighting both Red Velvet and Twinkle, Tia." Luna complained, donning the armor of "Lady Artemis" again, "Nor do I like the idea of returning to Red under the guise of his former employer to try and talk some sense into his blood lust filled mind. Why can't I deal with Twinkle and whatever magic he has up his sleeves?"

"I know him better than anypony else in all of Equestria," Celestia replied, sliding on her armor as she looked at her sister, "I was the one who taught him every spell he already knows, showed him how to wield the arcane arts with little guidance, and it was I who finally put an end to him the first time around. It pained me the first time, having to put down such a talented mage, and it will be just as painful to do it for a second time. Besides, you studied Red long before we choose him for our little game, so if there is anypony who could take him it is you and 'Lady Artemis'."

"Very funny Tia," Luna sighed, admitting defeat was never easy for her to do, "Let's make sure we take them both down and their army before the citizens know whats happening..."

She would have finished her sentence, but she didn't when she and her sister saw some of the buildings of Canterlot ignite with flames. Red and Twinkle were already attacking the city and it was only a matter of time before the citizens began to run around wildly. Luna nodded and the two split up, Celestia heading towards the flames while she headed for the ground in favor of finding Red easily.

Twinkle stood at the front doors of the royal library, the two guards who usually stood guard having been incapacitated by his magic. From what his partner, the one called Red Velvet, said it seemed that there was a wing dedicated to his father, the great Starswirl. There was something about burning down all one of your ancestors built for themselves that made his long dead heart want to beat again. But, like a true vampony, his heart would never beat again, even if he did something like burn down the library.

He entered the library, after tossing the guards to the side, and wasted no time setting the entire place a blaze, burning whatever came in his area of vision. In case the area he wanted destroyed was protected he was also going to bring the entire library down on whoever was already inside. Seeing how the flames had no effect on his lifeless body he tore the iron gate down and let the flames surge into the wing he wanted to destroy.

"Stop this at once Twinkle, Son of Starswirl," said a voice he dared to remember, making him turn around to see Princess Celestia standing behind him.

"Ah, Princess Celestia," Twinkle said, blue flames twirling around him as he turned to face his former teacher, "How painful it must be for you to see me again, after one thousand years of my death at your hooves. You must feel sorry that you taught me so much and yet you could not help but look past my actions and ignore the fact that I had been acting weird. Its your fault that I ended up killing as many ponies as I eventually did."

"Your right, it is my fault that I didn't stop you in the past," Celestia said, sighing before continuing, "but I will not stand aside and watch you burn down my city and slaughter my precious ponies. You have already killed more than you should have, Twinkle, and I am forced to end you once more for the good of all of Equestria. You and your necromancy will be put down once and for all."

Twinkle moved forward and the two of them met with flames meeting ice, meaning that Celestia meant to cool off her enemy and his wicked flames. Twinkle really didn't care what his former teacher tried to do, which is why he really put almost no effort into dodging her attacks. Sure his feet ended up iced to the ground, but with the flames burning around them it make no difference as the heat melted the ice. He grinned in the knowledge that even if he died again he would have burnt down the one thing his father made for himself.

Lightning flashed and pain, a very small amount of it, ripped through his body, momentarily tossing him back as Celestia neared him. The two exchanged looks and magic hit magic as they battled it out in the library. Some flames whipped past Celestia and charred part of her armor, but she had been fighting for over a thousand years and the small pain was nothing to her. She just didn't want to resort to calling forth the spell that would have taken care of the entire burning library when Twinkle was still fighting, mostly because that would leave her weakened enough for him to defeat her.

Just as she considered using the spell anyway a flash of purple light crashed into Twinkle, sending him back into the burning hallway. Before Celestia could do anything the ball of light spun around and wind filled the area, causing the flames to suddenly wither and die out. The ball opened up and, with a cooling wind that put out all the flames in the library, there stood Twilight Sparkle, her eyes focused on Twinkle.

"I'm sorry to barge in on a fight, but it looked like you could have used some help." Twilight explained.

"This is rich," Twinkle said, chuckling as he got up, "You and Luna got yourselves another princess to share the responsibilities with. Let me guess, there's a fourth princess somewhere in the frozen wastes where the Crystal Empire happens to reside?"

"Your good at guessing the truth," Twilight replied, magic already at the ready, "Tell me; who are you?"

"Does the name Twinkle mean anything to you?" Twinkle asked, smiling when Twilight shook her head no, "Allow me to enlighten you to the truth. I am Twinkle, Son of Starswirl the Bearded and First Archmage of the Ruined Castle."

"Starswirl had a son?!" Twilight exclaimed, shocked because she had never heard of the legendary mage even having a child at all.

"Yes, he had a family," Twinkle spat the word like it was poison, "He spent his days working on books and spells instead of spending time with the wife and son that he actually had. He spent years perfecting a spell that would change the destinies of ponies just by uttering it, but he failed and eventually disappeared. I then spent the next few years discovering the dark arts, learning how to resurrect the dead and, eventually, create an army to conquer all of Equestria.

The Princess here stopped me before I could complete the Blood Ritual and summon forth the army of vamponies that would have destroyed everything. Now here I am, a thousand years later, under the command of another pony who attempted the Blood Ritual and succeeded, marking him as the head of the vamponies. I'm sure that you, a princess, know of the pony whose name will shortly leave my mouth. I am quite sure you know a pony by the name of Red Velvet?"

"Red's a smart pony, but he ain't no murderer," Twilight shouted, knocking Twinkle on his back with ease, "You may be Starswirl's son, but it doesn't seem like your very good at magic anymore."

"I have been reborn after a thousand years of being dead," Twinkle snapped, tossing flames that bounced off Twilight's barrier, "My magic may not have been as powerful as my father's own, but I have always been a student of magic, as such is my calling in life and unlife. So I shall fight two Princesses with my magic and I shall rend the life out of them before they realize what happened to them."

Chains wrapped around him as Twilight thrust him into the air and back down, repeatedly, wearing out the over talkative stallion quickly. She chuckled as her former teacher took over and continued the process, leaving a very clean area wherever Twinkle landed. Seeing how he was already dead and no blood was flowing through his veins they didn't ruin the already ruined flooring of the royal library. Though Celestia made a point to personally tear out Twinkle's heart while Twilight was busy restoring the library to its former glory.

"So how's Luna doing in all of this?" Twilight asked.

"She's hunting down Red as we speak," Celestia answered, hoping that Luna had dealt with the other problem.

~Canterlot Gardens~

"So this is where we meet again," Red commented, not bothering to turn around as he heard the hoofsteps behind him, "my former employer, Lady Artemis."

Luna stopped behind the stallion, her bow aimed right at his head, as she considered telling the poor stallion he had been played the entire time she had known him. How she wanted to just tell the stallion the truth, a truth that would no doubt shatter his reality and force him into attacking her and anypony else. She was going to have to do it, either to the stallion himself or to Director Fury when he showed up to investigate the attack.

"That is true," Luna said, making sure her aim was true while she spoke, "I'm surprised you survived the attack. I was sure that the Nexus had stormed into the ruins and had killed you right then and there. What happened to you?"

"Oh, you mean the new wings and different color everywhere?" Red asked, staring at the hedge in front of him, "The Blood Rune itself has decreed that I am to be the Head Vampony that leads the assault against the royal Princesses. It has chosen me over the foolish Twinkle, son of Starswirl the Bearded, to lead the attack. Even now he is battling Celestia, while I wait for Princess Luna to join me."

"She already has joined you," Luna stated, making the stallion turn around as her disguise melted before his eyes, "Its been me the entire time, feeding you names of those that needed to be removed from society. It was supposed to be a simple snatch and kill mission, not murder some ponies and let the Nexus know you existed as a killer. We were forced to end our game early, but instead of dying quietly you had to go and find the Blood Rune in that cursed lake under the old castle.

Now here you are, alive again and you came bearing an army of vamponies that, as the ritual says, are supposed to bring about our downfall. Strangely I noticed that most of them have taken to setting fire to one building and then calling it quits before flying for the hills. Your 'army' is a bunch of cowards that don't want to die a second time and those from the modern era are heading home to try living normally again. You have failed, Red Velvet."

"You...you...I'LL KILL YOU!" Red shouted, drawing himself up as magic shot out towards Luna.

Luna dodged, surprised that his magic had returned so soon, but she twirled her bow around and put an arrow square in Red's shoulder, knocking him backwards a bit. He growled and tore the arrow out, tossing it aside as he jumped towards her, his magic blazing as bright as a star. Before he got close Luna dropped her bow and erected a barrier, preparing for the incoming blast that she knew was coming.

The area around the royal gardens exploded as Red's magic discharged, tearing the entire gardens to pieces while charring the surrounding area to a blackened state. The very air had the smell of being charred, which would let others know not to come around the area for quite some time a the moment. As the smoke and dust cleared it was painfully clear that Luna was already injured, thanks to the charred left wing she was now sporting. She had underestimated the power that Red had poured into the attack, one powerful enough to challenge an alicorn like herself.

"I...was not aware my magic had been boosted to such extremes," Red commented, giving an evil grin as his horn lit up again and he faced Luna, "It seems that the Blood Rune has given me more than a new form and a new life. It has given me the power to fight the gods themselves."

That was before an enchanted arrow pierced his other shoulder, causing him to falter for a second before tearing nearly all the arrow out...leaving the head in the wound. He chuckled before the arrowhead turned into a ball of fire, tearing at his muscles as he faltered in his stepping.

"I'm sorry to have to do this Red, but you need to die." Luna said, a third and final arrow nocked as she aimed at the stallion's head again, "And may you finally find rest this time. In TARTARUS."

Before Red could even fire his last attack the arrow went right through his head, killing both the stallion and cutting his magic off at the same time. Time seemed to slow down as Red's body went limp and Luna took a breath, smoke slowly whipping around the ruined gardens. When time returned to normal Red's body hit the ground with a thud, the wind brushed away the charred smell, and Luna stood there with tears in her eyes.

The other vamponies may have been gone and the head vampony may have been slain, but it still pained even an immortal to kill a pony. But with Red's fall came the safety of everypony else. Luna only hoped that the entire ordeal was worth the effort.
> The Red Dawn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dawn slowly came over the horizon and with it came the peace of mind that Red and his vampony army had been defeated and the remainder scattered to the winds. The citizens, now realizing that the attack was over, calmed down and either got some well deserved sleep or just shrugged off their tiredness and began to go about their day like nothing had happened. For some, it was better to forget that the attack even happened, while for others it was nearly impossible to forget what had transpired during the nighttime.

Celestia and Twilight went about fixing and restoring whatever was in need of repair, from the library itself to the gardens that Red had destroyed. Buildings that had been burned would simply have the burned areas fixed later on, no matter what needed to be done to the building itself. Nopony really minded that the two princesses were helping with the construction that needed to be done, but some wondered where Luna had run off to.

Luna had, in fact, taken the still body of Red Velvet with her back to his house, where she had promptly entered the gateway and appeared in the ruined castle. The place brought back memories, some more painful than others, but she trotted along, carrying the stallion all the way back to his torture chamber. She placed him on the table and turned around to look at the black stone that held the cursed red symbol that made it be called the Blood Rune. She spotted the forgotten sword laying on the ground, so she picked it up and plunged it as deep as she could into the forsaken stone.

"Go ahead, scream you blasted stone," Luna growled, pulling the weapon out and tossing it aside again as her magic gripped the stone, "I'm going to smash you into a thousand pieces and scatter them to the farthest reaches of Equestria so you have no hope of restoring yourself ever again."

As she spoke her magic seeped into the stone, cracking both the interior and the exterior while she allowed her anger to truly enter the stone. As she stood there, letting her magic seep into the cursed stone, she made sure to position herself just before the trapdoor, so that way some chunks of it would fall to the deepest pits of the old castle. Just as the stone began to fall apart she opened the door and let the pieces fall to the abyss, leaving herself with a fourth of the stone's exterior and the stony heart that made the evil rune stone tick.

"Not surprised you didn't scream," Luna commented, pulling a lever as the table she left Red on lifted itself up, "but I am going to leave you with a parting gift. Your Champion returns to you and he will join you in the well deserved punishment that both of you deserve to have."

Red's body, for the second and final time, fell from the story where he had conducted tortures and murders in the name of an employer who didn't exist. His body, now that of the monster he had strived to become, fell with the pieces of the cursed stone he had dug up and placed on the wall. Now he was joining the master he had tried to please and they could fight it out for all eternity as far as Luna was concerned.

~Canterlot~

"There is something unique about the world Twilight," Celestia said, surprising her student while they worked to restore the library, "Sometimes the sky will become the color red during the time of dawn, meaning that somepony who has escaped justice for far too long has finally been brought down and the world becomes happy again. It is sort of like a blood debt; we take down the one who kills others and the world will, sometimes, give us something in return."

"I doubt that's true," Twilight replied, shaking her head as she took a look at the red dawn anyway, "But the sky has a certain beauty to it when its lit up like this."

Luna appeared behind them, but she only shook her head at her sister and handed her something small in her magical grasp. Celestia opened the small package and her eyes seemed to light up as she noticed what was inside the container, looking up to her sister to be sure it was really there. Luna nodded and backed away, returning to her room so she could finally retire for the remainder of the day while her sister took over. Celestia stared down at the container that happened to contain the very heart of the Blood Rune, an artifact she needed to hide as soon as possible.

"I'm sorry Twilight, but something needs my immediate attention," she said, turning to leave as quickly as possible, "I'm sure you can finish repairing the library by yourself."

Twilight sighed, she was used to having to pick up some of the slack these days, but somedays it just seemed like her former teacher liked giving her more stuff to do.

~Ponyville, Lyra's House~

Lyra sat on the couch of her house, sighing softly as she wondered if her best friend Wild Cherry was ever going to come back home. She just vanished again last night, but already Lyra was wondering if she might as well pack up and move someplace where nopony knew her. Bonbon was dead and for all Lyra knew so was Cherry, likely got herself killed in the process of searching for the one who killed her sister. Manehatten was sounding much nicer, considering that there was no murdering pony going about, kidnapping and murdering others.

There was a knock at the door, which would have surprised Lyra if she wasn't expecting guests, but she really just wanted to be left alone. Still, she shrugged off the blankets she had been wearing and marched up to the door, opening it to find a much more surprising visit. Standing on the other side of the door was none other than her best friend Wild Cherry and a very much alive, if not somewhat changed, best friend.

Cherry had a smile on her face, which to Lyra meant that she and her new boss had overcome whoever was behind the killings. Plus she had somehow managed to bring Bonbon back to them, which filled her eyes with tears. Sure Bonbon now had a pair of bat wings, fangs, and slitted eyes, but that meant nothing to Lyra. All she cared about was that the three of them were back together, that was all that truly mattered to her at the moment. She threw her front hooves over her best friends and welcomed them inside, her mood already turning happier for the first time since Bonbon disappeared.