"Table for one. I have friends coming later, so keep these tables empty." Reddling hissed to the waitress at the Basil Leaf Cafe. He had taken a rather roundabout way to get here, cutting through the streets and leaving a dead pegasus pony in a dumpster with a message that would never reach Canterlot command.

"Ah- uhm yes sir, right this way." Said a skittish earth mare, bowing and grabbing a menu. Reddling followed her as she took him to a secluded, dark table in a familiar corner of the Cafe.

"May I start you off with anything to drink?" The mare asked. Reddling glanced over the menu, holding it up to obscure his face.

"Just a glass of wine," Reddling said, keeping his menu up. "Red wine, strawberry." The mare hurried off, leaving Reddling alone with his menu in the darkness of the cafe. He felt a chill creep up his spine as he leaned against the window, glancing out at the darkness. It had been difficult to get a grasp of time since he had woken up, but based on where the waning moon was he guessed that his friends should have arrived by now.

The mare returned quickly and sat down the glass of wine. Reddling glanced over his menu to see the mare looking down at his jacket, the colour draining from her face as she stared at where the train guard had cut him. Can't ponies just leave well enough alone?

"Would you and your friends possibly enjoy somewhere more private?" The mare asked. Reddling hesitated for a moment, and the nodded. Setting down his menu and quickly downing the glass of wine, Reddling followed the mare back to an empty meeting room, which had dim lights on inside. Reddling had barely made his way in when the door slammed shut and the mare rounded on him.

"Okay!" She said tersely. "What the hell is going on?"

"Do you mean the mysterious midnight meeting that I'm having at the back of the cafe, or Canterlot?" Reddling asked.

"Both!" The mare yelled. Reddlng flattened his ears a bit and waved a hoof, motioning for her to calm down. Taking a deep breath, Reddling started from the top- about how the Canterlot invasion had not been the end of their problems, about how Mantidae had replaced Celestia, and how the Night Guard had been framed as traitors. Reddling made sure to withhold any information about Celestia or Cadance now being Changeling queens, or any information that might lead the mare to that conclusion.

"And now we are in town to rescue Miss Twilight Sparkle. Princess Luna believes that Miss Twilight can be of aid to us." The mare had taken a seat, and looked shaky as Reddling finished out his statement.

"This is crazy, absolutely crazy." The mare said, rocking in her seat as she struggled to take it all in. "How can this be happening here, in Equestria?"

"No offense, but I've seen some pretty bad things since I first moved here. Insect- er, paraspit swarms, perpetual chaos, actual chaos, and now an invasion by pony sized bugs." Reddling recounted just a few of the more horrific things that had first rattled. as horrible as most of Silverfield was, he'd never seen an entire town completely eaten before his very eyes. He wasn't sure if they ever rebuilt that town, but then he'd also immediately put as many miles between himself and the place as he possibly could.

"But- but those are not common events!" the mare retorted, trying vainly to argue for the safety Equestria afforded. Reddling did not get a chance to answer her back, as there was a sudden knock on the door. A knife was produced from under Reddling's coat as he stepped towards the door, motioning for the mare to stay seated.

"Who's there?" Reddling demanded of the door.

"ehehe. Is that how you greet friends, Reddling?" Web's voice was silky and sweet, oozing through the door like vicious poison. Reddling turned the handle with a hoof, opening the door with his wing and standing back. Web lead the way through, glancing around the room as a procession of bat ponies followed in behind her. Tops, Nightshade, Bruiser, and many other bats whom Reddling did not know, all poured in and took seats around the table. The hostess stood up, giving them all a little bow and beginning to take orders for food and drink.

Although Web wasted no time in beginning to brief everypony on her plan to get into the castle, Reddling felt his mind wander. He obviously couldn't order food here for Star Shine, but perhaps if he poked around the castle some, he might be able to find some Changeling food. After all, without help getting that food the poor drone was probably going to starve to death, and it would almost be more humane to just let Web kill him. That couldn't be allowed to happen though, as Web would take her time, torturing the poor soul until she broke them before taking her due.

"And once we know the layout off the castle from those leatherbacks, everypony be prepared to get in and get out! We'll be moving very quickly once things get underway as we want to catch the first train of this morning departing. If you miss the train, you're on your own." Web folded her hooves across the table, watching as drinks were brought in and served. She carefully sniffed some mango juice brought to her, giving it a little lick before deeming it acceptable.

"What about prisoners?" A bat pony piped up. "There are some Night Guard still unaccounted for."

"Assume they have been executed. Our mission is on this Twilight Sparkle, not Night Guard that could not escape on their own." Web replied, smirking at her reflection in her drink glass.

"How do we know Miss Twilight is still alive?" Reddling asked Web, trying to block out her statement from his mind. If not for him, she'd be among those Night Guard unaccounted for.

Cold looks turned Reddling's way. He suspected mentally that this wasn't for his question, but he couldn't let that bother him right now. Web turned to him with a bit of a smirk, replying, "We're operating under the belief she is still alive, but if she isn't, then that's an awful shame, isn't it?"

"It's an awful shame because I'll never get her research." Reddling said in his head. Although he was not about to get his hopes up, he was looking forward to anything Miss Twilight had found that might help him learn from another party about his country.

Minutes turned to hours as the bats sat around, waiting and struggling to stay focused on the mission ahead. Reddling had learned that the leatherbacks were Miss Twilight's friends, who had been able to freely enter the castle due to their status. When some bat-friendly appetizers were served, Reddling had simply asked for a medium sized jar from the hostess. Although he had been given a strange look, she supplied him one that barely fit into a large coat pocket. If at all possible, Reddling fully intended to give Star Shine at least enough to get by.

---

There was no knocking on the door when Twilight's friends returned. A pink pony bouncd inside, followed by her almost grim looking friends. She seemingly had no problem with the dim atmosphere that had become the capital of Equestria, but at least the rest of her friends seemed to be very aware of the situation around them.

"Well?" Web's voice dripped hostility as she leaned forward, looking at the five mares in front of her like they were the dinner menu.

"Uhh..." The rainbow one said, looking at her other friends. "We kinda poked around and stuff but there wasn't a lot to see!"

"Honestly, I've never seen the castle looking so unkempt and deserted!" Rarity looked offended that she even had to say the last few words.

"But we do have some news for y'all." The orange one said, removing her hat and laying it over her chest. "Twilight was seen in the castle earlier today, and Pinkie Pie here found the guestbook where Twilight signed in a few days ago."

Score.

"Good job. Anything else to report?" Web waited, looking at the ponies. The yellow one ducked behind the other four, looking terrified as the dark mare across the room surveyed them. "No? Then get out of here. We have work to do."

The five mares took a step back at the sudden harshness in Web's voice. Exchanging looks, they all ducked out of the room, deciding collectively and non-verbally that it might be best to not ask questions of the Night Guard right now.

"You don't have to be so mean to them." Reddling said pointedly. He personally held the five mares in little regard- after all, they were still Equestrians and not bat ponies- but they had held their own against Changelings, smuggled him into their train cart somehow, scouted out Canterlot Palace. Reddling also suspected that two of those mares had saved his life, but his memory was blurry, and the events around Balefly's death felt so long ago.

"Reddling, relax." Web cooed, watching as Reddling tilted his head her direction. "They're just Equestrians, right?"

"Useful Equestrians." Reddling corrected her. She read my mind, mostly.

Web turned her mouth up slightly, and did not press the point, turning away and kicking back in her chair. Reddling turned his attention away from Web, and looked over towards Tops and Nightshade, trying to catch their eye. Tops gave Reddling a little wave, motioning for him to move closer and join them. Nightshade only rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Hey Reddling." Tops said. "You uh- are you okay?"

"Never better." Reddling replied, flexing his hoof muscles and taking a seat next to them.

"Ah, well-" Tops began,

"You let a bug suck the life out of you. Surprised you're here." Tops' better, more honest half interrupted him. "What keeps you going?"

"What are you talking about?" Reddling pointedly questioned Nightshade, rounding on her.

"You shouldn't be able to walk, much less get into Canterlot, even if it was on a train. You take horrifying wounds that would kill most of us and keep moving within days." Nightshade narrowed her eyes at Reddling. "So, how do you do it?"

"My secret." Reddling replied, putting a hoof on his knife. "Just like your secret about Nightmare Powers. Show me yours and I'll show you mine."

"Ugh. You are unbelievable." Nightshade stood up trotting away from both of them to the other side of the room.

"Care to tell me what that was about?" Reddling whispered to Tops.

"She's- I just don't know." Tops confessed. "Look, Reddling... ever since the Wedding, Nightshade's been like, keeping a mental tally on you."

"Wonderful." Reddling's turn to roll his eyes. "I didn't know she cared so much."

"She isn't doing it because she likes you, it's because she's scared of you. Thinks your here to hurt us." Tops drooped his ears.

"She wasn't wrong a few days ago. That doesn't explain why she's still on about it."

"Well, that's just it." Tops mumbled. "She doesn't think you gave it all up."

Reddling shook his head, queuing Tops to just forget about it. I doubt there is anything I can do to convince Nightshade that I'm a good pony, and honestly, I can't be bothered to make her like me right now. There are so many other problems going on, I barely have time to watch my own feelings, much less hers.

Tops and Reddling stood up as Web sprung from her chair, looking around the room, slowly all the bats stopped talking among themselves, turning their heads towards Web.

"We're moving out!" Web declared. "Everypony on me, we'll be taking an old sewer entry into the bat pony caverns. Don't worry about the smell, the line hasn't been used in a long time." There was little exposition as everypony filed out, moving with purpose and direction as Web took the lead. Reddling trotted to her side, looking back at the other bats.

"Web, we still don't know where Miss Twilight is, just that she's in the castle. What's your plan?" Reddling asked.

"Didn't you listen to any of the briefing?" Web said, sounding a bit hurt. "Reddling, you have to listen up more. There are guest bedrooms in the Palace, and we are going to inspect that area."

"You're betting Miss Twilight is in one area, and resting the entire operation on this?" Reddling said in disbelief. Web was better than this, surely.

"She'll be there," Web cooed. "Don't worry." Reddling's brain was now in overdrive as he processed this bit of information. Apparently not only was Web not better than this, she was actually going to go through with this plan. Reddling was certain that the wing would be guarded, and it would only take a matter of minutes- if that- before they would all be detected moving about in the castle. Unfortunately, that didn't leave them enough time to search for Miss Twilight, extract her, and catch the train out.

"Web, this is a bad plan. We need to come up with a new one." Reddling's voice was urgent as he pressed the issue.

"It'll work fine. Just stick with me." Web didn't bat an eye as she continued into the dark, empty streets. Reddling could feel his head throbbing as he struggled to think of some sort of plan that would not make this end badly. They needed some sort of distraction, something to draw the guards away- but Web wasn't likely to go for anything that wasn't her plan, and nothing came to mind for how to start a distraction in an unfamiliar castle.

Reddling continued to grapple with his thoughts as they approached a large, old manhole. Web opened up the hole with the help of Bruiser, revealing a black pit that led into even blacker sewers.

"Make sure to give little squeaks so you don't trip!" Web giggled, stepping into the air and falling downward into the blackness, one by one, everybat dropped into the hole until only Reddling and Bruiser were left above.

"You know she's probably going to get us killed, right?" Reddling said. "I'm an assassin. I know security, and this is never going to work."

"She's the same as ya, Reddling." Brusier looked down wistfully at the blackness, and then hopped in. Reddling let out a sigh as he pulled his coat back, resting it across his back so that it wouldn't pick up any... leftover sewer residue.

---

Reddling took a deep breath as the bat ponies entered into the caverns. He had opted to lead the charge with Nightshade and Web, leaving Brusier and Tops with the other bats to cover the rear. They were the most likely to engage guards once things got loud, and their down and dirty fighting was more likely to hold the guards at bay than Reddling or Web could. The plan was... loud, for brevity's sake. Reddling felt his mind blur as one room after another was slammed open. Some rooms had piles of green goo in them-- Which Reddling took advantage of and filled up the jar he had borrowed earlier so he could return it to Star Shine,-- while others housed actual guests. Reddling had stormed in on a couple in the middle of foreplay and screamed at them to flee the castle, and that Changelings had overthrown Equestria.

The loudness gave way to confusion as innocent civilians fled the rooms. The Royal Guard soon found themselves holding back, unsure of how many of the citizens were being allowed to get away and how many might be potential hostages.

When it was almost the last door, Reddling finally felt his heart sink. He had kicked the door right off it's hinges and been met by the glare of something that shook him to the core. This was going to be undeniable evidence that the worst had come to pass.

"I found her! Miss Twilight is in this room!" Reddling shrieked down the hallway. Before he could get out of the way, he was buffeted by Nightshade, Web, and two bat ponies he did not know. A White eyed Changeling jumped off Twilight, snarling like a feral animal before being tackled and restrained by one of the bats. Twilight Sparkle let out a terrified scream at the sight of bat ponies marching into the room.

Reddling grabbed the pony holding the Changeling down, pulling on their shoulder. "Let it go!" Reddling yelled. The bat pony looked up with a surprised glance, but the Changeling didn't need to hear the word twice. With a snarl it threw the bat ponies off and shot up the hallway, trying to get away as fast as it could.

"Miss Twilight!" Reddling yelled down at her over her cries, hopping onto the bed and standing over her. "Do you remember me? We're here to rescue you!"

"But Celestia said- bat ponies-" Twilight blinked, looking right through Reddling. Reddling heard Web cry for the bat ponies to get Twilight out of the room, and they obliged. Reddling dismounted Twilight as Brusier lifted her over one shoulder. Nightshade shot a blast of some shadow magic at the window, blowing it open in a burst of fire. Reddling looked around, surveying the scene. No Royal Guards were daring to advance yet, but Web had disappeared from the room. A small satchel had been left behind by Twilight on the bed, and Nightshade looked to be the last pony out.

"Where's Web?" Reddling demanded of Nightshade.

"No clue- come on, let's go. We'll miss the train." Nightshade's voice was urgent, but not lacking any of her typical snark. Reddling glared over at her, stomping a hoof as he picked up the satchel and slung it around his neck.

"I'm not leaving her behind. Did she get out yet or not?" Reddling began to move towards the door of the room, determined to scour the castle if need be to find Web.

"Stars fuck you Reddling." Nightshade yelled. "She can handle herself, Let's get out of here." Reddling just glared at her.

"Fine. Both of you can die then for all I care." Nightshade turned tail and departed, flapping her wings to get altitude before shooting down towards the lower side of town, where the trains were located. Reddling turned through the door, proceeding into the hallway and grinding to a halt.

His search for Web had taken but seconds. Web was standing in the hallway, shadows dripping off of every stone and orifice it could infect. Laying under her was a dead Changeling with milky white eyes that were swiftly turning grey. Web had cracked the Changeling's shell open and been looting around in it's organs. Something akin to a small pouch was taken out by Web, which she held hungrily in a hoof.

"Need it for my poison. Gotta have it fresh." Web smiled down at the organ before looking up at Reddling, her face covered in green Changeling blood. "Where's Twilight Sparkle?"

"She escaped." Reddling said. "They're all headed towards the train now- if we hurry, we can still make it."

Web blinked slowly, sitting down so she could rest the spare organ on the ground and rub a hoof through the blood on her face. "You should be with them, or- did you not pay attention to my briefing?"

Reddling gave her a small "Huh?", and Web gave him a devious smile.

"They'll be lucky if they catch the train. But the two of us? No chance we'll make it now that we sat here and talked." Web cooed.

"Well come on, get up- we can still try!" Reddling said, taking a few steps towards Web. Web stood up, tucking the organ away into her armor.

"No, it's absolutely impossible." Web smiled. "This operation went very well, Reddling." Slowly, she made her way towards him, putting her cheek next to his so she could whisper in his ear. "But sometimes, operations don't go smoothly. I guess I'll see you later, then?" Web ended her statement with a little kiss on Reddling's cheek, pressing fresh, still warm blood into his fur and against his skin. He barely had time to register what Web was saying before she jumped into her shadows, disappearing into the night and leaving not a single trace the shadows had ever been there. Reddling was now left alone and exposed in the hallway next to a dead Changeling body.

"Web." Reddling said, looking around. He could feel his heart beat picking up as he continued to call her name, beginning to look around more and more frantically. Web was gone- and soon, the train would be too. The thunder of hooves heading for the hallway picked up on Reddling's sensitive ears and he jumped into Twilight's room. Quickly looking out the window, Reddling took a leap of faith and jumped for it, aiming upwards towards the cloud layer. If he couldn't make it away, he'd have to lose any pursuers and try to rejoin the Night Guard later. He couldn't outfly a train, and the sun would be almost up by the time the train stopped in Ponyville.

Reddling closed his eyes as he passed through the clouds, droplets of water forming on his face and wings. There was one place he could hide out and wait until the next night, when he could travel more freely.

---

After he was sure that no Pegasus had followed him, Reddling opened the satchel he had taken from Twilights' room and looked inside. His gaze was still half fixed on the books and odd vial inside the satchel as he landed inside the small enclave from so many eras ago. Gulping quietly, Reddling read the titles of the books allowed to himself.

"A Baker's Dozen uses for Dragons Blood Plus, The Night Guard of Equestria: A History, and ... and Silverfield, the Accidental Social Experiment." Reddling's hooves wore into the ground as he trotted for his old small cabin. pushing open the door, he almost fell inside as he looked around the peaceful place. it was exactly as he had left it- a small desk, a perfectly made bed, and a shelf devoid of any belongings.

Still, Reddling felt safe here. He felt- some nostalgia, being here. When he had first came to his place, he was serving as an agent of Revenge, of malice... and now, he felt neither of these things. As solemn and quaint as the place was, it felt just as homely as Silverfield.

Silverfield, my home. Reddling couldn't remember taking off his armor or weapons, or curling up with his knife and the book on Silverfieldian history. The next thing that he could remember was falling asleep, his face pressing into the pillow as the book lay idly right beside him.

Sleep did not come easy- but not for the reasons that Reddling was normally used to. He found himself in Silverfield- yes, with the backdrop of dead ponies, horrifying crimes- and yet, this time he was lucid enough to understand it was simply a setting, not a reality. Gliding past the front gate, Reddling felt himself compelled forward into some black and white film. On the floor he saw Rainy, his forehooves joined together in a prayer, Reddling gave a little smile at this- prayer was an important tenet in the church, and to those not wronged horribly by them, it was a source of great solace.

Reddling blinked his eyes, and the room changed with them. Laying on the floor now was not Rainy, but a very young earth pony with a fiery red coat. Reddling slammed his eyes shut, trying to wake himself up. This was just a dream, so surely if he tried hard enough, he could end it?

"This is not a dream, silly filly." Reddling opened his eyes, looking around the familiar keep. The voice was feminine and young, like it belonged to a little filly. Reddling as certain that no little fillies had ever been in this room, even if they had visited other parts of the fortress.

"Behind you." The voice said. Reddling twisted around and found himself staring at a mirror of the half of the room he had just been looking at, except that now a small bat pony was looking up at him with a smile. Her features were distinctly Silverfieldian- with the rounded, small muzzle detailing it's way against the cheekbone, the thinner ears that were mixed with bat pony features. Reddling could tell that this filly was like him- a bat pony and a Silverfieldian- and yet, there was something so alien about her. The two finally locked eyes, and the filly gave a little giggle. Even though she had yet to grow fangs- or truly, any features other than her ears and eyes, that was enough for Reddling to feel unnerved and take a step back..

The filly advanced, colour leaking onto her frame. She was purple, perhaps one shade darker than Web's mane but one lighter than Reddling's, complete with a hair colour that could have matched Rainy's coat to a tee. A blond highlight ran through her hair, matching a yellow ribbon she had tied around the base of her tail. The eyes were what really held a pony's attention though- carbon copies of Reddling's own eyes.

"Hello!" the filly cried. Reddling screamed, falling and then crawling backwards from the filly and then promptly bumping his head against the foot of the a chair, scrambling to get up, Reddling stood on his hooves, Before him was the filly blocking the proper exit to his home. Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream, just a dream.

"What are you?" Reddling demanded, his voice full of wonder and disbelief as fear crept along his frame.

" I'm a bat pony! Skee!" The filly cried playfully, letting out a ferocious squeak at Reddling. He recoiled not in playfulness, but in actual fearfulness. His dreams had been quite strong and horrifying in the past, but this challenged his capacity to even comprehend.

"Yes- okay- WHO are you?" Reddling demanded, trying to regain his demeanor, the filly gave another laugh before advancing on Reddling. Once more Reddling tripped as he retreated, but before he could get back up the filly jumped onto his chest, shoving her face into the fluffy fur on his chest. Reddling hesitated to push her off of him.

"Who am I? Well you might learn that someday. Not soon though, so you don't need to worry. I just really wanted to thank you." The filly pressed her tiny muzzle into Reddling's chest, brushing his skin and fur with fine, soft hair.

"Thank me for what- What the hell is going on? I'm trying to sleep right now. This is a dream" Reddling pushed the filly off, narrowing his eyes down at her.

"Hmm~" the filly murmured, jumping back on Reddling and hugging him. "I'm probably just some dream pony, if you believe in dreams."

Reddling pushed the filly back again. He had reached his fill with this bullshit, and needed some real answers. "Last time I'm asking. Who the fuck are you?"

The filly straightened up, smiling. "When you wake up you're going to have a choice. My life depends on you making the right one. Make the right one, won't you?" What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

Reddling raised a hoof and struck out at the filly, violently dissolving the dream with his hoof. This had not been like the others- it was devoid of nightmare essences and uncannily lucid. He had possessed the presence of mind to not only ask questions, but after some time end the dream at his own volition...

These memories faded as the world came into view. Reddling rolled his face across his pillow smearing green blood across the sheet. He looked down at the book in front of him, which he had passed out while reading.

Chapter Seven, on the holy trinity of Silverfield and their worship, Subtitle, specifically the cults of Revenge or Malice, Hatred or Loathing, and Forgiveness. Reddling put the header quickly out of his mind. He had little time to remember church teachings right now, there were more pressing matters at hoof. Flipping back through the book, he stopped and rechecked the pages about the Silverfieldian-Equestrian war.

Nodding to the air, he rose from the bed and prepared to make his way away from the enclave. Reddling could see the sun going down under the crack at the bottom of the door. It was time for another night.

---

Of course, what Reddling did not know is that this night was different from the other nights. By the end of it, he would no longer be in Equestria.

Next Chapter: Balefly's Keepsake Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 42 Minutes