The airship reached its destination and landed in the heart the Tenochtitlan Basin. Time was of the essence, for their target already had a major head start and in order to make up for the lost time, they needed to get on the move and fast. Hard at work, the five ponies quickly got their gear and other essentials before taking off. The sun was lowering in the sky as the trek continued, the heat from the sun’s rays bearing down on the five ponies.

As Daring and the others walked on, she couldn’t help but look at what type of weapons each pony was carrying. She saw Black Arrow’s crossbow before, but he also carried a machete with a black handle and silver blade in a yellow scabbard that matched his eyes.

Roughneck carried two small daggers, both had dark brown handles and gold guards. The blades’ outer edges were silver with a gold line running down the spine of each blade.

Rugged Muzzle carried on his back an engraved warhammer with dark blue markings wrapped around the base. Light reflected onto the steel off the handle, the head shining a light gray contrasted by the darker blue spike.

Crystal Rune, however, didn’t carry any weapons that Daring could see. She wasn’t even able to get a look at Rune’s cutie mark since she wore that cloak all the time. Daring couldn’t get what her problem was. Crystal was cold, angry, and different from most of the mercenaries she’d dealt with before.

“Dear Celestia… it’s hotter than Rune’s temper on a bad day.” Roughneck remarked.

“Oh, ha ha, Roughneck. Very funny. I suppose you would like some of my magic to cool you down?” Crystal Rune glanced back at the sweating stallion.

“No, no, I’m fine.” He quickly replied, looking away from the mare’s cold gaze.

“How often do you guys argue with each other?” Daring’s eyes darted between the four mercenaries.

“Not often, it’s usually just Roughneck trying to impress everpony.” Black Arrow answered for her, giving the gray stallion a mischievous smirk.

“Hey, I’m like the best thief you guys ever picked up. Of course I’m awesome, why wouldn’t I be?” Roughneck said, flexing his right foreleg, “Ah, jeez, look at that.”

Daring just rolled her eyes. As the trek went on, they stopped in a shaded treeline to take a quick water break. “Alright, everypony, we don’t have much time to waste so let’s take a five minute break and continue on.” Crystal Rune announced, gazing at everypony and making sure they got the message.

The group quickly set their gear down and took out their individual water pouches. Daring poured some into her dry mouth and relished the cool feeling on her parched tongue. She raised it above herself and poured a bit on her mane, shaking it off quickly. As she stared at the group, her eyes caught Roughneck's for a moment before he craned his neck to face away from her. She raised an eyebrow before rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

Daring looked above her at the paling orange of the early evening sky. ‘Have we been walking for that long? Time sure has a way of passing us by.’ A metallic clunking noise snatched her attention and she looked towards the source. A helmet, golden-yellow in color, rolled a few inches away from Black Arrow. He picked it up, sighing as he stared, deep in thought. “Hey, Arrow, what’s with the Royal Guard helmet?”

Snapped out of his thoughts, he looked her way. “Oh, this? It’s just a memento from a life I used to have. Good memories, this brings back.”

“What do you mean? Did you know somepony in the Royal Guard?” Daring slowly made her way towards him.

“Actually, it’s from his time as a Royal Guard. Quite interesting, knowing he was one, huh?” Roughneck stated, his attention on the helm as well.

“Hold on a second, you were a Royal Guard, Arrow?” Daring looked thoughtfully at the gleaming helmet, surprised an assassin like him used to be a soldier.

“Yeah, quite the interesting experience, it was. Life was a breeze during my time as a Royal Guard. All I really had to do was to protect Princess Celestia. Even then, I was renowned for my sniping capabilities.”

“You protected Princess Celestia?” Daring’s eyes widened.

“Yep. I had the job for more than nine years. A lot of ponies were envious of my assignment. My friends used to give me quite the time, enjoyable, really.” He sighed, his gaze darkening. “Then, it all changed after that one fateful day.”

Daring walked up to his side and raised a hoof to his shoulder. “What happened?”

“Ah, a memory I don’t like to relieve too often. But, for a sheila like you, I’m sure you would like to know.” He chuckled afterwards, putting the helmet away, he stood back up and looked over to Daring. “Well, I guess you could say it all started a year before I was finally honorably discharged. I was assigned to a squad that had orders to escort a highly-valued noble to Canterlot. Things went smoothly until we were ambushed.”

“Ambushed, by who?” Daring asked.

“You could say it was just a bunch of bandits, but, funny thing was, it felt like they knew where we’d be and when. I tried my best to fend off some of the blokes, hit a few here and there, but they overwhelmed my position. One of the lucky mates got me good with his dagger, but I hit him with my own little shortsword, and our little disagreement ended quickly. I got separated from the squad, and before long, I made my way back to them.”

Arrow sighed again, before continuing on. “When I found them, it was already too late. Nasty blokes had killed them all. I searched for the noble and didn’t find him in his hiding hole. So, I tracked them down and discovered their camp, not too far away from where they ambushed us. Once I did, I had this feeling well up inside. You could say I wanted some much needed payback. After I found it, it was all just a hazy memory.”

One Year Ago

Shadows loomed through the darkened forest under the moon's faint and delicate light stretched over the land, haunting and unsettling to the sight of anypony that dared to venture into its seemingly endless vastness. Jubilant cheers broke the silence that seemed to hold the forest. Flames of fire pits danced in their stony prisons as the ponies celebrated in their most recent victory.

“Friends, today is a day that shall be known for years to come.” A unicorn stallion declared, raising his mug filled with sweet apple cider. “Today, we celebrate in our glorious victory, the capture of one of Canterlot’s pampered nobles, Feather Note.” The sound of mugs clinking and cries of joy ringing through the camp echoed across the small field.

“To think it would be so easy to storm that small escort party, especially with ten highly trained Royal Guards.” A pegasus mare joined in, laughing. “The Royal Guards: something that everypony should fear, and here we have shown that they aren’t so tough.”

“Now that we have captured Feather Note, his riches will be shared with everypony here. Soon, we’ll not have to worry about going hungry ever again!” Roars of ponies sounded, but a silent hush from the light blue pegasus mare brought the crowd to a quiet standstill as she looked over to a pony hidden in shadows.

“Now, let us continue this celebration with a well deserved song.” Pointing towards the earth pony, she said, “Strum Tune, how about it?”

The earth pony slowly rose from his chair, a small fiddle held in his right hoof and a smile at his awaiting crowd. “With pleasure.” Bringing up a bow he held in his left hoof, he started off with a slow yet soothing note, getting the crowd’s attention. The fiddler’s bow increased in tempo, the pitch reaching higher heights.

Out near the border of the camp, a lone guard stood post, snoring with a mug of spilt cider positioned near his right hoof. A quiet rustling of the brush next to him made the guard stir, but he continued to snore. A hoof slowly exited from the shadows with another following not far behind. The assailant’s eyes keeping focus on his target from within the darkness. Moving slowly, the first hoof wrapped itself around the guard’s mouth, while the second hoof moved to the bottom of his chin. In one quick movement, the hidden pony quickly torqued the neck of the sleeping pony, the guard’s eyes shot open as a soft snap sounded. The mysterious pony slowly eased the limp body of the earth pony to the ground before dragging him back into the brush.

Two more guards walked nearby, conversing with one another as they made their night patrol. Unaware of the guard’s disappearance, the two passed by and the hidden pony crept silently through the shadows of the nearest tent. His eyes scanning every direction, not making the slightest sound as he crawled slowly around each corner.

The pegasus stopped in his tracks as he saw the shadows of two ponies coming into view. Looking for the source, he spotted two pegasi nearby. Remembering his surveillance of the campsite earlier, the maroon stallion recalled seeing two ponies addressing the rest of this band and figured that those two could possibly be somewhat of a conjoined leadership. He sought to find those two and isolate them.

In the maroon pegasus’ way were two stationary guards. Taking out his crossbow, he brought the pegasus stallion into his sight and moved closer. Once in a decent position, he fired the bolt. A silent thwip echoed before the tearing of flesh grabbed the other guard's attention. Quickly flipping his shortsword out of his sheath, he ran up to the pegasus mare, who was rearing up on her hind legs, gasping in surprise as she looked for the source of where the bolt came from. She caught a glimpse of movement to her side as the maroon pegasus closing the distance.

He twisted his shortsword and tossed it, the blade impacting the mare’s chest before she could sound the alarm. The vast jungle swallowed the mare’s brief cry before she fell to the ground. The stallion pegasus walked over to the mare and gently pulled the blade from her chest. Moving over to the stallion, he carefully lifted his head and pulled the bolt through the pegasus. Glancing over his shoulder, he cautiously looked about for any signs of movement before gently dragging them underneath the underhanging branches of some nearby brush before moving on.

He made his way back over to the nearest tent, crawling over to the corner and moving his head to check what lay beyond. He could see a large group of the bandits, all clapping their hooves as the fiddler was increasing his tempo, the bow and strings producing a lovely tune. Scanning the crowd, he noticed the speakers from earlier and waited for the opportune moment. Another round of applause came as the fiddler finished, bowing to the crowd before disappearing into his tent. The group of bandits dispersed, some wobbling on their four legs, consumed by the cider they drank, others talking amongst themselves.

The maroon pegasus’s gaze kept track of the light blue pegasus and the dark brown unicorn as they crept towards a wooden building. Silently creeping towards his target, the maroon pegasus crawled through the darkness, keeping out of sight. Silently walking over to the side of the small house, the pegasus stallion scanned the entire building, finding a door facing away from the camp and into the dark and desolate forest. Putting his ear against the wooden structure, he listened in on the voices from inside, the tone worried in nature.

“Where’s the noble that we captured?” A male voice inquired.

“Last time I heard, he was brought to the boss.” The a female voice answered.

‘Boss? So these two aren’t the leaders then.’

“Hey, Hex Sphere? Do you think that was a good idea, attacking those Royal Guardsmen like that?” The female voice asked.

“Why do you ask Rain Cloud?” Hex asked.

“Well, you know what Celestia would do to us if she found out about this. Not to mention that the Royal Guard would come after us.” Rain pointed out, the sound of chair shifting from the inside.

“Don’t worry Rain. I hardly think that the Royal Guard will find us. You're just worrying too much. There’s no way that they’ll find us.”

‘Wanna bet?’ The maroon pegasus silently opened the door, flaring his wings up. With the flap of his wings, he propelled himself forward, smashing into the unicorn. Yelping in surprise, the unicorn was sent flying into the wall, leaving a crack in the wooden surface as he slid down. Rain Cloud jumped up from her seat and ran over to the shelf on her left, hastily trying to clutch a small silver dagger. The maroon pegasus glanced behind him, flipped off the wall, grabbed his crossbow, and fired a bolt. The mare’s hoof was caught by the bolt, flying towards the wall. Entrapped, she yelled in pain. Blood slowly poured from the wound as Rain pulled at the bolt stuck in the woodwork.

The maroon pegasus rushed over, putting a hoof to her mouth, trying to keep her quiet. He felt a presence wrap around his body as he was lifted up into the air before a rush of wind whipped over his ears as he was tossed over to the wall near the entrance. Sliding down, he watched the unicorn rush him, a small sword in his left hoof. He felt something brush his hind leg and he kicked it towards the aggressor, tripping Hex with a chair and sending him crashing onto the floor. The stallion pegasus flapped his wings to bring himself back onto his hooves.

Walking over to the unicorn stallion, Arrow grabbed the pony by the neck and slammed him against the wall, holding him up by his neck. Hex struggled against the maroon pegasus’s grip, kicking and gasping for air. Moving closer, Arrow glared at the pony in his grasp and murmured, “Alright, you’ll listen, and listen good. You tell me what I need to know and I won’t have to do anything drastic.” Hex’s pupils shrank to pinpricks, before he nodded slowly. “Tell me… where is the noble you have taken from us? I would like to have him back, if you don’t mind.”

“Don’t tell him, Hex. He’s just going to report us to the Princess when he’s done.” Rain Cloud pleaded, struggling against the bolt that pinned her hoof to the wall.

“Well, she’s half-right, anyway.” Arrow said, before pointing the crossbow at her.

“No… d-don’t. I’ll tell you anything… just please don’t hurt her.” Hex pleaded, breathing heavily, his eyes gazing at the injured mare, half-lidded.

“Good choice, mate. Now, where is Feather Note?”

“He’s… he’s in the main building. The large one in the c-center of the camp.” He noticed Rain shaking her head, her pupils widening, mouthing the words “Please, don’t do it.” Hex ignored her pleas and continued on. “Our boss… s-she probably has him in the b-basement. I-I don’t know anything else… I s-swear.”

“Good.” He let go of the unicorn before hitting him over the head with his crossbow, knocking the dark brown stallion unconscious. Turning to face the light blue mare, he stared at her for only a moment before quietly heading out the door, leaving her to struggle with the bolt.

Scanning the camp once more, the building Hex talked about was where he said it was. Right in the center of camp. ‘Oh, bugger… this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. But there are so many guards patrolling that area.’ Raising a hoof to his chin, he contemplated how to approach the house. Looking up, he smiled and flared his wings. With a couple of flaps, he took off into the sky, flying high into the cold air. His eyes darted across the camp, seeing most of the guards were keeping their focus on the outer perimeter. ‘It seems they forgot to look up.’ Letting his wings fall to his sides, he descended downwards towards the main building, the wind blowing across his helmet, making a quiet whirring sound. When the house was just below him, he opened his wings up to slow himself into a gentle glide.

He spotted a small balcony on his descent and made his way to it, landing with a click of his hooves before ruffling his feathers as he closed his wings. Walking over to the door, he grabbed the knob and cracked it open slightly. The creaking of the door echoed in the room, but nopony was there to be found. Sighing with relief, he opened the door fully before entering through it, closing it behind him after he entered the building. The stallion pegasus scanned the room, his pupils growing as his sight adjusted to the darkness. Looking to his right, he noticed a hallway moving further inside. He proceeded cautiously down the hall, keeping to the shadows.

There was no sound or movement as far as he could see. Only the whispers of a slight breeze and the creaking of the floorboards underneath his hooves. His ears tilted to the sudden sound of a faint voice. ‘Is that somepony screaming?’ Moving to the railing at his left, he scanned the area below him and noticed a faint flicker of light from inside one of the doors downstairs. Making his way through the shadows of the entrance hall, he walked down the stairs, each step creaking under his weight.

Grabbing the knob, he twisted it and pulled the door open, the screams of a pony getting louder. ‘This must be the basement then.’ Making his way down, the screams of the pony were accompanied by a low buzzing sound. ‘Whatever is happening to the noble, it doesn’t sound good.’ A blue light caught the maroon pegasus’s attention, it flickered on and off. The sound of the light began to remind him of electricity, and with the screams of pain, he guessed Feather Note was being tortured horrendously.

Quickly making his way over to where the blue light was flashing, Arrow scanned the room before his gaze swept over two ponies. One was hidden in a black cloak while the other was standing at attention.

“Now… are you going to talk?” The cloaked pony asked in a low, menacing tone. Judging from the sound of the voice, it was a mare.

“P-please…” The noble murmured weakly as he coughed up blood, scarlet liquid splattering the ground beneath his hooves. “P-please stop… I-I haven’t d-done anything to you…”

“You’re going to tell me where those safes are or else. Do you want another round of electricity?” The cloaked pony threatened, her hood’s inside lighting up with the same blue light Arrow saw earlier.

The noble’s eyes widened, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks as he shook his head. “N-no… p-please don’t do it again… I-I don’t know where they are… I am t-telling the truth…”

The cloaked mare clicked her tongue multiple times, shaking her head. “You could have saved yourself this punishment, but I guess you must love this sort of thing.” A bolt of electricity shot out from her cloak, the noble screaming in pain once more as energy coursed through his veins. Arrow flinched, watching the process of Feather Note’s torture was almost too much. Taking his crossbow off his back, he kicked the door down and shot the pony standing at attention.

The mare electrocuting the noble turned around to see a bolt coming right for her. It went through her right forearm and pinned her against the wall. Another soft thwip sounded out, followed by another thumping noise. The mare screamed in pain, both forearms now pinned, blood flowing down the walls.

The maroon pegasus hurried over to Feather Note, checking to see if the noble was alright. The maroon pegasus shook the stallion, but he do not move. Moving his hoof to the earth pony’s neck, he felt no pulse. Sighing, he realized that it was too late and removed his hoof from the dead pony.

Moving his attention to the cloaked pony, he walked over to the mare and threw off her hood. Arrow’s eyes widened when he saw somepony familiar. “S-Storm Surge… this can’t be…”

Voice ragged and weak, the unicorn mare looked up, glaring at the pegasus before her. “What’s wrong, Black Arrow, s-surprised to see a fellow comrade l-leading a group of b-bandits?”

“No… why?” Arrow murmured, stepping away from the scarlet red unicorn.

“Why? It’s not only because of Princess Celestia, but everypony else. Our beloved Majesty sure does give us praise for doing a good job, but that’s it. And the citizens we protect… do they show any gratitude for our job? For protecting them from the dangers of those who would come to harm us? There is none!” Storm spat the few last words, eyes bulging as she pulled against the bolts. “We protect those ungrateful brats, and what kind of gratitude is shown? None!”

“Storm Surge…” Black Arrow began, but realized she was too far gone. Sighing, he shook his head and stared the unicorn mare in the eyes. “Storm… you disappoint me. How… how could you possibly believe that we are not praised for our work? The citizens we protect thank us everyday for our valiant efforts in keeping them safe from both outsiders and troublemakers alike.”

“Then you’re a fool, Black Arrow. Just like everypony else is.” Storm glared back at him.

Arrow shook his head. “No, Storm, you are the fool for believing that.” Pointing his crossbow at the trapped mare, he pulled the trigger and another soft thwip sounded with another thump, the third arrow going straight through the unicorn mare’s head and out the other side. Blood splattered against the walls with a sickening squelch, droplets spraying the wall behind her. Softly moving her head out of the way, he pulled the bolt out before the other two. Catching her deceased body, he laid her gently on the ground, moving his hoof over her eyes to close them. He sighed, knowing that the dirty work had been done.

“Wow, you killed all of those bandits on your own?” Daring inquired, shivering at the thought of what could have been going through Black Arrow’s mind.

“In a way, I didn’t purposely mean to do what I did, but in any case, it was payback for all my brothers and sisters.” The maroon pegasus murmured, staring towards the ground.

“So, what happened after the incident?” Daring gently move a hoof to his shoulder.

Arrow chuckled slightly, smiling as he did. “Now, that’s where it got interesting for the first time in my life. After I came back, the others were all completely silent. Seeing somepony covered in another pony’s blood is something you wouldn’t normally see everyday now. Once I reached the throne room, I saw quite the shocked expression on the Royal Majesty herself. She asked what happened and I simply replied by saying that ‘I was doing what I was told to do.’ After my debriefing, Princess Celestia let me take leave for about a good three to four months. Once she deemed me fit to return, I did so with haste. After Luna returned, I was assigned to protect her since not many ponies were happy with her return at all.” He sighed, a long look in his eyes showed something filled with nothing but regret and sorrow. “That was, however, what got me discharged.”

“Guarding Princess Luna got you discharged, how?”

“A moment of ‘unprofessionalism’, I might say. It all started one night. A month had passed since her Royal Majesty’s sister reclaimed her rightful title. I was standing guard outside the tower next to the archway to Luna’s wing of the castle. A pony, pegasus, if I recall, suddenly ran up to the guards and demanded to see the younger alicorn. He was denied over and over and, by the looks of it, not very pleased with their answer. After a while of arguing, I went down and replaced the guard stationed there, telling him to take a break while I dealt with the situation.”

“And here it comes.” Roughneck muttered, smiling as if the story was one out of legend.

Six Months Before

“I demand to see Princess Luna!” The desperate stallion yelled, seething at the guard before him.

Black Arrow looked up to see the Princess of the Night shivering in fright, staring at the deranged pegasus. He gazed back to the pegasus and noticed a small object behind the pony. He took a moment to make out the small object and saw a silver blade hiding behind his right wing. Knowing that Luna could be in the most immediate danger, he acted without a second thought. He unlatched his crossbow and slowly drew it to his side, making sure the pony didn’t see it. When the pony began yelling again, he pointed it at the pegasus and pulled the trigger. A thwip echoed throughout the courtyard and a moment of silence ensued before the deranged pony fell to the ground. Blood welled from the bolt that pierced his head between his eyes.

A collective gasp of surprise sounded behind the maroon pegasus. Arrow looked back up to the princess and saw only terror in her eyes. He didn’t blink, however, he just turned to face the dead pony before him. He walked over to the pegasus and pulled the bolt gently through his head and out of its resting place. Placing it back in the case before walking away, leaving the other ponies to just stare at him as he left the mess behind.

“You… killed the pony?” Daring murmured, staring wide eyed at his revelation.

“To tell the truth, I didn’t feel any sense of remorse for the poor bloke. It just felt like the right thing to do at the time.”

“So what happened next?” The light gold pegasus asked.

“Well, a few Royal Guard members came in and guided me to the throne room, keeping their distance from me like I was some criminal or something. That’s where I ended up where I am today.”

“Black Arrow. Do you know why you are here right now?” Princess Celestia inquired, staring at the maroon pegasus who sat before her. Princess Luna was at her side, shaken by what had happened. Not only by the crazed pony demanding to see her, but seeing him die in such a brutal way severely troubled her. Some ponies, such as the one that Black Arrow had killed, were under the impression she was Nightmare Moon waiting to strike when Celestia least expected it. There had been many protests and even threats sent via mail, but no attempts on her life had yet been made.

“Yes… I believe I do know the reason why.” He blankly gazed back at the princesses.

“Then tell me… why did you kill an innocent pony? Don’t you feel horrible for doing it, Black Arrow? All ponies should feel regret for committing such a heinous act like this. What did he do to deserve such a horrible fate?” The white alicorn questioned.

“He wasn’t innocent and I was just doing what my job required me to do. He had a knife behind his back and, for reasons I believe that would have caused harm to your sister, he was ordering us to let him see Luna. So, in order to protect your sister, I did what I thought was right.” He answered, still staring at Celestia.

“But… violence should only be used when peace cannot restore the problem at hoof.” Princess Celestia reasoned, eyeing the maroon pegasus nervously.

“To me, it’s just like what happened about four months ago. When all my brothers and sisters were dead and when any important pony is in danger like Luna just was, I did what my duty told me to do. I was ordered to protect Luna at all costs, no matter who it is.”

Celestia shivered slightly, ‘How did he cope with what he did?’ “Black Arrow, did you not feel any remorse or sadness when you killed the bandits four months ago? What you went through would be traumatizing for anypony. Killing should never be easy, even when it’s in self-defense or to protect another.”

“No… they were just bandits. In my eyes, they were no longer ponies, only monsters, dogs that needed to be put down.”

The answer stunned the entire group inside the hall, all except for Arrow. Both sisters were at a loss for words after what he said. Shining Armor, the Captain of the Royal Guard, stood up from his place before the sisters and spoke, “Arrow… can you feel anything for ponies now, or have you lost all emotions after what happened?”

“I don’t recall. After what happened, I don’t remember much of the incident after I found the camp.”

Celestia turned to face Shining and then Luna. They both nodded and the white alicorn spoke once more. “Black Arrow… it pains me greatly to see you like this. I… I hate having to do this… but I cannot see any more use from you in this condition.”

Black Arrow stared at the ground, a faint frown forming on his lips. “I understand perfectly well, your Majesty.”

“Then you can see that you are no longer fit for a life within the guard. I am sorry, but you are a danger to your comrades and innocent ponies alike.”

The maroon guard bowed one last time to both princesses before turning around and silently walking out. Celestia watched the stallion walk out before he finally disappeared from her sight. She sighed and murmured to herself, “Arrow… your skills were something that could have been useful to us in the future… I am sorry.”

“After I lost the job as a Royal Guard, I was later picked up by Rune. She heard about my skills with the crossbow and hired me.”

Daring stared thoughtfully at the maroon pegasus. During her years as an explorer and adventurer, she had seen some terrible things and met some unsavory characters, but his bleak story was definitely near the top of her list. “Wow… I’m-”

“Don’t say sorry. I had a while to think about why I failed my job, but with time, I got over it and moved on.” He looked back up to Daring Do and smiled.

The adventurer smiled back, before turning to see Crystal Rune standing at the foot of the hill. Picking herself up, she walked over to the mare. Thinking along the way, she thought what would be best to say to her. She stood at the unicorn mare’s side, glancing in the same direction as her. “So, how’s it look?”

“It’s clear from what I’ve seen. How’s everypony doing back there?” Crystal glanced at the adventurer.

“Everypony is ready to continue.” Daring answered. “How about you?”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.” Crystal Rune reassured, her hood softly flowing in the breeze.

Daring glanced at Crystal Rune, raising an eyebrow. “Are you sure? You haven’t taken a drink of water since we took a break.”

Crystal Rune simply chuckled, “I don’t need water.” A pale ice blue aura lit the darkness of the unicorn mare’s hood. All around Daring, the air began to cool and a cold breeze flowed over her coat. She moved her left hoof and felt a warm air only a few inches away from her. “It’s an ice spell. I can make it cold around where I stand. It reaches out a few feet and helps out when we’re in places like this.”

“Huh, no wonder you're so frigid all the time.” Daring joked, mischievously smirking.

“Oh, ha, ha, very funny, Daring. I don’t suppose you have anymore jokes to lighten the mood, huh?” Crystal Rune pulled back her hood, revealing her face to the adventurer for the first time. Even without the shadows of her hood, her ice blue eyes still seemed to glow. Her black mane’s ice blue streaks showed more vibrantly in the natural light.

“Look, I know our first meeting didn’t exactly take off with a high note, but I’m trying to fix that.” Daring reasoned, her sincere gaze told Crystal Rune that she was telling the truth.

The unicorn shook her head. “I know, I was being a moron, too, but what’s important right now is that we get on the move. Dr. Caballeron shouldn’t be too far now, and from the looks of it, I’d say we still have enough daylight to find him.” Crystal Rune turned around and walked back to the group.

Daring sighed, staring back at her. “Well, so much for trying to patch things up.” A spear suddenly landed right next to the tree she was stood by. The bushes rustled as ponies ran out from their hiding place, weapons drawn as they surrounded the group.

“Everypony get back!” Crystal Rune ordered, an ice blue aura resonated from her horn as she prepared a spell. Black Arrow quickly unlatched his crossbow and brandished it, switching from target to target as he tried to see which one would come close enough.

Roughneck stumbled backwards, falling on his flank. He quickly recovered and brought out his two daggers, holding one in his mouth with the other firmly held in his right hoof. Rugged Muzzle grunted, reaching for the warhammer on his back, he lifted it off and stood up on his hind legs, wielding the weapon in both hooves, growling at all the ponies that surrounded them. Wooden spears and axes pointed in their direction. Daring Do backed up, warily keeping her eye on all the ponies surrounding them.

“Halt!” A voice yelled out from somewhere in the large group of ponies. An earth pony with indigo paint streaked across his muzzle came walking slowly out from the group of ponies, the others opening a path for him. He stopped in front of Daring and the others and demanded, “Who are you trespassers? Leave this place and never return.”

“Sorry, pal, but we’re after an important item of interest at the moment and right now, we need to hurry up. So, if you would kindly call off your ponies and let us move on, that would be great.” Crystal Rune ordered, glaring at the pony who confronted them.

“I am sorry, but you cannot go any fur-” The pony who seemed to be the leader of the group stopped talking as he saw Daring Do. His eyes widened with surprise before he chuckled. “Well, it is good to see you again, Daring Do.”

The light gold pegasus titled her head to the side, when Daring remembered who it was, she smiled. “Well, I thought I’d never see you again, Wise Heart.”

The earth pony smiled back, “It is with great pleasure that I can thank you for helping us be free of that monster, Ahuizotl. He was never quite a good leader.”

“Don’t worry, it just means that he’ll be another step behind me.” Daring replied, smiling at the old friend.

“I’m sorry, but how do you know these guys?” Crystal Rune inquired, her horn still glowing in the blue aura.

“Oh, I helped get them free of Ahuizotl after I had a run-in with the Element Bearers. They helped me stop him from pulling the Tenochtitlan Basin into chaos.”

“That is correct. We are ever so grateful.” Wise Heart added, dipping his head Daring’s way. He looked back up and said, “So tell me… what brings you out here to the Tenochtitlan Basin?”

“We’re looking for Dr. Caballeron. He has something of high value and we need to take it from him.” Daring said, only giving him a simple explanation.

“Ah, Dr. Caballeron. Yes, we have been watching him for some time. He is currently heading towards a camp of some strange ponies, all wearing these different types of clothing with an ‘N’ on the chest piece of each one.”

“I’ve never heard of a group out here looking like that before…” Daring murmured. Whoever these ponies were, it didn’t sound good.

“If you're wondering where they went, they’re heading down the path over there.” Wise Heart directed, pointing towards the northeast.

“Got it. Thanks a bunch, Wise Heart.” The light gold pegasus tipped her hat towards him.

“But… I would be careful if I were you… something has come into the forest, something very dark.”

“What is he talking about?” Crystal Rune inquired.

“The animals have fled from a certain area of the forest. We spotted an object falling from the sky. When we went to check it, the object was something none of us have ever seen before. We fear it is an omen. Do be careful, Daring.” The old earth pony warned.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure we can handle it.” Daring Do proclaimed, raising a hoof into the air.

“Just be careful, Daring Do. Whatever that unknown object was, I fear it carried something that is not of this world.” Wise Heart pressed, falling back into the ranks of his stallions and mares. As quick as they appeared, they left without a trace.

Daring stared back at the mercs, and saw the cloaked pony turn and walk off in the direction Wise Heart pointed. “Well, what are we all waiting for?” Crystal Rune asked before walking off. The other three mercs quickly followed suit, leaving Daring to stand alone for a brief moment. She wondered what Wise Heart was talking about. ‘Just be careful, Daring Do. Whatever that unknown object was, I fear it carried something that is not of this world.’ From what he said, it didn’t feel right.

Shaking off the feeling, she quickly caught up with the others. “Okay, everypony, stay alert. If what Wise Heart said is true, Dr. Caballeron should be close by, hopefully.” Crystal Rune announced.

“He did mention a camp, right?” Roughneck mentioned, looking uneasily at the unicorn.

“So whoever he’s going to give the item of interest to is close by then. Come on everypony let’s hustle!” The dark green mare yelled, breaking into a full gallop.

Everypony else soon followed suite and hurried after the unicorn. Even with these mercs going full speed, Daring Do was able to keep up with the four. After all, she was used to running from her nemeses most of the time.

Crystal Rune quickly halted, waving the other ponies to slow down. The others stopped, with Black Arrow quickly trotting to her side. “What’s the matter?” Arrow asked, scanning in the direction she was facing.

“Everypony, quietly move forward.” The unicorn murmured. She crouched low and slowly crawled forward. Black Arrow turned to face the others and nodded. Barely a leaf rustled as the group made their way at a snail’s pace. Crystal Rune raised her hoof up, signaling the others to stop.

Daring tried to see what was up ahead, wondering what the unicorn had spotted. It was then she heard voices, soft and hushed. “How much closer are we to the camp?” A slightly deep voiced stallion asked.

“Not much farther now. In fact, it should be up ahead.” Said another male voice with an accent. Daring knew and recognized that voice from anywhere.

“Are you sure we can trust the client, I mean, have you ever heard of this pony before?” A mare’s voice spoke this time.

“Not really, no, but he told me he would pay a large sum of bits for this package.” The pony that spoke only for a short moment was gruff in tone, but amidst everypony else’s confusion, one pony remembered the voice easily.

‘Caballeron...’ Daring kept her gaze on where the stallion was walking.

“Alright, everypony… follow my lead and keep quiet. We have the element of surprise here, so let’s not alert our friends to our presence.” Crystal Rune whispered, slowly crawling forward. The others followed, making sure not to step on anything that would create a hint of noise.

It was about a half-hour later when Caballeron spoke again. “There’s the camp. Now, just let me do all the talking. I’m sure our client is eager to receive this item.”

The group went out of view as they made their way through a thick layer of brush. Crystal Rune cursed under her breath before turning around. “Ahh… great. There’s no telling what’s on the other side of that.” She looked towards Black Arrow, “Go check it out. Don’t take any risks. All I want to know is how far the camp is from that brush there.”

The maroon pegasus nodded and quietly crawled over to the brush with haste. Crystal Rune sighed in frustration. “I was hoping he wouldn’t have made it back to the camp. So listen up, everypony. If worse comes to worse, we may have to get a little loud.”

“Why can’t you just let Black Arrow take them out?” Roughneck suggested.

“Because I don’t want him to hit the prize. I don’t doubt his sniping skills, but with such a valuable object, we can’t risk damaging it. So, I want everypony to be as quiet as possible. If one of the guards is alerted, then this whole trip would have been for nothing. Understood?”

Everypony nodded while Daring smiled. “Of course, I haven’t snuck into ancient and hidden temples filled with booby traps just to give up afterwards.”

Black Arrow quickly returned, panting only slightly. “Okay, I’ve had a look, but strange thing is, I can’t see Dr. Caballeron.”

“What?” Crystal Rune inquired as she stared back at the maroon pegasus.

“That’s not all, I don’t see any ponies from the camp in sight either. It’s just empty.”

“Empty?” Daring repeated. “But, why?”

“Good question that we don’t have answers to.” Crystal raised a hoof to her chin before saying, “Okay, let’s go in quiet and scope it out. We need to know what happened.” The others nodded and slowly followed the dark green mare. They quietly passed through the brush and saw a large camp standing a few meters away. Like Black Arrow said, there was nopony to be seen. “Alright, everypony, stay frosty. We don’t know where they went so keep a sharp lookout.”

Roughneck felt something warm hit his right forearm and looked down, only to recoil at the sight. He covered his mouth, muffling the surprised scream.

“Will you shut up? We need to remain quiet.” Rune furiously whispered. The dark green unicorn felt something wet hit her ear. She raised a hoof to the sensation and moved her hoof back into her view. She stared wide-eyed, at the blood covering her hoof. The unicorn slowly looked up and gasped at the sight above her.

Daring and the others looked to where the dark green unicorn was staring and were completely terrified by what they saw. Above them were bodies of ponies with their bare flesh exposed. A sickening stench invaded their noses, making some of the group gag. “Is… are those ponies?” Daring murmured, completely stunned beyond comprehension.

“That, they are. I don’t even know what type of sicko would do this…” Rune said, her gaze fixated on the disgusting sight above her. The only thing the group could tell was that somepony, or something, did this. But who, or what, committed such a vile act remained a mystery.

The sun’s heat had died down considerably, but its rays were still visible to a lone creature that sat in a throne. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, wondering when his accomplice would arrive. ‘I have not seen Caballeron for a long time. I hope he isn’t up to anything.’

Five cats, a leopard, a black leopard, a lynx, a cheetah, and a small white cat arrived, making their way up to the creature. The lynx mewed something into his right ear, the creature eyeing the cat curiously. “Oh, you have found something?” He inquired.

The black leopard moved up to his right, growling the message to the being that understood him. his eyes widened before the creature clenched his hand into a tight fist. “What! That foolish pony has betrayed me?!” The creature roared in anger, slamming his fist on the armrest of his throne. “Caballeron will pay for his insolence!” The creature stood from his throne, quickly making his way to find Caballeron with the five cats following behind him. ‘When I find you, Caballeron, you’re going to wish you never went back on your word!’

Author's Notes:

Thank you all for waiting. I did not mean to take long for this chapter, but it was the longest of all the chapters, so that was another factor. Also, I will promise not to specify a specific date, considering that I am bad about that sometimes.

But anyway, I would like to thank DiabloGuapo for editing and a new helper that helped out as well. Quillin Words, I also thank you for making a part in editing it out. And of course, I can never forget my lovely proofreader, TehSporkBandit. That is all from your friendly yet not so innocent AI. Have a good morning, afternoon, evening, night and until next chapter, see yah till then. Oh and remember... sweet dreams...