> The Hunters of Secrets
>  by Arkantos
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several years ago, Equestria was a different place with monsters ruling most of the inner land. The ponies stayed at the capital city Canterlot, but every now or then, a small group decided they would try their luck with living outside of the capital. These groups made themselves nice towns. But eventually, in one little town, the worst case scenario happened.

Buildings were on fire. Ponies were running for their lives. In the madness, a unicorn filly became separated from her mother. Two red pairs of eyes stared out at her as the filly trembled in fear. The monster approached her. It looked almost pony-like except the black fur coat. It had a wolfish face, white claws, and fangs. The unicorn screamed as the monster ripped her to pieces.

The last of the ponies went to the town square in hopes that the monsters would leave them alone. But they were proven wrong as four sets of red eyes bore down on them, one of them coming in close. . It spit out a filly head, which rolled to a stop in front of the frightened ponies.

Suddenly, a zipping sound came out of nowhere and something hit the monster right in the forehead, causing it to fall to the ground. Then the ponies saw the fallen monster disintegrate as fast as the river could flow. A second zip hit another monster but that monster reacted quickly and got hit in the side.

The ponies and monsters looked up at the rooftop and saw two hoodies ponies with crossbows. Suddenly, one pony ran to another rooftop. Meanwhile, the other reloaded his crossbow.

Then one of the monsters hollered and many more red eyes glowed in the dark. The group of ponies ran inside the nearest building. Arrows begab flying into several monsters. One of the hoodie ponies said with a gentle voice, "If I'm going to guess, I’d say there are about twenty of these Wereponies.”

"So, twenty Wereponies against two hunters. I might cry for them," said the second hoodie pony in his deep voice, who was on the tallest building in the burning town.

Then the battle began as several Wereponies started to climb the buildings. Every last one had hunger in its eyes. But that didn’t matter; the hunters had the high ground, and they fired one arrow after another. As some of the Wereponies advanced upon the nearest hunter, instead of reloading, the hunter threw three daggers; every dagger hit a Werepony. Then she  pressed a button on her crossbow.

The gears in her crossbow started turning until the crossbow transformed into a sword. The hunter charged the two Wereponies that were left. With a quick swing, she killed both monsters. The hunter looked up to see her partner finishing off the last of his ten Wereponies.

For some reason, the monsters had split into two groups of ten. When the two hunters came down, the ponies that had run into the building came out to greet them. The town mayor said, "We would like to thank you for saving most of our town."

The hunters said nothing.

The mayor continued, "Is there anything we can do to repay you? Do you want anything? I mean, you saved the ponies of this town. We don't even know your names!"

In response, the two hunters raised their hooves and threw down smoke bombs, which temporarily blinded the group of ponies. And under the cover of the smoky cloud, the hunters ran away.

As they entered the mouth of a cave, the hunters stopped to catch their breath. One of the hunters removed her hood, revealing a mare Chiroptera with a red rose mane and a yellow coat. She spoke in a small voice, "That was too close."

Her partner said, "Hey, don't look at me. it was your idea."

"I know, and I should have plan for every outcome." She looked down and continued. "But I think this is my last night of doing this kind of work." She placed a hoof over her belly.

"What do you mean, this is your last night?"

The huntress looked at her partner and said, "I'm pregnant, Night Glider. And I plan to leave the hunt. For good."

Night Glider was silent for a good while. Then he said, "Congratulations." He hugged Night Breeze, but she wasn't expecting her partner to handle the news so well. 

"So who's the father?" Night Glider asked.

"You're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad? You get to live the quiet life now. I couldn’t be happier."

"Well I thought-”

"Hey! As much as I enjoy your company on these missions, you should not be fighting every night. And don’t worry about me. I was born to do this. I will ask again, though. Who's the father?"

"His name is Gentle Breeze."

"Hm, I don't know any Chiroptera with that kind of name."

"Well, that's because he's a Pegasus."

"Wait, what?" said a very concerned Night Glider. He continued, "Does he know that you are a... you know? I mean, how do you plan on keeping that a secret. You're a Chiroptera."

The huntress pulled out of her saddlebag a golden pearl necklace. One of the pearls had a sky blue mark on it. As she put the necklace around her neck, her Chiroptera body changed into the body of a mare Pegasus.

She turned about. "Well, how do I look?"

Night Glider’s jaw dropped, but he recovered quickly and replied, "You could fool everypony in town with that rune."

Night Breeze took off the necklace and changed back to a Chiroptera. She placed it back in her saddlebag. Then the two Chiroptera started to run deeper underground. 

Night Glider said, "It was fun to go on one last killing spree with you, Night Breeze." And the two disappeared into the darkness of the cave.





Present day at Fluttershy’s cottage.

As the last of her friends walked out, she began to wonder. Was this whole ordeal just a freaky accident or was there something she needed to know.

Just a few hours ago, she had transformed into some weird bat pony, according to her friends. But she didn't recall the time she spent being that.

"Well, I am planning on writing to my mother, so I better let her know what happened."

She made her way to the table. A small, white rabbit hopped his way to the table with an envelope, a blank piece of paper, and a pencil. As soon as he got to the table, he dropped the items in front of the buttery yellow Pegasus.

"Why, thank you, Angel. You know just what I need."

But the rabbit gave her a look that said You’ve  been arguing about it for at least nine months.

"Oh, I know. It's just that my mother can get worried about me. And I never understand why, really."

Angel looked at her as if to say like mother, like daughter.

Then he slid down Fluttershy’s pink mane and hopped outside.

Fluttershy started to write on her blank piece of paper.
> The Butcher of the Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ponyville Market was a place where anypony who had some kind of food product for sale could sell it for a couple of bits, the Equestrian currency. 

Fluttershy walked around the market and heard the ponies behind the stands yelling out, trying to sell their wares to the ponies that came closest to them. She saw several ponies with their saddlebags full of weekly groceries. 

There was one pony that Fluttershy liked more than the others, a unicorn with a white coat and a purple mane that was styled  fashionably. Her eyes were blue and her cutie mark was of three fine cut diamonds.

As Fluttershy looked at Rarity dreamily, it felt like time slowed down for her.

Rarity asked, "Darling, are you all right?"

Fluttershy realized that she had been staring for a long time and Rarity had noticed.

Fluttershy blushed and hid behind her mane, saying, "I'm okay, um, how are you? I mean, if you don't mind my asking."

"Well, since you asked, I'm doing fabulous. I just got my new materials for the summer fashion lineup. For the first dress, I’m thinking of doing some kind of Greek style."

"Oh. Well, I'm happy for you. And I hope you win the fashion lineup." 

As Fluttershy and Rarity continued to talk, they didn't see that nearby stood the black pegasus Thunderlane, nor did they see the maroon pegasus standing next to him.

Thunderlane said, "There she is. The daughter of Night Breeze."

The maroon pegasus said, "I thought she was a hero, not this timid pony." His disappointed face became even more disappointed.

"I know she’s not what you expected."

With a blank face, the maroon pegasus asked, "Does she know anything about her mother’s past?"

Thunderlane replied, "As far we know, no, she knows nothing about that."

"Good. The last thing we need is somepony like her around." He pointed his hoof at Fluttershy.

Soon after this exchange, Rarity and Fluttershy parted ways.





As Fiuttershy walked with her animal friends into her cottage, she quickly stopped when she saw her mother was inside too. Both ponies just stared at one another. While they stared, the small animals that were on Fluttershy’s back jumped off and ran to their small beds or hiding spots, looking back at both ponies and wondering what was going to happen next.

Night Breeze said in a calm voice, "Daughter, dearest, I got your message, and what you said in it troubles me."

"Well, it’s not like you to worry," Fluttershy said in a cold voice.

No change in Night Breeze’s voice. "It's my job to worry about your well-being."

Then Fluttershy opened her wings threateningly. "You didn't do a good job with my brother! Is he still hiding in your home with no job? And whose fault is that, I wonder?!"

Night Breeze gave her daughter a serious look. "You're brother was not doing what he needed to do to keep his job. However, I came here for you. The way you wrote of the event still worries me." 

Then Night Breeze started to walk to the door. "If you want to talk to me, you can find me at the cloud home. I made special arrangements to have it in the sky of Ponyville. If you want to tell me something, just look up."

Slam!





Meanwhile, inside a well-hidden cave somewhere in the Ever Free Forest,  a hoodie pony walked up to a sealed door emblazoned with an arrowhead, the hunter symbol. As the pony walked up to the door, two hunters aimed their crossbows. But the hoodie pony was quicker.

The hoodie pony ran straight at one of the hunters with her sword drawn out. The hunters fired their crossbows, but, surprisingly, the intruder deflected the arrows. The hunter that was getting charged started to panic. He pushed the button on his crossbow and it transformed into a sword quickly enough to block the swing of the hoodie pony’s blade. The hunter’s partner quickly reloaded her crossbow, but couldn't get a clear shot. Both ponies swung their swords at each other. 

Suddenly, a muscular creature in a cloak appeared and slashed its white claws at the huntress. She died instantly upon impact. But the creature didn't stop there. He continued to cut and slash at the dead mare.

When the hunter saw what happened to his partner, he said, "What are you doing with that thing?! If you were still with the Order of the Hunt, then you would kill him right now. The other hunters will track you down if you take this relic."

The hoodie pony replied with a low voice, "Interesting words for a pony who doesn't yet know he is at death’s door."

"What do you mean-"

The hunter looked down at his chest and saw several stab wounds. And he knew then that it was too late. As he dropped his sword, he said, "You're her, aren't you?"

"If you mean the Butcher of the Night, then yes, I am her." 

The hunter’s eyes widened as the Butcher gave one swing cutting the head off the hunter. The body collapsed like a sack of potatoes hitting the ground.

The Butcher looked at her friend who was still digging into the mare, creating a bloody mess.

The Butcher got tired of waiting and pressed a button to transform her sword into a crossbow. She used the butt of the crossbow to hit the ground, effectively getting the attention of her friend.

The hoodie creature licked the blood off its lips and said in a deep voice, "It took you long enough."

"Hey, I was being thorough with my kill. You just went and made a big mess."

"Well, what do you expect? I'm a werepony. And as a werepony, I get hungry. And when that happens, I go for the kill. And I don't use silverware. I dig in with my claws for that sweet, sweet magical essence. But anyway, I think we should get to the reason why we came here."

"Yes, I know." The Butcher dug into her saddlebag. "I know it's here somewhere, I just have to - ah ha!" She pulled two small pieces of the bag. One looked like an arrowhead. The other was a wicked-looking dagger. She gave the dagger to the werepony, and together they approached the cave door.

In the center of the door was a stone box with two engravings carved into it, perfectly sized to fit both of the pieces. 

As the arrowhead got placed, a dark green glow started to show. And when the werepony placed the dagger, a red glow started to show. Both glows started to spread all over the box before increasing to a blinding light. Both ponies covered their eyes for a long time. Then the light dimmed down.

The Butcher walked up and grabbed a very old spear. Then her partner noticed all kinds of runes on it, and he smiled very sincerely.

The Butcher grinned and said, "Soon the elements of harmony will be done for. And your pack of wereponies will be killing all kinds of ponies, just like the old days."
> A Story About A Brother
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"She just walked into my cottage and expected me to blindly forgive her! Oh no, I'm not that-"

"Um, Fluttershy, do you think you could take a breather for a minute? Before you explode? You already scared the animals away," Princess Twilight said as she and Fluttershy enjoyed a little tea party. 

Fluttershy started to calm down and the animals began to poke their heads out of their hiding spots. They inched back over to the two mares. 

Twilight exclaimed, "Wow, I’ve never seen you get so angry in a conversation before."

"Well, this happens when my mom is in town." 

Fluttershy looked at Angel. "Oh, dear, I'm sorry about that. I just can't control my anger when she's around."

Angel hopped onto Fluttershy’s shoulder and hugged her on the back as if saying  I understand your feelings about your mother. [i/] Fluttershy looked better after Angel’s hug. She wanted to treasure this moment.

But then Twilight asked, "Fluttershy, I'm just wondering, why have you not said anything about your mother to us, your friends?" 

As soon she said that, Fluttershy lost her smile and a frown took its place.

"Well, the reason why I didn't tell anypony is because she’s a terrible mother!" 

Fluttershy donned a serious look and started to tell her story. 

"When I was a filly at school in Cloudsdale, I was learning about cutie marks, as all fillies and colts do. I did my usual thing when it came to public places. I found a corner to hide in. Rainbow Dash would kindly take all of the attention away from me and put it onto her, usually by snoring as loudly as she could. But there would be times where she would have to protect me against the two bullies at school."

Fluttershy took a sip of her chai tea and continued. "Sometimes on my way home, I felt like somepony was watching me. Once, as I walked back home, I heard some relentless shouting and I went to see what was going on. I... I saw my brother Zephyr Breeze. He was curled up in a ball, and he was crying uncontrollably. As I walked to him, I heard what sounded like my mother's voice. I heard her say, "Can you believe it? One look and down he went. It's hilarious. Oh, I don't know how I'll ever top that one." 

I decided to help my brother back to his hoofs. After that, we walked back to our home."

Fluttershy then said with a little anger in her voice, "My mother treated it like it was a normal day. Soon after that, I asked my brother what had caused him to be so scared. He told me it was a monster. And from that point on, I never trusted my mother."

"Wow, I don't know what to say," Twilight said. They were both lying on the grass. "Is it possible that he misunderstood something?" 

Fluttershy gave her a look that said Really?[i/] 

"I mean, there are a lot of things that a small colt could mistake as a monster. A simple thing like a strong gust of wind blowing on some cloth. That might look like a shadow or something. I'm just saying, there are a lot of simple things that a pony might think is something, but in reality, is nothing."

Fluttershy’s look changed from dead serious to confusion. 

"I had not thought about it. Oh my, you think he just got too scared and said nonsense like that?"

Twilight placed one of her wings on Fluttershy’s back. 

"Trust me, I’ve seen some pretty weird stuff that looks terrifying at first. But after another look, they turn out to be just ordinary objects casting weird shadows." Twilight started laughing.

"What’s so funny? I didn't say anything. Why are you laughing like this?"

Calming down, Twilight said, "Oh, there was a very funny memory I just recalled. It involves Shining Armor doing something hilarious when he got scared."

Fluttershy listened to her friend with full attention. She asked, "Oh, do you think you could tell me? I mean, if you want to."

Twilight got up and said, "I have a better idea. I'll tell you and our friends about it."

"That sounds like a good idea. Oh, and yay!"

Both ponies flew up to search for their friends so Twilight could tell Shining Armor’s embarrassing story.





At the edge of the Ever Free Forest, two hooded ponies watched the Princess and a pegasus flying back to Ponyville. Then, they walked back to the cave entrance. 

"So, why are we doing this?" the young stallion said.

His partner replied, "The two Hunters that are supposed to guard this place are late reporting in."

"So that's the reason I have to miss the release of the new Smash Fortune book? Because some Hunters got lazy?"

Immediately, his partner replied, "Watch your tongue! These Hunters are guarding a cursed artifact!"

The young Hunter was about to say something, but then he saw the mass. 

"Sweet Celestia!" He cried, upon seeing the messy remains of a pony. He then proceeded to lose his lunch, barfing out some hay and daisies.

When he was done barfing, his partner said, "First time seeing blood, huh?" 

The young stallion nodded his head. 

"You have a problem if you see blood and vomit like that," his partner said.

"It's just, I was expecting to fight Monsters, not see blood and clean up a crime scene. For goodness sake! We're Hunters! Not Luna’s secret crime fighters."

"Well, our Order is secret. And true, the Princess of the Moon started the Hunt."

As the Hunter said this, he saw a Hunter’s severed head. He started looking around for the rest of the body. 

"But we are the reason Equestria's Monsters are too afraid to make nice quiet villages their feasting grounds. We should be grateful that no Monster is trying. So embrace the peaceful days." 

He then found the rest of the hunter with no head and several stab wounds. The body was tacked to the ceiling of the cave, metal stakes in each hoof. 

"While we still have them." 

He gave his partner a concerned look.

"It's her, isn't it. You know it's her."

"If you mean the Butcher of the Night, then yes, it's her."

"Wait, if she was here, then what kind of cursed artifact were these Hunters guarding?"

"The Spear of the Hunt."

The young stallion’s voice became fearful. "The spear that could kill anypony. And according to legend, the one who uses it may get more powerful but will ultimately go insane."

“Yup, that’s the legend, although it's been a long time since I’ve heard it. And we shouldn't believe all of what the legend says."

"So, what does the Order of the Hunt do now, Night Glider?"

As his partner said this, Night Glider removed his hood, revealing a dark red coat Chiroptera with several scars. His eyes were two different colors, light green on the left, dark yellow on the right. His mane was white.

He looked at his partner. "Well, first we need to know more about the Spear itself. And once we know enough, we start looking for her.”





Later at night, outside of Rarity’s boutique store.

"Knock! Knock!"

"Oh, yes, yes, I'm coming, just hold your horses!" 

Rarity opened the door and said, "Oh, can I help you, darling?"

"Oh, yes, you can," said a black pony, her mane cut like Celestia's Solar Guard mane cut. 

Her mane was dark red, her eyes turquoise. She removed her cloak, revealing her cutie mark, which was an eclipse moon with an hourglass. 

But Rarity wasn't focused on her cutie mark. Her attention was drawn to the two stubs on her back. She started to think Was this a pegasus?[i/] but then she saw the ancient spear with several runeson it. 

"Enjoying the view?"

"Oh, I’m dreadfully sorry, but, well, I-" 

Awkwardly, Rarity changed the subject. 

"That’s a strange spear you’re holding." 

Rarity opened the door for her guest, who entered. Opal hissed loudly at the strange pony. 

"Now, now, Opal, don't be like that. I am sorry about that."

"Well, I’ve gotten warmer reception."

"I'm sorry, what is your name?"

As the door closed, the Butcher showed a pair of fangs and said, "It's Black Fall." 

She began to approach the Element of Generosity with a butcher knife. 

"I must say, it's late and I'm hungry. Do you have something I could eat? Like some kind of leftovers in your fridge?"

"I think so. Let me check." 

Rarity started to make her way to the stairs.

Black Fall said coldly, "I hope what you have is edible, because my friend is outside and he is very hungry." 

Then the door closed completely. As dawn approached, a filly heard a blood curdling scream coming from Rarity’s boutique store.
> Mother and daughter reunite
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy got up and decided that today was the day. Today she would go to her mother and listen to what she had to say. 

As she walked to her cottage door, she started to think. What do I say to her? Should I come in the night or should I not go at all? Then she shook her head. Get a hold of yourself. You need to do this. She opened her cottage door and looked up in the sky. Sure enough, she found her parents’ cloud house. She flew up there, not knowing that her entire world would change.

When she landed on the cloud, she spotted her father Gentle Breeze. He was shaping the cloud wall to make a place for flowers, for he really wanted to surprise his wife. He noticed his daughter and put down his tools, saying, "Oh, Fluttershy, my daughter, what brings you here?"

"Well, I'm here to listen to mom."

"Oh, right, she did move our home over yours. And I know you and she don't see eye to eye. But it would be nice if you didn't go full Miss Angry on her."

"I promise, Dad. Just tell me where I can find her."

"Let's see. I think she’s inside cleaning the living room."

"Thank you, dad." And Fluttershy went to open the front door, which was lighter than her own door. It had been a while since she had opened a cloud door. 

When Fluttershy closed the door, Gentle Breeze went back to his tools.

As she walked in, Fluttershy saw the kitchen where, once upon a time, when she was a filly, she had tried to get at the newly baked cookies her mother had just made.

Fluttershy moved on to the living room where her mother was asleep on the couch. She walked to the armchair right next to the couch. Before she could sit down, an alarm rang out and woke her mother. Her mother stretched her body, and went she was done, she looked up at her daughter, unable to believe her eyes. Her daughter was in the living room, the very same room where Fluttershy accused her of doing something to Fluttershy’s brother that she was kind of responsible for. But she didn’t care. Tears ran out of her eyes.

She wiped off the tears, and got off the couch, saying joyfully, "Fluttershy, are you really here? If I'm dreaming, please don't wake me up, Princess Luna."

"I'm really here, Mom, and I'm ready to listen."

Realizing that this was real, Mrs. Breeze said, "Oh, right." She regained her composure and said, "In the letter you sent, you said that you and your friends had a bat problem at Sweet Apple Acres, if I recall correctly. You wrote in the letter that your friends told you that you became a batpony. And the reason why you became half bat and half pony is because you and I are batponies, but our kind like to be called Chiroptera.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened, as she said “What?”





In Manhattan, four hunters gathered at the base of the Statue of Liberty. The leader of the group was called Night Glider, and he was hoping to find a very special artifact underground, somewhere in the secret tunnel system that very few ponies knew of. 

Night Glider and the others slowly descended deeper and deeper underground.

"Are we there yet?" asked an impatient young stallion.

"It's been only two hours. I'm sure you can last a little longer."

"But I'm just so bored with the cautious approach. If I was in charge, we would be hunting that psychopath. But instead, we are learning every small detail about the relic she used.”

"You do realize that a hunter needs to be cautious in order to survive. And the prey we hunt is a banished hunter who knows how to spot us. And even worse, she survived the pits that lead to Tartarus, the worst place a pony could go, where all hunters who betray our order go to eventually die."

"Well, you can't blame me if I want some action."

"Hm, you’ve been reading too many smash fortune books lately, haven't you?"

The hunter’s cheeks started to turn red. "I'm just reading some of it."

Then another hunter asked Night Glider, "How does one hunter get banished and how are you certain that they will eventually die down there?"

"Well, if a hunter tried to kill Luna, or if they looked at ancient knowledge that was forbidden to the hunters of secret, that would do it. As for being certain that they would eventually die, we hunters cut off the wings of the banished hunters before we send them to their death in the pits of Tartarus. The reason we do this is to decrease their chances of survival down there.”

The young hunter started to shiver at the idea. "Well that’s one way to die, but I prefer to die with honor."

"Same here. Oh, Eager Shot, look. We're here." 

The hunters passed a destroyed door that once had Egyptian markings on it to protect what was beyond. But all that remained now was a ruin of what appeared to be an underground warehouse, full of several smashed objects and pony skeletons strewn about the floor.

“What or who built this place?” Eager Shot asked with curiosity.

Night Glider replied, “Several years ago a secret group known as the Order of Time tried to take over Equestria from the shadows. They probably would’ve succeeded and continued secretly stealing  magical items for world domination if it wasn’t for one Draconequus. From what I understand, that Monster tore the very fabric of reality right here. And since that day, this place has been plagued with ghosts of the Order.”

An old banner flapped in the breeze with one simple hourglass symbol on it. For once, long ago, this was the home base of an organization that hid in the shadows and powered the small towns. But the organization wanted complete control over the population and they were doing pretty well getting it, until Discord, the Lord of Chaos, came and caused chaos and destruction. The ponies ran in fear of the chaotic god. Discord successfully destroyed every last member of the Order of Time.

Eventually, the royal sisters defeated Discord by turning him into stone. But he had already accomplished one of his goals. He had burned their base to the ground. With hearts heavy for the loss of life, the two sisters flew back to Canterlot to tell everypony the good and bad news.

When the hunters entered the ruins of the warehouse, Night Glider said, "Okay, what we are looking for is some details about the first spear of the hunters and if there is an artifact that can identify an ancient relic that can tell us what kind of surprises it possesses. So, hunters, move in. Oh, and watch out for any active artifacts." All four hunters fanned out to begin searching.





Fluttershy finally recovered from that bombshell and shook her head. Then she looked at her mother and asked, "Why didn't I stay as a Chiroptera?"

"Well, because you’re basically half Chiroptera. When I met your father, I decided to keep him from the truth by hiding my true appearance. I wear magical runes that disguise my form." Then Night Breeze showed her daughter the ruins on her pearl necklace. "As for you, I guess your magic copies the same magic on the ruins. And has kept you looking like a pegasus. But when your friend Twilight used her spell to alter the bats, she must have messed with your magic. And when she reversed her spell, it fixed your magic."

As Night Breeze removed her pearl necklace, a magical swirl went around her body. Her wings changed from feathery to leather. Her ears got pointy and two fangs poked out of her mouth. Her coat became slightly darker.

Seeing her mother’s Chiroptera form, Fluttershy realized something. “Did you show the same thing to my brother?”

Night Breeze put on the pearl necklace again and returned to her Pegasus form. 

“Yes. I thought he could handle it, but unfortunately, he reacted much differently than I expected. So, I tried to make him look like he was having some kind of crazy episode. That’s something I regret deeply, more than anything.”

Fluttershy remained silent for quite some time, but eventually asked, "So are there any others like you or me?”

"Well, there are some but most of them stay in the safety of a town called Blood Moon, the only place where all Chiropteras can feel safe." 

Night Breeze noticed how interested Fluttershy was in Blood Mood. "But I don't think you want to go there. It's a rough place and only a Hunter of Secrets knows where the town is."

Fluttershy looked at her mother questioningly as she asked, "Um, what's a Hunter of Secrets?"

Before Night Breeze could answer, a rainbow vapor trail came through the front door and stopped in front of the two ponies.

Then Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "Fluttershy, I have some bad news." 

Fluttershy gave her a look that said what kind of bad news? 

Rainbow said, "I think you are going to have to see it to believe it." 

Rainbow grabbed Fluttershy with her hoof and zoomed out, leaving a very surprised Night Breeze behind.

Night Breeze then walked to her bedroom and pulled a lever that looked like a book. A secret room opened up where all of her hunter gear was stashed. She then grabbed three light blue pebbles from the secret room and tossed them over the bed. As she did so, each pebble started to glow blue and hover in the air. Then, the glowing pebbles connected and created a magical two-way portal with one entrance inside her bedroom and the other somewhere in the town of Blood Moon. 

A hoodie pony appeared from within the portal. 

"So, what has happened?" Night Breeze asked the pony.
> A Rude Awakening
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the edge of the Everfree Forest, right next to the road that circled around the forest, the banished hunter Black Fall was leaning against a tree and enjoying the sun’s warm rays of light. She almost forgot what the heat of the sun felt like. It had been too long since she had felt this kind of warmth. She would have continued enjoying it for a long while, but her partner in crime quickly arrived. He was wearing his hood as he approached and spoke.

"Well, that was a satisfying meal. Shall we get going?"

"I'm glad you enjoyed your meal, although it'll be awhile before we find any more meat for you." She paused for a moment and thought about the mare that she killed. "Which reminds me, did you tear out her ‘you know what?’ And spread that curse over her?" She straightened up.

"Yes, I did. I think you mean her horn. It is right here." Her monstrous friend pulled out a white horn that seemed to have been broken off with a jagged edge. He looked her in the eyes. "But let's not forget that you promised me big time. If I didn't show you mercy then you would be dead."

Black Fall took the white horn and placed it in her saddlebags, saying, "Yes, but don't forget I'm a banished hunter. I know how to kill monsters like you, so how about we don't lose faith in each other's abilities and keep moving toward our ultimate goal."

"Fine. Now that we have everything we need from this town, it's time to depart. I found a wagon that is in good condition."

Black Fall gave him a curious look. "Okay, where is it?" 

Black Fall gathered her supplies and the hunters’ first spear, thinking to herself 'Soon I will plunge this nation into chaos and the monsters will be free to kill anypony they like, for it is the circle of life, and the hunters will regret banishing me from Blood Moon.'

"Well, I didn't want anypony finding it so I left it at the edge of town." 

As soon they had all of the supplies they needed for their journey in their saddlebags, Black Fall and her partner started to walk south toward the wagon.





Outside of Rarity’s boutique store, several ponies had gathered around wondering what the heck was going on inside. Several Solar guards kept the crowd away, only letting the wielders of the Elements of Harmony in. But one thing that everyone knew for sure was that Rarity’s younger sister Sweetie Belle ran out in a panicked state straight to Twilight’s house in Ponyville. And after that, Twilight sent a letter to Princess Celestia using Spike’s dragon fire. In short order, the Princess sent several of her Solar guards to the boutique to keep everypony out. Some of the ponies heard rumors that one of the Element Bearers got hurt, but they had it wrong. One of them had died.

When Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash landed, four of their friends were already there, inside the Solar guard barrier. Applejack looked like she was crying on the inside. Pinkie Pie’s mane was deflated and streams of tears kept escaping from her eyes. As for Twilight, she had a hurt look as she wiped her tears away with a handkerchief that Spike had given her. The dragon’s heart was also in great pain.

As Fluttershy saw how sad her friends were as she walked past them, she got worried about what they were going through, as well as the fact that Rarity wasn't with them. She started to fear the worst.

Upon opening the door to the boutique, Fluttershy saw several blood splashes on the walls and the floor and on the pony mannequins. As for the fabrics in the store, they were soaked in blood. She looked at the horror and didn't know if it could get worse. But then she saw Rainbow pointing her hoof to the ceiling. When Fluttershy looked up, her world shattered. Tacked up on the ceiling was Rarity, dead, iron stakes piercing each hoof. Her horn was broken off and missing, and carved onto her chest was an arrowhead. Fluttershy started to tear up, and then she ran outside with one burning question. Why!?





Night fell on Manhattan, Night Glider, and his hunters as they continued looking through the ruins of the Order of Time. As midnight approached, the hunters started to see the ghosts of ponies of the Order. They didn't do much, just floated around and tried to scare the hunters away; nothing else.

"Um, are you guys seeing this?" asked a nervous dark yellow hunter with an orange mane.

"For the love of Celestia, would you just ignore them, Eager Shot?" said the closest hunter.

"Hey, it's hard to do that when we’re going through their stuff! I mean, what if they have some unfinished business in our world and they can't find peace until they complete their business?"

"You know what? If you keep this up, then this will be your unfinished business!"

"You know what? I'm just going to ask them."

"Whatever."

Eager Shot walked up to a mare ghost to ask her about her unfinished business, but she gave him a scary face and he stumbled back and landed on the ruin floor.

A ghostly voice said, "You're wasting your time with that one."

Eager Shot jumped up. Then he heard the same voice again. "She lost her common sense a long time ago." 

Eager Shot looked to where the voice of the ghost came from and hoped that this wasn't a prank the other hunters decided to pull on him, but it wasn't.

The ghost of a pony was sitting on some rubble nearby. He was a unicorn who looked as if he had a need for knowledge.

"Who are you?"

The ghost looked up and said, "Who am I? That is the question. I kind of know my last name is Lamoni, but my first name is lost to me."

"Well, Mr. Lamoni, I'm looking for something that has intel on legends. Do you know where I can find such information?"

"Let’s see. When the place was not in ruins, the most likely way to find information like that was through the mask of knowledge."

"Okay, thanks." He thought to himself 'Now that wasn't so hard. All you have to do is ask.' He started to look for the mask.

The ghost moved in front of him and stared at him hard. "Every item here has a downside when you use it. You’ll see. You have been warned." Then, like the breeze, he disappeared.

"Um, what’s the downside?"

Eager Shot continued to look around for what felt like hours. As the sunlight shone down on the ruin, he thought to himself, What did he mean, ‘you’ll see’? And what exactly is the downside he spoke of? 

Before Eager Shot could ponder on it any further, he noticed something in the debris. 

"Wait, what is this?" He walked over to the place where the ghost was standing. What he saw looked like an old wooden box with a hoof lock. As he placed his hoof on it and turned it, he heard a click and a wave of golden magic blew out. He removed his hoof and opened the box. Inside was a mask of an owl. As he lifted the mask, he saw a silver plaque that said The Mask of Knowledge - Please use it wisely.

Eager Shot picked up the mask and ran back to the others. "Hey, guys! I think I have something."





Shortly after Fluttershy ran out of the boutique, Twilight told the ponies of Ponyville that Rarity had been killed, and they would need to begin funeral preparations. .

A few weeks later, the funeral of Rarity was being held in the town hall. The coffin holding Rarity’s body was specially designed with gold and diamonds. It was painted white like her coat, and on the coffin’s door was a painting of Rarity’s cutie mark.

In the second row of seats sat several noble ponies who had come to pay their respects to the unicorn. Most of them had been customers of Rarity’s that would miss her fashion corrections.

But the rest of the seats were filled with the ponies of Ponyville who saw her as a friend. Princess Celestia and Luna sat among the Ponyville residents to show that they see every pony as equal.

As for Twilight and her friends, they were seated in the front row with Rarity’s parents and young sister.

A pony named Mayor Mare began the proceedings. 

"Every pony that is here knew Rarity. She was a generous soul and was always willing to do whatever she could for her friends." 

In the front row, Rarity’s mother started to cry. She kept a handkerchief up to her eyes to catch the tears that would not stop falling. Her husband went to comfort his wife. 

“She always told her customers that she would do her best and she always did.”

Mayor Mare paused for a moment.

“And now, I believe Twilight Sparkle has prepared a speech."

Twilight walked up to the stage and began to talk from her heart.

"Sometimes, Rarity was too generous. Like that one time she made me and all of my friends dresses for the Grand Galloping Gala. She could surprise us every now and then too. Like the time we thought she would be imprisoned by the diamond dogs, but just by complaining and whining, she got them not only to free her, but they gave her all of the diamonds they dug up, and I think-"

Clunk!

Twilight didn't have time to move as the door of the coffin hit her hard and she was thrown across the town hall into the wall. As Twilight’s friends came over to help move the coffin door off of her, a monstrous roar came from inside the coffin. The gathered friends and all who were attending the funeral looked back at the coffin to see a horrifying monstrosity emerge that was half pony and half wolf. The creature crawled out on all fours and paused. Its coat color looked darker gray and its mane and tail were shaggier and rougher than Rarity’s had ever been. Her eyes were red and hunger was written all over her face as the Rarwolf charged straight at Twilight.
> This May be a Mistake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The doors of the town hall burst open with ponies flooding out, running away. No one saw the hoodie pony running in the opposite direction.

Inside the town hall was a mess. Twilight used her magic to entrap the Rarwolf in the air. But the Rarwolf used her broken horn, causing Twilight’s magic to fly uncontrollably as bolts and jolts zapped all over. Twilight decided to let the Rarwolf go and flew up high enough to be safe. The other bearers might be in trouble, but Luna kept them safe inside a magic shield.

Celestia approached the Rarwolf and lit up her horn in golden magic. The Rarwolf charged at Celestia with sadness in her expression. The Princess of the Sun fired her spell at the Rarwolf, but as she did, something unexpected happend. The spell princess Celestia fired shattered to pieces near the Rarwolf’s broken horn. The princess didn't have time to figure out what had destroyed her spell. She cried out in pain as the Rarwolf bit down on her neck.  

The Rarwolf enjoyed the taste of blood and flesh and wanted more of it. As the Rarwolf tried to bite down on Celestia’s hind leg, she lifted her claws to really dig in.

But before she could do that, the werepony was caught in another telekinesis grip and was tossed into a wall. She quickly shook it off and looked up to see Twilight flying in the air with her horn lit up and tears in her eyes. But the purple alicorn wasn't done. She used her telekinesis again to send the werepony slamming to the ground several times. Thinking quickly, the Rarwolf charged up her horn  until it began to emit wild sparkles of magic. Then she released it. An uncontrollable wave of magic burst forth and Twilight lost control of her telekinesis grip. The  Rarwolf fell to the ground, landed on her paws, then jumped towards the wall and, using her claws, began to climb.

Twilight flattened her wings to get a little higher, but Rarwolf jumped off the wall and launched straight at Twilight. Her jaws clamped onto Twilight’s leg. The purple Alicorn yelled in pain as her friend bit into her hind leg, but the worst was yet to come. Rarwolf used her claws to start climbing and cutting Twilight’s coat.

"Oh, no, you don't!" A rainbow bullet hit Rarwolf in the side and knocked her towards another wall, but the damage was already done. 

Twilight started to fall to the ground, but luckily for her, Rainbow Dash grabbed her in midair. 

Rainbow glided down to the ground and said with tears in her eyes, "Twilight, are you okay? Please tell me you're okay! I can't lose you! I can't lose another friend!" 

They landed and Rainbow frantically shook her friend, trying to get her to wake up.

Then Twilight weakly said, "Rainbow, you're standing on my tail." When she said that, Rainbow felt relieved, knowing that her friend was okay. She kindly stepped off her tail.

Rarwolf then lunged at them with hunger burning in her eyes, and she was about to dig into Twilight, but Rainbow hit her before she could get close enough. That hit sent the werepony through the wall. Rainbow flew through the wall after her and saw the Werepony getting up and looking at the crowd of ponies who had gathered to see what the commotion was. When they saw the Rarwolf, the crowd of ponies panicked and ran for the hills. Rarwolf got excited, but before she could eat anypony, she was hit in the face with an orange hoof. 

Applejack said then, "Rainbow, mind getting me my rope? It looks like I'm going to need it." 

Rainbow zoomed towards Sweet Apple Acres. The Rarwolf got up, spit out some blood and a loose fang, and said in a monstrous voice, "I hope you don't mind if I help myself to your blood and vital organs to munch on?"

Applejack lifted her hat and replied, "The Rarity I know wouldn't want stuff like that, therefore you are not her!" 

The Earth pony charged the Rarwolf then slid on the dirt to trip the monster. She quickly got up and, using her hind legs, kicked the werepony in the face so hard that a physical shockwave erupted because of it. The werepony was sent flying backwards toward a rock, which crumbled to pieces upon impact. 

Rainbow came back with Applejack’s rope and said, "You know, you should really figure out how to carry your rope with you if a situation like this ever happens again."

Applejack shot Rainbow a half bored look and replied, "Well, the only pony who could give me something to help with that is currently being a monster." 

As they discussed how Applejack should wear some sort of saddlebag to hold her rope, the Rarwolf got up and started to charge straight at the two ponies.

She managed to tackle Applejack. However, Rainbow was able to fly up and get out of the way. 

The Werepony said, "Are you prepared to join me? Just imagine it. You, me, and all of our friends happily going on killing sprees. And, FYI, the hunger will never end." 

With that last word, Rarwolf lowered her neck to bite Applejack and spread the Werepony curse. Applejack’s life flashed before her eyes, but it was interrupted by a howl-like scream coming from the Werepony who was now running like a madpony around town hall. When she finally saw the cause of the pain, she began to use her claws to dig the silver arrow out of her. When it was removed, she tossed it to the ground and looked around to find her shooter. A second arrow zipped by and Rarwolf dodged it this time. Now she knew which building the shooter was in. She guessed whoever it was would be on the second floor somewhere in town hall. She ran inside.

Twilight used whatever was left of her magic to heal herself. When she was able to get up, she saw the Princess of the Sun and ran straight to her side. But Twilight was out of magic and felt quite helpless. But she started to notice that Celestia had some red magic surrounding her. The princess began to change. Her coat started to look a bit wolfish, and in her mouth, fangs could be seen. 

Luna walked up to her sister. "Don't worry, sister. Even though you have been bitten, you won't end up like Rarity." Luna placed her horn on Celestia’s horn and dark blue magic lit up the whole room and started to suck the dark red magic out of Celestia. Celestia returned to normal self but fell unconscious.

As Luna got up and looked at Twilight and her friends, she said, "Wait here. I have something to deal with." Luna teleported out of there before Twilight could ask what was happening.

Suddenly, every pony in town hall heard the whoosh of the arrow that hit the Rarwolf. She screamed with agony and got every pony;s attention. The silver arrow that was lodged in the Rarwolf started to burn her coat and flesh. The Rarwolf tried to dig it out. She eventually did get it out by biting it out. The burning stopped as soon as it started. She looked around to find the pony who shot her. Then a second arrow zipped down toward her but she saw it coming and dodged it. She knew where the shooter was and quickly began climbing the wall of the town hall.

Then, two more arrows zipped down, but the Rarwolf saw them coming. She leapt off one side of the wall to the second floor, but one of the two arrows hit her in the hind leg. The werepony thought to herself 'If I dig out another arrow, then whoever is shooting at me has more time to kill me.' She dodged another arrow. 'No, I will just ignore the pain. Even though it hurts like Tartarus.' As she ran up the stairs, the Rarwolf wondered who it was that was shooting at her.

She made it up to the attic where she saw the pony that was shooting at her with cursed arrows. The pony in question was wearing a hood and wasn't moving. Not wasting any time, the Rarwolf charged at the stranger.

But then, as she tackled the hooded figure, Rarwolf felt a burning pain in her stomach. The same burning pain she had felt in her hind leg earlier. A calm voice that came from next to the door said, "Well, it looks like my trap worked flawlessly." Then a click could be heard and two arrows hit Rarwolf in the back. The same pain continued to hurt like Tartarus. She ripped the cloak to shreds and saw five silver daggers piercing her stomach. Then she heard hoof steps and saw Night Breeze, but she looked like a Chiroptera in leather armor.

"There was a fifty-fifty chance of you stopping and looking around, but you followed your monster impulses. That has led us here. Just look at you, miss Rarity. What happened to you? Are you using a magical artifact to take the form of a werepony? No, that’s not it. It's those eyes." Night Breeze examined her eyes. "Those eyes are the eyes of a monster. They are eyes of pure hunger and rage. If that is so, then you are lost to us, and the only good thing to do is to show you mercy. By chopping off your head."

Night Breeze raised her sword and prepared to cut Rarity's heat off 

"Wait!" called a commanding voice.

Night Breeze turned around and saw princess Luna. The princess walked up to Rarwolf and used her magic to look through her memories. 

"I see you have suffered greatly, but you’ve got to hold it together, for soon this nightmare will be over."

Then, using her magic, Luna created a chess piece from the silver daggers and arrows. It contained a mixture of symbols The first was the lunar magic to fight the monster that raged inside Rarity. The next was a forbidden spell. Its purpose was to torture Rarwolf if she tried to kill any pony. And the final symbol was a magical rune of death, glowing in black.

"Princess Luna, what are you doing? She’s a monster, a werepony. And Equestria would be better off without her."

"Kill her and we would be doing Night Fall’s work for her. No. As much as I hate it, we need her alive. And who knows. Maybe she'll be an asset.”

Night Breeze looked at Luna seriously. "Alright, I'll go along with it. But if anything goes wrong, I will not wait for you to give the order. I will kill her."

"Your vote of confidence in me is noted." 

Luna looked at Night Breeze. “I think your daughter needs to be enlightened." 

Night Breeze’s eyes widened. "No, she does not have the stomach for it. My daughter is not a hunter."

"Now, normally, I would agree with you." Luna said as she looked down and saw Fluttershy with her friends. "But times are changing and the hunters need to change with them."

"Okay, let me talk to her. But I think I know what her answer will be."





Outside the old ruins of the Order of Time.

Four hunters heard Eager Shot’s story about the ghost of Lamoni, the mask of knowledge, and what the ghost had told him about the downside.

"Do you think he’s lying about the downside?"

"I don’t think so. He very clearly told me, and I quote." Eager Shot spoke in a sensei  voice, "You will see."

Night Glider looked at Eager Shot and sighed. "Well, it's not like we have much of a choice."

"Wait, what do you mean?" asked the first hunter.

"Anything written on paper down here is too damaged to read, burned away, or been stolen. It seems that this mask is the only thing that could tell us about the spear of the first hunter. So, who’s going to use it?"

Eager Shot sensed noticeable discomfort from the group of hunters.

The first hunter said, "I'm not going to do it! That thing has a strange aura around it and I don't like it."

The second hunter said, "Hey, don't look at me. This is my first year with the hunters."

Night Glider said, "Well, I think I'm the right pony for the job."

"Yeah, right," said a third hunter. "How could we be sure you’re telling us everything?"

Night Glider replied, "Well, Mr. ‘I Don't Trust My Fellow Hunters.’ Why don't you do it then?"

"Are you serious? I’ve got a girlfriend back at home. And I'm not going to get myself killed for some information that might or might not be useful."

"Alright, alright, I'll do it," said Eager Shot, as he grabbed the mask and placed it on his face.

"No! Eager Shot! Wait!" Night Glider yelled, but it was too late. The power of the mask flooded through Eager Shot’s entire body. His coat started to glow golden and his eyes glowed pure white.
> The Curse of Knowledge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

An endless grassy void was all that Eager Shot saw as he walked around for hours. But then he noticed something different that cut through the monotony of the grass. It was a small tree.

With high hopes that the tree would help answer his questions he flew to it. As he got closer, he realized it wasn't an ordinary tree. It was huge, like “rain forest” huge. And the bark of the tree was glowing with golden light.

As he approached, he felt the power of the mask increasing. The power felt like growing wisdom. He didn't know if it was good or bad.

When Eager Shot landed, he saw that the leaves on the tree were many different colors, all of which were unique.

"Has somepony come to free me from this cursed life? Or do they wish to keep me here for knowledge?" asked a beautiful but ancient voice.

Eager Shot tried to find the owner of the voice, but he couldn't. 

"Um, I'm here for the knowledge of the spear of the first hunter?"

"I should have guessed that. No one ever has the time to free me from this artifact," said the voice, but this time it sounded disappointed.

Then a pony-like figure floated down to the ground and Eager Shot finally got a look at the owner of the voice. She was a pegasus with a blue coat. Her mane and tail were floating as if in a breeze and they were comprised of two colors mixed together -  golden yellow and light green.

But the freakiest thing about the mare’s body was that it was covered in light golden scars. And her eyes. He could not see her eyes, for they were glowing brightly, the same color as her scars. Her wings had a lot of feathers missing, but in their place were feathers made of that same golden light.

She looked at Eager Shot. "So, you wish for ancient knowledge?" Eager Shot nodded. "And what was it again?" Her voice sounded heartbroken.

He suddenly felt sorry to ask her again and almost didn't, but then he remembered why he came here in the first place. So he shouldered his emotions and said again, "Um, the spear of the first hunter?"

"Okay. The knowledge you seek shall be yours."

Then her eyes and scars began to glow even brighter. Soon, the grassy void brightened out of existence. The next thing Eager Shot knew, he and the pegasus were floating down to a cave.





Inside Night Breeze’s home, she and Fluttershy were having tea in the living room.

"So, how are your friends holding up?" As Night Breeze said this, she was careful not to destroy Fluttershy’s happy mood.

"Well, from what I’ve heard, Twilight is up in Canterlot discussing what happened and what to do to prevent it from happening ever again."

Night Breeze placed her tea cup down on the table. 

"As for Applejack, she is working on the apple orchard. I'm guessing hard work is keeping her mind off it."

"I suppose that makes sense," Night Breeze reached out to grab an amulet with an arrow head emblem.

"The same can be said for Rainbow Dash,” continued Fluttershy. “She is keeping a smile on her face and is working ten times harder than she usually does busting clouds."

"Well, I guess everypony has their way of handling loss."

"I think Pinky is doing fine, but I didn't see her at all after the whole ordeal was over."

Night Breeze was thinking. This isn't right. She’s living her dream here. Why do I have to destroy it? No, if I show her this, there'll be no going back. What kind of mother does that? "Fluttershy, dear, I have something for you, but before I give it to you, I have to ask you something."

Fluttershy looked at her.

Night Breeze cleared her throat. "Do you want to be a Hunter of Secrets?"

Fluttershy thought for a while then answered. "Yes."

"Okay. Then hold this." She handed the amulet to her daughter.

As Fluttershy held it, her eyes suddenly glowed bright blue.





"Hello? Hello, is anypony there?" It had been several hours and Rarity was still walking in darkness. Most ponies would have given up, but Rarity wasn't that kind of pony.

"Well, well, well," said a female monster’s voice. "Look who's finally here."

"I'm looking for the exit. Could you kindly point the way and I'll be gone?" said Rarity.

"Oh, I’m sorry, but you can't just walk out of our shared mind."

"But I-”

"You’re confused. Don't worry, dear, it won't take long for things to start kicking in." 

Rarity’s eyes widened as she began to realize what had happened to her. From her death to becoming a monster, as well as the hunger for the flesh of her friends. 

The monster voice spoke again. ”The way I see it, you and I are going to get very acquainted. And from here on out, I get to say what kind of pony we will become, and it will be one with power, one who is in charge. And who will be running this ship? Why that would be me!"

Suddenly, Rarity was tackled to the ground. She looked up to see herself, but it was a version of herself that had decided to let her mane grow uncontrollable. It was not even combed. Her coat was ruffled and furry. She had a broken horn and red eyes. And just then, her mouth opened to reveal pure white rows of teeth that were sharp, pointy, and ready to eat her face.

With a blast of her magic, Rarity sent her double flying off. When her Rarwolf was a good distance away, Rarity felt a little better. But then, Rarwolf got up and ran toward her. Rarity fired a beam of magic to stop her double. 

"Not so fast, darling!” Rarity exclaimed. “I'm not going to let you make us a monster."

But Rarwolf lit up her broken horn, which sparked dangerously and uncontrollably, and met Rarity's beam of magic. The two magic beams sparkled and flared. But the magic fractured in several places, then shattered, knocking down Rarity. Rarwolf jumped up and landed on top of her.

"Enough!" Both ponies heard the same voice and then several blue magical chains appeared, wrapping around Rarwolf.

Rarity walked up to the owner of the voice, princess Luna. As she walked toward her, she passed Rarwolf, who was snapping her mouth at Rarity. "Princess Luna, what are you doing here?"

"I'm the alicorn of the night. I help ponies who are suffering, like you are."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you are what is known as a werepony, a cursed pony whose soul is corrupted beyond measure. In the height of wereponies, some thousands of years ago, I created a secret group of ponies called the Hunters of Secrets. With their help, we managed to lock the wareponies away with an ancient seal which is hidden from the world. The main reason was so no pony could ever find it by accident. But I digress. Back to you. You see, your soul is corrupted. But I will do my best to save you.”





Eager Shot saw several Hunters arguing about something. The pegasus began to impart her knowledge.

"Once, long ago, there was a pony named Silver Tip." They zoomed in on the Hunter in question. He was a black Chiroptera with a silver mane and tail, and he was holding the spear. 

"He was the best hunter of his time, killing Luna knows how many monsters." Suddenly, the cave of arguing Hunters disappeared. 

Eager Shot looked around. And what he saw was the aftermath of a battlefield in a forest, with uprooted trees laying on the ground and a dragon looking at his own blood as he slowly died in front of his slayer.

Silver Tip kneeled on the ground and said, "Rest in peace, noble challenge." But then his spear glowed a dark red, and then gone was the pony known as Silver Tip. The power of the spear could be seen in his eyes as they glowed red. 

The spear’s power spoke through Silver Tip in a more sinister voice. "He wasn't so tough! We could have taken on fourteen dragons. But I guess we are satisfied." 

Then the power let Silver Tip have control again. "Well, at least you’re satisfied. I'll be able to sleep now, but we’ve got to talk about our-"

"Little brother, are you talking to yourself again?" Eager Shot looked at the pony who spoke to Silver Tip.

"Night Strike, what are you doing here?"

A mare Chiroptera came out of the shadows, donned in black leather armor and carrying a spear, the head of which was engulfed in black lightning. Her coat was dark red and her mane and tail were silver just like her younger brother’s. "Well, I’m going to be gone for a couple of months. I just wanted you to know. So, yeah."

Brother and sister hugged each other. Then Silver Tip asked, "Do you have to go?"

"Mystic Coat said if I don't then I can say goodbye to this." Night Strike looked at her spear, then looked back to her brother. "But on the bright side, at least I'm keeping hope alive. And don't worry, I'll be back before you know it."

"Well, promise me that you find somepony special."

Night Strike’s cheeks turned red. "Um, okay, but you're not supposed to know about that kind of stuff. If I find somepony special, it will be someone that I can trust. But we will talk about that when I get back." 

With that, Night Strike walked into the shadow of a nearby tree and Silver Tip went back to the cave of the Hunters of Secrets with the spear in his hoof.
> Burns, Ambush and a Thread
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Not a whole lot is known about what happened to him next," the pegasus continued, "or how he went insane, but one thing that’s for sure is that the spear has three different magic runes on it. The first is gravity, the second is earth, and the third is nightmares. But be warned, this kind of artifact is extremely dangerous. The more you use it to kill, the more insane you'll become, just like Silver Tip."

"Okay, good to know,” Eager Shot said. ”By the way, I never got your name."

"I am Sonia Kicker."

"I'm Eager Shot."

"Well, nice to meet you,” Sonia Kicker sighed. “But why did you do it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you put the mask on?"

"Oh, well, my fellow hunters were arguing about who should put it on after after they found out what kinds of risks there were, so I just decided to do it."

"Oh well, I'm sorry in advance. You seem like a nice guy." 

Suddenly, the mare flew straight at Eagle Shot and he screamed.

A muffled voice asked, "What’s wrong with you?"

"Eagle Shot, hold still! Just, try not to fly up," Night Glider’s voice said. "Now, what happened?"

Eagle Shot realized he was trying to fly away from the group of hunters. He quickly calmed down and told them all he knew about the spear, who owned it, and the mysterious pegasus inside the mask.

When he was done, he noticed he was still glowing even after the mask of knowledge was off. 

Suddenly, several bursts of golden flames erupted from his body. The flames hurt a lot. It only lasted a few seconds but it felt like years of damage was done.

"Sweet Luna, what happened to your face?" Night Glider exclaimed.





Black Fall and her partner walked to the wagon. It was well hidden, but they knew where it was. 

Black Fall began to feel on edge. "You know what’s so funny."

"No, what?"

"The fact that we haven't seen anypony walking by on the road." Black Fall gave her partner a look that said ambush.

"You know what? You're right. We would normally have bumped into one or two ponies by now." They prepared themselves for an attack. "But look at that; not one pony in sight. There must be an unusual holiday going on in this town."

"Now!" shouted a hunter who was hidden in the bushes.

Several arrows zipped from the trees and the bushes. The arrows got closer, revealing each one to have an elemental rune which burned with power.

Slam!

Thinking quickly, Black Fall used the spear to hit the ground, sending a gravity wave expanding outwards. The wave caused all the arrows to miss their targets and explode in the air with lightning, ice, and fire. Because of the explosions, nearby trees started to burn.

The hunters looked around for their kill, but didn't find them.

Suddenly, the ground shook and several spikes made from earth shot upwards, aimed for the hunters’ heads. Two got out of the way in time. But the other two hunters were not so lucky; they now lay on the ground with their heads missing.

"Well, well, it looks like the party is just getting started." Black Fall’s partner ripped off the clock he wore, revealing a black werepony with one good eye that was red and another eye that was white with a scar over it. He wore leather armor and his claws were sharp as swords, which he demonstrated by tearing through one of the hunters. He moved so fast that no hunter could see him coming. As he started digging into the hunter and eating the raw flesh, the other hunter swung her sword at his fur, but that made him more angry. In a blind rage, he shattered the sword with his claws and slashed at the hunter. Then he said, "I do not like it when I am disturbed from my meal!" He licked his wound and continued to dig into the hunter.

Two more hunters came out, looking for their prey. 

"Okay, let's see what this one does," said Black Fall. The two hunters looked at her with swords drawn, but it was too late. As the last rune glowed purple, the hunters’ eyes began to glow with purple magic. They dropped their swords and started to mumble something like they were living their worst nightmare.

"No, no, please! I'll do anything for you! Just please leave me alone."

"How can this be? I...I saw you die! How can you be here?"

Black Fall looked at the two helplessly stuttering hunters."I could kill you here and now. But you know what? I think I'll spare you, because when you return, you will be humiliated. So, yeah. Goodbye for now." 

Black Fall started to walk away. But she stopped in her tracks when the spear began to glow red. She turned around screaming, her eyes as red as the spear.

"You jackass! You hunters made me to kill any monster you thought you couldn't handle! Well guess what! It's time for a little slaying of my own choosing! Heh, he, he, he, he!" 

Then Black Fall slashed brutally at the hunters, still trapped in their nightmares. They were quickly transformed into an ugly pool of blood with guts. Then the eyes of Black Fall returned to normal. 

"What have I done?! Who was that?!"

"Hey, Black Fall, I just got done and-" Black Fall’s partner stopped when he saw what was troubling her."Well, well, well. I'm surprised that you decided to go with my approach. Effective, isn’t it?" He gave her a toothy grin.

"No! I don't know what I was doing! I was planning on letting these hunters live! But then a power washed over me and I think it used my body to do this!" She pointed to the puddle.

"Well, as the saying goes, ‘the bloodier the better.’ I'll just fill up my canteens and we’ll save the flask for later in my bags. When I'm done, we better get a move on.”

"To the badlands, Cold Blood?"

"Yes, to the badlands, where the magical seal is." Then Cold Blood took out his canteen and started to fill it up with blood. Once it was full, he put it back where he kept it. He then grabbed some bags, placed them on the ground, and began to pick up pieces of flesh from what was left of the hunters, dropping the pieces into the bags.

Black Fall walked to the cart, still wondering what had happened to her. As she approached the wagon, she heard a voice inside her head. 'Soon we will kill your partner and kill any pony or creature that gets in our way.' 

"Who said that?" she said. But no one answered. She continued to walk to the wagon that they would use to travel into the badlands of Equestria.





One month later, in Sugar Cube Corner, where Pinkie Pie worked making cakes, cupcakes, and other baked goods, a party was going on for Pinkie’s pet alligator Gummy. 

"Well, I'm glad all of you ponies could come to Gummy's party," said Pinkie Pie. Her mane then deflated a little. "Even with what happened to our friend."

"Oh, shucks," Applejack said. "I'm just happy to be here. But to be honest, work at Sweet Apple Acres is getting old, and it's doing nothing to get rid of that troubling moment."

"Well, the same can be said for me, but the real reason I came to this party is-" Twilight looked around. "Hey, does anypony know where Fluttershy is?"

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her helping any critter."

"Oh, that’s easy. She’s inside her mother’s house," piped up Rainbow Dash. Everypony looked at Rainbow. "What? I saw her flying up to her parents’ house when I was busting clouds."

"But why is she there? It's not like her to do that. What is she hiding?" Twilight mused with a curious look in her eyes.





Back at Night Breeze’s house, a little later in the afternoon, Fluttershy opened her eyes, which glowed a pale light blue before returning to normal. Then she looked around and saw that she was lying on the couch. She got up and turned a steel gaze on her mother.

"So, princess Luna wants me to be a hunter of secrets?"

"Yes," her mother replied.

“So, are we going to meet her at some secret place or does she have a magical way to communicate with us? Because I doubt Luna would appear in public with the sun still high up in the sky.”

"You are correct about that. I believe it will be up in Canterlot during the night.” Mrs. Shy walked over to the dining table. "But before we go anywhere, I need to see if you have the sense." 

Suddenly, Night Breeze grabbed several pieces of silverware and threw them at her daughter. Thinking fast, Fluttershy kicked and grabbed the silverware out of the air, ending up holding five of the pieces. The rest were either stuck in the furniture or on the cloud floor.

"I can't believe I just did that!" Then Fluttershy’s eyes widened. "Actually, how did I do that?"

"Well, that amulet you have on is a hunter heirloom. It's capable of teaching hunters about their strengths and weaknesses, about how traps work, and about how to set the perfect ambush." 

Night Breeze went silent for a few seconds before saying, "But on to more important things. Like Blood Moon. Luna has kept it safe from prying eyes, and only she knows where that town is. But there is a  downside. If you journey there, you have to leave your friends behind here."

"Well, I might be sad for a while, but I think this is a higher calling, and it’s not about me." 

Fluttershy wiped away her tears that she hadn’t realized were forming."I'm ready. Let's go!" 

Fluttershy started for the door, but her mother said seriously, "Unfortunately, you can't go out like that. I suggest you look at yourself in the bathroom mirror quick."

Fluttershy was confused, but went to the bathroom mirror as her mother suggested. Instead of the yellow pegasus that Fluttershy usually saw staring back at here, there was now a dark yellow bat pony with light blue snake-like eyes. She understood now why her mother didn't want her walking outside. She test flapped her leather wings. Flutterbat was back, and this time she was here to stay.
> The Badlands
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the Butcher, Black Fall wasn't doing much in the wagon after the ambush. She and Cold Blood took off from Ponyville. 

Through most of the journey to the Badlands, Black Fall found it hard to sleep. There were a few boxes in the back of the wagon and whenever Cold Blood passed over a bump in the road, the boxes would jump or slide to where she was sleeping. Being unable to sleep, Black Fall decided to look in the boxes to see if there was anything useful inside, or possibly something to eat. She found some apples.

Black Fall said, "Well, that is unfortunate."

She closed the boxes. "Why couldn't they have purchased berries? I quite enjoy berries."

Her ears flattened as she said, "I guess if worse comes to worst, I could devour an apple. It may not be as tasty as a berry, but it will leave my stomach feeling satisfied."

Black Fall moved deeper into the wagon and saw a built-in desk, a perfect spot for reading. She walked towards it while going through her saddlebags. Finding what she was looking for, she brought out a book and placed it on the desk. She and the other hunters had to read it to better understand their prey, and she quite enjoyed it, so much so that she had read through it several times. However, this copy was not from Blood Moon. No, the Butcher stole this copy from somepony else in Ponyville. The book itself had seen better days: a couple bookmarks here, some torn pages there, and some pages completely missing. Besides that, the book was still in good condition. Black Fall recalled the one thing that she actually found interesting in the book: the history of the Monsters past.The front of the book was covered in gold letters, titled Terrifying Monsters and How to Properly Kill Them.

Black Fall opened the book and carefully went through several pages before finding a page containing an image of a pony-like creature with a lion’s mane and tail, except the tail had a little more hair in it. It also had a horn on its head that could be mistaken for a branch. On the creature’s back, there were scales. And underneath the image was scrawled the name of the creature. The Kirin was once believed to be kind and caring. They could gently speed up the growth of plants. But ponies should not be fooled by the Kirin’s kind greetings or generally helpful nature, because if you make one angry, they can transform into fiery versions of themselves, known as Nirik. If there's a group of them nearby and one becomes angry enough to become a Nirik, it could cause the rest of them to burst into flames as well, with the mind of a beast that has an instinct to destroy anything and everything. These creatures have been known to burn down entire towns. The best way to deal with them is to convince the entire village or town to avoid them like the plague. If avoiding them is not an option, then ponies should go for a stealth kill. But you must be sure the group of monsters doesn't see you, because if they do, the most likely scenario would be a smoldering, crispy village.

Black Fall reread through the Kirin page four more times before carefully going through the book again. She found another interesting creature. An insect pony, the Chitin, a black creature with a silky-looking mane and tail. Its hooves had cheese-like holes and the creature also had insect-like wings. A pair of fangs rested under the muzzle, and on top of the head was a pointy horn and insect blue eyes. Under the image, the name of the race of these creatures showed: Changeling.

Black Fall mumbled to herself, "I shouldn't be surprised. It's the same for every creature in this book." She continued reading.

The changelings are a hidden race of monsters that tend to stick to the shadows and basically disguise themselves as other ponies. But when they attack, they do it through several faces and with confidence that they will win no matter what or who they are attacking. They usually attack in a swarm and depend on numbers to win. Word of advice, don't fight an entire swarm alone, because if you do, it will be a bloody mess. They first appeared and succeeded in what has been known in history as The Attack on Canterlot. A swarm is usually led by a queen. So far, there has only been one queen known in existence. Since the day of the Canterlot attack, ponies have known that changelings have the numbers to seriously invade Equestria. But for some reason, they haven't yet. Someponies theorize that the queen doesn't want to lose and therefore is buying time to create more Changeling to increase their numbers and eventually take over Equestria without the ponies knowing it. But since the wedding at Canterlot, several ponies have begun to realize that there was a reason several villages in the badlands were abandoned to these things. However, Changeling cannot survive without pink energy,, known as love energy. It powers them up and they need it to survive the changing. The more eager it is to change, the more willing it is to get that love energy. And if you have a foal in front of the starving changeling, that foal can cause it to reveal itself. And when that happens, you kill it. Fast. As for the queens..."

Before Black Fall could continue reading, they went over a big bump and the entire wagon tilted. Black Fall realized the wagon was no longer moving, so she made her way out of the cramped space and opened the door. The sun temporarily blinded her, but she quickly adjusted her eyes and saw rocky hills and mountains ahead.  When she looked around, she saw Cold Blood by a natural river that seemed to be the only source of water in the area. The Butcher made her way to him and then looked at the river, staring at her reflection, seeing so many scars of the past.

Cold Blood raised his eyebrows at her before saying with a harsh tone, "Well, what are you waiting for? Take a drink!"

Black Fall shook her head and took a good long drink from the water. Then she looked at Cold Blood and said, "Aren't you all sunshine and rainbows." Then she went for a second drink.

"The reason why I'm so cranky,” he said, “is because I spent nearly all of the day hauling a wagon in the ruthless heat of the sun! Meanwhile, you were inside, getting lost in whatever you were doing. At least you had shade!"

Finishing her second drink, Black Fall realized that what he said was true. She did spend nearly all day in the wagon. 

She gave her companion a cold stare and said, "I was taking inventory on what we have so far. We have four crates of apples, some rope, and a built-in desk. Also I needed time to think." 

Black Fall recalled back to the ambush, how she had the capability of sparing those two Hunters but some unnatural power had washed over her and caused her to kill them instead.  She  pondered more on that but was interrupted by Cold Blood.

"I get it, I get it," Cold Blood said. "If we want to survive, we need to be two steps ahead of the Hunters, right?"

Black Fall walked to the fire pit that Cold Blood had dug up and sat down on a log. She stared into space for a little while before answering. "Yes."

Not convinced by her answer, Cold Blood began to poke the ground with his claws. He wore a look that said he wanted to say something but he didn't know how to say it.

Black Fall was still trying to ponder on that unpleasant thing, but then she saw Cold Blood and rolled her eyes. 

"What is it, Cold Blood? I know we haven't known each other for long, but I can tell when something is bothering you, so please tell me - what is it?"

 A hour passed before Cold Blood managed to work up the courage to say, "How did you end up in that pit with me?"

Black Fall thought about his question for a moment before saying, "I suppose it all started in a village called Guano Town."

 
Flashback


Black Fall and three other Hunters arrived at the town; or, at least, what was left of it. Several buildings were destroyed. The leader of the Hunters’ little group was questioning the town’s mayor and the other two Hunters started to look around.  Black Fall did the same, but she was paying more attention to the destroyed buildings. She found the remains of a crushed Unicorn; she guessed that this Unicorn was once the owner of the building. But there was something a bit strange about the remains. For one thing, the Unicorn didn't have any weapons on him. For another thing, this was the fifth building to get attacked. But the strangest thing was that it looed like the Unicorn had been pierced by the monster, not crushed by the debris. As Black Fall walked out from the demolished rubble, another pony went in to clean up the sticky mess before it attracted flies. 

Black Fall flew up to a roof and started to think to herself. 'Why would a creature kill a Unicorn before smashing the place? Unless there's more going on.' Before she could start investigating the other destroyed buildings, Black Fall heard the Hunters call.

 She glided down to Harsh Lee, a dark pink Chiroptera with a black mane and tall. Despite being a Hunter, Harsh could get very heated, very fast. 

"OK,” Harsh said. ”It looks like there's only one monster trashing this place and they say it usually comes at night, so we’re going to trap it here."

Black Fall asked, "Are you sure we should do this? Because I just looked in one of the destroyed houses and it was weird. It was like the creature specifically targeted the pony who lived there."

Harsh Lee stared at Black Fall coldly and said very carefully, "Black Fall, are you questioning our mission? Or Did Little Old You Forget You Are A Hunter!? "

"No, I just think we should be questioning the town’s ponies more to find out what's really going on here and why this monster is destroying their buildings," she pointed her hoof toward a pile of rubble,. "and not the other buildings!" 

As Black Fall spoke, she came nearer and nearer to Harsh. She continued. "I think there's a little more to the story than just a monster rampaging through this village, don't you?"

Another Hunter put his hoof up to his face and murmured, "Here she goes again, overanalyzing things when she should really focus on killing monsters."

Harsh look at her with murder written on her face. Then she punched Black Fall and yelled, "Your Need For Analyzing And Observing Can Get Annoying!" Her expression turned stoney and she continued. "You must realize that we are here to kill monsters. So lose those analyzing and observing skills of yours and focus more on trapping and killing." 

Harsh kicked some dirt in Black Fall’s face before heading back to the group. 

A bit calmer now, she addressed all of the Hunters, saying, "OK, boys and girls, from what the mayor has told me, our monster today is a manticore. So, let's do this right and not let anyone else get killed by this thing. Let’s get to work!"

Immediately, all four Hunters began setting up all kinds of traps: arrow traps, net traps, and the like. Black Fall, despite her hurt feelings, still set up traps dutifully. As she did this, she started thinking to herself Is this the right thing to do? We could've tried talking to some of the creatures. 

But then Harsh Lee’s words came screaming into her head. 'We Are Here To Kill Monsters! You Got That? Hunters Don't Ask Monsters To Go Away! We Focus On Trapping And Killing Them Before They Get A Chance To Cause More Death And Destruction!' These words repeated inside her head over and over as she worked to set up her traps.
> Fall From Grace
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Hunter walked over to Black Fall and said, "It looks like you're all done setting up your traps. And are you sharpening your arrows?" The Hunter noticed Black Fall wasn't paying any attention to him, so  he asked "Hey, are you with us?" He then used his hoof to shake Black Fall out of her trance.

The Huntress reacted sharply. "Who are you? And why are you shaking me?" She stared at him coldly before continuing, "Have you ever heard of personal space?"

The Hunter said, "My apologies. It's just that you seemed a little too focused. I think I should introduce myself. My name is Shivering Ice.”

"Wait a minute,” interrupted Cold Blood. “Shivering Ice? That’s a dumb name."

"Like you have room to talk!” Black Fall snapped. ”Seriously, where did the idea of Cold Blood come from? It’s not like your actual blood is cold. Now be quiet and let me tell the rest of my story." 

"Ok fine, but when you're done, we're going to have a serious talk about this someday,” Cold Blood said. Black Fall ignored him.

Shivering Ice said, "I hope Harsh wasn't too rough with you. I've heard she can get carried away."

Black Fall’s heart fluttered knowing that at least somepony cared for her and she replied, "Thank you. I apologize for my mood earlier. As for Harsh, that wasn't her harshest moment. Trust me, you haven't seen her at her harshest moment. Because if she did lose it, then I wouldn't be standing here. Actually, if we’re being honest, I would probably be in a puddle of blood." Somewhere during their conversation, the two Hunters got lost in each other’s eyes for what seemed like forever.

Sadly, it did come to an end after one hour passed. Harsh’s voice broke in, "It's about sundown. Everypony should find a secure spot and assume their position."

Both Shivering Ice and Black Fall shook their heads and said in unison, "Oh, right away, ma'am." And with that, they both flew up to a roof and waited for any kind of sound.

Several hours after sunset, the first trap was triggered. The Hunters aimed their crossbows and would've gotten a direct hit, except that Black Fall tackled them and threw off their aim. The reason she did this was because she still believed there was another way. 

"What are you doing?!” she yelled. ”There has to be a reason why this creature is attacking!"

The manticore got free from the net trap and made his way across the town, triggering several arrow traps which sprung into action. Every single one of them hit the manticore. But that didn't stop it. The monster looked around and eventually found the mayor’s house. It ran towards the building and, using its scorpion tail, broke down the front door.The mayor used his earth pony strength to break through the window to escape the manticore. However, monster gave chase, completely bursting through the window and the wall around it. It wasn't long before the mayor’s house was nothing but another destroyed home. The manticore managed to catch up to the mayor, who tried to jump out of its path. But the manticore caught  the mayor’s hind legs in its mouth, ripping them off. As his blood spilled everywhere, the mayor still tried to get away. But the monster used its scorpion tail to pierce through the back of the pony, immediately killing him. When it was over, the manticore made a beeline for the forest. The Hunters’ traps failed to bring down the manticore as it ran and several more ponies were killed, either by the traps or by the manticore’s claws, teeth, and stinger. The monster had almost made it to the forest when it activated one last trap. It was a pit trap and it worked. When the monster fell into the pit, it was pierced by several wooden stakes at the bottom.

All four Hunters gathered around the successful trap. Harsh transformed her sword into a crossbow and said, "We got him. We finally got him. Now who’s-" She heard a whimper from the pit, and as she looked down, Harsh saw that the manticore was still alive. "Oh, guys, look. It's not dead yet. Let's kill it."

As Harsh aimed her crossbow, Shivering Ice asked, "Who set up the trap?"

The Hunter right next to him said, very disappointedly, "I think Black Fall set this one up."

Lowering her crossbow, Harsh said, "Well, since she's the one who trapped it, it would be better if she was the one who killed it. And who knows? Maybe it will help her to abandon her hopes and dreams for coexistence with these monsters."

Black Fall transformed her sword into a crossbow and aimed it at the manticore’s head, but the monster gave her such a fearful look that a battle rose up in Black Fall’s mind. The Hunter side of her said that killing this monster would give her more respect and the world would be safer with one less monster to deal with. But the side that favored monsters and desperately wanted coexistence to happen said that killing this monster wouldn't solve the problem. Perhaps freeing it from her trap would be a step in the right direction. 

Black Fall’s crossbow began to shake in her hoofs and eventually, she lowered it and said, "No."

Shivering Ice asked, "What do you mean, no? Don't you want to kill this monster? Don't you want to protect ponykind?"

Not missing a beat, Black Fall said, "Yes, I do, but I also know that this creature has a right to live and we shouldn't take that right away."

Shivering Ice aimed his crossbow at the manticore and said, "If you're not willing to do it, then I will."

Her heart broke in two and she said emotionally, "I can't believe you're so coldhearted. I had a feeling that this would be the outcome, so I installed a backup system." 

Black Fall slammed her hoof on a trip wire which triggered another trap in the pit. A net catapulted the manticore out of the pit trap and straight into Shivering Ice. Black Fall and the other two Hunters dove out of the way, but Shivering Ice wasn't so lucky. The monster swallowed him whole and then started to run to the nearby forest.

As the other two Hunters got up and shot shocked glances at the emotionally unstable Black Fall, they saw nothing but disappointment in her eyes. Black Fall’s emotions were all over the place. Hot tears of emotion poured out of her eyes as she dropped her crossbow. When it hit the ground, it landed on a rock with a loud clunk. She was both pleased and sad about her accomplishment, pleased that the manticore escaped, but sad about the loss of Shivering Ice.

Harsh gave her a grin as he said, "I figured you would be the weak link. I also came up with a back up plan in case all of our traps failed." 

Black Fall’s tearful eyes widened as Harsh yelled, "Now!" Suddenly, the rest of the villagers hiding behind stone fences and demolished buildings came out from behind them, armed their crossbows, and fired explosive rounds at the manticore. The air was bursting with fire, ice and lightning. The monster could only take so many shots befoe it finally died. The villagers cheered.

Both of the remaining Hunters looked at Black Fall, anger in their eyes, and Black Fall quickly realized what was about to happen. She backed up and tried to fly away. Unfortunately for her, both Hunters tackled her. Harsh kept her pinned as the other Hunter pulled out some rope to tie her wings down. 

Harsh cried, "Oh, no you don't! Because of you, one of us is dead now. You must face the consequences."

The other Hunter finished tying her wings and then said, "I hope you're happy with your choice." As he spoke, he realized something and looked fearfully at the mare for a long while before seeing a quick little flash of gold in her eyes. 

His eyes widened a little and he asked, "You didn't read one of those books of forbidden knowledge, did you?" 

Black Fall got up on all four legs and, trying her best not to look at the Hunter, she asked, "Is it a crime to read books of any kind?" 

With that question and the brief golden shimmer in her eyes, the Hunter’s fears were confirmed. She had read forbidden knowledge. 

The Hunter looked at Harsh and said, "We need to tell the mistress about what happened here and hold a trial for her crimes." Harsh looked at Black Fall and nodded. Without saying goodbye to the villagers, they made their way to Blood Moon.






Present Day 


The sun had just set when Black Fall shook her head and realized that the campfire had been burning for quite some time. Figuring that this was Cold Blood’s doing, Black Fall treasured the warmth she felt. She looked up and around before eventually finding him.

Cold Blood had been filling water skins for the road ahead. When he finished, he looked at Black Fall and said, "What, are we doing a commercial break?"

The Butcher replied, "Don't be silly. If we were doing a commercial break, then that would indicate that we are in a television show. And television doesn't even exist. Yet?" Black Fall looked up at the sky in confusion, because for a second, she thought someone was above her telling her to say those exact words.

A little puzzled by her reply, Cold Blood decided to just let it go, and he went to retrieve another skin filled with water. 

"I didn't really think you had the guts to not only not to kill a creature that isn't a pony,” he commented, “but you also wanted the creature to live and find a better way to live in the world. You want life for ponies and monsters alike. But I'm curious, do you still believe in that? Do you still believe that monsters and ponies can coexist together?"

Black Fall looked down before answering her partner’s question. "Yes, but unfortunately, the Hunters don't see it that way. So as long as they're still around, the world will never be at peace."

"With the thought process you had back, it makes sense that you are where you are right now."

The Butcher looked up at him and said, "That incident was actually the beginning of the rockslide for me. My heart was torn in two. I accidentally killed one of my fellow Hunters because of my ideas and beliefs for a better world." 

She began collecting rocks and throwing them at a mountainside. "When I got back to Blood Moon, my living quarters were searched."






Flashback


Before Black Fall stood a very angry Luna with several other Hunters pointing spears at her. Luna approached Black Fall and said, "Search her room."

Two randomly selected Hunters ran to her cavern house and started to turn the place upside down with several crashes, accompanied by the sound of furniture being tossed to the floor. The two Hunters returned with several books containing glowing pages. Luna’s eyes narrowed as she looked Black Fall straight in the eyes.

Black Fall said very nervously, "I didn't mean to get one of the Hunters killed. It was an accident."

Luna replied, "You know that the mission is to track down and kill monsters. But according to what Harsh has told me, you weren't helping with that. You became more of a nuisance to the Hunters, not an aid. And because of your actions, I can see no alternative. I, Luna, sentence you to Tartarus."

Black Fall’s eyes widened in panic and she begged, "Please don't send me down there! I'll leave the Hunters. I'll live a quiet life and forget everything I know about the Hunters of Secrets. Just please don't send me down there because of what I thought was right!"

Stomping her hoof, Luna used her Canterlot voice to yell, "You read from the most forbidden books in the library! Those pages contain ancient knowledge that no one, not even you, are ready to know! But you ignored my warnings and read them anyway, and it has pretty much changed you inside and out!" She then began to calm down a bit as her wings spread out. She continued, "With that knowledge comes the cost of your only friend. If you remain in this world, you will continue to try to make changes to our way of life. This is the reason why you must be tossed into Tartarus.” Then the Princess of the Moon came very close to Black Fall’s ear and whispered, "Please forgive me for what is about to happen." And when Luna backed away, Harsh knocked Black Fall out.

Blackness was all Black Fall could see. Endless blackness. She tried to get up, but she couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't do it. It was like something was physically making her weaker. She did feel bumps from time to time and knew that she was to be tossed away like nothing. As she realized that they were transporting her to Tartarus or the hole that led to Tartarus, she said to herself. "So this is how it ends, with me getting tossed away like yesterday's trash." 

She closed her eyes for several seconds before opening them with new determination. "If I can't make a world where ponies and monsters can coexist, then I will destroy this world no matter what." 

Suddenly, she had the strength to walk again, and as she galloped toward the bright light, she yelled, “Watch out, Luna! I plan to destroy your order of Hunters!”

When Black Fall woke up, she saw that she was indeed on a wagon. The good news was that her wings were free. The bad news was that all four of her hoofs were stuck in hoof locks, basically giant iron clamps around a pony’s hooves with chains hooked on the clamps as well as hooked into the wagon. 

Black Fall looked up at the driver and saw a Hunter. 

'I guess Luna wants every Hunter that gets banished to remember how their wings felt before they get cut off.' 

The Hunter continued pulling the wagon, which seemed to be moving uphill. Black Fall flapped her leather wings to feel the air once more before she lost them. 

The wagon reached the top of the mountain and Black Fall saw several Hunters and Luna. Luna maintained a hurt look while Black Fall stared daggers at her.






Present Day


The sun had just set and the fire was being refueled with several branches from a nearby dead tree. Cold Blood was about halfway through a pony leg that had once belonged to a Hunter. He said, his mouth full, "Just curious, what was in the book of forbidden knowledge? Because I don't think that the ponies’ moon princess would banish one of her own Hunters for reading something like her secret diary?"

Black Fall replied, "You would be correct in assuming that there is something important in those pages." She took a bite out of an apple before continuing. "But alas, I can no longer recall the words, for I have forgotten them. I guess through time, I just forgot." 

Black Fall took another bite of the apple. It wasn't juicy or sweet like a berry. No, it was more harsh. But food is food, there's no arguing that. She finished the apple and tossed it somewhere behind her before saying, "Let's get back to where I was."






Back in the Past


The Hunters unlocked Black Fall’s chains but did not remove the hoof locks. Holding the chains that kept her from flying away, they guided her to the edge of the hole in the middle of the mountain, the tallest mountain in all of Equestria. Two Hunters flew over and grabbed each of her wings. It wasn't long before a portal opened and Luna, along with several other Hunters, came out. Four of the Hunters spread out, took position, and aimed their crossbows at Black Fall, just in case she had any funny ideas about escaping. Four more Hunters pointed their spears at Black Fall. With a disappointed look, Luna said, "Black Fall, from now on, if you somehow manage to survive this fall,every Hunter will see you as an enemy and the rest of Equestria will believe that you are dead. Do you have any last words?"

Black Fall looked around her and said, "You do realize that if you continue down this path of hunting and killing, you’ll only end up getting everyone killed." She then looked at Luna and, with a little anger in her voice, said, "Stop fooling yourself believing that you're doing this for Equestria. You’re not. You're actually doing this for your sister." She glanced at Harsh and said, "Really, that was your worst mood."

Harsh responded, "If you don't like it, I can always kill you right here, right now! I swear I'll do it! Come on, let's go!" Harsh hit her front hooves together, preparing to fight Black Fall to the death.

Black Fall ignored Harsh’s challenge for a fight and looked down at the hole in front of her. "So this is the hole that leads to Tartarus. I thought it would be more like a portal to the underworld, not some big long hole in a mountain."

Luna looked sadly at her. "I'm sorry, but this is for the good of Equestria." 

With that, two flying Hunters grabbed Black Fall’s leather wings and spread them out for Luna. Luna lit up her horn and a blue sword made of pure magic appeared at her side. She walked toward Black Fall and said loudly, "For the crime of looking through the book of forbidden knowledge that you knew you weren't supposed to look through!" She swung her magical sword to the right and chopped off Black Fall’s right wing. Black Fall emitted a blood curdling scream while Luna continued, "And for causing the death of one of your fellow Hunters!" She swung her magical sword again, this time to the left. Again, Black Fall let loose a horrible scream as her left wing was cut away from her body. Luna dispelled her magic sword and it disappeared from existence. She slowly approached Black Fall. Before Luna pushed her into the hole, a Hunter  used a red hot iron to brand Black Fall’s side with the mark of an ex-Hunter.Black Fall screamed, not as much as when her wings were cut off, but the branding still hurt like Tartarus. And before Black Fall could do anything else, Luna pushed her into Tartarus with the expectation that she would die. 

As she fell, Black Fall yelled, [b“]This isn't over! Someday I will get out of this hole! And when I do, I will seek my revenge upon your Hunters!”
> Where it all began
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The campfire was still burning hot and strong as Black Fall finished her story of how she ended up in Tartarus. “So yeah, that’s how it happened.” She poked at the fire with a dead stick. 

Cold Blood was looking at her in a different light and it wasn’t long before Black Fall asked, “What was your life like before you became a Werepony?”

Cold Blood’s eyes widened at her question, but he quickly realized there was no way out of it. He decided to tell her something about his past life since she had shared something personal with him, even if she probably shouldn’t have. But, strangely, it made sense to tell her something about himself that he would regret.

The Butcher said, pleadingly, “Come on, I want to know more about you. You don’t really talk at all. And with where we’re at right now, we have plenty of time to talk.”

 He exhaled and mentally prepared himself for the embarrassment that he knew he would feel before speaking. “I wasn’t always like this.” He pointed one of his claws at himself.

 With a confused look, Black Fall asked, “Like what?”

 “Like this. A big and intimidating muscular creature with claws and teeth and an everlasting need to feast on anything.” He then mentally prepared for his partner’s reaction as he continued. “In fact, I was the librarian in a town on a mountain and-”

Black Fall gave him a funny look, clearly trying to hold back laughter. “So, if I’m hearing you correctly, you were a bookworm?”

The Werepony looked at the Butcher without humor and replied,  “Oh hardy harr harr, at least my way of living wasn’t killing monsters from night to night. Now may I continue?”

 Controlling her laughter, Black Fall got up off the ground and sat down on the log. “Yes,” she said, “please continue. Sorry.”

Clearing his throat again, Cold Blood continued. “The town was known as Rockypillar. It was built to be a mining outpost, but then the three nearby pony tribes began to get along and eventually it became a town. Every time somepony new came to live in the town, the townsponies would collect five rocks and add them to a large pillar to commemorate the new arrival. It was a peaceful way of life, and as the librarian, I got to learn about all sorts of new things, about culture and adventure. I was truly happy with my life.”

Flashback!

It was a time when the rule of Equestria was shared by the three pony tribes: Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasus. And it was about three years after the Windigos attempted to freeze them all and blanket the land with endless winter. There was nothing but peace in Equestria, but that was about to change.

A hoodie pony was traveling to a small town known as Rockypillar with evil intentions. The pony was still a couple of miles away and she figured she would arrive in town around noon. She said to herself as she hiked up the mountain, “Soon the world will be ruled by the monsters of the night.”

The sun had just risen and Cold Blood, who was then known as Cold Snap, was beginning his normal morning routine. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, and put on some deodorant, which had a fresh breeze scent. 

Cold Snap was a light green earth pony with a blue mane and tail. His eyes were yellow. When Cold Snap finished getting himself ready, he went to his kitchen and began making breakfast, pancakes with oats. An hour went by before Cold Snap finished his breakfast and put his dishes near the sink. He turned around and, grabbing his saddlebags, walked out of the house, closing the door behind him.

Cold Snap looked at the town square clock tower and, realizing the time, started galloping to his destination. Yesterday, somepony new decided to move into their little town, which meant it was time for the traditional Rockypillar stack up.  The tradition was started when an earth pony, a Pegasus, and a unicorn set up the main buildings of the town. Ever since that day, the ponies in the town have been keeping the tradition alive. The rock pillar represents the foundations of where that pony plans to live. Some of the townsponies call this tradition the stacking of the pillar, and essentially, everypony important gathers around to help stack up the pillar. They collect a bunch of random rocks found on some random place on the mountain, and whenever a newcomer arrives in town they add more rocks to the ever-growing pillar.

Cold Snap turned up just in time to hear the town mayor say, “We, the citizens of Rockypillar, now welcome a newcomer to our fair town.” The mayor paused for a moment before gesturing towards a mare. “Say hello to newcomer Golden Blood.”

The pony called Golden Blood picked up her rock and said, “It is an honor to live among you. I hope we get really acquainted with one another.” As she spoke, she placed the first rock.

After her, the town mayor said, “Here’s to a bright future. It will be nice to have a new face in town. We can’t wait to see what you bring to this community.” And the mayor placed her rock.

Catching his breath, Cold Snap stepped up next. As the librarian, he was involved in every town tradition. “May knowledge strengthen your resolve. And if you ever need to escape this world, there are plenty of books in the library that will suit your needs.” He placed a rock.

A muscular Pegasus named Swift Wind came forward. He represented the town’s law-enforcement and weather control. He said loudly, “Well, if you help out every now and then, either with weather control or law enforcement, you would be considered a friend in my book.” He placed his rock at the top of the pillar, then flew upward, calling, “Sorry, I can’t stay. The weather isn’t going to control itself. Thanks for understanding! Goodbye!”

The final rock was placed by the richest pony in Rockypillar. Her name was Shadow Well. She said, “Just stay off of my lawn. And stop by for tea now and then. Now, let’s go to the party!”

The gathered ponies started walking to town hall, leaving the mayor and Cold Snap looking at each other. “You’re late,” the Mayor said.

Cold Snap replied, “I know, I’m sorry. It’s just that, I guess I enjoyed my sleep too much.”

“Well, fair enough. There’ve been plenty of times that I’ve been late. For now, let’s just get to the party. I need to get wasted by alcoholic cider and I don’t care what happens afterward.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be joining you. There are books that need to be returned and organized, and I’m expecting a delivery to come very soon.”

The Mayor gave Cold Snap an incredulous look before saying, “If you continue down this path, you will end up sad and alone with your dusty old books.” With that, the Mayor made her way to the party, which was already in full swing for the newcomer.

Cold Snap made his way to the town library to go about his daily tasks as a librarian. He walked through the town square where several open stalls stood, full of different kinds of edibles and materials that ponies would usually have on sale for day to day activities. But every now or then, some ponies would come through the town to see the view or to enjoy a vacation day. On those days, the ponies behind the open stalls would take advantage of the visiting ponies by displaying baked goods or some kind of hoof-crafted merchandise. But visiting ponies didn’t stop the local foals from playing hide-and-seek in the town square. The games played by the young ponies only added to the small town atmosphere.

Rockypillar was a peaceful town. There were rumors that sooner or later a war would break out, and if that were to happen again, it could cause several ancient horse-like snow spirits known as Windigos to reappear and blanket Equestria with an endless winter. If that were to happen, then several of the town’s council members, those deep within the town itself, had discussed how to prepare for that sort of bleak future.. But no one gave the rumors any real thought, and they blissfully went about their days. Someponies, like Cold Snap, still worried sometimes what could happen if the three pony tribes began to cause misery to each other by simply disagreeing with one another. It could happen very quickly. It could happen today. Cold Snap shook himself and let the thought go as he walked out of the town square.

Cold Snap approached the library, a building that was reasonably stable for literally being built into a mountain.  It was not surprising that the building was once a military bunker, built long ago when ponies couldn’t trust one another.. Nowadays, the building is pretty much used as a library. And if a rock slide were to happen, the ponies could run into the library and be safe.

Cold Snap opened the metal door of the library. He saw nothing but darkness until he flipped the switch on the wall and several lights illuminated the space. The library lights were made with blue crystals, the same crystals used in the lights in the square.  

The entire building brightened, revealing shelves upon shelves of books. Cold Snap looked to the left and saw a spiral staircase going down to the next level where more shelves were filled with books. The spiral staircase continued further, through several levels, all filled with book-filled shelves. Cold Snap then looked to the right and saw several tables with candlesticks, which could be used for additional light. Some of the tables had a few books on them. To the south wall was a desk that Cold Snap was familiar with. He walked over to it. When he got to the desk, he opened one of the drawers, on which was written the word ‘Return.’ As he opened it, a magic glow brightened the area momentarily, but quickly faded away, revealing seven books. Cold Snap got to work picking up the books and walking to the shelves to place them back in their proper spots, though some of them belonged on different floors.

Cold Snap had to run up and down the stairs to find the proper places, and all the running left him a little out of breath. When he finished, he felt that he deserved a little break. He made his way to the desk again and opened his favorite book, an exciting adventure story called Warrior of the Sea.

Cold Snap spent the rest of the morning reading his book and was just getting to the good part when he heard a knock on the library’s metal door. He looked up from his desk then put down the book. He went to the door but stopped when whoever was knocking decided to open it and walk in. A unicorn mare who was short of breath came into the library. She had a cloak on which made it hard to see her cutie mark, but her coat was dark brown and her red and blue mane glowed with magic. The weirdest thing was that the colors in her mane seemed to be fighting with each other; fighting, but never truly purging the other color. The mare’s eyes were orange and her horn was bigger than your average unicorn horn.





Back in the present.

Black Fall asked Cold Blood curiously, “Who was she?” She suddenly raised an eyebrow. “Did you have a crush on her?”

Cold Blood, surprised by her questions, replied, “What? No, I wouldn’t go that far. I can’t, really. It’s not my style to have a crush on someone that I just met. And I don’t know her name because I never asked for her name. Which was a mistake. I mean, do you know everypony that comes into your working area?” Black Fall shook her head. Cold Blood smiled a small smile and said, “Now, if you please, I would like to continue my story.

Black Fall rolled her eyes. “Ok, ok, fine!”





Back in the past.

“Do you have any spell books on blood, shadow, or resurrection?” the unicorn asked Cold Snap.

Cold Snap replied, “Well, we carry all sorts of magical books in the library, yeah. I think they would be down on the bottom floor.” Then he raised an eyebrow questioningly at the mare and said, “But I suspect that you have more interest in something else. Could you please tell me what you really want?”

She sighed and said, “I’m looking for an audience with the founding members.”

Cold Snap nodded and said, “I suspected as much.” He pondered for a moment before continuing. “You actually found one of the founding members, for I am one. My name is Cold Snap.”

The mare blinked several times. “You are one of the founding members of this town?”

Cold Snap stared at her coldly. “What? Did you expect an elder mare with tons of wisdom to share or an enforcer of the law?”

“Well, yes, actually. I always thought that to be part of the inner circle you had to be there when the town came to be?”

“Well the reason why I am a founding member is because I was invited. I’m actually the fourth librarian to be invited into the founding members circle. Now that I have answered your question, I would like you to answer mine.”

The unicorn asked, “And what question is that?”

“A serious one. Answer it truthfully. What do you want from the founding members?”

At that, she remembered why she came. “I want to have a meeting set up because I may have a way to get rid of the threat of war so all of Equestria can remain in peace.” Her expression turned sinister for a moment, but quickly turned back again before Cold Snap could see it.

“I can set up a meeting with the founding members, but most of them are off partying tonight. Somepony new is here to stay.”

The mare nodded in understanding before saying, “Ok, I guess I’ll wait until tomorrow to meet with y’all. But could the meeting location be in town hall?”

Cold Snap scratched his mane a little before saying, “That can be done. I just have to tell them what time. When would you like the meeting to occur?”

The unicorn asked, “How about at night?”

“Sounds like a good idea. It’s less likely that  the filly will hear the meeting.”

The mare made her way to the door and said, “Well, then, see you tomorrow night.” The hoodie unicorn opened the metal door and walked out.

Later, at home, Cold Snap wasn’t in his bed. He was actually sleeping on his desk where he usually wrote notes. The reason he was sleeping on the desk was because, after he finished working at the library,he stayed up all night writing letters to each of the founding members and placing them somewhere for each member to find. When he finished, he somehow fell asleep on the desk.

Cold Snap remained sleeping until his alarm stone started flashing a bright light at him. As he rubbed his eyes and looked out the window, he saw how high the sun was.It was almost noon. He started to panic and his eyes widened as he yelled, “Oh, for the sake of the three tribes, I’m late!” He quickly took a cold shower, ate a fast breakfast, brushed his teeth, then grabbed his saddlebags and began galloping to the library.

Cold Snap spent the rest of the day returning books and helping ponies check out books. Then the delivery he was expecting yesterday arrived. It was a package containing several new books that the town had ordered from the unicorn society. Five of them were actually spell books. The rest were just regular books, which several ponies came by to check out. 

When his workday came to a close, he started making his way to town hall where the hoodie unicorn had asked to have the meeting with the founders of the town.

Two Pegasus guards in purple and gray armor stood near the door, each one carrying a spear and a steely expression. Cold Snap recognized their colors. They were Shadow Well’s private security ponies. They were paid in bits as well as food and shelter. All these ponies had to do was protect Shadow Well. And if Cold Snap had to guess, he’d say there were probably five to ten personal guards in this building right now. Shadow Well was rich, and she was also kind of paranoid.She probably didn’t realize that bringing her personal guard with her to a secret meeting pretty much ruined  the meeting’s secrecy.

Cold Snap entered the main room on the second floor and saw two earth pony guards with axes. The guards stepped aside to let Cold Snap by. When he entered the meeting room, he saw that most of the founders of the town were already seated. In the middle seat was the Mayor of Rockypillar. To her left was Shadow Well, and behind her was the captain of her personal guard, a dark blue unicorn with a sword. His name was George. Sitting to the right of the mayor was the unicorn who had asked for the meeting. Cold decided to sit somewhere comfortable, right next to Shadow Well. 

The Mayor began by saying, ”I believe one pony is running late.” She took a sip of alcoholic apple cider.

But it wasn’t long before the town hall meeting room doors swung open wide, revealing a muscular Pegasus. Swift Wind apologized, “Sorry for my lateness, the weather has been cold lately.” The other ponies in the room looked at the Pegasus questioningly.

The hoodie unicorn did not concern herself with Swift Wind’s apologies. “Mares and stallions,” she began, “you are aware of why you’re all gathered here and of why I’m here?”

Everypony looked at her before glancing at Cold Snap. The Mayor said, “From what our librarian revealed in his letters, you claim you may have a solution to bring about everlasting peace with zero chance of war ever happening again?”

Shadow Well spoke. “We simply want to know your timeline and the methods you plan to use to get rid of the threat of war. Because if you approach this with a treaty or some sort of movement to bring peace, it surely will not last. History has proven that war cannot be avoided indefinitely. Depending on what eventually causes it, it could be very bad, and where would we be after ten years of war. And a bigger question is, if a war does break out and last years, how do you plan to keep your family and ours safe from it.” The mare received stinkeye glares from the other ponies in the room. “What? I’m just asking the really hard questions. Somepony’s got to.What if this unicorn’s plan were to backfire?”

The unicorn cleared her throat. “First, I know it will work, because I’ve already done it in several other villages.”

When the unicorn said this, the founders looked around at each other. Then the mayor asked, “What do you mean, you already know it will work? We haven’t heard a peep from the other villages. We sent an entire squad of soldiers out to neighboring villages a few weeks back, and they just returned today saying that all of the nearby villages had been destroyed. So please enlighten us. How can you claim to know that it will work?”

“Because despite their past differences, the members of those villages are now working together as one unit, in complete harmony. But don’t take my word for it. See for yourself.” 

The unicorn quickly rose from her chair and opened one of the windows. Several Wereponies flooded into the room, black fur on end, red eyes flashing, white fangs gleaming, and muscles rippling. George drew his sword as the founding members moved toward the door. The hoodie unicorn said, “Oh, I forgot to mention that it was them who destroyed their own villages, on my command of course.”

Shadow Well pulled out a hidden dagger and approached the unicorn. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted.”

“Oh, but I can be trusted. You just haven’t had the full experience of being part of the pack.” Then she removed her cloak and spread out two wings. Her horn glowed  red and black, and a little bit of green lightning sparked around the now revealed to be Alicorn. The Alicorn fired a spell at Shadow Well. Failing to react in time, Shadow Well was hit by the magic, which sent her sailing towards a bookshelf.  

When she got up, a few books landed on top of her. At first, nothing happened. But before long, her coat grew shaggier, her hooves turned into paws, and just like that, Shadow Well became a werepony. 

Shadow Well then heard a voice in her head. It was the Ailcorn’s voice commanding her to tackle the remaining ponies in the room. So she did. She tackled George first. Once he was down, another spell was fired by the Alicorn, and George transformed into a werepony too.

The rest of the founding ponies raced out of the room and out into the streets. Cold Snap ran down the street that led out of town. He assumed that Shadow Well’s guards were holding off the Alicorn and the Wereponies long enough for everyone else to get out of town. If he wasn’t in such a panicked state, Cold Snap would have rung the bell in the center of town to warn everypony that monsters were in their town. But, unfortunately, Cold Snap was in a terribly panicked state and had only one thought going through his head: get out of town. 

Cold Snap ran to avoid sharing the same fate as Shadow Well and George. He lost track of where the other founding members were and he didn’t care. The only thing he cared about was getting out of there. He passed several buildings that were on fire. He felt sorry for those who couldn’t make it out. Then he saw the townexit. He ran even harder, hurdling through it. However, as soon as he got out of the town, two runes that were carved in the gateway started to glow green. Then several green lightning bolts shot out at him, and suddenly, he disappeared.

The Ailcorn looked down from the roof of town hall and saw all of her hard work paying off, feeling nothing but joy in this chaos and fire. It wasn’t long before a rod she had placed on the rooftop started to gather green lightning, bringing her anypony who had tried to get leave town. As she turned around to see Cold Snap appear out of nowhere, she smiled cruelly. 

When he realized where he was, Cold Snap started to run toward the edge of the rooftop. The Alicorn shouted, “Oh, no you don’t!” and she quickly grabbed him in a telekinesis grip and pulled him closer to her. 

“Thank you, Cold Snap,” she said, “for making this possible.”

Struggling in the magical grip, Cold Snap yelled, “I didn’t mean for this to happen!” He glared at the dark brown alicorn and asked, “Why? Why did you do this?”

She pondered for a moment before saying, “I don’t know. And truthfully, I really don’t care, because I am in true bliss.”

Cold Snap became fearful when he realized that this immortal alicorn had gone mad. “You don’t care or you’re not really interested in anything?”

The alicorn replied, “It could be both. But enough of that. Why don’t I introduce myself? You have the right to know my name before I turn you into one of my soldiers. I’m Foul Blood, the Alicorn of War. And the Wereponies are my soldiers. They follow me and me alone.” 

With that, Foul Blood approached Cold Snap and started to charge her horn with the same spell she had used on Shadow Well. “This might tickle a little,” she said. The spell shot right at Cold Snap, and he too transformed into one of the many Wereponies that now occupied the town.
> Libraries and Dream
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the present

The moon was in the middle of the sky when Cold Blood said, “After she cast her spell to turn me into another one of her soldiers, Foul Blood used us to spread war and bring endless death and destruction. Equestria remained in Foul Blood’s grasp for a good seven years.” 

Cold Blood poked the fire with a stick and caused sparks of flame to poof up. He continued, “Then the final and biggest battle took place, where the three ponies tribes, along with the dragons, zebras, and the umbrum, united under one banner and fought together. When that battle ended, Foul Blood the Alicorn of War disappeared and hasn’t been seen since. After that battle, the other wereponies and I spread out through Equestria to become the plague that Luna knows us to be, with our endless need for destruction and our hunger for anything and everything.”

Cold Blood waited for Black Fall to say something, but she didn’t speak. Then he became a bit curious and looked around at the ex hunter. He found her curled up in a ball, sleeping on a log. Realizing that his partner had been sleeping, he said to himself, “I guess I’ll tell her the rest of the story another time.” 

Cold Blood opened his mouth very wide, so wide that if one were to place a small filly on his tongue, he could swallow it. But if that were to happen, he would probably start choking. After revealing all of his teeth, he quickly closed his mouth, and then immediately opened it again in a giant yawn. 

“Wow, it must be late,” he said to himself. “I suppose I should catch some shut eye as well.” 

Cold Blood grabbed an empty bucket and moved toward the river, filled the bucket, and walked back to the fire. He dumped the water over the fire. Now, with little to no heat, he walked to the wagon and found a blanket, which he grabbed. He walked over Black Fall and gently placed the blanket on Black Fall’s resting form. Cold Blood then turned around and went to the opposite side of the log where Black Fall was. He laid down on the cold ground to catch a little bit of sleep before they had to get up for another long day.





As the sun started to rise, so did Cold Blood and Black Fall.

The Butcher of the Night said, “Well, I don’t know about you, but I slept like a filly.” Black Fall started to search for something edible and ended up grabbing a few more apples. She ate them, even though some of them were covered in bruises.

Cold Blood munched on a Hunter’s leg. ”Do you recall any of what I told you last night?” he asked Black Fall.

Black Fall thought for a moment while she chewed on an apple, her sixth one, even though she wasn’t really  enjoying them. 

“You said something about being a librarian,” she said. ”And there was a unicorn who was actually an alicorn that was hungry for war. And you made a run for it, but Foul Blood cast some kind of spell that turned you and the townsponies into what you are today. Does that about sum it up?”

Cold Blood replied, “That is accurate, but she is the Alicorn of War, and she disappeared after the last and biggest battle.”

 Black Fall nodded. She finished her seventh apple and walked to the river to get a drink.  

Cold Blood said, ”We’ll have to leave the wagon behind.”

Black Fall took a couple of gulps before turning her head to ask, “What? But there’re many uses for it. We could fill it, or hide it, or set it up as a permanent fixture and-”

“It’s slowing us down and the Hunters could easily catch up to us. As much as I would like to continue to eat those who attack us, I think that if we bump into another Hunter party, it is very likely that the next one could end us.”

Black Fall’s ears flattened and her rear fell to the ground as she listened, realizing that Cold Blood had a point. If they wanted to break the Hunters’ seal, they would need to be faster, not slower. 

“You’re right,” she conceded. ”We no longer need that wagon. I’ll grab whatever we need from it to survive and we’ll leave the rest to burn.”

Black Fall filled her bag with essential items: the broken horn of Rarity; a few dozen apples; some water skins; and her ex hunter equipment, including her sword, some crossbow bolts 
(seven magical crossbow bolts that explode on impact), and several random items that are used to set up traps. The Butcher of the Night began placing the items in her saddlebags. 

After Black Fall removed everything they needed, Cold Blood used the fire starter on the wagon. It began burning slowly but surely, and when it was completely consumed by flames, Cold Blood walked back over to Black Fall, who had just finished packing. She hoisted her saddlebags onto her back and then put her cloak over them. She pulled up the hood of her cloak, and then she and Cold Blood began to make their way to the mountains.





Back at Canterlot castle, in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns

“No, no, that’s not what I saw. They’re supposed to be more pony-like, except their eyes are red, and they have white fangs and dark fur.” 

Twilight had been in the royal library for weeks, trying to figure out what happened to Rarity and, if possible, find out how to reverse it.

As Twilight looked through yet another book, a maid approached her and said, “Your dinner, ma’am. Where do you want me to put this?” 

The Princess replied, “Just set it on the desk. I’ll be there shortly.”

The maid placed the tray on the desk next to another tray that still had some food on it. She lifted the other tray of half eaten food and asked, “What exactly are you doing? Today was a good day to fly, so why don’t you fly?”

Twilight turned her head and looked at the maid with a little twitch in her eye. “I can’t go out flying when my best friend has been turned into a monster who eats anypony and everypony she comes across.“ As she said this, Twilight moved her hoof up to her back to feel the scars on her coat. “What I need is to find a way to fix this, so no, I don’t have time to waste flying in the sky and enjoying the day, as great as that would feel.”

The maid lost some of her coat color as she realized who she was talking to. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Does Princess Celestia know?”

“This is just something I need to do.”

“Of course, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she already knew.”

The purple alicorn backed away and turned around to walk over to the bookshelves. “Now, let’s look through these books again!” She lit up her horn and scoured the shelves. 

The maid looked around and saw seven other unicorns who were up late studying. She noticed that the students seemed desperate for Twilight to leave the library. But alas, they couldn’t force her to leave. The only thing holding them back from grabbing her and tossing her out of the library was the fact that she was the Princess of Friendship who could easily return with her friends to beat them all up together. She could also blast them with her magic, and being an alicorn, she was ten times stronger than an average unicorn. Nopony was too eager to challenge the mare that was going through every single book that had some kind of monster in it. When Twilight was finished with a book, she would toss it on a desk which already held a small pile of books. That pile of literature was a bit close to the dinner trays and some of the books’ pages had food on them. The ponies who wanted to study wished that somepony would just slap her in the face and tell her to collect four or five books, leave the royal library, and allow them to look up the information that they needed to help them with their studies.

Twilight skimmed through another book called The Monster in Me. It was about somepony who went from being a victim to being a monster in the streets. Sadly, it was only metaphorical. The pony didn’t literally become a monster. No, he just started acting like a monster.

It didn’t take long for the maid to pick up the half eaten dinner tray and head toward the exit. As she departed, Twilight levitated the book that was clearly going to be a massive waste of her time and placed it back on the shelf. She levitated another book and brought it to her. This new read contained within it every monster in Equestria. Twilight skimmed through it quickly, but upon reaching the end, her expresssion changed from hopeful to despairing. The book was exactly the sort she was looking for, but unfortunately, she didn’t see any reference to what kind of monster Rarity had transformed into. The purple alicorn did not give up. If anything, her resolve was strengthened.

Twilight used her Canterlot voice to say, “That’s not what she turned into!” She looked at another book and switched to using her indoor voice because the librarian gave her the stink eye. 

“No, that’s a Manticore.” She flipping to the next page. “That’s a Hydra.” Twilight looked at the next page. “That’s a Bugbear.” She flipped to the next page and said questioningly, “And what’s this?” She looked closely at the picture of a wolf. It was roughly what she was looking for, except the wolf was made out of wood. “Ugh, that’s a Timberwolf! That’s not what she turned into!”

Feeling defeated by the one thing that she was absolutely good at, Twilight closed the book of Equestria monsters. It seemed that knowledge was against her for a change. She levitated another book, opened it, and flipped through the pages. She got through the first chapter and bookmarked it using her magic so that the page that began with the words ”Chapter Two” started glowing purple. She closed the book and looked at the cover of The Monster in Me, reading the name of the author: Arkantos. Twilight opened the book in front of her again to the bookmarked page and continued to read. She simultaneously used her magic to levitate all the books she wasn’t currently reading back to their proper shelves. However, being half awake and reading, she did misplace some of them. As she continued to read, she dozed off and finally fell asleep on the desk.

When Twilight opened her eyes again, she saw that she was in the library, except it was a bit more empty than usual. She got up and said aloud, “Hello? Lyra Heartstring? Pinky? Anypony with a pulse?” 

Suddenly, the library doors opened slightly and then closed. A speeding shadow zipped across the library and Twilight tried to see what it was, but it was too fast. Then the library became a bit darker as one candle after another went out. With only seven candles still lit in the library, Twilight cautiously illuminated her horn. She saw the black speeding bullet again and began pursuing it. She chased it out of the library and through the hallways of Canterlot. As the figure bolted to the doors that lead to the throne room, Twilight followed it.

As soon as she went through the doors, Twilight stopped, a bit more confused than before, because suddenly, she had somehow run into the Everfree Forest. She didn’t know how she had gotten there. She turned around and saw the two golden doors closing behind her. And then they disappeared. 

Twilight recalled that she had been chasing something. As if on cue, a twig snapped and the purple alicorn looked in the direction of the sound. She spotted a hooded figure running away. Twilight gave chase again and flipped her wings while running. It wasn’t long before she took off in the air zoomed closer to the mysterious figure. They both entered a clearing.

Twilight decided that now would be a great time to tackle whomever she was chasing. When she landed on the unknown pony, they both started tumbling across the field. The hooded pony bared a set of fangs. Twilight teleported with a purple flash and reappeared a few meters away. The hooded figure had jumped up and landed on a nearby rock.

Twilight cautiously approached the figure and asked, “Who are you?” Then several clicks sounded and the Princess of Friendship heard them a split second before a rain of arrows flew at her. Twilight raised a shield and the arrows bounced off of it, leaving several cracks in her shield. 

The hooded pony ran at Twilight, whose eyes widened when the pony’s hood bounced off to reveal Rarity, her eyes red, her body wolfish, and her broken horn crackling dangerously with sparks that charged up in a spell of lightning. 

Twilight had read all about the elemental spells that were used to destroy stuff. When a unicorn uses that sort of spell, they fire it as soon as it appears on their horn. If somepony tried to charge that kind of spell up, they could accidentally obliterate themselves. The Rarwolf, however, had been charging up the elemental spell of lightning for a while. Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise by this, for it was extremely difficult to charge up any kind of spell, especially when a unicorn’s horn is broken in two. The lightning spell sparked very dangerously, and lightning bolts shot everywhere. With a loud scream, the Werepony fired her spell.

When the spell hit Twilight’s shield, it wasn’t shattered; it was obliterated. Twilight fell to the ground. She tried to get up, but Rarwolf was too fast, using her mouth and claws to rip one of Twilight’s wings off. The alicorn let out a bloodcurdling scream. The monster began using her claws to cut and slice Twilight until a small puddle of her own blood started to form around her. 

Twilight looked up, quivering, and saw the Rarwolf was slowly invadeing her personal space. Rarwolf opened her red eyes and asked, “Do you know why I’m here?”

Twilight shook her head in pain as Rarwolf removed her cloak. “It is because you failed to protect your friends. Do you know how close I came to killing them?” Twilight tried and failed to get up as the Werepony continued, “I won’t lie, it was pretty close. But that’s in the past. Right now, I am ready to make you like me. With you, we can turn the others and be BFFFs.” Twilight wore a look of confusion until Rarwolf cleared her confusion away. “Best Feasting Friends Forever.”

Rarwolf opened her mouth, but before she could bite down, a glowing light blue hook connected to a chain wrapped around Rarwolf’s neck. It wasn’t long before several other light blue chains with hooks began wrapping themselves around Rarwolf. Cracks of light blue and dark red formed on her body as magic liquid began pouring out of her. Suddenly, the Werepony burst into flames of red and blue. Not long after that, the dust blew away into several sparks of blue and red magic. 

Twilight looked around and noticed that her missing wing was reattached and the cuts that Rarwolf had inflicted were no longer there. 

She then got up and saw Luna coming through the moon and landing on the rock that Rarwolf had been on earlier. 

Twilight said, “Princess Luna, what are you doing here?” As soon as she asked, she realized it was a stupid question, because she knew that Luna was the guardian of the dream realm.

Luna replied, “I am the Alicorn of the Night and guardian of the dream realm. I’m here because Celestia is worried about your well-being. She told me that soon after the incident which took your friend’s life, you came to Canterlot and have been practically, and sometimes literally, sleeping in her royal library in an effort to find out more information about what exactly happened in Ponyville that day.”

Twilight’s ears dropped and she answered, “Yes, I want to know what happened to Rarity. I’ve been looking for any kind of reference to what she is so I can try to reverse it.”

“I see. Well, I know what she turned into, and I also know her current whereabouts.”

Twilight gasped. “Can you tell me, please?”

“Very well, Let’s start with what she is now. She is what is known as a werepony, and those like her have an endless hunger for ponies and for destruction. Against my better judgment, I saved her soul. I still don’t know why I saved her.”

Twilight pondered this a while before saying, “Maybe it’s because you saw the pony in her and not the monster, and you believe there’s a chance to reverse what has been done to her.”

“You might be right, but it is a dangerous road toward trying to restore her to her former self. As for her whereabouts, she is in a place that I cannot view because, let’s just say, the last time this place was even mentioned, the ponies and chiroptera came together and it ended badly. And for that reason, on I have kept its location safe, and I will not reveal it for anypony. If you were to see your friend again, it’s because she either escaped or was sent there for a reason. But for now the question remains: when you see her again, will you see her as a friend or a foe?”

Twilight’s gears started turning in her head as she struggled to say, “I don’t know. I have always seen her as a friend.” When Twilight said this, she realized that she was thinking of one of her friends with suspicion, and in that moment, she decided to choose friendship over knowing the truth.

“I shall leave you with your thoughts. But now, it’s time to wake up.”

Twilight awoke on the desk that she had fallen asleep on earlier that evening. She looked out the library window and saw that the sun had just started to rise. 

“I need to talk to Celestia now.” Twilight murmured to herself. She galloped out of the library. As soon as she was outside, she flapped her wings hard until she was up in the air, searching for the Princess of the Sun.
> The Serpentine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the Badlands, Black Fall and Cold Blood had been walking over mountains, ridges, and sometimes through forests and caves. It was late noon when they decided to take a break on a ridge. Cold Blood pulled out a piece of a hunter and started munching on it. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. “Hey, do you know what we’re looking for?”

Black Fall answered his question simply. “We’re looking for the seal of the hunter.”

Cold Blood scratched his chin a little and asked, “But where is it?”

“It should be at the top of a mountain. At the base of the mountain, there should be a fortress. And there should be a road that leads us to it. That’s pretty much what I know about it. As for its exact whereabouts, that’s another story.”

“OK, so all we need to do is find the fortress?”

“Yep. Unfortunately I don’t know who owns the fortress, and as I said before, I don’t know where exactly it is.”

Cold Blood looked at the ex-hunter before asking, “What do you mean you don’t know who owns the fortress?”

Black Fall sighed before saying, “Well, we are in the Badlands, and ponies here can be hostile toward military presences. An oversized bandit force could easily take the fortress with most of the force getting slayed. And if there is still a military force in the fortress, it is most likely that they have magical artifacts that could easily tip the balance of victory in their favor.”

Cold Blood’s eyes widened a little. “Well, that sounds interesting. In fact, back in my day-” Cold Blood looked the other way and mumbled, “when I was a librarian-” Unfortunately, Black Fall heard his mumbling perfectly and tried her hardest not to laugh as he continued. “-there were several rumors going around that some ponies in the Badlands aren’t actually ponies. That they are actually like oversized snakes or scorpions that somehow became intelligent enough to take up arms and challenge any creature that walked through these lands.”

“Is that what we are!?” came a very sneaky voice.

Both ex-hunter and Werepony got up as several hoofsteps approached. Cold Blood dropped the lump of flesh he was eating and Black Fall pulled out her crossbow with one hoof and the spear of the First Hunter with the other. Cold Blood jumped into a fighting stance as Black Fall realized that her crossbow had no bolt in it. She quickly dug through her saddlebag and pulled out an explosive bolt of fire, loading it in the crossbow.

Several ponies approached them. They were covered in dirty cloaks and bits of armor that looked very rusty and probably didn’t protect them from anything. Their heads were covered with different kinds of skull masks that had goggles strapped on them. And then there was the Leader of the group who wore the mask of a Changeling skull with beating feathers on the back. He also had a full suit of rusted armor and a dirty cloak. His weapon of choice was a rusty spike. At first, it looked like several ponies were approaching, but there were actually only five ponies, their leader included. Black Fall and Cold Blood looked at each other briefly before the leader got their attention by slamming his spike to the ground. One of the other ponies who was closest to the Leader and completely covered in cloth was the pony who had spoken earlier. He spoke again in that same sneaky voice. “Is that what we’ve been reduced to? Fairytales!?”

The Leader glared at the one who spoke for them as if to say, ‘Not now. We can discuss it later.’ There was a hint of anger in his eyes.

The pony with the sneaky voice headed the glare and said, “But let’s not get into it now.” He slowly approached them and asked, “Who are you and why have you trespassed into our territory?”

Black Fall answered the question. “I am Black Fall and this is Cold Blood, and our business is our own. But we didn’t know we were trespassing on your land. We just have one important thing to do and we will leave. So, could you please leave us alone so we can get to it?”

“And on a side note,” Cold Blood added, “you should really put up some signs telling everyone that this is your area.” Cold Blood had unknowingly insulted their intelligence with that comment.

All five of the ponies glared daggers at Cold Blood. The silent Leader looked at the pony right next to him and brought down his spike two times. Sneaky voice pony said, “Unfortunately for you, my Leader wants to know what you’re doing here and he has ways of finding out what he wants to know. You clearly misunderstand your position in this scenario and how things will work out. Believe it or not, you are surrounded right now, and all he needs to do is call upon them for them to attack you with no questions. So I ask again, Ms. Fall. What are you two doing out here?”

To the right of the pony who spoke for the group was another pony who wore a cloak with rusted mighty helm armor and a pony skull on his head. He said to Cold Blood, "Oh, I can't wait to strangle the life out of you. You basically just insulted our entire clan, and because of that, we all hate you now.” Cold Blood’s eyes widened as he realized what he had done.

The pony speaking for their Leader cleared his throat and said, a little frustration creeping into his voice, “My leader asks again, why have you come here?”

Suddenly, Cold Blood, who was clearly not thinking, yelled loudly, “Bring it on! I'll eat all of you!” He charged at the hoodie ponies.

Unsurprised, the Leader slammed his spike hard to the ground about five times. Cold Blood was about two inches from him before seven creatures that were half pony and half snake burst from the ground. They tackled him and four of them burrowed under the ground again, each holding one of his legs to keep him grounded.

The other three creatures made extra sure that he couldn’t move by tickling him. When Cold Blood laughed very hard and constantly struggled to get free but could not, they were satisfied that he couldn’t break out of the grip. The three sneak ponies burrowed underground again. Cold Blood started to calm down again.

Black Fall watched the scene with widened eyes, then looked at the Leader. The four ponies with the Leader approached her, believing that she wasn’t much of a threat. But they were wrong. She was more dangerous to them than they could have imagined. Suddenly, she was reaching into her cloak and then hurling several daggers at the four approaching ponies. What happened next was completely unexpected. The throwing daggers easily pierced through the rusted armor, but instead of red blood, green blood came pouring out of the wounds. And then, suddenly, several more sneak ponies popped out of the ground to tackle Black Fall. But she was expecting them. She quickly transformed her crossbow into a sword and started slashing at everything that came at her. They soon realized that they couldn’t grab her without getting sliced up, so they kept their distance. Every now and then, they would try to tackle her, but each time, they failed. The Leader then stomped his spike to the ground nine times. At that, two of the sneak ponies quickly dug their way to the top of a nearby cliff and started to dig out a boulder from the edge of the cliff. As soon as that was done, they used their tails to push the boulder and get it rolling.

Black Fall ceaselessly defended herself from her burrowing attackers, but somewhere near the beginning of the fight, she somehow lost the spear of the First Hunter. And it was one of the first things that they went for. So, after slitting the throats of two snake pony creatures, Black Fall grabbed another weapon from her cloak, a second sword. When three more Serpentine jumped at her, she pressed a button on the new sword  The blade of the sword began to break apart and fall to the ground in pieces with a metal line connecting each and every piece. She began swinging it around like a whip, and managed to whip the blade at the stomachs of whatever these things were. The Butcher of the Night made deep wounds that the creatures would never recover from. The three Serpentine fell to the ground, wrapping their serpent hoofs around their stomachs in a hopeless attempt to prevent their blood from spilling. Despite their efforts, green blood squirted thickly out of their wounds.

Back on the ground, Cold Blood thought to himself, ‘These things are not ponies, but somehow, they kind of look like ponies.’ 

Then he looked up at the cliff where the two Serpentine were digging out the boulder.

“Black Fall! Watch out!” yelled Cold Blood.

Black Fall looked up and saw the speeding boulder just in time. She quickly transformed her sword into a crossbow and fired an explosive arrow of fire at the boulder, blowing it up into dust. The Serpentine quickly began to burrow underground to try another surprise attack.

Black Fall looked at Cold Blood, still pinned to the ground. Then she looked at the Leader and saw how determined and frustrated he was. Her ability to see the Leader’s expression through his skull mask came from generations of Chiroptera being able to see through the dark. In fact, back at Blood Moon, everyone could see in the dark. 

Black Fall’s eyes widened when she realized that no matter how hard or how long she fought, the Leader would continue to send sneak ponies her way. They would keep attacking her until the Leader got the truth. 

“We’re on our way to the Seal of the Hunters,” said Black Fall. “We’re going there so that we,” she gestured to Cold Blood and herself, “can free the Wereponies and change the world for the better. That’s why we’re here.”

The Leader pondered her words for a moment as several more snake ponies popped their heads out of the ground. Suddenly, the Leader slammed his spike to the ground and the Serpentine all backed away from Black Fall. She had killed six of them. Their bodies lay sprawled out on the ground. 

Black Fall turned around to face the Leader, who was standing over her partner. On the part of his face where the mouth would normally be, something started to glow. Realizing what was about to happen, Black Fall dropped all of her weapons and raised her hooves. At that, the purple glow coming from the leader’s mouth area faded away. Then, two Serpentines came out of the ground to take her weapons, which they tossed into a pile.

Black Fall glanced at the pile and saw the spear of the First Hunter had been thrown onto it as well. She looked back at the Leader. He approached her slowly and studied her. A couple of minutes went by before another rusty-armored creature walked up and spoke for their Leader, saying, “You seem to have been trained and prepared well.” 

The Leader put out one of his hoofs to move her cloak all the way to look at her side. He saw her ex-hunter mark, an arrowhead with a black X on it. As soon as he saw that, he backed away from her. Then the Leader’s speaker said, a little fear in his voice, “You were one of them, weren’t you?”

Black Fall replied, “If you mean a Hunter, then yes. I was one of them once; but no longer. I questioned the countless times I had to kill a Monster. Now, I’m willingly going against them, which is why I have sided with this Werepony. And since you now know that I used to be a Hunter, I feel that it’s necessary to tell you that Cold Blood and I are planning to go.”

The Leader glanced from side to side before the pony that spoke for him said in a hushed voice, “Not here.” 

Then they let Cold Blood go and allowed the ex-hunter to collect her weapons before heading south. As they traveled, Black Fall checked all of her weapons to make sure that they still worked. When she finished her inspection, she looked up and noticed a fortress at the base of a mountain. She saw something else too; there were several ponies on the walls of the fortress, and there were two towers with ballista's pointed at the countryside. It was the fortress that she and Cold Blood were looking for. But Black Fall wasn’t a fool; she knew all too well that you needed an army to breach a fortress like that. Maybe she could convince her new friends to help her?
> Training and Snakes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile at Bloodmoon.

"Come on! You're not even trying."

"I told you, Princess Luna, that I am not good at this." She gestured towards a training dummy. "And I'm not a werepony who can make mincemeat out of an innocent creature. I can't be one of those things. I can't be a Monster, for I am a lady and wish to be treated as such."

"Look, Rarity," Luna smirked, "or do you prefer Rarwolf?"

Rarity glowered."Rarity will do."

"Ok, look, Rarity, all I'm asking is for you to discover is what you can do with, well, your claws and your teeth. So, just run up to the target and slice that dummy into pieces."

Rarity was not looking forward to doing this; a couple hours ago, she was lying down on the cold stone floor until the Princess of the Night got her up and brought to the training room that had probably held many fights over issues that her Hunters had with each other. There were broken swords in the corner and incomplete gadgets all over the place. Her task was to destroy a dummy that was filled with straw. For now, though, she decided to avoid looking at Luna and to examine the silver regalia around her neck instead, which would be used on her if she ever stepped out of line. 

A monstrous voice spoke in Rarity’s mind. 'Let's waste her. Take the Alicorn’s heart out so that she can truly be heartless, and then turn her into one of us before she dies.'

Rarity replied to the inner voice, 'Did you forget that we are wearing a regalia that could kill us for doing something like that? I, for one, do not want to die'

Luna spoke. "Look, I know what you are going through. I have experienced it.”

Rarity said harshly, "Really, I doubt it."

"When my sister and I became Equestria Alicorns, we lost friends and family. Because of our ascension, others have treated us like goddesses, but to be perfectly honest, we're not. We are just ponyies who have a better understanding of the universe and how it runs."

"And apparently can control the very celestial bodies of the sun and the moon."

"Well, that is true, but we still suffer because of it in one small way or another."

"Just to be clear, you're saying that I am now someone who has a different view of the world that we live in?"

The Alicorn of the Moon nodded her head.

"But does that mean I have to remain here with you? I am a pony who is a creator of things that nobles can only dream about."

A Hunter who was outside mumbled, 'Just what we need, a pony designer.'

Luna approached Rarity and said, "Ignore my Hunters. They do not know what they are talking about."  

Luna gave the Hunter that had spoken the stink eye before turning back to Rarity. "You can go ahead and get out of here. You just need to pass one test first." 

Mentally, Luna thought, 'I'm sorry to put you through this, but you have to know." She brought out a thick juicy steak with a little blood dripping from it.

Suddenly, Rarwolf’s eyes widened. She immediately began shaking her head, trying to fight the urge to feed, but it was a losing battle. As her eyes changed from blue to red, she tackled the steak. She began shredding it into ground beef, and then downed every last bit of it except the bone. When she finished, her eyes returned to blue. She looked up at the disappointed Luna.

The Princess said, "You lost control, as I expected. You need to fight these urges, because if you don't, then you can say goodbye to pony life as you know it."

Rarity collapsed to the floor and said, "But I-I believe I can control it."

"Don't waste your breath. You have just proven here that you can't control it, and no matter how many times you try, you just can't. You could lie to yourself and say you can control it, and you probably want to control it, but you simply can't. Imagine that steak you just devoured being somepony who was just injured, something simple like a cut. Then you go full on monster on them as soon as you smell or even see their blood. You would be left with a pile of bones and a renewed reminder that you are no longer you."

"I just want to be me again. I never asked for this. I never want to hurt anypony."

"You may not want to, but for the rest of your life, there will be a part of you that would want to, and like it or not, this is what you are now. You are no longer a creator but a destroyer. So stop lying to yourself and embrace who you are now."

Rarwolf’s floodgates opened and the tears poured out. She looked at her paw, then got up and wiped the tears away. She had a new look of determination on her face as she sprinted towards the dummy. Using her claws and strength, she shredded the dummy to pieces.

Luna yelled, "Think fast!" Several clicks could be heard followed by a bunch of arrows. She heard them and dodged most of them. She used magic from her broken horn, which crackled dangerously, creating a magical barrier. But instead of bouncing off, the arrows were shredded into splinters.

The Princess picked up one of the splinters and said, "I never imagined you knew such a spell."

Rarity replied, "Twilight showed me how to use it, but I never really thought I'd ever have need to use the spell. But since my horn was broken off, my magic has been unstable." She pondered for a moment before continuing. "You see, a horn is like a spyglass, and when I point it in one direction, I can focus as much magical energy as I want without the constant fear of it going unstable. It is unfortunate that my horn is broken and every time I use magic, it is unstable. Who knows what could happen when I use magic."

"Well, it definitely does have its advantages, but please do not use it too much," Luna asked before pressing something hard and wooden into Rarity’s side.

Surprised, Rarity asked, "Wait, what are you doing?"

Luna answered, "This is the Hunter’s mark." She removed the wood from Rarity’s side and plunged the sponge back into ink.

Rarity took a good look at the mark while Luna became satisfied that she had gotten enough ink in the sponge again. Luna walked to Rarity’s other side and placed the second mark of the Hunter,  a black arrowhead. When she had finished, Luna said, "Welcome to the hunt." 

Then, Luna walked over to a table where an unfinished project was and started to tinker with it before saying, "Now, tell me, what is your body size?"





Black Fall and Cold Blood made their way into a nearby cave with a band of hooded ponies. The cave was not far from the fortress. That same pony with the sneaky voice who spoke for their Leader turned around and said, "OK, we're here now. the floor is open to any questions."

There were a million things that Black Fall wanted to ask, but she only said these words, "Um, yeah, what's going on?"

Two of the masked hooded ponies looked at each other and said, "Well, here’s the thing. We are planning to take that fortress over there, but every time we reach the gate, we get reset back to the fortress’s border. And every time we try to get in that fortress, even if it is at night, the same thing happens. I think they have somehow weaponized a time loop. Apparently we don't remember what happened previously, but every now and then, we find something that indicates we have tried this before. But I have a feeling that things will end differently this time."

Cold Blood asked, "Why do you think that?"

The Leader’s speaker answered, "Because we bumped into you." The pony pointed something under the cloak at Black Fall and continued, "And she is an ex-hunter who butchered several of our men."

Cold Blood assumed a questioning expression, walked up, and said, "I'm just seeing five of you. Where are the rest?"

"They're underground. They can jump out when our Leader needs them to."

Black Fall was in deep thought before curiously asking, "What are you? ‘Cause I know you're definitely not ponies. Normal Earth ponies can't dig as fast as you guys did. Heck, even the strongest Earth ponies would still have to dig nonstop for countless hours, and even if they did and they waited underground to ambush someone, they wouldn't be able to jump out that easily. Then there is the fact that when I killed your men, they had green blood. So, what exactly are you?"

The Leader slammed his spike to the ground. One by one, the masked ponies removed their masks and headgear. When the leader removed his, he revealed a green, scaly serpent head with yellow eyes.  

A black serpent pony with purple eyes said, "We are called Serpentine, and before you ask a stupid question, like why us five are above the ground, know that the reason is because we can pass as ponies in this rusty armor and these rags. However, the others can't." 

As the black serpent pony spoke, a dark blue Serpentine jumped out of the ground. He was almost like the five above ground. The only difference was that he didn't have any back legs. Then the Serpentine shook his rusted armor a bit to loosen the dirt before using his hoofs to dig down again. And just like quicksand, he disappeared down into the ground.

Black Fall’s eyes brightened.  "You Guys Are Amazing! What is your origin of birth? When you shed your skin, does it hurt? How do you reproduce? I have so many questions!" 

Black Fall continued to ask one question after another, but stopped asking when the black Serpent exploded, "OK! When I Said ‘Ask Your Questions,’ I didn't think you wanted to ask those kinds of questions! And to be frank, your questions are personal and none of your business!"

Cold Blood looked at the Leader and asked, "Why doesn't your Leader here speak at all?"

The green Serpentine answered this question by revealing his neck to show a scar. The black Serpentine said, "Yeah, let's just say that our leader was wounded by an arrow that the commander of that fortress fired when we were trying to invade it, and since then, he has been unable to speak, so I have to speak for him."

Black Fall, who had recovered from being yelled at, asked carefully, "What are your names?"

The black Serpentine replied, "I am Cobra, and this is Venom." Cobra gestured to a dark green Serpentine near him. Cobra continued, "Over there, the white one is Pearl and the brown one is Copper. And last but certainly not least is our fearless leader Poison Fang." As Poison heard his name, a small drop of poison fell on his spike, and the entire weapon started to glow green.

Now knowing their names, Cold Blood was trying his best to not be intimidated by Poison Fang. "So, why don't you guys try to sneak in?"

One of Serpentine said, “Don’t you think we’ve tried that?”

Black Fall asked "What about the defenders of the fortress? Have you seen any ponies running in or out of that fortress?"

The Serpentine pondered for a minute before Pearl said, "Yeah, there's always been a wagon with seven pony guards on it, one pulling it and the rest guarding it."

Black Fall put her cloak back on as she said, "Well, I think I know what's keeping you Serpentine from overwhelming that base. It’s probably the staff of Meadow Brook. It is said that her staff can create a time loop that can take you from point A - that would be the front gate - to point B, which is the fortress border. But that is one of five items that has been known to bend time to its will."

Cold Blood realized what Black Fall was saying and planning and said, "I get it. The reason why they aren't able to enter the fortress is because whatever is creating the time loop only recognizes ponies and only ponies. So we could easily slip in unnoticed."

Black Fall replied, "Well, that could work, but there's one downside to your plan; once you try to get past the barrier, you'll just get time looped back to the border. So instead of that plan, let's go with my plan. I will go into that fortress alone. Because I'm sort of a pony, it probably won't affect me. As for the rest of you, you wait for my signal."

"Um, question?" the Serpentine named Copper said. "What exactly is the signal?"

Black Fall smiled and pulled out an explosive bolt with magical lightning in it. "The signal will be one of their towers being blown sky high."

Cobra said, "Sounds like a good plan. l like the way you think. Now, let's just see it executed correctly."
> Twilight Talked to Celestia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at Canterlot, the sun had pretty much fully risen as Twilight flew up to and landed on Celestia's balcony.

As Twilight walked into the Princess of the Sun's room, she looked around and saw that it was full of all kind of things. In one corner was a fireplace with a little burning fire. A couple of hoof steps away were two very comfortable-looking chairs in which Celestia and one guest could sit and have a discussion by the warm fire. On the right side of the room, there was a desk on which sat several letters that were addressed to the Sun Princess. Twilight figured that most of them were her lessons about friendship of one variety or another. Close to the desk stood a bookshelf that was filled with the Princess’s favorite books. Now, normally, Twilight would be excited to read more books, especially ones that Celesia enjoyed reading, but the Alicorn didn't want to invade her friend’s personal space, so she left the shelf alone. In the center of the room was the Sun Princess’s bed, its sheets white and gold silk. It was unmade from when Celestia got out of bed that morning, and some of the silk sheets were touching the floor. When Twilight got out of bed each morning, she would almost always remake it right away. Again, she resisted the urge to remake Celestia's bed. It was Celestia's mess and Twilight had no right to clean her mess. 

Realizing that Celestia wasn't there, Twilight began making her way to the door that led to the hallways.

As Twilight open the door, she thought to herself, 'Hm, she must be at day court.' She opened and closed the door behind her and walked to the throne room.

On her way to the throne room, Twilight bumped into Blue Blood. He stumbled around left and right. From one look at him, Twilight instantly knew that he was drunk. Unfortunately, he spotted her and stupidly said, "Oh, hey, Twilight Twinkle, what brings you here?"

Twilight politely responded, "Good morning, Blue Blood. I was just looking for your mother and I had deduced that she's probably in the throne room listening to others’ complaints. Am I right?"

Blue Blood replied, "You got that right. But just between you and me, don't accept any kind of drink that she may offer."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, last week, I had one cup of an alcoholic beverage known as Sunny Sun Crasher. One swig of that stuff and would you believe it? I’ve been drunk for five days straight, and I haven’t had any other kind of drink for six days and counting. Things are probably going to happen. When I'm like this, I sometimes make bad decisions."

"Oh, well, I hope you get over it soon." Twilight tried to start making her way to the throne room again.

But Blue Blood stopped her and asked, "Wait, do you want to, like, go to my personal room to keep me company?"

Twilight answered firmly, "No."

"Oh, come on, we can invite a friend or two and make it, um, what's the word?"

"I said no. Like you said, you're going to make bad decisions, and I’d rather not be involved in them." Twilight quickly walked away before Blue Blood could say anything more inappropriate.

Twilight approached the doors to the throne room. Two guards let her in, and as she walked forward, she didn't say anything. She only listened as multiple ponies bickered back and forth. Twilight leaned against a wall.

An Earth pony general said, "Look, all I'm saying is that we need more EUP military presence in the towns so we don't have another situation like the one that arose in Ponyville."

A Unicorn, who was a town mayor, replied, "And I'm saying that with increased military numbers, those towns will welcome the possibility of unnecessarily aggressive intentions towards them from the outside. So, no, General Iron, we do not need those peaceful towns preparing to fight something that may never come, quite possibly ruining the peaceful way that those ponies have been living."

A yellow Pegasus named Spitfire said, "You're getting too attached to the peaceful ways. You're forgetting that time and history can change just like that, and I think that it's time for some big changes to happen."

General Iron Hoof spoke to the Unicorn who disagreed with him, "Miss Warm Heart, you’re saying that you would rather stay in the peaceful blessed calm and never see your killer coming? The danger is real, and when you need EUP support, I will only be able to come after the attack, at which time I will tell you ‘I told you so!’"

Miss Warm Heart walked right up to the General and spoke directly to his face. "We shall see."

The mayor of Cloudsdale, a Pegasus stallion, stepped between them and used his wings to separate them further, saying, "General Iron, you cannot expect every Mayor in this room to agree with your proposal to bring more EUP troops into our towns. That would just ruin the peaceful ways that we have become accustomed to. The ponies in those towns have known nothing but peace for as long as they can remember. But, fortunately, this is not your decision to make. It is the Princess’s."

General Iron directed his next question to Celestia. "So, your majesty, what is your decision?"

Celestia glanced quickly at Twilight before returning her attention  to General Iron and the other Town Leaders. 

"I do wish for a more secure Equestria, but assigning more military units to the peaceful regions? Even if that was the right decision to make, what little peace is left in those regions would instantly disappear." 

Celestia paused and thought for a moment. This decision could spell ruin for all of Equestria. That's it, my decision is made. She glared daggers at the General, clad in his silver armor. "No, General Iron, I will not give you permission to build military bases in peaceful villages like Ponyville." 

The General adopted a look of anger and disappointment, but he knew his Princess wasn't done talking. 

Princess Celestia continued, "You can, however, have some military camps on the borders of each town, and you can even build a couple of towers here and there. But the one thing you cannot do, , unless it is absolutely needed, is disturb the peaceful lives of the ponies who live those towns." She came uncomfortably close to the General’s face. "Is. That. Understood?"

General Iron backed up a little, sweat beading a bit on his forehead. "Yes ma'am." The Sun Princess backed away.

She walked toward her golden throne and sat on it, stomping her right front hoof on one of the arms of the throne before announcing, "Day court is over now. Have a nice day." Everypony except Twilight made their way out of the throne room.

Twilight began walking toward her teacher. She saw that Celestia was exhausted and had been mumbling. The purple Ailcorn came nearer and heard, "First it was an attack in Ponyville, then my faithful student moved to Canterlot. I had thought she and I would be able to enjoy each other’s company and possibly have a nice cup of tea now and then. But instead, she is practically sleeping in the library. And now, a month after the unfortunate incident in Ponyville, all kinds of generals and town leaders come to Day Court. The Military ponies keep throwing out ideas to militarize every single town that doesn't have much military presence and very little, if any, law enforcement. The town leaders come and plead with me, protesting that once a military presence comes into their town, the peaceful world that my sister and I have fought long and hard for will be destroyed. Even before the attack took place, that peace was slowly disappearing. Hopefully there isn’t another attack. Hopefully, I can secure this peace long enough for Twilight to take the crown." 

Celestia used her golden magic to levitate and bring a fancy goblet filled with Sunny Sun Crasher to her. She drank it all in one swing and tossed it blindly behind her. The goblet landed with a loud Clank! With the boost of a small buzz, she continued, "Oh, I can't wait for when she takes over. I just hope she's up to the task."

Twilight was inches from the throne and started thinking that maybe Celestia hadn't noticed her coming. "Penny for your thoughts," she said.

Celestia shook her head and muttered, "Oh, Twilight. Sorry, things have been rather complicated after, you know..." Suddenly, she realized that she had been rambling a minute earlier. Her eyes widened as she asked, "What did you hear?"

"Well, on my way here, I bumped into your son, who was pretty much drunk off his flank. He told me that you offered him some of your, um, special drink. As to your question, I may have heard you rambling on a bit. You said something about the attack on ponyville and ended with something about how you hoped I would be ready to take over the throne when the time comes."

Celestial was a little embarrassed upon hearing that, but she quickly changed the conversation, deciding to tell Twilight about her special alcoholic drink. 

"The Sunny Sun Crasher is a very powerful beverage of alcohol that I invented myself, but do not fear my drink. If you drink it now, it would barely affect you. It would just give you a little buzz, that’s all. The reason I created this was to help me get through tough times, like today's Day Court. I usually drink it to feel anything. However, if a normal pony, like my son Blue Blood, were to drink it. Well, you saw his current state. But if you’re worried about him, rest assured I usually have one guard watching his every move so he doesn't do anything too foolish. If he does something stupid, then it will be in the newspaper. My son will be drunk for seven days. After that comes his angry drunk days which will last two days. If you're wondering why I gave him a cup of my alcoholic drink, it's because he keeps on doing stuff without my permission. And he pretty much doesn't listen. So, yeah, this is basically his punishment."

Twilight blinked several times and decided to change the subject again. "So, anyway, what was all that about at Day Court?"

"Ah, well, there have been arguments going on in Day Court for several sessions now, with several different sides. General Iron is the eighth general to come in and try to disrupt the peaceful land in an effort to prevent a possible attack. He suggested that we basically put up fortresses in every town like Ponyville. He is probably fully aware of the consequences that would come of doing something like that."

“But wouldn't militarizing everything with fortresses everywhere ruin the peaceful way of living that several generations of ponies have gotten used to?"

"I know, my faithful student. He's only thinking logically, not realizing what that kind of change would do to our way of life." 

Celestia came down off of her throne and cautiously asked, "Did you find anything in the library that could possibly explain your friend’s change?"

Twilight pondered for a moment before saying, "Well, no, but your sister did, and she was able to tell me exactly what Rarity changed into. Luna is now working on a way to undo it. She kind of mentioned that you've been worried for me, so I decided to stop working for a bit, because who knows how long I could continue going with my head burried in those books. So, here I am to do something more enjoyable, and by the looks of it, you could use a little enjoyment as well."

Celestia thought for a moment before brightening. "You know, you and my sister are right. I do need a break. Come. Let's find a balcony. I'll ask a service to set up some tea with cake. I need a cake fix."

As they walked toward the doors, Twilight replied, "That sounds very enjoyable. And hey, I recently picked up a new kind of board game that has been all the rage in Equestria. I’ll bring that too. It’s called Canterlot Panic."

The two Alicorns exited the throne room and came out into the hallway. Celestia said, "I have played all kinds of games, panicky or not." Suddenly, she used her magic to create a sword of golden light. Several Solar guards who were guarding the hallways cowered in fear when they saw the fire in her eyes. "And if Canterlot is in danger, I will rise above every challenge to defend it, and I will defend it to the end!"

Twilight cut Celestia off, calmly saying, "It's just a silly game. There's no need to get worked up by it. Apparently, Pinkie Pie says it's a great game to play."

"Is that so? Have any professional game players played it?" The Alicorn of the Sun led Twilight through her room and onto the balcony. As Twilight sat down at one of the balcony tables, she saw Celestia raise an eyebrow as if to say, I know you’ve been in my room. But the look quickly disappeared as she sat down and wrote down a message to the kitchens. She used her magic to blast the message to them and it immediately disappeared in a white flash. Then she said, "It'll be a while before the tea is ready to be served. So you say this game is all the rage? Well, we will see about that. No one can destroy Canterlot, not if I have anything to say about it." The two mares became lost in conversation as they waited for their tea and cake.
> The Hand of Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Night had fallen on the Badlands. The EUP guards of the day watch had retired for the night and the EUP guards of the night watch had made their way to their post. Some of the night watch, however, decided to practice fighting with wooden dummies or with each other. 

On the other side of the wall, Black Fall slowly climbed the wall of the fortress and waited for her opportunity to sneak in unnoticed. Several seconds went by and it wasn't long before those seconds became hours. Finally, the night guards switched positions. As that happened, Black Fall quickly climbed up one of the ballista towers,  managing to make it to the top of the tower without getting noticed. As she crossed the tower’s roof, she felt a wave of magic go over her. It felt as if the magic was scanning her. This was probably that time loop magic the Serpentine had told them about. Black Fall looked around and noted that she was still on the roof; the magic didn't loop her back to the wall or to the border of the fortress. She looked down and around the fortress for the item that was responsible for this place’s defense.

It didn’t take long for her to find the magical item. It was a weird-looking spear. It seemed similar to the spear of the first hunter that she carried. The pony in the fortress holding the spear had a face that demanded authority. He was a purple Earth pony with a blue and green mixed mane and tail. He wore silver armor with a small golden pattern on it. He also had an oversized shield with a carved hourglass, indicating that he was the commander of this fortress.

Black Fall looked down and saw some brown overgrown bushes which she jumped into. She landed on something squishy. It looked like mud with too much water. It had an unpleasant smell too. Some of it was stuck on her belly and hoofs. She looked over at another bush and saw a EUP soldier coming out of it with a self-satisfied look that said he had just done his business. Suddenly Black Fall realized what she was laying in. She wanted to scream, “EWWWW!!!” but that would give away her current position. So, she waited until the guards’ shifts changed again.

The commander of the fortress passed by her and walked up to the wall. He asked a nearby EUP soldier in bronze armor, "Anything happening yet?"

The lower rank EUP answered, "Nothing yet, sir. It's been quiet for the last few days. Do you think that those things have given up?"

The Commander’s eyes narrowed to the empty field of desert and replied, "No. Stay alert. Something’s not right here. They must be planning something, and the last time I saw that green thing, he had a look that plainly said I'm going to kill you. I’ve got a feeling that he won't sleep until he gets his revenge. So, whatever you do, don't fall asleep." 

Suddenly, the Commander looked to the right of the EUP soldier and said, "Wait, what now?" He then ran back to the heart of the fortress muttering, "Yes, yes, I know, and as soon as they appear, we will trap them in a time loop."

The EUP soldier from before stared after him and said, "Ok, well, I guess I'll stay up here and keep watch."

Black Fall dashed from one bush to another, leaving a trail of brown residue in her wake. There were more bushes that the guards used to take care of business, but no matter how disgusting it was, it was better than climbing from rooftop to rooftop, risking getting discovered by a EUP guard who might happen to glance up. 

Black Fall approached the heart of the fortress without being seen. She approached the mouth of the cave which seemed to lead into a system of tunnels. She snuck into a large cavern and hid in a wooden pony-sized crate. And it was just in time, she realized, as a pair of EUP guards marched from the right tunnel and departed the cave. She waited until she could no longer hear the guards’ metal hoof steps. She managed to poke her head up just high enough to see the area. There were two guards positioned at the mouths of the tunnels. There were three different ways she could go from here; two of paths would lead her deeper into the cave system. The third way was to retrace her hoof steps, but that wasn't an option. She was here to find and destroy the item that created the time loop that kept the fortress safe. She spent hours deciding which way would lead her to the Commander. 

Suddenly, she heard the Commander’s voice yelling, "They have to be here! They’re going to be here!"

The sound was coming from the left tunnel. Black Fall needed a distraction. She thought to herself, 'I could really use Cold Blood. He can make the perfect distraction.' She shook her head to clear it, looked down, and noticed a stone in the crate. 'Then again, he would laugh at what I had to do to get here.' She took out her sword and transformed it into a crossbow, picked up and loaded the rock in it, aimed to the right and fired in that direction, producing several satisfying sounds of rock hitting rock. The sound grabbed the guards’ attention enough for the two of them to investigate the right tunnel. One of the guards exclaimed, "Who goes there?" As they continued looking for the source of the noise, Black Fall swiftly entered the left tunnel and dived into another hiding spot.





At the bottom of the cave system was an expansive cavern floor which had gotten so much water on it that it had essentially been shallow pool for quite some time. The Commander of the fortress seemed to be yelling at nothing whatsoever and the guards with him were wearing looks of utter confusion. The Commander stopped at the center of the cavern where a table stood with a leather fur covering  it. In the center of the table were two candles flanking a stone. The stone contained an hourglass set above some weird markings and white crystals.

The Commander said to the guards, "Take your positions! It will happen here." He then looked at his weapon and yelled at it, "Can't you give me a clearer vision!? And not some vague bits of clouds that I can barely understand!?"

As he shouted, the two EUP guards took positions at the cavern entrance. Two more guards stood at his left and two others to his right. 

Meanwhile, near the ceiling of the cavern where several stalactites had formed, Black Fall found a decent hiding spot. One of the guards stood right underneath her. She took a good look and counted six guards and one commander. Then she said to herself, "Well, it's now or never." 

She drew out both of her swords and dropped out of her hiding spot. She stabbed her whip sword into the closest EUP guard’s head before the others could figure out what was going on. Then, she transformed the other sword into a crossbow and fired a bolt of ice that instantly froze two guards in a glacier of ice. The ice would slowly suffocate them if they did not die from being frozen alive.

Of the three EUP guards remaining, two of them ran up to their Commander’s side. The EUP Unicorn who was right next to Black Fall jumped back and used her magic to teleport to the other side of the cavern in an effort to gain some distance. From there, she pulled out and aimed her crossbow at the Butcher of the Night. One Earth pony with a spear and a shield charged at her, and one flying EUP Pegasus with a sword flew at her. However, the Commander wasn't looking at her. She thought perhaps that the reason he didn't take her too seriously was because he believed that his soldiers were up to the task. Oh, how wrong he was.  

Black Fall transformed her crossbow back into a sword and put it back in its saber. She then pulled out the spear of the first hunter. In her mind, that sinister voice awoke and said to her, 'Well, now, you plan on using me. The question is, can you stomach it?'

Black Fall mentally replied, 'Look, this isn't the right time for this conversation. I just need your power to take on these guys.'

'What the heck happened to you?' The spear mentally laughed at her and continued, 'It looks like you just swam through a river of manure!'

She adopted a furious expression as she blocked two EUP guards. Then she pressed a button on her other sword. The sword blade broke apart and lay on the ground, but each piece of the blade was still connected to the handle by a wire. As she slashed the blade fragments at the guards charging her, she said to the voice, 'Look, the short version of it is that these EUP guards found a practical use for those bushes around the wall. Now, are you going to help me or are you going to continue to laugh at me and be a jerk?'

'Ok, ok, I'm sorry, it was just too rich.' The runes on the spear glowed red and Black Fall’s eyes turned red too. She said in a raging voice, "Let's get ready for this bloodbath!"

Using the spear to block the Pegasus, she tried to grab him, but the flying horse saw it coming. He immediately flew out of her reach and maneuvered around the cavern in such a way as to zoom by her from behind and successfully cut her side. But it wasn't a deep cut, so she ignored the pain and charged at the Earth pony, plunging her spear into his chest. The spear penetrated through his armor and chainmail. His eyes widened with fear as the Butcher of the Night bit hard into his neck. She pulled away and opened her mouth to reveal two sets of fangs with blood dripping from them. Black Fall tossed the guard into the Unicorn archer who was the farthest away.

Black Fall looked at the whip blade and then used it to cleve at the head of the Pegasus. But that didn't happen and her whip blade instead wrapped around one of the wings of the Pegasus. Using a little strength, she yanked the wing off of the Pegasus and he crashed into a stalagmite. She whipped the blade around his waist and yanked it hard, causing the Pegasus’s belly to open up and his insides to spill out. On the 17th yank, the Pegasus was fully sliced in two.

The last EUP guard pushed the dead Earth pony off of her and rose up to aim her crossbow at Black Fall. She fired her arrow but a spike of earth sprouted from the ground and the arrow bounced off of the rock harmlessly. Then Black Fall used her whip blade to destroy the guard’s crossbow, quick as lightning. Black Fall jumped up and plunged her spear through the EUP mare’s head. As the Butcher of the Night pulled the spear out of the corpse’s head, she turned around and saw the Commander of the fortress had yet to run away or call for reinforcements.

The Commander arose, brought up his shield, and pointed his spear at her. "What’s your name, Miss?"

Surprised by the question, she answered. "It's Black Fall, good sir." She pointed her spear at the Commander and said, "Now, may I ask who you are? You know, before I kill you."

"You seem confident that you will be able to kill me. No matter, I shall still answer your question. I am Commander Dream." He raised his spear. "It has been a while since someone dared to challenge me, but I know this isn't where I'm supposed to die. Yes, I knew this day would come. However, this thing," he stared daggers at his weapon, "refuses to reveal certain things, like the fact that you're very skilled."

The Butcher raised an eyebrow before asking, "Why is that?"

"Well, once upon a time, before I joined the EUP, I was once a member of a secret organization within Equestria. I and the other members of the organization wanted to control anything and everything, but it was short lived. That Draconic known as Discord quite literally pulled our organization apart.. And when Celestia and Luna turned that thing into stone, the order that I worked for decided it would be wise to discontinue the operation and how we did things. Those of us that were left basically went our own ways and never looked back."

As Dream continued to tell his life story, Black Fall took a better look at his weapon of choice. It wasn't exactly a spear per se. It was more like a giant golden clock hand that could count down the seconds if it were in its proper place. She must've been looking at it too long, because Dream noticed her gazing at it. He moved the clock hand around and asked, "Do you like my weapon of choice?"

"Yes, but that’s not exactly a weapon. At least, I’m pretty sure it’s not. But I know it could be used as a weapon if you are comfortable charging with it at full force.”

"Oh, well, you would be right. And you would also be wrong. I know it's not a standard thing for a weapon, but once you see what this item can do, you'll be begging for execution." As he said this, Dream raised the clock hand.

Black Fall looked around her and said, "What in all of Tartarus is this?"
> Victory or Death
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Black Fall looked around and said, “What in all of Tartarus is this?”

His eyes glowed blinding white as he slowly rose up to the middle of the Cavern. A silvery magical substance began to come out of the clock hand and it created an oversized clock. Right now, it said it was 7 PM. Commander Dream took the physical clock hand that he had and moved it backwards to 1 PM. Suddenly, all four dead EUP guards got up, and like time was rewinding their deceptions. Their cuts were closing on their own, and then the wounds completely disappeared. As that happened, a silver beam flew from the clock to the iceberg and cracked it before completely breaking it apart. The two guards within the iceberg stood up. 

Commander Dream adopted a bright smile and said, “Ok, boys, the first round went to her. Make sure that the other rounds don’t. Now, kill her fast. If you manage to do that, then  drinks are on me. All you can drink alcoholic apple cider. And now, the second round begins.”

Two Earth ponies, one Pegasus, and one Unicorn charged at Black Fall. She was almost tackled by all of the guards in the cavern at once, but thanks to her quick thinking, she tossed a smoke bomb and dove out of the way. The Unicorn and Pegasus fired their crossbows, sending Black Fall into a wall. Thinking quickly, she jumped out of the way and heard the sound of her cloak tearing. As an Earth pony and the Unicorn had plunged their weapons right into the wall at the spot where she was pinned. She turned around and used the power of the spear. She used an earth spike to push the two ponies back into the group. After dodging some incoming arrows, she did the same to the Pegasus and the Unicorn. With all of the EUP guards in one spot, she increased the gravity on them until there was nothing left but a pile of broken bones and bloody puddles with armor.

Black Fall charged at Commander Dream who was still floating in the middle of the room at the center of a humongous magical silver clock, positioned right behind him. Black Fall was almost within arms reach when he rewound the clock again. She was tackled by two bloody Earth pony guards. She looked over to where she had killed all of the guards at once. Thanks to that clock hand, the guards were no longer a bloody mess. They were making their way to her yet again. 

Using the power of the spear, she summoned two spikes of earth and used them to impale the two ponies who had pinned her. She jumped up and ran as the four guards continued to pursue her to the other side of the cavern. Black Fall brought out her whip blade and began to slash and whip at the guards. She didn’t stop until she was convinced that they were down. But it wasn’t long before a Pegasus mare dove out at her. Black Fall turned around and kicked the Pegasus in the air. She grabbed the Pegasus by the wing and spun her around three times before slamming her into the ground, pulling out a throwing knife, and stabbing her in the chest, which killed the mare Pegasus instantly. As she ended that pony’s life, she picked up the crossbow and fired it at Commander Dream. But he blocked it with his oversized shield. She tossed the weapon aside and charged at him again with her whip blade, cutting and slashing as she went.

Commander Dream blocked most of it, and as she was getting to the end of her whip dance, he tackled her. The magical clock disappeared. Dream used his shield to pin down Black Fall’s hoof, the one that held the blade whip. He used the glowing silver clock hand to tap her weapon. In seconds, her blade whip became nothing more than a rusty old whip. 

Dream jumped back and Black Fall sprang up. She used the rusted blade on a guard. To her shock, her weapon became caught between one of the Earth pony guard’s sword and shield. 

The Earth pony yelled, “Hey, some assistance down here!” A Pegasus guard came to his aid, jumping onto the sword to give more pressure. It was enough to shatter the weapon into pieces. Black Fall quickly picked up two pieces within her reach and threw them at the two EUP guards.

Then, two more guards ran up and stood between Black Fall and their Commander. Black Fall’s eyes flared red with rage. She pulled out the spear and lunged with it, successfully impaling a Unicorn guard. Reacting to her attack, the Pegasus guard swung his sword to try to kill her. But she managed to dodge the swings before finally piercing her spear, with the dead Unicorn guard still on it, into the other guard’s chest. Commander Dream locked onto her thinking quickly. Black Fall threw six daggers, each one having an elemental rune on it. They all hit the clock hand, resulting in two ice explosions. The silver glow increased. The ice broke apart when a lightning rune hit. The clock hand started cracking and the silver magic coming from it increased so much it was hard to tell if Commander Dream was still holding it. The last three daggers exploded into green clouds of acid which caused their target to not only to break apart and melt into nothing, but also caused a good amount of flesh near Dream’s front hooves to get eaten away. He fell to the ground, crying in agony.  

Then, a blast of time magic zoomed across the Fortress, and the six pony guards got up and approached her. As they came nearer, they started to age unnaturally. The hairs on their coats grew long and gray. Their faces developed too many wrinkles too rapidly, and their insides started to turn dry. It wasn't long before all of them were too weak to even approach her. 

Suddenly, three of the aging ponies’ coats split open. Small streams of sand poured out of them as more and more of their bones broke. Then, their stab wounds reappeared, and before long, all six of them were nothing but piles of broken bones and dust with armor. As they hit the ground, the power of the spear devoured their souls. 

Black Fall swung the spear and two sets of armor from the no longer existing guards flung off of it. Using the rune of Earth on the spear, she dropped several tons of rock onto Commander Dream. Black Fall decided it was best not to check if he survived. Then, she galloped back to where she had snuck in.
 
As she trotted back to the Fortress’s gates, where one of the ballista towers were, she pulled out and transformed her sword into a crossbow. She then shot an explosive arrow of fire and lightning at the ballista tower and it exploded into flames and lightning. That certainly got the attention of every guard in the Fortress. As they charged at Black Fall, she reloaded her crossbow and pulled out her spear, getting ready for another fight. The upside to this ploy was that the guards were focused completely on her, which gave Cold Blood and the Serpentine a chance to make it to the Fortress wall sooner.
 
Back in the cavern, a pile of rocks suddenly started shaking. An oversized rock rolled out of the pile and hit the cavern wall, causing it to crumble into pieces. Then, a very large shield slammed to the ground. 

Commander Dream emerged from the rock pile and said quietly, “You see, I’m not destined to die here. I’m destined to die out there, in the heat of battle.” He pressed a button on his shield and several spikes popped out. He continued, “You may have managed to destroy my relic, which I’ve held onto for quite some time.” He looked at the burns of acid on his hooves and glanced around for a weapon. He located and grabbed a sword from a pile of dust and armor, then turned around and galloped out of the cave system. As he ran, he could hear explosions coming from outside. “Well, Black Fall,” he mused, “let’s see who is truly fated to die today. You or me.”

The explosion of lightning and fire appeared on one of the ballista towers. Cold Blood and the Serpentine saw it and knew that the time to charge was now.
 
Following the explosion, Black Fall galloped quickly to the wall of the Fortress; she was being chased by half of the fort. They surrounded her, spears and swords pointed at her. But then, she did something that no guard could have expected her to do. She said loudly, “Hello, EUP soldiers! Now, let’s not beat around the bush. Yes, I know that some of you guys are Hunters. Yes, we all know your names, but don’t worry! I won’t spill your secrets! Anyway, I have a message for you from me, the Butcher of the Night.” She pointed a hoof to herself. “I say to you: forget your prayers to your beloved Celestia or Luna, because they don’t care for you at all. All they care about is having a peaceful, thriving land. Now, with that out of the way, let the bloodbath commence.” And just like that, she used the power of the spear to push against the ground and shoot into the air.
 
As she flew skyward, Black Fall transformed her sword into a crossbow and fired a bolt that sparked with electricity and fire. It was aimed straight at the EUP guards. As she landed on the wall, the bolt hit the ground and exploded with five waves of fire and lightning. The burst of power and heat sent half of the fortress flying in opposite directions. Some of the guards were impaled by weapons that had been put aside for later use. Others were burned to a crisp from the waves of fire, and even more of them just fell to the ground and didn’t get back up because of the waves of the deadly lightning that had washed over them.. As for the rest of the guards, they were extremely lucky to still be alive. They got up and charged at Black Fall. The flames died down as Black Fall transformed her crossbow back into a sword and placed it back into her saber. She pointed the spear at the survivors and poised herself for several attacks. She yelled at them, “Come on! I’m ready to face any one of you!”
 
One guard said, “Come on guys, she’s just one pony. That’s one pony versus all of us. We can easily take her on.”
 
Commander Dream slammed his shield and boomed, “Is this how you treat your host? By blowing up his property and his troops?”
 
Black Fall looked down and, a little impressed, said, “So, you survived the boulders, did you?”
 
The Commander replied, “Yes. Now, please come down and face me.”
 
The Butcher pondered for a moment, but eventually came to the conclusion that it would be better to fight in a wider area than on a narrow wall. She jumped down and landed on all fours. Then she looked up at Commander Dream. He was a bit dusty with debris and had several wounds on his coat, but otherwise, he looked pretty fine for someone who had survived a bunch of heavy rocks falling on him. His face gave off a look that said ‘You are dead.’ 

Suddenly, Dream said with a little hate in his voice, “Now, are you ready to finish what you started?” As he spoke, Black Fall noticed that there was something different about his shield; it had different designs now. Instead of an hourglass, there were skulls etched into it, and several black spikes poked out of it. 

Then, with a little metallic click, the spikes shot out of the sheild.

Three of the spikes hit Black Fall; one in the chest, the other two in her shoulders. Immediately, Black Fall felt the familiar burning sensation of a poison spreading through her, one that would kill her if she didn’t treat it right away.  

Black Fall pulled out the spikes,r which weren’t stuck in too deep. When they were all out, the burning sensation stopped.  

Black Fall got up and pointed her spear at Commander Dream. “I’m more now ready than I'll ever be.” And with that, she charged at the Commander. He quickly raised his shield and blocked the ex-Hunter’s attack. As he blocked, he commanded his troops, “What are you looking at? The enemy is approaching our Fortress! To your stations!”
 
His remaining soldiers heard his command and scrambled up to the wall, loaded their crossbows. One of them manned the only ballista left, and another loaded it with an oversized arrow. Everyone took aim at the army that was closing in on the Fortress.
> Attack on the Fortress
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the borders of the Fortress, several arrows were fired by the guards but none of them killed anypony. The Werepony got up onto a boulder and howled. As he did, all of the Serpentine burrowed underground and went straight for the Fortress. As a second wave of arrows came flying toward them, an oversized arrow flew toward the Werepony, and it nearly got him. But, luckily for Cold Blood, he saw it coming. He stopped howling and jumped off of the boulder just in the nick of time. He ran to the fortress knowing full well that some of the archers may aim new arrows at him.
 
Back at the Fortress, a metallic clink was heard and several black spikes popped out of Commander Dream’s shield. Black Fall jumped back and threw three daggers at him. Each one hit his shield. The Butcher galloped right up to him and kicked him in the face. There was another metallic click and suddenly, the edge of his shield became a chainsaw blade. With a loud roar, he swung the shield at her. The first two swings hit her, leaving some nasty cuts on her chest, but she quickly backed away and transformed her sword into a crossbow. She loaded it with an ice bolt and fired it.
 
Back outside the fortress, Cold Blood had so many arrows stuck in his back, he looked like a porcupine. He galloped straight at the gate. Several underground Serpentine charged along with him.
 
As they ran nearer, a wave of arrows rained down on them. Four more hit Cold Blood, but thanks to his being a Werepony, they didn’t really affect him all that much. He pulled out the arrows as he ran, as many as he could reach. The arrows never reached the Serpentine as they dug through the battlefield. Seven waves of arrows hit the ground. Then came the ballista arrows, which pierced through the earth but killed very few of the Serpentine. Every now and then ballista arrows would head towards Cold Blood. He tried to dodge them, but most of the time, they hit their target. Each time he was hit with one, it caused him a great amount of pain. 
 
Cold Blood reached the wall and, using his claws, he climbed up to the top. As he climbed, a guard noticed and brought two others over to fire their crossbows at him. He continued to climb. One arrow after another hit, until nine arrows had found a home in his flesh, most of them in his face. But with one last jump, he reached the top and slit the throats of the three guards who were shooting at him. The guards’ bodies fell to the ground. 

It wasn’t long before another guard spotted him and blew the horn to let every EUP in the Fortress know that the wall had been breached. Cold Blood killed the guard and started to eat him before several more EUP Unicorns, Earth ponies, and Pegasus arrived on the wall or were flying near it. The Unicorns created pure magic swords and spears. Earth ponies drew out their swords and aimed their crossbows at him. And the Pegasus tossed their crossbows behind them and drew their swords for attack. Cold Blood  had been waiting for this moment, and there was only one word going through his head at that time: Dinner.
 
The Serpentine arrived shortly after. They dug through and up the wall. Using their fangs, they bit into the EUP ponies’ necks or used their tails to strangle them. Most of the Unicorns and Earth ponies had been either bitten and were now slowly dying from the poison of the Serpentine, or they were being strangled to death. Many of the Pegasus remained alive as they were using their wings to stay up in the air. However, some of them had foolishly charged at Cold Blood. He took full advantage of their idiocy. A Pegasus mare charged at him next, but he easily dodged and grabbed her by the wing, then slammed her into the other Pegasus who had charged with her. As they fell to the ground, a few dozen Serpentine jumped out of the ground and bit into the Pegasus. They tried to fly away but were bitten in midair. The Serpentine then fell back into the ground. The Pegasus, try as they might to fly as far away as possible, would eventually fall to their death from the poison.
 
The ballista was aimed at a brown Serpentine who had just popped out of the ground. The Earth pony who was manning it fired the weapon and it hit the Serpentine directly in the head, instantly killing him. 

Venom emerged from the ground and noticed his dead friend right away. “No!” he yelled, and went into a blood rage. He jumped from the wall and landed on a nearby Pegasus. He slithered around the pony’s body before biting him on the shoulder. Then, getting on the pony’s back, he jumped and landed on another nearby Pegasus, repeating what he had just done to the previous one. He continued to do this up until the tenth Pegasus. As he slithered around the last mare’s body, he encountered a little resistance. The Pegasus tried to shake him off her body and flew in circles in an effort to get rid of him. But Venom had his body wrapped around her very tightly. As he prepared to bite into the pony, the ballista took aim once more and fired at him and the mare. It killed both him and the Pegasus. He was still wrapped around her as both of them fell to the ground, landing with a sickening splat.

After seeing Venom fall in valor, Pearl yelled, “That ballista needs to go down!” She went back into the ground and, with four other Serpentine following her example, she started to dig around the base of the tower.
 
Behind the front gate, Cobra and Poison Fang popped out of the ground. Four Unicorns and three Earth ponies saw them and charged. But the two Serpentine toyed with them by borrowing back into the ground and popping back up right behind them. As they did this, Cobra noticed what Pearl was doing and said to Poison Fang, “I have an idea.” Both he and Poison Fang burrowed back into the ground and popped up right in front of the gates. The ponies gave chase by opening the massive wooden gates. When they were open, the ponies all charged. The structure of the tower began to give. It collapsed on the wooden gates. They had a few more minutes before the wood started to break. The massive hinges were ripped out of the wall. Within those minutes, Poison Fang and Cobra burrowed back into the ground. Four Unicorns and two Earth ponies were crushed in the process of taking down the tower and gates. 

A few minutes went by before both Serpentine emerged right in front of the pile of rubble that used to be the tower and gate. The last pony left alive got up and brushed the dust off him. Poison Fang quickly cut him with his spike and the pony fell to the ground, slowly dying from the poison. Two more ponies who had been operating the ballista, an Earth pony and a Unicorn, got up suddenly. Pearl slithered around the Unicorn’s body and strangled her to death. Simultaneously, Cobra bit the Earth pony in the neck and let him slowly die from the poison.

Poison Fang started moving from where he had stabbed another Earth pony who had tried to kill him. He stabbed a mare Unicorn who had tried to fire a spell at him, but her aim was sloppy and she missed. Poison Fang burrowed into the ground, then launched out again, stabbing the Unicorn in the face with his spike, killing her instantly. He looked around and saw Pearl and Cobra moving toward the chaotic battlefield. He fell to the ground and slithered around a charging Pegasus. He jumped up to strangle him to death, and as he did, he got a good look at the chaos happening around him. 

Black Fall was engaged in combat with the Commander. The Commander slammed his oversized shield. He was successful when he heard the metallic click. Black metal spikes shot out of his shield at the ex-hunter.

Suddenly, a spike of earth shot out of the ground, causing the black metal spikes to bounce. Poison Fang looked up at the wall and saw Cold Blood digging into a mare EUP Earth pony. It was brutal to see, because the mare was still alive as he continued to dig into her. She was alive, but she wouldn’t be for long. Cold Blood would enjoy every last bit of meat on her.

Poison Fang looked around again and noticed his Serpentine going for the underground pouncing and biting technique. Most of them were successful, but some of the EUP ponies got smart and stayed on the stone concrete. However there were only a few places that had solid rock. One was the road that led in and out of the Fortress; the other option was to climb to the top of a building, of which there were very few. 

Poison Fang bore back down into the ground and jumped out again at four EUP ponies who were on top of a rooftop. Using his spike, he stabbed an Earth pony and wrapped his tail around a Unicorn’s neck to strangle him to death. The other Earth pony and Unicorn turned around and saw what he was doing. The EUP Earth pony ran to his struggling friend and tried using his strength to get the Unicorn out of Poison Fang’s grip.
 
Simultaneously, the other Unicorn raised her two short swords and charged at the Serpentine, trying to strike at him, but Poison Fang saw her coming and practically tossed the struggling Unicorn at the charging Unicorn. She accidentally stabbed the pony being tossed. Struggling under the weight of a dead body, both Unicorns fell onto the stone of the rooftop.
 
Suddenly Poison Fang was hit by an iron war hammer. He flew to the other side of the roof and landed at the edge of the stone rooftop. He quickly got up and used his scaly hoof to wipe away the green blood that was coming out of his nose. The EUP Earth pony in silver armor who was wielding the iron war hammer charged at him again, but Poison Fang was ready for him this time. As the war hammer swung down, he dodged it and bit into the Earth pony’s neck. Not loosening his jaw at all, he swung the pony to the edge of the rooftop. The Earth pony tried to get up again, but within five minutes, he died from Poison Fang’s poison.
 
The last Unicorn on the rooftop finally managed to toss the body of her fallen comrade aside. She saw what had happened and, with hatred in her eyes, she lit up her horn with fire magic and released a torrent of flames at Poison Fang. He was surprised that an EUP Unicorn was able to fire that kind of magic with such raw power at him. However, he opened his mouth and a glowing, sickening, green magic came out of it. To the Unicorn’s surprise, the green magic tore through her emotionally, and her anger-fueled flames were extinguished as if by water. When the green liquid geyser reached the Unicorn, she screamed in horror as it quickly disintegrated her into nothing more than melted armor.
 
Poison Fang jumped off of the rooftop and landed on the ground of the fortress. It wasn’t long before an EUP Pegasus in bronze armor tried to dive at him, but he saw the attempt and easily dodged the pony, bit her, and swung his head to the side to toss her against the wall. She got up and began to charge at Poison Fang, but soon began to feel weak from the poison. Her eyes grew heavy as she neared Poison Fang. But before she could get to him, the EUP Pegasus fell to the ground and died. 

Then a group of five Earth ponies charged at Poison Fang. As they did, the Serpentine slammed his spike to the ground seven times. Seven Serpentine grabbed the Earth ponies and buried them in the ground, slowly suffocating them to death.
 
Poison Fang then looked at Commander Dream fighting against Black Fall. He thought to himself, ‘You’re going to lose this fight. Even if you manage to kill a Hunter of the Night my Serpentine and I will surely bury you.’
> We Part Ways From The Serpentine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Black Fall jumped on Commander Dream’s oversized shield, then heard a metallic click. Suddenly, the shield fired out several golden spikes. The Butcher leaped off and landed on the ground, quickly rolling to the left. And just in time too, as many of the spikes impacted the area where she had landed. One of them did hit a red Serpentine who had just popped her head out of the ground only to meet a quick death. But nothing happened. The red Serpentine did not die, but got up and out of the ground. Suddenly, the golden spike that hit her started to glow, and she very rapidly aged until there was nothing left but bones and rusty armor.
 
Commander Dream said, “Rats, that was supposed to be you.”
 
Black Fall replied, “Oh, I’m sorry I ruined your perfect vision of how you believed it would go down. But I for one would like to continue living. This time, when I kill you, you’ll stay dead.” She summoned one spike of earth after another and hurled them at the Commander. He dodged most of them and blocked the rest with his shield. But each time he blocked a spike, his shield would dent. It dented and dinged until several jets of smoke burst out of it and a metallic click sounded again. However, this time it was like it was breaking before it shattered like glass.
 
Black Fall slammed her spear into the ground and pulled out her sword and dagger, saying, “Oh, would you look at that! Your precious shield is destroyed! Now I can kill you properly!” And she charged at Commander Dream. Using his sword, he blocked hers, but her dagger hoof moved at the speed of lightning, and she stabbed him several times. Before he could break out of the block, she stabbed him one final time, dragging the dagger up to his throat, which caused him to bleed rapidly until a pool of his own blood could be seen.
 
Barely alive, he said, “I failed to protect this world. My friends from the Order of Time are still out there, and there’s no doubt that they are planning on how to properly handle the situation that has arisen. Mark my words, Black Fall, for I know what will happen to y-”
 
As Black Fall pulled up the spear of the first hunter, she said, “If that’s so, then they’ll be easily butchered as well.” She walked over to him and stabbed the dead pony with the spear of the first hunter, mentally saying to the spear, ‘Here’s a soul for you to gobble up.’
 
The spear began to glow red and Commander Dream’s corpse glowed blue. The blue aura began to separate from the body and soon turned into a blue misty ball. Then, red misty arms came forth from the spear and grabbed the ball. It pulled the blue ball towards itself, and finally, the sphere disappeared into the spear. A golden ring appeared on the spear, and the power of the spear said, ‘Such a strong heart, and blinded in his own beliefs. Either way, I got what I wanted. Oh, and thanks for the meal.’ Black Fall removed the spear and walked toward Poison Fang, Cobra, and Cold Blood.





When the EUP guards realized that their commander was dead, they quickly came to the conclusion that the battle was pointless and got the heck out of Dodge. The EUP Pegasus grabbed rations and a few extra weapons and placed them in the wagons. The Unicorns and Earth ponies made their way out of the Fortress; most of them galloped all the way back to Equestria, but some of them managed to jump on a hovering wagon that was being pulled by a Pegasus. With their magic, they would be able to fly the wagons into the sky. But some of the Pegasusses noticed some of the EUP forces were a bit slow, so the Pegasusses who were not pulling a wagon in the sky flew down to grab the stragglers. As they flew back up and rose higher in the sky, several arrows and spears were thrown at them. Some of the were hit and fell to their death. When the last of the EUP got out, they made their way to Equestria by air.
 
The Serpentine watched, cheered, and shot arrows at the retreating guards, or threw insults at them as they ran.
 
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Fortress, there lay the beginning of a path that led up to the top of the mountain. Poison Fang, Cobra, Cold Blood, and Black Fall walked towards this path. Poison Fang slammed his spike to the ground four times before dragging it to one of the walls of the Fortress.  
 
Cobra nodded in agreement. He looked at the ex-hunter and the Werepony and said, “The Serpentine would like to thank you for your assistance. If you need a place to lay low, don’t hesitate to ask.”
 
The Chiroptera and the Werepony looked at each other. Black Fall, staring into Cold Blood’s eyes with a loving look, replied, “Thank you for the offer, but where we’re going, well-””
 
Cold Blood began to blush as he turned to hide his face and feelings from her. He finished his partners thoughts by saying, “To be perfectly blunt, where we’re going we are probably not coming back.” After those words, Cold Blood and Black Fall began to walk their way up the mountain.
 
But Cobra, with a small hint that he knew what was going on between them, said, “Oh, we know, but Poison Fang just wanted you two to know that if things go south, and judging from your quest to not only eliminate the Hunters but also ruin the harmony of Equestria, it sounds like they will, you can always come back to this place.”  

At that, both Serpentines slithered back to the heart of the Fortress. Black Fall yelled after them, “What are you two going to do with this place?!”
 
Cobra replied, “We’re going to make this place our den and kill any EUP ponies that try to take it back.”
 
The two partners in crime remained quiet for quite some time as they made their way up the mountain. Several hours went by. It was around noon when they made it halfway up the mountain. 

Suddenly, Cold Blood said as he tried to pull out an arrow that he didn’t know was stuck in his back until Black Fall’s spear tapped against it, “The Serpentine’s plans for the fortress seem quite aggressive; but since they captured it, I suppose they can do whatever they want with it.”
 
The exhunter replied, “Let’s just get this done. I don’t want any more surprise fights, be they with bandits or worse: Hunters who will try to stop us from completing our task.”
 
After successfully pulling out that chore of an arrow, Cold Blood said, “Well, that’s gonna to leave a mark. And it’s understandable, but fret not; it looks like we are halfway there already. It’s still a long hike ahead, so don’t fall behind.”
 
Taken aback by the comment, Black Fall smiled an evil smile as she said, “If I recall correctly, during that battle, you let several arrows hit you. And  you do tend to make a mess of things sometimes, so the reason for me falling behind is probably because I’m cleaning up your mess.”
 
“Hey, that only happened 17 times…?” Cold Blood said questioningly. And with that, they continued their way up to the top of the mountain where the Hunters’ magical seal was.
> Fluttershy Listened to her Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deep inside a series of caves lay the hidden town of Blood Moon where new hunters trained and forged their own weapons; the town itself was built into the walls of the caves. The Threads and Batponiess that lived there were used to the cold and the dark, but one newer pony was not used to it. 

"Well, I never. The way you ponies go about your day is not the way to enjoy the day. I mean, how do you know where you are going, and how do you not bump into each other, and if I may be so bold, where is the sun? Any normal pony would say you need at least ten to thirty minutes of it every day."  

A cold drop of water landed on Rarewolf. "Aye, and that's another thing. What kind of building has cold drops of water inside that land anywhere in the room. It's like you’re expecting me to live inside a cave.”

Frustrated, a Hunter replied, "That's because you are inside a cave. And I'm starting to question the mistress’ wisdom in bringing you here!" With that, she began to walk away.

"Oh, I'm sorry for criticizing your way of life, but before you leave, could I ask you, is this armor really necessary? Because if what you say is true, then there’s really no need for me to wear this. And to be frank, it’s quite tight for me.” She started using her paws to move the armor around.

The Hunter turned around and said, “This armor is not meant to protect you. It’s worn to make it easier to identify you as an ally. As for those things on your front legs, they can magically increase your speed and strength. Essentially, these gizmos make you way more powerful than the average Werepony.” 

Rarity pondered on this for a moment, but she was interrupted by the Chiroptera.  “We are all well aware that regular weapons don’t work on those like you, and when you eat someone, the wounds you get in battle will easily disappear thanks to that regeneration ability of yours. Luna has known of their weakness for quite some time now. I’ll be taking my leave, unless there is something else you want?”

“Could you bring me some light? So I can at least see myself." Rarity heard hoof steps fading away, then heard the door open and close.





At the entrance of the town where an iron door and wall stood, a hunter leaned back and  looked in the direction of constant chatter. Five hunters walked in and the one guarding the entrance said, "Oh, hey, Night Glider. How was the hunt? Did you kill that Butcher of the Night?"

"Well, not exactly," replied Night Glider.

"Oh, yeah, we weren't hunting that monster, we were hunting information,” the third hunter said with a predatory look at Night Glider.

"Seriously, how did you become a hunter, Black Dart? Because in this whole trip, the only things you were really good at was starting fights with your teammates and complaining about the kinds of missions we go on."

The hunter in question removed his hood to reveal himself, a dark blue stallion Thread with a white mane and gray eyes. "Well, I'm not the one who went on a wild goose chase to find the slightest sliver of information. Oh, and one of us has burns that the rest of us have never seen, so yeah!" Both Threads stared daggers at each other.

"I have an idea. How about you just go back to your place to rest that spear of yours. It looks a little rusted."

"I think I will do that." And with a bit more strength in his hoof, Black Dart opened the iron door and left for his home.

"GRRR! If he was more of a team player then we could have gotten that information faster!" Night Glider angrily adjusted his cloak. "Hey, newbie, get Eager Shot to the hospital. I’ve got a feeling he's going to need it."

"Oh, right," said a shy voice.

"Relax, Sturdy Step, it's just a walk. It's not like we're going on a dangerous mission," said Eager Shot.

Night Glider threw a glare at Eager Shot and said, "You say that like it's a bad thing.”

Sturdy Step said very cautiously, “And you seem too eager to find some action." Then both she and Eager Shot walked to Blood Moon Hospital.

"So, Raven Wind," said Night Glider, ”is there any reason why you are looking at me like that? Because it's starting to creep me out."

Raven Wind quickly removed her hood to reveal a dark purple mare; her mane was in a ponytail, black with several faded colors. And her eyes were pink. Because she had been called out, her cheeks blushed pink with embarrassment, and she turned around to hide her face.

"I'm sorry, it's just that your aura is really healthy and it’s so very intriguing that I can't help it." She walked to the iron door. "I must be going. I have to get to the temple of Luna." And moving quickly, she soon was gone.

The hunter at the door said, "Well, I’ve seen some strange things, but that takes the cake. I mean, I know we built a temple devoted to Luna. But why would a hunter run straight for that Luna temple? I mean, seriously?"

Night Glider sighed and said, "She has a bad habit of looking into every pony’s aura, whatever that means. But deep down, I believe that in time she'll be a good hunter and a friend to all." And then thinking about where she ran off to reminded him. "Oh, speaking of which, any world from her?"

 Suddenly, Black Dart could be heard yelling, “What the heck are you doing here?! This is my place!”

Night Glider said to the hunter at the door, “Judging from that yell, it seems that Luna is not just focused on training new recruits faster, but also bringing back old veterans as well.”

The hunter appeared nervous and said, "Well, she did come, and she brought a pony with her and told us not to kill her."

"Kill her? What do you mean by that? Last I checked, the Order of the Hunt does not kill their own members. I'm sure she's just some pony who wants to kill the monsters of the night like any other Chiroptera in our town. Why would we want to kill her?"

"Well, she is… how do I say it without you getting, you know, mad?"

Frustrated, Night Glider yelled, "FOR SWEET LUNA’S SAKE, JUST TELL ME ALREADY!"

"Fine. She's a werepony."

Night Glider adopted a dark look. "A werepony?"

"Yes, but Luna said that the original pony is still in there, so there is no way of her losing control. She said the beast inside of her is chained up; whatever that means."

Night Glider glared at the hunter. "Anything else I need to know before I go home?"

"Well, Luna will not be back tonight because of an incident that happened at the edge of Ponyville."

Night Glider walked to the iron door and said, "I think I'll get some rest. For this next night, my team and I will go on a Butcher hunt." He slammed the iron door behind him, unease in his heart.





"It's about time somepony came with a little light,"  Rarity said. As the glow of light became brighter in her room she could see her body covered in fur. Then she noticed a newspaper on the table. She picked it up with her paw to read it and her eyes slightly widened in realization. 

"Oh, so it wasn't a dream after all. I really did try to kill my friends. And judging by the fact that I'm inside this cave, I guess I can be grateful for failing to kill them. But now I'm stuck in this cursed body."

‘But don't you feel stronger?’ asked the voice inside her head. ‘Don't you feel good and powerful? That you can take on any pony that gets in your way?’

Rarity’s eyes widened a little when she realized that the voice in her head was right. She did feel powerful. Heck, she took on Celestia, the Ruler of the Sun and of Equestria. But then she yelled out, "NO! I will not succumb to your twisted words!"

‘You will change your mind in time.’

Mentally, Rarity said, ‘In the past, I learned that power comes with a price, and it appears that now that price is killing any and all ponies. And I will not humor you.’

‘It is a small price to pay.’

‘More like a murdering price, which I'm not willingly to pay.’

"Um, madam, where do you want this?" asked a cloaked hunter  holding a torch.

Already forgetting the voice inside her head, Rarely said, "In the middle of the room is fine, darling."

The Hunter placed the torch in the middle of her room.  

Rarity’s room had three stone walls, two of which had windows with a design of either the Hunters’ arrowhead or the moon. The longest wall had a window and a door. The door itself was iron. The fourth and final is a cavern wall. 

"Well,” said the Hunter, “if there is anything else you need, just knock on the door and someone will come."





Back at Sugar Cube Corner, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were speaking with Fluttershy. 

"WOW! I never would have guessed that you had the feather flu for a couple of weeks," said Rainbow Dash. "Why didn't your mother tell us? We could have helped you."

"Well, I'm sorry if I worried you, but I think she didn't want to risk you getting ill," replied Fluttershy.

"I'm just glad you’ve finally recovered," said an energetic Pinkie Pie. "But you should have heard Twilight’s thoughts about the whole situation." Pinkie got up right next to Fluttershy and whispered, "By the way, she thinks you're hiding something. Ain't that funny?" Then Pinkie sniffed the air and yelled in horror, "AW! MY CUPCAKES ARE BURNING! GOTTA GO!" And she zoomed back to her bakery.

With Pinky gone, both Pegasuses remained silent for a good long while. Rainbow broke the silence and said very excitedly, "I'm working on a new kind of flying style. If you want to see it, you can come around my place about noon-ish. I mean, it's a world breaker, I'm telling you-" Rainbow continued to blah on for quite a while. Fluttershy wasn't listening. In fact, she was recalling what her mother had said.

A few hours before Fluttershy went to her friends, she was at her mother’s house. "I'm not so sure my friends won’t see through to the bat behind the pony."

"Well, of course they will not! Which is why I made you these." Night Breeze put a pair of earrings on Fluttershy's ears. They looked like pink bats. As she looked at herself, she saw no change in her appearance. "Um, I'm still a bat pony. At least they look good."

Night Breeze did a face hoof. "You have to concentrate on the image you want. If you don't, then they won't activate."

"Oh, silly me! Okay, here goes nothing." She concentrated on the pony she was and two magical waves swirled around her, one blue, the other red. It lasted for a second, and when Fluttershy looked in the mirror again, she saw her pony self.

She looked at her mother. "The earrings you're wearing contain a type of magic that is a cross blend of changing magic and princess Luna magic. They’re easy to make and very effective at hiding a Chiroptera in a crowd of ponies."

"Hmmm, I think I will be going to see my friends now." Fluttershy walked toward the door.

"Hold on,” her mother said. “There are two things that you need to know before you leave. The first is that you can't tell anypony about the Hunters of Secrets." Fluttershy opened the door.

"And the second is that your friend Rarity is alive and inside Blood Moon."

"-and that’s when the sonic rainboom happens and I do several maneuvers with a rainbow trail and that's my finale," finished Rainbow.

"Well, I'm sorry, Rainbow, but I don't think I can come to see your awesome new flight pattern."

"Seriously?" Rainbow asked suspiciously.

"Well, my mother and I are going to Canterlot tomorrow night."

"Really? That sounds like fun," exclaimed Pinkie Pie as she jumped out from behind Rainbow. "Oh, by the way, the cupcakes are safe and covered in frosting."

"It does?"

"Yeah, I'm with Fluttershy on this one, Pinky."

"Really, why?"

"Well, because Canterlot is full of, you know, nobles who think they are better than other ponies. I mean, just because they are rich does not mean they are better than us and can do whatever they want!"

"Aw, but I really wanted to go to Princess Celestia’s Wonder Bolt event."

"What? Well, count me in!" Then both ponies looked at Fluttershy.

"Hmmm, I guess I have no say in the matter. Oh, alright. 8 PM at the train station. And don’t be late.” Rainbow and Pinkie nodded their heads in agreement.

"Dessert is on me!" said Pinkie Pie, and she brought out a rainbow blizzard for Rainbow Dash and a simple strawberry ice cream cone for Fluttershy. For herself, Pinkie brought out a triple size banana split with fudge, bubblegum, cotton candy, apple, orange, and daisy ice cream flavors. It was as tall as five ponies standing on top of each other.  Lyra came in and stared at Pinkie’s desert. Pinkie noticed her shocked face and said, "Oh, hi Lyra Heartstring! Want some of my cupcakes? They’re right over there on the bake sale shelf. Don't worry, there’s enough sugar in them for you and your friend Bon Bon."

Lyra continued to stare as her jaw dropped to the floor.
> The Accident
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was about to set as Twilight and Celestia reclined on some chairs near a table atop a balcony that oversaw the countryside. The two Ailcorns were engaged in deep conflict.

“And with your last tower now reduced to rubble, my monsters and I win,” Twilight said with a satisfied smile.

Very dramatically, Celestia yelled in her Canterlot voice, “NO!” 

After a few seconds, Celestia snapped back to her normal self and said, “You’re right, this is a fun game to play.”

Twilight and Celestia had been playing Canter Panic for three hours with the three expansions. The first expansion was called Star Swirl Tower, and it featured magic cards that could be used against the monster chips. It also had several different and unique monsters and six boss characters to increase the difficulty.

The second expansion was Tirek the Magical Drain, which had a few more unique tokens and five mysterious followers of the mad centaur. But what made this even more difficult than Star Swirl Tower was that when a follower sacrificed their life to loosen Tirek's chains, the player would have to follow the effects of that action, and when he was finally released, all Tartarus would break loose. There were five different types of levels for the mad centaur.

And the final expansion was Engines of Friendship, in which the players defending the castle could fortify it, making it more resistant; however there were even more monster tokens to counter those fortifications.

“*Hic* You two, I’ve been here for four minutes, so what gives?” said a drunk Blue Blood who was lying face down on a table with his rear about to fall out of the chair.

Celestia turned around and she and Twilight looked at a drunk Blue Blood as he fell out of the chair with a satisfying splat. It had been four days since either of them had last seen him.

Twilight frowned and said, “Does he really have to be here? I mean, couldn’t you leave him in his room?”

Celestia turned back to Twilight and replied, “You have much to learn my faithful student, for this is a golden opportunity for you to examine a drunken state. Also, he’s family, and believe me, you never turn on your family. Now, since you’ve successfully demolished Canterlot with that last wave, I believe that it is my turn to play the warlord now.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she frantically said, “But I’m not prepared to take you on! It was fun when I was doing it to you!”

“Try as you might, Twilight, you will not escape the feel of the full wrath of the sun as I-”

A faint boom was heard and a beam of light shot towards the sky, giving off a low hum. Twilight and Celestia looked at the light show without really understanding what it meant. But every Hunter who saw it knew exactly what it meant. 

The seal had been broken.





In the Badlands, some hours before the seal broke, Black Fall and Cold Blood found an empty area on top of the highest mountain around. "We’re here! We finally found it," said Black Fall. "Finally, after killing lots of EUP soldiers from the Fortress and a few Badlands monstrosities, we are here."  

Cold Blood yelled suddenly, "We did all of this for a little bit of land on a mountain?!" He looked at the ex-Hunter furiously. "Or did you mislead me on purpose?"

With an irritated look at Cold Blood, Black Fall replied, "No, I didn't. It's here."  She glanced quickly at the book she had stolen from the Hunters. "It's just covered by an invisible barrier. And if I'm reading this right, the way to dispel it…is right here." She pressed a rock on the edge of the mountain, and with a mixture of green and blue lights, the seal came to life and brightened.

Across the countryside, far away from the harshness of the Badlands, over the lush green grass and tall trees of the mountainside where Equestria’s seat of power lay,Luna was meditating in her personal sleeping chambers within Canterlot Castle, striving to achieve balance. But she suddenly opened her eyes with a, "Gasp!" She looked out in the direction of the Badlands where one part of the seal was. 

"So, they managed to find it." Luna walked out to the balcony. "But the question remains, do they have the means to break it?"

Back at the Badlands, Cold Blood was beside himself. "Why, Black Fall, I don't believe it! You’ve actually done it. You’re getting your revenge! How-" but he stopped talking when a hoof covered his mouth. 

"Here we go," Black Fall said. The Butcher moved her hoof from Cold Blood’s mouth to her saddlebags and. She dug through books and gears for war before feeling the very item she was looking for; Rarity’s broken horn. "Now, would you like to do the honors of bathing this item?" 

Cold Blood took the horn, placed it in an iron bucket and began to pour blood from his water skins on it. Black Fall gave him a serious look. "What?” Cold Blood said. ”It's good blood and I'm not wasting a single drop." 

The werepony stuck his paw in the bucket of blood and removed the saturated horn which was magically reacting, glowing red . He handed it to Black Fall. She walked over to the center of the seal and, with all of her might, slammed the horn down in the center of the seal. Bright purple sparkles of magic started to fly all over the place. For a second, nothing else happened, but then suddenly several cracks appeared around the seal and purple light shone through. However, the light quickly faded away. Black Fall repeated the process of bathing the horn in blood and slamming it onto the seal. This time, the seal released a magical feedback, sounding out a great "KABOOM!!!"

Back in Canterlot, the glowing white light that was shooting into the heavens suddenly turned red before disappearing completely. Enraged, Luna yelled, "They broke it!” She paused for a minute before continuing with a chilling tone, “I must prepare my Hunters for the worst. Fore the Wereponys have returned!”





The sun was barely out and Night Breeze was surprised that her daughter’s friends decided to come along on the train ride. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash ended up sleeping through most of the journey though. 

"So, let me get this straight,” said Night Breeze. “The only reason they decided to come was to catch some Wonderbolt action?"

Fluttershy replied, "Yup, and they know nothing about our little secret. I kept my word to you and will continue to keep it."

"Good. The less they know, the better."

But what Fluttershy and her mother didn't know was that Rainbow was only half asleep. She heard them talking and thought to herself, 'Hmmm, what are they talking about?' She pondered over it. 'Maybe Twilight is right about Fluttershy. Well, whatever she’s hiding, I will find out about it.'

A few hours later, the train conductor yelled loudly, "Here's our stop - Canterlot! Please mind your step. The train will depart in three minutes to the next station in Filly Delphia.”

Fluttershy, her mother, and her friends stepped off of the train. As she walked, Fluttershy noticed that Rainbow was looking at her suspiciously. But she had no time to dwell on that, for she suddenly lost her balance. As she struggled to regain her balance, she thought to herself, 'Note to self - if the train conductor says mind the step, then you gotta listen, because that first step might be a doozy.' She tripped again and almost fell onto the sidewalk, but she quickly found her balance, and looked up to see Canterlot castle where Twilight was.

Walking through the streets of Canterlot, past many restaurants and stores, Fluttershy couldn't help overhearing two ponies who were in discussion about something; probably a book, because they mentioned character development. They were also talking about some events that didn’t really make sense unless it was in the context of a book plot.

"I'm just saying that the series could use a bit more action and less romance," said a dark blue unicorn with a sharp curved horn. His black mane flowed like a river and his cutie mark was of a blank book with a quill and an ink bottle.

"But you don't see the problem.I'm telling you, we need to stop throwing in one battle after another. I mean,we just got done with the battle of the 17 races, so I think we need some ‘in between’ material. All those battles; it's just too much." This was said by a green earth pony mare with a long brown mane. Her cutie mark was of two hands, one grasping the other as if to help it up.

"But you're not seeing the big picture, Miss Dash. Besides, the only thing that my books are good for is giving some action with very little character to go with it. It’s not a romance and it shouldn’t pretend to be.”

"Would you listen to yourself, Arkantos? The books you’re writing are getting predictable!" Miss Dash sighed for a moment, then looked at Arkantos quizzically. In a calmer voice, she continued, "What I mean is, you create a character who’s a hero, one who’s a villain, and some other innocent figure. When everything seems to be calm, all of a sudden, ‘BOOM!’  Out of nowhere, there’s a humongous battle, and each character’s life is on the line. Once the battle is over, the villain is either thrown in prison, changes his ways, or he’s dead. And the heroes keep on celebrating their victories. It's just very predictable, not at all in engaging, and-"

Then Pinkie’s voice broke in. "Fluttershy, watch out!" But it was too little too late. Fluttershy slammed head first into a lamp post. She shook her head and sensed Pinkie Pie bouncing right next to her. Rainbow and Night Breeze just looked at her. "Oh, my gosh! Are you okay?!"

"Um, yeah? I think I'm all right."

"Are you sure? I mean, are you really absolutely sure? Because if you’re not and are starting to see a light, don't go near it! Because  I won't have enough time to plan for your final party if you go into the light right now, and that's no fun for me! What am I saying? There’s always time! I just have to be quick!" And as fast as lightning, Pinkie grabbed Fluttershy’s hoof and brought her to some filly’s party that was going on nearby, and quickly painted over the happy birthday banner so that it read ’Happy Last Birthday, Fluttershy.’

Shaking her head, Fluttershy walked up to her pink friend and said, "Um, Pinkie, I'm not dying. It's not my last day."

With the realization of her mistake, Pinkie said formally, "Ah, well, um, just be more careful. You should really look where you are going next time." She bounced away, and Fluttershy placed her hoof on her head to find that there were no bumps or anything. She whispered. 'Huh, that's weird. I don't feel any bumps or bruises.' As she walked out of the small garden where the young filly was having her party, she saw her mother and gave her a look that plainly asked, Does this have anything to do with our little secret?

And her mother replied with a look that stated, Not right now. Later.

Fluttershy peered at Pinkie and said, "I will remember that next time, Pinkie. Thank you."

"No problem. Now, let’s get a move on, because I doubt Twilight is doing very well."

"Right."

After that confusing moment, they continued on towards Canterlot castle. 

As they walked, Rainbow thought back to the lamp post, which had several new cracks in it after its collision with Fluttershy. Rainbow started to think to herself, 'The last time I checked, Fluttershy did not have the strength to crack a steel lamp post. When the time is right, Twilight, I'll tell you what I saw and what I suspect.' Rainbow looked down shortly after Night Breeze saw her giving Fluttershy the stink eye.





Blood Moon Hospital was about as big as Sugar Cube Corner, but was more rocky and rough gray in color. It also had less candy and sugar, and more bandages. The doctor there might know how to heal others, but he also knew how to kill, so every Hunter who came in treated him with respect. 

There were only seven beds for patients, and in one of them lay Eager Shot, who struggled in pain under the application of some rapid healing magic nectar, which had been applied with hopes of easing his torment; however, it only seemed to make his burns worse. As soon as they began applying the nectar, the golden fire returned in force, spreading further to his neck and legs.

"Just hold on, Eager, and focus on our mission. We cannot complete our mission without you," exclaimed Sturdy Step, her shyness no longer showing through. Her coat was dark orange with some scars scattered about on it. Her eyes were blue, and her mane and tail were turquoise and cut short. 

"So, yeah, the doctor thinks he knows what went wrong,” Sturdy Step continued. “You remember when you put on the Mask of Knowledge? Well, for some reason, the doctor seems to think that the Mask has its own magic, some ancient magic and, who knows, maybe it was around at the beginning of time. But the reason that the magical nectar isn't working is because it's modern day magic; not ancient magic. Now, it’s just a theory, but we think if we can find some ancient healing magic, then it'll heal your burns right up. I tell you, thinking about all this has gotten me to realize that golden fire isn't normal fire.”

"Okay, miss,” the doctor said, ”It’s time for you to leave now. This Chiroptera needs his rest. Hopefully, with some rest, his burns will heal naturally." Dr. Owl then pushed her out of the room.

"I would have left eventually! There was no need to push me out!"

The doctor glared at her and growled, "I know all kinds of methods to make you as helpless as a newborn filly, so please don’t patronize me. Seriously, you’ve been in there for seven hours. It’s way past visiting hours." 

As Dr. Owl placed his leather wing on her shoulder and began walking her to the door, Sturdy Step said, "Well, I'm just worried about him; he's like a brother to me, even though I came from a rich Chiroptera family and he’s from the outside. I see him and myself as equals, no matter where we came from."

Dr. Owl opened the door and said, "Well, that's nice for you and him. For now, you have to leave. I have work to do, and who knows? Maybe your leader has something for you to do."

"Could you please let me know if his condition improves?" Sturdy Step asked on her way out.

With a knowing smile, the doctor said assuringly, "You'll be the first to know."

In Blood Moon, most of the buildings are contained inside big cavern walls, but some of them are in the middle of the cavern. Most of them are homes for the rich Chiroptera. 

And here, the narrator says, ’Before you ask, yes, princess Luna has her own place. 

There were only two very large buildings in Blood Moon; the hospital and the temple of Luna. 

Suddenly, the narrator interjects to say, ’Oh, and FYI, Luna likes her temple, and she welcomes anyone who is looking for a place to call home. 

Despite their way of living here, the residents of Blood Moon did not have a lot of fun; they mostly just fought in the dark cave. With a guilty heart, Sturdy Step walked up to Luna’s temple.





Across the city of Blood Moon, in the home of the Hunter Night Glider, two ponies were arguing. One was Night Glider himself and the other was a magical projection of Luna. 

"For the last time, I was looking for information about the weapon she possesses!”

With fury in her eyes, Luna said as calmly as she could, "And I told you to hunt her down and kill her!"

"Why? She’s just an ex-Hunter with no wings. I doubt she would risk getting killed for some ancient spear. But it does raise the question: how did she get out of Tartarus?"

Luna’s expression darkened. "There was no need for you to find that information about the weapon. And to answer your question, I do not know. She is the first to ever get out of there. And now there are an unknown number of wereponies loose in the world, for one of the Hunters’ seals is broken. Your search for information has caused one of your members to be cursed with ancient magic. That stuff is not easily broken! Heck, most ponies die from that sort of magic. Now his soul is slowly burning away, all because you weren’t doing your job like you were supposed to."

"What? No, that’s impossible. Only generous blood could destroy the seal. How did she do it?"

"Well, obviously she somehow found some pony who was generous enough to give their spilled blood. And those two used it to their advantage." Luna’s magical form looked at Night Glider and saw that something was bothering him. "I'm sensing there's more to this trip of yours. What is it? Is it the recruits?"

"What? No!"

"Is it the fact that I’ve been keeping this town a secret?"

"No! When you hid the town from the rest of Equestria, we all agreed that it was a wise decision. It's just, why didn't you let Night Breeze kill the Werepony like you have commissioned us to do.  That’s what Hunters are supposed to do; kill monsters like her."

Luna was silent for a few minutes but she eventually replied, "It’s because Rarity is not completely gone. In her eyes, I saw what was left of her soul. I believe she’s still in there somewhere, and I think she can help in the war I see coming. Also, if I let Night Breeze kill her, then she would have done the Butcher’s work for her."

Night Glider remained silent, his face turned away from Luna.

"So, what are you going to do now, Glider?"

He looked back at the magical projection of Luna and said, "I'll get a good night’s rest, and then I will gather my Hunters and kill this Butcher."

"Okay. Oh, before I forget, I'm going to bring a newcomer into the hunt."

Night Glider stiffened, slightly affronted.

"Lulu, are you in your sleeping chambers?" the familiar voice of the Princess of the Sun faintly asked. Luna’s magical projection started to fade. As she disappeared, she could be heard replying, "Tia, I was not expecting you. Of all the ponies to invade my privacy like this." The discussion over, Night Glider left his house to train until nightfall.
> Canterlot Castle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Fluttershy, Night Breeze, Rainbow, and Pinkie walked through the front gate, they saw several pony nobles and common ponies making their way to the castle because Princess Celestia’s Day Court was about to start. Seeing more nobles than common ponies gave Fluttershy and Rainbow feelings of regret for Celestia. But she was not the pony they had come to meet. They continued walking and went up to a nearby guard to ask him where Twilight would be. Fluttershy and Night Breeze, on the other hand, were planning to meet Luna that night, and hopefully her friends would be none the wiser.





Up in the Canterlot dining room, a purple alicorn was having her favorite breakfast of pancakes with daisy flavored syrup and melted butter. But she wasn't alone. To her right, Princess Celestia was having several layers of pancakes too. The pancake on top had a strawberry smiley face. On Twilight’s left was an annoyance in the form of Prince Blue Blood. Unfortunately for him, he was still drunk from Celestia’s alcohol. He was eyeing Twilight with drink-induced love in his eyes. However, she didn't like that at all. As for Luna, she was either lowering the moon or asleep from staying up all night. The likely scenario was the second one, because that was the sisters’ routine. Celestia was always up early in the morning to raise the sun while Luna was usually asleep, but when Luna was raising the moon and staying up late, Celestia and the rest of Equestria was asleep and having sweet dreams.

As Twilight took a sip of her apple juice and tried not to look at Blue Blood, her mind questioned how in Celestia’s name he was related to her teacher.

"Well, I'm off to Day Court." And the white alicorn got up and turned to look at her former student. "Twilight, are you going to the library?"

Twilight looked at Celestia. "Well, no, in fact. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie have just sent me a letter saying that they’ll be coming here, and as long as they’re coming, I plan to introduce them to our new favorite game. I’m looking forward to a relaxing day with my friends." She lit up her horn and a magical screen appeared showing a Rarewolf. She started to tear up from looking at the magical image of what used to be her friend. No, she must not think like that. Rarity was still her friend. 

“You’re sister Luna filled me in on what she is now." She dispelled the magical screen.

Celestia had stopped at the door, and if Twilight had looked at her at that moment, she would see a questioning look on Celestia’s face as she mentally said, ‘I had no idea that Luna knew more than me. There must be two reasons why she would keep this information from me. Reason one is that these creatures are so terrifying that she remained quiet about them to protect my view of the world. The other reason is probably because there’s something else she wants to protect, and funnily enough, this reminds me of that one moment eons ago.’ Before Celestia could ponder on this any further, her thoughts were interrupted by a very drunk and noisy Blue Blood as he said in a dreamy voice, "I could watch her all day."

Twilight decided to ignore that and continued talking to Celestia. "But do we have to go to the Wonderbolts performance in Canterlot?"

The Princess of the Sun’s face brightened as she replied, "Why, yes, Princess Twilight, it is our duty to show our subjects that we respect them no matter who they are or what they do, and the way to do that is to show up at big events such as the Wonderbolts performance in Canterlot. I do hope you enjoy it."

Blue Blood chugged down whatever liquid he had in that small canteen he held in his hoof. "Yeah, that’s my dream mare right there," Blue Blood said in a very dreamy, drunk voice from his side of the table.

Celestia saw how uncomfortable Twilight was, so she walked over to her nephew and whispered into his ear. "Now, Blue Blood, I don't want your drunken state to scare her away, so if you would be so kind as to leave your disturbing thoughts in your head, then I would be ever so grateful." And with that, he shook off his dreamy, drunk look and ran out of the dining room. Soon, Celestia followed him out the door to start Day Court.

Several seconds passed by before Twilight finished her breakfast and decided to walk out to the balcony. She had spent far too many days locked up in the royal library reading book after book, and she never seemed to have time to stretch out her wings and fly into the clouds. She opened her wings and took off. When she was a unicorn, she had no idea that a Pegasus had such a beautiful view every time they flew like this. She continued to glide, enjoying the view. It was a good amount of time before her horn started to glow, which told her that she had guests.

Outside of Twilight’s sleeping chamber and down the hallway, a door swung open to reveal Shining Armor’s replacement for Captain of the Solar Guard. His name was Blaze Trail, and he was an orange Pegasus with a red and black mane and tail. His eyes were green, and as the captain, he had to wear purple armor. When asked about his armor, he said, "Yeah, Celestia was more into the colors than the uniforms."

A certain pink pony that he was escorting said in an energetic voice, "But I thought this nation was a peaceful nation with no need for war or violence. This makes me wonder; why does she need soldiers? Or guards? Or whatever you guys call yourselves?"

Sigh Blaze Trail lowered his head and looked at Pinkie. "Well, you are basically on the right track with that thinking. There is really no reason to have the Solar Guard." Blaze Trail raised his head and walked right up to Pinkie. "But, if you ask me, I would think that Celestia wants to be prepared for the worst case scenario."

"Oh," said Pinkie Pie.

Then Blaze Trail used his hoof to open the door and said, "Please wait for Twilight here." After Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Night Breeze walked in and said nothing more, Blaze Trail walked out and closed the door behind them.

After waiting for Twilight for what felt like hours,  the ponies decided to distract themselves by playing a board game Twilight had in her sleeping chambers. The game was called Canterlot Panic. Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy played in war chief mode. Rainbow had fun placing the monsters on the board and trying to knock down Pinkie and Fluttershy’s mini version of Canterlot Castle. The game lasted for several hours. In the end, Rainbow won and celebrated her victory over her friends. Fluttershy accepted defeat, but Pinkie demanded a rematch, saying, "Next time, Rainbow Dash, I will get you! Next time!"

"Easy, Pinkie! It's just a game. There’s no need to get all worked up over it.” Rainbow kicked back in a nearby chair and placed her front hoofs at the back of her head.

Night Breeze rolled her eyes and said from the chair closest to the bookshelf, "That was a dirty trick you pulled, using three boulders at a time. Before they could repair the damage that was done, four of your monsters managed to take down half of the towers."

Rainbow got up onto the arm of the chair and exclaimed, "Hey! It’s not my fault that most of the boulders were used in one turn and the right monster pieces were pulled. If anypony is to be blamed, it’s you." Rainbow glared and continued, "Because you’re the one who mixed them up.”

Fluttershy’s mother returned the glare and said, "Just because I mixed them up doesn't mean I purposely gave you three boulders to use in one turn."

"Well, it looks like I missed some fun while flying in the air," said a friendly voice.

Rainbow lost her balance on the chair’s arm and fell down to the floor. 

"Yep!" said a surprised Fluttershy. 

Miss Shy didn't appear surprised and remained seated. 

The energetic voice of Pinkie Pie rang out, "Hello, Twilight!" as she appeared right behind Twilight. Normal ponies would jump out of their skin when some mare appeared suddenly behind them, but Twilight and the rest of Pinkie’s friends just rolled with Pinkie popping out of nowhere. Pinkie continued, "So, how was your breakfast with Celestia and her son?"

Twilight blinked twice and said, "It was interesting, I guess, though I'm hoping Blue Blood will back off."

Rainbow got up from her fall. "Hey, Twilight." Rainbow looked at her friend with a puzzled expression and continued, "How long have you been there?"

"I think when you guys were in the middle of the game and I saw you were really into it." Then a sheepish smile spread across the purple alicorn’s face. "And I don't blame you. It is an addicting game."

"Well, your majesty," said Night Breeze as she walked up to Twilight, "My daughter and I have some business here in Canterlot."

"Oh, I know all about your visit here. Pinkie somehow sent a letter to me even before she got on the train and said I should expect you." Twilight smiled brightly. "And what better way to welcome you than with royal seating at the Wonderbolts show here in Canterlot.”





The dust of the explosion cleared away to reveal several wereponies, each one hungrier than the last. But one of them stood out among the others. With his white fur coat and red eyes, he seemed to be in charge. He looked at Cold Blood and Black Fall and then smiled, showing off his fangs. "Well, well, well, Cold Blood, it looks like you freed us and brought me a snack for the road." He looked back at Black Fall with hunger in his eyes.

"Excuse me? I am not your meal," Black Fall said as she raised the spear of the first hunter. The spear started to glow red as she pointed it at the white werepony. The power of the spear said inside her head. 'Kill them all. Make them bleed and eat their flesh, for we need strength.'

The white Werepony and several others began drooling as they slowly approached her. Black Fall pulled out her crossbow with the lightning bolt in it, and the spear began to burn with red flames as they were seconds away from killing each other on this mountain. The one thing that stopped them from doing just that was Cold Blood, who had stepped between them and said, "Whoa, whoa, there is no need to kill her. She helped me free all of you, and she despises the Hunters for trying to kill her in Tartarus. I’ve seen her killing more than one Hunter. I don't think this is the time to try to slit each other's throats."

Cold Blood’s words got through to the Wereponies. They agreed with him and listened further to him. "So, let's just go to Canterlot and rase it to the ground. It will become our new hunting ground." He looked straight at the white werepony. "Right, Frozen Fang?"

Frozen Fang gave him a good long stare, and it felt like hours before he finally said in a frustrated tone, "Ok. Fine. We will leave her be for now." Then, Frozen Fang ran off with the rest of his pack.

Cold Blood and Black Fall both exhaled with relief that the pack listened to them and didn’t try to kill her. 

Black Fall put her crossbow away but kept a firm grip on her spear. "Well,” she said, “isn't he just a charmer, deciding to eat me right then and there." As she lowered the spear down to her side, Black Fall heard the voice again.

 'I still think we should’ve have gone off on a killing spree.' But Black Fall ignored the voice and looked at Cold Blood.

Cold Blood simply shrugged and said, "He’s just hungry. They all are. The only thing they eat is ponies. I'm sure when the pack heads to the nearest pony town and feeds, he will start to warm up to you just like how I warmed up to you." 

Cold Blood placed one of his paws on Black Fall’s shoulder and said, "Remember how long it took for you and me to trust each other fully?" They stood like that on top of the mountain for a good long while.

Realizing how quiet it had suddenly become, Black Fall said, "Well, we better find the pack. Who knows how far they got." And with that, Cold Blood and Black Fall started to scale down the mountain to find the pack.





At the Blood Moon gates, Night Glider had his Hunters with him. As he walked by them, he saw a very burned Eager Shot who was loading his crossbow. Right next to him is Black Dart, who was polishing his sword. Night Glider continued on, walking past Sturdy Step, who was reading through the different types of monsters. Then, a staff nearly hit him, but he managed to dodge it. He looked straight at Raven Wind as she went through her fighting styles, step by step.

Night Glider came to a halt and looked at each of his Hunters, then cleared his throat and said in a commanding tone, "Mares and stallions, we are not going to hunt down the Butcher."

Black Dart frowned and said, "Well, why have us all here if we're not gonna hunt her down?"

"We received some new intel that  part of the Hunter seal is broken. If that is true, then it would be suicidal to go there now. We now have new orders."

Raven Wind asked, "Are we going to kill all kinds of monsters far out in the Ever Free Forest?"

Night Glider looked at her and replied, "No, we are going to patrol Canterlot itself."

Sturdy Step noticeably brightened up, but Eager Shot said, "No offense, but aren't the lunar and solar royal guards there already, as well the EUP army? Shouldn’t that be enough?"

"That is true, they are there already," replied Night Glider. "But we are talking about the survival of ponykind, and Princess Luna isn't willing to take a chance with the Equestrian army, so she is trusting us with giving the military a helping hoof. Now, can we please discuss tactical approaches and where we should be positioned?"





"Wow! I must say, Twilight, I never thought you'd make that kind of move," said the energetic pink mare.

"Well, Pinky, you had a good chance to beat me, but then you forgot the purpose of the game. Sigh But as fun as that game was, we need to get out of my sleeping chambers. I have no problem walking with a friend."

It was about noon, and Twilight and Pinkie had been walking through the streets of Canterlot, mainly in areas where middle class ponies lived, ponies who were able to pay their rent. The streets were messy, but not too messy. The two ponies were looking for a restaurant, one where anypony, except nobles, could eat.

"Here it is," said Twilight as she walked towards the restaurant. Pinkie took a whiff and realized that it was an actual restaurant and not a fancy place where the rich ponies could order their very fancy and very awful foods, where you could take one bite and feel very much done with your meal. 

This place wasn’t like that though. Even though the paint on the building was peeling off, it smelled like a real restaurant with good food. Who knows, maybe they were planning to repaint it.

As Pinkie walked in, she felt warm and invited. There were a few ponies here and there, mostly families, who had planned on eating at this restaurant after a long day of walking and playing all kinds of outside games. 

Twilight walked up to a desk where she and Pinkie could order and pay for a table.

A stallion approached the desk and said, "Welcome to Canterlot Crown. May I take your ord-" The waiter suddenly realized who his customer was and he immediately bowed down. "Why, Miss Sparkle, I didn't realize that you could come down here to eat among the rest of us Canterlot citizens" He said this while looking up to her.

Twilight mumbled to herself. 'For Celeste’s sake, the whole bowing thing is really getting old. Like two years too old.’ Twilight cleared her throat and said in a regal manner, "Rise."  The waiter rose from his bow. 

"To answer your question, I want to eat with my friends without any nobles or that Stupid Stallion Blue Blood sticking their noses in my time with my friends."

The waiter winked. "Well, that makes sense. Ahem, which table will you be taking today?"

Twilight pondered for a moment then saw a table that was not too populated. "Hmm, how about table seven?"

"Um, ok, but you’ll have to mind the mess. Last night, some ponies had a party for one of them and made a good mess under that table." The waiter scratched the back of his head and continued. "And personally, I don't think we got all of it."

Pinkie Pie said excitedly, "Oh, by the way, we are expecting three other friends to arrive later." 

Pinkie Pie bounced along right next to Twilight as they walked to table seven. Twilight used her horn to quickly scan around the table. She found several small crumbs on the floor, and also a few streamers that the staff had missed. But at least the table was clean.  Satisfied with her scan, Twilight sat down on a chair and Pinkie sat down right next to her.

To start conversation, Pinky asked Twilight, "So, what do you think Rainbow and the Shys are up to? I mean, that was just way out of character for Rainbow."

“Yeah,” Twilight replied.

Pinkie looked straight at Twilight and said, "Don't you agree? It's really out of character for Rainbow to suddenly want to go to the library. My pinky sense is telling me that she’s actually spying on Fluttershy, even though she has no reason to spy on her."

Twilight replied, “That’s good to know.”

Then Pinkie began again. "To suddenly leave and not give us a good explanation for why she needed to go to the library."

Twilight wondered where her other friends were, but she was distracted, focusing on a strange group near them. One of the ponies was a light blue alicorn mare with brown eyes and a purple mane and tail, the latter of which was tied up in a ponytail. She didn't wear any crown or jewelry, which meant she was not a royal alicorn. The next pony was a blue stallion pegasus with brown eyes and a green and white mane and tail. Judging by the way he played with the alicorn's ponytail, he had a sense of humor. As he teased the alicorn, on the opposite side of the table was a dark blue stallion unicorn with a curved horn that Twilight recalled King Sombra also possessed. It was King Sombra’s horn, but this pony wasn't him. He had a flowing black mane and was talking to an orange mare unicorn with light silver eyes and a bright yellow mane and tail next to him. She was listening to him intently. Twilight decided to listen in on their conversation.

"I'm still working on my book. Soon ponies will be curious and will want to read it. If it becomes popular enough, then I'll focus on the next one."

"Now, Arkantos, you should know that there is more to life than this." Momma Bear gestured to the book in her silver hooves and continued, "You should visit your parents more often. Give your father a chance to tease you."

Arkantos sighed and said, "I will try, but my work schedule can be unpredictable." He paused and looked at his mother and continued, "Unless you know exactly what my schedule will be before I even know?"

Momma Bear looked straight into his eyes and replied, "There will be times where you feel like you're in an endless loop of working at Starve-Ving and then walking straight back home, but never forget you can make your own plans. Have fun! But to answer your question, No, I don’t know your schedule before you do."

"Dad, stop it," The alicorn complained.

"But you know I like to tease you. Oh, by the way, Arkantos is the best."

The pony in question facehoofed and said, "Silly, silly, silly, silly, silly, silly dad."

The pegasus replied. "What? But, it's true, Arkantos. You are the best."

Momma Bear decided to change the subject. "So, Peppermint, how's the substitute teaching job going for you?"

The alicorn named Peppermint replied, "Well, I get to see new faces and help little foals and fillies complete their projects. I help them when things get difficult and they tell me I'm the best substitute they have ever met. Sometimes, they are very generous and give me an apple. Oh, and this one time-”

The conversation was interrupted when the waitress came up to take their order. She spoke to the stallion pegasus first. "Have you made your decision, Mr. Tuna?"

The pegasus of the group said, "Yes, I will take the warm water with bread crumbs."

The waitress looked at the alicorn. "And you?"

"I think I'll have a salad with alcoholic apple juice."

"And what about you?" The waitress looked at the mare unicorn.

"I'll have a salad with water."

"And you sir?" she asked the umbrum.

"I think I'll have hay fries with some pork."

"All right, that will be seven coppers and four silver bits."

The family dug out their bits to pay for the meal.

Back at Twilight’s table, Pinkie Pie had just finished saying, "And that's how Equestria was made."

Twilight, with a questioning look on her face, stared straight at her friend and was about to say something, but then she heard Rainbow say, "Hey, guys, sorry I'm late! It's just that I heard some Wonderbolt was hanging around at the pub all day and I just had to meet him."

Pinkie said, "Oh, well, did you get any pointers for how to enlist in the Wonderbolts? Because that's, like, your dream, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah, of course it's my dream. And sadly he didn't."

Twilight was about to ask another question, but just then, Fluttershy and Night Breeze entered the restaurant. Fluttershy looked a little tired out, but she was here and ready to order with her mother.
> Slaughter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the sun set and every pony went to sleep, there remained many that were up and throwing a party that could have lasted all night in the town of Las Haygas. Las Haygas was a town sort of similar to Ponyville except, in Ponyville there were a lot fewer fillies running around. And Ponyville is more about business than pleasure, but every now and then, a pony rodeo would come into town to give a show. Little did Las Haygas residents know the werepony pack was running nearby, ready for a feast.

The pack ran into Las Haygas. Some ponies saw them and screamed in terror after witnessing the first kill. They ran hopelessly into their homes for safety only to be met with a similarly grizzly fate. 

Frozen Fang yelled with an intense hunger in his belly. "Break in and commence with your feasts! If you have wings, then go to the roofs of the buildings! When you see ponies with wings flying away, go for the kill! If you can use magic, use a fire spell to cook your meal! They taste better when they’re hot and well done!"

While he yelled, several wereponies took off into the sky. Frozen Fang ran through the town hall and saw ten fireball spells flying loose towards several wooden buildings. He looked to his left and saw a mare werepony with a horn firing three fireballs, causing several ponies to catch fire. Terrified, they ran for the nearest water source.

As flames of the fire  encompassed their coats, a stallion yelled out, "I'm on fire! I'm on fire! My flesh, it burns!" Then up in the sky, a mare pegasus tried desperately to fly away but was tackled to the ground. She begged pitifully, "Please, please don't do this. Please. I have a family. Please don't-" Her final words were cut off as a werepony with wings began to dig into her torso. Frozen Fang listened with pleasure to the constant screams of the innocent getting slaughtered and torn to pieces, his pack gorging themselves.

Frozen Fang spotted his meal, a pony in EUP armor who was up in a stone tower. As the pony fired his bow, trying to kill the monsters that were eating ponies left and right, he managed to hit two or three. But they didn't stay down. Instead, they yanked or pulled the arrows out with their teeth. Frozen Fang enjoyed the thrill, and he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, dodging the arrows that the EUP fired. The soldier aimed for Frozen Fang again as he made it to the base of the tower. Then he used his claws to climb up the side of the building. Multiple arrows whizzed towards him, most of which he was able to dodge, but the EUP pony did manage to hit him four times. The arrows pierced his fur and he felt the pain. Thankfully, the arrowheads were not silver. 

Frozen Fang reached the top of the tower and his meal, but, thinking quickly, the EUP pony drew his sword out and swung to kill. However, Frozen Fang was too quick. He grabbed the wrist of the pony and twisted it unnaturally, using his brute strength. The pony yelled in pain and dropped his sword. 

Frozen Fang looked at the brave but foolish EUP pony who had tried to kill him. "Willing to die a warrior’s death. I can respect that."

The pony replied in a suffering voice, "I die to protect my friends and family to the end, to stop you monsters from entering Equestria."

"Ha hah hah!" Frozen Fang burst out in mad laughter. "Look around you! Half of this town is on fire, and the ponies that are trying to escape are going to be hunted down and eaten alive." More distant screams rang out with explosions going on far away. "And you're about to die here. So how exactly are you going to stop me and my pack from entering Equestria?" Frozen Fang slashed through the armor and coat of the EUP pony. He fell to the floor and quickly began to bleed out. "You wish for a quick death. Then I will grant you your wish."

The pony lay there realizing that Frozen Fang was right; the whole town was burning and he hadn't done enough to stop them. And now it was too late. The light in his eyes faded away and went dead.

Frozen Fang dug into the pony, enjoying his meal. When he finished, only a bloody pile of bones and armor remained.

As Black Fall and Cold Blood walked into town, they saw the wereponies enjoying their meals, as well as several buildings burning brightly. Black Fall wondered if these ponies deserved the fate they’d been given?

'Of course they did,' the power of the spear answered. 'They left you to rot in that pit of Tartarus, so stop second guessing your decision.'

They passed a werepony levitating his food towards his mouth, and Black Fall mentally said, 'I'm not sure they did. These ponies did nothing to me, and they knew nothing about the Hunters of Secrets.'

Cold Blood said, "I'm going to look for Frozen Fang. Hopefully he's in a better mood."

"Ok, I'll wait here," Black Fall replied. Then her friend left and the spear mentally added, 'You are too deep in this now. Might as well see it through.'

While she waited, she pondered on her actions before coming to the conclusion that her spear was right; she was in way too deep. 

There was nothing to do but watch the sky, in which Black Fall saw several wereponies flying around. 

Suddenly, Black Fall heard Cold Blood’s voice. "Black Fall, come here." At that, she ran toward the town center, toward Cold Blood’s voice.





Rainbow Dash and the rest of her friends had placed their orders. However, the first pony to get her meal was Twilight, and she was very sloppy devouring her hayburger.  Pinkie was having a deep conversation with Night Breeze about something, but in truth, Rainbow didn't care what they were talking about. As for Fluttershy, she excused herself to use the restroom. Rainbow kept staring at the door to the restroom like it might disappear, or like something epic like an explosion would take place. But nothing happened. Then Rainbow started to think about what she saw several hours ago before she, Fluttershy, and Miss Shy came to the restaurant.

Earlier that day, in the sky, a rainbow mare glided from one cloud to the next. In truth, Rainbow had lied about seeing a Wonderbolt. She had actually been spying on Fluttershy and her mom, and she was extra careful in following them. As she zipped from one cloud to the next, she made sure they never left her sight. She followed them to the edge of the city where several hooded figures greeted them. Rainbow watched from the sky as the whole thing went down before her eyes.

"I must say I didn't expect you, of all hunters, to come to this city and aid them when they need it," said Night Breeze. "Especially after what happened to your special somepony."

Night Glider removed his hood and said. "That was a long time ago. We need to focus on the here and now. A war has begun, and we are going to defend Canterlot from those monsters for as long as it takes." He looked at Fluttershy and asked her mom, "Does she know?" Night Breeze simply shook her head. He looked at Fluttershy again and said, "Well, better show her here and now." 

Night Glider pulled out a stone with runes on it and tossed it at the wall.  The stone hit the wall and immediately glowed with a light blue. Then a portal opened to reveal Rarwolf. As soon as she saw Fluttershy, she exclaimed, "Fluttershy, is that you?" But Fluttershy didn't answer. She just blinked. But Rarity continued, "It is you! How are the girls? Have you met anypony? Oh, and I'm sorry for trying to eat you like that. It was most unladylike.  And what’s with those earrings that you're wearing? I must say, they are fabulous! Do you think I-"

Rarity stopped talking as a brilliant light flashed and consumed Fluttershy. When the light faded away, she spread her leather wings. Rarity saw this and said, "Fluttershy? Did you join them?"

A dark yellow chiroptera looked at Rarity and spoke. "Yes, I have joined the Hunters, just like you."

"Well, alright." Rarwolf looked at Night Glider and said, "I take it that you're going to pass the stone to somepony else?"

Night Glider replied, "You guessed right." He looked at Night Breeze and said, "Luna has ordered me to give you the stone." He then grabbed the rune stone from the grassy floor, which closed the portal door. He gave it to Night Breeze and she put it into her saddlebag. Looking at her daughter, she said, "Back to pony form now, my dear, for we have a princess and her friends to eat with."





In the town of Las Haygas where blood and fire flowed, Frozen Fang and Cold Blood were in deep conversation. "So, you trust her completely?"

"Yes, and now so must you. For she had every chance to backstab you, but she didn't."

Frozen narrowed his eyes and saw that it was more than faith that he saw in this werepony. If she was that reliable, then he would be a fool to refuse her.

"Very well,” he said. “I will let her tag along if she wants to."

At that point, Black Fall came running up to them and asked, "Are we good?"

Confused, Frozen asked, "What do you mean by that?" 

Cold Blood answered for her. "The words and tongue have changed through the years. But, essentially, she is asking if you are not going to eat her for dessert."

With understanding spreading over his face, Frozen said, "Yes, we are good."

 

Then, they saw a werepony using levitation magic on a bloody pony skeleton to make it look like it was dancing. The werepony got it to spin around and a few drops of blood that hadn't fallen off yet went splashing to the walls. One drop landed on Black Fall, and as she used her hoof to wipe the blood drop away, she asked, "Alright, so what’s the plan to invade Canterlot?"

Frozen Fang replied with a simple answer. "We count on our instinct."





 
In the Canterlot throne room, Princess Celestia was waiting for her sister to show up. She eventually did, but it was ten p.m. The Princess of the Sun was about to call it a night when the massive doors swung open and Luna came flying in,  landing right in front of Celestia.

“You’re late,” Celestia said bitterly.

Luna, catching her sister’s tone, said, "I’m sorry for keeping you in this room, but the Dream Realm waits for no one."

"Well, you can start with why you want me here so late at night?" said a very tired Celestia.

Luna gave her a serious look and replied, "Sister, something has happened in the Badlands and it could ruin the very lives of our ponies."

Celestia yawned and asked, "Is it Discord? Is he turning the ponies into oranges the size of ponies? At least a dozen times now, I’ve told him not to go too crazy."

Luna frowned. "No, it's not him."

Celestia thought for a moment then tried again. "Are the griffins trying to expand their kingdom? For goodness sake, it's like they want to have every bit of currency we have to be stuffed in their vault so they can count it whenever they want with those greedy claws of theirs."

Luna placed her hoof on her sister’s mouth and said, "No! It’s not the griffins or the dragons or any creature that you haven't named yet."  'Yes, I will tell her the truth,' Luna said mentally. "It's something that I have kept from you for centuries: knowledge of a small group of Chiroptera guardians called The Order of the Hunt."

Luna moved her hoof off of Celestia’s mouth. The Princess of the Sun looked at her sister very seriously and said, "You mean to tell me that you trained a small group of Chiroptera to, what, overthrow me?"

"That was never my intention.  It's kind of a long story. Do you remember that one time in our long history when ponies needed our help?"

Celestia narrowed her eyes. "You must be more specific. There have been many times when the ponies were in trouble and you and I helped them. Many, many times."

"Well, do you remember this?" Luna used her magic to conjure a second sun throne. However, this sun throne looked like it hadn’t been cleaned for centuries, and by the looks of it, whoever sat in it last caused the throne to melt from the temperature of an angry sun princess. With that level of heat, the gold on the chair came to look very melty; the sun symbol that would usually be on top was melted down until it was positioned on the seat of the throne.

Celestia recognized the chair and said, "Oh, you mean that time of expansion when several ponies tried to build a bunch of settlements out there on a plot of land and they worked on it for an entire year? And after a month they mysteriously got destroyed, and the ponies that lived there were torn to shreds? You mean that time?"

"Why, yes." Luna looked out the window and used her magic to raise the moon. Celestia saw what Luna was doing and used her magic to lower the sun. When the two princesses were finished moving their celestial bodies, they both remained quiet for a couple of minutes.

Luna broke the silence and faced her sister. "When you tried to help with the ponies’ settlements, you had the EUP station there, and they did their best to save it. But no matter how many soldiers were stationed there, they couldn't save the settlement. And when you tried to stop the madness yourself, you arrived too late. When you didn’t get there in time, you became angry at yourself."

Then Celestia realize something. "Does this mystery have anything to do with Miss Rarity’s blood thirst attack on me and her friends? And her sudden disappearance?"

Luna nodded and continued. "I tried to calm you down but you just glared at me hatefully. So I tried to solve the ponies’ problem myself by investigating the already destroyed settlements. And after closer inspection, I realized that the moving bloodbath was actually a pack."

Celestia asked, "What do you mean, a pack? A pack as in a Timberwolves pack? Because last I checked, the Timberwolves didn't aggressively go into settlements and risk being destroyed in the pursuit of killing the ponies there. That’s the reason why they lay low deep in the forest. When and if any colt or filly got the stupid idea to go running deep into the forest, they would meet a grizzly fate."

Raising an eyebrow, Luna frustratedly said, "Yes, but these were not the Timberwolves. Rather, they were an unholy abomination mix of pony and wolf, harboring  a desire to eat any kind of flesh and an endless thirst for blood. I call them Wereponies." As Luna said the name, it was as if she was reacting to an insult..

What she wasn't expecting was her sister to give her a warm embrace. 

Celestia said, "You have been holding this secret for so long, I'm starting to rethink who the strongest one of us is. I’m thinking it isn't me."

Luna returned the hug and said. "Well you know me. I can keep a whole lot of things bottled up."

The sisters broke the embrace and Luna continued in a calmer tone. "When I realized I could not solve the ponies’ problem by myself, I went looking for the Chiroptera. With their respect for me, I found them a home in a dimensional plane that they call Blood Moon. I sought them out and told them about what Equestria was facing, and when I was finished, two of them - they seemed to be brother and sister, and I think her name was Silver Strike; regardless, the dark red chiroptera filly asked again how they could help with the situation, for there were no warriors among them then. I told them I would train them on all kinds of combat. The one that seemed most effective was the way of the Hunters. And later, I taught them all kinds of magic with some forbidden artifacts that I found in the old destroyed Order of Time cavern. Soon, with my help, doorways were built to the new secret town where they could train and sleep. Before I knew it, I had an effective way of fighting and killing those monsters that ate those ponies. As time passed, the ponies’ settlements began to grow into the Equestria that we reside in today." 

Luna’s face darkened. "And then you became more popular with the ponies and I became your shadow."
> The Meeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia was speechless for a moment before she snapped back to reality. In a calmer voice, she said, "So let me get this straight. You started a movement with the Hunters for the sole purpose of hunting down and killing the monsters that were eating and destroying the new towns being built up? And there’s a secret town that they come from that you alone knew about? Well, this leads me to question: what if some of them wanted to leave?"

"Yes, well..." Luna used her magic to teleport the old sun throne out of the room. "Some of them tried. Those that succeeded in living outside of the town hid their true natures. There is a reason why they do not show themselves but will defend the innocent."

The Princess of the Sun let out the longest yawn in the history of yawns. "Ok, Luna, I need to sleep on this."

"Before you turn in, I need you to reconsider hosting the Wonderbolts performance tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, Luna, but the answer is still no. I need to show the ponies that our military’s aerial assault team is still in good shape."

"I see." Then, with nothing else to say, Luna watched her sister walk out of the throne room to her sleeping chambers. She looked at the throne, and after casting a quick spell of silence to make sure her sister didn't wake up, she yelled in her royal Canterlot voice, "Blast it! If there is one thing I know about those monsters, it’s that they will turn that performance into a blood festival of ponies!"





Rainbow began to fall asleep in the spare room that Celestia gave her when Twilight asked if she could let her friends stay, which, of course, the Princess of the Sun had no problem with. But Rainbow Dash was having a hard time with what she had seen. Fluttershy and her mother were in some sort of cult, and Rarity was also apparently in the same cult.  Rainbow eventually fell into a troubled sleep.

In the middle of the night, Rainbow was shaken awake.  She got up, yawning. "What the hey! I was enjoying a good dream."

"Oh, I'm sorry for waking you, but I needed to talk to you about how you kept on staring at Fluttershy. I'm guessing you saw or suspect something?" said a familiar voice.

Rainbow rubbed her eyes and saw Twilight looking very patiently at her, awaiting an answer to her question. 

"Well, I'm not sure what I saw or heard." Rainbow said. Then, she told Twilight about the time on the train and about the other time she followed Fluttershy and her mother with several others.

For a long while, Twilight just looked at her. Eventually, she said, "I see. So what do you think they are doing?"

"I don't know."

Twilight remembered what Luna said in her dream a few nights ago, and after clearing her throat, she said, "Well, we don't know what she’s up to, but the real question is, does it matter?"

"Say what now?"

"I mean, it doesn't matter, because we know her as the pony we know her to be. Even if she has one or two secrets, she is still our Fluttershy, the same pony that has been shy and timid around other ponies. It's a bit of a miracle that she has any friends to begin with. We shouldn't judge her for her secrets."

Rainbow replied, "Um, what’s up with the change in view? Because the last time I checked, you were growing suspicious of her activities?"

Twilight moved her hoof in the air and said, "Well, I may have jumped to conclusions a bit early." Then she lowered her hoof to the floor. "But that doesn't mean that we have to know everything about her. Stop and look at it from her perspective. Would you want everypony to know your secrets, know what you do all day long, and invade your privacy?"

Rainbow blushed. "Well, when you put it that way, I think I'd like some stuff to remain private."

"And I'm sure that she wants her privacy too, as any pony would." Twilight got up and walked to the door. "I'll let you sleep on it. Oh , and by the way, the Wonderbolts’ performance is tomorrow." With that, the purple alicorn closed the door and Rainbow made herself comfortable again in her bed, her eyes closed and a grin on her face.





Back in the throne room, Luna sat in her throne alone for a long time, long enough to calm down from her rage. As she sat, she began to think back to when she was a filly. Oh, how she wished that she could go back to a time when she and her sister could go into town and cause all sorts of trouble, and ponies would yell at them for doing this or that stupid thing. Back then, they got all sorts of cuts and bruises, and a fair portion of dirt from busting into a crate of apples. It was a simpler time, before they met Starswirl the Bearded, before ponies gathered around them and wanted their blessings and their wisdom. 

Luna’s thoughts of happy times were suddenly interrupted when the doors of the throne room were opened with a creak. Several Chiroptera entered the room, some of them flying in as others walked in.

Fluttershy walked beside her mother. She saw some Chiroptera that had been with her mother at the edge of Canterlot, but now there were more of them.

Fluttershy lost her focus when Luna rose from her throne and said, "Well, now, I'm sure you understand why I called for a meeting at night?"

Night Glider immediately answered. "It’s less suspicious, and we should get used to it."

The dark blue alicorn replied, "That is correct. Also, I told my sister about us."

Sturdy Step said, "That seems to be risky to tell her. Are you sure she won't rat us out?"

With a serious expression, Luna said, "I trust my sister."

Night Breeze piped up. "Of course, but you have to admit that your sister is a poor judge of character. Just look at-"

"Enough!" Luna shouted and her eyes glowed white for a second. "I trust my sister with my life and you should too!" Luna calmed down and folded her wings back up. Then she continued. "But that is not why I called for this meeting. I know the monsters recently destroyed a town in the Badlands called Las Hages."

Several Chiroptera begin mumbling to each other before Black Dart asked, "How do you know that they're there?"

"Well, I doubt the ponies that live there were throwing big bonfires, especially since the  town's buildings were used as kindling."

"Oh."

Feeling a little frustrating with her sister, Luna continued. "My sister refuses to reschedule her silly Wonderbolts performance, which is supposed to happen tomorrow. Judging by the fires that I saw, the monsters could be here by tomorrow."

"In an effort to make sure there is more to this gathering than doom and gloom," Night Breeze suddenly said, "I’d like to make it known that my daughter has joined the hunt." A few hunters ground their teeth in disappointment. Some of them even said, "Not another one. Don't we have enough hunters already?"

Luna said, "Now, now, my hunters. No need for that. What are we? Chiropteras or ponies?"

All of the hunters replied as one, "We are Chiropteras."

"Then we should welcome her to our ranks,” Luna said. She looked at Fluttershy. "But only once she has passed her test. Her test will be to survive these monsters when they attack. For now, the main thing we need to do is make sure that my sister and Twilight Sparkle survive the attack that is coming.  I would like Night Breeze, Night Glider, and Sturdy Step to protect my sister."

Night Glider and Night Breeze looked at each other. 'Working side-by-side just like old times.' thought Night Glider. Night Breeze just nodded her head in confirmation that she understood him.

Sturdy Step said, "It seems stupid to assign three hunters to protect one alicorn."

Luna ignored the comment and continued. "Eager Shot, Black Dart, and Raven Wind, make sure that Twilight lives through tomorrow."

Eager looked at Sturdy and said, "I hope we see each other again." The mare nodded her head in understanding of how she felt for him.

Black Dart turned his head in disgust and muttered, "Oh my gosh, get a room, you two!" Luna looked at him, unimpressed, and he continued, "But I understand that my special somepony is in this fight too, so I guess I'll do my best to keep my comments to a minimum."

Raven finished her meditation and said, "There is an unbalance in the world. Other forces are marching towards us, Miss Luna. I cannot prevent what will happen, but I will do my part."

Luna continued, "I will be guarding the final seal that has yet to be broken in Canterlot castle, the one in Starswirl the Bearded’s tower. Some of you that haven't seen action will guard it with me. Luna looked at the dark yellow Chiroptera and said, "That means you, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy put on a brave face and said, "I'm ready for whatever may happen."

With that, the Hunters left the room, making as little noise as possible.





That afternoon, all kinds of ponies gathered and picked spots on the bleachers. The bleachers became fuller and fuller. 

Three brothers came to see the show, but after looking at the full stands, they realized they would need a miracle to get a good view of the show. It took forever, but the umbrum Arkantos finally located a place for he and his brothers to see the performance. The oldest brother was a black pegasus with blue eyes and a yellow mane and tail. His name was Mowgli, and he was a Sky Slammer.  The Sky Slammers were a group of Pegasi that used their advantage of being able to fly really fast to slam down their enemies from the sky to the ground at supersonic speed. But Mowgli was here to enjoy his day off.

The umbrum said to his brothers, "Who do you think will show up the rest of the Wonderbolts?"

Mowgli thought for a moment before replying, "I bet Thunder will, since he’s the strongest flier on the Wonderbolts’ team."

The other brother exclaimed, "Are you crazy? Just because he's the strongest flier doesn't mean he’s the fastest. I think Misty will fly circles around Thunder." Arkantos looked to his left at his younger brother, an orange unicorn with a blue mane and tail, and light blue eyes.

Mowgli looked at the unicorn too. "Said the only changeling who decided to leave queen Chrysalis because he got beat up by what's his name again?"

The disguised changeling stared daggers at Mowgli. "You better watch it, or do you want me to have a go at you again?"

Arkantos asked, ”Why are you in that form anyway?"

The disguised changeling replied, "I feel more comfortable disguised like this." With a small sparkle of red magic, he snapped at the umbrum. "You got a problem with that?!"

Mowgli remembered the name he was thinking and smiled, "Oh, yeah, now I remember his name."

The disguised changeling cried fearfully, "Don't you dare say his name! I'm begging you!"

But the pegasus said the name anyway. "His name was Pharynx."

The orange unicorn lit up his red magical horn and yelled, "That's it! Come here!"

Arkantos sighed. "Oh boy, here we go again." Then he quickly used his shadow magic to teleport them to a shadow realm, a world where there was nothing but floating rocks and debris. However logic doesn't make sense in the realm. An undisguised changeling landed on one of the floating rocks, upside down. his chitin was black. His legs at the bottom had holes in them like swiss cheese. His horn looked like it had been bent back and forth too many times and now seemed crooked. He had two fangs poking out and two insect-like wings on his back. But his eyes remained the same as he climbed out of the portal, his red magic flared up and ready to fire at the black pegasus.

But Mowgli was in the air already and flying at hypersonic speeds, which made it difficult for Morgorath to pinpoint his target. Suddenly, a black and dark yellow bolt zoomed towards the changeling. Mowgli missed his target, though, as Morgorath managed to get out of the way. It was close though. Morgorath fired several bolts of red magic at Mowgli.

The magical bolts made impact and Mowgli was slammed into a humongous boulder which shattered into a million pieces. He saw his brother attack again, and this time, he easily dodged the magical shots. He launched forth with his supersonic tackle again. They continued with this dance back and forth, over and over again, for hours. Time was passing like crazy in the shadow realm, though mere seconds transpired in reality.

Finally, Morgorath mustered what courage he had and used his magic to create a small but strong barrier in front of him. He charged at Mowgli, hopeful to knock him out. But as the fighters slammed into each other head first, a black and dark yellow wave of magic blasted throughout the realm.

The fighters fell on one of the rocks. Arkantos reformed himself on the rock, and then looked up to see Morgorath out cold. Mowgli landed next to the umbrum and said, "Oops. I wasn't trying to kill him."

Arkantos scoffed. "Yeah, right, you totally weren't trying to kill our brother, going at him at hypersonic speed." The Umbrum began looking for sore spots and found one on Morgorath’s forehead. He placed a bandage over it.

"Hmmm, point taken. So, when will he wake up?"

"Well, it should be any moment now."

As he said this, Morgorath gasped for breath, looked up, and asked, "Did I win?"

Then, all three brothers were teleported back to the Wonderbolts event. Morgorath transformed back into his unicorn disguise, this time with a bandage over his head.

"Look,” said Mowgli, “I'm sorry I went overboard with you like that. Would you accept my apology and look past this? Please, Morgorath?"

"I'll need to think about it."

The three brothers waited for the show to begin.
> The Beginning of the End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Wonderbolts prepared to give the ponies a show.

In the royal stand sat the Princess of the Sun with prince Blueblood, but unknown to them, the hunters Night Breeze, Night Glider, and Study Step were waiting underneath the stand to come to her aid should she need them.

On the other side of the royal stand stood Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Twilight was trying to hide from prince Blueblood’s creepy gaze, and her friends took notice. They helped her out by blocking his line of sight, and the purple alicorn appreciated it. But unknown to them, up in the sky, the hunters Black Dart, Raven Wind, and Eager shot were disguised as three Pegasus who were also waiting to come to her aid.

In Canterlot castle, inside and at the base of the tower named for a famous unicorn wizard named Star Swirl the Bearded, Fluttershy, Luna, and three new and inexperienced hunters were ready to protect the hunter seal with their lives if necessary. However, Fluttershy noticed that the new recruits seemed nervous, and she couldn't blame them. They were about to go up against powerful and bloodthirsty monsters that they’d never seen before. Even though they’d been trained their entire lives to fight said monsters.

Suddenly, Luna spoke., "Nervous, are we?"

"Oh, no." Fluttershy replied. "Despite everything that's going to happen today, I'm not feeling nervous at all. I seem to be more focused than nervous."

“Well, that's because of that amulet that you’re wearing around your neck. It has some of the hunters’ knowledge, and knowing that knowledge makes you less nervous and more focused."

"Oh. Do you want me to take it off? Because it kind of feels like cheating."

"No. It may feel like cheating, but it's actually an advantage that you need, and one of the rules of the hunt is to expect the unexpected."

"Expect the unexpected?" With a puzzled look, Fluttershy asked, "How do you prepare for that?"

"Well, look into that knowledge you have, and you’ll know the answer."

Fluttershy concentrated, looking hard for that knowledge. An hour passed by before she found what she was looking for.

"I have an idea."





Back in the caves beneath Canterlot, regular and magic-wielding wereponies were running into the old entrance through Canterlot’s abandoned mine. The mine was where the fortune of Equestria had come from, but has lain abandoned for many years now; the perfect secret entrance into Canterlot. As for the flying wereponies, they were waiting for the right time to strike, which, it was decided, would be right in the middle of the performance. 

Black Fall walked through the entrance, but Frozen Fang and Cold Blood decided to let the pack go in before them. They needed to talk about a few things.

"Why did you want to talk?" Cold Blood asked.

Frozen Fang replied, "Because I know you and I know why you keep that mare close. I used to think that you saw her as a fellow warrior, but now I know it's more than equal respect for one to another. You like her."

"Is it really necessary for us to talk about this here and now? We have a feast to go to." Cold Blood then tried to go through the cave entrance.

However, he was stopped by a pull on his tail and a jarring reaction from his companion. Frozen Fang used his strength to slam Cold Blood into the mountainside, resulting in a spider crack in the rockface just outside of the abandoned mine entrance. 

"I'm saying that you are in love with that mare! Don't deny it, for I know that look on your face. You, sir, are in love." Cold Blood became silent as his bones started to regenerate, repairing any physical damage that was done. 

"But you know that you only have two choices,” the white werepony continued.” ”Silver dagger her or turn her. The reason these are your only choices is because we're supposed to be heartless monsters with no sympathy for the weak that we eat. Like I said, it's your decision."

Finally able to stand up again, Cold Blood glared at Frozen Fang and started to walk into the mine again. "And what if I do neither? What if she and I started to live our lives on the run?"

That got the pack leader’s attention, and he slowly turned around. "You know that is forbidden. If you two make it work, there is no telling what will happen or what kind of monster you and that mare will create."

They finally made it through the mine entrance and ran to catch up to the pack. Cold Blood thought about jumping into the unknown to survive on the run and what might happen if they had a kid along the way. They would have to abandon it to survive. But the possibility of leaving this cursed life was appealing, and certainly better than the idea of killing the mare he loved. And then there was the third option: to make her a creature like him. But that path was a bloody one, on which she would want nothing more than bloodshed to quench her thirst. It was not worth it and it would not be fair to her. So he strongly thought about going with his first option. Sure, they wouldn't be able to settle down in one place, but they would be alive.





Fluttershy set up traps of all kinds, from tripwire crossbows with silver-tipped arrows to several hidden holes filled with a mixture of silver stakes and wooden stakes. The rest of the Hunters were still trying to settle their nerves,  polishing or sharpening their weapons of silver. Luna, meanwhile, was doing something interesting with her magic. She was levitating four rocks, each one about the size of a hoof. Instead of using the special tool that unicorns did, Luna used magic to carve runes on each of the stones. 

Fluttershy looked at the other hunters and asked, "Why does she hate them?"

This question took the hunters by surprise. One of them looked like they were having a hard time thinking of what to say in answer, but was let off the hook when one another hunter spoke. "Well, it's hard to say if the Princess of the Night really does hate them. Just judging by their appearance, it can be hard to see anything good inside them, but she is a goddess, and true goddesses don't hate anything. If she did, then she would be no different from the rest of us."

"Don't give me that; that whole speech that says she's better than the rest of us," said a black chiroptera with a light blue and white mane and tail, his eyes gleaming yellow. "Yes, she may be an alicorn, and yes, she was the one who headed up the first generation of hunters, but back at the Summer Sun Celebration when she was Nightmare Moon, she was mad and jealous at her sister. Which means she is like us, and there is nothing that you say that will make me think otherwise." The chiroptera paused for a moment with the constant humming of magicat work accompanied by the sound of small pieces of stone falling to the ground. Thunder Lane eventually looked at Fluttershy and said, "I have heard stories of these monsters. They eat and destroy whole towns. They devour anything and everything,but the worst is what they do to fillies and colts. They turn them into more Wereponies. I guess it's how they regain their numbers after they’ve killed all of the other ponies. So, I suppose it would not be too hard to hate them."

Fluttershy thought angrily about his words. 'That is so barbaric, turning the innocent and the helpless into monsters just so they don't run low on Wereponies. Now that is going too far! As of now, I hate these things too!'

Fluttershy remained angry, fuming internally for a minute. Then, as she cooled down, it struck her, 'They still have a choice, don't they?'

Luna answered her unspoken question, saying, "Yes, they do have a choice. However their pack leaders are very fierce in their ways of getting all Wereponies to follow their lead." Luna placed the four rocks with their newly etched runes on the ground and looked at Fluttershy. "Once, in an age of death and destruction..."

Long ago,  when Wereponies were everywhere, Luna developed the first generation of the Order of the Hunt. They had been making progress at some of the settlements, which remained a bit longer than expected. One of the settlements that was closer to the ocean seemed to be doing very well and, some time in the future, it would be renamed Manehattan.

Luna was walking through a forest between two mountains. The dark blue alicorn was in her war armor, for she was expecting a fight. She was looking for the nest that those monsters called home. She looked down, examining her new sword on the way. It was different, to say the least, for most swords were made from steel and any common soldier could wield one with practice. However, the Hunters realized that silver aura was more effective against the monsters, and the fact that the silver blades were a little lighter than the steel ones made them much easier to use. The price for a silver blade was much higher than for a regular one, though. 

As Luna gave her blade a few swings, it felt right. She was satisfied with her weapon. She slid it back into its saber.

Her smartest Hunter had noted that a lot of Wereponies came out of these woodlands, and she wanted to end the bloodshed as fast as she could. So her Hunter had suggested that she should explore these woods to find the things. She was just about to give up when she spotted what looked like a cave.

"Hmm, that must be it." She approached the cave through a clearing; however,when she spotted a few pony skulls and dried up broken bones laying nearby, she lit up her horn and prepared a spell. Then, she stopped in front of the mouth of the cave. Several glowing red eyes appeared and glared at the Princess of the Night, as if she had just rudely woken them up. She didn't care much for the monsters, and she decided to draw them out, yelling loudly, "Come on out, you fiends! The murders and destruction against Equestria will not go unpunished!"

A monstrous voice boomed out, "Is that so? Well now, it looks like we’ve got a pony trying to bring the law to us. Now that is funny! Because we usually end up eating up the ponies of law. This is interesting. I wish to see this pony myself!" 

Suddenly, several Wereponies ran out of the cave. Eleven of them headed straight for her, but Luna let loose her shadow spell,  killing them instantly and leaving nothing more than black bodies; she then pulled out her silver sword and slashed three more across the throat, easily killing them. Then she lunged forward. Using very little strength, she brought her sword through four more of them, piercing them through the left sides of their chests. She swiftly pulled her sword out and the four bodies joined the other six on the ground. She slashed at one of them twice, cutting off both  front legs, and then finished that Werepony off by  lunging forward, her sword going straight into the one of its eyes. Luna pulled her sword out, and it came as quickly as if it had been coming out melted butter. 

As that last monster fell to the ground, the rest of them quickly disintegrated in front of her. Something strange occurred to her then. 'They clearly outnumber me, so why don't they go for me?'

The same monstrous voice said, "They don't go after you because most of them are scared that you will chop them up into hamburger. I wish to meet you so that I can eat you myself. There are more here that are foolish enough to try to come at you even though they know that they will just die for nothing. But I ordered them to stand down and they will listen to me, or I will put living fear in them to the point where they will hope for nothing more than the sweet release of death!" Luna realized then that the others were not coming after her anymore. Rather, they were trying to run away from something, and most of them jumped into the nearby trees, climbing up to watch the Princess of the Night.

Then, she saw the pack leader emerge, her fur as black as the night, her paws and legs covered in thick layers of blood, as if this Werepony had taken daily baths in blood. On her back were three broken spears, one ax, and three rusty swords, all of them sticking up from her fur. The werepony dropped the head of one of Luna’s Hunters, then said in that monstrous voice of hers, "I assume this is yours?"





Back in the present day, in the abandoned mines of Canterlot, a vicious and hungry pack of Wereponies were running all over the place, listening for the sound of cheering. They suddenly stopped when they heard it. A Werepony with a horn said, "Do you hear that?"

Another Werepony answered, "Yeah, we must be right underneath."

Then a third Werepony said, "Yes, I hear them too."

The Exhunter known as Black Fall didn't notice that the pack had stopped; she was too busy arguing with the voice inside her head. "Just stop speaking to me! I don't need your advice! And furthermore- 'Bump!' Her internal conversation was interupped when she slammed into one of the Wereponies. She recovered quickly, backing away and looking at the others. It seemed strange that the pack would stop in the middle of the mine. She asked, "Is there a reason why you guys just stopped? Because I thought we were going to crash the party."

"We agreed that this is the right action to do. We will catch everpony by surprise," said the Werepony who heard the cheering going on. She continued, "Boys, let's get digging!" All the Wereponies nodded their heads in agreement, and they began to dig upward with their paws and claws.

'They can't be serious,’ Black Fall said to herself. ’Trying to dig up to the event? That has to be at least several feet of rocks and dirt, not to mention  Canterlot’s concrete floors and metal pipes. How do they plan to get through that?'

"Lost for words?" The pack leader Frozen Fang said. "I don't blame you. My pack and I can do amazing things when we are together. If any Hunters were to underestimate us, well, he or she would be a dead hunter." Then, Frozen Fang checked a device on his paw which told him the time. "In an hour, the flying Wereponies should have begun the aerial attack. When we reach the capital city, I expect we will find many ponies running around in panic."

Black Fall replied. "I'm kind of worried that the Princess of the Moon will make things difficult."

“Hey,” said Frozen Fang, "if there is one thing that my Wereponies can do,it’s adapt to all kinds of scenarios." Frozen Fang then joined the Wereponies digging up to Canterlot.

Black Fall’s spear said to her 'Well, if there is anything I can say about this, it’s that that guy expects everything to go wrong.'

Black Fall replied, 'And how would you know? You’ve never psychically talked to him.'

'Trust me, I am a good judge of character. From what I can tell, he's prepared for anything.'

Black Fall said, "Well, it looks like we will be here for a while." She set the Spear of the Hunters down. After an hour passed by, she figured the attack against Canterlot had begun.

One part of her was glad. She was eager to fight and kill some Hunters. But the other part of her was worried. She could not imagine what the world would look like without the capital city. She was caught between two paths, and she was uncertain about both of them. On the one hoof, she could help the Hunters with their struggle, even though they banished her to Torturous. On the flip side, she  could help her new bloodthirsty and questionable friends. The question was, which way should she go?
> The Dream Realm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to the past

The pack leader said in that same monstrous voice, "I assume this is yours?"

Luna felt nothing but hatred towards the Werepony, so she chose her words carefully when she said, "What is your purpose in life?"

The pack leader, with a puzzled expression, asked, "What do you mean?"

"Come on! Every intelligent pony has a purpose in life. The Pegasuses are the caretakers of the weather, the Earth ponies are responsible for the food, and the Unicorns use their magic to better understand the world. The Threads keep the other ponies safe in the dark. I raise the moon and my sister raises the sun, and there are many more creatures who have a purpose in life, so I ask you again: what is your purpose in life?"

The pack leader started to laugh and said, "Oh, you ponies don't get it. We are the true walkers of the land and the bringers of death." As she said this, several Wereponies began moving into the light and Luna saw how nervous they looked, 

Luna looked back at their pack leader, who continued, "And as long as your ponies try to build settlements anywhere near me and my monsters, we will eat and destroy all that you treasure, because that is the rule of nature. That is the Wereponies’ way, and anypony who says otherwise is wrong."

"I see, so you think your reason for existing is to cause destruction and death, but that isn’t a way of life; it’s a way to get you and your pack killed." Luna raised her sword and placed it in front of her face, closing her eyes.

The Pack leader shouted, "Enough talk! Let's fight!" And the Werepony charged at her, her teeth and claws ready to dig into the Princess of the Night.

Suddenly, Luna opened her eyes. A glowing white light of magic power followed by a magical shockwave came through her. The pack leader was pushed backwards by the magical output, by the constant waves of magical energy that the Alicorn of the Moon was directing at her. But they didn't stop her from crawling on the ground to get to Luna and she almost managed it. However, the dark blue Alicorn yelled in her great Canterlot voice, "YOU SHALL BE JUDGED!" Then Luna used her magic to grab the pack leader’s tail and drag her into the Dream Realm. She dropped her into a version of Canterlot that the Princess of the Night had created.

"What is this?" was all the pack leader could say as she fell into the dream realm city. Luna glided down and landed softly while the pack leader went splat on the ground. The Werepony got up and looked around, noticing that the city had several white towers and it looked completely empty. Luna’s version of the capital city had absolutely no ponies in it, but the pack leader realized that she was in a dream, so of course it would look abandoned.

She crashed into a pony stand, causing several bits of currency to roll into the street along with a couple of strawberries that either rolled in different directions or just got smashed by the Werepony as she got up and looked at the city around her.

Her sightseeing was cut short when Luna landed on a bridge connected to one of the walltowers of the city. with her horn illuminated and charged up, she said, "You believe you are nature’s plan? Well, there's another word for you, and that is murder."

The Werepony replied while licking her paws of dried blood, "I’ve been called worse." She realized that she hadn’t given Luna her name yet. "By the way, I'm Eclipse."

"You think by having me know your name I would give you pity?"

A sinister look appeared on Eclipse’s face. "Why, yes, because you're a princess and from what I remember a pony that I recently ate saying to me, Princess Celestia is a kind hearted soul and she would never stoop to violence. And according to the last words of a pony recently expired from high society, you can't kill a lower class pony."

Luna pondered on her words for a little while before saying, "You’re right. However, that law is for Equestrian citizens only, not for monsters like you." 

Then Luna summoned strength to move fast and used her sword to slash Eclipse on one of her legs. She then used her hind legs to kick Eclipse, which sent her crashing into a house built into a wall.

The pack leader spoke from the wreckage of the collapsed house. "Is that all you got? Because I think you scratched my leg." As she said this, the Werepony stepped out of the ruined house and laughed. Luna’s eyes widened as she saw that her attack had done nothing to her opponent. But that didn't stop the Princess of the Night from flying up and firing off seven spells, one after another. Some of them hit Eclipse and some missed. Each one caused an explosion of fire and lightning. 

As the explosion dust cloud began to clear, Luna used her horn to search for her target, in hopes that the pack leader was done for good.

There were not many places to hide since the entire area, the wall and the marketplace, were completely leveled. Suddenly, Luna heard Eclipse’s voice saying, "Aww, it's like you care about me. Since You Threw Explosions At Me!" 

Eclipse jumped from the ruined tower and used her claws to grab Luna by the mane, causing Luna to lose control of her flight. As they both came crashing down, Eclipse punched Luna in the face. Luna got up and saw a very black and burned Werepony in front of her. But then, several sparks of blue magic from the dream realm went into Eclipse and her entire body glowed bright blue. When the magical glow faded, the pack leader looked as good as new.

Luna fired a very loud beam of lightning magic, which lasted for several minutes until Luna ran out of power to keep up the spell. She collapsed to the floor, sure that this time Eclipse must be gone. But alas, the Werepony was still standing and buzzing with electricity. She shook off the spell like it was nothing.  

Flabbergasted, Luna said, "How? How are you still alive? I thought I was in charge of this dream realm, and that last attack should've obliterated you."

Eclipse replied, "You are a real idiot. You think just because you're the Alicorn of Dreams that this realm should obey you?"

Luna rose up from the floor and nodded.

Eclipse yelled, "No! You want to know why? Well, the dream realm is alive and doesn't like it when you try to kill me or anypony here, because this realm is only used to solve problems; and not physical problems like killing it’s hosts. No! No! No. It solves the problems of the mind. So, yeah, as long as we remain here, you will be unable to kill me, and the same rule applies to me about killing you." As she said this, several sparkles appeared around Luna, quickly healing the damage that was done.

Luna got up and thought about the Werepony’s words.

"You're not the first one to try to use this place,” Eclipse continued. ”Heck, Discord himself tried something similar with a Sphinx and…" She paused for a second before continuing. "Let's just say the dream realm was changed in more ways than one. So let's leave this realm and continue the real fight outside."

The dark blue alicorn sat down, realizing that no matter what she did here, the realm would protect her opponent. She let out a sigh and used her magic to bring herself and the pack leader back into the waking world. If nothing else, she did learn that this realm could solve the problems of the mind, even if it couldn’t solve  physical problems. Somehow, someway, she could use it to help her sister.
> The Fight of the Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When they returned to the waking world, the Werepony said, "Well, shall we begin? And before you get too confident in your abilities, remember that I am the pack leader." Eclipse continued, her eyes turning dark red and her face adopting a crazed expression. "I planned several blood baths, destroyed countless villages, and gave my Wereponies the victories that they wanted. When I am there, they win." The pack leader flashed Luna with a crazy, fang-filled smile. "You want to know who I am!? I'm the one who eats the ponies! The one who takes baths in their bloody remains! I am the course of nature!" Suddenly, she went quiet. Then, in an even more monstrous voice, she said,  “I'm more curious than ever how alicorn blood would feel on my body…and you have so much magical power…" Suddenly, without warning, Eclipse charged at Luna, claws out.

As the pack leader ran at Luna with every intention of killing her, Luna slashed her sword at the Werepony aiming to slice her neck down all the way down to her side. Luna turned around and sliced her sword again to cut the pack leader’s face. However, Eclipse dashed to a nearby tree, kicked off of it, then pounced on Luna again. Thinking quickly, the dark blue Alicorn used her rear legs to kick Eclipse up into the tree, simultaneously firing a time spell, and then charged right at the Werepony, slashing at her several times in several different areas. The Werepony continued to fall upwards. But before the Princess of the Night could deliver the final blow, the time spell broke apart and Eclipse jumped out of the way, landing on a tree trunk. She quickly jumped from one tree to the next, avoiding Luna’s magical blue sword.

Luna threw her sword at the monster and missed. She pursued Eclipse by flying at her and firing lightning spells in her direction. Most of them missed, but every now and then, one or two would find their target. Some of the trees caught fire. The treetops blazed and fell to the ground. While jumping from one tree to the next, Eclipse whistled. Suddenly, Wereponys began to climb the trees and attack Luna. The first, she dodged. The next, she killed with her sword. Then, five of them piled on her and dug into her back with their claws. With a roar of agony, she sent a pulse of lightning through the forest and raised her magical shield for protection. 

Luna painfully yelled out, “Do you think that this will save you, Eclipse? Oh, no, it will not! It will only add more wood to the fire that you have created! Sooner or later, you will join them!”

Back near the cave entrance, Eclipse yanked three rusty swords out of her back and started to make her way toward Luna.

As she neared the place she recalled Luna last being, she suddenly felt a powerful magic, and she began to think that maybe she underestimated her opponent. 

Suddenly, a shockwave of ice magic caused Eclipse to lose one of her rusted swords. As she looked to where the shockwave came from, she saw that the Wereponies that had piled on Luna’s magical shield had turned into blocks of ice. The frozen Wereponies fell to the ground and shattered. Some of them survived the fall while others cracked and split apart like ice shards. Eclipse, brandishing her two swords, stabbed Luna in the back. Both then  tumbled downhill and into a clearing.  Eclipse then jumped off of Luna and landed on all fours. Luna, wincing a bit with pain, flapped her wings and hovered over the ground. Then, using her magic, Luna pulled the swords out of her back, narrowed her eyes, and said, “That was a dirty trick. Where is your honor?”

“Dirty trick, she says. Well, that depends on your definition of honor. Nothing really matters to you because you can fly and use magic. I will use any advantage I can get.”

“Then you purposely sent your pack up there to get killed?”

“I needed a distraction and time. Having several Wereponies pounce on you is a very good distraction." Eclipse pointed one of her rusty swords at Luna and continued. "Now, prepare to die.” 

Eclipse pounced on Luna again, hoping that the wounds she had received would be enough to end her.

Suddenly, Luna spun around and kicked the monster in the face before spinning around again and slashing at her opponent several times. Then, she cast a spell and kicked the frozen Eclipse back to the cave,  galloping in after her.

When the dark blue Alicorn entered the monster’s den, the ice had already shattered against a rock near the mouth of the cave. The Pack leader was a mess, with several slashes and cuts, three of her four legs broken, the ends of several bones poking through her fur, and a mouth full of blood. Eclipse tried desperately to make her way into the cave, but with little luck.

With sword pointed at Eclipse, Luna approached the pack leader slowly, watching her blood squirting from her body.  With fear in her eyes, Eclipse asked, "Why did you do this?"

Luna answered, "To end the pain and suffering you have caused. That is one motivation. But truthfully, my reason for doing this? It is to give my sister the peace she so desperately wants."

Luna was going to end it here and now, but all a sudden she felt lightheaded, like she had lost a good amount of blood. She looked down and saw her own blood pooling on the ground. It was spilling out of her coat; Luna took in the sight of her side and her hoof where she saw claw marks.. Then she heard the pack leader laughing at her.

"Even if you kill me,” Eclipse choked out through her bloody grin, “there will be others to take my title of pack leader. You have accomplished nothing. But who is going to fill your roll as Princess of the Night-" 

Luna stabbed the Werepony in her head right then, despite the injuries she had been dealt by the pack leader. Eclipse yelled, "NO!" before she went limp. Then, she evaporated into a pile of red sand as quickly as a river flow evaporates into the wind. 

Knowing that she did it, she liberated the ponies in the nearby towns, Luna rose up and said, "Justice has been served today, and all the innocent blood you spilled will be remembered!"

But it wasn't over. Dozens of red eyes glared out at the Princess of the Night and some of the Wereponies began to approach, menacingly. 'This is it, I'm going to die right here.' Luna thought in fear. ’Please forgive me, sister.'





Present day, near the end of the Wonderbolts’ performance.

The Wonderbolts’ performance was going very well. Several of the Wonderbolts did impressive aerobatics and the audience kept erupting with cheers, which the Wonderbolts could hear as they landed on clouds to take breathers and listen to their captain’s final remarks before the end of the show.

Spitfire had just landed on her cloud. "Alright, it looks like they are enjoying the show. Now, I know you are all tired, but we must finish this performance." The captain of the Wonderbolts’ voice held a little anger in it as she continued, "We’re going to really give those stupid nobles something to cheer at." She waited a second for her temper to go down before concluding. "It's almost time; does anypony have anything else to say up here?" The other Wonderbolts remained silent for a few seconds before Spitfire spoke again. "The air is open for any question or comment you may have."

A couple more seconds of silence passed before a monstrous voice thundered "Actually, since you asked, I do have a question." The yellow pegasus turned around to look for the source of the voice, beginning with her Wonderbolts. ”However,” the mysterious voice continued, “It’s more of a question for you than it is for me. My question is: how do you feel about really ending this show with a bang?"

Spitfire did not find or recognize the voice at all. When several black shadows zoomed up above the cloud line, Spitfire turned around just in time to see then, and her eyes widened as she yelled, "What the-!?"

Back down on the ground was a stadium full of patiently waiting ponies who had just started noticing the delay and were wondering what was taking the Wonderbolts so long to finish the performance.

At the royal benches, Celestia also noticed the delay. At first, she thought the Wonderbolts were trying to surprise her by coming out behind her. But if that was their plan, they would have done it already. No, this is something else. Fearing the worst, Celestia announced in her Canterlot voice, ”Citizens of Equestria, the remainder of the Wonderbolts’ performance is canceled. Go back to your homes. I'll see if I can get them to arrange to do another performance.”

Many ponies in the crowd were very disappointed by the Princess of the Sun’s sudden announcement, but they did as she asked and began to file out of the stadium. The pegasuses flew out over the stands, the unicorns and earth ponies used the stadium exits. 

The stadium was about half empty when Celestia heard an unnatural sound. Turning to the source of the sound, she saw a shadow portal open and, nearby, the one who opened it. He was a dark blue stallion with a curved horn just like King Sombra’s horn. But before Celestia could ask the stallion to stop or even ask what his name was, the unicorn walked into the portal and it closed behind him. Celestia decided to look into that later. Current circumstances required her to be focused on the here and now.

Drops of blood were falling down upon the stadium; one drop fell on Celestia’s nose. She looked up to see if she could catch any sign of the Wonderbolts. And she did find one; or rather, part of one. Spitfire’s head plummeted to the ground, making a loud splat noise upon impact.

The ponies who had yet to leave the stadium saw the head fall to the ground, and they immediately panicked, pushing frantically toward the exits. 

Celestia, however, sat still and gave the killer her death glare. She glared daggers at the monster who ruined the Wonderbolts’ performance. He looked just the way Luna told her he would. A pony-like creature but with black fur for a coat, horrible red eyes, white fangs, and a deep hunger for blood.

“Hold on,” The Princess of the Sun growled. “She didn't mention that they could fly. Well, I guess she never saw any one of them with wings."

The Werepony spoke then. "Oh, bringer of the sun, we come in all shapes and sizes. But what brings us here now is the fact that, lately, your ponies have been spreading out too far; they have brought imbalance to nature. And in order to correct this, you must die!" He made a quick dive bomb at Celestia, desiring to make her into a midnight meal.
> Fight of the Present Part One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the past, at the den of Monsters.

As the last of the red sand disappeared, the other Wereponies came closer, which was bad, because Luna was bleeding out and her Alicorn magical reserves were low. She was surrounded and there was nothing to do except the inevitable. But then, all of her fears of losing her life were swept away when one white Werepony said, "Thank you for killing the pack leader. She once cared deeply about our survival, but then she got greedy. In the end, she tossed away everything that Eclipse cared about.”

Luna looked up before asking, “If she was someone who deeply cared for her own kind, then what caused her to abandon her ideals?”

“Some kind of ancient force keeps changing our best leaders, causing them to go on a blood rampage, and it's getting worse." One by one, the red eyes of the Wereponies began to disappear.

"Wait!” Luna cried. ”Can you help me? My wounds are too serious and I’m low on magic power. I doubt I’ll be able to make it back to the nearest town." The Princess of the Moon got up and felt a spike of red hot pain in her hooves. She clenched her teeth in pain.

The white Werepony left, saying, "To show how grateful we are, take a dip in the blood bath. As for me and my friends, we will disappear into the wild. Thank you again for giving us a chance to change things for the better." And with that, the Wereponies disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

Luna painfully made her way to the bath of blood inside the den. As she entered the mouth of the cave, she saw the remains of several ponies on the floor and in the corners. Some of them even had rusty old armor on them, which probably meant that Luna and her hunters weren’t the first to try to fight here. There were several different sets of rusted armor that she didn’t recognize at all, except for one which was a mighty helmet armor, the owners of which didn’t care for the fallen. Luna spotted several broken bones that were scattered over the floor. In the middle of the den, the bath of blood bubbled with pure magic.  

Luna stopped and pondered for a moment. ‘Is this the only way? No, there must be another way. If I do it, would I enjoy it too much? Would I develop a desire for blood baths? If I go down this road, what would my sister think of me if she ever found out?’ Luna’s expression changed from worry and fear, converting to something else as she stepped into the blood, submerging herself into it.

The blood was somehow different than the regular kind. It felt like warm water, with no stickiness of the substance. Somehow, some way, Eclipse had managed to bring forth the dormant magical powers that dwelled in the blood and converted it to healing magic. Luna’s entire body glowed with golden magic. The Princess of the Night had read once that if you killed someone innocent, then their blood, when boiled right, can actually heal severe wounds. However, Luna didn’t practice this, because the book had been written by a mad pony. 

The blood quickly healed her, and when she got up to walk out of the liquid substance, she suddenly felt a lifetime of memories wash over her; memories of the victims that Eclipse killed and bled dry for her bath. They blamed her for not doing anything for them. Luna wanted to get out of there quickly. She jumped out of the blood bath and tried her best to quickly shake off the blood, yelling aloud, “Never again!” 

All healed up, Luna took off into the night sky and returned to Canterlot.

Back in the present, at the bottom of Star Swirl’s tower.

Luna finished carving the four stones with runes. All that was left to do was for Luna to fill the stones with magic. She charged her horn and finished telling the last of her story. 

"I did as he said. Somehow, that blood bath healed all my wounds, as if they never existed. Thinking back, that Werepony gave me hope that there might be a peaceful way to end this." 

Luna remembered the battle that had yet to come and continued. "Even though it was false hope, it was still important to have. Back then, the Wereponies’ attacks continued to get bigger and worse. And with my sister’s anger reaching its peak, it was growing difficult for her to open up a door for Daybreak to come out and play. 

I used my Alicorn magic to create the Hunters’ Seal, in order to trap all of the Wereponies in an alternate reality, in a place where they were meant to sleep for the rest of their days. I got the feeling, however, that the Wereponies were just the beginning of something much worse.

Fluttershy piped up, "You did what you thought was right, and if I was in your place, I would have done the same."

Luna wiped away a tear that was falling down her cheek. She finished charging up the last stone, then placed them all on the floor. 

She closed her eyes and spoke. "Summon Blue X Torio Ren Correct New Cyhi Moon!" As Luna said the last word, the rune stones glowed blue and shot out four beams into four walls, opening up four portals, each one showing a different area of the castle. One of the portals showed the throne room. Another showed the Solar and Lunar guards’ barracks. The third led to the tallest tower in Canterlot. And the final portal led into Canterlot’s dungeons, deep down in Canterlot. 

Luna said, "We will use these when the time grows dire." A couple seconds later, the Hunters and Luna heard dozens of paws hitting the stone floor. 

"Fight to kill!” Luna yelled. ”No exceptions!"





Back up in the Canterlot stadium, the Wereponies had begun their assault.

The Werepony said loudly, "Oh, Bringer of the Sun, we come in all shapes and sizes. Now, you must die!" Then he dive bombed Celestia, consumed by a need to kill, to make Celestia into a midnight meal.

But his dive bomb was ruined when an orange pegasus in purple armor tackled the Monster, shield first, shouting, "That is not how you greet the Princess!" He looked to his left, then to his right, and yelled, "Solar guards, defend your Princess!"

Several ponies in golden armor appeared; Unicorns, Pegasuses, and Earth ponies came forth. Portals opened wide and several Unicorns came through them, but these weren’t your average Unicorns; they were all students from Celestia’s School of Magic who became wizards. Silence fell. No one spoke, not a sound was made, except for the blowing of the wind and the flapping of wings, which were accompanied by the rushing of the leaves and the flapping of a flag. For a small moment, nothing happened. Then all chaos exploded as the Captain of the Solar Guard, along with all of the Pegasuses in the Solar Guard flew up to fight the flying Wereponies. Hooves kicked, shields raised, swords swung, and spears were thrown as the fight raged.

As for the ponies that couldn't fly, the Unicorns mostly, Celestia’s students, they started to fire elemental spells of fire, ice and earth. The Unicorns in the Solar Guards didn’t help the students because they didn’t share their deep knowledge of magic. But they were able to levitate their weapons to throw them and put up a shield of magic. If any Wereponies got close enough, then the solar guard Unicorns used their magic to create a humongous shield barrier to keep the Monsters away. Before the Monsters could fly back into the sky, they were either hit by arrows from the Earth ponies’ crossbows or by magic from Celestia’ students.

Blaze Trail said to Celestia, “Get out of here! I’ve got a feeling that you’ll be needed elsewhere!”

Celestia pondered for a little while before saying to her captain, “Alright, but you’ve got to promise me that you’ll be safe.”

Blaze Trail chuckled before saying, “Safe in a literal war zone. That’ll be a trick. ”

But the Princess was already gone.

A small group of Wereponies made their way out of the Stadium, but were blocked by a group of Pegasuses.

Another group of Wereponies made it to the exit, stepping out onto the main road of Canterlot, but were then pinned down by several arrows that had been fired by Earth Ponies.

A third group of Wereponies did a better job dodging another wave of arrows as they got out of the Stadium, but they were blocked by another group of Pegasuses.

At the Stadium, the Wereponies attacked, and Blaze Trail’s group dodged and split in half. A Werepony did a full-on pounce on the first group and bit into the Solar Guard Captain. Blaze Trail tried to hit the Werepony at full force with his shield, but the Monster saw it coming and easily dodged out of the way. Blaze Trail went Splat! into the wall of a nearby building. 

A pair of Wereponies, feeling confident, pounced on the other guards. However, the guards dodged the Wereponies, and before they could recover from their mistake, both Wereponies were hit by lightning shot by a dark blue Unicorn in a royal purple robe with the sun stitched in it. The fineness of the robe indicated that he was one of Celestia’s students. Unfortunately, another Monster popped out of nowhere and ate the student.

The Wereponies tried to bite the ponies’ necks, but they missed and were stabbed by iron spears.

Blaze Trail rose up and shook off his mistake. He saw that many of the Wereponies had been hit by arrows, but they were still able to get up and pull the arrows out. 

Thinking very quickly, Blaze Trail decided to regroup to form a bigger squad, which took off at high speed.

Two Wereponies from the first group used their mouths to rip the Solar guards’ throats out. Before they could die fully, they were slammed into the roof of the building. Unfortunately for them, the other two Wereponies weren’t doing so great. They tried to shred their opponents by fiercely swiping at open air to the point of exhaustion. The Pegasuses took advantage of their opponents’ exhaustion, and when the time was right, the Guards kicked them into the side of the building.

The second group of Wereponies did not do so well either. When one tried to pounce on a Pegasus, the Pegasus not only dodged his attack, but also redirected it into a nearby building.

The next Werepony tried to bite his opponent but ended up getting hit by a shield. Then the pony hit the Werepony several more times before dislocating the Monster’s jaw. With an ax, she finished him off, causing him to join his partner in the building.

The third Monster in the group tried to tackle his opponent, but the Pegasus dodged it and used his back legs to kick the Werepony out of the sky. He went tumbling down to the ground.

The fourth Werepony did a little better, biting into the edge of his opponent’s shield. With great strength, the Monster tore off the piece of shield and spat it out, greatly disliking the taste of metal. The Pegasus screamed bloody murder as his front leg was now missing. When the shield was ripped away, so was the pony’s shield arm, and with no protection, the Werepony finished him off with a series of ferocious slashes from its claws, eventually leaving a mess of golden armor and blood.

A group of Wereponies charged at Blaze Trail’s group, both sides flying over the main road, which was the most direct route to Canterlot castle. The two groups landed on opposite sides of the building walls and roofs. After landing, they quickly took off again, speeding right at their opponents and exchanging blows. Swords and claws clashed fiercely against each other.

Four Wereponies suddenly charged at Blaze Trail just as he was finishing with another Werepony on the left of the fray.  Blaze Trail dove out of the way. When the small group headed to the ground, they separated and went in different directions. Blaze Trail spent most of the battle dodging the four Wereponies. Every now and then, he would see somepony get killed.

A Monster grappled one of the Pegasuses, squeezing the life out of him before letting go. Then it went after Blaze Trail. He whipped his shield out and activated the magic in it. The shield heated up like it was just coming out of the forge. Blaze Trail hit the Werepony in the chest, which caused the rest of the Monster to burn to death. Just to be safe, the Captain of the Solar Guard used his sword to cut the Werepony’s head off. And he would have ordered two Pegasuses to pierce their spears through it too, but he had to move fast, as four more Wereponies went at him just then. Under normally circumstances, he would be able to take them one at a time, but four at the same time would be suicide. He flew and jumped all over the place as the burning body of his last opponent fell onto the main road.

One Werepony saw what just happened and, immediately enraged, grabbed a pony by the throat and ripped it out. Another Werepony tried to swipe at a Pegasus but failed to actually injure her, because she kept on bringing up her shield to block the swipes. The enraged Monster saw this and tore her shield away, throwing it and her against the wall. She was pinned to the wall by the shield. The mare tried using her sword to free herself, but it was like hitting a concrete pillar, and she had no success. The Monster took a good look at her and saw that she was attractive for a guard. But his animal instincts took over and he bit her on the neck, then tossed her aside, knowing that soon she sould be one of them.

Back at the Colosseum, things took a turn for the worse. The first Pegasus managed to stun one of the Monsters before grabbing it by the wing and tossing it out like yesterday’s trash. That Werepony actually ended up in the Colosseum’s trash.

To the left, a Solar guard didn’t do so well as he tried to lunge at one of the Monsters; the Werepony simply dodged his lunge and bit his arm off, quickly spitting it out to tackle the pony. When they hit the ground, the Monster began digging into him.

The next pony tried to slit a monster’s throat; however, the Werepony saw this coming and dodged his attack. Then he lunged with his paw and pierced through the pony’s armor and coat. He grabbed the pony’s heart, and with great strength and pain from the armor’s jagged edges, he pulled the organ out to show the owner before he immediately died.

After seeing most of her brothers in arms get brutally murdered, another pony  grabbed two swords and started swinging them at the Wereponys, but they kept their distance. She hit nothing but air, and when the time was right, the Monsters ended her right then and there by ripping her head off.

Back to the first group, one of the Wereponies shook off his daze and flew back into the battle, immediately trying to tackle the nearest Pegasus into a cloud. Unfortunately, his flying was sloppy and he missed his target, landing on a soft cloud. One Solar guard became too confident and started to charge at a Werepony. The Monster took advantage of his confidence and dodged one spear strike after another; it wasn’t long before the Pegasus started to tire out. Then, satisfied that the pony was fully exhausted, the Werepony grabbed his spear and snapped it in two. Then, before the pony could fly away, the Werepony grabbed him and flew high up into the sky, so high that the buildings looked like black little dots. Then, the Monster grabbed his wings and tore them off, letting the pony fall to his death.

The other Werepony allowed a Pegasus to hit him in the neck with her ax, but really, the Monster barely felt a thing. Then, he ripped her in two and started eating her flesh.

Suddenly, several spells were fired into the battlefield and hit the Wereponies. They were either burned, electrified, or they just exploded into a bloody mess. One of the Monsters realized that they could not stay within the Unicorns’ range, but then he was hit by a spell. His body started to inflate like a balloon, swelling until  it exploded, his blood, guts, and bones flying everywhere.

Another Werepony who had just gotten up saw where the spells were being fired from. He yelled to the others, “Let’s try flying out of their range!” They all agreed and every single one of them flew higher, out of the spells’ range. Every Werepony retreated up into the clouds, but not all of them made it. Four of them were hit by a lightning spell in the sky. And those that escaped knew that every Pegasus in the Solar Guard would go after them.

Back on the ground, Solar Flare saw and took the advantage that the Unicorns of Celestia’s school had given him. He and the rest of the Solar Guard Pegasuses took off to pursue the Wereponies.

As for the Earth ponies, some of them stayed with the Unicorns to kill any flying Wereponies that hit the Unicorns’ barrier. As for the rest of them, they ran to their bows and arrows with the intent to take aim and fire. To put more fire power into the battle going on in the sky, the Earth ponies readied the five ballistas on the towers. The ballistas were pretty simple to operate, requiring three ponies to operate one. The first pony aimed it, the second pony pulled it around, and a third pony reloaded the weapon after it discharged. 

When one of the ballista’s levers was pulled, an oversized arrow was fired. It impaled five Wereponies before slamming into the side of the mountain.

While the fighting continued to rage on in the sky, Celestia ran into the area where most of her students were and yelled with a hint of fear, "Twilight, I need you and your friends to get somewhere safe!"

"But what about you? Can't you come with us?" Twilight answered in a worried voice.

Celestia looked up and saw one of the Wereponies tearing a light blue Pegasus to shreds. She looked back at Twilight before she answered. "Unfortunately, as I am the ruler of this nation, my ponies need me here. But you and your friends use the most powerful magic of all. So please, for the sake of Equestria, save yourselves!"

Twilight started to tear up as she flew to her teacher and gave her a quick hug before flying back to her friends.

The Princess of the Sun heard Rainbow Dash ask her friends as they ran, "Hey, has anypony seen Fluttershy?" 

Celestia looked up and began to charge up her horn, ready to fire a spell to send these Monsters straight to Tartarus.

Twilight ran through the streets of the city with Pinky and Rainbow. She was thinking about where they were going to go when it hit her quite literally. She slammed face first into a lamp post, and as her friends helped her up, she said, "The castle is probably a safe place to be."

Rainbow replied, "Isn't that the first place that any villains or enemies would expect us to go?"

Twilight responded sarcastically. "Sure, because that happens in every story, it must mean it happens in real situations." They began to run again.

As Pinkie bounced right next to them, she said, "Well, if they do find us at the castle, I'll throw a ‘Congratulations, You Caught Us’ party when we get there. Oh, by the way, we’ve got someponies following us. Hmm, I guess they really want your autograph! Thank goodness I have an emergency stash of blank sheets of paper all over Equestria, just in case they are needed." Then, Pinkie turned around quickly and bounced backwards, waving her hoof energetically.

Twilight looked back to where Pinkie was looking. Sure enough, two flying Wereponyies were following them.

Twilight yelled, "We Need To Get There Now!"

As the three ponies galloped to the castle, Rainbow yelled back to Twilight, "See, I'm telling you, this is how it begins, with goons like those two following us!"

Behind them, one of the Wereponies said to the other, "Looks like easy pickings up ahead. We can eat these mares when they think they're safe."

The other stupidly laughed and said, "Yeah, a free meal." Some drool fell from his mouth.

Little did they know, a team of hunters flew above them, planning to keep the elemental bearers and Twilight safe. As they flew overhead,Eager Shot said, "Wait for them to stop, and watch for when they go for the kill."

Raven Wind said, "I will be their shield and will redirect any attack."

"Ok, I guess we are going for the kill,” Black Dart replied. He looked at Eager Shot. The burned stallion nodded his head to confirm that he heard him, and they continued to follow the Wereponies who were following Twilight and her friends.
> Fight of the Present Part Two
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blazing Trail and his ponies flew towards the cloudline in hopes of jumping the Wereponies. But unfortunately, the Monsters were in position to jump them instead.

Captain Trail flew through a cloud and yelled to his ponies, “We should be right on top of them!”

A Pegasus stallion replied, “Where have I heard that before?!”

Another Pegasus said, “Oh, we’ve been flying for hours, and I think Celestia could use back up.”

A mare gave that pony the stink eye and said, “Be honest, you just want to sneak into the barracks cafeteria, don’t you?”

“So what if I do? I just can’t help it if I haven’t eaten anything. I get hangry! And what about the old saying that an army marches on its stomach? I’m so hungry! Seriously, couldn’t they have waited to attack us after dinner? Us ponies have to eat too, you know.”

The mare was about to say something harsh but Captain Trail silenced her with a stare and said, “First of all, you two, can it. And second of all, we can’t give those Monsters a chance to surprise us again!”

They were almost out of Canterlot’s air space when suddenly a Werepony managed to grab and tear off a Pegasus’ wing. With uneven flapping that pony went crashing into a nearby cloud.

Then another Monster did the same thing but he managed to grab both wings off a Pegasus, and the pony fell to his death.

Another one tackled a Solar guard and bit into his chest, The pony let out a scream as the Monster flew away to enjoy his meal.

A fourth Monster went after Captain Trail; however, the Solar Captain saw it coming and used his shield to hit the Werepony in the face. As the Monster backed away, his fur began to burn up and he let out an ear splitting scream before the flames burned away his wings and he fell to his death.

“Ambush!” the Solar Captain yelled.

Suddenly, several more Monsters jumped out of the clouds, though some of them stayed on them. There was a tense silence. No one from either side said anything. Both sides did nothing, but they all hovered, waiting for the right time to strike. This standoff lasted for several minutes. 

Suddenly, several explosions sounded from the ground, and as the Solar Guard looked down, the Wereponies charged them. The ponies reacted as both armies in the sky went at each other.

The Solar guard took off and did the slash landing tactic; in short, they charged at a Werepony to give them a cut as they passed, then landed on a cloud to go after another. However, the Monsters saw this tactic before on the ground, and knew how to stop it. As the first three went at their targets, they were surprised when the Wereponies dodged the attacks and grabbed them by the tail or rear legs, slamming them on a cloud and biting their necks to tear out their throats.

Six Solar guards went in to attack the Monsters. The first pony successfully stabbed the Werepony in the chest, but the Monster barely felt it. The guard quickly jumped back as the Werepony tried to swipe at him.

The next one wasn’t so lucky as he stabbed a Monster in the stomach. The Werepony didn’t react to the blow; it was almost as if his skin was made of stone. He started shredding the armor and coat as quickly as lightning and they both fell down to Canterlot.

A third pony didn’t do so well either as she tried to decapitate the first Monster with her ax, but sadly, the blade of said ax started to become blunt as she continued to swing it. Eventually, the Werepony grew tired of her attempted attacks and mid-swing, he grabbed the ax by the blade and crushed the weapon into a million pieces. Then he bit into her neck while a second Werepony started digging into her back.

The fourth Solar guard did a little better as she used her spear to repeatedly jab at the Monster. She did it so much that eventually the monster got to his boiling point. He charged at the pony in a blind rage. But this mare was one step ahead of him, and she took off flying around the area. The Werepony followed her with great anger. He wouldn’t make her his next meal; he would just kill her.

The next pony dodged the Monster’s bites and grabbed it by the tail, swinging it into a cloud.

Coming back to the fourth Solar guard mare, she performed maneuvers and dive bombs in the sky to dodge the Monster, and would have had a few close calls if her Captain hadn’t launch a random spell from his scroll, causing the Monster to switch gears and maneuver around the spell. 

In another area of battle, a pony used a longsword to deliver a massive slash to a Werepony. The Werepony, however, was no stranger to injuries like this, though it did cause him pain, and he struggled to slash back at the pony, but the Pegasus saw this coming and evasively dove through the cloud.

At the edge of the battlefield, an enraged Werepony who is basically on top of the Solar guard mare slashed out several times, but only three claws actually cut her rear legs. With a powerful flap, she dashed to another side of the battlefield, fully aware that the Monster was chasing her.

The Pegasus with the longsword came out and delivered another blow to the same Monster, this time from the back. She was successful; however, she didn’t see the next attack coming. She screamed as another Werepony bit into her wing and shoulder, and a third one flew right up to her and started to tear through her chest. She died, crying and whimpering.

A Werepony used her claws to break the next Solar guard’s weapon. The Solar guard quickly responded by trying to punch the Monster in the throat; however, that hoof met one of the paws of the Werepony as the Monster proved to be too quick. She yanked the pony’s hoof which caused his shoulder to get dislocated. With severe pain, accompanied with fear in his eyes, he realized that she would be the last thing he ever saw as she slashed her claws toward the Pegasus’s eyes, permanently blinding him. Now no longer a threat to the Werepony and fearing the worst, the Pegasus dove downward using his sense of hearing, hoping to hear the ground before he blindly slammed into it.

The next Werepony tried to butcher Captain Trail. However, Blazing Trail was anything but butchered. He slammed his shield right into the Monster’s face, simultaneously digging through his saddle bag. He withdrew a small parchment of paper with several runes on it. He threw the parchment at the Werepony, and when it hit the Monster, the parchment changed, stretching longer, transforming into cloth. Then it started to wrap tightly around the Monster. He struggled to get out of it, but it proved to be too strong, and it strangled him to death long before he hitting the ground.

One of the Solar guards saw the carnage happening; he couldn’t take it anymore and flew away, hoping to never see those things again. But before he could leave, a Werepony slashed at the pony’s neck. The Solar guard grabbed his throat to prevent further bleeding, but the Monster began to dig through his armor and into his stomach, causing the white cloud to turn red as drops of blood splattered onto it.

The chase of the battlefield continued, as the enraged Werepony managed to get so close to the Solar guard mare that he was able to bite her tail and swing her into Blazing Trail’s cloud. As the Solar captain helped her up, she saw that they were outnumbered. 

Captain Trail was well aware of their situation and he said to her, “Retreat. This battle is lost.” He and the last Solar guard took off at top speed with half of the Werepony army not far behind. As they flew back, they saw a true nightmare: Canterlot in flames. 

‘At this point,’ Blazing Trail thought, ‘we’re going to need a miracle to save Equestria.'

As they reached the main battlefield where most of the fighting was, Captain Trail yelled at any and all ponies in the Solar guard for a report.

A black mare said, “It’s not good, sir. We are having a difficult time. Every time it looks like a soldier has managed to deliver the finishing blow, the Monsters fall to the ground and stay there for a few moments. But eventually, they fly up and get back into the fight, no matter how badly they were injured." It was clear to Captain Trail that they were on the losing side. He needed a way to change the favor of war and he needed it now.

Then, half of the Werepony army managed to catch up to them and the exhausted Solar guards spread out to engage in combat once again. Captain Trail kept dodging his opponent, but soon enough, he flew around and stabbed the Monster in the back between the wings. But that only made the Werepony mare mad and she lashed out at anything within reach, including him, nearby clouds, and an unlucky Solar guard. If that wasn't bad enough, the creatures were a bit faster than your average pony in the Running of the Leaves tradition in Ponyville. She attacked with savagery and brutality, but Captain Trail luckily managed to stab her first. Just like last time, though, she lashed out at him again. 

'It’s like my sword doesn't have any effect on her,' Captain Trail thought.

He decided to do the smart thing and try to fly away. As he did, he saw that he was not alone in that effort; most of the Solar Pegasus were doing the same dance;  being chased by the Monsters or dodging them. He saw what was left of the dead Solar guards; they either got their wings torn out of their sockets, causing them to fall to their deaths with sickening splats, or they were ripped to bloody shreds in the air.

'So, what now?’ he thought. ‘I can't possibly fly around the battlefield forever, can I?'

He continued to do his best to avoid the monster. His enemy was about to grab him by the wings, but didn’t manage to succeed, as a fire spell hit the Werepony in the face. Blazing Trail turned his head to see how close the Werepony was, only to see that the Monster had flown away from him. He decided to hover in the sky and enjoy the view of the fire spell’s effects on the Werepony’s face. He watched her go a good couple of seconds before she finally fell in flames to the ground. H

He looked down to find the source of the spell, discovering that the Unicorns had used the fire spell. Apparently, Wereponies are not immune to magic spells, as several of them had been encased in blocks of ice or burned away by fire spells.

Suddenly, the earth beneath them started to split in several directions. Lightning, fire and ice exploded all around,, and the Unicorns and Earth ponies who were standing near the areas of the explosions were frozen solid in ice or burned to a crisp. H

However, in the chaos, the cracking continued, circling around one of the Ballista towers and causing it to collapse. The collapse was accompanied by five explosions of fire and lightning.

The explosions blew  the Ballista tower to kingdom come and killed all Earth ponies who were inside it. The Unicorns and Earth ponies who did survive the multiple explosions didn't realize what was about to happen until it was too late. Werepony after Werepony popped up through the holes in the earth. As the Monsters appeared, the Unicorns could no longer help the Pegasusi, as They had to fight on even ground with the Wereponies. With their horns charged up with elemental attacks, the Unicorns of the Solar Guard, along with the wizards of Canterlot, lit up their horns and summoned some magical blades. They then charged at the Wereponies. However, some of them were not prepared. Several Monsters used lightning spells to shock half of them into unconsciousness. As that happen, five Unicorns gathered and used their magic to create a magical barrier. The Solar Earth ponies helped, either by grabbing unconscious Unicorns and dragging them to more secure locations, or they charged into battle with the belief that they would win.

Celestia yelled loudly, "Where's your Captain!?”

As quickly as he could, Captain Trail landed right in front of his Princess, saying, "What is it, your highness? I don't know if you’ve noticed or not, but we are in the middle of a battle."

Celestia raised an eyebrow at that as she said, "Focus! Captain, I need you to initiate Operation Crossbow."

Realizing what his ruler was telling him to do, he adopted a more serious expression. “You know that if I do this, there’s no going back.”

The Princess of the Sun used her magic to fire off a magical beam of fire as hot as the sun. It went through several Wereponies. She continued, "I realize that, and if they weren’t attacking and wrecking our city, or if there was a more peaceful way of resolving this, I wouldn’t ask you to do this.”

“But Operation Crossbow is the last resort for a reason. Even I myself don’t know exactly how it works.”

“It’s a forbidden spell that my mentor Starswirl the Bearded warned me not to do, but I see no way out of it. In order to save Equestria, we must lose Canterlot.” Then Celestia said in her Canterlot voice, “You have your orders. Now, go!"

"Yes, ma'am!" He saluted the white alicorn and yelled to all of the guards that could hear him. "Men, we’re initiating Operation Crossbow!"

All of the guards nearby replied, "Yes, sir!"

Captain Trail shouted, "Wait for my signal!" And with that, he prepared to fly to the throne room where Celestia's secret room was located. Before he could give the signal, tough, a flying Werepony tackled him, hunger burning in its eyes. The only reason he survived was because of his quick reflexes. As he threw his enemy into a cloud, he realized he couldn't complete his orders while this thing kept attacking him, so again, he was forced to fight.





"We're almost there!" Twilight called as she, Rainbow, and Pinkie galloped to the castle. The purple alicorn used her magic to push the gates open and galloped straight through the front gates.

But still, the Wereponies continued to follow them, focused on their meal running into the castle courtyard. They decided to stop the chase by land at the castle’s front door.

Twilight, Rainbow and Pinkie stopped in their tracks and began to back away as the Werepony's approached them in a predatory way. Then Twilight yelled and brought up her front hooves in defense, but for some odd reason, the attack she was expecting didn't come. She lowered her hooves, expecting to see the Monsters. She did see them, but realized that one of them was enjoying…a bag full of cupcakes?

Then she heard the other one in the air saying, "Ow, my head! Hey, can you please slow down? I can barely see you when you go that fast!" The Werepony looked around and saw the Monster who came with him down on the ground, continuing to eat cupcakes. The airborne Werepony decided to resume looking for his little blue opponent. He spent several minutes looking for her. Every now and then, she would try to punch him again. Sometimes, he managed to dodge, and other times he got a horseshoe mark on his face. 

After the last kick to the face, he realized that his attacker was too fast to track. Then he looked back down and pointed one of his paws at the lazy Werepony who kept on eating the cupcakes. "Why are you eating that stuff? You know it's not going to satisfy your hunger."

The one lying on the floor continued to eat the cupcakes and said, "I know that; it's just, we're always moving from place to place, and we never settle down. The reason I'm eating these weird cake things is because that pink pony offered them to me. She told me that they would be delicious. How could I say no to that?"

"Because we are Wereponies! We cannot have a way of luxury! So please stop eating those things and go after something with a little more filling, like the blood of a pony."

The Werepony in the sky decided to kill Twilight, but before he could, he was blasted away by Pinkie’s party cannon. It sent him straight into a wall with all kinds of confetti.Pinkie did an aside to the audience, saying, "Oh yeah, we’re in a war. Silly me!" Then she hopped away, humming, "Lala la la la la la."

It didn't take Twilight long to notice that Rainbow Dash was defending her friends with her hyper fast speed, which she could do without breaking her wings. As she hit the dumber Monster and made him lose all of his cupcakes, she  yelled, "Don't! Mess! With! My! Friends!"

As Rainbow continued with her speed attacks on one Werepony, Pinkie Pie jumped high enough to appear right next to the more intelligent one. She gave him a gift and shouted, "Surprise!" The Monster looked confused as he took the gift. It was a small box with pink wrapping paper and a light blue bow tied on the top. He grew curious as to what was inside. His curiosity took over as he tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box. Somehow, that same pink mare popped out of the box with two cupcakes in her hooves, yelling, "Double Surprise!" The pink mare threw one cupcake after the other at him as fast as a machine gun. It was so messy he started to lose his balance. He heard the pink mare laugh maniacally through the stream of cupcakes being pelted at him, and then he slipped on one of them and slammed onto the floor.





Black Fall walked through the streets. There was no pony anywhere.

'Well, I think it's time for some revenge, don't you agree?' A voice inside her head said.

'Alright, but just remember, we don't kill the innocent,' the Ex-Hunter told her inner demon.

'Right. It's not like we're in the middle of a battlefield,' the spear said sarcastically. 'Oh, wait, yes we are. And from what I recall, anything can go in the heat of battle.'

'Grr, why are you always like this? Why do you want blood all the time when you're just a spear that I carry around?'

'Always with the questions. Tell you what, I'll give you an answer when you find somepony to kill.'

Black Fall didn't reply, but continued to walk down the streets of Canterlot.
> Fight of the Present Part Three
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back on the battlefield, several Unicorns, Earth ponies, and Pegasus were trying their best to defeat this new enemy, but it was nearly impossible. The only advantage they had was the magic wielded by the Unicorns. Celestia knew, though, that they couldn't win this war with just magic. "So, it has come to this," the Princess of the Sun whispered. Then she charged up her horn and flew into the night sky. She hovered underneath the moon and then unleashed her magic. Every Werepony and Solar guard witnessed her summon her Alicorn magic. Five of the flying Monsters decided to kill her, but before they could do that, Celestia’s magic became so bright, it blinded them. Not being able to see, they decided to fly away from her.

Captain Trail enjoyed the show with his Monster pinned to the wall. "So, this is the power of an Alicorn,” he said. “I never thought that I and every pony here would be able to see it." His viewing session was cut short, however, as the Monster kept going at him, started to break his hold. Thinking quickly, Captain Trail drew his sword and prepared for another dance of claws.

Up in the sky, Celestia was magically equipped in war armor that hadn't been used in centuries. It would still protect her though. The previous owner of the sun armor had assured her that as long as the sun was hers to command, the armor would remain good as new. The sun armor’s helm had a crown design to match her headpiece. On the armor, there were several markings where one could see the pure golden-yellow magical sunlight in it. And underneath her wings was a hidden wing blade, in case she needed it to protect herself.

She raised her golden pike and several blades of pure sunlight magic appeared. Then, she swung her pike down and the blades charged at the Wereponies. Each magical blade killed one of the Wereponies. Then she pointed her pike down at the wounded Solar guards and a beam of pure sunlight magic fired out of it and landed right on the ponies. An explosion went off, creating a cloud of gold. As the cloud disappeared, it revealed a magical barrier, and the ponies who were severely injured were up and ready for round two, their wounds instantly vanishing; they walked out and joined the fight. As the armor Celestia landed, she said to herself, "Hopefully this will be enough to turn the tide."





Meanwhile, at the Canterlot castle courtyard, a very loyal Rainbow kept on zipping around and hitting the Werepony in the face. She hit him several more times before he fell to the floor, right next to the other Werepony who was covered in cupcakes.

Thinking quickly, Rainbow flew very fast in a circle around them several times, forming a tornado of rainbows. As the tornado grew, the Wereponies became dizzier and dizzier. For good measure, Rainbow decided to deliver multiple punches and kicks to them inside the tornado. Then, at one point when Rainbow delivered a punch to one of the Werepony’s stomaches, she immediately regretted the punch, as that Monster belched out several cupcakes. 

Pinky said outside of the tornado, "Don't worry! It'll wash off! Oh! That reminds me!" The pink mare bounced off to a big spinning wheel with different hours shown around the border. Pinkie was in a red and yellow striped vest and a straw hat. She spoke into the pink blow horn she held in her hoof. "Come one, come all! Take your chance on the spinning wheel of time! Guess how long Rainbow Dash can continue this tornado!"

Twilight walked up to Pinkie and said, "I think it will be two hours, but that's dependent on how much energy Rainbow has in her body right now. I don't want to underestimate her, for I have seen her devour a hoof-long daisy sub sandwich in seven minutes flat."

Pinkie looked at the tornado and called out, "What about you two? You who are currently trapped in the tornado?"

The dumb one replied, "Um, I think about a day, maybe?"

The more intelligent one said, "I think it will- ow! Be an hour an- ow! And 72 minutes- ow!"

Pinkie bounced back to the wheel of time and said, "If that's all of the guesses, then I will delay no longer! Let the spinning of the wheel begin! And we’ll see who guessed right!" 

Using her pink tail, Pinkie spun the wheel. It went very fast at first, but then it began to slow down, and Pinkie said in her hyperactive voice, "Do I have an hour? Or an hour and 30 minutes? Is it two hours and 25 minutes? And it's- it's!” 

The wheel of time stopped at an hour and 30 seconds, and Pinky yelled at the reader. "You read this right, fillies and colts, it's an hour and 30 seconds!" Then Pinky lifted her watch with her hoof and said, "Which should be right now!"

Rainbow kept it up for an hour, but she got a little winded and stopped, zooming to the nearest bathroom to wash the barf off of her. Once she was done washing, she landed next to her friends.

The Wereponies looked dizzy and knocked out with countless bruises and hoof marks. Twilight walked over to them and lit up her horn, summoning purple magical chains that clamped onto the Wereponies’ paws and wrapped around them so they would have a difficult time trying to fly away. As Twilight looked into them, she could see their corrupted souls. It made her cry and she said, "Oh, you poor innocent souls. You two didn't deserve this. You were supposed to live a pony life, laughing with friends and chugging apple cider from a bar. You weren’t supposed to be twisted into these things that would make you hungry forever."

Rainbow asked, "Um, Twilight? What are you doing?" When Rainbow asked this, Twilight’s eyes started to glow orange.

Pinky answered Rainbow’s question, "Oh, oh, she's doing her Alicorn thing where she can see the souls of the ponies around her."

Twilight continued speaking with much sadness in her voice. "Yes, I can see that you two didn't want this, but it happened to you a long time ago."

Rainbow aimed a puzzled look at Twilight and asked, "How long have you-“

BOOM!

Twilight and her friends heard several explosions happening all over the place. The earth started to crack, and those cracks in the earth made their way into the castle courtyard, moving to three areas. One at the door, another by the tower of Star Swirl the Bearded, and the third went to the Canterlot hedge maze. Then three explosions of magical force went off. One went off at the front gate, which exploded with fire and collapsed the front entrance to the courtyard. Another magical explosion went off by the tower of Star Swirl the Bearded resulting in icicle projectiles that shot straight at Twilight and her friends.

The purple Alicorn couldn't do anything to stop what was happening, so she decided to spread her wings to shield her friends. The icicles scratched and pierced her for a minute, and then she sat down and used her magic to pull out all of the icicles that had penetrated her wings and coat. Her friends on the other hoof were fine; a little shocked that she was so immediately willing to protect them from the icicles, but fine nonetheless.

Back at the tower, thick snow covered half of everything.  The explosion that went off near the maze contained lightning and caused the hedge maze to catch fire.

Twilight got up and stopped soul staring. She used her levitation spell to toss the two Wereponies toward a wall. She then raised a magical shield.

As the shield came up, eight Monsters came out of the holes from the explosions. Four regular Wereponies ran straight at the three ponies, but the magical shield was protecting them. The other four Wereponies, however, had their horns powered up.  With deadly magic, they aimed and fired unfocused beams of magic at the shield.

Under the constant strain of attack and through gritted teeth, Twilight said, "To answer your question, Rainbow, I learned soul searching from Celestia. She said that the more I used it to learn about somepony, the quicker I could understand them and become friends with them."

Rainbow replied with a nod as the Wereponies and the two flying Wereponiess came right up to the shield and, using their claws and teeth, started slashing and biting at it. Each of these enemies looked hungry, and Twilight’s magical shield started to crack.





A mixture of Unicorns and Earth ponies ran together as a big group of pony civilians. They were being guarded by the Solar guards as they made their way to the Barracks. 

As they ran, Sugar Mist, a dark purple stallion with a black mane, said, “This is crazy! First, we have Monsters who want to do nothing except eat everypony. Then, it turns out that our beloved Princess is not as helpless as we thought. She is easily dispatching several of them while protecting and rapidly healing the injured.”

A red Unicorn with an orange mane replied, “It appears so, but for now the best thing we can do is try to survive this crisis and save as many civilians as we can.”

“But what’s the point in even trying to save them if they will eventually-“

Sugar Mist didn’t have time to finish his sentence because the red Unicorn powered up her horn and used her green magic to shut his mouth. In a green flash, she teleported them both to the back of the group. They waited until the rest of the ponies were a good distance away before speaking. “Are you trying to get all of us killed? Because saying out loud that it’s hopeless is one way of doing it!”

Sugar Mist sat down and stared at the ground in defeat. “I’m sorry, Summer Spell,” he said, ”But you can’t deny that they are thinking the same thing.”

The Solar mare shook her head as she said, “I know, and ever since the games got interrupted, I have started to question some things. But I’m going to do the right thing, and for now, the right thing to do is to save as many ponies as I can. Because I believe this is the way to save Canterlot.”

“I know this is the right thing, even though I’m not in the Solar Guard like you are.  I have gone one day after the other seeing satisfied customers leave the store. I also know that they are worth it. But all of this does leave me with more questions. Like what else is Celestia hiding? And how do we live through the day knowing that there’s something out there that wants to eat us?”

“I know what you mean! Like, how have we lived so peacefully with no knowledge of creatures such as these!” Summer Spell paused for a moment. When she looked at Sugar Mist again, she saw fear in his eyes. She then glanced upwards and saw that her horn was pulsing green. Realizing what was about to happen and knowing that he was afraid of her uncontrollable magic, she moved quickly in an effort to not blow them both up. She fired her magic into the sky; it flew about 20 miles out before it blew up with a sound like a cracking explosion. She closed her eyes and began to take deep breaths to calm herself down.  

When she was convinced that she was calm and her emotions were in check, Summer Spell said “I’m sorry, Sugar Mist. I lost control, and that never happens. Like, at all. Can you please forgive me?”

The Earth pony answered, “Apology accepted, though I’m not sure I know exactly what almost happened.”

“Well,” Summer Spell said, “to put it simply, all Unicorns’ magic is only as strong as their emotions; I almost let my emotions take over. But it was a good thing that I realized what was going on before it was too late, because if I didn’t- Well, anything could happen. Now, let’s get back to the topic at hand. There may be more than Celestia hasn’t shared, and it’s probably too much for anyone to know.” Summer Spell vented by destroying a nearby wall. Once the wall was down, she said, “I’m starting to rethink the decisions that I’ve made so far.”

Multiple explosions went off nearby, and Sugar Mist said, “Well, that will have to wait. Because right now, we need to find a safe place.”

Summer Spell replied, “Right. OK, quick question for you: are you familiar with the military protocols for situations like this?”

With an apologetic look, the Earth pony answered, “Nope, I have no idea.”

The Unicorn face hoofed before she said, “I guess I and the few guards that came with us did the right thing by not charging at them head on. We will handle it.” 

In a flash of green, she teleported them both back to the front of the group, and they quickly and carefully galloped closer to the Barracks.
> Fight of the Present Part Four
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the noble street, Black Fall walked around. Her spear forced her to show the ponies their deepest nightmares. And if any of them ran out, she would end their life right there. But she kept asking herself, "Do I need this?" She pondered for a moment, then asked the power of the spear, ' Why do we cut down everyone that we see?'

' Because if you don't, then it would be all for nothing! You'll turn back into a weakling!' The spear said a little worriedly, 'Don’t you love the power? Do you not enjoy torturing those who have wronged you?'

With a frustrated look, she mentally responded, ' Yes, I do want to make those who have wronged me suffer!' She calmed down and continued. ' But you have me going after the innocent, the ones who have done nothing to me.' She raised an eyebrow at her spear. ' Why do you want me to kill ponies that I’ve never met?'

Several seconds passed by and nothing happened besides a random Noble running by outside. He tripped and fell to the street, but quickly recovered and backed away as if someone was in front of him. He said in a fearful voice, "No, no, this can't be real. You're supposed to be dead. My henchpony killed you." 

The Noble turned and saw a fabrication of his nightmare; whoever he saw, it must have been someone he trusted. Perhaps his wife, because he then said, "Red Ruby, what are you doing here? It's not safe. Somehow, this ruffian came back from the dead." Then the Noble got up, ran over to Black Fall, and hugged her. It was a nice embrace, but she decided to end it by using the spear of the First Hunter to impale the Noble in the head. As his blood spilled out of his body, it soaked the spear. Black Fall saw the light in the Noble’s eyes go dark when the spear said, 'I don't want to disappear.'





Captain Trail tackled a Werepony down to the ground as it snapped its jaw at him. But the stallion continued his plan despite seeing the full inside of a Werepony’s mouth. He slammed it to the ground, A purple Earth pony helped him turn the Monster around, though not without some resistance. They responded in kind as the mare used her super strength to dislocate its shoulder and pin it to the ground. The Werepony struggled under the super strength of the Earth pony while Captain Trail pulled it over to a rock He then banged its head several times into the rock until the Monster was out cold. The two ponies backed away while a nearby blue Unicorn lit up his horn with a lightning spell to kill it.

"Captain, we are gaining more ground," the same purple Earth pony mare said to him confidently.

Blazing Trail face-hoofed and said, "That may be true, but we have failed to save the civilians of this capital city."

"What do you mean?" the blue Unicorn asked.

Captain Trail pointed his hoof towards Canterlot. "We may have regained the stadium, but during the battle, dozens of Wereponies ran into the streets and entered the homes of ponies, giving them grisly deaths. Or they simply cast fire spells into homes, causing the ponies inside to be burned alive."

The Earth Pony and Unicorn both said, "Oh yeah, that is pretty bad."

"Well, I'm just glad that you two caught on." Blazing Trail picked up a sword and said, "Half of Canterlot is now on fire." With that, Captain Trail flapped his wings and flew to where Celestia was.

As Captain Trail soared through the sky, he started to make his way to the castle of Canterlot. It took him many hours as he passed many streets. Some streets revealed Wereponys emerging from the ground. Others displayed the aftermath of a recent explosion. And a few streets were just blazing with flames. The reason Captain Trail wasn’t flying to the castle was because it was too risky. Any of those Monsters could easily spot him and chase after him, which could quickly ruin Celestia’s plan. So he had to play it safe and travel by hoof. But unfortunately for him, Wereponies were also on the ground and he was nearly seen several times. Luck, however, seemed to be on his side. As he dashed from one building to the next, he found the only upside of travel by hoof: the destroyed buildings provided him with an excellent maze to easily lose those Monsters. Eventually, after losing the sixth Werepony that tried to follow him, he came to a clearing. Within the clearing, he saw a truly horrific sight: piles of bodies upon piles of bodies; some of the unfortunates seemed to have been burned alive while others had been torn to pieces.

“I think he went this way,” said a nearby Werepony.

Thinking quickly, Blazing Trail did something he felt he would truly regret and dived into the massive pile of rotting corpses. He could feel something very squishy; innards and parts of bodies that he didn’t want to know about. He stood strong and made sure that his head was poking out so he could breathe. To ensure that the Wereponies didn’t grab him on sight, he played dead.

Several paws slowed down as they entered the area, and then the same Monster said, “I can still smell him. He can’t be too far.”

“Oh, please! We all know you can’t smell him,” said a mare Werepony as she continued forward. “The idea that any of us can smell ponies is misleading. The only thing we can smell is their blood, and considering where we’re standing, there’s a lot of spilled blood.”

“Oh, come on! I know I saw him, and who knows? Maybe he accidentally cut himself?”

The mare pointed her paw at him. “You’re just chasing shadows and assuming that there is one here, when really it’s a pack member playing tricks on you.”

“Why, you little…” It looked like the Monster was about to strike her but his paw was shaking. And as quickly as he raised his paw he slammed it to the ground, creating a spider crack. Then he said a bit more calmly, “You’re probably right. It’s just…I want something better to do than guard one of the five piles of bodies we placed in this area of the city.”

The mare hugged him before saying, “I know you want to do more, but there’s a reason why we’re in this position. Frozen Fang knows you’re a screw up. All we can do is hope for an opportunity to reveal itself.” Slowly, but surely, the small group of Monsters made their way out of the area to hunt something else.

Blazing Trail climbed out of the pile of bodies. Blood stained his coat, and with a sickening splat, a lump of another pony’s coat slipped off of him to the ground. 

“Eww, never again,” he muttered. And flying up to a rooftop, he looked around and saw a lot of carnage and craters from explosions. In some of the craters, he saw more huge piles of burned and butchered ponies. If he had to guess, he thought it seemed that the Monsters were saving some bodies for later. He did his best not to vomit after taking in this sickly sight. Eventually, he reoriented himself and located Canterlot castle. After jumping down to street level and making a mental note of where the castle was he swiftly galloped towards it again, leaving behind the horror of what was left of the clearing.

Blazing Trail was about halfway to the castle with two or three Solar guards behind him. Just as the Solar guards had suddenly appeared, they quickly disappeared to join another battle that was happening in another corner. Captain Trail had just reached the Noble level when suddenly, an explosion of lightning, fire, and ice blasted in front of him, causing him to soar backwards. After a couple of seconds went by, he regained consciousness and was about to get up. However, a Werepony's paws pinned him to the ground, and just as the Monster was about to take a good chunk out of him, a beam as hot as the sun struck the creature.

Blazing Trail looked up and saw several Wereponies running into a bright light that he recognized as Celestia's power. She was resplendent in her golden armor and had begun to defend herself. As she summoned several magical blades of golden light, two of them blocked the Monster's attacks, and the other four sliced and pierced the Creatures. Then, as quick as a river flows, they disintegrated into nothing. Captain Trail moved closer to the light and thought, 'Well, it looks like her majesty is doing well.'

Captain Trail began galloping toward the light source, assuming that the Alicorn of the Sun was not acting ironically.. He guessed that the Princess didn't want her School for Talented Unicorns to be destroyed. The school building had five floors and a flat rooftop. Normally, there would be no one on the roof, but ever since Monsters brought down the fire and brimstone, Celestia herself, with several other Unicorns, had taken up positions on top of the roof to shoot down any Werepony that dared to come close to the building.

The testing tower where prospective students had to pass an entry test was now constantly glowing with magical power, thanks to a small group of Unicorns who were creating and maintaining a teleporting ring. If a Monster was able to dodge all the spells being fired and cross the ring, they would get immediately teleported outside of the capital city. However, this was a high-level spell, even for a student of Celestia to master. And it takes an exorbitant amount of magical power to maintain it. Even now, the eight Unicorn students were struggling to stay awake to keep the spell power up. But eventually, one of the unicorn students would collapse to the ground. And when they did, two Earth ponies were ready to take that pony away to the school's cafeteria for some well-deserved rest. The two Solar guards who were present would tell the other Unicorns to help keep the spell up.

When things weren’t so chaotic, the tower was usually used for some kind of test that would allow for a blank flank to assume its cutie mark. But at present, the building was a temporary safe zone where ponies who had managed to get away from those Monsters could feel safe and hide. 

The Solar Captain thought to himself, 'I wonder how many more safe zones are set up? I suppose I'll ask Celestia that question.'

Captain Trail took off into the sky and glided toward the school. He noticed that there were several burn marks on the building and a couple of small holes in the walls. As Blazing Trail flew toward the Princess, he saw several colorful mixes of Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies who were inside the school hallways and gymnasium. Two Earth ponies were keeping the school’s front doors open for a group of ponies being chased by some Wereponies. However, every one of the Monsters were shish kebabed by a magical sword of Celestia’s. She wasn't allowing any Wereponies in or near her school as her valor and overly motherly protection for her ponies took hold. And if there's one thing you didn’t want to do, it was get in front of a mother's wrath. But unfortunately, the rest of the capital city was now the Wereponies' feeding ground. They were doing nothing but killing ponies and destroying buildings.

Captain Trail landed on the roof of the school. But as he touched down, he felt strange; buzzy, like an electrical current was coursing through him, starting in his hoofs.

Celestia said, "My students have a good knowledge of magical space manipulation and redirection, and that knowledge has resulted in protection covering the entire building."

Suddenly, several balls of fire came shooting straight at the building. The students who were on the roof let loose a barrage of spells of fire, water, lightning, and ice; some of them missed their targets, but the rest of them hit. Water drenched the fireballs, then ice, fire, and lightning blew up what was left of them. As for the few fireballs that got through, they were blocked by a magical barrier which appeared on contact. A magical wave ran through the entire building, clinging to every area that got hit. After the wave finished spreading around the building, it started to fade away before it finally disappeared.

The Princess of the Sun spoke. "By using their magic together, they can block any attack. And if those Monsters get any funny ideas about entering the school, then they will have to try to get through the teleporting ring. If they try to get past the ring, it will teleport them far away from here. You see, it only allows ponies in.  

Celestia’s voice took a disappointed turn. “I see that you have yet to commence with Operation Crossbow."

Captain Trail looked at Celestia as she killed several Monsters who had used their horns to levitate some large pieces of debris to make an unstable staircase in an effort to reach her. She raised her pike and easily summoned several swords made of pure magic with golden flames dancing on each of them and sent them flying at the Monsters.

Blazing Trail cleared his throat and said with worry in his words, "I’m sorry, your highness. But even if I do accomplish that mission, there are just too many of those Creatures, and the situation will get worse by the minute. There’s no guarantee that these Monsters will leave the civilians alone, and as your Captain of the Solar Guard, I strongly urge you to consider evacuating the city.”

The white Alicorn finished off the last Werepony who was trying to slice through her armor. The only thing that Monster got a taste of was her pike. The Beast quickly disintegrated. 

Celestia lowered her head defeatedly. "Okay, I guess we are running then. Captain, spread-”

"What's wrong with you guys!? Don't you know that the fate of the universe is at stakein this battle!?" A young,  frustrated voice called out from somewhere unseen.

The Princess stopped and listened as she heard a different voice, a more cheery voice, say, "Oh, don't be like that, Henry. I get what you mean, though. I thought I'd never see the day when our glorious Princess would run with her tail between her legs."

At this point, both ponies heard the voices and started to look around. The first voice, now a little calmer, replied, "What do you expect? She's a leader, and she must put her ponies before herself."

Celestia yelled, "Hey! Whoever you are, show yourselves! I know you are not Discord!"

A third and older voice responded, "You seem trustworthy. I suppose we will show ourselves."

With that, a black crack in the air began to form until it was wide enough for a pony to walk through. Celestia recognized the magic from when she fought and killed Sombra. A dark blue Umbrum head came out, his black flowing mane very similar to Celestia’s own mane and tail.

The Umbrum looked at her and said, "Trust me, I can help you."

l

Back down in the common population street levels, a group of silent ponies quickly moved through the streets of Canterlot. They had a couple of close calls, and they saw several streets that were either empty, burning away by fire, or containing  bodies of ponies crumpled up where they had fallen. The passing ponies had to cover the fillies' eyes to keep them from seeing the horrors in the streets. Several explosions went off close by as they got out of the streets and made it to the Barracks.

Crystal Breeze, a light blue Pegasus with a lavender mane and tail  had decided to stick around and protect this group, though she really wanted to fly up and scout ahead. Summer Spell had told her that it would be a bad idea and she agreed. Even if Crystal did scout ahead, she wouldn’t be able to fly back to tell them because that would run the risk of several Monsters seeing her. So, Crystal decided to go on hoof so she wouldn’t get them discovered. Staying on the ground, though, was difficult for her, because Crystal was a Pegasus. Normally, Pegasi prefer to stay at least several meters in the air. It was hard, but she fought her urge to fly, as they came closer to the military facility.

When they were within sight of the Barracks, Summer Spell said to the Solar guards who came with them, “Ok, you three in the back, keep this group safe. As for you four.” She pointed her hoof at two Unicorns, an Earth pony, and Crystal Breeze, all of whom were in the Solar Guard. “You four are with me. We’re going to secure the Barracks before we let them in.”

A brown Earth pony with a white mane asked, “How come we have to wait here for your signal when we could easily secure it faster if we all go in?”

Summer Spell turned around to address the civilians. “Alright, let’s say we all go in at the same time. What happens if we find nothing but a horde of Wereponies inside? It would be too little and too late to back out of it.”

The crowd of ponies' eyes widened in fear as Crystal Breeze added, "And let's not forget about the blood they’ve already spilled so far. Just thinking about something like that should keep you from going forward with a really stupid idea like the one you just suggested."

"That’s correct, Crystal Breeze. It would be a bloodbath. We're mostly civilians here, and we would all die from the Wereponies. All it would take is a single jump from them and we would be history." Summer's face became serious as she continued. "You have a choice: play it safe or play it sorry."

The now shaking ponies all quickly agreed to the play-it-safe option. Then, Summer Spell and four other Solar guards turned around and walked into the Barracks.
> Fight of the Present part five
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the Umbrum jumped out of the black portal, the Princess of the Sun immediately decided she didn't like where this was going. The Umbrum was holding a sword that reeked of dark magic with green and purple flames coming from it. His pure black armor was worse; it had smoke coming out of it. The armor was making her feel weak and worthless, and it probably was right.  

Thankfully, something else caught her attention just then. She heard, "Don't you think we could come up with a better way to travel besides your way?" a black Pegasus said as he flew out of the shadow portal. Celestia got a better look at the black Pegasus as he landed behind the Umbrum. He looked familiar with his yellow mane and tail. But he looked a bit different in red leather armor with the white words Blazing Glory emblazoned across his chest. On his back, a heavy sword was buzzing with electricity as if it wanted to be used right then and there. In his hoof, two daggers were glowing green with poison. Mowgli walked over to Arkantos's right.

"Listen, Mom, for the millionth time, I told you I'm hanging out with friends, so could you please stop nagging me about getting a job. I don't want one. My life is video games." He made a small box in his magic disappear.

Celestia's jaw dropped as she stared at an Alicorn that she and her captain didn't recognize. However, she did recall what happened after Twilight completed Star Swirl the Bearded’s spell; somehow that book disappeared and a magical wave spread throughout Equestria. Anypony who happened to be friends with three kinds of ponies would cause a magical feedback which would target them and transform that pony into an Alicorn.

As Celestia regained her cool, she looked at the stallion with the knowledge that he had no title to his name. His coat color was red with puddles of white. His mane and tail were a mixture of black, dark blue, and dark green. He was also wearing armor which appeared to be silver with orange glowing runes on it. It looked like it was light and easy to move around in, but it was hard to see all of it since he was wearing a cloak over the armor. He had a staff in one hoof and a big saddle bag on his back, which contained two large books. Only Alicorn knew. what was written inside them and how many spells they contained. His eyes were yellow. As he moved to the left, he asked in a young voice, "Could you possibly find a better way for us to travel besides your shadow portal jump? Because for a second I thought that we would end up on the other side of Equestria."

The Umbrum looked annoyed as he glanced at the Alicorn beside him and replied, "I told you. It's fast and efficient. So stop complaining, Henri, and enjoy the fact that we are right here in the middle of a battlefield. Please just enjoy yourself."

The Pegasus of the group said, "I'm with our friend here, because remember that one time when you were supposed to bring us to the tropical isles of Equestria but you-," Mowgli pointed his hoof at Arkantos, "miscalculated, and we ended up in the Hippogriff mountains!"

Arkantos turned around and said, "Can we talk about this later, when we're not in the presence of royalty?"

Mowgil replied, "Sure, but we will talk about this later, right?" He then looked at the Alicorn next to him.

"Well, I'm going back to my house when we're done here, so fine." The Alicorn flipped his wings and powered up his horn, then flew into the battlefield.

"Thank you!" Arkantos called. Then he turned around and apologized to Celestia, "Sorry about that. We have done this several times, but there are still a few mistakes."

"A few mistakes? How about several mistakes?" the black Pegasus muttered.

The Umbrum replied, "Oh, c’mon! Let's not bicker about this, ok?"

Captain Trail, lost for words, said, "Um, what?"

Celestia said, "I recognize you! I saw you two at the stadium before… Um, before…"

Mowgli answered, "Before all hell broke loose."

"Well, when you put it like that, yeah," the Alicorn of the Sun said.

Arkantos spoke again, "Anyway, the reason why we are here is because we're planning to help by getting that bird brain over there," the Umbrum pointed his hoof at Blaze Trail, "to your throne room. But since we have very little time, we can't waste it here." 

Using his shadow magic, Arkantos created a second shadow portal, then levitated and tossed Captain Trail into it. The Umbrum jumped in next, followed by Mowgli.

A few hours had passed since her Captain was teleported to the castle; at least, that was what the Alicorn thought. But now wasn't the time to think about it. Celestia used a beam of fire with the burning rage of the sun to kill more Wereponies, who quickly disintegrated into nothing. Celestia pondered for a moment before she yelled in her magically amplified Canterlot voice, "Citizens of Canterlot! Hear me! The City is Lost, so I Decree That You Save Yourselves! And Abandon The City. For Any Solar Guards Left, Your Primary Mission is to Protect Civilians And Kill Any Monster That Gets in Your Way!" 

As the last word resounded, two Wereponys decided to attack her together, but she simply decapitated them with her golden pike. They quickly disintegrated. "You call that an attack!?” she yelled. “Ha, please! I got way more impressive attempts of killing me from that tyrant King Sombra.

Several Solar guards took off into the air to look for anypony that needed their help. However, half of them became occupied by the flying Wereponies. 

Then something unexpected happened; a white bullet zipped through the air. Before they knew it, almost every Pegasus that took off into the air was now on the ground with their wings torn off. After seeing the brutal attack from an unknown white thing, Celestia decided to follow the lethal flying object, which was waiting for her at the front gate of the capital city.





The Monsters continued butchering and destroying Canterlot. Amidst the terror, on one of Canterlot's towers in the area of the common section, a shadow portal opened up and Captain Trail, Arkantos, and Mowgli came out of it. The Captain felt like he had just trailed through a blizzard with no snow gear on. It was the worst experience he had ever had, and he decided it would be the last time he would travel that way. 

As Captain Trail shivered and rubbed his fur to get some warmth back, Arkantos said, "I still don't see what the big deal is. It's just a small breeze. You can easily regain your body temperature by utilizing that yellow orb in the sky you call a sun."

Blaze Trail shivered and asked, "Please, tell me we're at the castle?"

The Umbrum replied, "Hm, I didn't think Celestia would be so humble that her castle is just a single tower."

Mowgli said, "Bro I don't think we're at her castle."

"You sure? Because I think she can be very humble and maybe she distributed all of her treasury to her ponies. That's probably why so many of them live happily in her land."

Mowgli pointed his hoof at the actual castle which was several miles away. "Because I think that castle over there is hers, the one with a giant symbol of the sun."

"Oh. Whoops," Arkantos said.

Captain Trail face-hoofed and mumbled, "You gotta be kidding me."

Arkantos replied, "Oh, well, guess we're going back into the shadow realm."

Before he could summon another portal, Captain Trail tackled the Umbrum and said, "No! We're not doing that because I don't like going through a blizzard again. We're going to fly there whether you like it or not. Understand!"

As the Solar Captain got off of the Umbrum, Mowgli said, "I agree with him, because you always find the wrong place to jump out. So, no more shadow portals from now on."

Arkantos narrowed his eyes and with frustration, cleared his throat and said, "Very well, if you wish to unleash the storm, then unleash the storm we will." With that, Arkantos's form became smoky and cloudy; his dark blue coat evaporated into smoke and his green eyes and his horn became bigger. Part of the cloud, the massive cloud, started to generate green and purple lightning that zapped from one part of the cloud to the other. The massive cloud that was Arkanto's head said very loudly, "Well, what are you waiting for, an invitation?" The massive cloud drifted closer to Canterlot.

Mowgli looked at Captain Trail and grinned. "You should see the look on your face." With that, he flew upward. Blaze Trail shook his head, drew his sword and flew into the morning sky to catch up to the Umbrum and the Pegasus. 





The team flew over the Barracks. If the Solar Guard had looked up, they would have seen them flying over and tried to get their attention.

Several hours went by as Summer and the other Solar guards searched the Barracks from corner to corner, looking for any breach in the building itself. Summer and two other Unicorns use their horns to scan each room. One of them walked into and scanned the living quarters. Another went down into the basement and Summer entered the main building of the Barracks to scan it. Though a Unicorn’s magic could confirm that there were no breaches, it didn't mean that breaches didn't physically exist.

Crystal Breeze flew all over the Barracks and the only breach that she saw was in the form of a series of holes in the roof. And the Earth pony, upon going up in the tower to get a higher point of view, saw that the wall was a little chipped at the top. It was still in good condition, though. All that was needed was a little bit of reinforcing. He easily made his way back down the stairs and out of the tower to the wall."All clear. No breaches detected so far."

A Unicorn galloped up the stairs that led to the basement and ran into the main building, and a white Unicorn named Winter Bolt made his way to Summer Spell, saying, "I have found a magical breach. It's a two-way portal to an area that seems to be underground, but I’m not exactly sure where."

Summer Spell asked, "How do you know that?" Quickly, she realized how he knew and immediately face-hoofed. She continued. "Did you do something careless again?"

Winter scratched the back of his head before replying. "Well, I did poke my head through, and I saw caverns and-"

He was interrupted when Summer got into his personal space, a terrifying look on her face, and said ferociously, "You do realize that this was careless behavior, and the last thing I need is careless behavior?"

Winter pushed Summer back and said, "Fine! Fair enough! But before you take drastic measures, the portal kind of feels like Luna's magic at work."

Summer backed up and sat down on one of the stone thrones, looking at Winter Bolt’s light blue mane. "You're saying that the only breach here is a two-way portal?" she said.

Winter pondered for a moment before answering, "Well, yes, but it's an easy fix. We just have to seal off the basement."

It wasn't long before Crystal Breeze entered the main building and Summer said, "You," she pointed at the light blue Pegasus. "Give the all clear to the group."

Crystal quickly acknowledged her by saluting and answering, "Yes, Ma'am," before flying out of the barracks through the large double doors.





It took them several hours to successfully seal the basement off. Most of the Ponies were in the Barracks. When they went into the main building, several of them wanted to help defend the area.

Summer Spell asked, "So, let me get this straight. You lot are volunteering for this?" All of the Ponies confirmed that they were. 

Summer continued, "Ok, first off, have any of you ever fought for your life?"

Before any pony could answer that question, a pink stallion replied, "Well, it's no secret that we’ve never fought for our lives. But we can learn pretty quickly."

"Well, no offense, but these things will kill you if they are given the chance. And what's the best you can do? Form into a giant mob and try trampling the Beasts over?"

Several ponies started talking amongst themselves. Some developed little fear in their eyes, but that quickly changed when somepony said, "We may fear for the worst, but we also know courage and community. Trust me, you'd be surprised at what a small group can do with the right tools."

The ponies stepped aside to reveal the stallion who was speaking. "Even you!” he continued, “the one who wisely led us here in this chaos, you even feared for the worst and that didn’t stop you." 

A few seconds went by, filled with nothing but silence. Then Sugar continued, "No! You made sure we all made it to this place."

Summer Spell glared at Sugar Mist and said, "Tread carefully. You're walking dangerously close to the edge."

Sugar turned around and pointed to a random pony and a Solar guard, saying, "We're all ponies. We all have our own lives." He turned back to Summer. "So, Summer Spell, you better think twice before dismissing us as useless."

Sugar Mist's words did get through to the Solar Unicorn then, and she said, "Fine. Crystal Breeze! Instruct these civilians in the most basic forms of combat!"
> Fight of the Present Part Six
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The journey to the castle wasn't very quiet, especially when five Wereponies attacked them. However, they couldn't kill Arkantos since he is invincible in his current form. He attacked them with green lightning strikes and fear spells. He looked at his brother and said as several Wereponies swerved around him, "You see? This. This is why I don't like to take on this form. I prefer to be challenged. If I'm being challenged, then I'm entertained, and if I'm entertaining, then I'm having fun. But since I'm not being challenged, this battle is proving to be boring.”

But Arkantos’s form didn't stop several Monsters from trying to attack Mowgli and Captain Trail. 

The Captain blocked and dodged his attackers, and then managed to ask, "Any ideas on how to beat these things?" 

Mowgli answered the Captain. "Yeah! Knock them into next week!" 

Suddenly, Mowgli moved as fast as Rainbow Dash and slammed down any kind of Werepony that attacked him leaving them out cold on the ground or stuck in the side of a wall. 

Captain Trail continued to block, which was about the only thing he could do. The fighting got worse as a Wereponies slashed at his sword hoof, causing him to lose his sword. Thinking quickly, he decided to fly away from that abomination. However, the Monster matched his speed. No matter how clever he thought he was by trying to lose it in the streets of Canterlot, it always managed to find him a second later. 

Blaze Trail did another roundabout and landed in the middle of the street. Not far behind him, six Wereponies landed. Three of them had armor on; he could tell from the constant metal creaking as they slowly approached him like cats hunting a mouse. Armed with only a shield, Blaze Trail charged shield first into one of the Wereponies on the left and continued to push her into a nearby building. As they made impact with the building, a spider crack formed in the wall, and it wasn’t long before several pieces of roof and wall came falling down right on top of them. Thinking quickly, Captain Trail flapped his wings hard and jumped back as debris buried the unconscious Monster.

The other Monsters took advantage of the situation and all charged at Blaze Trail. The closest one tried to take his shield, but it was orange and hot, like it had just come out of a furnace. The very next moment, a Weremare tried to grab the shield and cried out in great pain as the shield started to burn her flesh away. She quickly pulled her paws off of the shield, and Trail hit her with it, following the hit with a punch to the throat. He then slammed his shield into her side and landed five punches to the stomach. After that, he used his shield again to hit her in the face once more. With that final hit, she fell to the ground consumed by the pain and the burns on her body.

Blazing Trail saw the others charging at him, but before they could reach him, he flew up on top of a rooftop that wasn’t too damaged.

Two Wereponys quickly followed him up, then dove down right on him. Thinking quickly, he slammed his shield into the closest monster's face, causing him to lose his balance in flight and crash through the already burned spot. The Monster stood up again, ready to get back on the roof, but the attic floor began failing, making all manner of cracking sounds. ‘This isn’t my day,’ the monster thought. The attic floor quickly gave out, and when the monster landed on the next floor, that floor gave out as well, and the next floor after that. He kept going down until he landed in the basement, several pieces of broken floorboards spread about him. He was about ready to fly up when, suddenly, the bathroom sink came down and fell squarely on his head, causing him to get knocked out.

Up on the roof, a Pegasus and a Werepony played a dangerous game of tag. When the Monster tried to grab Captain Trail’s neck with it’s claws, Captain Trails managed to dive out of the way. But the dodge didn’t deter the Monster; he came after him again; however this time, the Solar captain was ready for it. As the Werepony went for a tackle, Blazing Trail managed to redirect the Monster's tackle toward a chimney. When the Werepony got up, Captain Trail punched it in the throat before grabbing the Monster's front paws. He swung him around three times before letting him go. The Werepony went sailing towards the city's wall. Flying upward, Blazing Trail charged with a shield and slammed into the Monster’s chest; however, the Monster was wearing armor, so the magic didn’t hurt him. But it did leave a melted imprint of the shield on his armor. After seeing that there was no damage done except for the armor, the Solar captain got frustrated. “Why don’t you just die already?” he exploded with anger. Losing his temper, the Solar captain delivered several punches and kicks to the Werepony. Feeling a little more satisfied, Blaze Trail grabbed one of the Monster’s wings and tossed him back to the street.

He hovered in the sky, and when the Werepony started to get up again, Blazing Trail got very frustrated and was ready to fight dirty. However he didn’t get the chance, as the other two Monsters rushed towards him. Before he knew what was happening, it was too late.

They both grabbed him by the legs with their claws, piercing his coat, and then they slammed him back first onto the street. Getting up slowly and painfully, the Solar captain prepared to fight, but he was too late again. A Werepony grabbed him by the neck and tossed him into another destroyed building. When he tried to get up again, he felt a great amount of pain. He checked himself and noticed that his body had been pierced by three rusty metal rods. Also, the edges of his armor had been bent. Some of the edges were bent outward, but seventy-five percent of the twisted metal that had been his armor dug into his coat. Blood started to stream down in the building.

Blaze Trail looked up and around and saw the Werepony he had previously buried getting out of the debris. His armor was bent out of use so he ripped it off. Suddenly, someone grabbed him and dragged him out of the building. When they reached the street, the Monster dropped him roughly. As Blaze Trail fell to the street, he managed to look up. He saw the second Monster with bruises and burns giving him a murderous look. She moved away from him and a puddle of crimson began to form around him.

Suddenly, as if it was written in a script from a bad action movie, a wall from the building behind him was suddenly blasted away. As the dust settled, another Werepony came out, dusting herself off to get rid of small pieces of debris. Across the street, Blazing Trail finished off his last opponent. He had gotten out of the hole, however his armor did have a slight imprint of his shield on it. He walked towards the other two, while they simply glided down to him, surrounding him yet again. Fear shone in his eyes as he truly believed that this would be the end.

Two of the Wereponys picked him up, and the other four stretched out their claws, ready to dig into their prey. 

But suddenly, a dark shadow blacked the street, almost like something was taking away most, but not all, of the lights. The only source of light took the form of a sword alive with dark green and purple flames. Blazing Trail managed to look at what was happening around them. Several black tentacles formed from shadows stretched out and grabbed the Solar captain; they dragged him right up next to the Umbrum. As Arkantos’s eyes stared at the Wereponies, Captain Trail, who is lying right next to him, said, “What are you doing here? You’re no match for these guys!”

Arkantos replied, “We are here to save your city, and if you die here then we can’t save it. Oh, and by the way, there’s a price to activate the fail-safe.” Blazing Trails' eyes widened, and the Umbrum continued. “A price that I’m not willing to pay.” Two Monsters charged at him, but the Umbrum held up his sword and slashed it. Both Wereponies crumbled into a pile of dust, as if they were never there. 

The other four Wereponites were flabbergasted when they saw that this pony had just killed two of them without breaking a sweat. Two more charged at him, one trying to tackle him, but instead of the part where the Monster is right on top of him, he went right through him as if he was nothing but a cloud of smoke. Arkantos stabbed the one that was still in front of him, saying “You thought that would work?” Then he decapitated the Monster.

Believing that the invulnerability came from seeing the target, the Werepony took a chance that didn’t reward him as he swiped fiercely at the Umbrum. However, the Monster might as well have been trying to attack a cloud for all the harm he was inflicting. Arkantos turned to face the Werepony and stabbed him through his armor into his gut before saying, “I’m in a whole new league compared to you guys.” 

Before the Monster could die, Arkantos continued, “Many forget what lingers in the dark.” And as fast as a river flows, the Werepony evaporated into smoke, leaving behind an empty breastplate.

The two remaining Monsters tried to grab Blazing Trail, but they stopped dead in their tracks at the realization of how much of a threat this pony is.

Arkantos said, “Let me show you a new trick I’ve not yet revealed publicly, not even to bring justice to the common bully. Consider yourselves honored.” The Umbrum’s curved horn started to pulse with dark green and purple. The horn lit up brightly and fired two bolts of lightning mixed with  purple and green magic. When it hit the Monsters, their eyes began to glow green with cracks of glowing purple. As this was happening, the Umbrum found a rock large enough to sit comfortably on. Then, using his shadow magic, he opened a portal and pulled out a bowl of popcorn. When he noticed the dumbfounded expression on Blazing Trail’s face, Arkantos asked, “Do you want a bowl as well?”

Grunting through his pain, Blazing Trail shook his head and said, “No, thank you. But do you think you could, I don’t know, heal me? Before I die from blood loss?”

“Oh, right, I forgot about your injuries.” With a green glow, the Solar Captain's wounds were healed. Soon after the healing was done, the two Wereponies that had been hit with Arkantos’s spell entered mortal combat; one started to tear through the armor that the other was wearing, digging deep into her. The other fiercely clawed and bit the first. It didn’t take long for both Monsters to kill each other in the most brutal way ever imagined.

Arkantos was about halfway through his popcorn when the fight ended. He reopened his shadow portal and placed the popcorn back inside. As he did that, Blazing Trail looked on him with fear and terror. Arkantos, on the other hoof, said, ”Wow, it took them that long to kill each other?”

Taken aback, his fear disappating, the Solar captain asked, “What?”

“I mean, if they were going to take that long to kill each other, they could’ve spent less time stalling us and gone straight for the kill. But on the other hoof, they are technically Monsters with claws and teeth, so it’s probably natural that they took that long to kill each other.”

“Dude, do you seriously not see how wrong that is?”

Arkantos looked at Captain Trail and said, “Whatever do you mean?”

Blazing Trail replaced his terror and became determined as he stood up to the Umbrum and replied, “This is what’s wrong. You cast a spell and you could’ve given them any kind of command. But no, you just told them to kill each other. Now I understand why you are so bored. You don’t go into the action yourself.”

“Oh, I see what the problem is.”

Captain Trail stood up tall in pride and began to walk away, saying, “Thank you.”

Arkantos started to walk with him and continued, “You’re too familiar with this peace-loving, partying-all-night, sunshiney land of Equestria.”

Losing his pride and smile, Blazing Trail exclaimed, “Wait, what?”

“You may be familiar with everlasting peace and the only kind of problem in any corner is the usual friendship problem. Well, guess what bucko, that’s not what it’s like outside of Celestia’s peaceful, loving nation. It’s brutal out there. War, Destruction, Hunger, Death. It’s like Normandy outside of Celestia’s land. And can you guess who is at the source of it?”

Blazing Trail pondered for a moment before answering. “Um, some kind of bad guy who wants to control everything?”

The dark blue Umbrum donned a guilty smile and replied, “That may be what it looks like on the surface, but underneath, it’s all Celestia’s fault in the long term. She could have sent supplies and food rations to those in need and still had plenty to feed her nation. But did she? No. She used it to keep the party going all night.”

Having a hard time believing what he was hearing, Captain Trail asked, “But why would she refuse to help those in need?”

Immediately the shadow pony responded, “Now you’re asking the right question.” He paused and his face held a concentrated expression, as if he was trying to solve the world's most complicated puzzle box. Seconds passed before he finally said, “Maybe she has some sort of thousand-year-old grudge against them. I don’t know, but I think it depends on her point of view.  But for example, what if, like, they didn’t follow a certain rule that she placed on a wooden tapestry. One that says something like, if you do not do this, then she will declare that you are not a citizen of hers.”

Suddenly, like a magical program, Blazing Trail shook his head and yelled back, “I will not fall for your trickery! Your words are poison, and I will not be your next victim.”

Arkantos stopped in his tracks and muttered to himself, ‘So close to getting through to him, but unfortunately, she has that spell on him.’ For a while they walked in silence; well, mostly. There were a few explosions here and there, but they weren’t in real danger.

The Captain of the Solar Guard then asked, “Back there, when those Monsters were going to tear me apart, you said I had a price to pay to initiate Operation Crossbow. So my question is, what price is that?”

A groan came from deep within the Umbrum before he spoke. “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Try me.”

“Ok, but remember you asked for it. Initiating Operation Crossbow would empower you, but you would also lose your way.” Arkantos gave the Solar captain a look before continuing. “But why take my word for it when you can get it from the horse's mouth.”

Before Blazing Trail could ask what he meant by that, they were interrupted by an oversized projectile that hit its opponent in the head and brought several other impaled Wereponies with it. The oversized arrow flew into the side of a mountain.

Arkantos said, "I'm impressed that you managed to turn a common weakness into an advantage." The Umbrum became a giant cloud again and pondered for a moment while he electrocuted several nearby Wereponies. Then he continued. "Well, not so much an advantage; it's more like a timesaver. Even though it will be short-lived." As he said this, the Wereponies that had been pinned to the mountain began to slide off of the oversized arrows to rejoin the fight.

"What in Celestia's name?" Captain Trail said before he turned around to see the Ballista arrow. He noticed several Earth ponies and saluted them for their help.  Hooves in the sky, they fired another Ballista arrow at more flying Wereponies. Other Earth ponies were helping the nearby Unicorns on the ground. They charged with spears and shields or firing arrows at the few Wereponies still running about. An EUP general yelled, "Come On Boys, Let's Fight Like There's No Tomorrow!" However, it wasn't long before the Wereponies started to focus on the remaining ballista towers. Once the ballista towers were targeted again, the Earth ponies were either shredded to ribbons or pushed off of the wall connected to the towers, or they were grabbed in the air or by levitation. But that didn't stop them from defending themselves. When their enemy came closer, the Earth ponies dropped their bows and drew out their swords or grabbed their spears. They didn't last too long. Captain Trail saw one of the ballista towers get overtaken by the Wereponies who started to move the ballista to fire upon another tower. An oversized arrow was shot at another tower, making a very sizable hole in the second tower. In response to the attack, the second tower turned its crossbow and fired upon the taken tower.

Captain Trail swooped down and grabbed some dead pony’s sword. However, the sword seemed different. It was lighter and more silvery. As he continued to fly towards the castle, he began to think, 'It’s only a matter of time before those impaled Monsters get off of the oversized arrows. And the Wereponies are still immune to the Solar Guards' weaponry. If I don't complete Operation Crossbow, then all of us are doomed.’

"Oh, yeah! Is that the best you got?!" Arkantos yelled as several Wereponies fired a dozen spells at the massive cloud.

Blaze Trail was glad that the Umbrum was working with them and not against them; that pony of shadows was a force to be reckoned with. 

As he continued to fly, Arkantos noticed something odd; a white Werepony who was carrying a blood-covered staff with a pure white gem in it. And judging by the look, it kind of felt familiar. His eyes widened as he realized that the monster was holding one of the lost relics of Canterlot; it was Star Swirl the Bearded’s missing staff. The Werepony said to Arkantos, "Leave and never come back."

The Umbrum yelled back, "Make me!" Then the Umbrum charged up his horn with several layers of black, purple, and green magic. He shot the magical bolts at the Werepony. But the Monster managed to counter the beam with the staff. A pure white beam flew forth from it and the white gem glowed brighter and brighter. The two beams did a little tug-a-war and the Umbrum’s beam seemed like it would win. But the white Werepony sent a pulse through the beam which destroyed the Umbrum’s cloud form. He fell out of the sky. Luckily for him, he fell on top of a pile of hay. He managed to roll out of the hay but quickly realized that his hind legs were broken. 

"Well, it looks like I'm not going anywhere," Arkantos said. Then he summoned a shadow portal. A black and smoky hound came out of the shadow portal to protect him. Arkantos then pulled out a blank book and started scribbling in it. He paused briefly to look straight at the reader and said, "What? Somebody has to keep a record of what happened here."

Captain Trail heard the white Werepony say, "Well, that's one problem taken care of. Now to get rid of the Princess of the Sun."

Before the orange Pegasus could do anything to stop him, the Werepony zoomed through the battlefield, a white blur that quickly killed any pony that got in his way. 

When Captain Trail saw the rapid and violent departure, he cursed himself for failing his Princess. He could not know or stop whatever kind of attack that Monster was going to attempt. 

“No need to worry. The buildings are just buildings.” When he heard the first two words, Captain Trail jumped. He recovered quickly and turned around to see a magical projection of Arkantos. Arkantos continued, “A city is more than just buildings. It’s the people that live inside them.” The orange Pegasus did not question how he was there. It didn’t matter to him. He listened and felt his confidence build back up again. 

“It’s the ponies that work very hard to ensure the well-being of the city.” Suddenly, Blazing Trail took off at sonic speed, close to rainbow warm-up speed but not quite. He didn’t care who was the fastest, he only cared about his duty. And right now, he must get to the castle. 

As he flew, he heard the Umbrum yell after him. “So, are you going to wait and let these Monsters win? If yes, then I suggest you find a cloud and sit still on it! But if you want to stop these things, then you need to move quickly before they know what’s up! Make your way to Celestia’s castle!” 

The Captain returned to his mission, thinking about what he saw. 'Did that Monster really use Star Swirl the Bearded’s staff? That item has been missing for centuries. How did that White Werepony find it? And more importantly, who is he and what is his endgame.'

Blaze Trail saw more buildings collapsing as he continued to fly. He saw one armored pony fail after another. Several Pegasus were torn to shreds. Some Unicorns were trying to keep up their magical barrier to protect countless civilians behind them, but the shield was too far gone and would give in at any moment from the Wereponies and their relentless beams of fire and lightning. The Earth ponies tried to avoid the Monster fangs and claws. But the Monsters were too fast and it was too late.  Wereponies dug into the Earth ponies, makin them their next meal. 

The Captain stopped and hovered in the sky. Then he spoke out loudly.

"We have already lost half of our numbers to those Monsters. There's so much chaos here that Discord is probably applauding the destruction that is happening in Canterlot. What is the point in reforming him? Seriously, how can he just let this happen."

He recalled his mission and continued flying to the castle. "Right, well, I'm hoping whatever Celestia wants me to do will even things out in the battle that's raging on right now."

He looked up into the night sky and saw the moon. It made him think of the Ailcorn who raised it. "Now that I'm thinking about it, where is the Princess of the Night? I for one haven't seen her since the battle started."

A light pink Pegasus flew at his level and  reported, "That's because no pony has seen Luna at all. And seeing that it’s night out worries me."

Captain Trail replied, "If she’s not out here, then where is she?"

The pink Pegasus mare replied in a worried voice, "Maybe she's in her room at the castle?"

For a few seconds, Blaze Trail pondered on that suggestion. Then he said, "That seems unlikely; I don't have an answer, but what I do know is that Celestia should have-”

"Sir, look up!" The Captain looked up into the sky and paused, then said, "Wait a minute, who are they?"
> Fight at Canterlots Courtyard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the courtyard, Twilight's magical barrier was on the verge of collapse. But knowing this, she prepared for a counterattack. Though risky, it was the only thing she could think of.

A smattering of magical bolts of lightning and fire hit the barrier and destroyed it. As the barrier broke apart, it produced magical feedback and every single piece of the magical barrier shot forth. The shards of barrier slammed into everything around with a wave of the purple magical fire produced by Twilight. Every Werepony on or near the magical barrier was sent flying into the walls or the towers.

Suddenly, two bolts of lightning hit Twilight in the face. Then the same two Monsters used their magic to engulf Twilight into a tornado of fire that kept going for an hour. After that hour, the fire tornado disappeared, leaving Twilight with a burned coat. 

Twilight said, "Well, that was intense." She fell onto her side, barely breathing.

As Rainbow ran towards Twilight's burned body, she yelled, "Twilight! Please stay with me! Please! I can't go through this again! I can't lose another friend. I, I, I don't want you to leave like Gilda did. I never told you what happened to her, and the truth is I don't know what exactly happened. The letter they sent just said she somehow got killed, and whoever did it was long gone before any Griffins in Griffinstone knew she was gone, and-”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Pinkie exclaimed, "I'll save her!" And following her words, the pink mare pulled a defibrillator out of her mane, sprayed some sort of chemical on the metal plates, and rubbed them together. Then, out of her tail, she pulled a bag, which held some machine-like paddles that were constantly beeping. The paddles beeped several times as if they had just gotten a full charge. Pinkie placed the paddles on Twilight’s chest and side, then yelled, "Clear!" Zap! Twilight's body reacted to the charge. Pinkie pulled out some sort of breathing mask and secured it on Twilight's muzzle. Then she put her hoof on Twilight's neck to feel a pulse but felt nothing. She returned to the machine and repeated the process.

Rainbow was lost for words and would have stayed there staring at her friend's side, but her anger reached its peak. She turned around to face the two Monsters that had done this to her friend and used her speed to zip straight at them. However, the Monster with horns was ready for her. Rainbow hit face-first into a magical barrier. Before she could recover, she was hit by a fire spell that burned all the feathers on one of her wings. She glared at the Wereponies around her, then got up and said, "You beasts are as heartless as changelings."

The Wereponies looked at each other before gazing back at Rainbow with hunger in their eyes and drool coming out of their mouths. Then a whoosh sound was made by Rainbow Dash. The Monsters’ eyes widened with fear as they saw a silver arrow hit them in the heart. They disintegrated as quickly as a river flows.

Twilight and her friends saw three Chiroptera fighting more Wereponies. One dark yellow Chiroptera reloaded his crossbow and fired a magical bolt at a nearby Monster. An electrical current burst out of the bolt and sent the Monster flying into a wall before it disintegrated. Then another Monster came charging at the Chiroptera. Thinking quickly, he pressed a button that transformed his crossbow into a silver sword. He decapitated the Monster and yelled, "You call that a sneak attack?! Please! I've seen better attempts!" Then he flew up to get two more flying Wereponies.

Rainbow was about to run back to her friends, but unfortunately one of the Monsters saw her get up. He immediately used his horn to drag her closer to him, claws ready to tear her to pieces. His mouth drooled with the thought of his meal. 

Rainbow did her best to try to get away, but the magic of the Werepony was too strong. A levitation spell continued to drag her to where he stood. When she hung directly in front of the Monster, it began to cut and dig into her; it hurt like hell. The deeper the slashes went, the more the cuts felt like hot metal blades against her flesh. Her vision began to darken as her blood painted the ground. Just as she began to believe that this was the end of her, she noticed something silver in the sky.

Suddenly, a dark blue Chiroptera with a spear zipped up to and impaled the Monster, which disintegrated immediately. The magical grip on Rainbow disappeared and she fell to the blood-covered ground. She looked up and noticed a large hole that wasn't there before. As blood continued to pour out of her wounds, she heard a dark yellow Chiroptera yell, "Hey, that looks bad! Wrap this around it!" And he tossed a long roll of gauzy white hospital cloth towards her. "If he didn't come here when he did, you would have been beyond saving." She wrapped the white cloth around her stomach and looked at her savior. The dark blue Chiroptera transformed his spear into a silver sword and decapitated another Werepony. Then he plunged his hoof into the folds of his cloak, just as three Wereponies came running at him, hunger in their eyes. With a serious look, he said, "You three lack the skill to take us on."

He swung his hoof out and three small silver throwing daggers were flung at the Monsters, each one hitting its target. Rainbow had just finished dressing the worst wounds when he picked up the light blue Pegasus, placed her on his back, and galloped to Pinky and Twilight. There, he dropped her and said, "Don't move." Then he looked at the castle gate. "Ok, Raven, it's all on you now!" Then the dark blue Chiroptera took off into the air.

A minute later, a dark purple Chiroptera landed in front of them wielding a staff. Several Wereponies came running at them then. Raven pulled out a stone from her cloak and tossed it at Twilight, Pinkie, and Rainbow. The stone began to float and the rune on it began to glow. It glowed light blue. Then a green and blue barrier appeared, and the damage that had been done to Twilight and Rainbow Dash became undone. The bloody hole in Rainbow's body disappeared and her stomach was back to normal. Twilight’s burned, blackened coat changed back to purple. 

Then Raven closed her eyes and, relying on her senses of smell and hearing, she got into a fighting stance. A Werepony was about to bite her, but suddenly, time seemed to have slowed down. 

When the Werepony got closer. Raven opened her eyes, she said, "All right, let's get started." 

She hit the Werepony in the stomach with her staff and then hit its face. She started to hit her enemy faster and faster. She zipped around and hit it repeatedly on the sides. Then she swung her staff at its legs to trip it. As the Monster fell, Pinkie could see many bruises underneath its fur. Raven then transformed her staff into a pair of nunchucks with silver blades at the ends. She stabbed the Monster in two places: the neck and the heart. It disintegrated. The dark purple Chiroptera rose up to face her next opponent; she placed her weapon on her shoulder and brought out of her cloak two stones of equal size. One was pure dark gray with glowing dark blue runes on it. The other was light gray with glowing green runes on it. Then she slammed them together. The entire world went black. To the best of her knowledge, there were four more Monsters. There was also a time limit to this darkness, so she quickly zipped and stabbed three of them. She finished the last one off by using her nunchucks. Her fighting style easily worked on the Wereponies. She brought them down with a series of hits and slashes. After a final devastating strike to the head, she transformed her weapon back into a staff and said, "Your deaths shall help balance the world. Thank you for the lesson." She bowed to the disintegrated Wereponies.

Raven turned around and walked toward an unconscious Twilight and her conscience friends. The other two Chiroptera landed next to her. Twilight was still out cold. Rainbow removed the white cloth to see that her wound was completely gone. As she looked up, all she could think to ask was one question. 

"Who are you guys?"
> The Hunt Begins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dark yellow Chiroptera spoke. "We are the Hunters of Secrets, and starting now, you three will be under our protection."

Before Rainbow could ask any more questions, Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "Twitchy twitch! Twitchy twitch!" Her tail started to shake uncontrollably, and then she said the combo, "Itchy tongue! Fluttering eyes! Shaky tail! And aching back!"

"Huh, you never had that combo before," Rainbow said.

Pinkie replied, "Well, that combo means something good will happen but there will be a price."

"What do you mean, a price?"

The dark blue Hunter interjected, "Well, I don't know about your friend's twitchiness but the tables are about to turn. You'll see soon enough." He brought out a horn and blew into it. After a few minutes of silence, a horn sounded again, but distantly, as if it were coming from several miles away in the sky.

The purple Hunter said, "I think we should introduce ourselves further. I am Raven Wind." As she said this, she removed her hood. Rainbow and Pinkie saw that her eyes were pink and her mane was done up in a black ponytail, kind of like Applejack's mane style if Applejack’s mane had several different kinds of colors that faded away near the ends. 

Raven Wind gestured to the Hunters at her side. "This is Black Dart." The dark blue Chiroptera removed his hood to reveal a pair of gray eyes and a white mane. He bowed. Then Raven continued. "And the other is Eager Shot." The dark yellow Chiroptera did the same, revealing his burned face. His eyes were green and his mane was orange. He said, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Rainbow spoke. "Not to be rude or anything, but what exactly happened to your face?"

Eager narrowed his eyes and replied, "It's complicated, to be honest. Let's just say I did something stupid."

"Hey! I have a question!" Pinkie cried. "When will Twilight get up?"

Raven walked to where Twilight was laying as Pinkie continued to look worried for her. Raven placed her hoof on Twilight's coat. As soon as she did, several blue and green runes flowed off of Raven and into Twilight. The runes ran all over Twilight's coat before they returned to Raven, some of them having turned red. Raven looked at Pinkie and said, "Your friend will be fine. she just needs a bit more rest."

As Raven walked back to her comrades, Black Dart gave her a serious look that said, 'I know you're lying face.'

She replied, "Well, it's better than the cold hard truth; these two have been through Tartarus already."

"But have you heard that the truth can set you free? Now, do you want to tell them or shall I?" Both Chiroptera became locked in a staring battle that lasted minutes but felt like forever.

The silence was broken when Eager Shot shouted, "Your friend isn't ok! She has been magically infected by a Werepony and is quickly turning into one of them, and if she does become one of them, then we have failed in our duty as Hunters."

Twilight tossed and turned. Whenever she opened her eyes, they appeared tinged with red. Everypony looked straight at her as the army of Hunters flew overhead. 

Raven said, "We need to find a way to stop this." She and the other Hunters quickly lashed multiple chains around the purple Alicorn’s hoofs, neck, and barrel. Raven placed several magical barriers around her.

“This could change her perspective on life. You know that, right."

Raven replied, "I know."

Meanwhile, on top of one of the walls of Canterlot castle, a red Alicorn saw the whole thing unfold. "Let's just see where this goes," he said to himself. He simultaneously began to look through his enormous spell book.

Down in the courtyard, several shadows passed over the group of ponies. Rainbow and Pinkie looked up. Black Dart said with a bored tone, "Finally! The cavalry has arrived."





Captain Trail flew alongside a few other Pegasuses in the sky. Two were unusual characters; one was super fast and strong. Without any weapons, he continuously slammed into one Monster after the other. The other Pegasus got beaten quite suddenly as a literal beam of light destroyed him. 

"Aww, does somepony miss me already?"

This caught the Captain by surprise. He heard Arkantos’s voice as if he was everywhere at once. "Umbrum, show yourself!"

The Umbrum replied, "Well, since you asked nicely." Then a smoky cloud approached Captain Trail. Arkantos's head popped out of the smoke. "Oh,” he said, “it looks like the battle isn't going well for you."

"Arkantos!" The Captain said with frustration in his voice. "Can you do anything to stop the slaughter?"

The dark blue Umbrum answered, "Unfortunately, that magic staff took me out of commission. I'm still regenerating from that attack."

That answer didn't please the Captain. He then remembered the approaching army of what appeared to be Bat ponies. "Ok, whatever, just tell me, who are they?"

Arkantos looked up and said, "Well, they're right on time." The Captain looked at the Umbrum strangely. The floating head continued, "Let's just say that Luna isn't being lazy. She's taking action right now. But to answer your question, yes, they are allies. Just don't call them Bat ponies. They'll be offended by that."

As the Captain looked at them again, he noticed several things. They appeared to be ponies in dark blue leather armor, but they had bat wings instead of the feathered wings of a Pegasus. He thought to himself, 'Allies, huh?'





As for Luna, Fluttershy, and the other Hunters with them, they were prepared for anything, gearing up as several Wereponies howled in the tower's underground entrance. The Hunters dropped their disguises and began to tap into their Thread traits: increased strength, sharp fangs, and sonar hearing, Which could help them to know where everything was.

"Well, any last words?" Fluttershy asked Thunder Lane.

The black thread replied, "I just want my little brother Rumble to do something with his life, and if I make it, I want to show him the pleasures of life." He and Fluttershy eased their crossbows around the entrance.

In the pack that had yet to reach the surface, the pack leader's orders were followed. Cold Blood led the charge. Suddenly, Cold Blood stopped in his tracks, seeing several Wereponies trip some preset traps; all chaos broke loose. Silver arrows pierced many of the Wereponies, but those who had armor managed to survive only to fall into a pit of wood and silver spikes and die instantly. Without delay, the dead disintegrated as quickly as a river flows. Cold Blood studied the traps that the other Wereponies set off, then he turned to the nearest Werepony and said, "Find and put on some armor. We will need it to get through these traps."

Back at the tower basement, a handful of traps could be heard springing free. Luna said to Fluttershy, ”They have found a way to cross your traps. Everypony, prepare to fire on my mark."

As the first Wereponies showed their ugly heads, Luna yelled, "Now!" Several silver arrows let loose, some of them hitting their targets in the face, others hitting the chest area, but those arrows just bounced off with little to no damage against the iron armor plate. Those Monsters who didn't have armor on and managed to survive the onslaught of arrows stopped to pull arrows out of themselves with their claws or teeth before continuing to charge at the Hunters. The Hunters, however, had a backup plan. As each of them backed up into portals, they changed their weapons from crossbows to silver swords.

Fluttershy got out of the portal and dropped several smoke bombs. She then took off into the sky. When she was roughly hovering at the ceiling five, Wereponies came quickly, and not expecting the smoke, they coughed and waved at it with their paws to clear it. 

When the smoke dissipated, they noticed that they were in the Canterlot throne room. At the top of the throne was a golden figure designed like the sun. Behind the massive chair were two stained glass windows, one with a depiction of Princess Celestia on a cloud,  raising the sun, and the second with a depiction of Luna on a grassy hill, raising the moon. One of the Wereponies took an interest in the windows, but the other continued to search for the Hunter. Fluttershy hung upside down with her tail. She took out a block of silver and bit into it real hard and deep. As she bit down, the silver liquid began to pour out. She removed the silver block from her mouth and placed it back into her saddle bag. She then dropped down, pulled out a silver arrow, and threw it straight at the neck of an iron-armored Werepony who was about to open the two massive throne room doors. The arrow successfully hit the neck of the Monster and she disintegrated.

Another Werepony exclaimed, "Get ready, she's making her move!"

Fluttershy landed right on top of the Werepony who was admiring the artwork and bit deeply into the Werepony's neck. After one minute, the Monster disintegrated.

"Ptooey! Well, that tasted awful!" Fluttershy spat out blood as three other Wereponies looked around and saw her. They charged at her with hunger in their eyes.





As Wereponies scratched and clawed at the barrier around the Barracks, Sugar Mist, and Winter Bolt made their way up to the barracks' wall. The dark purple Earth pony was in leather armor and had a short sword at his side. But, as predicted, he began to complain to the white Unicorn. “There’s no point in locking up the gate.”

Winter asked, “Oh? And how did you come up with logic like that?”

With a deadpan look, Sugar explained. “They could simply fly over the wall or use their teeth and claws to rip the gate off or climb the wall.”

Winter replied, “Well, that may be true, but you are forgetting an important factor here: there are four towers. We have plenty of weapons and armor, and right now Crystal Breeze is training civilians which means you too have volunteered. And nothing has gone wrong.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “Yet I can’t ask for more.”

The Earth pony spoke. “Did you forget about the worst-case scenario?” He pointed at the white Unicorn’s horn before continuing. “The Monsters can use magic to blast the walls and gate to pieces.”

Winter stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at the volunteer ponies. A squad of five got maneuvered around a squad of four as three of the four attacked and then ran from the squad of five.

The white Unicorn said, “That may also be true, but those are things we can’t control.”

The squad of five foolishly left their accrued makeshift dishcloth flag unprotected, giving the final and fourth teammate from the squad of four a chance to grab it.

Sugar Mist watched and smiled. Winter continued. “We can, however, control the security of this place. The true security breach is in the sky. Half of the civilians are Unicorns all of whom have offered their magic to power a spell that Summer Spell came up with. It is a crude piece of work, but it managed to create a barrier spell that took care of the breach problem.”

The stealthy pony had successfully won his team the game. As he waved the flag for the others to see it, the five ponies from the losing team lowered their heads in defeat.

As Sugar Mist and Winter Bolt walked on the wall that was over the main gate, Sugar Mist asked, “So, you're saying that there’s no real reason why we had to patrol the walls?”

Winter replied, “I didn’t say that. If there is any real threat, she still needs ponies to patrol the wall and watch the Wereponies as they attack the barrier. We need to make sure that the spell continues to work. This is pretty much kindergarten stuff for a student of Celestia, but last I checked, Summer Spell was no student of Celestia.”

Winter and Sugar Mist reached the door of one of the towers. As the Unicorn opened the door, three Wereponies dove right at them, but found themselves crashing into the magical barrier; it didn’t stop them, as the barrier stretched around them. They were inches from the ponies before, like a slingshot, the Monsters went flying back out into the sky.

Both ponies were shaken from this failure of an attack from the Wereponies. Sugar Mist belched out some air as he forgot to breathe. He fell to the ground trying to regain the air.

Leaving the door open, Winter helped the Earth pony up and asked, “You ok there, buddy?”

Sugar answered with weak words. “Yeah, I’m good. Just forgot to breathe, that’s all.”

When the purple pony was back on his hooves, Winter Bolt turned to the magical barrier and used his magic to scan the part of the barrier that the Monsters had crashed into. “Well, it looks like it works, but barely.”





Back at the main building of the Barracks, Summer Spell had just finished proving the barrier spell that was protecting the Barracks. The Unicorns in the room felt confident that they knew how to not only power the spell but also to keep it going.

Summer Spell walked out of the throne room and through a series of other rooms filled with bunks. After several twists and turns, and some ups and downs, she finally found the room she was looking for:  the room belonging to the Captain of the Solar Guard. Wasting no time, she searched the room up and down before finally finding the telegraph that was under the bed. Using her magic to levitate the device, she made her way to the desk.

Using her hoofs, she cleared the books and reports, placed the device on the desk, and set it up. Then she started tapping on the device to send a telegram to the Equestrians military force, the E.U.P.

Her message said, “Monsters overrun the Capital city. Request military forces to drive them out. The situation is at the Barracks on the lower level. There are several civilians. Send a reply as soon as you can.” 

She waited for a reply but time waited for no one. Hours went by, and despite the noise of static and explosions outside, Summer Spell continued to listen to the device. As she waited for the reply, her mind became occupied. She thought to herself, ‘Now is the best time to call for reinforcements.’





Outside of the Barracks, a hooded figure stood waiting for the ponies to see him. Eventually, when they did notice him, Winter Bolt and Sugar Mist said together, “Who goes there?”
> Hunters Aid
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Canterlot's throne room, three Wereponies charged at Fluttershy, but before they could get too close to her, she closed her eyes and thought to herself, 'I hope my mother is right about the magical training.’ Then she opens her eyes again, game face on.

As the Wereponies charged at Fluttershy, the closest one tried to tackle her, but she dodged him and he slammed into the throne. The next one tried to claw her, but the Hunter in training used her silver sword and cut off one of his legs before she stabbed him through the neck and he disintegrated. 

The final Monster managed to slice her chest, to the point where she would have a good scar when it healed up. Fluttershy jumped back and tripped over a tripwire. But as the Werepony followed, tripping over the same tripwire, seven silver arrows hit the Monster and he said, "All of that for a scratch? Well, that makes me want to kill you even more!"

The Werepony began to dig the arrows out of himself. He managed to remove three of them, but then Fluttershy, moving swiftly, stabbed him in the heart. The Monster disintegrated. 

The first Werepony that had run into the throne shook out his dizziness and charged at Fluttershy once again. The dark yellow Thread put away her sword and punched the Werepony to the floor once he got close enough. This only angered the Monster further and he punched the ground, cracking the floor.

The Werepony charged at Fluttershy again, going in for a bite and catching Fluttershy's leg in his teeth. Grunting from the pain, Fluttershy punched him seven times in the stomach. The Monster's jaw loosened and his teeth relinquished their grip on her leg, leaving a good bite mark behind. Fluttershy punched him three more times in the face, then grabbed, twisted, and dislocated one of the Werepony's legs before hurling him against a stone pillar. The pillar cracked a bit from the impact. Then Fluttershy grabbed the Werepony, who was very panicked and tried to slash at her; but it proved pointless. She wrapped her long tail around the monster's head and yanked down hard until she heard the satisfying snap of the neck bone. The Werepony disintegrated, and Fluttershy said, "I guess that worked." She looked around before she continued. "Now I think I should make my way back to the portal."





The Chiroptera fired off a wave of arrows, and the Solar Guard Captain believed that this was it. This was where he would die. The arrows flew past him, some of them hitting the Wereponies and some of them missing their targets. But the ones that hit their targets took them down for good. 

Captain Trail heard a war horn sounding through the sky, and suddenly several Chiroptera dove down and helped the Solar Guard fight off the Wereponies.

Back in the midst of the battle, Celestia was concerned about making sure there was a safe zone for her students, somewhere no Monsters could enter. She dealt several killing blows, but it wasn’t really a competition for her. Though the Wereponies were immune to the weapons that her Solar guards used, they were no match for the Princess of the Sun.

When she ran up to the main road to the castle of Cantorlot, Celestia saw several Wereponies going inside the buildings that used to be homes for innocent ponies. Some of them were burning; others were painted with blood. Celestia galloped through the main street and every Werepony saw her. All of them ran at her with hunger in their eyes. Celestia lit up her horn with a dazzling light, temporarily blinding the Monsters. Then she conjured up several swords of sunlight and sent them piercing into every Werepony in the street. Some of the Monsters were clever and pounced on her from the rooftops. She received four bites before she unleashed a torrent of flames that burned any Werepony near her. She killed one after another by cutting off their heads, slicing them in half, or stabbing them.

More Monsters came flooding out for a piece of the action, but the Princess of the Sun was growing tired of the game. She summoned an enormous ball of fire and lava and shot it at all the gathered Wereponies. As the enormous ball of fire approached them, some of the Wereponies attempted to put up a barrier to protect themselves, but it was not enough. The fireball turned them into ash regardless. 

As Celestia looked at her work and saw several dozen piles of ash, seven Solar guards came up to her and said, "Princess, there is another army in the sky."

'Hmm, that must be Luna’s army of Hunters,' The Princess of the Sun thought before she spoke to the guards in front of her. "We must save the ponies, and when the time comes, Captain Trail will initiate operation Crossbow, and that is-"

"Your Highness!" one of the Solar guards yelled.

Celestia turned to see a white Werepony approaching her. His voice sounded like the cold itself as he said, "At last we meet, Bringer of the Sun."

Celestia narrowed her eyes and said with fire in her voice, "Are you the one responsible for this destruction?"

Seven guards surrounded the white Werepony as he replied, "You only see the destruction; I see a creation that will feed my kind for months. But it's kind of funny: no matter how many times we find something to eat, we can never truly satisfy our hunger."

The white Alicorn tried appealing to him "You can still stop this. Go and find a non-pony thing to eat like berries or wildlife. As you do so, try to think about the difference between meals and friends."

He replied with a snap. "Oh, don't you tell me what to do! Don't you think I haven't already tried that? The more me and my kind ate non-pony things-" His eyes grew red and wild. "The hungrier my kind became! We can't eat berries! We can't eat wildlife! The only things that seem to satisfy our hunger are Ponies! So we will continue with our hunt until we are satisfied!" He took several deep breaths in an effort to regain his cool before continuing. "Look, it's the way of nature. My kind is supposed to devour the old to make way for the new."

One of the Solar guards piped up. "That's crazy, and it’s not true! We need wise ponies to teach us about and guide us through the world that we live in. We also need stronger ponies to protect us and watch over us."

The white Werepony started to look bored and said, "I’ve had enough of this."

Celestia could do nothing but watch the Monster as he moved so fast he almost looked like a white blur. He zipped around the Solar guards so quickly they didn't get a chance to defend themselves against his fatal blows. The white Werepony said, "I made my peace with what I am long ago. Now I kill for the enjoyment of it. You know, it's kind of funny that my fur is the color of truce, but then I turn out to be deadlier than any of my kind." He zipped through the battlefield and killed every pony that got in his way.

"That Monster does not care for the innocent." As the Princess spoke, she looked at the fallen Solar guards. "I was unable to save you, but I can avenge you." She took off into the sky and looked for that white blur. As she flew, a Werepony got in her way, its eyes hungrier than ever. It hit Celestia, and she realized there would be no peaceful way to end this. ‘These things only respond to one thing: blood.’ 

"Well, if these things want blood-" She knocked the Monster onto a cloud, then landed on top of it.

"Then blood is what I'll give them." She hoisted up her pike and stabbed the Monster in the face. It disintegrated as fast as a flowing river. Then she retrieved her weapon and took off into the sky again. 

As she flew, her mane began to flicker with orange flames, then returned to its usual color, but not before a few embers fell out. The kind and gentle Celestia was almost at her tipping point; soon, the day would break.





Outside of the Barracks, a figure in a hoodie walked up to the military complex gates where some stallions and mares were trying on some of the armor that was left behind. One of the Solar guards walked up to a pony that was wearing a too-large helmet and said, "Yeah, that looks a little too big for you. Maybe you should try it with no helmet." A bit disappointed, the civilian placed the helmet on a pile of empty armor that didn't quite fit anyone. He then looked over the wall and saw the hoodie-clad stranger. He was about to tell the closest Solar guard when Crystal Breeze and Sugar Mist said in unison, "Who goes there?"

The figure looked up. "Who? Me? I'm no one, but I have heard a lot about you guys. Some of you are even famous to me."

The ponies on the wall started to feel a little uncomfortable. Others were flattered that some stranger was a fan of them. Sugar Mist said, "I think I'll get Summer Spell," and he galloped off the wall and straight towards the main building of the Barracks.

The stranger pulled out a book and scribbled into it. As he scribbled, the ponies on the wall began to take precautions, four of them pulling out crossbows and aiming at the stranger. 

As Sugar Mist and Crystal Breeze made their way to the main building to get Summer Spell, a weird feeling grew within them, a deep desire to destroy everything. They didn't notice the burning runes on the backs of their necks. They entered the building and went from room to room to find Summer Spell. They found her listening carefully to the telegram, hoping that eventually, someone would answer.

When they saw how focused she was in her listening, Crystal Breeze adopted a mischievous grin and did her best telegram voice. "We read you loud and clear! I'll send reinforcements right away!"

Summer answered, "Really? Can you bring them as soon as possible?"

"Yes, but we have one question."

"And that is?"

"How long are you going to be sitting at that desk listening to the telegram?"

"What? How do you know I’ve been listening this whole time?"

Crystal Breeze dropped the act and said, "Because you've been up here for several hours."

The unicorn jumped before turning around and shooting a glare at the pegasus. "That's not funny. This telegram is our only way of knowing if there's someone else ready to help us."

This time it was Crystal Breeze's turn to glare at her. "Well, if you call listening for hours on end and doing no work whatsoever helpful, sign me up."

Both ponies got into each other's faces. The uncomfortable atmosphere was broken when Sugar Mist stepped between them and used his hoofs to push them back from each other. "Just forget the joke! There's a situation at the gate that needs your attention." He looked at Summer Spell.

Frustrated, Summer Spell said, "OK, fine. But don't think I won't forget this, Crystal Breeze."

The Pegasus replied, "I won’t either." Then all three of them exited the room and walked out of the main building.

As they approached the gate, all three of them started to feel that sensation of burning rage. Summer Spell was caught off guard by it and lost her balance. She was quickly grabbed by the Earth pony as the Unicorn looked over in appreciation.  

Summer Spell’s mind started going 100mph trying to understand what exactly was going on and why she was feeling faint. This has never happened; it was almost like another's mind was pulling her strings. The most likely source of the odd sensation probably had something to do with the new stranger at the front gate. Summer Spell reoriented herself back on all four hooves, then looked at the pony by the gate mechanism. "Open it," she said.

The pony started to crank the mechanism and the gate slowly opened. Summer Spell looked at the stranger sitting on a rock. He had just gotten done scribbling in a book. The most unusual thing about the stranger, she noticed, was his coat. It shined brightly, like silver.
> The Fear that we Hold
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, at the front gate of the capital city, Frozen Fang walked to the middle of the gate, holding the same staff he used to get rid of the Umbrum thing.

He stopped and said, "This will bring you to me." He raised the staff and slammed it into the ground. The runes on the staff began to glow gray light as a white bean of magic shot straight into the air.

He used his hoof to nudge the staff, making sure it was secure in the ground before turning to the Wereponies who were waiting for him to speak. "My brothers and sisters, I know that you are hungry. You're starving and you want a piece of the action. I promise you that the action will soon come. That is the purpose of this weapon." He gestured to the staff and continued. "The Bringer of the Sun." As Frozen said her name, he noticed that some of the Wereponies had fear in their eyes. He continued, "She will be here soon, so find a good position to make sure that your meal can't find you." As he spoke, several Wereponies rushed off, searching for good hiding spots. Frozen Fang smiled and said, "I'm ready when you are, Princess of the Sun."





Celestia flew around the battlefield slaying one Monster in the sky after another. She heard the rumbling of dark storm clouds that had gathered, accompanied by several lightning strikes hitting the area by the front gates. When she looked in that direction, she noticed the white beam of magic. It was at this moment that Arkantos walked out of the shadows like they were a doorway on top of a roof right next to her. He said, "Yep, he is right there."

The Princess of the Sun ignored Arkantos and made her way towards the beam, but Arkantos popped up on a different roof and tried again. "Hello, Princess of the Sun, are you in there?"

Celestia said, "I don't have time to waste on a conversation with a shadow."

Taken aback by that comment, the Umbrum replied, "Ok, first, ouch. Second, ask yourself how do you know where he is right now?" She didn't answer him, but flew on. As she was flying, she didn't think too much about it. And then she did, saying, "Maybe their leader is just stupid."

Arkantos popped out of the shadows from a destroyed ballista tower and replied, "No, it's because he's set up a trap for you."

Celestia raised an eyebrow at Arkantos as he kept pace with her. They looked at each other for several seconds, the silence interrupted by an explosion of fire and ice elsewhere in the city. Eventually, Celestia asked, "What do you mean, it's a trap?"

Celestia saw ten to twenty Monsters charging through a square. She dove down and created a magical dome in front of her before crashing right onto them and creating a heat wave that blasted onto and burned the Wereponies. She created a pony-sized crater in her work and used her pike to kill the ones who didn't get her message as they challenged her to fight. Eventually, the Monsters realized they could never beat her, and ran in the opposite direction with fear in their eyes.

It was at this time Arkantos popped out of the shadows again, saying, "Celestia, do I need to spell it out for you?" Celestia took off into the sky, saying nothing. As she continued to fly, Arkantos reappeared on top of a church that was devoted to Celestia and said, "The only reason you know where he is is because he wants you to know. He wants you to be there. He wants to defeat you. Trust me, if I were in his situation, I would do the same thing to end any possibility of resistance. And if you fall, then the rest of this capital city will fall with you."

She landed, killing more Wereponies, and said, "Even if what you say is true, it won't help him. I've taken down hundreds of these things." She took off into the sky again, shouting, "So unless he has some kind of secret weapon, I'm willing to go into his so-called trap." She lit up her horn and several beams of pure sunlight hit a dozen Wereponies who were about to kill some unconscious solar guard unicorns, probably knocked out by an explosion. They would have been Monster grub, but the Alicorn of the Sun stopped that.

Celestia next saw Arkantos appear beside a bell on top of a bell tower. He asked her, "Did you forget that he's super fast?" She landed on a rooftop and began tearing up with a mixture of sadness for the fallen and hatred towards the Monsters who had killed them. "I am willing to sacrifice anything to stop these Monsters. They've taken so many already. It has to stop!"

Arkantos replied, "I know that, but that's life." The white Alicorn looked at him from the roof of the mansion. He continued. "Celestia, you have a big heart. You love your ponies. But you must understand you can't save them from everything, and there will be times like right now where you have to accept the loss, but trust me as I say your death wouldn't accomplish anything. And if you let your emotions get the better of you, then you know who will come to make things even worse."

She realized who he was talking about and became emotionally unbalanced. Given her current state, this could potentially lead to Daybreaker's freedom. Daybreaker, the darker part of her soul that she despised, the never-ending rage that lay underneath, resided deep within her conscious mind. Though she would have been more than happy to burn anything that frustrated her, Celestia said, "It will not go that far."

But Arkantos asked, "Are you sure about that? Because I'm pretty sure I saw a few ashes falling out of your main and tail just now. And at one point, your mane changed from its usual color to that raging fire."

Celestia remained quiet for quite some time. Arkantos said, "Even if you didn't have that weakness inside you, that white werepony has the means to defeat you, and that little ace is the staff of Star Swirl the Bearded."

Celestia's eyes widened as she turned around and said, "Are you sure he wields such a weapon?"

The Umbrum said simply, "Yes."

Up in the cloud hovered three Hunters who were tasked to protect Celestia. "So, where is she going?" Sturdy Step asked.

Night Glider replied, "She's following that magical beam that the Wereponies are shooting into the sky. Which, of course, is a trap."

Night Breeze said, "A trap that we will need to save her from." She looked at the pony and continued, "But I'm more curious about the pony that she’s talking to."

Without missing a beat, Sturdy Step responded, "That is an Umbrum, also known as a Shadow Pony. They disappeared a long time ago, supposedly. No pony has seen or heard from them and most ponies believe that their race was killed off."

"Until now," Night Breeze said.

Night Glider asked, "How are there six Alicorns in existence?"

Sturdy Step replied, "Alicorns are powerful and rare. It can be difficult to become one because first, you must be friends with an Earth pony, a Pegasus, and a Unicorn. Then you have to accomplish a very difficult task that connects the pony to the true meaning of magic, and once you accomplish this, you become an Ailcorn."

"Well, yeah, I know that." Night Glider said, very impressed by that bit of knowledge. He finally understood why she was called Study Step. "But how is it that four of them have a royal title? And the other two don't?"

Sturdy Step rolled her eyes and said, "Because it's optional and some of them just want to have a good life. Being royal isn't all it’s cracked up to be." Sturdy Step glanced down and saw several Ponies that were about to be eaten, but she continued to watch the Princess of the Sun as she entered into a deep conversation with the Umbrum.

Eventually, Sturdy Step sighed and said, "I'm bored." She asked the two Hunters next to her, "Can we save those Ponies from death?"

Night Glider looked at Night Breeze and asked, "Shall we?"

Night Breeze looked back and replied, "Yes, we shall."

The three Hunters popped out of nowhere. Night Breeze threw several objects in random directions which caused explosions of pure liquefied silver. The silver burned any Werepony positioned too close to the small bombs. Sturdy Step examined the area and believed she needed to go all out. She flipped a switch on her ax and her weapon became red hot, like it had just been pulled out of the blacksmith’s forge. She swung her ax left and right, each time hitting a Werepony. Night Glider jumped into a nearby tree. He aimed his crossbow and fired seven silver arrows at a time.

Wereponies began to cower in fear when they saw their fallen comrades, but their fear heightened when they saw the two Hunters that had taken them down. They knew two of them, knew that if they tried to attack, they would die no matter where they were. Even the third one was fearsome, but all the same; they were hunters to the core.





Back at the Barracks the front gate opened and Summer Spell marched out with Sugar Mist and Crystal Breeze behind her. An angry look on her face, Summer Spell shoved the hoodie pony to the ground and asked, "Who are you? And you better be honest because I am not in the mood for lies." As the Unicorn said this, she materialized a sword of lightning magic and pointed it at the hoodie figure.

The hoodie pony got up and started to laugh as shadows began to errupt from her. The Unicorn tried to swing her sword of magic, but it was too little too late, as a smoky tentacle launched at her like a javelin, sending Summer Spell slamming to a wall. Then several smoky tentacles wrapped around the pony and brought her closer to the hoodie stranger. The mare said, "My dear, I'm happy to let you know that you will play a part in my story along with your companions." Suddenly, fear crossed Summer Spell's face, and an evil grin appeared on Mystic Coat. Her cloak flew off of her and Summer got a better look at this Umbrum. Her coat shined like silver, and her mane and tail were a dark shade of blue. But her eyes. Her eyes were a dark, deep shade of crimson.

The shadow pony spoke. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mystic Coat." As she said this, a dozen more smoky tentacles shot out at the other two ponies. Sugar Mist was too slow and immediately got tied up by the tentacles. Crystal Breeze, on the other hoof, managed to dive out of the way of the first few tentacles, did a loop de-loop through the smoky projectiles, and started to make her way back toward the gate. She was two to three hoof steps away from the gates before the smoking shadow image of the Umbrum popped out of nowhere and kicked the Pegasus out of the sky, back toward the tentacles. They quickly wrapped around the mare. Mystic Coat commanded the tentacles to slam the Pegasus to the ground several times, stopping only when she was satisfied that the mare was unconscious. She did a magical scan to make sure she didn't overdo it and saw that the Pegasus was still alive. Pleased with the results, the Umbrum placed her roughly in front of the Earth pony before more tentacles wrapped around the Pegasus and pinned her to the ground.

Crystal Breeze and Sugar Mist both struggled in the shadow pony's magical grasp. As Sumer Spell regained consciousness, she became very concerned for those two, as well as for herself. But she got a good look though the book that this Mystic Coat carried. There was a bunch of scribbling that she couldn’t make out, but what caught her eye was the large image in the middle. It looked like a drawing of three Alicorns, except the coats around their wings and hoofs were black as tar. She gave the image a closer examination, and saw that each Alicorn was distinct from the others. One had wings that didn't look like they were submerged in tar. The same could be said for the other two except it was the horn and hooves that had escaped the black substance. Suddenly, Summer’s eyes widened in recognition of her own image. It was pretty much exactly like her except for a few minor details such as the black hoofs and wings. In the likeness, she was wearing some kind of magma armor and most of her red coat was still there. She studied the other two Alicorns in the drawing. Their coats and body shapes looked similar to those of Crystal Breeze and Sugar Mist. As she continued to look through the book, she saw other images, except something was very weird about them; the images seemed to be moving. Some appeared to be shouting something, but they didn't get through the pages. Others just accepted their fate.

It was at this point that Mystic Coat got into her line of vision, her horn glowing a mixture of red and yellow, and her eyes glowing dark green and purple. She said, “Ready for your story to begin?"

The unicorn felt very hot, like someone had just poured lava into her bloodstream. The pain was unbearable, but somehow she managed to look toward the others and saw that they were in the same kind of pain she was. The heat reached a boiling point and a burst of flames and electricity shot from her hoofs. The coat of her legs turned black as tar followed by several orange cracks. And she began to feel stronger, like way stronger, strong enough to smash through walls. 

Not wanting to leave anything to chance, she decided to test her newfound strength on a nearby rock. She first gently placed her hoof on the rock and then added pressure. As she increased pressure, several cracks started to form in the rock. She lifted her hoof off of the rock, then slammed her hoof back down. The rock crumbled into pieces. But that was not the only thing that happened when she slammed her hoof on the rock. She also created a crater that was the size of her hoof.

Suddenly, she fell to the ground as the pain on her back became more intense, and she felt threatened by a very real fear of blowing up.