Chapter 21:

'Cloud Hunter The Foalsitter'

As soon as Twilight Sparkle reached the library, she wasted no time in beginning her search for books related to the Mad Unicorn. She searched for atleast a good while but she couldn't find a single book on him, let alone a book that even mentioned him. She then tried to looking through books related to King Sombra, but still, there was no mention of the Mad Unicorn at all.

Sitting down, she let out a loud frustrated sigh. "There's gotta be atleast one book in here!"

The library doors opened.

Twilight turned to see who entered. Standing there, with a cart of books in front him, was the silver armoured Pegasus, Magister Sky Shadow. "Ah, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Good to see you."

Giving him a friendly smile, Twilight said, "Good to see you too Magister."

"Please..." Sky Shadow started as he pushed the cart of books over to the table she was sitting at. "You can just call me Sky Shadow."

Twilight giggled a little. "Ok then, if that's the case, then just call me Twilight. I'm still not used to the whole Princess thing."

Sky Shadow chuckled behind his helmet as he sat down in the chair next to her and started looking through the books on the cart. "If that is your wish."

The young Alicorn looked at him curiously before setting her eyes on the cart of books. "What are you doing?"

"I heard about what happened earlier, your encounter with Metal Wing...and the Mad Unicorn." Sky Shadow replied. "I asked Princess Luna and Princess Celestia about the Mad Unicorn a good few minutes ago, since I don't actually know much about him."

"And?" Twilight replied, her tone filled with curiosity.

Sky Shadow tapped the book cart before replying. "They said the librarian was bringing in a new set of books for the library. And that a book about the Mad Unicorn was among them. I found the librarian as he was on his way here with this cart, so I offered to take it here for him." He turned his head to face the purple Alicorn. "The way they described him, and how he drove off Metal Wing...this is something that has me very curious."

Twilight smiled. "Well then I guess it's a good thing you brought the cart here, I was just looking for a book on him too."

Chuckling once more, Sky Shadow said, "Well then, perhaps we can do some research together."

"Yeah..." Twilight replied as she got off of her chair and kneeled down as she started looking through the cart of books. "That sounds, wonderful." She said happily.

She loved books, and she couldn't recall a time where somepony would be interested in reading one with her. But Sky Shadow, he seemed very eager to learn about the Mad Unicorn just as much as her, and the thought of him reading a book with her made her feel very happy.

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Dusk slowly walked down the empty halls of the castle, deep in thought. There were various thoughts running through his mind right now. He was actually pondering if whether or not the Stallion back in the medical quarters would try and get back at him for what he said. Dusk quickly pushed the thought aside, as he knew nopony would dare to make an attempt on his life, or talk back to him for that matter.

As he walked on, he exchanged quick glances with two royal guards that were passing by. He could see the look of fear in their eyes as he walked by them. 'Hmph, these royal guards are pathetic. It's a wonder how they even managed to become guards in the first place.'

At the moment, all of the northern troops that arrived long before he did were currently stationed around the Canterlot area, keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity. The guards that came with him were patrolling along the hallways alongside Celestia and Luna's guards. In fact, he had heard that three of his own Northern guards had gotten into a fight with some of the Celestial guards, and a few Lunar guards had to break it up. Apparently, one of the Celestial guards ended up with a black eye.

Dusk merely shook his head in frustration. He found it ridiculous how Ponies like that could become a guard for the royal Princesses. He then thought back to the two guards he passed by a minute ago. They were wearing dark lavender coloured armour. Their coats were also a dark colour and they had bat-like wings. It didn't take a genius to figure out that those were Lunar guards that he passed by not too long ago.

As he pondered on them, Dusk did admit that the Lunar guards seemed to be more experienced than the Celestial guards. He heard that during training sessions, Lunar guards almost always came out victorious over the Celestial guards.

The thought of this only annoyed him, as he also remembered that those guards were Luna's. While the Celestial and Lunar guards were loyal to both Princesses, it didn't change the fact that the Lunar guards were more intent on serving Luna than Celestia. Dusk assumed it probably had something to do with what Celestia did to Luna a long time, but in all honesty, he didn't care.

"And who are you supposed to be?"

The golden armoured Prince stopped walking as his thoughts were interrupted by a very arrogant toned voice.

He turned to the source of the voice. A white Unicorn with a tidy amber coloured mane and tail. He wore a small collared suit around his neck and it had a flower on the bottom. His Cutie Mark was a compass rose. The Unicorn towered over Dusk just by a few inches.

Dusk narrowed his eyes at the Unicorn and spoke. "I believe the question is, who are you?"

"Me? I'm Prince Blueblood! How can you possibly not know who I am?!" Blueblood stated in a clearly egotistical tone. "Now I just asked you a question? I suggest you give me an answer. Though, judging by your appearance, I'm assuming you're just another guard doing what he's told, am I correct?"

Once again, Dusk narrowed his eyes piercing red eyes at the other Prince. "Don't you dare compare me to those weaklings."

The expression on Blueblood's face was now one of anger. "How dare you speak to me in that tone! Just so you know, I could have you thrown in the dungeon if I wanted to!"

Dusk took a step forward. "Don't test me half-breed."

Blueblood's eyes widened. "H-How...how DARE YOU! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

"I..." Dusk took a moment to regain his composure. "I...am Prince Dusk, of the North Kingdom and future King of the North."

The shocked look on Blueblood's face remained. "Y-You...YOU'RE Prince Dusk?"

Dusk merely continued to glare at him.

"W-Well...Prince or not...I recommend that you watch what you say to me...I'M a Prince too!" Blueblood said, trying to keep himself from being intimidated by Dusk's glare.

Dusk took another step forward. "I recommend you watch what you say to me, half-breed. You already made the mistake of comparing me with Equestria's pathetic guards. You spoke to me, when I never gave you permission to do so, and even now, you continue to look upon my glorious presence without my permission. I suggest you turn away, and set your eyes elsewhere."

Blueblood was now furious as he took a step towards the golden armoured Prince. "HOW DARE YOU! I AM A PRINCE OF CANTERLOT AND THE DISTANT NEPHEW OF PRINCESS CELESTIA AND PRINCESS LUNA! THE RULERS OF EQUESTRIA! YOU WILL NOT SPEAK TO ME IN SUCH A-" Blueblood was unable to finish, as Dusk had grabbed him with his two armoured hoofs.

Dusk pinned Blueblood to the wall and glared daggers at him. Blueblood looked back at him with fear-filled eyes. "You are treading on thin ice Prince Blueblood. Celestia and Luna are nothing. Allow me to let you in on a little secret." Dusk leaned in closer and spoke in a venomous tone. "Had it not been for unfortunate circumstances, I would be a King right now."

Blueblood said nothing, out of fear that he would anger the golden armoured Prince anymore than he already had.

Suddenly, Dusk's eyes were consumed by a blood red glow. "A title is nothing if you don't have the power to back it up. And that, Blueblood, is something you lack, thus, you may call yourself a Prince, but you will never truly be one."

Again, Blueblood remained silent. He was too frozen with fear as he looked into Dusk's glowing red eyes. "I assume you're here because you were requested to attend the royal banquet?"

No reply, instead, Blueblood gave a nervous nod.

Dusk narrowed his eyes at him. "Well then, allow me to offer you some advice. Don't show yourself at all. Because if you do..."

The sound of guards approaching caused Dusk to slowly let go of the Prince. "I will make you face terror beyond anything you've ever imagined." He finished as the red glow in his eyes slowly dissipated.

"Prince Dusk? Prince Blueblood? Is something wrong?" A Lunar guard asked as he approached the two.

Dusk turned and began walking towards the guard. "No. Everything is fine. Prince Blueblood was merely telling me that he no longer wishes to attend the banquet, and is going to take leave of Canterlot for a while. Escort him out."

The other Lunar guards nervously stepped aside, allowing the golden armoured Prince to pass them.

"Yes your highness." The Lunar guard said before turning back to Blueblood, who was now on his knees panting heavily. "Prince Blueblood?"

As the four Lunar guards gathered around him, Blueblood looked down the hallway towards Dusk as he continued walking away, his eyes were still widened with fear.

"Are you okay?" The Lunar guard asked.

Blueblood looked down at the floor. The image of Dusk's glowing red eyes never left his head. 'Those...those eyes...what is he?'

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"I found it!"

Twilight pulled out a thin red book and placed it on the table. She took a moment to study the cover. The title read 'The Mad Unicorn' and if the title wasn't enough, the cover of the book was proof that it was indeed the one they were looking for. The cover showed a black knight Unicorn, standing with his head lowered slightly. He was surrounded by flames and there were burning ruins in the background of the cover.

"It's him...this is the definitely the same Mad Unicorn that showed up not too long ago." Twilight said.

Sky Shadow shuffled his seat closer to her so he could get a better look. "So...that's the Mad Unicorn..."

Twilight opened the book to the first page and began reading aloud...

"Stormrage, known to all as The Mad Unicorn. Other names include, the Black Knight, Sombra's Shadow, the Mad Beast." Twilight took a moment to process the words she read. The Mad Unicorn certainly seemed to match such names.

Sky Shadow took advantage of her pause and continued for her...

"Nopony knows where he came from, or of his origins. Some say he is a demon, spawned by the darkness of King Sombra himself. Some state that he was a Unicorn, cursed by King Sombra. Others say that he is a monster, who arrived to punish the Princesses for allowing the balance of harmony to be disrupted. It is rumoured that the Mad Unicorn could also be King Sombra reborn, but nopony really knows for certain."

Twilight smiled at him. Her smile lowered a little when she noticed he still had his helmet on. "Sky Shadow, why don't you take your helmet off?" Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. "Come to think of it, I've not seen your face at all."

Sky Shadow lowered his head a little and sighed. "If you...don't mind Twilight, I would rather keep my helmet on. Don't misunderstand, I'd like to remove it, but, well, I'm just not comfortable showing my face around others that I still have yet to know."

Twilight tilted her in confusion. Though she curious, she decided to leave him be at the moment. "Ok..." She turned back to the book. "There's not really much on the Mad Unicorn, even in here."

"Considering there aren't a lot of pages, I would assume this book is just an incomplete copy." Sky Shadow said. "Which would mean that the one who wrote it is still researching the Mad Unicorn themselves." Just then, he remembered something. "Oh, by the way Twilight, were you informed of the royal banquet?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes, the banquet for my marriage to Dusk. Speaking of which, I'll have to send a message to my parents and ask them to come visit."

Sky Shadow froze when Twilight mentioned her parents. Noticing this, Twilight faced him and said, "Are you okay Sky Shadow?"

"I...yes..." The silver armoured Pegasus faced her and nodded. "Yes I'm fine...just, thinking."

Something was definitely off with the Magister. While Twilight wanted to ask him what was wrong, she refrained from doing so in case it was sad topic. Looking back at the books in the cart, she faced him again and said, "Excuse me for a moment. I'm going to put these books on the shelves, then we'll get back to our research. Ok?"

Sky Shadow replied with a nod and watched as she pushed the cart to the other side of the library and began organizing the books. He watched her from behind his helmet and let out a quiet growl. 'Damn you Shining Armor...I wouldn't be in this situation right now if it weren't for you!'

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Cloud Hunter couldn't help but roll his eyes at all of the stories the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sharing with each other. Some were weird, others were just plain embarrassing, but there were a few stories that he couldn't help but be amused at. He was intrigued when he heard them mention a zebra called Zecora, who they said was good at creating many different types of potions.

He also couldn't help but chuckle a little when he heard them talk about what happened with the Element wielders and the Poison Joke Flowers. When Apple Bloom had told the whole story about that, he wanted to laugh, but refrained from doing so.

Finally, their stories stopped and Cloud Hunter heard the last thing he wanted to hear from them.

"I'm hungry."

'It starts.' The blue Pegasus thought to himself, smirking slightly.

Sweetie Belle carefully moved forward and looked below. She shivered slightly at how high they were before looking around. A few minutes passed as she continued to look, and she was able to spot a few apple trees in a small meadow next to a large forest. "Hey!" She shouted as she carefully moved forward even more until she was next to Cloud Hunter's head. "Can we stop? There's some apple trees down there!"

Cloud Hunter turned his head slightly to look at her. Sweetie Belle was looking at him with big pleading eyes, causing him to let out a low sigh before descending towards the meadow. 'Darn it, why do they have to be so...so...so adorable?!'

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle held on tight as Cloud Hunter dived towards a large apple tree. At the speed they were going, they started panicking as Cloud Hunter was getting closer and closer to the tree.

Finally, just as they were about to collide with the tree, Cloud Hunter flapped his wings hard and stopped effortlessly, right at the bottom of the tree. He gently flapped his wings, slowly descending until he finally touched the ground.

Scootaloo jumped out of the saddlebag, and Cloud Hunter lowered himself down on his belly so the other two fillies could jump off without hurting themselves. After they were off, Cloud Hunter lay down on his side and slowly closed his eyes. 'Well, I did say I was going to stop for a rest.'

The grass was nice and soft so Cloud Hunter was able to get himself comfortable. Unfortunately, his nice rest didn't last long.

"Umm, Cloud Hunter?"

The blue Pegasus slowly opened his eyes and saw the three fillies standing right in front of him. "What?"

Scootaloo looked up the apple tree for a second before looking back down at Cloud Hunter. "Could you...maybe..."

Cloud Hunter knew exactly what she was going to ask and let out a loud sigh. "Why can't one of you do it? Can't you just climb up? In fact, you have wings, why don't you just fly up?"

Scootaloo looked down in embarrassment before replying. "Well...you see...my wings aren't exactly..."

Sighing again, Cloud Hunter got to his hoofs. He unfurled his wings and shot up into the tree. The three fillies just stood there for a moment and watched as Cloud Hunter began snapping various branches with his hoofs. Leaves were falling, aswell as apples, and a few of the branches fell out of the tree aswell. The fillies made sure to stand back so nothing hit them.

When the last apple fell out, the three fillies immediately started piling them up next to the tree.

Cloud Hunter dropped down from the tree and wasted no time in laying back down. He made sure he was comfortable again before slowly closing his eyes.

"Hey Cloud Hunter?"

He opened his eyes again. Apple Bloom was standing in front of him, while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were sitting next to the large pile of apples, munching away. "What is it now?" Cloud Hunter asked.

Apple Bloom tilted her head a little and said, "Why didn't ya just buck the tree?"

He looked at her with a confused expression. "Excuse me?"

"Ya know, kick it? Whenever mah sister Applejack is out workin' on the farm, she always bucks the trees, it gets all the apples out in like, two seconds. She always does it when she's harvesting apples." Apple Bloom said.

Cloud Hunter rolled his eyes. "I guess I didn't think of that, not that I really knew of that method to begin with."

"What do ya mean? Don't they do that back where you're from?" Apple Bloom asked, her tone filled with curiosity.

Again, Cloud Hunter looked at her. "Not exactly. I've been too busy spending my whole life fighting wars to know methods of harvesting apples."

The filly's eyes widened at his words. "Fightin' wars?"

Cloud Hunter nodded. "Yes...now...go and eat." He said before closing his eyes again.

Not wanting to annoy him, Apple Bloom left and walked back over to pile of apples and sat down next to her friends.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Cloud Hunter began to relax again. Only a minute or two went by however, before...

"Hey Cloud Hunter?"

He opened his eyes, again. This time, Sweetie Belle was now standing in front of him, holding an apple. "What is it this time?"

Sweetie Belle looked down at his barely opened eyes for a moment and quickly looked away in order to hide the blush that appeared on her face. As soon as it was gone, she looked back and gently put the apple down in front of him. "Here, I thought you might've been hungry too so..."

Cloud Hunter looked at the apple. He stared at it for a good long minute before looking back at Sweetie Belle. "No thanks."

"But you have to eat. You should make sure you're-" Sweetie Belle stopped when Cloud Hunter narrowed his eyes at her.

"I'm not hungry." The blue Pegasus said, his tone was calm but had a hint of frustration in it.

Sweetie Belle backed away a little. "I-I'm...I'm sorry." She said before quickly rushing back over to her friends.

'This reminds of when I used to foalsit Blitz Bolt and the others.' Cloud Hunter thought to himself before closing his eyes again.

He recalled the times when he used to foalsit his allies when they were still just colts. Blitz Bolt and Kickback were a nightmare. Air Break wouldn't shut up most of the time, and Vanisher...well, he was always just reading tomes, training with his blades and honing his magic skills. That was during the days when Metal Wing was still building his army.

Cloud Hunter sighed before relaxing again. However, it didn't last long...

"Hey Cloud Hunter?"

The blue Pegasus let out a frustrated growl. His eyes shot open however when he felt a hoof poking his flank. "Hey!" He said out loud as he quickly raised his head and glared at Scootaloo.

"Sorry..." Scootaloo replied before looking back at his flank. "So, how did you get your Cutie Mark?"

Cloud Hunter raised a brow. "What?"

Scootaloo poked his flank again, or rather, his Cutie Mark. "Your Cutie Mark, how did you get it?"

He saw at the corner of his eye that the other two fillies were listening in, also eager to know how he got his Cutie Mark. "That's a story for another day." He replied before lowering his head back down onto the soft grass.

"Oh come on!" Scootaloo said as she climbed on top of him and started shaking him with her hoofs. "We just wanna know that's all!"

Sighing again, the blue Pegasus said, "And why do you want to know exactly?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "Well we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and we're trying to figure out how to get our Cutie Marks."

Cloud Hunter opened his eyes and looked at her. "Patience."

"What?" Scootaloo replied.

The blue Pegasus closed his eyes again and sighed. "Patience. I was a blank flank for a few years before I discovered my Cutie Mark. If you're so eager to get yours, the first thing you need to do is be patient. I know, waiting isn't any fun, but look at it this way, it's the thrill of knowing you'll get your Cutie Mark eventually that makes it all worthwhile."

"That's...actually a good point." The filly said.

Cloud Hunter raised his head and looked at her again. "Believe me, nopony stays a blank flank forever...now can you get off? You're standing on my neck."

Scootaloo hadn't realised her front left hoof was pressing on Cloud Hunter's neck, and quickly jumped off. "Uh sorry about that, heh heh."

As soon as Scootaloo made her way back over to her friends, Cloud Hunter made sure he was fully comfortable before closing his eyes.

This time, there was no interruption, much to his relief. The fillies had eaten a good number of apples, and they continued to eat in silence until they were unable to eat anymore.

Because they had already spoke to each other while they were still in the sky, they had nothing else to talk about at the moment. Suddenly, a cold wind blew against them all.

Cloud Hunter merely shrugged it off, thanks to his body heat, he barely felt the cold wind. The fillies noticed this and, after exchanging nervous glances, they slowly approached the blue Pegasus.

"Umm...Cloud Hunter?"

"UGH!" Cloud Hunter sat up and glared at them. "What do you fillies have against the concept of a good rest huh?!"

The three fillies were shaking with fear at his sudden outburst.

Sweetie Belle shivered as the cold wind blew against her and her friends. "W-We...we're cold..."

"Cold?" Cloud Hunter raised a brow at them.

They nodded.

He watched as they continued to shiver, hugging each other to keep themselves warm. Rolling his eyes, Cloud Hunter lay back down and unfurled one of his large wings. "Here, my body heat will be enough to keep you all warm."

Upon hearing those words, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo rushed over and huddled up against Cloud Hunter's side. He rolled his eyes as they tried to get comfortable, but he couldn't help but be amused.

The three fillies had finally gotten into their comfortable positions, they were still huddled up together and they were right against Cloud Hunter's side.

Cloud Hunter watched as they too had closed their eyes and were now getting some rest. Satisfied, he slowly draped his large wing over them until it covered them completely, preventing the wind from touching them. Cloud Hunter sighed as he lay his head back down on the soft grass. 'This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought.'

The Commander of the Iron Empire slowly closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.