Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbowdash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie could do nothing but watch as the blade plunged into the assassin's throat. There was a point, when time seemed to pause after the deed was done and none of them could believe what had just happened, not even Hardhoof. After he had come down from his adrenalin high, he blinked a few times at the body below him; he was half sure it would wake up again when he removed the blade. Standing up off of him, he pulled the weapon out, still dripping with blood; he glanced at the blade, the blade he'd used to kill Blood Moon.

He actually chuckled at that: HE'D killed Blood Moon, the Hunter, the assassin who could not be killed, caught or seen. His few chuckles turned into a laugh, which turned into him howling like a mad stallion. He'd done it; he killed Blood Moon, the stallion who was rumoured to be immortal, who was supposed to have walked the plains of Tartarus. He started laughing uproariously, stabbing his blade into the dead assassin repeatedly, and chanting 'I DID IT' over and over. Twilight, still shackled to the wall, watched with wide and wet eyes; she's just seen Blood Moon die; she wondered where he was right now, if he was happy to be finally dead or if he was standing in a void going 'well, that didn't go well.' He probably would do something like that, he took everything else like that, without a care in the world; fighting, training, dancing the way he used to flirt with her so blatantly. The mare welled up as the last few things crossed her mind; a few of her stifled sobs caught the attention of Hardhoof, who was still decimating Blood Moon's corpse. He turned to her with an overly happy smile on his face.

"Something the matter Miss Sparkle" he asked as he trotted over. He got in her face, Twilight turning her head away. "Seems you were wrong, I'm the one murdering him, aren't I? Aren't I, huh, ANSWER ME" he roared "tell me what I did, you whorse!" Twilight sniffled a few times, but before she could answer, another spoke.

"I'll tell you what you did" a distant voice said. The mares and stallion turned to see a stallion standing in the doorway of the palace; he was nothing but a silhouette against the glare of the afternoon sun that managed to find its way into the Everfree palace. He walked in further, giving the occupancy a better view of him; he had mustard fur, wore a beanie and eye-patch and wielded a curved blade, a scimitar, in his hoof. On his shoulder sat a phoenix, who flew to the motionless body of Blood Moon upon sight of it, nudging it with his head and cooing softly at the corpse. "You just made a very, bad, decision!" He trotted forth, approaching the guard with his blade slung over his shoulder. Hardhoof started laughing.

"You really think you have a chance against me? REALLY? I just killed Blood Moon, the hunter. You don't stand a chance." Sand Stalker stopped a few meters away from Hardhoof.

"Why is it you assume that with killing a foe, you take their skills?" Hardhoof, growled and lunged for the merc, who took to the air and took the stab on the edge of his blade, spinning past his opponent and slashing at his neck, taking most of Hardhoof's mane. "Pathetic" Sand Stalker growled. The guard span with his blade, aiming it at the merc who blocked, moved in and took the weapon by the hilt and pulled it away from the merc. "How you lasted even four seconds against Blood Moon, I'll never know."

"Maybe because he didn't hide in the air like a coward. Come down here and fight like a stallion."

"Why don't you come up here and fight like a Pegasus?" Hardhoof growled again and trotted over to Blood Moon's body, focusing his magic on one of the fallen weapons. As he attempted to pick it up, Hunter screeched and dived at him, going for his face and eyes. After shouting a few indecencies, he batted the bird away and raised the dead assassin's weapon. As he did, he heard the sound of hooves and the clattering of metal on the ground coming from behind him.

"Put that weapon down" the Pegasus ordered, pure hatred in his voice "we will fight, but you will not have the honour of wielding that blade." Hardhoof snorted, tossing the weapon away and picking up his own. He charged and lunged, the pair's weapons clashing and locking.

"No matter. I don't care what I kill you with, just as long as you-" he was cut off when he felt a sharp burning in his unprotected side, throwing him of balance. He looked up to see Twilight, with new determination in her eyes, with her horn aglow. "Whorse" he growled. He apparently forgot he was facing off the Arabian and trotted over to her. Sand Stalker lunged and attempted to take his head with one, vicious swing of his blade; Hardhoof managed to glance over in time, and defend against the blow at the last second sending the loud sound of clashing metal reverberating through the air like rolling thunder. As the fight went on, Twilight continued firing from her position, trying to hit the guard. She mostly missed, but a few of her bolts hit his unarmoured side, causing him to throw out more curses. Hunter also kept to the fray; he would stay to the air and swoop down at Hardhoof in an attempt to rip out one of his eyes or maybe take off those lips that he hated to see sneering. The bird of fire dived, ripping his talons against Hardhoof's skull, taking a big chunk of flesh and digging into the bone. Hoof roared in pain, slashing his sword at the bird, trying to take one of its wings off in his rage, and forgetting his opponent.

Taking advantage of the distraction, the merc hacked at the guard savagely, trying to take off his head again, Hardhoof barely managing to dodge in time and make the strike non-lethal. As it is, Sand had still managed to take his left eye. He screamed and staggered away, tripping over the body of Blood Moon and landing on his back, Hunter dived for the fallen guard and ripped at his face, making a mess of him, talons digging into him and ripping out the remainder of his left eye. He rolled away and galloped away from the enraged bird, picking up his blade and attempting to take the bird down with it, until another bolt from Twilight knocked him off his hooves. Sand Stalker appeared at his side, the two slashed at once, their blades clanging off each other, rebounding at getting knocked away from each other before both went at it again; Sand never staying in the same place for more than a second until he moved again and took Hardhoof from his blind side, leaving nicks and cuts on his armour and shallow slashes in his flesh. Stalker's raw speed, agility and ability to fly was making it impossible for Hardhoof to hit him, resorting to swinging his weapon around furiously and blindly. Hunter, unwilling to sit by and watch, would attack Hoof from above when occupied with Sand Stalker, while Twilight would fire a bolt of magic from the side, never giving him a moment to think or rest. The three of them kept at Hardhoof, giving him very little to no chance at fighting back when he was too busy dodging Twilight's attacks, keeping an eye out for Hunter and having to block all of Sand Stalker's constant barrage of slashes, stabs and attempts to disarm him.
He caught a break when Hunter and Twilight paused in their attacks at the same time and he managed to slip his blade below and around Sand Stalker's and whip it from his grip; he used the opening to spin and buck the mustard stallion over to the dead body in the room, with the intent to watch him fall and impale him in the same way when he was on his back. He watched as the mercenary stumbled back and waited for him to fall over the body.

He didn't.

Instead he remained standing and glaring at the guard lieutenant. He looked down and picked up one of the blades at his hooves, throwing it at Hardhoof, who managed to duck out of the way and look up in time to see Sand Stalker lung at him, the assassin's other sword in hoof and prepared to stab it through his face. The blades clashed and sparks flew off them, the pair of them constantly moving around each other. Sand Stalker was better accustomed to his scimitar, a longer blade with more weight to it; he could move this weapon much faster than his usual blade, allowing him to strike with more speed behind each one and with smaller intervals but he couldn't get enough momentum going to even try to break through Hardhoof's defence. The guard swung his blade around, smacking Stalker's weapon from his hoof; not possible if he'd being using his scimitar with the extra weight. Hardhoof pushed the merc away from him with all his might before kicking away the assassin's blade and scimitar. Standing over the merc, sword aimed at his throat, he sneered at him once again.

"You know, it's funny actually; to know that you thought you could kill me." Sand stalker just spat in his face, Hardhoof responding by slowly wiping it off before slamming his hoof into the elderly merc's jaw. "You know Dash's dad, right?" The merc narrowed his eyes at the guard, who turned his gaze back to said cyan blue furred mare, still shackled to the wall and watching with fear in her eye at the prospect of seeing both Blood Moon and the uncle she never had the chance to patch things over with die. "I think I'll have her first" he spat. That one, truly enraged the Pegasus; he slammed his forehead into the guard's face and rolled him over, straddling him and beating him senseless.

"You…Killed…Blood Moon" he told him, each pause filled with another strike. "You…tried…to kill…me. But…what I…will…not…stand for…is…you…even…THINKING…about…trying…to touch…my…NIECE!" The guard, reduced to little more than a beaten and bleeding pulp, caught the merc's hoof in his own as he tried to hit him again, rolled over him and taking his blade in his hoof.

"I'm gonna have fun bucking her" he hissed. Sand Stalker snarled at his foe as he raised his sword. He then frowned for a second until his eyes widened in shock. The guard then felt a slight pressure on his back as he was pushed forwards a little. He frowned as he felt numbness in his neck, as well as a strange coppery tang to his breath and a weird liquid sensation, as though something like a drink was running down his throat. He looked down to see a pair of blades, familiar blades, protruding through his throat. He then figured out what had happened; he'd been stabbed from behind. He remained remarkably passive about this until he heard a strangely familiar dark voice from behind him.

"We're all taught three things as foals: don't run with scissors, don't play with fire and never, ever, try to kill an immortal" the assassin told him, as he rounded into Hardhoof's view, a grin on his face. The lieutenant tried to speak, to say something, anything, but the hooded stallion had severed his vocal cords. Still with that unbearable smile on his face, the stallion reached up and pulled his hood off. "Did you really think my legacy is 'never seen, caught or killed' because it sounds nice" Blood Moon asked. The assassin's grin turned dark. "Look at you, thinking you managed to kill me. Thinking you beat me in open combat. Do you know how many times I could have cut off any number of limbs in that fight?" Hardhoof kept watching with wide eyes. "Sixty-four. Now, I know what you're thinking; 'but I managed to kill you, my blade was in your throat.' And it was, but only because I allowed it, and before you start doubting, think about it; we're in a palace of shadows, I could have burned you alive, ripped you apart or have slit your throat open without you even seeing me. The only reason you lasted more than a second, is because I just wanted your death, to be all the more sweet for me and be that much more of a kick in the guts for you." Hardhoof fell to his back, still struggling to speak; blood began pouring from him in earnest as he began panicking, noticing the assassin advancing on him, the most terrifying glare on his face he'd ever seen. He grabbed the guard by what was left of his mane and hauled him up to eye level. "You… pitiful… pathetic… dirt eating… piece of trash, son of a whorse" he rumbled, every insult punctuated with a swift strike in the gut, breaking more and more of his ribs. He dragged the guard over to the elements of harmony and threw him down before them, grabbing his chin and forcing his gaze on them. "Do you have any idea, of what you could have done, if you'd killed them? No, you don't, do you. All's you cared about was yourself" he hissed, before slamming his face into the ground. "Normally, I would have you apologise, but seeing as my swords are pushed through you gullet and voice box at the moment, I think I'll skip that part and get right to the brutal death" he snarled.

With a growl, he then threw him in Sand Stalker's direction before following him over and kicking him the rest of the way.

"Well Sand, what do you think we should with him" Blood moon asks when he got him the rest of the way via some nasty bruises and broken ribs. Hunter landed on the assassin's shoulder, a glare in his eye aimed at the guard. Hardhoof was glancing between the mercenary and assassin with fear in his eyes. "Cut him up and feed him to some Timbers?"

"Nah, I say we have those serpents of yours rip him apart" the elderly merc suggests. Blood Moon hummed in thought.

"Tie him over a bamboo shoot and leave him to it?"

"String him up by his guts and leave him to hang?"

"Rip his entrails out with the serpents, tie him down by his guts over a bamboo shoot, cut off his legs and leave them as bait while, drawing in some Timberwolves to him eat what's left of him." The guard choked on his blood a little and the merc laughed at the assassin's compromise, while said assassin grinned and Hunter gave a pleased cry. "I think he likes that idea" he said as he dragged him outside. The guard struggled, abruptly enraging the assassin who seemed to lose it for a second and grab hold of the guard's horn. He glared for a second before he put an insurmountable amount of pressure on it and snapped it off. Even with his vocal cords mostly destroyed, Hardhoof could scream and scream he did; the unicorn horn may be capable of feeling immense pleasure but it is also capable of being the cause of the greatest amount of pain a unicorn can feel, while snapping it off would cause more pain feasible of being felt by any other race being felt by the unicorn. The assassin then spun the horn in his hoof and stabbed the golden horn into Hardhoof's jugular, not killing him but coming close.

A few minutes after he'd dragged him outside, those few minutes filled will some more screams and the sounds of distant barking; he came back, no Hardhoof in tow, blades back in their sheaths and a few extra smatterings of blood on his robes and face. Blood Moon trotted towards Sand Stalker, Hunter perched on his shoulder, with a small smirk on his face. He stopped before the merc, whom just gazed at him with uncaring disapproval.

“You’re a smug sonofabitch, you know that” Sand Stalker said before they clasped fore-hooves. Blood Moon just flashed a wolfish grin.

“My mother was a whorse” he corrected, prompting a grunt from the merc. "Don't take the girls around the side of the palace" he muttered to the merc. Sand Stalker smirked.

The two then trotted over to the mares, Blood Moon glancing over them all as he went. The two then worked the shackles holding them in place, five minutes later, and they were all down. The mares picked themselves up, Sand Stalker holding Rainbowdash in a hug neither had any intentions of ending and Blood Moon doing a surprisingly good job of holding Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Twilight at once, stroking their manes and shushing them all. All of them, even the tough Applejack, had tears in their eyes and were sniffling into the ex-foalsitter's hold. Fluttershy, as was to be expected, seemed worse for the whole ordeal but going by the standards of the rest of the mares in the scene, Blood Moon feared for her mentality; Hunter fluttered over to her and sat next to her, nuzzling her head with his own. She sniffled a few times but, somehow, managed to perk up at the company of an animal, petting the phoenix's head softly. It took fifteen whole minutes to calm and sooth the mares to a degree they could be properly moved to more pleasant surroundings.

The mares were in no physical, or mental for a few of them, condition to move quickly or without help; Sand Stalker put Rainbowdash under his wing and Pinkie Pie on his back; while Hunter sat on Fluttershy's shoulder, giving her reason to persevere and push on. Applejack stood by herself, insisting to the dark stallion she was fine and providing her frame as a leaning post for Rarity, who seemed grateful for the gesture. Twilight managed to raise herself, but didn't get far until she fell onto Blood Moon who was there in an instant. Twilight looked up at the stallion who had caught her before she fell, who had rescued her when she was most vulnerable. She wrapped her fore-hooves around the assassin's neck and clamped her lips to his; there was no real thought or effort put behind it, no tongue or moaning involved, just a simple reassurance that she was no longer in danger. If anything, it had more feeling and emotion than any other kiss the two had shared to date, given the circumstances. She disengaged the kiss after a few seconds and leaned back.

"Blood Moon" she murmured. The assassin grunted his listening. Twilight leaned back onto her hooves with a pleasant smile on her face, raised her hoof and slapped him across the face and lunged at him, pushing him onto his back and landing on his front, beating weakly as tears fell off her face. "Don't you ever scare me like that again" she wept as she tapped his chest with her hooves valiantly. "I thought you were dead, you good for nothing assassin" she scolded as she continued to beat him. She eventually gave up with her pathetic attempts to hurt him and just fell onto him sobbing into his chest. He put his hooves over back and holds her closer to him.

"I'm sorry Twilight, truly I am, and I hate to break it to you but…I was dead" he admitted. Twilight put her fore-hooves both side of his head and leaned up.

"WHAT" she demanded, fear in her eyes. Blood Moon shrugged, Twilight responding by shaking her head and stomping her hoof on the ground besides his head. "No" she told him angrily, but with no less relief in her tone "no, I'm not letting you act so laid back about this! You were dead and I saw you die!" She put her head to his chest, listening to his heartbeat, as if to make sure he was truly alive. She put her forehead to his chest, rolling it to side to side. "I thought I'd lost you" she told him as she raised herself and looked in his eyes. As she'd being speaking, the assassin had been listening to her rants with a dutiful open ear; none had ever opposed his laid back attitude so openly, but she'd told him it actually put her in distress. Then there was what she'd finished with 'I thought I'd lost you.' Why would she care if he left her life, surely she didn't care about him so much, she'd only just met him-

'Ah, to Tartarus with it.'

He reached up and put his hoof around the back of her head, she had been closing her eyes in an attempt to curb her tears but opened them again when she felt his hoof on her. He looked her in the eye for a single second before he pulled her face to his, pushing their lips together again; he held her in place and hugged her tightly, looking like he had the intent of keeping her slim frame in his grip until her count of days were up. He didn't stop for one long minute, he held her with his lips connected to hers; as before, no extra move was made from either party, it was a simple kiss and nothing more. In act, that is. For the two holding each other, it was the two telling each other they were there; that she was there and safe, and that he was there for her, and always would be.

"Hey, you two. As heart-warming as this little scene is, I'd rather not leave you here by yourselves to get busy when Timberwolves will be here within the hour" Sand Stalker calls over. Twilight suddenly remembered she was in the company of others and looked up to see her friends watching the two with some varied reactions; Rarity and Applejack were watching with a look of pride on their faces, Rarity's a slight wearier than Applejack's; Pinkie Pie was asleep; Fluttershy had a pink blush on her face, complemented by a kind smile, her face partially hidden by her mane; and Rainbowdash had a kind smile on her face also, but beyond that looked ready to fall asleep under Sand Stalker's wing. Blood Moon lifted Twilight off of him with his magic and put her on her hooves, albeit she was still shaky when stood up.

"Yeah, let's get out of here. Fluttershy, you okay with us taking you all to your place?" She nodded weakly in response. The assassin nodded appreciatively. "Thanks, alright ponies, let's move." And they did; Blood Moon leading the way, Twilight using him as a crutch; Applejack and Rarity following at a short distance behind; Fluttershy and Hunter came up behind them, the bird nuzzling the ever strong-willed Fluttershy; and Sand Stalker, Rainbowdash and Pinkie Pie brought up the rear. After a while of trotting, occasionally pausing to make sure they were all present, they arrived at Fluttershy's home. The merc approached Blood Moon, stood next to him and looked at the small cottage.

"Why Fluttershy's house? Rarity's or Twilight's would be better; they're bigger and closer to everything in town." Blood Moon looked over at the merc.

"I'm not making these girls walk any further than they have to, and it'll put fear into the residents of Ponyville to see them like this and probably spread a few rumours we don't need while we're at it" he explained. The mustard stallion hummed his agreement but still sounded unsure.

"It'll be a little cramped" he murmured. The assassin nodded.

"Exactly, these mares need to be kept close together; they need each other after all that." Sand Stalker nodded at that, understanding what Blood Moon was getting at. The merc leaned in with a grin on his face.

"Although, I think Twilight wants to be with only one pony in particular at this point" he says lowly, the same grin still on his face.

"Right here" said unicorn calls over.

"Now now children, play nicely. C'mon Sand, let's get these girls indoors." The pair of stallions did as he advised, carrying, guiding and letting the mares lean on them as they made their way to Fluttershy's cottage. The assassin pushed the still unlocked door open to reveal a bunch of animals, all of which appeared to be waiting anxiously for something, most likely Fluttershy. When she crossed over the threshold, after the merc and assassin but before Applejack and Rarity, she was immediately swarmed by her animal friends. They gathered around her, making their respective sounds to ask her questions nopony else could understand. Blood Moon sat Twilight on a nearby couch, Applejack and Rarity sitting next to her, while Pinkie Pie, who had awoken, sat with her back lent against the same seat and Rainbowdash did the same.

Fluttershy eventually managed to calm down all the critters before she seemed to fall unconscious from sheer exhaustion. A bear held out his arms and caught her in his claws gently as she was about to hit the ground. Said bear then looked at the assassin unsurely, most likely debating whether or not to trust the killer he had feared a few hours earlier, before nodding at him in way of showing his fidelity. Blood Moon nodded in return; pulled of his robes, armour and weapons and set them on a hook nearby; and turned to the rest of the gathered critters.

"All right, let's get one thing out of the way; you don't like me and I don't like you, but we're gonna have to put our differences behind us and pull together if we want to properly look after Fluttershy and her friends. Are you with me?" The group of animals looked between each other unsurely, nervously and, decidedly, unwilling to help the assassin. It looked like they were about to do that freaky head shaking in unison thing, when a single black mouse stood in front of them, facing the critters, and started squeaking at them; he seemed to have them captivated and listening to him, gesturing at the unconscious Fluttershy, who was being watched over by Rainbowdash, and pointing at the assassin behind him. Some of the other mice squeaked back and the black mouse face-pawed; he scuttled around the assassin, leapt onto his back and then clambered onto the amused assassin's head before he started with his, what the killer suspected to be, uplifting speech. Once the mouse was done with his squeaking, the critters all seemed to feel much better about helping out the dark stallion. The mouse leaned over the assassin's brow as he looked up at the small rodent and saw him put the thumb of his paw up in a 'you're good to go' kind of way. "Ok, now that we're all friends we should get this show on the road, but before we do, allow me to inform you that all complaints should be made to the proper authorities, in this case, the complaints desk" he told the critters, nodding his head in Sand Stalker's direction, who grinned menacingly. "Job one: getting these girls upstairs and comfortable. You" he pointed at the bear holding Fluttershy, who stood up much straighter when he was addressed "take Fluttershy and anypony else who can't walk up stairs." The bear nodded and moved over to the couch, lifting Rarity and Pinkie Pie in his large arms and carrying them upstairs, the rest of the mares following in his wake. He turned to the bunnies. "You lot" the rabbits all stood up straight on their hind legs, one of them wearing a green military helmet. "I want you to take the perimeter, anything that doesn't belong or not smell right to you; you come to me or Sand Stalker." They all nodded, the one in the helmet saluting, and hopped off.

"What's with the perimeter" the merc asked. Blood Moon turned to him.

"There's bound to be some guards snooping around sooner or later, I want to know about them before they know about us." The mustard stallion put his hoof to his chin in thought.

"Do you want me to head back to Ponyville and keep an eye out for any out of place guards?" The dark stallion shook his head.

"No, I need you here. You have a sharp eye and I need you keeping watch for anything we don't like, I also need you here if any guards decide to make any hostile moves against us. That…and I think Rainbow needs the company." As they were speaking, the bear had come back down stairs from putting the mares up there. Blood Moon looked between the beast and the rest of the critters he hadn't given jobs to yet and formed a plan. "Alright, mice" they stood on their hind legs dutifully "you're my right-hoof critters, anything I need and you're my first reference." They all nodded at once. The stallion then looked around. "Hey where's that black mouse?" Said mouse then appeared at the top of his vision, having wrapped his tail around Blood Moon's horn and hanging off of it causing the killer to grin at the scene. "You stay with me, when I need the mice to do something, I'll tell you and you'll go find the rest of the mice and relay the orders." The inverted mouse saluted and clambered back to his perch atop the assassin's head. He turned to the rest of the awaiting critters. "The rest of you will go about your business and wait for instructions." They nodded their understanding and retired to their respective holes in the wall as Blood Moon turned back to the bear. "You stay down here and wait for me." The bear nodded and sat on its rear end with a small 'thud'. The assassin then looked at Sand Stalker and gestured up the stairs, the merc nodded and followed him upstairs. Up there, they found the elements of harmony sat on Fluttershy's bed, some more conscious than others and Hunter perched on one of the bedposts holding up the headboard.

"You alright" he asked. They looked up with relief in their expression.

"We're all fine, sugarcube, jus' relieved ta be outta that palace" Applejack answers for them, the rest of the mares nodding in agreement. The assassin nodded before looking around the small room and frowning.

"You were right Sand; this place is a little cramped." He glanced at Fluttershy with a hasty "no offence." All the mares in the room, even Fluttershy, looked around the room; it was, admittedly, a bit cosy. The room was only big enough and furnished for one or two ponies, or three fillies. It was also the fact that Fluttershy's bed was only made for the same amount of occupants, so the six mares sat upon it gave each other very little room for getting comfy. The assassin sighed. "D'you want me to fetch some more furnisher" he asked.

"Oh, we couldn't ask you to do that" Fluttershy told him. Blood moon waved a hoof to stop her.

"Nonsense, it's clear you all need some space to relax. Tell you what; I'll go out and bring in some more appropriate sleeping arrangements." Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" The assassin shrugged.

"I'll take the bear and swing around yours and Applejack's place and nab the beds, I'll be in and out faster than anypony knows I'm there" he told her. He was about to trot out of the room when Twilight stopped him.

"Blood Moon, if you're going to be at the library, could you bring Spike with you? Celestia knows he'll be worried sick about me." The assassin nodded. He went to turn back when he was stopped again, this time by the sound of Applejack gasping. He sighed and turned back.

"Something the matter, Applejack?" The farmhoof took to looking sheepish.

"I-it's jus', ah was meant tah be pickin' up Applebloom an' the other girls from school tahday" she told him. Blood Moon repressed another sigh.

"I'll pick 'em up on the way" he says as he turns away. Rainbowdash gives a small 'ummmmm'. "Yes, mi' lady" he asked, in a mocking butler fashion, swinging back to the mares.

"Um, could-could you pick up a few Daring Do books for me? I-I wouldn't ask, but I'll probably get pretty bored with nothing to do here." The assassin sighed with a grin on his face, pulling out a small notepad and pencil from the sleeve above his medical supplies with his magic and put the pencil to a clean page.

"Ok, let's see; pick up beds, Spike and Daring Do books and deliver to Fluttershy's; Pick up Applebloom-I take it you want me to pick up Sweetie-Belle too?" Rarity nodded.

"Don't forget Scootaloo" Rainbowdash said. The assassin nodded and scribbled it down.

"Wouldn't dream of it" he muttered. "Now, since I'm not letting any of you out of Fluttershy's place until I know why the guards were on your tail, is there anything else I need to grab while I'm out?" Sand Stalker spoke up.

"Might I suggest some strong cider to take the edge off of some of the bumps they took?" Blood Moon looked up to see some of the mares rub their heads where they'd been hit by Hardhoof. He nodded and scribbled it down on his pad.

"Ya'll can probably find some nice cider in the barn" Applejack told the dark stallion who nodded and made a note of it.

"Anything else? Rarity?" The mare put to hoof to her chin in thought.

"Well" she started hesitantly "i-if you wouldn't mind, could you please bring me some needles, thread and your, umm, vest and other clothes. If you don't mind, I'd like to make some repairs to it. J-just to keep me occupied" she insisted. The assassin smirked and jotted it down. He turned his gaze to Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie, you need anything from home?" She shook her head.

"No thanks, just as long as I'm with my friends here, it's all I need" she told him as her fore-legs wrapped around her friends and pulled them in for a big group hug. The assassin grinned as he turned to Applejack.

"Nah thanks, sugarcube, jus' bring Applebloom and I'll be right as rain with mah friends here." Blood Moon, for the last time, nodded and took a last second pause before he turned and left the mares to themselves, Sand Stalker following him.

"Alright, I'm gonna go out and gather" he took another look at the list he had made "all this." Sand Stalker caught his tone of voice and grinned.

"The things we do, huh?" Blood Moon grunted and shrugged.

"I used to be a foal sitter, waiting hoof and tail on mares and fillies is something I'm used to. Besides, well it's already been said, after what they've been through, I'd say they need some R and R." The merc nodded.

"Alright, what are we getting first?" The assassin shook his head.

"No, what am I getting first. You should stay here and make sure nothing happens to the girls" Blood Moon told him "don't worry about any heavy lifting, bear will help me with that" he said, nodding to the grizzly sat in the corner, who put his claws to his fore-head in a small salute.

"What about him" the mercenary asked with an amused grin on his face pointing above the assassin's head. Blood Moon looked up to see the black mouse still on his head; he'd forgotten the cute, little guy was there. The assassin shrugged.

"If he's comfy there, I won't move him" he said "besides, I need to keep him with me in case I need to call upon the mice" he told him, frowning towards the end. "Never thought I'd say that" he mumbled. He shrugged and trotted to the bear. "You're with me; we're grabbing beds, cider, clothes and a dragon." The grizzly frowned at him as the assassin trotted closer to him and put his hoof on his arm. "Alright, when we get there, you've gotta be quiet. First thing we're grabbing is bed A and a few barrels of cider." The bear still seemed unsure but nodded either way.

The stallion waited a single second before his horn flashed and they appeared at Applejack's barn, the bear looking like he was about to throw up. The assassin motioned for him to stay low, the bear following his orders by getting down on all fours and following after him. Blood Moon pushed open the large red barn door, revealing a few crates and bales of hay, he looked around and saw a small mountain of wooden barrels, other to which he trotted over and peered into a few upright barrels. He smelled around the rim of it and picked up the smell of bitter alcohol and sweet apples, thinking of Applejack as he picked up the latter. He motioned the bear over with his hoof and had him pick up a few barrels. Done with the cider, he teleported the two of them to the side of Applejack's small home. He told the bear to stay put with a few simple motions. Trotting in doors he looked around and found himself in the Apple's living room, a simple cottage job; friendly soothing colours and basic furniture scattered around, a nice place to be all and all. He trotted silently through the home; nopony seemed to be around, Big Macintosh was probably out in the orchard, bucking apples and Applebloom would be in school for a few more hours. The question of time came into the dark stallion's head and he looked at a clock hanging on the wall. Two in the afternoon. Discord's antlers, the day had gone by slowly; he'd woken up with Twilight, gone on a date with Feather, found himself a pet, visited his old home and gathered his old armour and weapons, died, rescued the elements of harmony with Sand Stalker, taken them to Fluttershy's and now he was breaking into Applejack's house to steal her bed. He'd gotten more done in one morning than he'd gotten done all day yesterday. The clearing of an elderly throat caught his attention, he'd gotten lost in his thought and, apparently, somepony had snuck up on him. He turned his gaze to the left to see an elderly mare; she had light lime green fur; a white and grey mane and tail, both kept in a bun; light orange eyes; and an apple pie as her cutie mark. The assassin smirked.

"Busted" he muttered.

"Hmm, yer say somethin' there young un'?" She took another look at him and frowned slightly.

"Hm, you don't seem as young as yah look." The assassin froze. She had better insight than he'd first assumed. The mare turned back into the room she seen him from, the kitchen, and sat at the table. She had a cup of something hot in front of her and invited the stallion to sit with her. "Si' down there, mister. Ain't everyday ah git company." Cocking his head to the side, the assassin obliged and entered the kitchen, sitting at the same table. "Ya'll mus' be the same one Applejack was going on about the other day. She says a lot of things about you" she took a sip from her cup "not all good." Blood Moon smirked again.

"What kind of things" he asked. The mare shrugged at him and took another sip from her cup.
"Notin' interesting, 'sides, anythin' bad about you she seemed willing to look over" she looked at him from over her cup "there ain't many she'd do that for. She's a protective filly, that one, she must like you." Blood Moon shrugged.

"And I like her, she's a nice mare." The mare hummed in thought.

"Applejack did mention yer name, but mah memory ain't what it used to be. What'er yah called, sonny?"

"Blood Moon" he answered at once "you?"

"Blood Moon, eh? Fitting." The assassin smirked at her assessment. "Ah'm Granny Smith. Applejack, Big Macintosh and Applebloom's grandmother." The assassin raised an eyebrow in realisation.

"Ahhh, so you're the one looking after them" the assassin observes. Smith gives a small laugh.

"Yup, that's me, I done looked afta the Apple family of Ponyville ever since…well, ah guess you know." Blood Moon closed his eyes as he remembered his conversation with Applejack and nodded.

"I do, she told me a little while back." Granny Smith took him by surprise when she smirked at him.

"She won't tell nopony about that unless she thinks she can trust him. Ah don't think nopony in Ponyville knows about what happened to her parents, asides mahself, yew an' the other Apple's. She mus' really like you." The stallion hummed in thought, pausing in his conversation as he considered his next question.

"What did you mean; I'm not as young as I look?" Granny Smith angled her head to the left; it kept going until the assassin noticed she was falling asleep. With a roll of his eyes,he slammed his hoof on the table to awaken her. "SMITH" he roared sharply.

"Hmm, wha' did yah say?" The assassin gave an amused smirk as he glanced to the side and repeated the question. The mare hummed again and looked him over. "Ah may not be the sharpest knife in the block, but ah can see when somepony ain't what yew'd call 'average' when ah see dem. Yew an' ah both know ya'll ain't what either of us would call normal." Blood Moon grinned.

"Ya'll got me there partner" he admitted. Smith nodded a few times before she started coughing lightly.

"Listen here parndner, ah wouldn't normally ask anypony anything like this, but ya'll seem trustworthy and Applejack likes yew, so ah'm a give you the benefit of a doubt. Ah want ya'll ta look after Applejack and 'Bloom." The assassin narrowed his eyes in thought. He didn't like where this was going.

"Of course, but why would I need to? You'll be here to do so, won't you?" Granny heard the doubt in his voice.

"Ahhh, ya'll know ah'm not gonna be here much longer. I know this, an' I've come to understand, it ain't somethin' ah can change." She tapped him on the chest. "Ah don't know how ya'll are different, but what ah do know is that yer ain't young but yah still look like yew are. Ah don't care if you're different, what I do care about what's in here" she put a hoof over his chest, where his heart would be. "And ah can tell yer not a bad stallion at heart." She sat back in her chair. "Prove me right, do an old lady one last favour, an' look after mah grandchildren." The stallion leaned back and took a breath through his muzzle as he thought.

“Macintosh?” Granny Smith chuckled slightly.

“Ah, Big Mac takes care o’ ‘Bloom an’ Applejack, but that colt ain’t easy tah talk to. Ever since mah son an’ god-daughter...well, took t’ buckin’ in that big orchard in the sky, he stopped talkin’ so much. He’s a good listener an’ all, but he prefers to take…” she fished for an appropriate word “a more passive, role in things.” Blood Moon took a long sigh, nodding gently in understanding.

"I-I'll see what I can do." Granny Smith shook her head.

"Nah, I don't want nah empty promises. I want you tah promise me, ya'll take care o' Applejack and Applebloom." The assassin sighed and bowed his head.

"You have my word" he promised. Granny Smith patted his head.

"An' don't go tellin' ‘em nutin' neither, Celestia knows what she'll do if ya'll start goin' around sayin' ah'm gonna die soon." Blood Moon nodded, a smirk on his face. "There's a good stallion now ah'm gonna, gonna…" she slumped back into her chair and fell back to sleep. Blood Moon shook his head in bemusement and stood up, trotting up the stairs. He found Applejack's room and pushed the door open. He trotted over to her bed and lifted it with his magic, testing the weight. Not too heavy. He trotted over to the window and looked out, he put a hoof to his maw and whistled; the bear looked up and saw him leaning out of the window, said bear then stood and raised his arms awaiting the coming bed. Blood Moon stepped away from the window and lifted it with his magic and slid it out of the window before letting it drop. He peered out of the window to see the bear teetering on his legs holding the bed almost vertically, the assassin's eyes widened and he hopped out of the window. He put himself in the path of the bed as it was about to fall to the ground and let it fall onto his back with a pained growl.

"Alright, you got it" he asked as he looked past the furnisher. The grizzly, nodded and lifted the bed onto his back before Blood Moon lifted the barrels carefully onto the bed and watched, making sure the bear was steady. "You alright?" The bear nodded a few times nonchalantly.

The assassin shrugged and trotted over to him before teleporting them both and their luggage to Rarity's boutique. He trotted inside and looked around; searching his memory for the door Sweetie-Belle had gone through with his gear last time he was here. Finding a door leading to a small room filled with a washer and dryer, amongst a few other things, he found his cloak, vest and hood in a small wash basket. Packing them into a bag he'd found nearby and slinging it over his back, he trotted back out and hunted for a few needles and thread. He frowned as he thought; her room maybe? He trotted up the stairs and found the mare's room; he pushed through the door and revealed what can only be described as a pristine room, he didn't know why but he frowned; he'd been expecting something a little less organised, what with her occupation as seamstress, he'd been expecting some of that 'organised chaos' at least. He shrugged and trotted through the room, looking for something that resembled a sewing ki-

'Did I just see that?'

"Black, huge, rubber, seemed to have a switch on it and looked to…have been used
recently?"

'Uh-huh.'

"Yep, we both did."

'So that's what she got up to when I left the other day…'

"Seems she'd just as skilled with her needs as she is with a needle. Heh, just got an idea."

'Probably gonna regret this but, what's the idea?'

"Find that sewing kit."

'Got it.'

"Now put the dildo in there with the other stuff."

'WHY?'

"'Cause it'll be hilarious to see her reaction."

'…Yeah, yeah it will.'

"Wha-"

The assassin had a devious grin on his face as he placed the black sex toy into Rarity's sewing kit before resting it on his back and trotting back outside to the awaiting bear. Still with a slight smirk on his face, he trots over to the bear and teleports him and the bear to Twilight's library and into her there, he had the bear pack up Twilight's bed onto his back and trotted down stairs. Once there he spotted the drake doing a spot of dusting.

"Hey Spike." Said dragon whipped around brandishing the feather duster like a sword and snapped his gaze around the room.

"W-who goes there" he yelled. Blood Moon watched with an amused expression on his face.

"How's it going" the assassin asked casually.

"Oh, hey Blood Moon, when'd you get here?"

"A second ago, I'm here for the bed and a few Daring Do books." Spike blinked.

"The bed? Daring Do? Why would you need them?"

"Alright Spike, don't freak out but Twilight and the rest of the girls are hold up at Fluttershy's place. They were attacked by the guards for no apparent reason and I don't want them wandering around Ponyville if there are any more guards wandering around that want to have a grudge match with them" he narrowed his eyes "or me." Spike meanwhile, was watching wide eyed and horrified. The dark stallion shrugged. "Either way, where are the Daring Do books?" Spike blinked from his shock and stupor.

"Oh, um" he pointed to a bookshelf to the left of them "third row from the top." Blood Moon looked to the shelf he had referred to and used his magic to pull a few random books from said row.

"Anyway, you're coming with me" he told the drake. Spike blinked again.

"What?"

"You. Are. Coming. With. Me." He then grabbed him by the tail, slung him over his shoulder and took him up stairs. The drake saw the mouse on the assassin's head and nodded with a small 'sup'. Up there, they found the bear with a pair of beds and barrels on his back, waiting for the assassin and his guest with his cargo on his back. "Brace" the stallion instructed. There was a flash and they appeared in Fluttershy's front room, Sand Stalker looked up and nodded.

"That was fast" he commented.

"Such is the joy of teleportation" he answered as he removed the barrels from the bear's back and ordered him to take the beds upstairs. Next to him, Spike tottered around dizzily.

"You call that 'joy'" he muttered, not used to the assassin's older form of teleporting before he made his way upstairs. (If you're wondering, the old form is teleporting yourself and everything else gets dragged along, which can be pretty uncomfortable for anypony not ready for it, when compared to the newer form which involves teleporting all parties involved which is more comfortable for them. Blood Moon doesn't use the newer form because he finds his passenger's reactions much too amusing to stop.)

"Alright, what's the plan?" Blood Moon shrugged.

"Give 'em a few minutes to get-" he heard a few bangs from upstairs, indicating the beds had been placed. "Comfortable" he finished. "Give 'em a few minutes to properly get settled." Sand Stalker shrugged and settled into the sofa he was upon. After a while, the bear descended the stairs and sat on the same spot on the floor as before, taking out a pair of small reading glasses, setting them on his muzzle, and picking up a newspaper and looking through it casually. The assassin looked on with a raised eyebrow before he made his way upstairs. Up there, he found the six mares sat upon a bed, two per mattress, and Spike who was sat on a stool at Twilight's bed side, Hunter still on the same bedpost, watching over Fluttershy.

"So how come you're all bedridden? You don't look so bad" he said. The six looked between each other before the assassin answered from fresh hold, leaning on the doorframe.

"Because not all scars are physical Spike. I'm keeping them here so I can keep an eye on them and make sure nothing happens to them, be it from external influence or internal. Plus after what they've all been through I'd think they deserve some kind bed rest, that…and some of you look to be more physically fit than others." He trots over to Rarity and Twilight's bed, levitating the box of sewing equipment over to her before doing the same with the clothing on his back. "On that note, how are you all right now?" The mares mumbled about being alright, most of the rubbing where they had been struck.

"I'm ok" Fluttershy spoke up. The assassin shook his head.

"On the contrary, you were knocked out with a sleep dart. I'd like to make sure there's nothing…disagreeable in the concoction." The butter yellow mare seemed to be taken off guard with this.

"But how will you find out" the mare asked. Blood Moon shrugged and trotted over to the bed she shared with Rainbowdash and sat next to her.

"Sit next to me, and relax." She did so. "Where did the dart strike?" She put her hoof on a spot on her neck, pointing out a minute speck on her that was the point of penetration of the dart.
"Hold still" he instructed.

"W-what are you going to do" she asked timidly.

"I'm going to both, extract what is bound to be any leftover toxin and find out if there's anything dangerous in there." Fluttershy squeaked.

"How?" Blood Moon smirked.

"It's best if I don't say" he told her. Fluttershy squeaked in fear, clenching her eyes shut and laying her neck next to the assassin. Said killer then took an awkward look around the room; all eyes were on him and Fluttershy. He shrugged and put his mouth to her neck; he felt Fluttershy tense slightly as his lips met her fur and start sucking gently as he drew the toxins into his own maw. He didn't get much, if any at all and instead lapped his tongue along the neck, tasting the faint residue. He pulled back and swilled the toxin around his mouth like a fine wine, getting a taste for it, before he swallowed it and studied the effects on his system. He glanced up momentarily and glimpsed Fluttershy with a tired smile on her face and a pink blush on her face. She then realised he was done and looked up at him, a bashful look on her face. It wasn't lost on the smirking assassin that there was no regret in there.

"What was all that" Twilight asked, interest in her tone and a pink blush on her checks. She noticed that Blood Moon seemed oblivious to the small moan that had emitted from the mare who's neck he'd just being sucking. She felt slightly jealous, but couldn't curb her curiosity.

"I was testing the poison" he said with a shrug. "It would have taken too long to do some kind of scientific testing, so it's a good job I know my poisons and toxins by taste."

"Then why'd you swallow it" Rainbowdash asks, who was close enough to notice him doing it. Once more, the assassin shrugged.

"I've trained my digestive system to build a resistance to poisons and toxins I ingest. It allows me to figure out what they might be for with the added bonus that it makes me immune to poison I eat or drink." he explains, before turning to Fluttershy. "Hmm, tastes like liquidized Sleeping tree root, amateur work. You're fine" he told her.

"But it wouldn't kill you anyway" Rainbow points out. Before he could answer, Twilight speaks up.

"That's something I was wondering about as well. Earlier you said that you had died before. What did you mean?"

"And why is there a mouse on your head" Dash adds.

"He's my assistant for the time being" he says, answering the Pegasus's question. "And I said that I was dead, because I had died." The room went quiet at that as they awaited his explanation. "When I'd 'died' I did so, going to purgatory to await my judgment. As my judgement is about to be made, my own magic pulls me out the whole process being immeasurably painful; think of it as though my horn was snapped off six times and each process was stretched over a century. Then, all said pain is crammed into a few seconds." Rarity and Twilight shuddered at the thought, while the other four and Spike could only guess. "Anyway, it's for that reason I prefer to avoid death, rather than wallow in my advantage."

"But why do yah need tah heal yerself?"

"Because I still feel pain; having a gaping hole in your side is not the most comfortable of situations. My magic pulls me from death and heals me to a fully repaired state, but, as I said, I'd have to go through extreme pain for that to happen."

"But then you let him kill you anyway" Twilight says. The assassin shrugs.

"It was worth it to see the look on his face" he retorts. "So, are any of you hungry?" His answer comes in the form of a few rumbling stomachs. "Fluttershy" he turns to said mare, who was still in her own little world, that pink blush lingering on her face. "Do you have any food around?" She snaps out of her stupor.

"Oh, um, no I was going to go out to day to do some grocery shopping but, I never got the chance to go out, sorry." Blood Moon shrugs.

"It's alright, I'll go out and get some stuff." Before any could object, he had already flashed out of the room. The six mares sat in silence for a while; Fluttershy curled up on her bed, Hunter, who had flown over to her, sitting next to her while she petted him, with Rainbowdash laying with her head resting on her hooves, which were being supported by the cushions on the bed; Applejack lay on her front with her hooves under body, while Pinkie Pie was sprawled out behind her; and Twilight and Rarity sat on Twilight's bed in the same fashion as Applejack. After a few minutes in companionable silence, Rainbow spoke up.

"So Twilight" she looked up at the mare she had addressed. "You and Blood Moon, huh" she said with a grin on her face. Twilight instantly blushed while Applejack and Rarity giggled into their hooves.

"Well, no…we, um…"

"Don't try and deny it Twi" Rainbow interrupted, now sat on her haunches with the same grin on her face. "We all saw you and him." Pinkie looked up, over her tummy.

"Saw what?"

"Oh yeah, you weren't awake were you. Well Pinks, you missed our very own Twilight Sparkle smoochin' Moon's face off" she told her, falling to laughs towards the end of her sentence.

"Knock it off, Rainbow. Come on, it's not like we're dating" she insisted. Rainbowdash laughed at her friend's argument.
"Sure looked like it, the way you two were sucking face" the Pegasus argued. Twilight's blush deepened.

"Rainbow! Please, h-he's a killer; you can't expect me to-"

"Oh Twilight darling, please, you can't fool us as much as you can't fool yourself dear. It's painfully obvious you don't see him as a simple friend, and if you ask me; I suggest you follow through with any intimate emotions you may have" Rarity said. Twilight looked on with her mouth agape.

"R-Rarity, what's that supposed to mean?"

"What I mean Twilight is that for all his gentlecoltly qualities, the stallion is quite the flirt and a very fine stallion at that." She giggled to herself in a way that slightly annoyed Spike. "Why, just the other day, the two of us were having a very" she fished for a word "stimulating conversation" she told them.

"Ah agree with Rarity on this one Twi; when the two of us were Applebuckin' the other day, he was bein' pretty flatterin'. Not tah mention the way he was actin' about it."

"Yeah" Rainbow joined in "and Fluttershy seemed to be getting into her 'toxin examination' just now." Twilight looked between her friends that had spoken.

"What are you all saying, that I should…go further with him or that he's been flirting with at least two of you?"

"No, what we're saying, darling, is that we think Blood Moon would be a perfect match for you" Rarity explains. Twilight gave her a confused look.

"What do you mean; a 'perfect match'?" Rarity rolled her eyes.

"You both have a deep interest in magic, Blood's is a little darker but all the same; you're both very intelligent; you both know Celestia somehow; he appreciates us just as much as you do; you both have an interest in magical oddities; and it's also obvious you both have a deep interest in each other" she finished with a wink.

"Rarity, that's hardly enough to start a relationship on" Twilight argued.

"Well, you didn't let me finish. Just think about what you offer each other in this; he's very protective, and if today's events were anything to go by, we may all need that;" they went a little quiet at that "you're interest in Equestrian history would be fulfilled with all the conversations you could have about it; he's obviously willing to do anything for you and just think what you offer him. He seems to be a very lonely pony darling, and you could be his answer to that problem. He also has a lot of love to offer" she giggled and shuffled in closer, whispering into her ear "in more ways than one" she said, causing Twilight to blush but offer no argument. "He's also got a lot of personality and plenty of stories to tell, I'm sure, so you'll hardly be bored. And his laid back personality will do wonders to balance you out whenever you get stressed."

"But-but he flirted with you all."

"Ya'll the only one that kissed him Twi" Applejack said. Twilight swallowed.

"What does it matter" she mumbled.

"WHAT DOES IT MATTER" Rarity and Applejack exploded at once.

"Twilight, you don't seem to understand that you may have found your special somepony" Rarity told her.

"Wait" Spike said, speaking for the first time, all attention in the room suddenly on him. "You mean Blood Moon was the stallion you were thinking about last night?" RD, AJ and Rarity all looked at Twilight with devious grins on their faces.

"Thinking about him while you sleep, huh" Rainbowdash accuses. Rarity and Applejack both giggled. "What" the cyan furred mare asks, curious about the joke.

"Notin', jus' thinking about what Twilight said when she told me 'n Rare about HOW SHE WOKE UP WITH HIM" she laughed, burying her face into the sheets she was laying on. Rainbowdash laughed with her.

"They slept together? Nice one Twi" she said.

"I-it's not like we did anything."

"Well what about the way he was, how did you put it, 'standing to attention' when you woke up" Rarity asks. Rainbow laughed into her hooves.

"Y-you mean he was…" she made some crude but appropriate gestures. Rarity nodded and Applejack laughed some more.

"Will you all please, KNOCK IT OFF!" Rarity And Applejack shut up immediately while Rainbowdash took a second to wind down from her giggles.

"Alright" she conceded, laying on her back. After a few seconds she started laughing again.

"Now what" Twilight demanded. Rainbow giggled some more before she spoke.

"Twilight and Blood Moon sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Rainbowdash" Twilight moaned as she buried her face in her sheets.

"I don't see what you're problem is Twi, if you like him why don't you just ask him out or somethin'? I don't get what your problem is" the Pegasus said. The unicorn mare looked away sheepishly.

"Because I…wait what?"

"What?"

"Y-you don't mind? I mean, my liking him?" Rainbow looked confused.

"Of course not, I don't care" she looked around the room "Pinkie, do you?" The pink mare shook her head, a happy smile on her face throughout the whole conversation. "Fluttershy?"

"No" she mumbled.

"Rarity?"

"Of course not darling."

"AJ?"

"Not a care in Equestria."

"Spike?"

"No…I guess not" he replied unsurely.

"See, nopony here minds. Why would we?"

"Because, I-I though…"

"Twilight, none of us mind who you decide to share your love with, just as long as you love him darling" Rarity told her, hugging her from the side. Twilight felt immeasurably comforted by this.

"Thanks girls, it's just…"

"What" Rainbow prompted.

"He said that he's worried about rushing this, so I don't know when I should say anything."

"How 'bout when you next see him, jus' let it all out" Applejack suggested.

"Yeah, and if he does anything to hurt you, we'll kick his flank" Rainbow reassured. Twilight smiled warmly at all of her friends. The six mares and one dragon then retire to sitting in silence, a small while passing, before they heard the downstairs door open and slam shut.

"Remind me to never buy anything from that cherry sales stallion" they heard the voice of Blood Moon say, sounding a little pissed.

"Why" came Sand Stalker's reply.

"Because he tried to charge me twenty-five bits for a single cherry" he told him, a snarl in his voice. Twilight couldn't help but wince at his temper.

"Say what?! What did you do?"

"Told him where to cram that cherry of his. Next inventory he takes will be a few light though" he said with a grin in his tone.

"You want me to pack this away; I think I heard the girls say your name up there." The elements of harmony could practically hear the assassin shrug.

"If you're offering, thanks." They then heard him climbing the stairs with a brief 'hey bear', who growled politely to him in response. Blood Moon entered the room to find all eyes on him as he entered. "Hey, heard you were talking about me." Rainbowdash giggled to herself.

"Yeah, I think Twilight want's to say something to you." The stallion frowned and trotted in further, looking at the purple mare.

"What's up?" Twilight didn't look at him and blushed slightly.

"Well, I was wondering if…" Blood Moon cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that…"

"Aye?"

"That I think I might…" The assassin was beginning to look bored.

"Twilight, if you want to say something, just say it to me, don't be afraid to say it."

"I think I…" After trailing off again she growled to herself, threw her legs around Blood Moon's neck and pulled her lips to his in an effort to get her message across to him, closing her eyes as she ran her lips over his, their movements remarkably synced, before she pulled back and looked him in the eye, her hooves still around his neck. "I think I like you" she told him, pulling out the word 'love' at the last second. She tried to read the assassin's eyes as she awaited his response. He looked a bit blank.

'What do I say?'

"How in the buck do I know? What do you want to say?"

'I'll tell you what I want to do, I wanna kiss her right now and tell her how I feel.'

"Throw caution to the wind, huh? There's the Blood Moon I know. Y'know what?"

'What?'

"Just do it."

'Wha-'

Blood Moon looked into Twilight's purple orbs. What were his options? Play it safe and guarantee him and Twilight a longer relationship, but stretch this whole thing out to a, potentially, unbearable degree. Or throw caution to the wind and-

'Ah screw it; I'm an immortal assassin with nothing to live for anymore. TO THE WIND!'
Blood Moon pushed Twilight down against the bed, following her down like she had done to him, and planted his lips to hers. They kept the embrace going for ten, long seconds until they parted.

"Twilight, you remember what I was saying about not rushing anything?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I've fought by your side, fought with you, trained you, danced with you, kissed you on multiple occasions, slept with you and rescued you from power crazed guards. I think I can safely say we've been through enough together to say we won't be rushing anything. On that note, Twilight, would you like to throw caution to the wind and be my marefriend and I your coltfriend?" She smiled heartily and reconnected their lips, pulling him in with her hooves and daring to add tongue to their kiss, she moaned slightly and kept at it until she heard one of her friends clear her throat. She broke the kiss and looked at the stallion with a wide smile on her face.

"Consider the caution thrown." All around her, Twilight's friends cheered for the newly made couple, Hunter calling happily.

"D' ya'll need some time alone" Applejack asked with a grin on her face as Rarity hopped off the bed they had just made out on and trotted over to Applejack's bed, sitting on it with her and Pinkie Pie, giving the stallion and mare some room. Twilight cleared her throat awkwardly and got up, sitting on the bed as she was before. Blood Moon sat next to her with a bemused grin on his face as he looked around the room at all the mares that were smiling at him and Twilight. That was until a voice called from downstairs.

"Blood Moon get down here, I ain't cooking for any of you." Sand Stalker's message brought the stallion's mind back to the fact that some of the ponies in this room hadn't eaten today.

"Well I don't know what he's going on about; I cook about as well as Sweetie-Belle." Rarity actually gasped at that.

"I-I can make something, if that's ok with you" Fluttershy told them, as quiet as ever. The assassin shrugged.

"Sure, whatever, if you're up to it. That said; I can't cook to save my life" pause for laughs
"Sand Stalker refuses and I'm pretty sure that bear can't either, so we don't have many options" Blood Moon told her as he hopped off the bed, trotting over to the door and turning back to the room as he watched Fluttershy follow him over, before the stallion put his hoof to his maw and whistled for his bird who flew over to him and perched himself on his shoulder, before the stallion and mare trotted downstairs. The two passed by the bear and Sand Stalker, who both seemed locked in an epic dual across the chessboard; Fluttershy floated by, humming to herself, like nothing was amiss, while the assassin's and phoenix's gaze lingered on the two as they passed them. The two entered the kitchen, now fully stocked, and stood in the middle. "What is it with that bear? His manners are about as impeccable as Rarity's." Fluttershy gave a quiet giggle.

"Oh, Mr Bear is one of the most civilised critters I know. He's also one of the best chess players I know" she says as she goes through some of her cupboards and picks out a few ingredients and start preparing them. Blood Moon watches with vague interest.

"What are you making" he asks after fifteen minutes. Fluttershy glances around at him as she pulls out some carrots.

"Oh, just a salad" she tells him. The assassin watches from a short distance, analysing her movements with a trained eye: she was a little jerky, almost like she was paranoid and on edge.

"Fluttershy, are you sure you're ok, you seem a little…edgy." The mare looked around at him hesitantly.

"I-I'm just a little nervous" she told him.

"About what?" The mare 'squeed' to herself and turned back to her food preparations.

"Nothing" she squeaked out "just thinking about the stallion who just kissed my neck and now I can't seem to get off my mind. Ohh, why do my nether regions feel so funny" she whispered to herself, too low for even the assassin to pick up. Hunter, however, gave a confused 'huh'.

"Say something?" The mare blushed furiously.

"I-I-I was just saying that… you…should…go pick up the fillies" she told him, the lie not lost on the assassin but, with a glance at Hunter, he let it go, given the fact that she had a point. Looking at the clock, it showed him that school would be letting out its foals by now.

"Good point, I should get a move on" he admitted. Teleporting from the room, he left Fluttershy to herself and her cooking.

She peered over her shoulder to see the empty room, and the elderly stallion in the front room now dozing on the sofa, having finished his chess game with Mr Bear, who was nowhere to be seen. She paused for a single second before her left fore-hoof clamped over her marehood and started rubbing at it, biting her lower lip lightly as she rotated her hoof around her pink folds, making sure to touch her clit while she was at it; she stroked it softly and gently, the way she liked it, and made her favourite movements, causing her to let out a few groans. She decided she needed to get her other hoof involved; she rested her head on the counter and put her right hoof at her glistening, dripping hole; she moved her left hoof around her opening while her right went to her clit; flicking it, touching it, rubbing it vigorously. She took both hooves and put them at either side of her folds before she spread them apart, a low squeal emitting from her maw as she did it and a pleasured smile finding its way to her face, she slipped her right hoof in and pushed it in a little. Then, the mare started moving it up and down inside her, turning it slightly as she pleasured herself.

She pushed her hoof in slightly, as her other held her pussy lips open and caressed her pearl, and she stifled a moan before she started swirling again, feeling the moisture gathering down there; she pushed her hoof in further, moving it around some more, as she trust into herself. She kept it up for a while, more breathless moans slipping from her still smiling maw. But her hoof wasn't enough; she tried pushing her hoof further, but she couldn't reach, given her current angle so she removed her hoof and turned to the refrigerator and trotted over, pushing her hind-legs together so none of her juices fell from her pussy, making her flank cheeks push together. Fluttershy opened the door weakly with her hoof and peered through its content hoping to find what she was after, but she couldn't hold on for long and ended up holding herself with her hoof and crammed her other into her tight femness, moaning in satisfaction and relief, some drool running down the side of her mouth as she moved her hoof around inside her. Still hoofing herself, she looked around the refrigerator hopeful that Blood Moon had picked up-

"Oh, thank Celestia" she murmured to herself as she pulled out the cucumber. She closed the fridge door and floated over to the corner of her kitchen, hoof still between her legs, sitting on her sweating flanks with her hind-legs spread apart. Without a second's hesitation, she plunged the member shaped veggie into marehood with a lustful moan, a blush colouring cheeks and another small smile spreading over her lips. She gripped the natural sex toy in a vice like grip in her right hoof as she fucked herself with it; she was done with being gentle with herself. Now she wanted it hard. The yellow furred mare thrust her makeshift cock into her lustful cunt, pushing it deep and hard, imaging the slap of balls against her ass-hole as the make-believe stallion stood over fucked her vigorously. Her stabs continued, each one prompting a sharp squeal of pleasure from the mare, as she slowly slides down the side of the counter, ending up on her back with her right hoof still moving as she went. Fluttershy bit her lip, holding her left hoof to her mouth as her faceless stallion continued rutting her. She found herself looking up to where he would be stood over her; stood between her spread legs, moving his hips to do nothing but pleasure her, telling her how beautiful she was, how tight she was. She squirmed around some as some sharp bolts of pleasure shot up her spine; her left hoof reached up and she searched around for something else to penetrate her, eventually coming across a shaft shaped object. She gripped it in her sweating hoof and pulled it down, holding it in front of her face: a carrot. With a moan and a shrug, she moved her left hoof down her body and put the end of her newest improvised dildo to the tight ring of her ass; she pushed it in a little, teasing herself before she pushed it in with a high pitched squeal that was drawn out and pleasure filled. She groaned more frequently as she continued with her thrusts, moving her left and right hooves in intervals; she pushed the carrot in further than normal and squeed, her tongue lolling out and her right hoof tensing, accidentally snapping her cucumber in half. She gazed at the half-veggie in her hoof and thought about what to do with it; in the end she just crammed the other half in her marehood below the other half. Moving the carrot with her left hoof and the cucumbers around with her right, she came to one conclusion: it still wasn't enough. Her libido was fired up like a furnace and she knew that when she got horny, she got horny. Still on her plump flank, she sat on her kitchen floor, wondering how else she could satisfy herself; she knew Rarity owned one of the best toys she'd ever ridden, the infamous 'black bull' and that she had her own collection hidden below the stairs. She'd have gone for that already but with that mercenary sat in her living room, she may wake him up and find herself in a very awkward situation. She peeked out of the tiled room at him.

'Maybe that wouldn't be so bad…'

She quickly shook the thoughts from her head, knowing she'd likely freak him out rather than turn him on and prompting him to rut her vigorously, bending her over one of the counters with his great stallionhood in her as he fucked her senseless, touching her in all the right places and spreading her moist glistening walls with his raging, pulsing…she kept jabbing the carrot into her ass and moved the cucumbers inside her around some more, rotating them, thrusting them, using them to spread her lips and tease her clit. These thoughts weren't doing anything to help her; she had to get to the room beneath her stairs so she could find something to pleasure herself better. She stood up shakily, and trotted over to the front room, her erect wings useless to her now, with the veggies still inside her, shifting in her and causing her fore-hooves to weaken and make her face fall to the floor and hold her lush, sweaty plot in the air as they kept moving around in her soft, pink walls. She eventually makes it to the seemingly normal wooden door. She looks down at the potted plant and reaches down, the simple movement sending waves of pleasure through her as she moves her rear-legs around and unintentionally, technically, moving the rods around inside her. The pink mane mare picks up the pot and plant and looks at the small plate beneath it used to keep the water off the floor, and finds the key there. Taking it in her hoof, and having to forcibly restrain herself from fucking herself with that too, she takes it to a small wooden box and opens it to reveal three keys; she knew taking out the wrong one would make the box automatically seal for a day and block her attempts to get at her toys. Luckily, she'd chosen the key she knew she'd never forget; out of the pink, yellow and black key, it was the black, the only colour not on her body and her favourite colour to be in her. She placed the key in the lock and turned it, a sharp, overly loud 'click' following. Fluttershy squeaked and glanced over her shoulder at the sleeping stallion, thankful that he hadn't awoke, considering she would have to explain why she was holding her tail up in such a provocative manner and had a bunch of greenery in her love holes. She would have taken them out but, for some reason, the prospect of being caught like this turned her on, along with the sweat on her face, her juices on her hoof and the general scent of sex in the air. The yellow furred mare turned her head back to the now open cupboard and looked around inside; with a small smile, she took down the big, pink dick shaped rubber sex object that she had lovingly nicknamed 'ol' reliable', because it had never failed to make her cum. With a, muffled and excited squeal, she trotted over to her kitchen and sat in the same spot. With a stifled and disappointed moan she pulled the two halves of the cucumber out of her pussy before licking and sucking her juices off of the green shafts with her skilled tongue and lips, moaning slightly as she tasted herself, before putting them back up on the table. She took the pink dildo in her hoof and flicked her tongue along the tip before she ran her tongue up the length of it, pushed it into her maw and deep throated it, moaning slightly at the feeling of the veiny cock rolling between her lips and over her tongue, rolling the organ around it and swirling her wet muscle over it. She pulled the pink, rubber stallionhood from her maw, gasping slightly as she looked over it. She repositioned it in her hooves and looked for the small black switch on the base of the toy and flicked it to the on position.

Reliable instantly started vibrating in her grip as she lowered it to her marehood; teasing it along the lips of her inviting hole, she felt every individual movement through her wet, puffy mounds before she pulled back and slammed it into her dripping wet, tight, petite pussy, with a squeal only muffled by the biting of her own lip. She thrust the vibrating member into her and kept at it for a while, her juices dripping onto the floor beneath her. She wasn't bothered with any mess she'd made; she'd just clean it up later when she was done with the salads.

"Oh dear" she murmured to herself. She looked down at the member still thrusting into her and decided that, for the moment, this took precedent. She kept thrusting and pounding it into her. She looked over herself, again at where the stallion fucking her would be, and imagined different ponies there, changing with each thrust. Big Macintosh appeared for a while, his powerful legs and hips pumping into her; he was replaced by Luna, clad in a midnight blue strap-on that felt as good as the real thing, with a sultry grin on her face as she looked at the filly's squirming form as she fucked and pounded her relentlessly; she was replaced by Rainbowdash, one of her closest friends, who was wearing the same sex toy on her hips, as she humped her yellow and pink hole faster than anypony else possibly could; finally, the same faceless stallion as before reappeared. With each thrust he gained more details; it started with the fur, it was a deep grey like silver that shined with an unwashed and greasy shimmer and flowed lifelessly; next was his mane, it grew windswept, untamed and un-styled, the colour drinking in the darkness around it, his tail following suit in every respect; next the body mass of the faceless stallion was replaced with the toned and heavily scarred body, that glisten with sweat and grinded against her own as he thrust into her repeatedly; then came his eyes, those deep blood red eyes that she had thought so scary when she had first met him but now she saw as deep, knowing and soothing, though at the moment, they were nothing but something for her own to latch onto in her overwhelming lust; when his eyes were formed the rest of his face formed around them, that deep scar that now didn't look so ugly to her, his jaw bone that strangely reminded her of Rainbowdash's, his wrinkles that spoke volumes about the way he thought but formed a book that could be read by none and the rest of his features that made butterflies flutter through her stomach. And probably her womb. No wait, that was her approaching orgasm. The stallion above her started thrusting faster, concentrating on nothing but making her feel good; she felt pressure in her loins building up, alongside a massive heat and pleasure that slammed into her body, all over, all at once. She made her best attempts at clamping down on her deep lustful moan, but the sheer pleasure of being fucked so hard and the satisfaction that seemed to come with the thought of the battle hardened stallion sleeping with her soft little self, made her loose a small scream that she couldn't contain. In her post orgasmic bliss, she almost missed the call from upstairs.

"Hey Fluttershy, you alright" came Rainbow's voice. The mare took a second to gather herself before she replied.

"Yes, I'm fine" she called back breathlessly. This seemed to satisfy the cyan Pegasus as she made no more comments. Fluttershy looked down at herself, ol' reliable still vibrating inside her marehood. She gripped it with her hoof and pulled it out, cum and juices gushing from her opening and onto the kitchen floor, the carrot that was in her ass following. Huh, she'd forgotten about that. She closed her eyes softly with a small smile on her lips and a breathless sigh; she slides down to the floor, her legs still spread out and the dildo still in her grip. After a small while she got up, shaky as ever, and returned to her efforts in making her friend's salads. She looked down at the toy in her hoof and flicked her tongue over the tip, tasting more of her juices and her cum; she pushed the whole thing into her maw as she cleaned the toy off, enjoying her own taste and loving the feeling of a cock in her mouth. When she'd cleansed it, she glanced over her shoulder again, spotting nopony and grinned timidly to herself; she reached back and pushed the pink member back into her pink folds, feeling it vibrate inside her with another small moan. She pulled her hoof away, leaving the stallionhood inside her, and got back to making the food. Every now and then she would feel a prang of pleasure and her legs would fail her, causing her to almost fall to the ground and become a quivering mound of moans and pleasure. She didn't know why she did this; all's she knew was this was one of the phases of her sex drive: gentle, rough, orgasm, dirty. Right now, she had fucked herself and was still in her post orgasmic bliss and she wanted nothing more than to get a little naughty and if she had to stuff a fake, vibrating dick in her love tunnel and hold her tail up high, revealing herself in all her glory, in an attempt to flirt with disaster, then so be it. As she went about preparing her dishes her thoughts drifted to what she had been imagining but a few minutes ago; Blood Moon. She could only wonder what his reaction would be to her masturbating over him. She sighed heartily, pushing the thoughts from her head; she'd just watched Blood Moon ask Twilight out, and she'd said yes. She was happy for them of course, but she was a mare who could get very…excitable at times. Few were the stories when she managed to break out of her house when she was in heat. Her right hind-leg left the floor for a second as she felt another prang of pleasure rush through her system, her flank going up with it as it worked from her marehood, up her spine and hit the rest of her body, pushing another pleasured breath from her. She managed to put her leg down and get back to work. She searched for the last addition to her and her friend's salads but couldn't find it. She put a hoof to her chin, biting on the tip of it as another smaller wave of ecstasy washed through her, and looked around for-

"Ah, there…oh, um, uhhh" she had found her desired veggie but it had been the one she'd put in her femness but a minute ago. Holding both sides of the cucumber in her hooves, she had yet another dirty though. Putting both pieces below her dripping marehood, she managed to catch a few drops of her juices on them before she cut them up masterfully and added them to the salads. She looked back to the puddle and bit her lip; she couldn't leave it there, somepony might slip in it…and find out what it was. She grabbed a cloth and soaked it under the tap before she cleaned it up, holding the cloth in both hooves and swaying her flank for her imaginary audience as she mopped up the stains. Done with removing the evidence, she put the bowls of salad on her back and wings and trotted for the stairs. She paused as she passed her room under the stairs and turned her head back at her flank. Fluttershy slid the food off her back and onto a nearby table before she sat on her plump rump and pulled the cock out with some breathless and pleasured groans and grunts accompanying each inch.
Having pulled it out, and cleaned it in the same way as before, she put it back in the cupboard and lifted the bowls back onto her back and closed the door with a sultry and confident sway of her fine plot and trotting upstairs with some healthy sway added to her flank, her eyes sexy and half-lidded and a small, suggestive, smile on her lips. Trotting into her room she was met with a few questions.

"Fluttershy, there you are. What took you so long" Twilight asked with some concern in her voice.

"Yeah, what was with that scream we heard" Rainbowdash adds.

"Oh, it was nothing, I just forgot Sand Stalker was down there and he scared me, I hid from him for a little while" she told them, hoping they wouldn't clock that she had screamed after, most of the wait. Rainbowdash looked at her with a raised eyebrow, suggesting something didn't sit right in her stomach, but shrugged anyway.

"Oh, alright" Twilight says, apparently pleased with her answer "anyway, it sure looks like it was worth the wait." Fluttershy smile graciously.

"Thank you Twilight, now eat up everypony. A little bit of my love is in every bowl."
______________________________________________________________________________

Blood Moon stood before the school house and awaited the three fillies. He had been waiting for fifteen minutes, Hunter perched on his shoulder. The two had drawn some pretty amusing looks from the parents and passers-by, some staring in awe at the bird of fire, others in fear and confusion at the assassin. Said killer was beginning to wonder what the holdup was, pretty much all of the other fillies and colts had been picked up by their parents already and he was the only one to still be here, he hadn't even seen the three fillies he was here for. At first he had thought it was because the foals did trust or like him, but with his visit to Sweetie-Belle the other day he could only assume she at least liked him. He frowned as he wondered where they could be, casting his gaze to the floor in thought as he scratched the phoenix's head.

'Maybe they're in some kind of after school thing that Fluttershy didn't know about. Hmm, wonder what she got up to when I left, she seemed eager to get rid of me. Ah colt, I hope I didn't do anything to upset her. Last thing I want to do is get on her bad side, even I know the stories about that grand galloping gala a few years back.'

The assassin lifted his gaze slightly as he felt a presence behind him, narrowing his eyes as he did so.

"What is it Ditzy" he asked as he turned to said mailmare; there she was, grey fur and blond mane and tail. She wasn't alone Dinky stood with her, hiding with, tearful eyes behind her big sister's legs and, of all ponies, Doctor Whooves stood next to her. The two stood and watched each other, both set of bespoke eyes gazing at each other, Blood Moon with narrowed eyes and an intimidating stare while Ditzy wore a fearful look on her face, trying to steel herself under Blood Moon's glare.

"What are you doing here" she asked timidly "I didn't know you had any foals." The assassin didn't change his facial expression.

"I don't, I'm picking up three fillies for a friend. Not that it's any of your concern" he added.

"Listen Blood Moon, I don't know why you-"

"Because you didn't trust me. If your trust went as deep as your suspicions, maybe it would have worked out, but you didn't trust me, did you, so it didn't work out. Move on" he told her before he glanced at Whooves. "Or maybe you have already" he said as he put two and two together. "I wondered if I'd see you again" he murmured.

"I believe Ditzy is trying to bridge the gap between you" the odd stallion told him. "I suggest you listen to her-"

"Don't tell me how to run my life. I-" He stopped when he felt a presence close by him. He looked down to see Dinky looking up at him with wide and wet eyes that didn't faze the assassin one bit, her lower lip was wobbling and her ears were pushed down against her head. Blood Moon looked straight down at her. "What is it kid?"

"Mr Blood Moon, why did you leave my mom? I thought you loved her" she told him. Blood Moon lowered his head to her. "I-I thought you loved me. We were going to be a family together." The assassin grunted dismissively.

"Rule one of life kid: never assume when it comes to love. Same way you shouldn't have thought I loved her. Same way you shouldn't have assumed I even wanted a family" he stood up "same way I shouldn't have assumed she trusted me." Ditzy looked like she was about to cry but also looked enraged.

"I did trust you! You're the one who went and slept with Pinkie Pie and practically made out Vinyl right in front of me" she argued. Blood Moon grunted.

"No. You think I had sex with her, when I didn't, I just slept with her, and we weren't even in the same bed. You. Just. Assumed." He narrowed his eyes further and leaned in threateningly. "And Vinyl, the key word is 'practically'. Nothing happened between us, but, y'know, I should probably thank Vinyl for making a move; it showed me your true colours.” Ditzy glared.

‘My true colours? What about you? Somepony who goes around flirting so blatantly with other mares!” Blood Moon raised an eyebrow in condescending confusion before he grunted out a laugh.

“‘Blatantly flirting,’ huh? How is reminiscing old times and asking about her marefriend flirting with her? We’re friends Ditzy, Vinyl may be somewhat sultry but I’m not one to betray those i hold close to my heart.” The mailmare gritted her teeth.

“You betrayed me when you were so intimate with her” she hissed. The assassin cocked his head.

“Ditzy Doo, what colour are we?” She blinked in confusion at such a question.

“I-what? We’re grey” she replied. The assassin narrowed his eyes and nodded.

“Aye, we are. Neither white nor black, I.E not an absolute. I may be an all too charming wise-crack, but I’m not somepony who just goes and abandons loyalty like that. There is an in between state of lover and friend, and I count Vinyl amongst those in my life.” Blood Moon shook his head. “Perhaps I appreciate the female form more than you agree with, but before you question my apparent libido you should remind yourself where my heart lies” he told her. Ditzy just glared.

“I’ve never heard so much…” she remember the filly stood behind her fore-legs “rubbish come from one mouth before” she told him spitefully. Blood Moon just shook his head.

“I should thank Pinkie Pie for stabbing me in the side y’know. If she hadn't, I wouldn't have run into you and broke up with you." Ditzy took a step back, her expression showing her hurt, her tears threatening to spill as he formed his words.

"You're a monster" she told him. The dark stallion leaned back and smirked.

"I'm an assassin. And you're a fool to think you could try and bridge this gap, what did you think this would achieve? There is nothing between us anymore. I told you I didn't want to see you anymore…make sure I don't." Ditzy looked even closer to tears, but instead she steeled herself. Blood Moon went to turn away from her.

"You're not even going to try, are you?" The assassin turned back with a cruel smirk on his face.

"Why would I even want to mare? You're not even worth my unlimited ti-" Her hoof had raised and struck him across the face, slapping him hard, cutting off his sentence and throwing his head to the side, Hunter squawking a pissed off squawk as he fluttered from the assassin’s shoulder in a fluster, the mouse in his mane hanging on for dear life as he was almost flung from Blood Moon’s head.

"Not even worth your time? I was worth your time when I was being raped, and when I was sad and vunr-" His hoof had flashed and struck her back, a nasty snarl on his face as he did. Ditzy was thrown off her hooves and landed in a sobbing pile, Dinky gasping and galloping after her, hugging her and weeping with her. Doctor Whooves narrowed his eyes at Blood Moon and squared up to him; the assassin just laughed at him and shoved him away before flashing behind him and tripping him up before teleporting back to his original spot, shaking his head, bemused with the good Doctor's pathetic attempts at protecting Ditzy.

"I told you once I don't want to see you, now I don't want to know you. Go on an adventure or something, just whatever you do, do it away from me" he told her venomously, trotting away.

"You son of a bitch" she called after him.

"My mother was a whorse" he called back without looking, listening Ditzy fall into even deeper sobs as Hunter landed on his shoulder again, the mouse clambering back into his mane. He trotted away from the trio and entered the Ponyville school house.

Inside, he discovered Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie-Belle, alongside the teacher he had come across on his last visit and two other fillies he didn't recognise. He looked at the two he didn't know; the one furthest from the door had pink fur; a light violet and white mane and tail; wore a diamond tiara atop her head and one her flank; and had light blue eyes that he absolutely hated. The one closer to the door had light grey fur; a silver and grey mane and tail, the mane of which was braided and kept in a purple band; she wore a pair of light blue glasses and pearls around her neck; she had a silver ornamental spoon on her flank; and had dark violet eyes that brought the same reaction from the assassin as the other filly's did. He was sure he was going to absolutely love these two. He seemed to have trotted into a scolding and, with a brief glance at Hunter, decided to watch unnoticed from the doorway.

"What do you girls have to say for yourself" the mare the assassin had met on his last visit here asked. Blood Moon looked at the mare; same deep purple fur, same green eyes and two tone pink mane and tail. She still had her cutie mark showing three flowers with smiles on them. Cheerilee. She sounded annoyed at something, the three fillies Blood Moon liked looking down in shame while the other two didn't seem to care about what had happened. The mare looked at them all. "Well" she prompted.

"We're sorry Miss Cheerilee, it's just…" Sweetie-Belle spoke up, but trailed off. It was at this point the killer noticed the small bruise on her right fore-leg; he recognised it as an amateur 'dead leg'.

"These losers we're saying mean things about my daddy" the pink one said. "She" the filly pointed at Sweetie-Belle "was saying that he was helping somepony take over Ponyville and wanted to get rid of everypony." Cheerilee gave Sweetie-Belle a 'don't be silly' look.

"Well that's no excuse to start hitting her" she scolded.

"They started it" the grey one protested. Cheerilee looked at the three pointedly.

"Is this true" she asked them. All three of them looked like they couldn't believe what they'd just been asked.

"No way" Scootaloo exclaimed "Diamond Tiara started it! Me and Applebloom found her and Silver Spoon beating her up when we got there. We were just standing up for her!" Cheerilee shook her head.

"Well that wasn't the right thing to do, you should have come and found me, or another adult" she told them. Sweetie-Belle held her injured leg with a look on her face that would make the devil himself want to just scoop her up and hug her, telling her it would be all okay. Before any of the fillies could protest, Blood Moon spoke up.

"And what good would have that have done? If Applebloom and Scootaloo had rushed for help its most likely Sweetie-Belle would be in a much worse condition than she is now." Cheerilee and the foals looked over at where the assassin was stood. When the teacher saw him she almost lost face, but managed to get it back before anypony but Blood Moon could notice.

"Oh, mister Blood Moon, it's you. Why are you here" she asked before she glanced at the fillies in attendance. "No, can it wait; as you can see I have a disagreement that needs seeing to here." Blood Moon stepped further into the room.

"I'm actually here to pick up those three" he said, motioning at the three fillies he liked. Cheerilee looked at them before she looked back at the assassin with a frown.

"I'm trying to settle a dispute between Sweetie-Belle, Scootaloo, Applebloom, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon here. I'm afraid I can't let you take them yet." The assassin sighed and stepped in further. Cheerilee frowned again. "Are you even related? I'm not authorised to let somepony not related to a foal take them home." Outwardly, the assassin frowned in confusion, but inwardly, he flinched; how could he have looked over such an obvious detail? Of course the school didn't let foals get picked up by ponies who weren't kin to them. He had to think of something to fool the teacher, maybe claim to have a relation to one of them. He looked at the three fillies, deciding what ruse to go with. With a slight, confused grin shot at Cheerilee, he made up his mind and answered.

"Sure, I'm Scootaloo's dad" he said nonchalantly. The whole room went silent; the two fillies he didn't like staring at him, along with Cheerilee and Scootaloo, while Applebloom and Sweetie-Belle were staring at Scootaloo. Scootaloo almost looked like she was about to cry, or do something else to blow his cover, until the dark stallion winked at her, sending a subtle message. The filly blinked and smiled.

"Yeah it is him, I just didn't recognise him with the…" she trailed off, looking for something about him, Blood Moon acting to scratch his face but discreetly pointing out his scar. "The scar, you didn't have that when you left." She got out of her chair and cantered over to him, hugging his chest. "Are you ok? Did it hurt" she asked in a way that either demonstrated some pretty impressive acting skills or a longing to actually say these words. Blood Moon smiled and hugged her back.

"Nah, nothing daddy can't handle" he assured, rubbing her back. He looked over her head at her wings. "How's the flying coming along?" The filly looked back at her wings.

"It's…getting better" she said hesitantly. "Rainbowdash has been helping me out" she told him. The assassin nodded.

"This…Rainbowdash, she's been helping out my little Scoots?" Said filly nodded. "I'll have to thank her" he said. Cheerilee look on with slight tears in her eyes as she watched father and daughter reunite. She cleared her throat and shook away her tears, pulling herself out of her stupor.

"Well…I-I… as heart-warming as this is" she sniffed a little "I-I must ask you where you've been." Blood Moon looked up.

"Busy, I'm a mercenary. I've been earning a living to keep me and my family's head above water. As you can probably guess, I have to stay out of town for extended periods of time. But now I'm going to be sticking around for some time" he looked down and kissed the top of Scootaloo's head "and finally spend some time with my family." Scootaloo gave an excited squeal and hugged him tighter.

"Then what were you doing with Ditzy Doo?"

"I was running an errand for a friend, she'd been having some trouble as of late and I was protecting her."

"Oh, right." Blood Moon looked down at Scootaloo with a grin on his face before he remembered what he had interrupted. He looked up with concern in his expression.

"You said something about 'a dispute' didn't you?" Cheerilee nodded. "Then by all means" he said, lifting Scootaloo onto his back "tell me." Cheerilee nodded again, before she frowned.

"I mean no disrespect but, I can't really see the family resemblance" she commented. Blood Moon looked up at his 'daughter' and frowned. He looked at the filly, who looked down at him, and took in her appearance and compared it to his own. He looked back at Cheerilee.

"You kiddin' me?" He pointed to their wind swept manes. "You can't see the resemblance" he asked, pointing at their similar jaw bones. "Come on, she's even got my muzzle" he said, pointing out their, coincidentally, identical noses. "Her mother was a Pegasus, beautiful mare, everypony always said she didn't look like she was mine. They found out how similar our hooves looked" he told her. Cheerilee put a hoof to her chin.

"I-I guess I can see it. Anyway, you wanted to know what was going on." The assassin nodded.

"I did, I wouldn't be a responsible parent if I didn't take note of all the scraps my girl and her friends got into now, would I?"

"Yes, well. I found these three in a fight earlier today, both parties claiming the other started it."

"I already said; it was these losers. The blank-flanks were accusing my daddy of helping somepony takeover Ponyville, and wouldn't stop-"

"So your solution was to start throwing your weight around and hit Sweetie-Belle? The apple doesn't fall very far away from the tree, it seems." Diamond Tiara gasped.

"What's that supposed to mean." Blood Moon narrowed his eyes.

"What I mean is that you seem to be just as much of a-" Hunter batter the assassin around the head, prompting him to glance at the young ears around the room "horror, as your dad. I can see you the family resemblance between you two, that's for sure." Cheerilee gulped.

"Now now, let's be civil." Blood Moon rounded on her.

"Of course" he said, mock civility in his tone. "Now, as teacher, it falls to you to decide what punishment will befall these fillies" he told her. She nodded her head in agreement.

"Yes, quite right. From what I can tell, Sweetie-Belle sparked this powder keg with her…baseless accusations." The assassin frowned but said nothing. Cheerilee put a hoof to her chin as she thought. "I expect to see you all, everyday, after class for the next four weeks." Blood Moon blinked and looked at her disbelievingly.

"Hold up, Sweetie-Belle said some things, yes, but it was Diamond's bright idea to go from pushes to shoves." Cheerilee narrowed her eyes at the stallion.

"But cause and effect-"

"Cause and effect be damned, there's a difference between a word and an action. Surely you know that, being a teacher." Cheerilee advanced on him.

"You expect me to go easy on them just because of a technicality?" The assassin didn't back down.

"Is a robber given the same sentence as a mass murderer?" Cheerilee snarled her lip slightly.

"Fine" she exclaimed, trotting away from the stallion and throwing her hooves in the air "everypony gets off Scott free, happy now?" Blood Moon snorted.

"No, I'm not, because Sweetie-Belle here" he trotted over to her and held her injured leg in his hoof, looking over it and making an example of it to Cheerilee "has a nasty bruise on her leg, and you seem quite happy for her" he pointed at Diamond "to get away with it."

"I'm not happy with it at all, you're just making impossible to put down any type of discipline."

"Wrong, you just don't seem to get who's innocent and guilty here. Sweetie-Belle said something regrettable and you're willing to give her a months' worth of detention just for that. You telling me you've never thrown a few insults around every now and then, she's the victim here, damnit. Scoots and Applebloom stood up for her, a good deed, and you want to punish them for that? Those two" he pointed at the now cowering Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara "are the ones who thought it would be fun to start hurting her. If you ask me, the educational system here is messed up!" With that last remark, Cheerilee looked to be on the verge of tears. She looked between the two groups of ponies and took a calming breath.

"F-fine! Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon." Said fillies looked at her with a worried look on their faces. "I expect to see you here after school for the next two weeks, you can go today but I expect to see you tomorrow." Both fillies gave a 'what' and a 'you're kidding' respectively. Diamond looked at Blood Moon, who glared at her.

"Just wait 'till my daddy hears about this" she exclaimed. The assassin grinned menacingly and leaned in, prompting her to re-adopt her look of fear. Cheerilee motioned for the two he didn't like to leave.

"I look forward to it." He leaned up with a grin and looked up at Sweetie-Belle and
Applebloom, who looked at him in ways that just said 'awesome!' The assassin looked over at Cheerilee, who had retired to sitting behind her desk looking miserable. He suddenly regretted being so forthright. "Let's go girls, your sisters are waiting."

He and the fillies trotted out. Once outside he almost fell to laughing at Cheerilee's gullibility, but when he turned back to the door to the school, he saw the teacher looking like one of the saddest mares he'd ever seen. With a sigh, he lifted Scootaloo off of his back and turned back to them.

"Give me a second will you" he said, the fillies give a bright smiled nod in unison. The assassin trotted into the door and found the classroom eerily quiet. "Cheerilee" he said to the mare who looked up at him with misery painted on her face.

"What is it? Forget something" she asked bitterly. "Or maybe you'd like to continue to make fun of my profession and talent?" Blood Moon sighed and trotted over to her, grabbing a chair with his magic, flipping it around and straddling it, looking at the mare.

"Look, I don't say this very often but, I'm sorry. I…I was a little harsh against you, I know for a fact you must be a good teacher, if you weren't you wouldn't be one at the moment would you." Cheerilee looked up and gave him a sad smile.

"Thank you, but the problem is not what you said, but the fact that it's true" the assassin raised an eyebrow "what you said about not knowing who's innocent and guilty? It's not that I didn't know, it's that I couldn't do anything direct to Diamond Tiara, or Silver Spoon considering her company." Blood Moon cocked his head to the side.

"What do you mean?" The mare shrugged.

"What I mean is, Diamond Tiara is Filthy Rich's daughter, and he's the school's only sponsor." Blood Moon frowned.

"Only sponsor?" She nodded.

"Yes."

"But shouldn't the school board have to take care of that sort of stuff?" Cheerilee huffed.

"The school board doesn't pay for that sort of thing, let me put it to you like this; they pay my wages and they paid for the school. The upkeep, the facilities, hay, the benches outside? All are provided by the sponsors we have and any charity we can get. It's because of that I can't really make any real move against those two, and yes, I do know what little horrors they can be" she admitted. Blood Moon nodded before he frowned and looked up at Cheerilee.

"Why are you telling me this? I'm not objecting or anything, just curious." Cheerilee gave him a weak smile.

"You stood up for your daughter, and you look like the kind of stallion I can trust." Blood Moon smirked.

"I'll have to work on that" he muttered. "Why did he even get involved? What's in it for him?" Cheerilee grunted.

"It gives him good PR, so instead of being seen as the big business that makes pots of money he's the hero that has infinite generosity."

"Sounds like they're confusing him with Rarity" he commented. Cheerilee nodded before she continued.

"I dread to think of what Filthy will do now, last time I tried to give Diamond a detention he cut our funds for a month. I almost had to close the school" she told him. The assassin put a hoof to his chin; he didn't have an unlimited amount of bits so…no scratch that, he sort of does; after ten thousand years of performing high risk, and high pay, assassinations, living on the job and in the sticks and eating at odd intervals had allowed him to amass a hefty fortune. Coupled with his vastly out of place amount of knowledge of the stock exchange, gained from a few experiments that told him when and where to put his cash for maximum effect, he was technically one of the most wealthy and influential ponies in equestria. A thought crossed his mind.

'Why in Tartarus not?'

"Say, Cheerilee, I'm not trying to win any points here, I know that when my Scoots does wrong she needs to know what she did wrong. I'll tell you what; tell me what to do, and you'll have yourself a new school sponsor" he told her. The mare looked up and blinked.

"You'll…what?" The assassin grinned.

"I'm not greedy, and I know a worthy cause when I see one. You love your work and the foals you teach, you deserve it." The mare blinked once before she leapt over her desk and wrapped the stallion in a violent hug.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! You have no idea how much that means to me" she exclaimed. Blood Moon smiled.

"I have a good idea" he told her "now, if you'll excuse me, I have a daughter and her friends to get home" he said. The mare got off him and helped him up, a pink blush on her face when she realised what she had just done.

"Scootaloo is a lucky girl to have a father like you" she told him. The stallion smirked lopsidedly and shrugged.

"I prefer to say I'm lucky to have a girl like her" he said. Nodding his farewell and trotting out of the door, he found the fillies waiting for him. They looked up at him as he approached, trotting over to him, Scootaloo stopping a little closer than the rest.

"Where were you?"

"What were you doing?"

Scootaloo didn't ask him anything; she just stood before him looking up at him with wide, conflicted eyes. He ignored the others questions for now and concentrated on the orange furred filly before him.

"Why did you say that I was your daughter?" Blood Moon didn't shrug; he just looked down at her.

"I needed something to get you out of there. I…hope you don't mind." She looked close to tears as she shook her head.

"No" she told him, before she managed to shake her tears away and look back at him with a more casual look on her face. "No, it's fine. Don't worry about." The assassin hummed and nodded, using his magic to put the orange filly onto his back. Trotting back and explaining what had happened, getting a few gasps in response, he trotted back to Fluttershy's place. All three of them looked eager to get to their sisters and by the time they had gotten within sight of the small cottage, they had taken to galloping for the animal caretaker's home. They burst through the door with a 'RARITY', 'APPLEJACK' and 'RAINBOWDASH' between them. Blood Moon guided them upstairs and where they found their respective big sisters and leapt onto them, all of them catching them out of the air and holding them close to their chests. Even Rainbow seemed not to care about the public displays of affection, given the circumstances.

The dark stallion watched from the doorway with a smile on his face. He looked around the room; Twilight was doing much the same as him, but was taping the spot on the bed besides her; Fluttershy was blushing hugely and refused to meet his confused gaze; and Pinkie Pie, as ever, had an impossible grin plastered on her face.
Nothing much more happened that day; the sisters hung out together; Pinkie was playing Blackjack with Spike; Fluttershy, for a reason the assassin still couldn't pin down,, still wouldn't look at the assassin, or from what he could tell, she was looking at him whenever he was looking somewhere else but looked away when he looked at her; Scootaloo seemed to be refraining from saying anything about the act Blood Moon had pulled earlier; Rarity had yet to start on her repairs to the assassin's things, much to his relief given the young here; Sand Stalker joined after a while, sitting on a chair next to the window and watching them all like a desert eagle; and Twilight wouldn't let him leave her side the whole time. By the time Luna had raised the moon, and they were winding down for the day, sleeping arrangements had already been established; Applejack, Applebloom, Rarity, Sweetie-Belle and Pinkie slept on Applejack's bed, the largest of the three, the sisters hugging their sisters lovingly; Fluttershy, Rainbowdash and Scootaloo slept on Fluttershy's bed, Rainbow holding Scootaloo like Applejack and Rarity held their sisters; Spike slept in his basket, which Blood Moon a fetched for him; Twilight and Blood Moon slept together, holding each other in their hooves, an act that drew no small amount of 'dawww's from the others in the room, even Rainbowdash and Scootaloo, Hunter perched on the bed post on Blood Moon's side while the mouse lay in a small bed made from some loose hay the assassin had found; while Sand Stalker sat in the hoof-chair he had brought from down stairs. Before long, light were out and the small family like group of ponies had fallen to sleep.