"Well, you've done it again."

'What?'

"Don't give me what, you know what you did you son of a whorse."

'Hey shut up! What in Tartarus did I do?'

"You say you've learned not to rush relationships, you and I both know you have, but what do you go and do?"

'I didn't do anything-'

"Don't give me that. We both saw her moving in and you did nothing to stop her, buck it, just starting that dance says you were at least hoping it would happen."

'Of course I was hoping, we both know how good she looks-'

"Stop making excuses; I'm gonna say this once so listen good: YOU'VE. ONLY. JUST. MET. HER. I'd ask you what you were thinking but, unfortunately, I already know; you weren't thinking at all. What do you think she's doing now, huh?"

'How should I know?'

"Oh, you know. Just think; 'never been this close to a stallion' or maybe 'nopony's ever complimented my flank before'? You and I both know what that means; she'd most likely never dated before, hay, that was probably her first kiss."

'…'

"Say something then, what was she thinking about when she was going to bed last night?"

'She was…probably thinking about our current situation, maybe…I don't know, thinking about the way we've gone from target and killer, to friends, to-'

"Don't say it! You and I both know we can't get into anything like that again. We know we can't take it…"

'I know, but it's true… I may be-'

"DAMNIT stallion, don't do it to yourself. I know you're tougher than most but everypony has a weakness. Yours is you can't take somepony you care for dying. You're immortal, she's not, do the math."

'Y'know, I hate you sometimes. You can't even let me love, I notice you weren't this assertive when I was with Ditzy you little bastard.'

"Yes and you should hate me, I'm a voice in your head that seems to have more sense than you do. And the reason I wasn't so forceful before was because it was your first time doing something so stupid, but I at least I knew you'd learn from it, little good that lesson did. That, and Luna was doing a pretty good job of making you see sense anyway. Real smooth with leaving Ditzy, by the way."

'Oh shut up, you know exactly why I did that!'

"Yeah, yeah. So, what are you gonna do?"

'About Twilight?'

"Uh-huh."

'I'm gonna do what I said; take my time. I don't wanna rush this.'

"Yeah, right."

'You got something to say?'

"Yeah I do, we both know how you get around mares when you're single."

'Maybe, but…I don't know, something about Twilight makes me respect her more in that respect, it's probably the whole 'element of harmony' thing.'

"…"

'What?'

"You know."

'Do I?'

"Yes, the reason you even agreed to help her at all in the first place."

'Don't start-'
"It needs to be said. We both know you have an ulterior motive behind this. What is it?"

'… I'd made peace with Twilight, but I needed something to…persuade her over to my side. She's Celestia's student, I needed to take more drastic measures. We both know what I'm gonna have to do now that Luna knows where I am.'

"Yes, I do know what you have to do, and that you had to get Twilight on your side to do it without interference and that I would have been fine with, but what did you go and do at the same time?"

'Nothing I didn't mean to do.'

"Bull, you and I both know you had no intention to actually fall for her, you fool."

'Can you really blame me?'

"Yes, and easily, you should have taken better precautions. You shouldn't have let yourself fall in love."

'You said it; the L word. We don't use that word anymore. What were you telling me, not a second ago?'

"Hey, I'm not the moron falling in love here, am I?"

'Shut up, I'm no moron and you know what; I've stopped caring about your opinion, even if I so much as like Twilight it has nothing to do with you.'

"Whatever…I'll leave you to your own problems. Oh, and I think Twilight just got into bed with you."

'Wha-'

The assassin woke up, thinking about what he had just dreamt.

'If that was a normal dream, I'm a filly.'

It always felt strange when he conversed with the voices so firmly planted in his head. His latest engagement had been a black void with just an echoing voice around him, to which he responded to. He wondered if he had been talking in his sleep. He blinked a few times when he remembered what the voice had left him with. He felt a presence next to him, opening his eyes revealed Twilight Sparkle's outline sitting next to him on the bed. It was hard to tell, given the fact that there was practically no lighting, but she seemed worried.

"B-Blood Moon, are you awake?" He murmured a little, still half asleep, before he squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed them slightly with his hoof.

"Yeah, yeah I'm up. What time is it" he yawned.

"Three in the morning" she told him. He didn't like the way Twilight still seemed nervous about something.

"Something the matter" he asked, sitting up in his loaned bed.

"You were talking in your sleep, it sounded like you were talking to yourself, I mean like you were literally asking yourself something and giving yourself an answer." The stallion frowned to himself in thought.

'So I was talking, hay, we were both talking.'

"Did anything I say make sense?" Twilight looked away.

"The only thing I could really make out was my name" she told him, apparently a little embarrassed. He hummed in thought. "What were you dreaming about" she asked, a blush in her tone. The assassin tried to clear his mind, focusing his magic in his horn and letting it spark up, and he kept the glow going until he had it concentrated at the tip of his horn before letting it light up the room in a grey glow. He kept the light dim, as to not put too much strain on his eyes. It was too early for that. In the dim glow he could better see Twilight's face, and the blush that ran across it.

"I was talking with a voice in my head." Twilight gasped.

"Voices" she repeated. Blood Moon shrugged.

"Don't worry about it; it tends to happen to somepony such as myself, an immortal who devotes his life to killing others, I spent a few thousand years just doing that and nothing else, shut away from the world. As you can imagine; life by oneself, surrounded by death and other general horrors tend to put a pony at his wit's end. Insanity is inevitable. As I said though, don't worry about it, they keep me company and one of them is a great story teller." Twilight blinked at him.

"How…how can you be so calm with this?" Blood Moon shrugged.

"I got used to them, and it's not like I can give them up for adoption, is it?" Twilight blanked slightly when he said that, coming back when he poked her slightly.

"Well…what…" she searched for something to say "what were you talking about" she ventured. Blood Moon couldn't help but grin at her question, though it quickly dropped when he thought about what that question actually entailed.

"I was talking about…you and me" he told her. She noticed he didn't use the word 'us'. "I was thinking about…if I'd made the same mistake with you, that I'd made with Ditzy."

"You mean, you think it may be too soon?" He nodded and Twilight smiled. "It's not too soon, nothing's happened to even be too soon." The assassin shook his head.

"It's not that, it's the fact that I even made a move. Normally I would have kept to our friendship going rather than making any kind of advance." Twilight frowned.

"But…I kissed you." Blood Moon shrugged a silent laugh.

"Twilight, do you know why that dance doesn't have a name?"

"Because the pony who made it couldn't think of one" she tried. The assassin smirked.

"No, because it's so recognisable; that dance is the only know dance to involve intimacy between partners. Anypony who knows the dance, also knows what they're getting into. Inviting somepony into it is considered a romantic gesture. I knew what I was getting into, and I went through with it, knowing full well I should have learned my lesson about that sort of thing." Twilight shook her head at him.

"Look at you, seems you're the one beating yourself up now, huh. Why are you beating yourself up so much now anyway?"

"Because I know I did wrong" he stated. Twilight responded with a roll of her eyes before she put her hoof on his chest and pushed him down onto the bed, leaning down after him and pushing her lips against his. He seemed startled by it at first, but his instinct seemed to take over as he returned it; turning his head slightly and pushing back, his tongue pushed against her mouth, demanding entry, she obliged and he instantly dove for that sensitive spot, causing her to moan a little. The mare disengaged the kiss before he rolled her onto her back and things went any further. She put a grin to match the assassin's on her face as she leaned back.

"There, I made the first move. Now you can stop worrying about it" she told him, tapping him on the tip of his nose. Blood Moon lost his grin when she said that; he wasn't sure what to do with such a gesture, Twilight had both put many of his concerns to rest while at the same time…

'Why can't I find any negatives with this?'

"Because there aren't any, as far as I can see. At first it was you making the move I was pissed off at, but now that she's gone and done that I can't see any real down points."

'Well, if a pessimist such as yourself can't find anything bad here I'll take it as a given that
there isn't anything bad to fret over.'

"Yeah, go with that, and make sure you spoon with her."

'Wha-'

The voice was already gone, and the stallion noticed he hadn't said anything for the last minute. Twilight was even waving a hoof in his face.

"Blood Moon, you still in there. I can't help but notice that you seem to be blanking out on me a lot…are you talking to the voices again, because I'm pretty sure that's not very good for you mental heal-WAHH!" The assassin had grabbed her left hoof with his own and pulled her over him and into the bed, putting his right fore-leg over her.

"Twilight, what would you say if I told you that you had just managed to silence one of the most pessimistic voices I've ever known" he whispered into her ear. The mare recovered from the shock and giggled slightly.

"I'd say: I should silence more voices, if that's going to be my reward" she replied, wiggling into him some more to make herself comfy. Blood Moon took a long breath through his nose as he settled with Twilight.

"That's mah colt."

"Blood Moon?" He hummed to show he was listening. "Why did you get so…stressed out when you were worried about how sudden this might have been?" The assassin swallowed slightly, truth be told he was slightly embarrassed now that he looked back on himself.

"Because when I learn a lesson, I know that it's always best to take my learning's and act on them. Past experiences tell me that following that course of action is one of the best there is."

"Why?" He sighed slightly and stopped the flow of magic going to his horn, deactivating his illumination spell. He then used his magic to pull the covers up him and Twilight.

"Let me tell you a story."

"Oo, I love stories" Twilight giggled, shifting closer into him. The stallion grinned at her antics before continuing.

"Around eight thousand years ago, I was on a contract. It seemed simple at first; get in, do the deed and get out" he told her, careful with his words. "My problems started when I arrived at the area the mark was at, a simple compound really, and I underestimated this 'simple compound'. I assumed it was going to be easy, huh, little good my assumptions did when I was with my back against the wall and eighteen angry guards cornering me. I only just managed to get out with my flank intact. It taught me to never underestimate. Two hundred years later, I found myself with, what appeared to be, an even simpler contract. It was me, the mark, his bodyguard and his secretary."

"His secretary" Twilight repeated, confused. The stallion nodded above her.

"Yep. Twilight, tell me; what are the requirements of a secretary?" Twilight hummed in thought.

"Good organisation skills, good time keeping, neat hoof-writing, that kind of thing." Blood Moon hummed affirmation.

"Very good, now, would you tell me the requirements of a bodyguard?"

"Good observational skill, hoof-to-hoof fighting skill or magical combat skills, a history in military helps." Once more, the assassin nodded.

"Then why did that secretary have both sets of said skills?" Twilight blinked.

"Wait, are you saying…" The assassin smirked.

"Yep. That secretary, that simple, honest, airheaded little mare was one of the most skilful fighters I've ever met or heard of. I was unprepared, why? Because I underestimated her, and she damn near killed me because of it." Twilight nodded.

"Right" she said at length "but aren't a ninja secretary and a sudden romance pretty different things?" The assassin shrugged.

"Maybe, but I prefer not to take the chance."

"So you'd rather worry yourself senseless instead of just relaxing and going with it." Blood Moon grinned.

"I didn't take you as the sort to just wing it" he told her.

"I'm not, but you seem very volatile" she retorted. The stallion grunted.

"Well, you got me there. But I'm only borderline insane when it only involves me, when it includes somepony I care for, I prefer to be more cautious." It seemed lost on Twilight that he was still casually talking about his mental instability.

"Aww, you care about me" she said, snuggling in further.

"You're not the type to be oblivious Twilight; I care for everypony close to me and though I may not show it to some more than others, say I show more concern for Pinkie Pie than Rainbowdash, it's still there. Besides which, I'm holding you in my hooves right now; I'm pretty sure that has something to do with my care for you."

"Thank you" she yawned. "Now, if we're done talking about how crazy you are, let's get some sleep" she suggested. The stallion nodded, feeling his still heavy eyes.

"Good idea" he responded with a yawn of his own. He felt Twilight snuggle further into him and pull the covers up her some more. Blood Moon responded to her closeness by shifting into her and put his hooves over her, pulling her in comfortably, before drifting back off to sleep.

Blood Moon, for the second time in a day, awoke. Though this time, it was under much more pleasant circumstances; Twilight's lavender scented mane was right in his muzzle and the smell was just soft enough to be pleasant but strong enough to be tangible; his right fore-hoof was draped over her stomach, stopping just below her soft belly, his left had found its way under her and was being held to her chest by Twilight's own fore-hooves; it seemed Twilight had shifted further into the stallion in their sleep, her back was against his stomach and her flank was pushed against his…

'Oh buck.'

"Hmm, what-whast, wha?"

'Were you asleep?'

"Yeah, it's not like there's much to do in here."

'Yeah, well, we may have a problem.'

"What?"

'Sleeping with Twilight here-'

"Good stallion."

'And I may have morning wood.'

"HA, you're on your own buddy."

'Wha-'

Already, once more ditching him, the voice was gone, leaving him to his own problems. The assassin wasn't sure what to do; if it were Vinyl he'd probably get a helping hoof getting rid of it, any other mare at all he would have probably just got out of bed and done something about it, be it a cold shower or…anything else, however, he found himself unwilling to leave Twilight's company. It was probably the lavender scented mane in front of him. He decided to just go with it, his member firmly planted between her flank checks, and continue to lay with her, a slight grin on his face. He knew it'd be a little awkward when she awoke but he figured he'd make the most of it while he could. Resting his head on the pillow, he took to softly breathing through his nose, enjoying the scent of Twilight's mane, and allowing his thoughts to wander.

It must have been all of twenty minutes that had passed by the time Twilight stirred herself awake from her sleep, the movement of her rear end doing nothing to kill the stallion's hard on. She murmured slightly groggily to herself as she removed herself from her dream, whatever it was, and she looked around, wondering where she was and what had happened before she remembered what had happened last night. With a small smile on her face she relaxed into the stallion's hold.

"Morning" she whispered. The assassin hugged her tighter.

"Morning" he replied, his throat a bit dry. Twilight hummed contently, shifting her flank slightly before she frowned as she felt something between her cheeks.

"What" she paused as she moved herself some more, trying to deduce what this strange thing was. "What is that" she asked herself. She heard the stallion holding her swallow slightly.

"That's…me." The mare frowned, once again, shifting to try and discern what it was, unwillingly grinding him. Behind her, Blood Moon's eye started twitching as he felt Twilight's movements through his stallionhood.

"What do you mean, it's you." He waited a full second her to click. A blush erupted across her face; the ones from yesterday were nothing in comparison. "Oh, you mean it's 'you' as in it's your…um." Blood Moon chuckled.

"Yes, my 'hidden blade', it seems, has joined the party" he explained, trying to pull away. He was taken by surprise when Twilight moved with him.

"Um, I-I don't mind" she told him. Her tone of voice left much to be desired in the lines of sincerity.

"Twilight, it's painfully obvious you do" he answered. She put her chin to her chest, hanging her head…sort of.

"Sorry, it's just I've never done anything like this before. I didn't know how to react. Sorry."

"Stop saying sorry, will you? You just said you don't have any experience so it's sort of excusable."

"Alright I'm sorry, I mean sorry, SORRY. Pony feathers" she muttered. The assassin grunted in amusement.

"Not to be judgmental or assuming, or anything, but that sounds like the kind of trap Fluttershy would fall into" he said. Twilight giggled slightly, turning her body around.

"So…um what did you uhhh… d-dream about" she asked the stallion, suddenly having a hard time making conversation when his pulsing member was pushed against her stomach.

"Nothing really, the voice finally shut up."

"That's good" she said breathlessly, her gaze angled up at him in a fierce attempt to keep her gaze away from the organ pushed against her. They stayed silent for a few minutes, Blood Moon bemused at Twilight's predicament and Twilight still somewhat stunned at the stallion's blatant casualness, to said predicament.

"Hey, Twilight" a young, male voice came "Twi where are you?" Twilight grimaced in the assassin's grip.

"Pony feathers" she cursed. There was a knock at the assassin's door.

"Hey Twilight, you in there" he called through the door. Twilight quickly clamped a hoof over the assassin's maw, knowing full well how blunt he could be. Blood Moon looked down at her with a confused frown on his face.

"He doesn't know you're here" she hissed. The assassin shrugged understandingly and Twilight removed her hoof, resting it against his chest. Outside, they could hear Spike move away from the door.

"Maybe she went out" he heard the drake mutter to himself, no doubt scratching his head or something. Twilight mouthed a 'thank you' before she pecked him on the nose. They listened as Spike walked away from the door, his tiny footsteps only audible to Blood Moon's ears. Once he was away from the door Twilight calmed, her slightly tensed muscles relaxing. The two rolled apart after a second together, Twilight was about to say something when she noticed the hill in the sheets.

"Um, you're still…" She nodded at it and the stallion looked where she had motioned.

"Oh, right." He cleared his mind of all thoughts and he slowly went flaccid.

"What did you do?" The assassin shrugged.

"I just put you out of my mind…ahh, that sounded cheesy" he answered. Twilight simply smiled at his comments.

"We should get up" the mare suggested. Blood Moon mumbled something about 'no fun' before he vacated the bed. Both on their hooves, the assassin taking a moment to make sure his sheath was properly hidden, they left the spare room they had spent the night together in and went downstairs. "Would you like some breakfast" she asked. The stallion shrugged. He hadn't eaten since the party…wait no he hadn't, Pinkie Pie had gone Pinkamena on him before he had gotten anything down him. His empty stomach made similar reactions to the prospect of food, grumbling angrily (no seriously, it sounded pissed) and once more looked up at him with angry eyes.

"Yeah, I'm game. I think my stomach will kick me in the gut if I didn't." Twilight blinked a few times before she heard his stomach rumble. She giggled as she headed for a kitchen the assassin hadn't noticed before. Spike was working at one of the counters, stood on a wooden stool so he could reach, while a pleasant smell lingered in the air. He glanced around when he heard them enter.

"Morning Spike" Twilight greeted, Blood Moon punctuating it with a simple nod in his direction.

"Morin' Twi. Say, when'd you get here Mooney." The last word in the drake's sentence was said with a sly grin. The assassin went un-phased and was about to retort before Twilight stepped into the kitchen.

"He was here last night." Spike frowned.

"When did he get back here?" The stallion was about to answer but, yet again, Twilight beat him.

"He never left" she told him brightly, sitting at the table in the kitchen. The baby dragon's frown went deeper.

"Really?" Twilight nodded. "Oh" he murmured, dropping the subject. "Oh, by the way" he spoke up again, turning to her, as Blood Moon sat at the table next to Twilight, a discrete gesture not lost on her. "I couldn't find you earlier, where were you?" Once more, the assassin tried to speak up, a lavish story on the tip of his tongue, but once again Twilight got there before him.

"I was sleeping" she told him simply. Again, Spike frowned at his sister/mother.

"You can't have been; you weren't in your bed" he argued. He then angled his head accusingly. "Were you up all night again, you know that's no good for you" he scolded. The assassin looked over at Twilight with a questioning raised eyebrow. Twilight just smiled kindly.

"I said I was asleep, not in bed" she replied. Spike scratched his head with a claw.

"So…what, you fell asleep reading a book?" Twilight smiled and gave a sigh, shaking her head at his obliviousness.

"Yeah, Spike, I was reading again" she said.

"Oh, ok. Why didn't you just say" he asked, turning back to his cooking. "Nuts, no flour" he muttered, hopping off his stool and heading for what Blood Moon could only assume was a pantry.

"Since when does 'reading' mean 'sleeping with a stallion'?" Twilight poked him.

"Well, 'sleeping with a stallion' doesn't sound very good to my assistant, who can be very protective of me I might add, and is only five in dragon years, does it?" The assassin shrugged.

"Maybe not, 'sides, it's not like we're dating, is it?" Twilight hummed her agreement softly.

"Yeah" she said, just as softly. The assassin picked up on her quiet voice.

"I'm back" Spike declared as he waltzed back into the kitchen with a fresh bag of flour in his grasp. After a few minute of Spike cooking up pancakes and the stallion and mare sitting in silence, the dragon was finished and took to serving up his works like a master. The assassin had to admit; the drake was a decent chef.

"So…do you have anything to do today, or do you have some free time?" Blood Moon thought about what was on his roster: figure out who wants Twilight dead, figure out who set the changelings on Ponyville, make trouble for the Goldhooves any way shape or form and…oh yeah, that date with Feather Heart. He looked at the clock, ten to twelve. Huh, that breakfast had been later than he thought. Wait, when did Feather want to see him? Had something to do with a one…and a two…maybe both together? Twelve? Yeah, that was it, twelve. Buck.

"Yeah, one or two things to take care of, I'll be right back though" he assured. Twilight nodded meekly.

"Alright, I think I got a few things to clean up around here anyway" she told him, looking around the pristine library. The stallion nodded. He trotted to the door with Twilight, he pulled his coat and belt onto him with his magic and turned to her and looking over her slightly disappointed face. He could feel his own mood lower with it. A strange sensation, to have your own mood altered by somepony else's. He felt the need to ease her.

"Don't worry about it, I won't be long" he told her. She gave a small smile, slightly reassured by his words. He shot her a lopsided smile before she glanced behind her and stole a kiss from him before turning away with a spring in her step and a blush on her check.

He turned, with a grin on his face, and took a step away from the library and teleported mid-step, appearing outside the town hall. He trotted inside without missing a beat and found his way to the door that lead to Mayor Mare's none-office that was actually Feather's office, pushing through the door to find Mayor Mare and Feather having a conversation about what to do about the whole Goldhooves problem. The two looked up to him and greeted him with a nod and wave, respectively.

"Hello Blood Moon" the mayor greeted "you have anything" she asked hopefully. The assassin let a small smile flash across his face for a second before he spoke.

"Do you have a forensics lab?" The mares glanced at each other.

"Yes, we just had it installed, courtesy of Time Turner" Mayor told him, a slight frown on her face.

'That stallion…almost like he knew what would happen.'

"Good, have them take a look at this" he said, pulling his syringe out and floating it over to Mayor, who took it in her hoof and adjusted her glasses to properly see it.

"What is this" she asked. The assassin smirked.

"Let's just say we all experienced it the other day" he said cryptically. Both mares considered what he had said before chuckling to themselves, slight blushes on their faces.

"Either way, that's not why I'm here" he said, glancing at Feather Heart. She looked at the clock on the wall. Mayor mare glanced between them.

"Oh, I see" she said, with a knowing grin on her face. "Have fun you two" she told them as she sauntered back into her actual office, her flank swaying as she went. The mare and stallion smirked at her antics as she went before they turned to each other and smiled softly before turning to the door.

"Know anywhere nice" the stallion asked, glancing at Feather Heart.

"Oh, they're a few nice restaurants around, but I know a good one" she told him. She led him to a fancy looking place, tables outside with parasols over the outside tables and a few waiters trotting around, looking like they belonged in Canterlot rather than Ponyville. A waiter came and took their orders, after which they settled at one of the outdoor tables.

"So" Feather began "tell me about yourself…"

"You did WHAT?" Rarity's jaw, rather literally, hit the floor. Twilight had invited her fellow unicorn and Applejack over to…well she didn't really have a reason in mind she just felt like seeing them, considering the last time she had seen the apple bucker and the seamstress it had been at Blood Moon's welcome party. And we all know how that turned out. She would have got all her friends together, but Pinkie was busy with the twins, Fluttershy was dealing with a sick vulture and Rainbowdash had some weather related things to see to. When the purple unicorn had welcomed her friends in she hadn't intended to tell them about last night's events, but Rarity had struck up the conversation about strange dreams and Twilight had let slip that the hooded stallion dreamt about his voices last night. Things had progressed from there and somehow she had been backed into a corner and found no way out asides telling them about last night's sleeping arrangements. The three mares were all sat on their haunches in a small triangle in her bedroom, Spike downstairs, and two of them started laughing uncontrollably.

"Ah don't believe it" Applejack laughed "our own little Twilight Sparkle sleepin' with a stallion." Twilight tried to glare at her but it just came out as more furious blushing.

"Knock it off! It's not like we got up to anything" she retorted. Little good it did when she remembered how they had woken up together and her blush intensified.

"Ah think somepony's tellin' a little white lie" Applejack answered, still laughing. She noticed the way her friend's redness crept further over her face and her laughter died down some.
"Di-uhhh, did ya'll git up ta anythang?" Twilight looked at the floor and dragged her hoof across it slightly.

"W-well, when he woke up he was…standing to attention" she admitted. Rarity and Applejack glanced at each other before bursting out laughing again.

"It seems you've become a victim to morning wood darling" Rarity told her. Twilight bit her lip and looked away from them as her mind travelled back to that scene in her mind; she remembered the feeling of him being between her flank checks and how…good it felt.

"Uhh, T-Twi. What are ya'll thinkin' about?" The purple unicorn pulled her gaze back to her friends, who both had blushes as deep as her own on their faces as they looked at her. Twilight frowned; they weren't looking straight at her, but slightly lower at… there was a small puddle of moisture between her hind legs. Her eyes widened immeasurably.

"Oh my gosh" she whispered. Applejack and Rarity were no longer laughing; instead their eyes were locked onto the spot between their aroused friend's legs.

"Shucks" Applejack started "ah-ah didn't know you felt THAT way about him" she admitted. Rarity managed to tear her gaze away from Twilight's never regions (an act she never thought she'd have to do) and looked her friend in the eye.

"Well, Twilight, it seems" she trotted up to her "you've found your special somepony." Twilight blinked.

"I…but…what?" Rarity chuckled her ladylike chuckle.

"Oh, come on" she sang, waving a hoof in the air "it's obvious you like him. The evidence certainly agrees with me" she said pointing at the spot, causing Twilight to redden again. Applejack spoke up when she said this.

"Now, now Rarity, don't be jumpin' to conclusions. The two's jus' met, an' there could be any number a' reasons she fell asleep with him. 'sides, it ain't like they kissed or nutin'." Twilight nodded her head frantically.

"Yeah, it's not like I kissed him or anything." Applejack saw right through it.

"Now wait a minute, Twi, did ya'll kiss him?"

"No" she said frantically before she caught herself and tried to be more casual "no" she told them unconvincingly, waving a hoof in the air "no he didn't kiss me or anything that would be…be ridiculous, I mean he's a notorious killer, right?" Rarity grinned at her before turning to Applejack.

"Applejack, dearie, my good natured lie detector, how would you judge that last sentence?" The mare put an overly dramatic hoof to her chin in overly dramatic though.

"Well, ah'd say Twilight Sparkle wasn't telling even a HINT of truth there." She caved. Twilight put her head on the floor and hid behind her hooves.
"Alright, alright so I did. I kissed him and I enjoyed it, so sue me. So I happen to like a stallion who kills for a living, but he's also one of the most caring, honest, flattering, good natured and…downright attractive stallion's I've ever met in my entire life, but I know nopony's ever going to approve of this so I really need you with me in this girls." The orange and white mares looked at each other for a second before the wrapped Twilight in a hug.

"It's alright Twi. We're with yah, all tha way."

"Of course we are dear; we just wanted you to admit it." Twilight smiled and returned the embrace. After a few more minutes of this hug, there was a knock on the front door.
Twilight went down to answer it. There were three guards; she recognised the one in the middle as lieutenant Hardhoof, a unicorn with gold fur and a black mane, with his silver inlays to his golden armour, but the other two were just grunts she didn't know.

"Yes" she asked, slightly worried as to why three guards would show up on her doorstep.

"Twilight Sparkle" Hardhoof asked. The mare nodded. In an instant, a black sack was on her head and she was clobbered across the head, knocking her out. Rarity screamed when she saw what had happened and Applejack charged the guards. The two grunts managed to restrain her while Hardhoof hit her across the temple, serving her the same fate as Twilight. Rarity stood, horrified at the sight, and turned to escape but one of the guards had already lunged and put her out like a light.

"That's all of them sir" one of the grunts said, a grey earth pony. Hardhoof smirked.

"Good, elements of harmony, three for one sale" he joked, the grunts forcing out some laughs.

"Wasn't there a baby dragon living here?" The lieutenant sneered.

"A baby dragon" he snorted "that kind of pathetic creature is no threat. Let's find the rest of these mares so we can put this plan into action. The faster we are, the faster I find myself burdened with Shining Armour's position."

Pinkie Pie sat on a couch in the Cake's living room, watching Pound and Pumpkin playing on the floor. She had spent the last few hours doing the whole 'babysitting' shtick; nappy changing, burping, feeding, all the usual stuff. As the twins messed around with their toys, Pinkie began to wonder what it would be like to have a foal of her own. She'd listened to all the lectures and the such in school but when she looked after the twins she felt an overwhelming curiosity as to what it would be like if they were her own family. She sat back, wondering if she'd ever find a stallion for her; not many took her for one of sensible thought, or even a mare who dreamed about meeting the perfect stallion, which confused even her; all mares wanted to settle down eventually, right? For Pinkie, she put heavy emphasis on the word 'eventually', she was a party girl at heart, what with it being a part of her but she could only wonder if she could find somepony like her, a stallion who appreciated partying as much as she did, and the smiles it could bring to a pony. Or maybe she needed the opposite of her. What was the phrase; opposites attract? Her thoughts drifted to a certain hooded stallion; Blood Moon didn't like to party as much as she did, but he seemed to get where she came from with her enthusiasm for them, but then, he didn't smile much; he grinned, smirked and joked a lot sure, but he didn't actually smile too much. She had made him smile that once though, and it made her feel more proud than any other smile she had invoked. Well, maybe asides Cranky-doodle. As these thoughts went through her mind, the twins had played themselves tired and were kipping on the carpet. She smiled warmly at them before putting the comfortably on her back and carrying them to their room, before putting them in their respective cots. She decided to retire to the kitchen, maybe get some baking done, but as she was about to enter the tile floored room, she heard a knock on the backdoor. This struck her as strange; the backdoor was only really used for delivers, nopony ever actually called into Sugarcube corner via the backdoor. With a raised eyebrow, she went over and opened it up to revel two guard ponies. Pinkie stood in the doorway, looking at her visitors with a wide and pleasant smile, oblivious to the stern looks they were giving her.

"Hi" she greeted brightly. The guards made no motion to return her pleasantries.

"Miss Pie" the one on the left asked her. He was an earth pony and had a beige coat and silver mane.

"Yep, that's me! But I prefer Pinkie Pie or Pinks or Pinkie. What's your name?" The two guards attempted to remain stoic, but the one who had spoken eye had twitched.

"My name is Steelblade and this is Ironshield."

"Hi, Steelblade Hi, Ironshield! What's up?" Steelblade's eye twitched again.

"You're under arrest" he told her, moving in slightly. Pinkie's smile dropped.

"What, why?" A voice behind her answered.

"For attempted murder and harbouring a fugitive" Hardhoof explained, a smug grin on his face.

"What? But I didn't-" She stopped talking when she saw he wind up his hoof and prepare to strike her. She squealed and dodged out of the way, ducking away from him and scrambling away from him. Ironshield lunged for her and grabbed her, but Pinkie's flexibility allowed her to squirm out of his hold and make another attempt at escape. She almost made it to the door when Hardhoof appeared in front of her with a flash. She skidded to a halt and stopped right before her. He grabbed her harshly by the mane and hauled her up to eye level.
"Well aren't you a pretty little thing" he said, his rancid breath washing over her. "I'm gonna love having you as a prisoner." Pinkie managed to muster enough strength to slap him. He sneered at her one last time before he slammed her head on the counter and let her drop. He spat on her unconscious form. "Crazy little whorse" he growled, rubbing his check. He kicked her as he trotted past. "Put her with the others" he ordered motioning his head back at the pink pony. "Four down" he muttered.

Rainbowdash went about her duties as head weathermare diligently. Everypony in Ponyville knew how loyal she was to her town, and her friends, knowing she would never let them down. She'd just finished up cleaning up a mess Thunderlane had made. He somehow, don't ask me how, he managed to mix up next month's weather schedule with this month's, so rather than having pleasant orange sky in the evening, there was a bunch of storm clouds on the way from Cloudsdale. She'd had to wrangle up the storm clouds before they managed to make anypony upset, take them back to Cloudsdale and get rid of any lingering clouds hanging in the sky that were messing around with the view of Celestia's sun set.
As the cyan blue furred mare lay on a particularly plush clouds, on her way to the land of dreams (more specifically; her, Spitfire and Soarin in wonderbolts uniforms doing some questionable things in the locker rooms). As she was about to become completely asleep, a voice from below stirred her.

"Rainbowdash" the voice called again. She grumbled to herself and looked over the side of her cloud. Below her a group of guards stood; one a unicorn in silver and gold armour, the other an earth pony in standard gold and the other a Pegasus. All three of them looked up at her, stood in a triangle.

"What" she called back down, making her annoyance known to them.

"Oh, it's nothing really, just need to go through a few weather formalities, y'know, with all the hoo-ha earlier" he told her casually. Rainbow frowned but descended either way. Once she was low enough to talk to them without shouting she stopped, but didn't land. She looked at his armour again.

"Hey wait, aren't you the boss of all the guards around here?" The stallion smiled good-naturedly.

"I am" he replied. The mare frowned.

"Then how come you're dealing with something like weather?" The guard shrugged.

"I was the only guard not busy." That satisfied the Pegasus. She shrugged.

"Alright" she said as she landed "so the weather thing, huh?" The stallion chuckled and scratched the back of his neck.
"Yeah, that Thunderlane, huh? If I had a bit every time I had to fill out some formal apology for Cloudsdale, ha, I'd have enough to pay for some proper training for him." Rainbowdash glared.

"Hey, lay off! His little brother hasn't been too good lately, and I'll have you know, I trained him!" The guard waved a hoof at her, getting impatient with her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just come with us and we'll get this over with" he told her.

"Whatever" Rainbow replied with trotting off before him, eager to get this over with. Hardhoof watched as she went, eyeing her flank. He slapped his hoof across it and Rainbowdash shot into the air furiously. "WHAT THE BUCK" she demanded. She didn't get an answer, instead the Pegasus guard sped her way, taking her off ground, and tackling her to the ground where the earth pony held her down. Hardhoof trotted up to her nonchalantly and raised his hoof and slammed it down in her face.

"That's five. Who's next?"

"Somepony called 'Fluttershy'" Ironshield answered. Hardhoof rolled his eyes.

"Oh, her" he muttered. "That shouldn't be too hard, the little wimp. We'll take the rest of these bitches and nab her on the way" he told them as Steelblade lifted Rainbowdash onto his back. He smirked as the trotted towards the place he'd left the rest of these mares bound and gagged. He couldn't wait for this to play out.

"This was nice" Feather Heart told him as she stood from the table "It was nice getting to know you" she said.

"Yeah, you too" Blood Moon replied. He threw some bits onto the table as pay and tip before he turned away to walk Feather Heart back to the town hall. Once they arrived, Feather turned to her date and smiled warmly.

"It was nice seeing you again" she said.

"And you Feather, would you like to do this again sometime?" She smiled again.

"Sure, but, uhhh, let's wait until this whole Goldhooves thing has blown over, huh." The stallion nodded, liking that idea.

"Sounds good, we'll make a date when-" Feather Heart cut him off by pushing her lips against his, hard. She had all the subtlety of dragon, and took to moaning as subtly as one as well, pushing her tongue into his maw and wrestled his own furiously. She kept up her efforts for thirty long, steamy, sexy seconds before she pulled back, a strand of saliva between their tongues. "When this is all taken care of" the assassin finished. Feather gave a naughty giggle as she trotted past him, bumping her flank to his as she past.

"I'll see you then" she told him huskily. She trotted away, adding some healthy sway to her flank. The stallion grinned at the image. He turned away from the town hall, and trotted away from it, on his way to Twilight's library, as he promised, he thought about him and Feather Heart; he liked her, but he had to admit: he preferred Twilight. She wasn't just sex appeal, that said, Feather did have a lot of it. But Twilight…he found her very attractive, and whenever she got into the right mood…he grinned at the thought. She was more than just a pretty face as well, she was highly intelligent and her innocence warmed his heart and he was amused by her obliviousness. He wasn't the type to be insulting to a mare, but he also wasn't the type to betray a mare's trust in him, so he wouldn't even try and date both of them. He'd gut himself before he did that. Feather was a nice mare, but Twilight was a truly great mare. His heart skipped a beat, a rare occurrence, when his next thought crossed his mind.

'Do I love her?'

It finally hit him, if he thought of Twilight of something more than a friend he wasn't sure how it could turn out for him, loving was a very…sensitive subject for him. He swallowed at that thought. The last time he had loved somepony it hadn't ended well. He arrived at Twilight's library, and stood outside the door. His thoughts were set in a whirlwind, his voices nowhere to be heard. He hadn't loved in…

'Starswirl's beard, that's an age ago.'

He steeled himself and trotted through the door. He looked around, searching for the purple unicorn mare. She wasn't there. Assuming she'd gone out to do something he shrugged and turned away, trotting back out, and closing the door behind him with his magic. He then teleported to his home, not allowing himself to go over his thoughts again. As he trotted inside his house on the hill he was hit with the overwhelming sense of emptiness.

"Discord's antlers, this place is hollow. I need to fill this place with…something. A pet, I need a pet, some company. Hmm, that cottage just outside the Everfree, it seemed to be home of a bunch of animals, maybe whoever lives there puts them up for adoption." The stallion then realised he was talking to himself; no worry, he did a lot of things no good for his mental health, what was one more? He teleported out of his home and appeared at the home on edge of the Everfree. He trotted towards the door and knocked on before waiting patiently; the door was opened by none-other than Fluttershy. The assassin blinked and whipped his head around and saw the great, looming forest still there, not one hundred yards away from the front door of Fluttershy's cottage.

"Hello" she asked, ever timid, poking her head around a very slight crack between the door and its frame. She saw Blood Moon and squeaked. "O-oh, Blood Moon, hello there. Is something the matter" she asked when she saw his face.

"Oh, uhh, nothing. I just can't believe you live this close to the Everfree." She pushed her door open further so he could properly see her.

"W-well, I don't live here for the forest, I live here so I can have peace and quiet for all my animal friends. It scares me sometimes but my friends protect me from anything that might come out of there to hurt me." Blood Moon raised an eyebrow, who would want to hurt such a beautiful and adorable creature. "I-is there anything I can help you with?" The stallion brightened up when she asked him that.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a pet of some sort" he explained. The mare brightened up massively when he told her that, inviting him in.

"Oh, well you've come to the right pony then" she trotted off ahead of him "Now, Blood Moon, my dear, I cannot express my delight, it's abundantly clear, that somewhere out here, is the pet that will suit you just right" she sang. The assassin looked on with a bored and slackened face.

"Fluttershy" she turned with a rhythmic 'hmm'? "No songs. And don't call me 'dear'." The mare stopped her song, apparently taken by surprise, and looked at him blankly.

"Oh, um, ok" she said, more timid than ever.

"So what animals do live here with you" he asked as he approached Fluttershy, who seemed to have gone back to her ever nervus state.

"Well, lots of animals live here, and I'm more than happy to see them off to a good home. But, I don't think many of them would really suit you" she told him, trotting next to him as he explored the critter-less home.

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy tapped him on the shoulder, prompting him to look around. Upon doing so, he saw a large group of critters cowering in a corner, protected by a bear doing a bad job of keeping a stiff upper lip. "Huh…" he looked on blankly before he approached them, causing them to back up against the wall.

"Now, now little friends, say hello to Blood Moon." The animals shook their heads frantically, starting and ending all in freaky unison. Fluttershy gasped and put a hoof to her mouth. "Oh my, they've never reacted this way to anypony before; I don't know what could be causing it."

"I've got a good idea" he answered.
"What?"

"Animals are said to have a good sense of character, I can only guess they're going off their instincts."

"Oh my, I'm so sorry; I've never had any of my animals do this before, they're usually very friendly." The assassin shrugged.

"Not to worry, it just narrows the playing field. I'm looking for something loyal, nothing more." Fluttershy looked distraught.

"B-but they are all the animals and critters here." The assassin grunted disappointedly.

"Well, that…makes things difficult" he admitted.

"W-why don't you come outside, I'm positive there'll be more critters out there who're just dying to meet you" she told him, apparently missing that she had just contradicted herself. Blood Moon shrugged and followed her out. No other animals were hanging around, causing Fluttershy to hang her head in defeat. "Oh, I'm sorry" she squeaked "but it's just that I've never had my animals get so scared at the sight of a pony before." The stallion waved his hoof to stop her.

"Ahh, don't worry about it, you tried. I mean, it's not like I'm gonna come to Ponyville, make friends, get a house AND find a loyal pet to stand beside me for all eternity, is it?" Fluttershy was about to answer his pessimistic attitude with an assurance that she would find him a pet of some sort, but before she could, a great call of an equally great bird was heard. The mare and stallion looked at each other in confusion; they both recognised that call. It was the call of a phoenix.

"Fluttershy, I didn't know you kept a phoenix here" he told her in total awe.

"I don't" she replied, in equal awe. The great bird of flame made a majestic show of flying low over Fluttershy's home before turning gracefully and crashing not so gracefully into the stallion who tumbled around and over until he managed to steady himself, the bird in his hoof's protective hold. He frowned when he noticed the bad angle the bird's wing was at, and the state its face was in. "Oh dear, her wing's broken" Fluttershy states.

"No, this is a male; you see the head piece, its three wide feathers, not the three thin feathers with a wide tip." Fluttershy gasped in awe.

"Wow, how do you know that? It's just, I-I know lots about animal, but I've never really known much about phoenixes, what with them being so rare and all." The assassin shrugged as he fired up a healing spell, touching his horn to the broken wing tentatively, tapping it lightly as the phoenix cringed slightly as the bone reformed.

"I used to own one, a female to be exact; I know a lot about this majestic race of birds. For example: do you know how the immortal phoenix reproduces?" The mare wasn't fazed by the question; she simply shook her head as she watched him inject a very small amount of a fluid inside a syringe he had kept in his pouch into the bird's rear end before he rubbed the sore spot softly, the bird responded by cawing softly and happily. "The female phoenix can lay from four to sixteen eggs in one go. Of those phoenix chicks, only one in four will be female, the rest will be male. Once they come of age, the male phoenix will leave the nest in search of a place to make their own. Upon finding a suitable place to build a home, they will most likely have competition to deal with; be it a brother or a phoenix from another nest, the two will fight to the death for this spot, severely thinning the population of male phoenixes. The females will then go in search of a mate to breed with. Now, according to my math, on average only around half of the male phoenix will actually get a mate, those who do not will simply fly to the nearest active volcano and fight their days away. It seems this one was one of the unfortunate few to not find his own girl, poor guy. Look at him." Fluttershy took a closer look at his face and body; on his face, going across his beak, were three thin scars; on his left wing a small bunch of his feathers were missing; and he had another set of three claw marks going across his chest and body in a think, and remarkable badassed, set of another three scars. Fluttershy determined that they had, indeed, come from another phoenix, going on the fact that a phoenix had three talons on each foot. Once his wing was healed he hopped onto his feet before the dark stallion, who had relaxed onto his front. The phoenix leaned up and nuzzled the assassin as thanks, who grinned at the gesture and returned it. The phoenix spread his impressive wing span and took to the air, but didn't go very far; instead he just landed on Blood Moon's left shoulder. Fluttershy giggled before she reached up and stroked the phoenix.

"I think you found a friend" she said, still fussing the fire bird who was glad for the attention.

"We're both fighters, we're bound to get along with each other" he said. Fluttershy withdrew her hoof and cocked her head to the side.

"He'll need a name." The stallion and phoenix glanced at each other, before the stallion put a hoof to his chin and the phoenix did the same with his wing, in more of that freaky unison thing. Fluttershy perked up. "I have an idea" she exclaimed before she hid behind her mane in fear of the sudden attention "if-if you don't mind my saying" she whispered. The bird and stallion glanced at each other again before shrugging in unison.

"Ok, what is it?" Fluttershy peeked out from behind her mane.

"Um, I-I was thinking you could call him H-Hunter" she suggested. The stallion put a hoof to his chin.

"Why?"

"Well, your name is 'Blood Moon' a-and another name for the blood moon is the hunter's moon" she said before she crouched down and hid further behind her mane. "I-if you don't like it…" she trailed off and squeaked adorably.

"Hunter" he repeated, rolling the name around his mouth and liking the feel of it. "What do you think" he asked the bird perched on him. The phoenix looked up in though before he looked back at his perch and nodding, his eyes showing a smile his beck couldn't. "Hunter" he said again, he looked at Fluttershy. "Perfect" he complemented. The mare looked up with a very slight smile on her face.

Phit

The assassin knew that sound, he would know it anywhere. Fluttershy slumped to the floor, confirming his fears. 'Hunter' took flight when he saw the mare fall the ground, her mane around her face.

Phit

The assassin's hoof shot up, faster than anypony's eyes could register, and caught the dart in his hoof. Fluttershy gained a silver glow, causing the assassin to snap his gaze over to her. His own grey aura appeared around the mare, pushing out and dispelling the attempt to move the animal caretaker. A huge earth pony guard burst from some bushes, charging at Blood Moon and taking him off his hooves. Fluttershy, once again, grew a silver aura. The earth pony kept his charged and tackled the assassin to the ground, reducing his efforts of saving Fluttershy to watching helplessly. She was pulled away from the fray and into the same bush line as this earth pony had come from.

The assassin turned his full attention to the stallion holding him down; he wore a set of standard issue gold armour. That was all he needed. He slammed his forehead into his opponent's face causing him to fall off of him, holding his muzzle and cursing. The guard stood up, blood pouring down his face, and snarled at the assassin. He charged again, throwing his right hoof in an attempt at hitting Blood Moon in the temple. He ducked under it and countered by slapping his supporting hoof from beneath him. He grabbed the guard's head, picked it up and cracked it into a nearby tree stump and throwing him away. The guard staggered up and shook the dizziness out of his skull. With a roar of anger, he charged again, prompting the killer to frown at his stupidity as he continued with this rather fruitless effort of just galloping at him. Blood Moon sidestepped and grabbed his mane and using his momentum to spin and throw him away from him and into a nearby fence.

"You don't learn very quickly do you" he asked with a lopsided grin. The guard growled and stood, advancing more cautiously now. As he got close he moved around him, back arched offensively, while the assassin stood laidback and nonchalantly. The guard lunged forward and the assassin slipped out of the way, chopping the length of his right hoof into the neck of the guard. He jumped and flipped over, landing on the guards back. The earth pony panicked and started throwing his weight around in an effort to dislodge the assassin on his back. Blood Moon grabbed the back of his armour and planted his hind-hooves on either side of his back, his left fore-hoof in the air like a rodeo. The guard gave an almighty throw and the dark stallion leaped off of his back, using the momentum to add to the force of his strike into his muzzle, further breaking the broken nose, the guard backed up, holding his muzzle again and cursing angrily. Blood Moon looked down at the dart in his hoof and back at the guard holding his nose before stabbing it into his neck. He watched the stallion slowly lose consciousness and fall into a drug induced sleep before gripping him by the front of his armour and hauling him over his back, and trotting his way back to Ponyville. Hunter appeared next to him, flying slowly besides him. It didn't take long to get back to the town.

Many of the residents of Ponyville were either indoors or getting treated to the sight of the assassin with a guard over his back and a phoenix flying next to him. The stallion went to his home, stripped the guard of his armour and bound him with a fibre wire that he kept coiled in the sleeve above his navigational pouch. Fore and hind legs tied together, he put him in the basement and waited. Two hours later, the guard stirred awake and was met with the basement of Blood Moon's home, lit by four candles, one on each wall.

"Sleep well" the assassin asked in a friendly fashion. He was stood below one of the candles, putting his face in the shadows, making it invisible to the stallion. The guard whipped his gaze around, glaring at his captor.

"W-who are you" he demanded "where am I!?" The assassin smirked to himself.

"Everywhere, yet nowhere. That's not important right now though, what is important right now, is that you are here with me. Only me. This room is far, far away from anypony else so, as the saying goes, nopony can hear you scream." The assassin put no emotion into twistedly friendly voice, keeping his captive unnerved by the apparent heartlessness of him and staying unnaturally, and eerily, calm. "Now, I'm going to ask you a few questions. Answer truthfully and you don't get hurt. Don't answer truthfully and…well, you'll find out. So, first question, why did you take Fluttershy?" The guard snorted.

"Because she's a known criminal, she housed you and declined to not turn you over to the proper authorities." Blood Moon grunted.

"You actually think, Fluttershy is a criminal? She has got to be one of the most innocent of ponies I've ever met. But anyhow, second question, where did you take her?" The guard laughed.

"Ha, I'll never tell you that." The assassin chuckled slightly.
"Now that wasn't very honest of you, I always get my answers. Also, you were wondering about what I'd do to you if you weren't honest with me…" His horn glowed and the guard felt a sudden tingling all over his body. He started sweating and squirming around.

"What-what are you doing?" He started panicking in earnest, really moving around and trying to get closer to his captor and find out what was happening to him.

"Well I'm using a spell, aren't I? This spell in particular is a very advanced spell of the Umbra Linguam School of shadow magic; the word is change and it takes the form of fire, change and power in its most primal form. What I'm doing at the moment is burning you from the inside. You won't be harmed, unless I get bored, but you will feel all the pain I wish for you to feel. I'm gonna give you a little taste; let's say you're at one at the moment. This is five." His horn's glow intensified and the guard started screaming and writhing around on the ground until the assassin toned it down, utterly bemused at his pain. "Now then, where did you take
Fluttershy?" The guard swallowed and took a few breaths.

"I-I won't-"

"Seven." His horn took to glowing again, stronger than before, and the guard started screaming and twisting again, more intense than before. "Tell. Me. What. I. Want. To. Know or I'll take this all the way to eleven." He turned down the pain and watched as the guard took more shuddering breaths.

"Never" he spat. Blood Moon sighed and stepped from below the candle and stepped up to the stallion.

"I was hoping to avoid any barbarism" he told him. He pulled out his blade with his magic and put a deep cut in his captive's left hind-leg, making sure not to get anything important. The guard cringed as the weapon bit into his skin and muscle, drawing blood. The assassin went to his other hind-leg and cut into that leg as well. "Where. Is. She?"

"B-Buck you" he barked. Blood Moon shrugged to himself. He used his magic to remove the fibre wire and slip it back into his belt, he then used it to force the guard's legs to the floor, immobilising him.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a very patient pony and my limited mercy is wearing thin. I'll ask you one last time: where, did you take her?" The stallion responded by shaking his head rapidly. Once more, the assassin sighed, this time with an unhappy shrug, before he raised his blade above his head. He brought it down on his limp, just above the knee, and watched it roll away nonchalantly. The guard pony watched with wide eyes, his chest rising and falling rapidly and tears forming in his eyes and Blood Moon knew why; cutting off an earth pony's leg, or even just disabling it, was the same as cutting off a Pegasus's wing or a unicorn's horn. It was their livelihood and they did what they did with their legs. "Where is she? You have three other legs for me to play with, and don't think I won't. Tell me where she is" he ordered. The guard sniffled and tried to struggle free of the unicorn's magic hold, to no avail. Blood Moon rolled his eyes and moved to his other hind-leg.

"Please, please sweet Celestia, don't" the guard pleaded. Blood Moon looked the guard in the eye through the darkness.

"I'm not on the best of terms with Celestia." After he said this, he put his sword to the guard's leg and started to slowly saw away at it. The guard shrieked for the heavens as the dark stallion slowly made his way through. When he met the bone he stopped sawing, instead he just piled on the pressure until the bone snapped in two and he began sawing again until he had cut off his captive's second hind-leg. The guard whimpered and snivelled under the assassin's hold. "Y'know, I'm not going to let you live. I would have, but you didn't talk. So now, my offer is to let the pain stop. I trust you know what I mean by that." He trotted up to the guards face and looked down at him. "You can make it stop you know. Just tell me where she is." The guard started crying in earnest when he learned he had no chance of getting out alive.

"I-I can't, I'm under orders." Blood Moon shook his head disappointedly and looked over to the leg he had just severed. Sheathing his sword, he picked up the disembodied leg and held it over the guard in his magical grip.

"Tell me" he hit the guard across the face with the leg…with the wet end. "Where" he hit him again, harder "she" again, he hit harder getting a dull crack and wet slap at once. "Is."

"Stop, stop, please. I'll tell you" he submitted.

"There's a good lad" the assassin said, tossing the leg behind him. "Now, tell me what I want to know." The guard swallowed.

"I-I, we took the mare to the old castle in the Everfree" he revealed "Lieutenant Hardhoof ordered we take her and the rest of the elements of harmony there-"

"What?" The assassin's voice turned guttural, terrifying and down-right evil when he asked this.

"T-Twilight Sparkle, Rainbowdash, Pinkamena Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy were all declared criminals by the lieutenant; he said they had all taken part in harbouring a fugitive, you." The assassin didn't change his facial expression, but his eyes betrayed him, judging by the way the guard kept struggling to get away.

"These orders, who did they come from?" The guard blinked and swallowed.

"H-Hardhoof told us Captain Armour himself had given them personally." Blood Moon put a hoof to his chin.

"And he only answers to Celestia" the assassin murmured. "All six of them?" The guard nodded. "The Everfree palace?" Once more, he nodded. The assassin looked him in the eye, firing up his illumination spell, blinding the guard momentarily. "You took part in this" he growled "in abducting the girls?" The guard bit his lower lip, squeezing his eyes shut as he nodded his head furiously. Blood Moon raised himself from the stallion's face and killed his horn's glow. He turned away and trotted away and back into the candle light, turning back to his captive. "If you'll indulge me, I wish to use something I've being working on. You see, most other schools of magic have no real implemented skill, maybe asides levitation; you learn a spell, you cast it and you get what it is, and that only. Umbra, however, takes a certain amount of skill to use it to its full potential, for example; the spell 'change' is only supposed to create fire, I have, shall we say, tinkered with it some, as you know, to grant me access to a few extra effects. This spell is battle, and I will use it to the same ends. Torture. Well, to an extent, I am going to kill you, right here and right now." His horn sparked up and the guard's started screaming again. For five long, painful and scream filled minutes the guard lay on the ground writhing and moving to try and stop whatever was causing him such pain. After the assassin was done with his fun, he let four vine like, thin tendrils of darkness rip through the guard; one had gone through his gut, two either side his chest and the other just below his neck. The assassin had them bunch together and dive into the guard's maw, where they paused for a second before spreading apart, ripping the stallion's head into four chunks of skull, brain matter and a splattering of blood. Blood Moon watched the dead body for a few seconds before he noticed the bit of brain that had found its way onto his chest, and flicked it off with his hoof. He burned what he could with his fire before he made his way upstairs.

Up there, he found Hunter perched on the back of a chair, waiting patiently for the assassin's return. Blood Moon trotted past, stroking his bird's head as he went past, before he nodded his head in his own direction. Hunter flapped his wings and landed on the assassin's back, after doing so the stallion trotted out of his home. Shutting the door he stopped, lowering his head and concentrating. Teleporting is a strange form of magic; most forms, including Umbra, had the power of the spell decided by the amount of magical effort you put into it, the greater the amount, the stronger the spell. Teleporting, on the other hoof, took only one set amount of effort to perform the spell, however, depending on the distance between the destination and starting position, you had to concentrate harder to make sure you ended up in the right place.

That was what the assassin was doing right now; concentrating on where he wanted to head. He put the image into his head, and with a burst of light and magic, he appeared there; the old remains of a small shack, nothing but burnt embers and charred wood.

Blood Moon trotted through what used to be his home. It was in the middle of frozen tundra, swampland no extra charge. He kicked a few bits of dead wood around as he looked for the small wood covered hatch. In the occupation of assassin, there is said to be no rules, and there aren't, the only rules that exist are the one's made by the assassin. There are two things all assassins universally known however; a) if a client rips you off, kill them and b) if you're going to leave anything behind, make sure you're only you know how to find it. It was the same here; anypony else would see this as a simple ruin, but to the assassin this was a haven of safety. And a few other things. He kicked a log of blackened wood away and found what he was looking for; a black iron hatch with no visible hinges or handle. He put his hoof to the metal and cast the spell only he knew. The locks released with a slight hiss, the hatch pushed itself up and open, allowing the stallion to lead through and into his little home away from home. Blood Moon opened the door directly ahead of him and entered his armoury; a room of grey stone walls, all of which were covered in weapon racks which held so many weapons they groaned slightly under the pressure. He made his way forward, his horn lighting candles as he went; he approached the three glass cases at the end of the room. Inside these cases were a set of armour, all of which he'd forged himself.

In the first was his old war suit; it was made from jet black plated metal, the individual pieces went over the next like metal scales and were all sharpened edges, spikes and points pushing out from each plate giving it a demonic feel; the armour around the legs was of twisted, plated metal, in much the same way the armour was; a blood red cape ran down the left side, the assassin's cutie mare embedded into the fabric; the hood was made from leather, courtesy of a griffon, and had smaller metal scales going over it, the hood was an eagle design, reaching down a little past his eye line.

The second was his original assassin robes, which he'd, used when he first started out; it was made from heavy, thick black material going over his back, flank and loosely wrapping around his chest and going down his fore-legs; a midnight blue short cape, not reaching his flank, was draped across his back, a dull shade of gold worked into the design and colour scheme, the same material and style used for the hood that reached over his brow; the robes had neat black metal on the front and hind-legs; the cape hid a plethora of weapons that ranged from throwing knives, tomahawks and smoke pellets on his left side to a pair of short swords crossed on his left, dark brown, leather buckles and iron straps holding the sheaths in place; the armour itself had weapons of its own, one the left bracer a coil of reinforced steel fishing wire sat with a Japonyese style kunai attached to the end, simply put, it was a better version of the original rope-dart, this weapon was matched on the right side by a weapon of the assassin's own design, it was a miniaturised crossbow that sat against the bracer, capable of firing a steel bolt over one hundred meters with a deadly accuracy.

The third suit of armour was one that he rarely wore any more. It was his old armour of the Illuminating night uprising, the rebellion against Discord that had been headed by Illumination and Nocturnal, their efforts to push him off the throne and place their daughters there instead. That armour brought back painful memories, the way Hunter sensed his mood and nuzzled him was proof enough for that. Tearing his gaze away from the set of gold and black armour, petting his bird as he did, he set his gaze onto his old robes. Maybe 'old' was too judgmental a word, given their pristine condition.

He trotted over to them, floating his coat and belt off and hanging them off a hook in the wall. Opening the case door, he was hit with the scent of metal, age and leather. He donned his robe, shifting the straps and buckles on his back comfortably, before he made sure all the weapons were in place properly and checking his inventory; he had twenty throwing knives, all kept in a neat pair of rows, three tomahawk what're good for throwing and hacking, three high density smoke pellets, a pouch of fifteen miniature steel bolts and a pouch of specialised bolts; sleep, poison and armour piercing, five each. The right side of his robes were home to a pair of crossed blades, they were similar in many ways to the blade he preferred to keep on his, asides for the serrated edge at the base of the blades. Beneath the crossed sheaths three scabbards sat, all with a dagger in them and for good reason; he was following the three blade rule. One dagger would have a thin and sharp blade, good for slipping through armour plates and allowed to easily stab and slash; another dagger would have a thicker edge, better for cutting arteries and slashing through heavy materials, such as leather; the last should be perfectly balanced, perfect for throwing. Done with armouring and arming himself, he trotted back to the entrance of his little hole in the ground, Hunter his shoulder, and leaped up, closing the hatch with a study kick, he left the old foundations of his old home before spending another twenty seconds searching his mind for the right place, he teleported to Fluttershy's home. Standing on the edge of the Everfree forest, he looked up at the dark foreboding forest; he'd been in there a few times in his life and over his life, he had never dreaded it more than now. It wasn't the forest itself; it was the prospect of finding the Elements of Harmony dead.

Hardhoof trotted into the ruined main hall of the old Everfree palace, he was immensely pleased with himself; he'd being planning something like this for years, somehow getting rid of Shining Armour was his ultimate goal in life and always would be until he finally managed to do so. His plan was as simple as it was elegant; he couldn't just have somepony kill the guard captain, the blue mane and tailed stallion was a very versatile fighter and there was always the chance of it being traced back to him, there was also the chance of him not being chosen for position as guard captain, he knew for a fact that Celestia was too foolish to not notice a perfect warrior when she saw it, so he had to take things into his own hooves. He couldn't kill Captain Armour, but he could cripple him; he'd first have to kill somepony close to him, and who better than his poor, defenceless little sister, Twilight Sparkle? He'd kill her, blame it on the assassin and be the brains behind said assassin's demise. Shining would be devastated and step down from rank of captain, going off to mourn her loss with his beloved wife, while he'd be named a hero as the avenger of Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony and finally take his rightful place as guard captain. Simple. He approached the elements; all of them were chained to the wall and had gags over their mouths. Twilight, Rainbowdash and Applejack were glaring at him; Fluttershy was crying uncontrollably; that crazy pink bitch was watching him fearfully with wide eyes; and Rarity had her eyes squeezed shut and her hind legs pulled together. Some of the lads had been having trouble keeping their hooves off her and he couldn't blame them. He'd told them to get a hold of themselves until the assassin was dead. He planned to have a go on them when the deed was done, especially that Twilight; ha, taking her virginity as well as killing her. Serves Armour right for taking his place as captain. He looked at Sparkle, who was grumbling at him from behind her gag.

"Something to say" he asked, mock pleasantries in his voice, as he removed the gag from her maw.

"I said; do you have any idea what Blood Moon's gonna do to you once he gets here?" Hardhoof laughed uproariously before cramming the rag back into her mouth.

"I believe the words you looking for are 'do you know what I'm gonna do to Blood Moon when he gets here'? You don't seem to notice, do you whorse, that I have the whole of Ponyville's guards under my hoof. Your little assassin may be good, but I severely doubt he's that good" he told her. Twilight spat the rag out.

"Don't be so sure, he's gonna MURDER you when he find out what you've done." Her response was the lieutenant slapping her across the face.

"Shut up" he roared before he grabbed her by the throat. "I'll tell you what's gonna happen; I'm gonna kill Blood Moon and spit on his pathetic corpse, then me and all these guards are gonna take you plots and do what we like with 'em" he hissed. Every mare that was shackled to the wall gasped. "Now, be good little prisoners and be quiet, and maybe I'll have the guys put on a condom." Behind him, some of the guards chuckled. The mares swallowed. "Now then, Ironshield" he called out, prompting an iron grey Pegasus to trot up to him.

"Yes sir" he responded.

"Have you seen Steelblade anywhere?" The Pegasus grunt shook his head.

"No sir, not since we nabbed the yellow one" he replied, nodding at the weeping Fluttershy. Hardhoof growled.

"Well, keep an eye out" he ordered. The Pegasus nodded and turned away and stepped into the single intact chamber he had named his chambers. He hated waiting, he'd pull one of the mares in here to keep him occupied but he didn't want to be caught at a bad moment when the assassin finally arrived. He sat at a table he'd had his guards bring in and put his head on the table as he waited. He dreamed of what life would be like when he was finally made Captain; he'd had his eye on Luna for a while, Armour had married Cadence and been named a prince, he wondered if he could catch her eye when he was placed on the guard Captain podium and marry her. He smirked when he thought of tapping that flank. Hardhoof leaned against the wall the table was pushed against and closed his eyes as he thought of what great things the future held for him.

He couldn't help but smirk. Blood Moon clung to the shadows like the master he was, watching the guards trot to and fro, here and there. He'd already sent Hunter away, instructing him to fetch Sand Stalker and bring him here. He had to admit though; he was impressed by the whole scene.

The Everfree palace was in ruin, but with the military presents you could be forgiven for thinking it was still occupied; at least twenty guards patrolled the grounds, which confused the assassin to no end, he'd always thought that Ponyville was home to no more than ten guards, he presumed some of these guards weren't guards and just stallions in gold armour; he couldn't see any tell-tale silver in guards armour, revealing the lieutenant to him. A Pegasus guard, iron grey fur and mud brown mane and tail, trotted out and took to looking around himself. Blood Moon decided to get this show on the road. He waited for the perfect time, when no other guards were around, and stepped from the tree line. Credit where it's due, the guard spotted him right away, little good it did when he found the assassin's rope around his neck, choking him to death.

Two more guards appeared when the Pegasus fell to the ground, his face blue, and watched as the hooded stallion whipped the blade of his dart into the left-hoof guard and pull him off his hooves. The second was taken by a sharp snap as the hoof-bow fired and embedded a bolt deep into his eye. He let loose a guttural scream before he died. More guards galloped for the clearing in front of the palace, the first to spot the assassin, reloading his bow, was an earth pony who galloped for him, only to be met with him spinning past him and taking his head off with a graceful swing of his blade. Blood Moon stopped his rotation; both blades out, and looked at the small gathering of guards. He grinned darkly.

"Let's dance." Four guards rushed him, all with a battle cry erupting from their maws; Blood moon advanced in return, he span and stabbed his blade into one's chest whipping it out and using it to block a strike heading his way, then stabbing the other through his attacker's throat. The next was killed by three throwing knives that found their way into his face. The last, a unicorn, drew a sword and advanced more cautiously; when they met, the guard swiped at the assassin who flashed out of the way and appeared above him, dropping onto him and slipping both blades into his neck. A few magical bolts flew past him; Blood Moon spun around, still on the dead unicorn, and spotted a firing line of unicorns. He hopped off the corpse, lifting it with his magic and cantering towards them, using it as a meat shield; throwing the body at the gathering of guards, he caught a break in their assault and whipped his rope dart out and wrapped it around the rightmost guard's neck; the next to fall had charged him, only to find a small axe lodged in his head; finally, the last was ended by a few swift movements of the assassin's left hoof, finding a coil of fishing wire about his fore-hooves that tugged his legs out of socket before a bolt found its way into his throat.

Moving through the rest of the clearing, he found his way to the bottom of the stairs that lead to the main hall of the palace. When he was about to begin climbing them, a group of five guards leapt out of the surrounding bushes in an attempt to ambush him. They gave him no pause for thought; instead the all drew weapons and charged spells. A unicorn wielding a short sword moved with an unarmed earth pony; the unicorn stabbed his blade at the assassin, who parried the strike and spun past him, stabbing his other weapon into the unicorn's jugular before putting his hoof to the earth pony's neck and shot a bolt through his neck and into the eye of another. Another guard entered the fray, joining the two remaining from the ambush; Blood Moon reached below his cape and pulled out a smoke pellet, throwing it to the ground and letting it fill the area with thick black smog; two of the guards, foolishly, yelped in surprise allowing the assassin to pin down their locations. Heading forwards, he swung his weapons in a wide arc, taking two heads in one attack. Trotting forth, he found his way out of the smoke screen and spotted another guard lingering on the edge, leaning on a tree and trying to catch his breath. A snapped neck later, and the assassin was on his way again, reloading as he went. At the entrance to the palace, four more guards stood; the all brandished a weapon of some sort. As the assassin approached, he launched a bolt into one, catching him off guard the rest looked at their fallen comrade and charged furiously; the first two lunged and found themselves impaled on the assassin's blades, he let them slip off by tilting them to the side and marched for the others, a brief confrontation later and one had his head a few meters away and the other was eating his own intestines.
The dark, eerily calm, stallion trotted into the main hall of the Everfree palace. All six of the elements of harmony were chained to the far wall, all looking at him with fearful relief in their expressions. The assassin trotted into the hall, before he heard the doors shutting behind him.
Turning, he saw a pair of guards trotting forwards, turning back, he saw four more guards trotting forwards. The one in the middle caught his eye; he wore gold armour with silver inlays. The pony, who Blood Moon could only guess was Hardhoof, trotted forwards with a sneer on his face that the assassin desperately wanted to rip off.

"Well, well, well. Look what's gone and trotted into the dragon's den" Hardhoof taunts.

"Yeah, the dragon slayer" Blood Moon retorts. Hardhoof snarled.

"Mind your tongue. You'd do well to watch your mouth around your-" he didn't finish, instead he was cut off by Blood Moon spinning around and firing his hoof-bow into one of the guard's throat, and stabbing his dart into the other's chest and pulling him over. Holding his captive as a shield as he reloaded, he watched Hardhoof bristle.

"Y'know, ponies like you really annoy me" the assassin told Hardhoof as he shadow stretched over to the shade of the palace. "You see yourself as above other ponies, and with no real grounds or proof. I mean, you're probably feeling pretty confident about this, what with your bodyguards lingering behind you" he said, as three of his shadow serpents wrapped themselves around the necks of the grunts, silently.

"As well I should be, you're stood here at death's door and you act so big. HA, I'm gonna kill you, then spit on your corpse and offer it to Celestia" he sneered. The assassin snapped his captive's neck and grinned.
"Oh yeah, you and what army?" Hardhoof stiffened at the question, turning around to see he was completely alone. "Now then" the assassin growled as he advanced "no more guards, no more distractions. Just you and me." He stopped a few meters away from the lieutenant. Hardhoof growled and drew his sword.

"Have at you" he roared as he lunged. Blood moon took the stab on his left blade, parrying the strike off to the side, Hardhoof replied by bringing his sword around and over, only to be blocked by the assassin's crossed blades. The dark stallion socked the guard in the jaw, hard, and watched him stumble away, before he whipped out his dart and snagged the guard's leg, wrapping it around his hoof.

"GET OVER HERE" he roared as he yanked the rope his way. Hardhoof managed to struggle free of the rope and stand again, but not before the assassin had taken his tail, reducing it to a small, shaved stub. Hardhoof swung his blade viciously, a loud clang echoing through the room as it met both of the assassin's blades. Using the momentum to spin and fire his hoof-bow at Hardhoof, who managed to erect a magical barrier to block it, the two then lunged again, blades clashing, sparks flying and their weapons never stopping. Hoof swiped his blade upwards, the assassin deflecting it on his left and stabbing with his right, the guard dodged and cracked Blood moon in the face with his left fore-hoof, staggering the assassin for a second. Hardhoof attempted to bring his weapon down on the assassin's head, who took it on both blades before countering by slamming his head into Hardhoof's muzzle. Blood thrust both weapons, Hardhoof leaping out of the way, and reaching beneath his cape and removing one of the tomahawks there, hacking it into Hoof's armour and severing one of the buckles, causing one of the plates to come free. Hardhoof aimed his weapon for the assassin's axe, knocking it from his grip, spinning and slashing at his neck; Blood Moon ducked out of the way and rolled out of the melee. He pulled a dagger from its sheath, the thick blade, and pounced, ramming the weapon, through the leather and into Hardhoof's side. The guard growled in pain, backing off. He pulled the weapon from his side and tossed it away.

"You're not bad, I'll give you that" he growled out. The assassin pressed on his assault, slashing at his opponent's neck.

"And you are a pathetic fighter" he answered. He slashed and stabbed, parried and countered, advanced and dodged, all the while he grinned defiantly. This seemed to annoy Hardhoof to no end, knowing he wasn't intimidating him at all. Hardhoof brought his blade down, execution style, and Blood Moon rolled out of the way, landing in a combat crouch and slicing his blade up the same unprotected side. Hardhoof sliced at the assassin, who blocked and dodged away. When he looked up again, Hardhoof wasn't there. A single thought came into his mind.

'Teleport.'

He obeyed, flashing away from his position and finding himself above the battlefield. He hung onto the roof by gripping some of the cracks in the ceiling. Blood Moon noticed he had left his swords below. He looked down to see Hardhoof trotting around, searching for him. The assassin smirked letting go of the ceiling with one hoof and unsheathing one of his daggers.
He dropped noiselessly. He was going to land on the guard and ram his blade into his neck from above. When he got within a single meter, Hardhoof reached up with his fore-hooves and grabbed the assassin, throwing him to the floor. He put his hoof on his chest and sneered at him.

"You assassins are all too predictable" he taunted before he stabbed the assassin through the throat.