> Knights of Haysead
>  by Kaiser Perminente
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> From the Land of the "Ice and Snow"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Knights of Haysead Ch.1:
Thanks to Yoonicorn and space_pony for proofreading and editing

There were an unusual amount of new faces in Ponyville. Of course, the first person to notice was everypony’s favorite party animal. Soon after was a certain Pegasus who noticed a certain grey-coated newcomer. 
“Who are they?” there was a crowd beginning to gather around the group of ten ponies at their table at Sugarcube Corner. The three most notable were standing separately from the rest of their party. The first was a Pegasus mare with a dark-blue mane and a short, thin tail. She didn’t exactly look ecstatic about being there. She was quietly conversing with a unicorn to her left. He had a pale, red mane and bore a leather saddlebag with a strange insignia embroidered upon it in bright crimson felt. The third of the group was the one that Dash noticed first. An earth pony with a grey coat and an interesting black-and-white mane was nervously looking through the crowd.
None of those gathered were brave enough to go up to any of these strangers to ask where they were from or what they were doing there. As the out-stander was scanning the group of confused villagers, his eyes locked with Rainbow Dash’s for a split second. They both reared, feeling dizzy.
Twilight Sparkle, who had arrived, like most of the ponies there, after getting news of travelers in town looked over the posse. Something was bothering her. She nudged AppleJack, “That insignia, I know I’ve seen it before!”
The farm pony rolled her eyes, “Twi, Ahm not surprised, you live in a library, fer Pete’s sake! Y’all have seen every logo, insignia, and crest ever drawn up!”
“No…” She paused, squinting at the saddlebags over the ponies’ backs, “I saw these before, back in Canterlot…”     
An annoyed yell broke the awkward, almost-silence. “Well, What the hay are you all staring at?!” It was the aforementioned Pegasus. All of the side chatter stopped, even some of her fellow travelers were startled by the sudden spike in volume. 
The earth pony stepped forward, hoping to calm her down, “I apologize for my sister’s outburst.” He placed a hoof on her shoulder, her head dropped and she backed up to give her brother space, “We are travelers from The Haysead Swamps, simple… nomads.” Twilight didn’t appreciate his hesitation. “Allow me to introduce my friends. You already met my sister, Grey Wisp, and this,” gesturing to the unicorn, “Is Sly Horn.” As he rounded off the names of each of the rest of his brethren, the respective pony bowed or simply nodded. “… and I am Silent Step, the leader of this party.” 
Dash ran up to Silent Step and violently shook his hoof, much to the surprise of the nomad. “Nice to meet ya, I’m Rainbow Dash, how’re you doin’” There was a short stare between the two, Rainbow’s wide smile unable to break Silent Step’s startled expression. The last thing she expected was for him to burst out laughing. She wasn’t sure what to do, so she joined with a confused pseudo-giggle. 
Once he had calmed down, Silent Step was able to speak again, “All that time before I made my speech there, I prayed for somepony to introduce themselves and break the tension, I wasn’t expecting that!” He chuckled again.
“I’ll show you guys around the town if you want.” Dash eagerly wanted to get to know Silent Step, he seemed to her like a cool guy to hang out with.
“No, thank you,” Wisp interjected, crashing the Pegasus’s introduction, “I’m sure we can find our way around on our own, besides, we’ll be out of your mane in no time.”
Silent Step wasn’t amused, “Now, don’t be foalish, Wisp, remember what happened in Baltimare. Knowing our area is always an advantage.”
“Advantage?” by this time Twilight had stepped forward, “Advantage over whom… or what?”
“Advantage over getting lost,” Sly Horn was quick to respond. This was the first that she had heard him speak. He had a deep and serious tone, he sounded wise. Wise enough to know when to stop talking. Twilight didn’t like him, she knew he would keep the others from reveling any important information, if they weren’t able to themselves.
Again, a tense stare linked two ponies in the room. Only this time it was Twilight and Sly Horn. Twilight had a feeling Sly Horn didn’t like her either, as if he knew she was trying to pry information out of them. 
“Well,” Silent Step again attempting to be the resident mediator spoke up, “I guess we’ll take you up on that offer, Rainbow Dash.” 
Rainbow Dash squealed with delight. Realizing how ridiculous she looked, she quickly regained her composure, “Alright, then.” The group of newcomers quietly and orderly exited the building, following Rainbow Dash. Twilight watched them leave with a scowl on her face before leaving, herself, to return to the library, she knew she had seen that insignia before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The night was un-naturally quiet. Twilight was somehow able to convince Pinkie Pie to refrain from her usual antics regarding new faces in town. Few figures moved in the moonlight. There was a farm assistant out thinking to himself in the fields of Sweet Apple Acres. He was himself a newcomer, having only arrived earlier that week. He heard soft canter approaching he quickly stood and looked around him. A snort came from behind him. He didn’t stop to look, he just ran. He was a draft horse, able to run faster than most others. He frantically ran towards the nearest building, assuming it was safe. 
He burst through the thankfully unlocked door and quickly slammed it behind him, panting heavily. He only now realized that he had no idea where he was. It was completely black, until that is, a filly, who was woken up by the clatter downstairs came down with a lamp. She pointed it at the intruder, before placing it on the table. 
“Green Hoof? What are y’all doing down here?”
“Applebloom!” The frantic farm was relieved it was at least someone that he knew. “Th-There’s something out there, I don’t know what!”
The young farm pony’s eyes quickly widened, “Is it… th- the S- Slenderpony?”
“What? No! That’s just an old legend.”
Two more of the home’s occupants joined the scared ponies downstairs. “What the hay is going on down here? Do y’all have any idea what time it is?”
“Sorry guys, but Green Hoof says there’s something out there.”
“McIntosh, go see what these two’re talkin’ ‘bout.” 
The stallion calmly proceeded towards the door, opened it, and looked around outside. “Is there anythin’ out there?” Applebloom asked shakily.
“Nnnnope.”
All eyes quickly turned to the still winded farm assistant. “All I know is that I was chased by somepony or something out there. I’m sorry I woke you up.” The rest of the ponies returned to their beds without another word.
“Damn it, I almost had him!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Thank you for coming, Silent Step.” Twilight held the door open for her guest. “I’m sorry about the short notice.”
“Oh, it was nothing, I’m used to acting on a moment’s notice.” 
“What’s that?”
“Nothing…”
Spike brought in a pillow, and Twilight motioned for her guest to sit. “This is my assistant, Spike. Would you like anything to drink?”
“No, thank you.”
Twilight silently observed Silent Step’s every movement, trying to get a feel for his personality. Silent Step was the first to speak up. “Beautiful house you have…”
“Thank you.”
And with that, the silence resumed. Silent Step knew what she was doing. This wasn’t his first rodeo, he had been interrogated before, and knew how to feed false information to a curious cat. “Okay Twilight, we both know why you called me here.” He waited to see her reaction before continuing, “I know you don’t like Sly Horn, and that’s okay. To tell you the truth, most of us don’t really like him that much either.” Twilight’s lack of urge to change the subject told him his ruse was working. “The easiest way to deal with him is to pretend he’s like a parent. Take his advice, but don’t try to get friendly with him, okay?”  
“Thank you for that, Silent Step.” 
Silent Step stood and began to head for the door, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go meet up with Rainbow Dash to see something called a Sonic Rainboom…”
Twilight got all the information that she needed. He’s good at creeping around subjects. He’s been interrogated before, he’s experienced, very experienced. She scribbled a few notes on her clipboard before going through her bookshelves. She couldn’t find what she was looking for. The doorbell rang.
“Parcel for you, Ms. Sparkle.” The Mail-Pony held out a book wrapped in brown paper.
“Thank You.” She walked back inside and unwrapped the package. Logos, Insignias, and Crests: A Guide to Global Graphics. “How did this get in the mail, Spike?”
“Hey, I didn’t have anything to do with it!” 
Twilight began flipping through the pages of the dusty, old book. She came upon the page with the insignia she was looking for. There was something else, though. Attached to the page was a note. 

Pick your battles
This isn’t your concern
There will be blood…

“Silent Step!” She shouted upon reading the note. “I should’ve known he would’ve done something like this!”
“What did he do?” The young dragon didn’t quite share her urgency.
“Silent Step, What does that name tell you about him?”
“Um… he’s not a tap dancer?”
“No, Spike, he’s a thief. This is the insignia of the Khazae, a group of murderous bandits from the Haysead Swamps! A few decades ago, they were responsible for the deaths of half a dozen high ranking royal guard officials! And now they’re in Ponyville!”
“Big Deal, There’s only like, ten of them, we can just ask Princess Celestia to send in the royal guard to take care of them.”
“Spike, those ten are only one party. Once they find their target, they have thousands of assassins that they can send in on a moment’s notice! We have to warn someone about this!”
“I still don’t understand why you’re getting so worked up, Wisp. We haven’t failed the mission yet.” Silent Step’s urgency increased with every passing day. They had been there a week and almost no progress had been made, that farm assistant certainly looked like their guy, but they still weren’t positive.
“How can you not understand?!” Grey Wisp lifted her flank showing the mark of the blood martyr. “It’s not your ass that’s on the line if we fail!”
“When will you two ever shut up?!” Sly Horn lifted his head away from his book, “Arguing isn’t going to help anypony!” 
Wisp stood and walked towards the secret entrance, “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go get some real work done!” She walked out from behind the bookcase in the Chasai Curio Shop. Outside was none other than Silent Steps newest, and only for that matter, fan. “Oh shit…”
“Oh, hey Wisp, have you seen Silent Step?”
Grey Wisp took a deep breath and looked towards the blue Pegasus, “Listen, kid, Silent Step isn’t that great. Besides, idolism is unhealthy, especially with his dangerous line of work.”
“Dangerous? Wait, what?!”
“Shit, listen I never said that okay?”
“What the hay is going on with you guys?” 
Wisp gave a sinister look to Rainbow Dash before running off down the road. Dash entered the Curio Shop looking for Silent Step. “Hello? Anypony here?” She leaned up against the bookshelf which moved ever-so-slightly to the left. She looked through the resulting hole. “What the buck?!”
Every head in the hidden room snapped to attention simultaneously. “Rainbow Dash! How did you...? You never should have come here!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The plan would be put into action that night. As soon as she saw one of the Khazae, Twilight was going to follow them and see what they were up to. Night came all too soon.
The first one she saw were near the Carousel Boutique, she followed him through the alleyways of Ponyville. He seemed to be making noticeably more turns until twilight could no longer see him. She couldn’t believe it, she had lost him! Before she could even finish mentally scolding herself, she felt cold steel tickle her throat.
“I told you not to intervene!” This voice was deep and scratchy, she had heard all of the Khazae speak, none of them sounded like this. 
“Silent Step!”
The voice laughed mockingly, “You really are naïve, aren’t you?”
“Let… me… go!”
“Go home, Twilight Sparkle, this was your final warning.”
And just as it had come, the blade was gone, and so was the assailant. Twilight began to walk home. She would have plenty of time to get herself killed later, right now she would heed the warnings of the Khazae. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she had done something she was going to regret.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash. Grey Wisp warned you.” There was a definite apologetic look on Silent Step’s face as he spoke. 
“Wait, Please… Stop!” Rainbow Dash had never been this scared in her life. She was failing at her attempt to hold back tears. 
Sly Horn stood, “I’m going to go find Wisp, she deserves a say in this.”
Silent Step turned to him, “What say? There is only one way to deal with those who know too much.” He was secretly relieved that Sly Horn was being so merciful. He had grown somewhat attached to Rainbow Dash. He was ridiculed or exiled by almost everyone he came in contact with, now he finally had someone who appreciated his work, and he had to kill her. He lowered his blade.
They waited for Sly Horn to come back, but hours passed and it was clear that something went wrong. Silent Step picked his sword up off of the table. “Dash, you have to help us, our only Pegasi are out on patrol. Can I trust you?”
Rainbow Dash lifted her right hoof to a salute, “You can count on me!”
“Alright, if I know Sly Horn, he probably decided to take the rooftops to avoid detection. That’s where you need to look. Here, take this!” He handed her a whistle. “If you find him or, Celestia forbid, a body, blow that whistle and we’ll come find you. If we’re unsuccessful, rendezvous back here at 2300, are we clear?” 
In unison, the Khazae saluted, “Yes sir!”
Rainbow Dash took off at high speed out of the front door. While scanning, she had time to think to herself. She didn’t hate Silent Step for almost killing her, after all she was being kind of intrusive. Although, he does trust me enough to let me completely out of his sight with valuable information about his little secret society. She continued looking around the rooftops of Ponyville. She saw Twilight walking around, almost stealthily. What was she doing this late at night? She didn’t have time to think about Twilight, she had to look for Sly Horn.
There on the roof of some building near the center of Ponyville, there was something there. “Oh my God!” Rainbow Dash landed next to a clump of cloth she removed the hood, mask, and muzzle. Sure enough…
The whistle was loud enough to be heard from Canterlot. Silent Step and his men were quickly on their way to the site of the ear-thrashing oscillation. Silent Step was the first there. “Damn it!” He turned to Rainbow Dash, “Listen to me! Go find Wisp, search all night if you have to! I need to know if my sister is okay!”
Rainbow Dash lifted strait off and the rest of the men followed her. Silent Step would find the pony that did this, and he would make sure they never got to brag about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilights walk home was interrupted by a high-pitched squeal. She ran towards the disturbance, hoping that she would catch someone red-handed at the site of a murder. She didn’t know how right she was going to be. When she arrived there was a Khazae standing on the roof, about to take off his mask. She had to make sure she saw him before he saw her. Through a very mediocre attempt at parkour, she was able to get on a neighboring rooftop. She looked across the alley just in time to see the big reveal.
“I knew it!” The cry startled Silent Step, and made him turn around. 
“What are you doing here?!”
“Witnessing your brutal murder of…”She couldn’t quite see the body, but the break gave her a chance to actually scare herself with such pleasure at the cost of another pony’s life. She jumped to the roof which held Silent Step and the body. A closer look revealed the identity. “Sly Horn?! You killed your own partner?”
“No! you- you don’t understand!” He began backing away from Twilight, who was actually starting to scare him. 
“You’re standing right next to the body, what would a jury think?” 
“Go away, Twilight, this is none of your concern.”
“You come into my town, scare my friends, threaten to kill me, and on top of that, murder your own partner in cold blood right here on the roof of somepony’s home!, I think this is somewhat of my concern!”
“Please just calm down…” Without looking, he reared off of the roof. All he felt was pain. 

> Slap on the Wrist? Well, not this Time!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Knights of Haysead Chapter 2:
Just sayin' thanks again to Yoonicorn and space_pony for filtering out my buck ups, you guys are awesome!

Complete darkness gave way to light, bright light. At first it was blinding, but as his vision adjusted, Silent Step was eventually able to see the white walls of what appeared to be a hospital. He tried to sit up but felt something tug at his wrists. He tried to get his bearings using his other senses. His ears perked up to listen to any stray conversations.
“… I guess we’ll have to begin funeral preparations immediately, considering… the Royal Guard will be taking him tomorrow.”
Funeral preparations? Am I dead? Why would I be…? As his memory returned, there was a sudden surge of realization that hit him like a freight train. Horse apples!
“Well, look who’s awake!” The doctor walked in with a smile. He tapped on the shackles that bound Silent Step to his cot. “You had quite a night, son! It’s not every day that I get somepony who fell off a roof!”
“How long was I out?”
“Twilight brought you in two days ago. You broke your leg, two ribs and fractured your elbow, I have to say, it was quite a doosy trying to…”
“Wait, Twilight brought me here?”
“Of course, she was the only one there when you fell.”
“What did she tell you? About the other night?”	
“Well, she said something about a body, and you being her lead suspect, so she summoned in the Royal Guard and well, here we are!” The strange grin never left the doctors face. It probably came from years of dealing with irritable patients.  
Silent Step shifted his head to try and see out of the open door. He was able to get a glimpse of Royal Guard armor standing stoic at the door. Damn it! He would never hear the end of this… if his brethren were still alive. What if the same murderer that killed Sly Horn had gotten the rest of his team, too, and Rainbow Dash? He couldn’t live with himself if something had happened to that innocent little mare.
Just as he was about to begin hyperventilating, the Pegasus ran into the room, panting. “Silent Step, you’re alive!”
Silent Step began to laugh, immediately being betrayed by his injured ribs. “Glad to see you’re okay, Dash. What about the rest?”
“Everypony’s fine, in fact, Wisp said she’d be coming by later to check on you.”
Silent Step sighed in relief, now that he knew everypony was alright, he could actually worry about himself. He was probably going to prison for life, and his only defense was comprised of other Khazae and a teenage Pegasus. 
“Alright, Rainbow Dash that’s enough. Let him rest.” The familiar voice came from behind the doorframe.
“Well, if it isn’t my hero. Come on in, Twilight!” Silent Step mockingly beckoned the unicorn into the room. She stepped in with a grimace on her face.
“What is your problem, Silent Step?”
“I should be asking you that. You accused me of murder and backed me off of a roof, and then just bring to the hospital? You’re so… spineless.”
“Well, I’m sorry for saving you’re life!” The spatter was quickly turning into a heated argument.
“There must have been a reason, why’d you save me? You could have just left me there to die, but no. Did you feel bad for Dashie? Did you just not want another body in your town? Or, perhaps, by some astronomical odds… do you actually like me?”
“What are you talking about?!” 
“I don’t know, the fact that you acted so quickly to spare the life of a pony who a few seconds earlier were calling a murderer!” His chest felt as if it had been stabbed. He screamed bloody murder. 
As if on cue, Grey Wisp ran into the room in response to her brother’s cry. She was followed by the other Khazae. “Brother, are you okay?!”
Silent Step swallowed back the pain. “I’m fine… I just… needed to get that out of my system.”
Wisp looked angrily at Twilight, “I don’t think you should be here.”
“I was just…”
“GET OUT!” The yell resonated through the hallways, accompanied by a long silence before, Twilight slowly began to leave.
“C’mon Rainbow Dash.”
Dash was about to turn away when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. “Actually, I wanted to speak to Rainbow Dash… alone.”
Twilight and the remaining Khazae left the room and Dash leaned in close to Silent Step.
“Alright, listen to me Rainbow Dash, first of all, thanks for not completely abandoning me after the whole incident at the Curio Shop, it’s just that, well, with protocol, and you were just in the wrong place at the wrong...”
“It’s okay Silent Step, I understand.”  
“Okay, now to what I really wanted to talk to you about…” Silent Step took a deep breath before continuing. “I’m probably going to end up being sent away for murder…”
“No! I won’t let that happen! I can’t…”
“Shhh! Let me finish. It doesn’t matter what you, or any of the other Khazae say, everypony else thinks I killed Sly Horn, and I’m probably going to go to prison for it… or worse.”
“No! Don’t say that!” Rainbow Dash was becoming hysterical.
“Let me finish! I need your help to complete this mission, you’re the only pony on my side that knows anything about Ponyville and its citizens. Wisp is going to need your help with this. She may be hesitant, but just tell her, ‘blood martyr,’ and she’ll cooperate.”
“What the hay is a ‘blood martyr?”
“It’s an ancient position of the Khazae, every generation there is a new blood martyr born into the family. They’re the one that takes the blame if the mission fails. The punishment used to be death, but now we’ve become more… civilized. Anyway, we need you, Dash! And hopefully, the guy we’re looking for is the same pony that murdered Sly Horn, if they haven’t beheaded me by then, I’ll be released.”
This was a huge shock to Rainbow Dash, She new Twilight would kill her if she joined the Khazae. She was Loyalty, she couldn’t just go behind her friends’ backs. But then again, she couldn’t abandon Silent Step in his time of need.
“Well, I’d love to help, but, I’m just not sure if it’s something I want to get involved with. Also, Twilight probably doesn’t want me doing it.”
“Who cares what Twilight says? She isn’t your mother! Listen to me, you know I didn’t kill Sly Horn, don’t give up the chance to prove that.”
“Well, I guess I can think about it…”
“Please Dash, we need you, I need you…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I just don’t think you should have jumped to the conclusion so fast!” Rainbow Dash was ‘taking her turn’ in the discussion occurring in the library. There, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and she had gathered to discuss matters of the newcomers. 
“What are you talking about, Rainbow Dash? I saw him there that night right next to the body!”
Pinkie decided it would be fun to join. “Mere circumstantial evidence!”
The girls were beginning to take sides. Applejack was the first to pick, “I’m sorry Dash, but I told you they were bad news when they first arrived!” 
Pinkie stood, looking insulted, “Objection! Personal Prejudice!”
Rarity was next, “I must say, even though they are vicious murderers, their uniform looks wonderful! It’s sleek, modern, and above all efficient, I mean did you see the way that they were able to move it was absolutely…”
Twilight was beginning to get annoyed, “Well, what about you two?”
Pinkie stood proudly and slammed her hoof on a nearby desk. “Your honor, the state of Pinkeminia abstains courteously!”
Fluttershy timidly lifted her head, “Ditto…”
“Well, you know what?” Rainbow Dash stood and headed for the door. “I don’t need your approval! I’m going to go and prove Silent Step innocent, whether you like it or not!” She stormed out, still rather uncertain, but she had to put on a confident façade in front of her friends. She hoped to scare them enough to make them reconsider. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The carriage ride was rather turbulent. Silent Step had been in Pegasus carriages before, but none that belonged to the Royal Guard. The bumps and shakes were doing a number on his still healing wounds. Magic was an efficient form of medicine, but it wasn’t perfect.  There were two Guardsmen in the carriage with him, one of whom was the current Captain of Celestia’s Best. He stoically watched Silent Step throughout the course of the bumpy ride.
The ride was also quiet, very few words were exchanged between the Guard and their prize catch. “You know that you’re going away for a long time, Khazae.”
Silent Step didn’t respond immediately, he was focusing on the younger Guardsman, a private by the look of it. The young guard cringed back from the stare that he was receiving from the convict. He looked back at the leader of the two and smirked. “I hear Canterlot’s beautiful this time of year, who says I’ll want to leave?” He was toying with the guards, for his own entertainment, but also to get a reading of the Captain. He’d dealt with Royal Guard types before, they’re usually very professional, but occasionally you can get them to slip for just a moment, which Silent Step would try to use to advantage. The Captain didn’t budge, but that wasn’t really a surprise. 
Silent Step resumed his previous state of silence, looking out of the window in the carriage, the clouds were passing below them, there was a certain mellowness in the air. He found it hard to believe that he would soon be in a holding cell in Canterlot, awaiting an almost certainly false conviction…
The ride was over as soon as it began. The carriage landed near the castle in Canterlot. “Welcome to your first glimpse of hell.”
“Believe me, this isn’t my first…” Silent Step again turned to the younger of the two. “Hey kid, good luck getting a catch like this ever again!” He laughed as a new pair of guards escorted him into the castle. He was walked into the court of Princess Celestia, limping the whole way. This was where his trial would be in two weeks, where he would probably be convicted of the murder of his own brother. 
Princess Celestia happened to be standing in the front of the court looking over tapestries on the wall. Silent Step quickly bowed, shocking both of the guards who were in the process of saluting. The Princess approached Silent Step, smiling. “Well, it’s been a while since I have seen one of you here.”
“The Khazae live to serve, my liege.”
The guards were completely confused, but Princess Celestia didn’t seem to react at all. “Well, glad to see that your values are the same as before your change in leadership.”
“Our leaders are bound to the same laws as we. That, my liege, will never change.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I don’t give two flying figs if you know what the blood martyr is. I refuse to allow you to join our order. You can’t just waltz in here and expect acceptance.” Grey Wisp was shifting around in the small hideout, trying to avoid talking to Rainbow Dash.
“Listen! Silent Step trusts me to prove his innocence, and he told me that step one was convincing you!” 
Wisp was uncomfortable talking about the sensitive information involving their mission. “Remember what happened last time you meddled in our affairs?! Sly Horn ended up dead! You might as well be the reason he’s gone!”
“What?!” Rainbow Dash hadn’t thought of it before, but it was her fault that Sly Horn had gone out that night, her fault that he was up on the rooftops all alone, her fault that sword had gone through his back. “I didn’t want…”
“It doesn’t matter what you wanted to happen! Sly Horn is dead, and my brother is probably going to be executed for it! I’m not exactly in seventh heaven here!” 
“One of those doesn’t have to happen.” Rainbow Dash was trying to refrain from yelling. “Listen, I’m honestly sorry for what happened to Sly Horn, but ignoring me is not going to help with our current problem! You’re not the only one that wants to get your brother out of jail!”
“What if I don’t?”
“Wha- Wisp?”
“You don’t know us, kid. Silent Step had his fair share of issues with Sly Horn, he also has some spurts of really bad temper. I wouldn’t put it past him to have accidently killed Sly Horn in a blind rage.” 
“But I was there! I was with Silent Step the entire time, from the last time we saw Sly Horn alive, to when I found the body.”
“The entire time?”
Rainbow Dash had to think back. There was the time when they had split up during the search, which lasted about a half hour, certainly enough time to commit a murder.
“No! I know he didn’t do it! How can you say that?”
“Alright, kid, listen. I need a guide around this village. That will be your one and only job. You are not to search for any evidence pertaining to Sly Horn’s murder unless it specifically relates to the mission we came here for!” 
“And what is that mission?”
“We are looking for a traitor to the crown.”

> I Need You, My Witness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Knights of Haysead Chapter 3:
Thanks again to the usual duo for doing the editing work für me! Also, thanks to space_pony again for letting me upload the picture on her deviantArt page, you should check it out!

“Fabled to be descendants of Commander Hurricane’s Special Forces Team, the Khazae fell into secrecy soon after it was discovered that their newly elected leader, Equus Doris, had engineered a plot in which Princesses Celestia and Luna would be assassinated and replaced by members of their own order. In 2E 128, a small group of the Khazae were discovered in MacIntosh Hills, all of those captured were interrogated and, without yielding any information, hanged. Their campsite was ransacked by the Royal Guard. Most of what was found is still deemed classified, but what has been revealed included ancient writs and a detailed map of the Haysead Swamp. The swamp has been combed several times over, but no evidence has been found of a hideout. Many Royal Guardsmen now believe that the map was a decoy meant to lead them away from the real hideout. 
Despite being nearly unseen for more than 1100 years, the Khazae have stayed active, performing traitorous acts across Equestria. In 3E 972, A company of Khazae were able to sneak into a banquet in Canterlot and murder six Royal Guard officials, three by poison, two by knife, and the last was bucked off of a balcony. Since then there has been an eerie absence of Khazae activity, but the murderers are almost sure to strike again from the shadows, where they cannot be seen…”
Spike dryly looked up at Twilight Sparkle, “Wonderful bedtime story…” 
“You know, Spike, it wouldn’t kill you to learn a little history.”
“But, Twilight, you already caught that Silent Step guy, doesn’t that mean this whole thing is over?”
“It’ll never be over, not as long as those Khazae monsters are still out there.”
“Well, at least you weren’t cliché about it…” Spike rolled his eyes and resumed his daily chores.
Twilight closed her book entitled ‘Equestria’s Secret Societies,’ and replaced in its spot on the shelf. “I’m going to go run some errands, Spike, I’ll be back in an hour or two, okay?” She walked out of the door and began walking down the street. She began reading off a to-do list, “Okay, let’s see, I need to stop by the candle shop, grab some apples at the marke-” Her thought was interrupted when she ran into a stallion. “Oh, I’m sorry…” She looked up as the stallion turned around.
“What do you want?” It was one of the Khazae, he was standing next to Wisp, they were being stopped by a Royal Guardsman. 
“Go away, Sparkle, I really don’t want to see you right now.” Wisp angrily pointed a hoof in the direction that Twilight was originally walking. The Guardsman sternly nodded, showing that he didn’t want her there either. She obeyed the order and resumed her walk. She took a look back and saw Wisp yelling unintelligibly at the Guardsman who didn’t even flinch. 
The next pony she ran into, though not as literally this time, was Rainbow Dash. She hadn’t spoken to her Pegasus friend since their conference in the library. “Uh, hi Rainbow Dash…”
“What do you want, Twilight?” Her sneer tone practically echoed that of the Khazae, it scared Twilight for a moment.
“Listen, Rainbow Dash, I don’t think th-”
“No, Twilight!” Dash rudely interrupted her friend, “I don’t care what you think, I’m tired of your decisions controlling mine! Why would you risk sending an innocent stallion to his death? Why don’t you believe me, Twilight? I was one of the last people to see Sly Horn alive, I know that Silent Step didn’t kill him, and I’m going to prove it!” She spread her wings and prepared to take off to the north but Twilight stopped her. 
“Wait, Rainbow Dash…” The Pegasus looked back at her unicorn friend, “This isn’t just about Sly Horn’s murder anymore, is it? There’s something else going on here… I know you’re not just doing this to spite me. But, you know what? It doesn’t matter which of us is right, if you think that Silent Step is innocent, go and testify, or do whatever. This disagreement shouldn’t cause a problem in our friendship.”
“Twilight…”
“Hurry up, he’s probably waiting for you.”
“Thanks, Twilight.” With that, Rainbow Dash took off and set a course for Canterlot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The autumn leaves crunched under Green Hoof’s slender hooves. Carrying apples back and forth between the orchard and the barn was hard work, but he needed the money, he was going to start his own farm one day, or at least, that’s what he liked to say. He also said he was a gifted farmer, his cutie mark depicted a hoe, and he had been working at Sweet Apple Acres for more than two weeks, but AppleJack had never seen him once pick up a hoe. 
“Hey, Green Hoof, can Ah ask y’all a question?”
“You just did” He chuckled and continued.
“Yeah, funny, but seriously, Ah do have a question.”
“What’s that, Ms. AppleJack?”
“Well, you seem a lot happier now, y’all were actin’ kinda strange after you were chased the other night, now you seem a lot more, well, chipper.”
“I guess I’ve just gotten over that night…” 
“Well, alright then, take care, Ahm going to town to open up the market stall, go talk t’ McIntosh if you need anything.” 
Green Hoof watched AppleJack leaving the orchard, at the gate she met up with three individuals. There was a mare and two stallions, one of whom was closely watching him. Green Hoof continued to carry the load of apples back to the barn. The mare in front was talking to AppleJack, who quickly shooed her away. After dropping off the apples, Green Hoof peeked out of the barn to continue watching the conversation, but he noticed that all four of the ponies were gone.	
“Hello, Green Hoof.” The voice came from behind him, making him frantically jump out of the way. The three ponies that had been at the gate were now standing with him in the Apple Family barn.
“What are you doing here? What happened to AppleJack?”
“Relax, boy, she went to go sell apples, we just jumped the fence after she left.” The mare walked closer to Green Hoof, “It isn’t over, you didn’t think you could just do your little magic trick and get away from us, did you?”
Green Hoof did what his instincts told him to, run. He jumped the fence that bordered the Apple Family’s property, the other three were following him and gaining quickly, he had to think of something. He started twisting and winding through the alleyways and buildings, pretty soon the three that were following him were forced to split up. The mare was about to exit an alley way into a street when she slammed into another pony. 
She looked up to see her own companion standing there looking back down at her, “Wisp, are you okay?!”
“I’m fine, just keep going, we can’t let Green Hoof get away!”
“What the hay is going on over here?!” The two were approached by a Royal Guardsman, who eyed them suspiciously. “I got a report of three ponies chasing another through this district. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“I’m sorry officer, but we’re rather busy right now, so if you’ll excuse us…”
The Guardsman stepped out in front of her, “I asked you a question!”
At that moment the stallion felt yet another person bump into him, but this time it was out of ignorance and not haste. “Oh, I’m sorry…” the familiar voice came from a unicorn who had become all too infamous among the present company.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silent Step was more bored than anything else. He hadn’t been this bored in a long time, after all he was probably going to be executed in a few weeks, they could’ve at least given him a deck of cards or something. But he sat and he waited, the next two weeks would be the longest of his life. He laid back on the bunk in his cell and looked at ceiling, contemplating life. “Maybe I should write a memoir…”
“Hey, Khazae, you have a visitor.” The Guardsman was followed by a cyan Pegasus, who smiled at the sight of Silent Step.
“Dashie! You don’t know how glad I am to see you!”
“How are you holding up?”
Silent Step thought he’d alleviate some of his boredom with humor, “It’s terrible! The days are bleeding together, I can’t even remember what month it is! What’s changed on the outside world? Do they finally have self-powered carts?” Rainbow Dash laughed a little at his joke, which somewhat brought him back to life.
“So, did you talk to my sister?” 
“Yeah, but…”
Silent Step put his hoof up, “Talk vaguely, their listening.”
“Well, your sister doesn’t want me to investigate Sly Horn’s death at all. She doesn’t want me to have anything to do with it, which means I’m not even really supposed to be here…”
“What the hay is her problem? Well, thanks for coming anyway, I’m sorry if this caused any turmoil with your friends.”
“It’s okay, Twilight and I resolved our differences, but she still thinks you did it.”
“Alright Dashie, I think you’re ready for this, go talk to my sister about taking the writ of passage. She’s not going to give you any information unless you take it.”
“Wait, will that bind me as a member? Because I’m pretty sure these guys wouldn’t want you recruiting from prison…” She gestured at one of the guards listening in on the conversation. 
“No you won’t be stuck with us, just think of yourself as… a consultant. Once you’ve taken the oath, talk to my sister about our lead, you can go talk to him, he’ll probably trust you more than he did us.”	
“Why can’t you just tell me about him?”
“They’re listening to me, remember? The minute I say his name, they’re going to get him out of there and make sure that he doesn’t talk.” 
Rainbow Dash nodded and began to step out, “Well, good luck!”  
“Yeah, thanks!” And with that, Silent Step was bored once again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight had returned from her errands to a quiet “library-house.” Spike was fast asleep, so she snuck by quietly, not wanting to wake him. Heading upstairs to put down her various groceries, she decided that she would continue reading up on the history of the Khazae. 
“Where is that book?” She searched the shelf where she was sure she had left it. “Maybe Spike took my advice and decided to read it.” 
Twilight turned to walk back downstairs, that’s when she noticed something that she hadn’t before. One of the windows was open. That was impossible, she always closed the windows before leaving. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “Maybe Spike just wanted to let in some fresh air…”
Out of nowhere, she heard a high-pitched scream from downstairs. She ran down to meet it. “Spike? Spike!” 
“What happened? Where’d he go?!”
“Where’d who go?!”
“That guy, the one you brought to the hospital, Silent Step!”
“Silent Step, Here?! What happened, Spike?!”
After a few moments, Spike was able to regain his composure and speak again. “I heard glass breaking, so I ran upstairs and saw Silent Step trying to climb in. Once he saw me, he glared at me and everything just went black, and then I woke up a minute ago.” Something was wrong, Silent Step couldn’t have escaped from prison very easily. Twilight would have to talk to Rainbow Dash when she got back. She felt kind of bad for her, finding out that Silent Step was now a fugitive would break her heart. 
“Alright, let’s get you to a doctor. We need to figure out what Silent Step did to you. Come on.” 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With their momentary disturbance out of the way, the argument between Wisp and the Royal Guardsman, who stopped her and her companion, could resume. “Why do you automatically think that were doing something illegal if we’re just chasing somepony? Maybe he was doing something illegal, ever think of that?!”
“Ma’am, please calm down and tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s none of your damned business what’s going on! You can’t even begin to comprehend what’s going on!” 
Her friend put his hoof on her shoulder. “Calm down, Wisp.”
“Ma’am, please don’t disrespect me, I’m a member of the Royal Guard, and I’m just here to help.”
“Well, Mr. Narcissist, I’m sorry I didn’t recognize your status with that brilliant armor on, I mean just look at those vanbraces! ... You’re all alike, all you do is meddle in things that aren’t meant to be meddled in, now if you’ll excuse us, we’re rather behind in our ordeal here, so…” She began to take off down the road. The Guardsman was not amused.
“Get back here!” They both left the third stallion in the middle of the street, unsure of what to do. 
Wisp had an immeasurable speed advantage of the Guardsman, she was quickly out of his sight range, still looking for the farm assistant, odds are she would never find him, he had the strangest habit of just… disappearing.
> It's Just One of Those Days
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Knights of Haysead Ch. 4:
More thanks to the usual duo, Yoonicorn and space_pony for the editing, especially with me procrastinating so much on this chapter... You guys are the best!

It was dark, musty too. The odor permeated Rainbow Dash’s nostrils. She felt dazed, unable to see. She tried to move but her head immediately blasted her with pain.
“Ah! What the hay? Where am I?” The room was completely black. Looking around, she tried to get her bearings. She couldn’t remember much either. Backtracking, she began to retrace her steps. “Okay, I was with Wisp and she told me to go to the building with the two green awnings. I left and saw the building, and then…” There was nothing else. She knew something happened after that, but she just couldn’t put her hoof on it. 
Reaching out, she could feel a wall a few inches in front of her, it felt like old wooden planks. She turned around and reached off in that direction, there was more space this way, but her hope was quickly destroyed by another cold wall that was just out of her reach. By that point, it was clear that she wasn’t going anywhere, but she was also thankful that she wouldn’t be suffocating anytime soon. Her hooves felt a bed of hay underneath her. She decided to lay down to try and remember what happened, judging by the immense darkness, she assumed it was sometime at night, that would give her plenty of time to think before figuring out where she was.
The bright sunshine permeating throughout Ponyville lit up everyone’s morning, but you wouldn’t know that from the way Wisp was acting.
“I can’t believe I let him get away! I couldn’t sleep at all last night!” She was still upset about the ordeal involving Green Hoof, but then again who wouldn’t be? 
One of the other members walked up to her, his name was Aquila Umbra. His Ancient Equestrian name meant that he was a direct descendant of a Khazae leader. Despite his connection to the higher-ups, he still had to climb up from the bottom, like any whelp. He had gotten up to the point where he was trusted enough to be sent on a mission, which was a fair rank.
“Wisp, I would be more concerned about the edict that the Royal Guard is about to place on us! You have to learn to control your temper!”
Wisp walked up to her companion and angrily stared up at him. He backed up a little. Being subordinate made a comment like that extremely disrespectful, not that Wisp would know anything about respect.
“You say that I should learn how to shut my mouth. I can think of somepony else that would benefit from the same lesson.” At that moment, everypony’s favorite cyan pegasus entered the room.
“Wisp, I need to talk to you!” Dash yelled out as she pushed aside the bookcase, which last time, nearly got her killed. 
“Go away, Rainbow Dash! Can’t you take a hint?!”
Aquila snapped back, “You see? This is exactly what I’m talking about! She probably just wants to help, why are you getting so upset?!”  
“What in the name of Celestia is wrong with you?! All she’s done is cause problems! And now she’s intruding into our temporary headquarters which are supposed to be SECRET, mind you, and you act like it’s nothing! You’ve grown soft Umbra, I’m not even sure you deserve a name in the sacred tongue anymore!” 
Her exclamation made the entire room fall silent. Rainbow Dash thought that right then would be a good time to step out. However, Wisp made that decision first. Though she was incredibly angry, her outburst was completely uncalled for. She realized what she had done, insulting a sacred descendant extremely radical, it was something you just didn’t do. She ran out of the room, grabbing her jacket off of the table.
Rainbow Dash looked up at Aquila Umbra who was staring down, as if somepony just slapped him firmly across the face.
“Um, are you okay?” 
“What do you want?” His glazed eyes never left the floor.
“Well, Silent Step told me to talk to Wisp about…”
“I don’t think she’s in the mood for talking right now.” 
Well that was just perfect. Rainbow Dash would need Wisp to do this oath thing, at least she assumed so.
“Well, do you know how to perform the Writ of Passage?”
Aquila turned his head with a raised eyebrow. “How do you… No! Don’t you think you’ve caused enough trouble for us? We can’t have you actually joini-” At that’s moment, he realized something. If Rainbow Dash joined them, she would no longer be an outsider, Wisp would have no reason to keep her out. And if Rainbow Dash is there, they may actually get some work done. 
“So, you want to take the Writ of Passage?”
“Um, yeah I guess, but Silent Step said it should only be temporary, like a consultant or something.”
“Well, I’ve never done it for a consultant, but we can do it if we have at least three other Khazae. I should be able to get the process somewhat started.”
The doctor returned to the room in which Spike and Twilight were waiting. They had to find out what Silent Step had done to Spike and if it would cause him harm. 
“Well, I have some good news, Spike.” The doctors soothing tone was reassuring.
“Well, what did he do to me? Was it magic? Some kind of paralysis spell, maybe?”
“No, Spike. He didn’t do anything, other than scare you to the point of fainting.”
“I… fainted?”
“Exactly, you’re going to be fine. But just to be sure, we’re going to run some toxicology tests on your blood sample, okay?” 
Twilight smiled at the good news. “Thank you very much Doctor. Come on, Spike, let’s go home.” 
As they were walking back to the library, Spike thought about the doctor’s diagnosis. “I don’t think I fainted.”
“It’s okay Spike, everyone get’s scared. You were brave enough to try and confront the pony that was breaking in, and I’m proud of you.”
“No, I honestly don’t think I fainted. I wasn’t scared.”
“You don’t have to act brave. I don’t think any less of you.”
“Really, Twilight, I wasn’t scared, sure, I was surprised, sure. And I probably would have been terrified if I hadn’t blacked out. I think Silent Step did something to me.” 
They both stopped walking, Twilight took a minute to think about this. What if Silent Step had used some sort of spell on Spike? But wait, he wasn’t a unicorn, so he couldn’t use magic unless, what if the Khazae were helping him?
Eleven days. That was all the time that he had to prepare for the rest, or end, of his life. Silent Step paced nervously within the confines of his stone brick cell. The days were counting down until his trial at the Canterlot Royal Court. His lips were trembling, his knees were shaking, and he was breathing heavily. He was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. 
A guard ran into the room towards another that was already there, standing watch. Silent Step watched as the stallion who entered whispered into the ear of the one watching over the prisoners. He saw the latter’s eyes widen before replying.
“Are you sure?”
The messenger nodded and they both turned towards Silent Step. He looked away, trying to mask the fact that he was paying attention to them. His heart raced as they began to walk closer and closer to him. They guardsman who was with him the entire time pulled out his keys and unlocked the iron bars that kept Silent Step confined.
“Princess Celestia has requested your presence. We’re taking you to the castle.”
As of that moment, anypony within earshot was now confused, including Silent Step. Why would the Princess want to talk to him? He had a feeling that he’d made a good impression on her a few days earlier, but he didn’t expect her to want to talk to him. 
Their walk led through courtyard in between the keep and the castle. He took the time to calm himself down. He looked at the brilliant architecture and foliage of the courtyard. It was hard to do with the circle of Royal Guardsman surrounding him. They approached the front gate of Canterlot castle and entered. The ambiance changed drastically as the atmosphere grew very quiet. The group walked through hallways filled with tapestries and mosaics, before approaching the throne room.
“Thank you, sirs.” The princess towered over the group of bowing guards. “You are dismissed.”
The group left, leaving Silent Step and the Princess alone in the throne room. Silent Step respectively bowed before looking up with a smile.
“Don’t you think this is a little risky?”
“Being alone with you? I think I’d be able to hold my own.”
Silent Step laughed uproariously. “They’re going to find out, and that would destroy two millennia of work.”
“I’m sure Equus Doris’s wish will be honored properly.”
Silent Step laughed again. “You know, in the lore, they say it was your idea.” 
“It was actually Luna’s. I think that she just wanted a personal force of assassins.”
As if on cue, Princess Luna entered the room and looked at the two. She eyed Silent Step, recognizing him immediately.	
“You still exist?”
Celestia and Silent Step looked at each other, once again laughing. Luna looked around, confused. Her elder sister beckoned her to join them.
“Luna, allow me to introduce Silent Step, Lieutenant of the Khazae.”
Silent Step turned to Luna and once again bowed. “The Khazae live to serve, my liege.” He turned back to Princess Celestia with a more serious face. “So, why did you summon me?”
The Princess began to walk down the steps that led to the main area of the room, passing her guest on the way. She turned her head back and looked at him. “Are you nervous?”
“I don’t even think that begins to describe it.”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “Are you the one of whom they speak? The alleged murderer?”
Silent Step lowered his head. “Unfortunately, yes. I have been wrongfully accused.”
Celestia continued her part of the conversation. “I want you to know that whatever happens, I’m on your side. I’ve arranged for the best lawyer in Canterlot to defend you. If that doesn’t work, I’ll be able to pass a royal pardon to excuse you from any… more serious sentences.”
“Thank you, Princess. It’s nice to know that somepony supports me.”
“As usual we must not speak of this conference to anypony.” 
“Right.”
The Princess summoned the Royal Guard to re-enter the room and escort Silent Step back to the keep.
All of the curtains in the room were closed. The only light in the room came from a lone candle on a table. Seven figures stepped closer. The one in the middle lifted his head.
“Rainbow Dash, are you prepared to devote yourself, at least for the time being, to the cause of our order?”
Dash, who was standing on the opposite side of the table, stepped forward. “Sīc, audiorō.”
“Do you swear your loyalty to our leader, Admissarius Rex?”
“Sīc, audiorō.”
“Do you swear you loyalty to the Regīnae, rulers of our land?”
“Sīc, audiorō.”
“Do you understand that betrayal is punishable by death?”
“Sīc, accipiō.”
“Accepemus. Reginārum perduellis accibō!”
A unicorn to the left of the Khazae speaker lifted his head. His horn glowed, igniting all of the other candles in the room. The assassins removed their hoods and looked at Rainbow Dash. One of them, who had slipped away without her noticing, entered the room with a dark red cloak, a mask, and a leather muzzle. 
“When you are working, you must keep your identity secret. The cloak is enchanted and will change the color of your exposed coat. You are to let no one know that you are one of us, understand?”
“Of course, and thanks Aquila.”
“My pleasure, now come on, I’ll tell you what you’ll be doing.”
A green coated stallion was walking down the main street in Ponyville. It was early evening, and he was heading back to Sweet Apple Acres. As he approached the front gate, he was greeted by an orange mare.
“Where the hay were you?! Y’all were gone for a whole day and ya didn’t tell us! We were worried sick, Big Mac especially!” 
Green Hoof backed up, pausing to consider his next words. “I was visiting a friend. He was only here for one night, so I left as soon as I heard he had come. I’m sorry, I guess I should have told you where I was going…” 
Applejack eyed him suspiciously. “Okay, but next time tell us before y’all leave. We’ll understand.”
“Yeah, sorry again for that…” 
He entered the gate and looked around for something to help with. In doing this, he noticed Big McIntosh sitting next to a window. The red stallion turned his head and saw Green Hoof. His eyes grew wide as he quickly moved away from the window towards the door. Green Hoof began to rear away when he saw McIntosh burst through the door and run at full speed towards him.
“What happened?! Where have you been?!”
Green Hoof covered his face, expecting to get a solid hoof rammed into it. After a moment’s pause he lowered his arm and looked back up at Big Mac, who was still standing there. It was this moment when he realized that McIntosh’s tone didn’t necessarily sound angry, but concerned.
“I already talked to Applejack about this…”
“Well, I want to hear it from you.” He stuck out his hoof and poked Green Hoof’s chest.
Green Hoof gave McIntosh the same alibi that he told Applejack. When he was finished, McIntosh directed him to go move some barrels to the barn. Applejack then approached her brother.
“He’s lying…”
“Eeyup.”
“Well, what do ya think we should do?”
McIntosh shrugged and looked down at his sister. He could tell when she was hatching a plan. Her furrowed brow and elongated stare told him that this was one of those times.
An old portrait of a noble looking stallion was held up in front of Rainbow Dash. He had a dark blue coat, and a white mane. He was wearing some sort of suit arrangement. Along his side was a sheathed sword with ornate designs across the hilt.
“This is Dius Cognatio, high officer of the Khazae. He was appointed to head of commissions in 3E 954. He organized the major missions that we went on, and was the one who planned the Royal Guard assassinations at the 3E 972 Grand Galloping Gala.”
Rainbow Dash quickly interrupted Aquila Umbra. “Wait, wait! Why didn’t you tell me about that?! I mean, I knew you guys weren’t exactly prime examples of Equestrian citizens, but that’s treason! I wouldn’t have joined had I known that you’d done something like that!” 
She began to back up, suddenly seeing these ponies as murderers instead of her brethren.
“I- I thought Silent Step told you…”
“Told me that you guys are traitors to the crown?!”
“Rainbow Dash, please calm down… I’m going to give you a little history lesson. Just sit down, I won’t hurt you.”
Dash spent the next few moments contemplating the decision. She took a deep breath and slowly sat back down.
Aquila smiled at her before continuing his story. “In 2E 53, the Khazae’s new leader, Equus Doris convened with the Princesses about repeated threats to our society. You see, up to that point we were the Princesses’ personal guard force. They decided it was best to go into hiding, but if we suddenly disappeared, everypony would get suspicious. They came up with a plan where we create a fake plot to assassinate the Princesses and attempt to take over Equestria. Of course, the Royal Guard forces quickly ‘thwarted’ our plans and we escaped to the Haysead Swamps. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to tell anypony about our plans, so the Royal Guard, as well as all of their auxiliary groups, chased us down for real, and the Princesses couldn’t help us. 
Despite our hardships with Royal forces, we remained loyal to the crown to this day. Those Royal Guard officials that were assassinated were all corrupt. In fact, they were inspired by our false plot to ‘displace’ the Princesses.” He paused to look back at Rainbow Dash, who was now much calmer. “Does that answer your question?”
The conversation was interrupted by a mare entering the hideout. She looked down at Rainbow Dash, who was wearing one of their distinct hooded cloaks.
Wisp took a deep breath before speaking. “What is she doing here?”
Aquila stepped forward. “I’m not going to lie to you, Wisp. I went behind your back and performed the Writ of Passage.”
She looked like she was going to explode. “Who authorized this?!”
“Your brother did.”
Her eyes went wide. “My brother… Come with me Rainbow Dash.”
Dash looked at Aquila, who simply shrugged. She decided to obey Wisp’s order, walking alongside her to a desk in the back. “I thought I told you not to talk to him…”
“I’m sorry, Wisp, it’s just… I had to. I mean, I don’t know you guys well enough to…”
“Listen to me. I’m not going to kill you for it now, but now that you’re one of us, if you go behind my back, like Umbra over there, I’ll be on you before you can turn around. Got it?”
Rainbow Dash cringed at the mere thought of what Wisp might do. “Yeah, got it…”
Wisp walked away without another word, which Dash assumed was a cue to return to her briefing. She walked over to Aquila who was preparing to resume his presentation. He directed Dash to sit, which she did silently. He cleared his throat and began.
“Well, as I was saying before, Dius Cognatio was in charge of our major missions. He has been organizing us since 3E 954. Or so we thought…” He took down the portrait of Dius Cognatio, revealing a picture of a changeling behind it. “I’m going to assume you know what this is…”.
Raibow Dash gasped as she remembered her experience at the Royal Wedding of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. “Please tell me we’re not going after one of those!”
Aquila bit his lip. “Well… yes. You see, the real Dius Cognatio was killed in 4E 985, and a changeling took over. No pony knew that until about a year ago. But by the time we tried to confront him, he was gone. Our most powerful scryers figured out that he came here. So, we took a log of all the newcomers and are watching them. We have one in particular that we’ve narrowed it down to, a farm hand by the name of Green Hoof. We hired a local to help us keep an eye on him.”
Dash realized that she new Green Hoof, Applejack had introduced them when he first showed up in Ponyville. “Wait! Who was the local who you hired?”
“Green Hoof’s boss, Big McIntosh, you know him?”
“Know him? He’s my best friend’s brother!”
Wisp, who was listening in, quickly stood up. “That just makes it easier. We’ve arranged for McIntosh to talk to one of us about any suspicious behavior that Green Hoof has been exhibiting. If he knows you, he’ll probably trust you more than some suspicious newcomers. Are you ready for your first task?”
“I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be…”
“Okay, you’ll be going ‘undercover’ for this mission, so take off the cloak. We’ve set up to meet McIntosh at 1800 hours near the coffee house on Ponyville’s main road. It has a white wall and two green awnings, you can’t miss it. Go talk to Big Mac, and see what you can find out. Okay?”
Rainbow Dash stood, nodded, and pulled off her cloak. She began to head for the door, when she heard Wisp’s voice again.
“And Rainbow Dash… Don’t screw up.”

> Watch your Back, They're Stabbing it
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Knights of Haysead Ch. 5:
So I was going to wait until Dec. 1st to upload this, but I couldn't wait!! So, as always, thanks to Yoonicorn and space_pony for doing all the editing. I should be back on the regular schedule now, which means that Ch. 6 should be out on Dec. 8th... SHOULD BE...

The green pony blocked out every thought in his head. Nothing mattered but getting away from his pursuers. He didn’t want to turn around and risk slowing down, but he couldn’t change forms before breaking their line of sight. There were no crowds to sneak into or blend with in this part of town. No. This time he was running for his life. He listened intently over the sound of his own heartbeat to try and hear the heavy canter of the ponies chasing him.
He quickly began rounding corners before stopping, figuring that he had shaken them. He looked into the streets ahead, catching a glimpse of gilded royal armor. He stepped back into the alleyway before resurging with some gleaming armor of his own. The formerly green stallion began to walk down the street on which he originally saw the Royal Guardsman. He kept his eyes peeled for the three ponies that were following him earlier.
Just to his luck, up the street he saw one of the stallions. He was about to confront the stallion, when he saw a mare slam into his suspect at high speed. He winced for a second before charging forward himself to apprehend the predators. The mare stood up, yelling at her companion. As the self-proclaimed “Guardsman” approached, he raised his voice as well.
“What the hay is going on over here?!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The damp aroma was beginning to dissipate as Rainbow Dash’s time in her prison grew longer. She had taken a break from trying to remember the previous day’s events to wait out the darkness. Her plan wasn’t working. No light was permeating through the spaces in the old, rotting wood.
Standing again, she began to look through these spaces, trying to get a glimpse of anything outside. All that she saw was a sliver of extremely bright light.
“A door!” She shouted out her first clue with excitement, suddenly reinvigorated. She turned around and stepped forward. “Alright, I’m gonna buck my way out of this thing if I have to!”
She furiously began to kick the wall of her prison, but it wouldn’t budge. It felt like it was reinforced with something. She only tired herself out quickly. She sat back down, panting.
“Alright, that won’t work… Maybe I should just go back to trying to remember yesterday…” It was then that Rainbow Dash realized something that she hadn’t thought of before. She wasn’t sure if she really was thinking about yesterday. She had absolutely no idea how long she was out. It could’ve been days! She began breathing heavily, suddenly afraid. Tears began to well in her eyes when the thought of imminent death crossed her mind. Her mind drifted back to Sly Horn, and what he must have been thinking right before he was killed. Did he know it was coming? Was he afraid? She fell back to the floor and cried. For the first time in her life, she wished that somepony could hear it so they could comfort her. But there was no pony there.
She wasn’t sure how long it lasted, but she got to a point where she couldn’t cry any longer. That helped her to get back to her thoughts. If she was going to die, then she would die knowing how and why.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cool autumn air was comforting to Twilight. Her afternoon stroll helped take her mind off of the events occurring in Ponyville. Experiencing all of these horrible instances made her feel defenseless. She was one of the Elements of Harmony, for Celestia’s sake! She had to do something about those vile criminals, but not now. This was her time to get away from life and relax.
She was walking through the marketplace when she saw a friend whom she had wanted to talk with for a few days now. Approaching this friend, she prepared herself to be yelled at.
“Hi, Rainbow Dash!”
The pegasus mare turned towards the sound of her name. “Oh, hey Twilight. How’s it going?”
“I’m fine. How are you holding up?”
Twilight’s word choice made Dash raise an eyebrow. “I’m holding up fine… I’m just heading over to the coffee shop.”
“Oh, okay… well um, I was going to go to the Ponyville theatre to see Filly on the Roof. I wanted to see if you wanted to come with, but I guess you’re busy.”
“Yeah, sorry, Twilight…”
They began walking their separate ways, when Twilight turned back and yelled after her friend.
“Wait, Rainbow Dash!” Her cyan friend looked back again. “I’m sorry, you know, about Silent Step… I guess you’re going to have some conflicting emotions about him now…”
“What are you talking about, Twilight? He was fine. I don’t feel any different about him. Are you okay?”
“Wait, what do you mean ‘he was fine?’ You saw him?”
“Of course I saw him! Don’t you remember? The other day I flew to Canterlot to go visit him.”
Twilight was now officially confused. “How long were you there for?”
Rainbow Dash thought back to her endeavor through the Equestrian capital. “Well, I got there around noon time, and I went straight to the keep. It took me like, an hour in security before some genius recognized me as one of the Element of Harmony. Once they let me in, I talked with Silent Step for a while. Then left to grab something for lunch an-”
“Wait, you talked to Silent Step?”
“Yeah… It’s not like he was going to go anywhere.”
Twilight thought through all the scenarios that she could, before she arrived on one that seemed… plausible? No, Rainbow Dash would never… “When did you get back to Ponyville?”
Dash put her hoof to her chin in thought. “I’d say around eleven… why?”
Twilight thought back as well, She came home the same day much earlier than that… If Rainbow Dash had aided his escape, she wouldn’t have stayed in Canterlot that long. She would also be smarter than to bring him back to Ponyville. Or at least, Twilight hoped she would have been that smart.  
The bell hung from the clock tower, rang loudly. Twilight and Rainbow Dash both looked up, almost instinctively. It read six o’clock. Rainbow Dash was supposed to be meeting with McIntosh. She quickly turned to run, yelling back at Twilight.
“I gotta go, Twilight. We can talk again later!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The room was small and quiet, but Silent Step didn’t complain. He’d been in small quarters for the past five days anyway. He sat at a small table facing a door. To his left was a guard, who stood stolidly staring blankly into the distance. On the scratched up wooden table, there was blank paper, a quill, and an inkwell. Silent Step patiently watched the door.
He could see a well dressed pony talking to the guard outside. After looking over the other’s papers, the guard opened the door and beckoned him in. Silent Step stood as his guest entered. “Nice to meet you, Mr.…”  
“Case, Closed Case. I’m the lawyer that Princess Celestia hired to represent you in the Royal Court of Canterlot.” The stallion was a short, slender earth pony. He had a silver mane, his suit jacket nearly blended in with his black coat.
Both ponies sat down. Silent Step opened his mouth, but was quickly interrupted by Closed Case.
“Alright let’s get down to business.” He spoke with great speed and efficiency. “First things first: I looked over the case file, it looks like I’ll be able to drum up a good defense. Okay, next, the most important rule of a case, I don’t want to know if you did it, so just tell me you didn’t. That way will be better for both of us. Now, I need you to do a favor for me.” He pulled a blank sheet of paper from his briefcase, completely disregarding the one already on the table. “I’m going to need names and contact information of all witnesses that you want to appear during your trial. I’ll talk to them about the case and also courtroom etiquette. I’ll need you to talk to them about how they should appear.”
Silent Step looked up from the name list that he was scribbling on the page that Closed Case just passed him. He put the quill down to respond.
“What do you mean ‘How they should appear?”
The lawyer pony lengthened his neck to see what Silent Step had written on the list. After a short moment of silence, he began to speak. “It’s mostly psychological stuff for the jury’s sake. Make sure the keep their mane well groomed, tell them not to wear anything too flashy, and I know it seems strange, but get them to wear blue.”
“Blue?”
“Another psychology thing, wearing blue makes ponies trust you more.”
Silent Step looked down at Rainbow Dash’s name on the uncompleted witness list. “Well, I don’t think that will be a problem.”
Closed Case continued to ramble on about the case, what to expect, how the prosecution would most likely act, as well as other courtroom details that Silent Step didn’t really pay any attention to. He finished putting together the witness list and handed it back to his lawyer.
“Just be gentle when talking to these people, they can be a little… strange.”
Closed Case reached out and grabbed the page off of the table. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”
He placed the witness list into his briefcase and pulled out another piece of paper. On it was a list of Do’s and Don’ts in the courtroom. He passed it to Silent Step, who gave it a cursory glance.
“Those are the basics, just to make sure you don’t buck up. Any questions?”
“No, I think I’m good.”
Closed Case stood, closed his briefcase, and stretched his hoof out to Silent Step, who promptly shook it. “Then I will see you on Thursday. We’ll have to discuss the actual trial details then. Until then, I’ll talk to your witnesses and see what I can put together.”
“Thank you very much, sir.”
Closed Case left the room as the guardsman directed Silent Step to stand. He did as he was told and the stoic guard escorted him back through the stone hallway leading back to the cell block.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow Dash frantically looked through the crowded town road. She spotted the building where she was supposed to meet Big McIntosh. She quickly ran to the front of the coffee shop, searching for the red draft horse. She spotted him standing in front of the door, looking around nervously. She started walking towards him and everything went black.
Rainbow Dash quickly jolted to a standing position as the memory began to pass and she began to again become aware of her surroundings. She realized that she was still trapped in the tiny space, unable to see much. Her eyes had somewhat adjusted to the darkness, and she was able to see more now than before. She felt a cold sweat all over her body. It was as if she was still experiencing the horror of her memory.
She mused on the thought for a while. That was the last thing she seemed to remember before waking up in this place. She had no recollection of talking to Big Mac or relaying any news to Wisp or Umbra. No, she was certain that that moment in her memory was her last time conscious before coming to in a wooden crate. But if that were so, why didn’t anypony try to help her when she passed out? If somepony who had any conscience whatsoever had found her, she would have been taken to the hospital, or at least back home. Why was she stuffed in a storage crate? Was there somepony out there who needed her out of the way? But why her? Why?!
“WHY?!” She shouted out into the darkness and again began furiously bucking at the wall.
The silence was again broken by another voice, which was familiar to Rainbow Dash. “Wha? Who’s there?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wisp went over the files on her desk, double, triple checking them for discrepancies. They consisted of a log counting everypony that entered and left Ponyville. She had been occupied with this desk job for the last few weeks. The changeling that had impersonated Dius Cognatio wouldn’t be able to leave under their watch. Every name was listed any time that any of them had crossed the outer border of Ponyville was watched. She was looking over the list for the umpteenth time when she heard a pony approach.
“Wisp, I’m back.”
Wisp looked up to see Rainbow Dash with a disappointed look on her face. “That was quick… What happened?”
“I couldn’t find him anywhere. I looked around the whole area, but he wasn’t there. So, I went to Sweet Apple Acres and Applejack said that he was out.”
“Damn it! Now he’s either flaking on us or something really bad happened. Did you happen to see Green Hoof when you were at the farm?”
“No, she said he was with McIntosh.”
“Augh! That can’t be good! C’mon Rainbow, grab your cloak!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“C’mon Spike I don’t want to miss the train!” Twilight Sparkle shouted at her assistant from the front door of her library home.
“I’m coming Twilight. Hold on!”
He ran downstairs, carrying his luggage under his arms. He tripped on the way down and tumbled the remainder of the way down the circular stairway. Twilight quickly ran over and looked down at him, rolling her eyes. “We’re only going to be there for one night, Spike. You don’t need to pack all of this stuff”
Spike waited for his head to stop spinning before replying. “I just wanted to take the necessary precautions.”
Twilight looked at the nearest wall clock. They were going to be late if they didn’t hurry. She quickly grabbed Spike and one of the three bags which he was originally planning on bringing. They rushed out the door and down the street to the train station. The train was waiting there, about to leave. Twilight quickly pulled out her and Spike’s tickets and hopped on board the Canterlot-bound locomotive.
Once seated, Spike decided that then was a good point to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while. “Twilight, why are we going to Canterlot?”
“I told you, Spike, I need to talk to Silent Step and figure out what happened the other night. Something’s off about this whole situation.”
Spike was about to say something before erupting a large green flame out of his mouth. The flame coiled up and materialized into a sealed scroll. Twilight caught the scroll with a purple magic aura. She broke the seal and began to read aloud.
“Twilight Sparkle, you have been summoned by the Royal Court of Canterlot to testify in the federal case against Silent Step. The aforementioned stands accused of first degree murder and the association with a terrorist organization. You are scheduled to appear in court on the 10th of Hearthfire… The tenth? That’s only a week from now! Why didn’t I get this earlier?”
Spike laughed at the irony which only he seemed to notice. “Good thing I planned ahead! I have enough packed to last me the whole time.”
Twilight read over the rest of the letter silently. She had to meet with the prosecutors the next day as well as take a short seminar on courtroom etiquette. That would be a breeze for her. But this new association with the prosecution changed everything. Now she probably wouldn’t be allowed to visit Silent Step like she had wanted. This would also mean that she was going directly against Rainbow Dash in court. As if their friendship wasn’t teetering on an edge already.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gold Express had never been to Ponyville before. But because of a stupid route change, he had to walk an extra ten miles to deliver his mail. He couldn’t complain, though, the whole reason he had gotten this job was to meet knew ponies. He already knew everypony on his old route, so this would give him a chance to meet even more of them.
After dropping off a few letters, magazines, and parcels, he came to an address which gave him some difficulty. After arriving upon the location at which the house should have been, he wasn’t able to find it until taking a cursory glance upward. The abode, modeled after the architecture of Cloudsdale, hung about thirty feet above the ground. There was no earth-mounted mailbox in which he could place the resident’s delivery. Being an earth pony, he wasn’t able to fly or levitate it to its destination. He looked around for a helpful neighbor or townspony to assist him. To his luck, a cyan pegasus happened to be roaming by.
“Excuse me, ma’am, but can you help me out here? I need to get this letter to that cloud house up there but, as you can see that’s going to be a bit of a problem for me.”
The mare turned to him, then looked at the letter he was holding, and then the house itself. “That’s my house. I’ll just take the letter now, thanks!”
“Oh, well how ‘bout that!”
Gold Express gave the message to her and continued on his way. Rainbow Dash quickly flew up to the house before opening it. The first thing she noticed was the sender: The Royal Court of Canterlot. She quickly looked at the content of the body.
 Rainbow Dash,
You have been summoned by The Royal Court of Canterlot to testify in the federal case against Silent Step. The aforementioned stands accused of first degree murder and the association with a terrorist organization. You are scheduled to appear in court on the 10th of Hearthfire in courtroom B-3 at 11:00 AM. Your presence will be required for the duration of the trial, as you may be called to testify at any time. You will be questioned, under oath, by both the defense and the prosecution. All statements will be recorded for further use. Please note that proper courtroom attire and behavior are mandatory. The presiding judge will be the honorable, Fair Verdict.
Thank you,
Royal Court of Canterlot
“He called her to testify? Oh, this just got so much better.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The countdown had reached zero. The day of Silent Step’s trial had arrived. He was walked through the courtroom hallway by two steel-clad guards, Closed Case walking nearby. Silent Step stayed true to his name, not saying a word to anypony they passed, even with reporters badgering him non-stop. Once they reached a small conference room. The guards led Silent Step in, along with his lawyer, to give them some privacy from the watching eyes.
“Alright, remember what we talked about. Keep calm, eyes forward, speak slowly and clearly, but think about what to say before saying it, alright?”
“I think I’ll remember.” Silent Step’s voice had a sneer, sarcastic tone to it. He looked up at the wall clock, 10:15. “I need to use the restroom, I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t say anything to anypony, Silent Step!”
Silent Step walked out the door and had a guard escort him down the hallway. Along the walk, a certain, tall stallion caught his eye. He flinched, before quickly looking away and continuing forward.
He stepped into the restroom, leaving the guard at the door. He walked up to the mirror and stared at himself. He hadn’t seen his reflection in weeks. He mulled over how much his short prison stay had altered his appearance. The differences were subtle, but certainly there. His mane was disheveled, he had dark circles under his eyes, but the change that scared him most, was that the subtle smile that he always had at the corner of his lips, had completely disappeared.
While Silent Step mused over his missing or altered facial features, another stallion walked in. Silent Step caught a glimpse of his face in the mirror.
“What do you think you’re doing here?”
The other stallion looked at Silent Step, before responding in a deep register. “Well, when I heard that one of my boys was on trial, I figured that I shouldn’t let him go it alone. But, I guess you don’t want me here.”
Silent Step turned around and stared the stallion strait in the face. “If they find out who you are, we’ll both be in big trouble. Not to mention all of the crap that Celestia will have to deal with!”
“I think that I’ll be able to keep attention away from myself, seeing as that is my job…”
“Admissaurius, with all due respect, sir, I think it would be best if you left.”
Both of them could hear the guard yell in from the doorway. “Hey, hurry up in there!”
Silent Step turned away from his leader and began walking toward the exit. “I’m not taking any blame if you’re caught.”
The guard escorted him back to the conference room where Closed Case was still waiting. He went over the schedule for the trial, as well as any other minor details that Silent Step would need to know. They waited for the remainder of the time for the minutes to click away. Silent Step went over the incident over and over in his head, trying to recall every minute detail. The clock struck five minutes to eleven. They both stood and were brought from the conference room to the courtroom door, which was a relatively short walk.
“Are you ready?”
“I don’t think it really makes a difference at this point…”
The double doors swung open as Silent Step took a final, deep breath, and entered the courtroom.
                
> You Ever had to Wake up to Hear the News
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Sorry it's late, guys! I was going to upload it yesterday, but it completely slipped my mind! Anyway, I'm going to make another one of my famous assumptions in this chapter, I'll say that Equestria uses a similar legal system to the United States. Thanks again to Yoonicorn for helping with the editing shtuff!

-Knights of Haysead Ch. 6:
“Applejack, Ah’m going into to town for a little while. I’ll be back by dinner!” 
Big McIntosh yelled back to his sister as he began to leave the farm. In his saddle bag was a note that he had received from his employers. It read, ‘Six O’clock at the coffee shop. Don’t be late!’ He wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to say to them. With the exception of his short disappearance a few days earlier, Green Hoof was acting completely normal. He hadn’t exhibited any outright suspicious behavior, except for the fact that he always seemed to be looking over his shoulder.
“Alright, Big Mac. Ah’ll be here!”
Green Hoof poked his head out of the barn. “Did he say he was going to town?”
Applejack turned towards back towards him. “Yeah, why?”
“I needed to grab something from the market. Wait Big Mac!” He ran off towards McIntosh at a semi-fast speed, leaving Applejack simply rolling her eyes.
As soon as he had broken her line of sight, Green Hoof stopped and quit his fake chase after Big Mac. Instead, he turned off on an alternate path heading into a garden which was right across the street from the local coffee shop. He found a position from which he had a nice vantage point of the building. 
He knew exactly what was going to happen. He had grown suspicious of McIntosh’s constant vigilance over him. So, he decided to do some snooping and found some paperwork saying that somepony was paying the red stallion copious amounts of money for something called “Operation: Bolo.” Green Hoof could only assume what that was and who that somepony could be. Among the files, he also found a note which told McIntosh to meet them at the very building across the street. Green Hoof hatched a three part plan which he was about to execute. 
Part one: Get rid of McIntosh and whomever the agent happens to be. Part two: Make up an alibi for McIntosh and report back to the Khazae as the agent. Part three: Destroy the Khazae from the inside. However, there was one flaw to his initial plan. Since his initial intrusion into their ranks, the Khazae were very keen on recognizing their own from a fake. He would have to mimic the agent’s personality perfectly or risk getting discovered. 
As Big McIntosh approached the coffee shop, Green Hoof emerged from his view point and ran up to him. 
“Hey, there you are!”
Big Mac was startled at Green Hoof’s sudden appearance, but more importantly he was afraid of him ruining the meeting. McIntosh began to look around nervously.
“W- What are ya doin’ here? Shouldn’t ya be back at the farm?”
“I had to do some shopping.” He pulled out a small felt bag. “Wanna see what I got?”
“C- Can’t it wait? I’m kind of busy…”
“Busy? You’re just standing around here. If I didn’t know better, I’d say…” Green Hoof decided to toy with McIntosh. 	Oh… my… gosh!” He gasped. “You’re on a date, aren’t you?”
“What? No!”
“That’s why you were so vague with Applejack.” He started to dance around like an idiot with a stupid grin on his face. 		“It’s okay, man. I won’t tell her. But here, I got a tip for you!”
Big Mac was about to pummel Green Hoof, but then he thought about it. If he just played along, he might be able to get him to go away. “Alright, you caught me. Just please don’t tell AJ!”
“Hey, I got your back.” Green Hoof looked around slyly. “Now follow me. I got a good dating tip for you. So, who’s the lucky lady?”
This stopped McIntosh’s heart. He thought about all of the potential mare-friends and crushes he had accumulated over the years in Ponyville. This included his sister’s plot to set him up with Cheerilee, but that thought made him cringe. “It’s… uh…” He looked at Green Hoof’s devious smile. “F- Fluttershy…”
Green Hoof had to hold back laughter. He was having too much fun with this. It was time to do what he had come for. He led McIntosh behind a bush and opened up the felt bag he had pulled out earlier. Big Mac stepped closer to peek inside. 		Before McIntosh could notice what was happening, the bag was shoved into his face. One breath of the special powder inside knocked him out cold almost instantly.
Green Hoof, or rather the changeling pretending to be Green Hoof then had to make two transformations. The first was into the infamous Twilight Sparkle. His only purpose for this was to use her magic abilities to teleport the now unconscious McIntosh to a predetermined location. Once that was done, he assumed McIntosh’s form and stepped out from behind the bush.
He coughed and mumbled to himself a few times to make sure he got the accent right. Half of Phase one was completed. Now all he had to do now was to wait for the agent to show up. He heard the clock tower ring in the sixth hour. This was the time when the agent would meet with McIntosh. He guessed they would probably be out of uniform to help stay stealthy. 
The changeling’s eye caught a glimpse of rainbow-colored mane running quickly in his direction. He knew that this mare was somewhat affiliated with the Khazae. But could she be the agent? Would they send somepony like her? His question was answered when she looked at him and began walking closer. He discretely scooped up some of the noxious powder into his mouth, being extremely careful not to breathe any of it in. He exhaled directly at the approaching Rainbow Dash, who promptly collapsed.
Some of the other ponies in the area began to panic. The changeling spat on the ground, making sure to get rid of the foul-tasting poison in his mouth, before speaking. He ran up to Rainbow Dash, who was now limp and sprawled on the concrete. He put on as much fake concern as possible. “Rainbow Dash? Rainbow Dash! Stand back, Ah got to get her to the hospital!” 
The changeling slung Rainbow Dash onto his back and heroically ran off in the direction of the hospital. But, as he had before, turned off at a different point and headed for another destination. He arrived at an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Ponyville. It was owned by a hay company who had their headquarters in Ponyville, but that company had fallen victim to a bad economy years earlier. 
After gently laying Rainbow Dash in a small crate, the changeling stole her appearance. He sealed the crate and locked the warehouse. He wasn’t going to kill them, at least not yet. They may become useful later. Maybe he could get a good ransom or something. But that wasn’t really important. What was important was that phase one was now complete.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Upon entering the courtroom, Silent Step scanned the audience of staring eyes for a familiar face. He could pull out a few, including Rainbow Dash and her friends, Admissarius Rex, and a few arrogant reporters who had interviewed him during the two weeks leading up to the trial. Closed Case urged him ahead to his seat. 
The bailiff, who was a corporal in the Royal Guard, addressed the crowd. “All rise for the honorable, Judge Fair Verdict!”
Everypony in the courtroom did as they were told, and the aged, white stallion entered the courtroom and took his place at the front of the auditorium-like court of law. He cleared his throat at began a prepared opening.
“You may be seated.” Once he saw that everypony followed his order, he continued. “We are here under the watchful eyes of Princesses Celestia and Luna,” gesturing to a royal seating section hanging next to the balcony seating, “To witness the criminal trial of Silent Step v The Sovereign Equine Republic of Equestria. The state will be represented by prosecutor Cold Justice.” The heavy-set black pegasus nodded at the mention of his name. “We will begin with opening statements from the defense. Counselor?”
Closed Case stood and, with a firm yet calm voice, began speaking. “Ladies and Gentlecolts of the jury, I stand before you today to prove to you that my client is innocent of the horrible charges he is accused of.”
Silent Step couldn’t help but sigh. ‘No shit, dumbass…’
“I intend to prove to you that somepony other than my client, brutally murdered the victim Sly Horn. And I intend to prove to you that my client is not, in fact, a member of any dangerous terrorist organization.” He took a pause before finishing. “Thank you.”
Fair Verdict transferred his view from Closed Case to Cold Justice. “And your opening statement, Mr. Prosecutor?”
Cold Justice stood in a similar fashion to Closed Case and began pacing in front of the Jury. He then went on to pretty much repeat what Closed Case said, but without the “not’s.” He rambled on about how he intended to prove that Silent Step was guilty of all charges. After concluding identically to Closed Case, the plaintiff was allowed to call their first witness to the stand. 
Cold Justice looked over his papers before gazing up with a smile. “The prosecution calls the defendant to the stand.”
Closed Case turned to Silent Step and began to advise him. “Now, you don’t have to go up there, and I would advise that you don’t…”
“It’s okay, I can do this.” He stood and walked up to the stand.
The corporal-bailiff approached him and instructed him to raise his right hoof. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”
“I swear” 
“Mr. Silent Step, I would like to inquire… are you, or are you not a member of the Khazae assassin organization? Keep in mind that you are under oath.”
Silent Step took a deep breath. “I am.”
Closed Case nearly face-hoofed at Silent Steps blatant disregard for discretion. 
“Now would you not say that you have just confessed to one of the charges against you?” 
Silent Step kept a mundane expression. “Which one?”
Cold Justice raised an eyebrow, trying to see through to what Silent Step was doing. “You were charged with associating with a terrorist organization.”
“Yes.”
“And you just admitted to being a member of the Khazae assassin organization.”
“Yes.”
“Well, wouldn’t you say that is a confession?”
“Not to being a member of a terrorist organization.” The entire crowd was now completely confused. “The Khazae have never been officially recorded as a terrorist organization by the Equestrian Department of Domestic Affairs. And according to national statute 15.31, section B, article 3, and I quote, ‘Members of federally created offensive coalitions are exempt from charges pertaining to royal orders.’ And according to our friends at the Department of Domestic Affairs, the Khazae were never officially absolved of Royal Command. And while we do have our own hierarchy of echelons, we still are required to follow any orders from the Princesses.”
Closed Case’s jaw dropped. He quickly flipped through a law book on the table, finding the statute which Silent Step had quoted perfectly. “Holy Shit…”
Cold Justice was taken off guard by Silent Step’s sudden talkativeness. 
Admissarius Rex, however, didn’t approve of Silent Step’s sudden admission of royal allegiance.
Cold Justice returned to talk to his small cabinet of attorneys. They started furiously whisper-yelling back and forth. Fair Verdict began to get impatient.
“Mr. Prosecutor, what is your response?” Cold Justice continued arguing. “Mr. Prosecutor…” He still didn’t respond. “Mr. Prosecutor!” This time, the judge repeatedly bashed his gavel on the bench, which caught everypony’s attention.
Cold Justice turned around and disappointingly announced the outcome of the argument to the court. “The prosecution has decided to acquit Mr. Silent Step of the charge of terrorism association.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phase two, hopefully the easiest phase. The changeling had been studying Rainbow Dash’s character to prepare for his infiltration into the Khazae. He was a method actor and wanted to spend a day, or at least a few hours as Rainbow Dash to fully get into character. It seemed a little excessive, but he couldn’t afford to mess up once he was inside, his life depended on it.
The first, unstated, part of phase two involved reporting his progress to his leader, the Queen of changelings. He composed the letter in secrecy to keep away from prying eyes.
My Queen, 
I have successfully taken the form of a Khazae agent. I intend to infiltrate their ranks once again, but this time, I will dismantle their forces from inside. Once the Khazae are gone, we will be able to once again emerge from hiding. Our only threat will be the Royal Guard, but I assure you getting past those daft pawns will be as easy as it was last time. 	
I will report to you again once I have gained the trust of the assassin party. If this doesn’t happen within two months, you may assume that I have been discovered and probably killed. You must send another in my place. We must continue to fight to bring down the Tyrant!
Faithful as always,
Sepulchre
Sepulchre sealed the letter and sent it to his Queen using a rudimentary dragonfire spell. Next was Phase 2.2, creating an alibi for Big McIntosh. He decided to play this into his day as Rainbow Dash. He began his trek to Sweet Apple Acres to announce Big Mac and Green Hoof’s temporary hiatuses. He used the time during the walk to decide what kind of absence McIntosh would be taking. He thought about using the story of the date with Fluttershy against him. But he felt that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t forwardly announce that to Applejack if it were real. He decided to re-use an old excuse, and say that he ran into an old friend, and had asked Rainbow Dash to relay that information.
Sepulchre was half-way through congratulating himself on his ‘great idea,’ when he was stopped by a familiar mare.
“Rainbow Dash! We didn’t get to finish out chat earlier.”
“Oh… Hey, Twilight…” He tried his best to look sick.
“Ooh, you don’t look so good.” It was apparently working. “Maybe we should talk some other time, you should get some rest.”
“Yeah, I was heading home now.”
“Well, I hope you feel better! I’m actually heading to Canterlot tomorrow. So if you want to wait until I get back, I should be free on Wed-”
“Yeah, sounds great.”
Twilight rolled her eyes continued her walk home. Crisis Averted.
Sepulchre continued thinking over the presentation of his planned excuse for Big Mac. The thinking continued along the road to Sweet Apple Acres. He arrived to Applejacks usual warm demeanor. 
“Howdy, Rainbow Dash. How’re y’all doin’?”
“Fine, uh… Big Mac asked me to tell you that he ran into an old friend and won’t be home until tomorrow. So there’s that…”
Applejack narrowed her eyes at the familiar excuse. “Was there a green draft horse with him?”
“Uh… yeah. Spiky brown mane?”
“Yeah… well thanks Rainbow Dash…”
“Anytime!” 
Sepulchre made a mental check on his mental checklist for ripping the Khazae to shreds. Phase 2.2 was now complete. But, before he went to try and convince the Khazae, he was going to Rainbow Dash’s house, he would get a good look at how she lived, and maybe that would help him get into character. Upon arriving at the cloud abode, he saw a mailpony struggling to make a decision. 
“Excuse me, ma’am, but can you help me out here? I need to get this letter to that cloud house up there but, as you can see that’s going to be a bit of a problem for me.”
Sepulchre turned to him, then looked at the letter he was holding, and then the house itself. “That’s my house. I’ll just take the letter now, thanks!”
“Oh, well how ‘bout that!”
He handed Sepulchre the letter, which was addressed from the Royal Court of Canterlot. He read it over, noting that he had been called to testify for the defense. This would be the perfect opportunity to begin the destruction of the Khazae. If he could slip out just the wrong words to get Silent Step convicted, that would be a major enemy out of the way. 
“He called her to testify? Oh, this just got so much better.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“B-Big Mac?” Rainbow Dash hadn’t heard very much of his voice, but she was pretty certain it was him.
“Rainbow Dash, What’s going on?” 
“Um… I think I may have gotten us foalnapped…”
“Where are we?”
“Well, assuming you’re in the same situation as I am, we’re in crates in some kind of warehouse.”
“Are ya hurt?”
“No, I’m fine… Wait a minute! I was supposed to be talking to you. Why didn’t you help me?”
“Help you? Ah never even saw you.”
“But, the last thing I remember was…” Rainbow Dash was certain she had seen McIntosh before blacking out. The sudden realization hit her like a freight train. “The Changeling!”
“Beg Pardon?”
“What’s the last thing you remember before waking up here?”
“Uh… Ah was supposed to be meeting somepony at the coffee shop and Green Hoof came up and… Green Hoof!”
“Bingo! He’s a changeling, Big Mac. He just pretended to be a farm pony to hide from the Khazae.”
“How do ya know about all this?”
“I joined them… more or less, the point is, I know you’re the informant! The changeling must have figured it out and came after the both of us!”
“Wait… You’re the one Ah was supposed to be meeting?”
“Yeah, long story. Listen, we have to get out of here. See if you can buck out of your crate.”
“Ah can’t even stand up…”
“Shoot! We need some sort of plan! That changeling is probably out there impersonating one of us! Who knows what kind of damage he can do?”
This danger had just occurred to McIntosh. “Hold on!”
Rainbow Dash could hear him trying to kick from a supine position, but to no avail. “Ah can’t break through, whatever kind of wood this is, it’s strong!”
“Okay, well give me a minute, I gotta think of something.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Closed Case nearly fainted. Ten minutes into the trial, and Silent Step had already been acquitted of one of his charges. That was the one that he was worried about. He could definitely use the evidence he was given to prove Silent Step was innocent of the murder charge, but the terrorist organization was another thing entirely. They pretty much had to admit to it for their defense against the murder charge.
Cold Justice looked like he needed a break. “No further questions, your honor.”
Silent Step was instructed to step down and he returned to his table next to Closed Case. 
“What the hay was that, Silent Step?”
“A little legal knowledge I had up my sleeve…”
“Why didn’t you tell me about that? I could have used that to get a mistrial. We could use the whole, ‘exempt from charges pertaining to royal orders,’ thing to get the whole case thrown out.”
“Yeah, except Sly Horn was not a target of a royal order. My colleagues and I have an idea of who might have killed him, and they weren’t under our command.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that? If we can find him, you’ll be exempt of the charges!”
Fair Verdict interrupted their conversation. “Counselor, you may call your first witness to the stand.” 	
“Yes, your honor. The defense calls Rainbow Dash to the stand.”
Rainbow Dash stood in the audience and made her way to the front of the courtroom. The bailiff closed the small gate, and stood in front of her. “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”
“Audiorō. I mean, I swear.”
Cold Justice quickly turned to the cartographer. “Let the record show that Miss Rainbow Dash first responded in Ancient Equestrian.”
Rainbow Dash blushed sheepishly at Silent Step, who was glaring at her. She mouthed, ‘oops,’ as Closed Case began his questioning. 
“Miss Rainbow Dash, could you describe for the Jury, the events of the night of the 24th of Last Seed?”
“Well…” she began. “After accidentally stumbling upon the Khazae outpost in Ponyville, The Khazae were going to punish me in some way, but I don’t know what. Sly Horn left to go find Grey Wisp, who is another Khazae member. We waited for him to come back, but he never did, so the Khazae and I went out to search for him. After a while, I found his body on the rooftop. I called the rest of the Khazae over and Silent Step told me to go find Wisp. I found her, but by the time we got back, Silent Step had fallen off the roof.”
“Is that all?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“Was my client among the Khazae in the outpost?”
“Yes, he was.”
“And did he leave the building to help search for Sly Horn?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Now, about how long was the time in between when you last saw my client, to the time you found the body?”
“I’d say about an hour.”
Silent Step went wide-eyed. ‘No way, she’s exaggerating!’
Closed Case waited a second before finishing. “No further questions, your honor.”
Fair Verdict nodded and turned to the prosecutor’s attorney. “You may now cross-examine the witness, Mr. Prosecutor.”
Cold Justice stood and walked up to Rainbow Dash. “Miss Rainbow Dash, you stated earlier, that the Khazae were considering punishing you for discovering there outpost. Now, did they threaten your life?”
Rainbow Dash looked apologetically at Silent Step. “Yes.”
“Yes, and you mentioned a mare, Grey Wisp, was it? Is Ms. Wisp in the courtroom today?”
“No.”
“Well, do you know where she is?”
“Probably back in Ponyville.” 
“And one final question, is it not true that you are affiliated with the same organization as the defendant?”
“I acted as a consultant for a short time, but I am not officially a member.” 
“I see. No further questions.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phase three, part one. Sepulchre would begin the destruction of the Khazae by getting rid of key individuals. The first was the blood martyr. With his guise hopefully perfected, he made his way to the Khazae’s secret lair. He entered the Curio Shoppe which housed the outpost. 
“Wisp, I’m back.”
Wisp looked up to see Sepulchre with a disappointed look on his face. “That was quick… What happened?”
“I couldn’t find him anywhere. I looked around the whole area, but he wasn’t there. So, I went to Sweet Apple Acres and Applejack said that he was out.”
“Damn it! Now he’s either flaking on us or something really bad happened. Did you happen to see Green Hoof when you were at the farm?”
“No, she said he was with McIntosh.”
“Augh! That can’t be good! C’mon Rainbow, grab your cloak!”
Sepulchre yanked the red cloth off of the table next to him and quickly put it on. They exited the building. Wisp took to the sky and Sepulchre followed suit. They flew over the entire area but no sign of McIntosh or Green Hoof appeared on the ground below. Wisp turned back to talk to Rainbow Dash. 
“Can you see anythi-”
She was cut off by a hard blow to the chest. The wind was completely knocked out of her. She tumbled toward the earth and landed hard on the very rooftop on which her accomplice had been killed. 
Sepulchre re-took his true form and looked down upon Grey Wisp, who was wincing on the ground, clutching her chest. He kicked her once more with his right foreleg. “Well somepony got a little too trusting, didn’t they?”                                                                                                           				
“Sepulchre!”
“Now, we see what’s happening!”
“What the fuck did you do with Rainbow Dash?!”
“She’s… alive. It’ll be fun playing her part in court. I just hope I don’t let any sensitive information slip.”
Wisp got furious. She began to work past the pain and attempt to stand, but Sepulchre pivoted on his forelegs and bucked her back to the “floor.”
“I’m going to kill you, Sepulchre!”
“Au contraire, dear Wisp. It will actually be quite the opposite. What a coincidence as to our location.” He grabbed the scimitar from the sheath on Wisp’s waist. 
“Nox bona, Canicula!”

> Get Ready to Meet your Maker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Well, here it is. I "damn well" felt like uploading it. Here it is, without further ado, Chapter 7!                

-Knights of Haysead Ch. 7:
Aquila Umbra wasn’t particularly interesting. At least, that was how he saw himself. He had his fair share of inconsistencies that made him unique. One of these was his gifted engineering skill. He was in charge of building and maintaining his party’s advanced weaponry. He used weapon-crafting as a pastime. In fact, he was creating a new set of knife-equipped armor for himself when he heard the door swing open violently.
“Aquila!” Rainbow Dash yelled from the front of the Curio Shoppe.
Umbra quickly ran out of the secret annex to meet the cry. In front of him, stood Rainbow Dash, sweaty, exhausted and disheveled. His mouth fell open.
“What happened?”
“Green Hoof, the changeling…” She coughed and spat on the floor. “He attacked us, Wisp is…”
Aquila could see tears begin to well in her eyes.
“She’s dead, Aquila, he killed her!”
Umbra nearly fainted at those words. He had known Wisp since they were both foals. They had gone through nearly their entire lives together. They went through training together, and rose through the ranks together. He had even had a small crush on her at one point. But now she was gone. It couldn’t be true. He held back his water works as best as possible, but ultimately failed, letting a slow stream of saltwater flow down his face. 
“Rainbow Dash, where is that bastard?!” The pure rage in his voice was clearly audible. 
“The same place where I found Sly Horn… That’s where… she is.”
Aquila grabbed some of his equipment, much of it being from his own workshop, and burst through the door. He ran towards the location which Dash had described. He felt the same sense of urgency as he did when he had heard her blow that whistle two weeks earlier. Rage, fear, devastation, and absolute frenzy coursed through his veins.
He arrived at the Ponyville home which had become unfortunately notorious for Khazae murders recently. He hopped up a series of nearby crates to the shingled rooftop. What he saw made him sick to his stomach. There she was, sprawled across the roof with a long, red slit across her neck. Aquila dropped next to her and felt her face. She was stone cold. Her heart had stopped long before he got there. 
He sat and wept next to her corpse. This mare had been full of energy not an hour earlier. She was ready to go out and find Sepulchre, to take him down in the name of Admissarius Rex, in the name of Celestia. But now, she was a lifeless body. Thoughts no longer occurred in her head, her hatred for the enemy no longer drove her further. Grey Wisp was gone forever.
“You son of a bitch… I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apple Bloom dipped her quill into the inkwell on the table. She had been told, by her older sister, to write if anything significant happened. Well something significant was certainly happening. She began to compose the letter like she’d seen her sister do for the princess.
Applejack,
You told me to write if anything bad happened, well something bad is happening. Big Mac and Green Hoof still haven’t shown up and those assassin guys you were watching have just disappeared. There was a fire in town three days ago. But, the Royal Guard has said it’s nothing to be worried about. There’s also some weird stallion who keeps showing up at the market yelling about the Guard keeping secrets about the truth of the fire. He’s been coming by the farm asking if we’ve seen Green Hoof. 
I’m starting to think that he has something to do with them going missing. Scootaloo seems to think that there’s some sorta crazy military takeover going on. I told her she’s crazy but I still don’t know… 
, Apple Bloom
She inserted the letter into the Apple Family mailbox and put up the flag. She trotted back inside and saw the same stallion that she’d mentioned walking up to her. 
“Have either of them shown up yet?”
Apple Bloom got really angry. “No, now will ya quit askin’? It’s hard enough to deal with ma brother goin’ missin’ without you houndin’ me about it all the time!” She hung her head low and began walking inside again.
“Wait…”
She turned back.
“I didn’t want to have to tell you this, but…” He took in a deep breath. “I think your brother might have been in that fire.”
“Wha…?” Apple Bloom’s eyes began to tear up.
“Now, I’m not sure, but I think that the pony who started that fire was an enemy of mine. The building that burned housed my colleagues. Whoever did that was set out to kill them, and I think he dragged McIntosh into it. I’m sorry, but your brother may have been killed.”
Apple Bloom was speechless. She just couldn’t believe that Big McIntosh could be dead. She refused to. She buried her face in her shoulder and ran into her house.
The stallion walked up to the door which Apple Bloom had just slammed, and quietly knocked. There was no answer. He raised his hoof knock again, but before he made contact, an angry looking old mare answered the door. 
“What do you want?” She had clearly spoken to Apple Bloom.
“Ma’am, my name is Aquila. I need to talk to you about your grandson…”
“What did you tell Apple Bloom?!”
“I only told her what I knew. Maybe I should have talked to you first, ma’am. I’m sorry.”
Granny Smith, who was still seething with anger, squinted at Aquila.
“What the hay happened to McIntosh?”
Aquila began to relay the story of Green Hoof, a traitor to the Princess who had found a comfortable hiding place in Ponyville. He told her about Dius Cognatio, Sly Horn, Silent Step’s trial, Rainbow Dash’s affiliation, Grey Wisp, and of course, hiring McIntosh to keep an eye on the changeling.
Granny Smith politely listened to the whole tale without uttering a word.
“… That’s why he set fire to the Curio Shoppe. We had a secret bureau there. I think McIntosh might have been lured inside before the blaze was set off.”
The old mare remained steady. “Now tell me one thing, Sonny.”
“What’s that ma’am?”
“I’ve seen ya around the market yellin’ somethin’ about corruption in the Royal Guard. What’s that about?”
Aquila sighed before continuing. “Well, the Royal Guard aren’t exactly our biggest fans. They’ve been trying to disperse us for centuries. If word of that fire got to Canterlot, we could easily exonerate Silent Step, which they don’t want to happen. They’ve been watching me, and aren’t going to let me leave town.”
Granny Smith waited before speaking again. “Come inside.”
Aquila was confused. “Excuse me?”
“Get in the house.”
He obeyed and stepped in. He kept his eyes from wandering too much, in fear that he might turn to see that filly crying in a corner at the loss of her brother.
“Do ya know where he is?”
Aquila shook his head. “No. He left long before I got to Wisp’s body.”  
“Are y’all sure McIntosh was in that fire?”
“I’m not certain, but I’m pretty sure.”
Granny Smith took a deep breath. Aquila had been surprised at her ability to keep her composure despite his terrible news.
“You’re gonna stay here until we can catch that maniac. He’s probably still lookin’ for ya.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silent Step looked up and down the newest expert in his trial. He was some professor at Canterlot University and an expert in forensics and weaponry. Silent Step saw confidence in his eyes, arrogant confidence. He saw a certain flair that was unique to tenured doctors. He hadn’t bothered to listen to the stallion’s name. He would have forgotten it anyway, let it bleed into his unmistakable, cocky character.
The Professor took his place at the stand and took his oath. Cold Justice came up to begin asking about the details of Sly Horn’s murder. 
“Professor, you examined the body at the scene of the crime, correct?”
“Yes I did.” His sneer tone confirmed Silent Step’s earlier suspicions.
“And did you get a good look at the wound?” 
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, were you able to identify what kind of weapon was used to make that wound?”
“Yes, based on my observations, I would say that it was made by a Saddle Arabian steel scimitar, pardon the alliteration, circa third Era 420.” 
Silent Step began making more judgments. The professor was obviously court- trained. He spoke with certainty and clarity, and even threw in the little joke, showing familiarity with the courtroom.
Cold Justice spoke again. “How certain are you that this was the weapon used?”
“I’d say about eighty percent.”
Cold Justice’s expression told Silent Step that he wanted the professor to be about 20% more certain. He quickly recovered from the sudden shock of the low certainty and resumed his follow- up questions.
“Now, being the ancient arms expert that you are, surely you know about the weaponry distributed through the Khazae ranks, am I correct?”
“You are.”
“So, would you mind telling us what sorts of arms are given to assassin parties?”
“Saddle Arabian steel scimitars, usually from the fifth century of the Third Era.”
The jury members began to furiously scribble on legal pads and notebooks. 
Silent Step nodded at Closed Case who promptly stood and slammed his hoof on the table, hushing the crowd.
“Objection!”
Fair Verdict looked at Silent Step, annoyed. “What is it?”
“My client’s weapon was found not to be the murder weapon. In fact neither the murder weapon nor Sly Horn’s swords were found.”
Fair Verdict’s expression changed. He quickly became impressed. “Sustained.” He turned to the cartographer. “Take the Professor’s last quote off the record.
Silent Step once again breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe, he wasn’t completely doomed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The gullible moron was gone. Sepulchre stood once again. He peered through the open doorway where the bookcase used to be. He could see the other Khazae, most of them performing mindless tasks, not paying attention to him. They obviously hadn’t heard the conversation that had just occurred between him and Aquila. 
He took a quick count of those in the room. Three, he added four to account for Silent Step, Sly Horn, Grey Wisp, and Aquila Umbra. That sill left three of them who were probably patrolling the streets, looking for signs of trouble. He decided to wait for them to get back. Or perhaps he could coerce them back to the Curio Shop.
Still in the form of Rainbow Dash, he took off out the door, intent on bringing the Khazae patrol back with him. 
He found them all grouped together walking through the market. He quickly landed and started frantically yelling something about Aquila needing them. He couldn’t even understand half of what was coming out of his mouth. Somehow, they seemed to decode the message and, all of them being pegasi, flew back to the Curio Shoppe, Sepulchre in tow. 
He had them all now, well, except Umbra, but he would be necessary to send the message. Sepulchre followed the patrol into the Khazae base. While the first of the group was in the middle of opening the secret entrance, Sepulchre picked up one of a candle off of the front desk. The others in the room didn’t seem to notice as he stepped back out of the building, dropping the candle as he flung the door open and jumped out. The fire caught the wood floor immediately. A wall of flame blocked the only exit. 
Sepulchre laughed, but was still upset that he wouldn’t be able to stick around and watch his enemies burn. Somepony would soon see the smoke and call the fire brigade. Sepulchre took off and made his way back to Rainbow Dash’s cloud home. After all, he had to pack before leaving for Canterlot tomorrow. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was about two o’clock in the morning. Aquila Umbra was reading an Equestrian Book of Law which he had retrieved from the library. He was sitting at a desk in the Apple family home, a lone candle bringing light to the pages of the six pound hardback. He was looking for something, anything about that would allow him to ignore the Royal Guards orders. He knew they were obstructing evidence in a high- profile federal case. There had to be something about that.
His eyes drifted across a passage. National statute 15.31, section B, article 3. He had been taught about this statute by the Khazae. This was their ace in the hole, set up by Princess Celestia herself. Being as exhausted as he was, he couldn’t quite remember the details of it. He read over the first half. He noticed the ‘Exempt from all charges’ part. But before his hopes got to high, he read the next half. 
“Royal orders.” 
He slammed his head on the desk, a bit too hard. His nose began bleeding profusely. He yelled out a string of curses with impunity.
Granny Smith opened the door. “Would ya keep it down in here? It’s too darn early!”
He walked out and moved to the restroom to examine his bloody nostrils. He looked at himself in the mirror. After cleaning off his face with some nearby tissues, he noticed the bathroom window in the mirror. Through it was Canterlot. If he could only fly, there were no guardsmen in the way. Nothing blocked the strait path to the Equestrian Capital. I only he could reach it. He would burst into the courtroom and be the first to tell them of the murder of his companions. He could get Silent Step freed. If only… 
“Holy Crap…” 
If ever there were a perfect idea alarm, it would have been blaring right then. 
“Granny Smith!” He called out into the hallway. 
The old mare peeked her head out of her bedroom door. “Eh, what d’ya want?”
“I need to find a pegasus!” 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight was the one on the stand this time. She was the only witness to the crime that was willing to take the prosecution’s side. She had already taken the oath and was in the middle of recalling the fateful night. 
“One of them, I don’t know which, jumped out behind me, put a sword to my neck, and told me that this was ‘none of my concern.’ I decided it would just be better if I went home. But on my way, I heard a loud whistle blow. I went in that direction and found Silent Step standing right next to Sly Horn’s body. When I tried to confront him, he ended up accidently backing off the roof.”
Cold Justice waited a second to make sure she’d finished. “Now, was there anypony else there?”
“Not that I could see.”
“I see, and-”
He was interrupted by a loud bang as the large double doors of the courtroom fly open. Running in, was Aquila Umbra, followed by a gray, blonde- maned pegasus.  Two Royal Guards were chasing them. Aquila quickly surveyed the crowd watching him. He stopped as he approached the front of the aisle. 
“Silent Step!” 
He was immediately tackled to the ground. He reached out, trying to get his words out as the guardsmen obstructed his airflow. Fair Verdict smashed his gavel against the bench multiple times. 
“What is the meaning of this?!” He motioned for the guards to let Aquila speak.
Once he caught his breath, he spoke with urgency. “The Royal Guard is tampering with the evidence of this trial!”
The judge wasn’t amused. “How dare you accuse the guard of such a thing!”
Aquila’s companion slammed down her hoof. “It’s true, your honor!”
He quickly covered her mouth. “Derpy, what did I say about letting me do the talking?”
Her ears fell and her head hung in shame.
Aquila resumed his speech. “It’s true. There…” He looked at Silent Step, then Admissarius, whom he had just noticed. “There was an attack on the Khazae that the Royal Guard are covering up.”
A gasp enveloped the crowd.
“Are you saying that the Royal Guard attacked you?”
“No, it was the same pony that killed Sly Horn! But the Royal Guard is trying to keep that information from getting into this courtroom!”
There was another ubiquitous gasp.
“When did this attack occur?”
“Four days ago. They set fire to our Ponyville Bureau. I was the only one who survived.”
Silent Step, Admissaurius Rex, and both Princesses had the same reaction. Of course, everypony else in the courtroom was shocked by the news, but with those four, it really hit home. Silent Step had lost a sister and six other companions. Admissarius lost another seven of his best soldiers. And the Princesses had lost faith. Faith in the fact that they wouldn’t have to do what they were about to do.
Admissarius looked at Princess Celestia, who was already staring back. He nodded and she flew out of her royal seating section. She landed in the floor space right in front of Fair Verdict. Her wings fanned out, gathering everypony’s attention. She took a deep breath.
“By the power vested in me by the Royal Court of Equestria, I hereby issue a royal pardon upon Silent Step and his partner.”
In the confusion, some of the crowd cheered, some were angry at the sudden intervention, others, like Silent Step, were still in disbelief at the message which Aquila Umbra had just delivered. Cold Justice looked as if he wanted to jump upon Princess Celestia and strangle her.
Aquila, himself, was looking around frantically. He really hated crowds, and the almost- riot that was erupting around him brought out the quintessence of his fear. As he was swinging his head back and forth, he caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash angrily slamming her hoof into the ground. His first thought was about why she would be angry. But then he remembered, up until that point, he thought that Rainbow Dash had perished in the fire. After all, he hadn’t seen her since then.
“SEPULCHRE!” Surprisingly he was able to raise his voice above the chaos.
Nearly everypony in the courtroom stared at him. Sepulchre heard the rage in his voice and knew better than to stay where he was. To his left was a window. Good Enough. He took off at full speed through it. Glass shards punctured his coat, causing him to wince. He flew as fast as he could toward Ponyville. He didn’t even risk a peek over his shoulder. he knew he was being chased. All he could do was fly faster.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow Dash, the real Rainbow Dash, slowly nibbled at the hay bed that lined the floor of her prison. It was her only food, and she’d been rationing it for the past few days, or however long she’d been there. She’d lost count without the aid of sunlight. McIntosh had been complaining of a headache and fell asleep an hour earlier. She sat alone again, thinking of whatever there was to think about.
Silent Step’s trial was going on then. She wondered how it was going. He had kept saying that he would surely loose and go to prison or be executed. She began to feel guilty once again for the whole ordeal. Had she not been so stupid and ignorant, this whole thing never would have happened. Once again she felt as though she was going to cry, but she just couldn’t. There was barely enough water in her system to stay conscious, much less a surplus to spend on something like crying.
Interrupting her train of thought was a sound outside. She couldn’t quite tell what it was. It sounded like the not so steady landing of a pegasus. She stood up, listening for something else. Maybe it was somepony who could help her. The next sound she heard was glass breaking, followed by some kind of crackling sound. 
Next came the yelling. There was more than one pony out there. She listened intently, trying to pick up if the unintelligible noise was a voice that she recognized. For a split second she thought she could hear Silent Step. But that was impossible. He was on trial in Canterlot, he couldn’t be here. 
Third and finally came the smell. It was pretty familiar, as it is to everypony. Smoke, there was a fire nearby. Very nearby. Rainbow Dash could feel the heat. That wasn’t good.
“McIntosh! McIntosh, wake up!”
Big Mac woke up and, upon smelling the smoke himself, jolted upward, knocking his head on the top of the crate. 
“What? What is it?!”
“I think there’s a fire!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Follow him, damn it!” 
Aquila yelled at the others in the courtroom. About twenty pegasi guardsmen took off through the broken window following top speed after Sepulchre. Celestia lowered her left wing to Silent Step. At first he didn’t realize what she was doing. But when he figured it out, he was still hesitant.
“Listen, Silent Step, do you want him to get away or not?”
He nodded and climbed onto her back. If there was one thing he wasn’t going to do, it was let that bastard get away. 
Celestia took off and also flew through the place where the intricate, stained glass window used to be. Out in front, Silent Step could make out the formation of guards following a rainbow colored trail. Sepulchre had Rainbow Dash’s body, which meant he had all of her physical abilities. They would never be able to beat him to Ponyville. They would just have to apprehend him when they got there, which may take a while. Silent Step felt a burning rage growing in his stomach. He just wished that he were the one flying. With the amount of adrenaline pumping through his body, he would be able to make it to Ponyville in ten seconds flat. 
He then got an idea, an insane idea. But his blind rage blocked any reason or second thought. 
“Princess?!” He had to yell over the intense wind.
“What?!”
“I want you to throw me at him!”
Celestia was utterly shocked at this proposal. There was no way that she was just going to chuck him at Sepulchre. First of all, missing was a huge possibility. Second, even if he did hit Sepulchre, they would both end up tumbling out of the sky to their inevitable deaths.
“I can’t do that, Silent Step!”
“With all due respect, Princess, it wasn’t a suggestion.”
She sighed. She wasn’t going to argue with him right now. He was beyond reasoning with. He had one thing in mind, and Celestia knew this. If he wanted to be flung at a changeling, she was going to fling him at a changeling. 
Celestia reached onto her back and grabbed Silent Step. “Ready?!”
“As I’ll ever be!”
With one, swift motion, she chucked Silent Step at full force toward Sepulchre. Once he was in the air, he spread out his forelegs to use as ailerons. He grew ever closer to his adversary, over passing the guardsmen. Within five seconds he slammed into an unsuspecting Sepulchre. He tried to grab on to the changeling, but failed, falling away into the woodlands below. 
Sepulchre, however, was knocked a bit, but was still able to fly. He landed roughly next to a very familiar warehouse. He got up and angrily began stomping the ground. He looked up at where the guardsmen were flying. They were still a considerable distance away. He came to a decision.
“Fuck the ransom.” 
He grabbed a lantern hanging from the front of the warehouse, lit it, and tossed it through a small hole in the wall. He heard a satisfying crash, followed by the crackle of the fire catching the wood.
Before he could enjoy the sound too much, a figure appeared in the forest. The figure moved ever closer before Sepulchre figured out what it was. He began to back up, and just as he had reached a running speed, Silent Step tackled him. He began to beat him furiously. 
“This one’s for Sly Horn!” Wham! “This one’s for Dius Cognatio!” Wham! That continued for the other six Khazae, before he finally arrived on the one he’d been waiting for. “This one… is for Wisp!” He stood on his forelegs and brought the rear two down heavily upon Sepulchre’s face. The changeling screamed louder than anything else in the forest. Silent Step panted savagely standing over the near-dead changeling. 
It wasn’t until then that he’d noticed the burning building next to him. He looked over at it and thought he heard screams. He listened closer and recognized their source almost immediately. He pried open the door of the ware house, letting out a tsunami of smoke. He ducked down, coughed, and made his way in. 
This was about the time when the Royal Guard had made it to the scene. A few of them entered the building after Silent Step. Two of them went over to Sepulchre’s broken figure. And the rest of them remained in the air, trying to keep the smoke from spreading anywhere.
Inside the warehouse, Silent Step couldn’t see anything. He worked solely following the sound of Rainbow Dash’s fading cries. He found the crate in which she’d been locked. After failing to pry it open, he simple picked up the entire crate and dragged it outside. The guardsmen that went in with him found the crate that contained Big McIntosh and were able to move it out of the warehouse. 
Once they were safely outside, one of the guardsmen picked up a rusty metal stake off the ground and pried McIntosh’s crate open. He immediately rolled out and took a deep breath of the fresh air, which he had sorely missed. 
The stake was passed on to Silent Step who inserted into Rainbow Dash’s crate and was able to force it open. Rainbow Dash, too, rolled out. But she wasn’t awake. Silent Step went wide- eyed. He began to shake her.
“Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash wake up!”
She slowly opened her eyes and coughed out the last few liters of smoke in her lungs. 
“S- Silent Step?”
All he could do was smile, something he hadn’t done honestly in a long time. Rainbow Dash returned the facial expression, her face covered in ash. He leaned down and pressed his lips firmly against hers. She couldn’t help but let it happen. Time began to slow to a freeze. And the moment was pure magic.


Well, that's all, folks! I will be uploading an epilogue eventually, followed by a "The Making Of" in a blog post. Thanks for sticking with me. Also thanks one more time to Yoonicorn and space_pony 
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Knights of Haysead: Epilogue	
It was over. Soon after Silent Step and the Royal Guard rescued Rainbow Dash and Big McIntosh, Sepulchre died from his injuries. He was cremated and his ashes brought back to the Khazae, as was tradition. As for the rest of the dead, there was a requiem held in the Haysead Swamp, to which Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and their friends were invited. 
Silent Step never returned to Ponyville. That town just held too many painful memories, despite his victory in the end. He ended up winning a number of medals for gallantry from both the Khazae and the Royal Guard, but he had them all buried with his sister. He continued rising in the ranks until reaching leader of the Khazae in his old age.
Aquila Umbra won many of the same awards as Silent Step. He was also invited to join the Royal Guard as a Second Lieutenant, but denied. He never showed up to the funeral and, officially, went missing. Only five ponies knew where he was at any time, Silent Step, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Admissarius Rex, and Rainbow Dash. He stayed under the radar, living in the White Tail Woods for the rest of his life. He died young.
With their existence and loyalty exposed, the Khazae went back to being the secret police force for the Princesses. Admissarius Rex assumed the role as Princess Celestia’s personal body guard. He thwarted a total of nine other assassination attempts before retiring to tend to a back injury which obtained while chasing after one of Sepulchre’s successors. 
Rainbow Dash never forgot Silent Step. Her experience with the Khazae had completely changed her life. She became completely claustrophobic and never forgot to lock her door at night. She was heart-broken when Silent Step refused to visit Ponyville. So instead, she decided to visit him. She ended up getting herself lost in the Haysead Swamps. A Khazae member found her and brought her to Silent Step. That was the last time she ever saw him.
The Khazae left a mark on Ponyville that would take a very long time to fade. The Curio Shoppe became an off-road attraction for historians. The Mayor even considered setting up a tour of the locations at which important events of Khazae’s story took place, but ultimately decided against it. Even without it, the tourism of Ponyville increased somewhat. Yes indeed, the town was forever changed by these catalysts, The Knights of Haysead.


Well, ladies and gentlecolts, that about sums it up. I hope you all enjoyed the story. One last set of shout outs before I leave to work on my next masterpiece. Thanks to Yoonicorn and space_pony for being my fabulous editing team, couldn't have done it without you guys. Also, thanks to rainbow87dash, for being my first loyal stalker throughout the course of the story, and for keeping my hopes up in the darkest of times! I will be putting a blog post with some "Behind the Story" info, if you want to check it out, there's actually a very interesting story behind the conception of "Knights of Haysead," but I'll save the details for the blog. Thanks again for reading! Kaiser P, out!