Blood Moon stood before the glass case, staring at both the armour inside and his reflection. He could feel his blood red eyes staring back at him, looking deep into his own soul. Uncertainty. That was all he could see. Could he do this, could he go through with it? Last night he had been so confident in his choice, so confident in his intentions. Now however…

Every time he decided he was going through with it, his mind would argue against him. She's still your little girl, that optimistic little filly who only wanted to do the right thing. She's the mare who hunted you down for all of your life, who made any prospect of living a normal, social life impossible. She had good reason, you abandoned her. If I hadn't, more nobles would have died in one year than I've killed though my whole career.

He growled as the two sides within him came to blows, nothing but scrambled arguments and furious attempts to come to a conclusion rattling around in his head as he succumbed to frustration. He leant his head against the glass in defeat. He had no doubt that he could actually do it, but actually doing it was another matter entirely. She'd wronged him, he finally had an excuse to go after her. That was just it. Was this just an excuse to end this, just one last loose end to tie up before he finally got to that retirement he'd been putting off for how long now? He growled and looked to the ceiling, hoping to find the answer to all his problems. He snarled as he looked around himself, finding nothing to help him in his current mental battle.

His armoury. The home to so many trophies, weapons, armour, shields, the banners he'd fought under, the burnt banners he'd brought down single-hoofed. Memories. Just…more and more memories.

'So many memories…'

All he'd done throughout his life, everything he'd done; Celestia and Luna, raising a family, every one of his assassinations, all the mares he'd known, all the friends he'd seen die, all the funerals he'd watched from afar, the tears he'd shed while curled up in a dark corner, just waiting for an end to it all. His pride kept him standing back up, but it didn't stop him from falling down. Everything he'd ever done, everything he hadn't done, all had been in this chapter of his life. The fourth chapter in an endless book, entitled The life and times of Blood Moon. All under the ever vigilant searching gaze of Celestia and Luna. All…all while hiding from them.

Could he do it, close this chapter…close this volume of his story? End Celestia. Take so slight a comfort in an ending. To stop trying to escape his past. To finish this. To finally be given the freedom he craved throughout everything he did. Now that it stared him in the face, it was only now he could not look it in the eye.

He didn't have to… He could just send out another bird, telling the rest of the Loom he'd called it off. They'd be annoyed, yes, but they wouldn't say anything. Blood Moon was a feared and respected Chapter Leader. The Weaver wouldn't care either. He didn't care for much. The other side reared its ugly once again. He wished for an ending to all this…bullshit. To not have to cower in the shadows anymore. Blood Moon snarled at something.

He never cowered.

He turned back to the armour, looking the hooded mannequin in the eye, finding his own gaze looking back from the reflection in the glass. Further uncertainty. He roared in anger, leaping around and thrashing in the air in anger. He hated trying to make such a decision. It was just…impossible. He stomped his hoof into the thin, red carpet he stood upon, dust flying into the air. He grunted and growled out his breaths, cursing savagely, looking around himself in further frustration. His eyes passed over something on one of the small tables he kept in here, locking on what was atop it. He trotted slowly over to it, taking the dark brown, wooden frame in his hoof and looked down at the picture in his hoof.

It was of him, Luna and Celestia. Him in the middle, Luna's young form cradled in his fore-leg as she wrapped her fore-legs around his neck, a big, giddy smile on her face. Celestia was laughing as Blood Moon put his other fore-leg over her shoulders and pulled her face into his own, the stallion wearing a big, lopsided grin as they looked over at each other, their smiles warming Blood Moon and Celestia's heart as they looked at the same picture at once.

Blood Moon swallowed a lump in his throat as tears welled up, Celestia biting her lip lightly as her own tears welled behind her eyes. Such a…simple image, innocent, good…from a simpler, more innocent time. A few tears dropped onto the glass protecting the image, Blood's falling onto Celestia's face while Celestia's fell onto Blood Moon's. Blood Moon closed his eyes as he bowed his head, his tears still leaking from beneath his closed eyelids, Celestia just holding the picture to her chest.

It was impossible for the both of them to know they were doing exactly the same thing, at exactly the same time, both on different sides of Equestria yet connected through their pain, longing and hatred. They were both stood in their armoury, both staring themselves down in the reflections of the glass cabinets holding their signature battle-gear, surrounded by weapons and the trophies they'd once gathered, once taken. Both with the same emotions running through their hearts.

Neither ruler nor assassin truly knew why they kept this picture in here, perhaps it was the hoof of fate at play, placing them there by chance so they were sure to consider their actions; prepare her country for war, ready himself for one more contract.

Blood Moon opened his eyes and gazed down at the picture in his hoof, staring down at Celestia's innocent, young form, always eager to learn and discover, but always ready to face the trials of life and the responsibilities that came with her station. Celestia opened her eyes, moving the picture back into her field of view, staring down at Blood Moon's younger form, just as proud, just as hard headed, always quick for a joke and the first to smirk…just as warm-hearted and with a hoof first to his blade if it meant defending those he cared for.

The assassin and princess both hung their heads; they couldn't do it. Neither could face each other with a blade in their grip. Blood Moon realised just how different it was compared to first time he was meant to kill Celestia. Last time, four thousand years into his career, it had been plain old stubbornness and a rebellious nature shining through, an erg to disobey his 'superiors.' Now, he had no excuse, he had nothing to tell him not to do this with. Nothing but his memories. Celestia faced an altogether different problem. Throughout her search for the Hunter, she'd constantly dreamt up ways of punishing him, and each time she'd come close…she'd lost the will to look the problem in the face. Both had.

Forever with their eyes on the prize, neither could look at it when it was in their reach again until it went away.

Both took a long, sighing breath as they cleared their minds. Blood Moon looked down at the picture in his hoof. Celestia did the same. The pair of them were staring at the other's face again, wondering what the other would do. Blood Moon was unpredictable through and through, a mad-stallion. Celestia was smart, patient and strategic, she knew her foe, knew what paths he was least likely to take, most likely to take. She'd do whatever it took to counter what Blood Moon would do. The assassin of the pair knew how the ruler would act; in defence of what her enemies desired of her. Be it herself, her family or her country.

Blood Moon was after her, and from what she knew, he was to be less…subtle than he'd been in the past.

'A head on approach…' they both thought at once. 'Impossible' they thought in sync once more. Blood Moon smirked at the thought while Celestia grimaced. Impossibilities were what Blood Moon dealt in, and what Celestia had faced more than once. Both looked back to the picture they both held. They each wanted the other back, each wanted to see each other once more… More impossibilities.

Both fell to their flanks, Blood Moon falling to a stool behind him, Celestia to a chair she kept in there for polishing armour upon. Blood Moon covered his eyes with one hoof, his grip on the picture ever-tightening as he grit his teeth, tears creeping down his face while Celestia held her eyes in both hooves, sobbing openly into them as the picture clattered to the floor. Both wanted what they couldn't have. Both wanted the other, yet knew that they, themselves and Equestria as a whole would not allow it. Bitterness, pride and politics. These three barriers.

After maybe fifteen minute of begrudgingly letting his tears fall, Blood Moon looked up again, his eyes gazing down at the picture in his hoof.

'Lonely most are those who have everything they could ever desire.' He grunted. When he'd first said that, it was aimed at nobles who lived in the lap of luxury, yet alone. Never once at the time, when he was still foalsitting Tia and Luna, had he supposed that somepony's 'everything' would include that pony. How naïve he'd been. A young fool at more than two thousand years of age. Some might call that ironic.

His problems might go away if he removed the key factor. Get rid of his longing for Celestia. It was a shudder inspiring train of thought. As a parent, it was hard enough to watch your children die, of old age no less, but to watch them slowly wither away of broken heart, that he'd broken her heart to boot, was just so much…worse. It had to be done. It was what he stood for, after all; doing what need be done, no matter how horrid the thought. Hay, that was what he practically preached to the Shadow Weavers.

He'd done a lot throughout his life, in quantity he was evil in its purist form, a true black blot on Equestria's history, but in deed, he was practically a crusader of good amongst ponies. He'd saved Equestria from destruction twice, he'd closed shut the jaws of Tartarus single-hoofed, slain demons of power comparable to that of Father Time, ended the reign of a false tyrant king and put the true ruler back upon his throne. He'd done enough for Equestria to earn himself this.

The assassin raised his head slowly. He looked to the glass cabinet containing his infamous Shadow Scale armour and trotted over to it, raised a hoof and shattered the glass with one solid strike, letting it smash around his hoof and tinkle to the ground. He put his hoof to the armour, his battle suit, his dreaded armour of scales, the last thing so many ponies, dragons, griffins, creatures of the deep sea and Everfree forest had seen. His horn glowed dimly, the magic flowing through him and the armour he touched; the leather below the metal rippled and waved like liquid, reaching out to him and gripping him like an infernal, dark creature grasping him, pulling him into the void, yet instead of pulling him, it crawled up his hoof, just like the shadows of 'hide' and covered him in a dark brown leather suit, covering all four legs, hooves, his body, draping over his head in the hood and reaching a little down his tail. The dark stallion retracted his hoof and took a step back. The armour did the rest. The scales, spikes, twisted metal and cape all floated gently in mid-air, as though suspended by an unseen unicorn's glow. They moved like lightning, latching onto their proper place, whipping through the air fast enough to leave a feint vapour trail as they found him.

Heavy, metallic clunks and the sounds of grinding metal met his ears as the armour attached to the leather, covering him head to hoof in protective, black iron, thrice as strong as the size of the individual plates described. The metal formed demonic spikes over his back and shoulders, the metal of the hood giving him the look of an armoured eagle. The cape came last, slowly floating over to him and coming to a stop next to his neck, the black iron clasps latching to his shoulder-plates, the cape flowing down his side gracefully. When the formation was complete, the larger gaps in the armour glowed with an intimidating, blood red hue.

Blood Moon took another breath, this one long and hard, focused and primed, as he came to terms with what he had to do. He trotted forwards, the armour not giving a creak or a whisper as he stepped, his metal hooves silent in the room. His hidden-horn glowed once more, a pair of scabbards floating over to him. They were a traditional katana-wakizashi Daishō set, the hilts of both blades peeking from the cape he wore on his left side as they strapped to him. They were his finest pair, both identical in all but size, the pair of them a perfect reflection of the blades he'd worn when he first came to Ponyville, but of the make of the blades Tinker had given him the day before the Goldhooves contract, the Soshu Kitae forge method.

He was prepared; a suit of armour, a pair of blades, and a purpose in mind. That was all the Hunter needed. He stepped from the armoury, his steps quick yet measured, calm. He passed through the Square and stood in the door to the living room. He took a second to gaze at Twilight. He'd made sure to be up before she was, this wasn't the kind of thing he could discuss with anypony else and come to the same conclusion. He knew he needed to do this, and the reason for his motivation was sound…in his mind. He knew that nopony would agree with him in this light, but, he reminded himself, that was what the Hunter stood for: doing what need be done.

Still, the longing Twilight seemed to show pained him a little; she was clutching a big pillow in her hooves, wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, and her face showed that she knew the cushion wasn't him and she missed his presence dearly. His trotted silently into the room, his armoured hooves sinking into the carpet a little more, and came to a stop next to her. He pulled his hood off and leant down, kissing her lightly on the cheek.

"I love you" he told her, his words visibly settling her sleeping form "and I'm sorry for what I'm about to do" he finished. He looked up to find Hunter and Dusk resting on the back of the couch, well, just Hunter really, Dusk was sleeping in Twi's mane. Blood Moon ran a hoof over the phoenix's head, rousing him. The bird of fire blinked a few times before he found his master before him. "Hey buddy" he murmured, the bird recognising armour when he saw it and looking at Blood Moon in a confused manner. "Want to go on a little bonding experience?" The assassin's self-appointed guardian didn't need to be asked twice, hoping to his shoulder, nuzzling Blood Moon lightly. He probably noticed the dark stallion's grave manner. They went to turn away when they heard a squeaking from below. Blood Moon looked down to find Dusk, looking up at him half-worried, half-annoyed. Blood bent down to him. "I'm sorry Dusk, but I need you here to hold the fort. I gotta keep one of my pets safe, y'know?" Dusk kept a defiant look in his expression for a couple of seconds before he relented, dropping his gaze and nodding a few time. Blood Moon scratched between his ears a little, a small smile on his face. "Look after Twilight and Scootaloo, will you?" The mouse nodded in understanding, his face still a little downcast at being left out, but knew that his job was important. Feeling a little proud of the small critter, the dark stallion straightened up again, stepping away and trotting for the Square once more.

"Are you sure about this, Blood Moon" asked an accent of the sand. Blood Moon paused and turned his head back slightly.

"Technically" he answered. He turned around to find Sand Stalker, stood in the doorway to the gym, likely there to either train or get some privacy. The mercenary grunted.

"This'll destroy her, you know. Twilight" he pointed out. The assassin gave a small sigh.

"Probably, but it's what I need to do" he answered. The Saddle Arabian met him with a strange gaze.

"You keep telling yourself that, Hunter" he said quietly. Blood Moon gave a defeated sigh.

"Listen, Sand, we're a lot alike in many ways; we've both lost a family, we've both lost our way in life, we've both found somepony in the Elements…but if you were hunted down for most of your life by somepony, and were finally given a chance to end it, would you take it?" The old merc seemed to be in thought, deep thought, for a while before he answered.

"I would. And I did. All's it did for me was give me a little security, while taking away the one thing I was fighting, the thing I'd gotten so used to, I found I couldn't operate properly without it. You may be ready to leave this life Moon, but this life ain't ready to leave you." Blood Moon couldn't help but take those words to heart, storing them away for future study.

"Perhaps" he said after a while "but a mad stallion is the last stallion you predict. And I've never claimed to be sane." Sand Stalker took a long breath as he regarded Blood Moon.

“You know, for a stallion who founded a clan of assassins who dedicate themselves to cutting away cancerous ponies, by killing Celestia you’re opening the storm windows to a political shitstorm.” Sand Stalker narrowed his eyes slightly. “You know what this will do” he told the dark stallion. Blood Moon only smirked.

“Equestria’s strong, she’ll pull through this.” Sand Stalker simply grunted.

“Cut off the head…” he began. The assassin’s smirk held.

“Tell that to a Hydra” the assassin retorted. Sand gave a small grunt as they trotted towards each other and clasped their fore-legs together.

"Live with strength" the Kinsman started.

"Die with pride" the assassin finished.

"Good luck in this Blood Moon. I know you'll need it" the merc told the assassin. He held his gaze for a long second, a brief moment of both hatred for what the assassin was about to do, and a respectful understanding as to why he was doing it passing through Sand Stalker’s eyes.

"As do I, my friend. As do I" Blood Moon answered as they released each other.

With a nod, they parted ways, Sand Stalker trotting back to the gym while Blood Moon leapt up the hatch to find Ember, Leaf, Red and Candle already up there, awaiting his command. He looked between them all; they were all clad in their newly-acquired gear, weapons and all, their masks over their faces and as still as the grave.

"We ready to do this" Ember asked, her voice muffled by her mask. Blood Moon simply nodded. He took step towards the edge of the small island the shack was situated on, and put a hoof to his maw.

The whistle he loosed almost deafened the four assassins, Candle putting a hoof to his head to try and catch his dizziness as he almost fell onto Leaf, the stoic stallion letting him lean on his as he himself did his best to straighten his thoughts. Hunter's sensitive ears seemed worse for it, his balance escaping him as he almost fell off of Blood Moon's shoulder, the dark stallion moving his hoof up and holding him in place, giving him a soothing rub over his head for a second.

"What in the hay was that" Redwave demanded. There was a deep, foreboding roar in the distance, a shadow passing over them as they heard the sound of monstrous wings flap above them. The four assassins and phoenix all looked up, the ponies' eyes widening as Hunter went to take flight before he noticed his master's expression below his hood.

"Screw that; what in the hay is that!?" Ember's bellowed question rung out through all of their heads as a titan of grey scales and claws dropped before them with a huge thud, his weight likely rousing the ponies below their hooves. As the creature looked down at them, Ember's eyes widened in fear, Leaf drew a blade to defend himself and his student while Redwave prepared himself for his coming death.

"That, my young protégé, is a Gargoyle" Blood Moon answered calmly. This… gargantuan Gargoyle gazed down at Blood Moon and his company with vacant interest, his expression neither calming nor intimidating. His scales were stone-like grey, as though he'd been carved from a rock, everything about him as grey as the rest; his claws, the mane that reached around his head to form what could almost be a beard, his great abundance of muscles, his wings, the tuft of fur on his tale. The only colours about him were the stark white of those vicious looking teeth and the glowing scarlet of his eyes. Though, admittedly, these details held little interest for the ponies stood behind Blood Moon, instead the thing's sheer size was what captivated them. It stood at least twenty stories high, the muscles all over his frame making him look even bigger and intimidating.

Leaf had heard stories about the ancient Gargoyles; older than Nocturnal and Illumination themselves, more powerful than any creature of Tartarus, said to be the mythical embodiment of fear. Their powers were great and plentiful, and none to face them had even a chance of defeating them.

Of course, that piece of information was quickly discarded when this Gargoyle bowed before Blood Moon.

Watching with bated breath, the four assassins watched Blood Moon return the gesture, Hunter apparently having been prompted to do the same. The assassins looked between each other in confusion before following suit unsurely. They rose with Blood Moon, the Gargoyle keeping his head down at the dark stallion's level as he pulled his hood off.

"Grárvinda" the Hunter greeted, his hoof finding his grey, hooked and probably very well-used bill. "How are you my dear?" Ember blinked at least thirty times in a row, the other assassins faring no better; that thing was a she?

"Hurðarflaki" she said in return-Ember had to stop herself from slapping herself, just to make sure she wasn't still dreaming, or suffering brain-damage from yesterday, or something, ANYTHING but this. Grárvinda nuzzled his hoof. Albeit it was very lightly, but that didn't change the fact that this titan, this embodiment of fear and power, nuzzled Blood Moon's hoof like a common housecat. "You are well, I hope" she asked. Her voice was quiet, a little raspy, but beyond that was perfectly normal…or bland, given the circumstances.

"My week has been…varied" he answered, taking his hoof away from Grárvinda's maw "but I need a favour of you" he told her. Grárvinda cocked her head.

"Is that so? Consider me intrigued" she told him, settling to her front, almost caving in the assassin's home below.

"I plan to murder Celestia. I need your assistance in getting to Canterlot and your aid from the air" he explained. The Gargoyle gave a small huff.

"I remember when Canterlot was but a mountainside, habitable by only the most tenacious of creatures. Never did I, nor any Gargoyle, assume the ponies to be the ones to take that cliff face for themselves." Blood Moon shrugged.

"Tell that to Father Time" he answered. Grárvinda-again, Ember had to hold back to slap-giggled lightly.

"Indeed. You've convinced me, Hurðarflaki. You and yours may climb aboard" Grárvinda told the assassin. She moved one of her fore-claws and held it palm up, letting Blood Moon, Ember, Leaf, Candle and finally Redwave step upon her paw. They all had enough room to comfortably set up a tent and sleep for the trip, but Grárvinda had already moved her claw again, setting her passengers on her scaly back. "Hold tight, Hurðarflaki" she instructed, the others taking it as granted that they were to do the same. A few beats of her powerful wings later, they were airborne. Normally, Candle and Hunter would have flown by their own wings, but soon came to the conclusion they didn't have a hope of keeping up these speeds for so long. While Blood Moon was a still as a statue on Grárvinda's back, without need to hold onto anything, Ember's hooves were wrapped tightly around his stomach, holding on for dear life as the winds rushed past her.

"Another of your lady-friends" she roared into his ear, Blood Moon only just hearing her over the sounds of rushing winds and pissed off pigeons getting battered from the air. The stallion Ember was clinging to looked back to answer.

"No! She's my spirit guide" he shouted back. Ember raised an eyebrow, not exactly believing him.

"Spirit guide!?" He looked back and flashed her a wolfish grin.

"Every immortal needs some kind of friend!" Ember was at a loss; for one, a Celestia-damned Gargoyle, for two, a Celestia-damned Gargoyle, and for three, she hadn't a clue what that was supposed to mean. Blood Moon apparently picked up on her confusion. "Think of it like this: your spirit animal, the creature that you best pertain to, is the fox; cunning and quite, yet lithe and attractive" Ember couldn't help but silently curse his complement "while mine is the Gargoyle; old, powerful, strong and fierce. Not to mention, a little misunderstood!" Ember blanked; this Gargoyle was misunderstood?

She shook the thoughts away for the time being, and instead focused her efforts on holding onto Blood Moon, promising herself she'd ask him when she wasn't in danger of falling to her doom at one wrong move.

Blood Moon, however, just enjoyed the flight. For he knew, just around the corner, there was a change coming. And he doubted anypony would enjoy it.

"Thank you soldier, tell lieutenant Redwing I want hourly reports, and to continue to keep everypony off the streets." The guard saluted and turned away, galloping off to relay the orders. Celestia sighed. She'd been so sure. Certain, almost, that her old foalsitter wouldn't go through with this. But it seemed that she'd been foolish second guess her uncle.

She'd had a day to prepare, and still she knew it wasn't enough; she'd had every one of her guards, off-duty, on-duty, recently-retired if they were still in fighting shape, a few mercenaries she could trust, all of them at arms. They'd been called from their posts to mass in the main stretch of road between the main gate and the castle, (used to bottleneck foes while giving her own, more organised troops, easy exit) setting up on the rooftops along the stretch and all along the cobbled road. There must have been a few thousand in all. Then, she'd had all citizens stay indoors, any living on the stretch ordered to take shelter at least three blocks away, alongside the rest of the residents within radius of the inevitable battle. Lastly, she'd prepared herself.

The blade once wielded by her mother, a white-hot bladed weapon capable of channelling the fires of her sun through the metals, known as Sunrend, lay besides her. A slim, Dia-katana, the blade as long as he body, the tusba her famous cutie mark, the grip wrapped in gold and white ribbon, a miniature, metal version of her cutie mark hanging from a chain on the pommel. The blade rested on her bed in its scabbard, white Oakwood and solar-iron, her trusty dagger next to in its own, both the scabbard and grip following the katana's design, a folded-steel, straight-bladed, tanto combat knife. That weapon had seen her through both the Discord wars and all her trials to come after. Yet another gift, and lesson, from Blood Moon.

"Never put faith into a single weapon."

Besides her weapons, her armour stood on the mannequin that had held it down in the armoury. She couldn't find it in herself to don it down there, but she had a nagging feeling she'd need it eventually. So, up here it resided; solar-iron covered the mannequin's chest, stomach, back and flank, tri-layered in the golden metal, chainmail of the same metal covering the base of her wings while metal plates ran over the primary bones within. A purple jewel, identical to the one on her ceremonial armour sat in the centre of the chest piece, flame-like feathers of golden iron flaring from the precious stone, while her cutie mark was engraved into the flank. Greaves rested on the wooden pony's hooves, flat and neat over the hooves, engraved with patterns of the sun over the shins, the knees covered by the further-engraved knee-caps. Her helmet was by far the most diverse piece of armour upon the mannequin, the gold metal reaching around her jaw, over her fore-head and covering the rest of her skull, while beneath and before her maw were uncovered, her eyes left unobscured as well, as to give her proper vision of the battlefield as well as leaving her capable of bellowing orders to her troops. Her mane would be let out like a plume, her horn protected by the metal covering the base and the blade before it, the curved and golden weapon formed by a small tiara built into the helm.

There was another, much more frantic knocking at Celestia's door, the solar princess turning away from her armour to answer it.

"Yes" she asked. The door opened immediately to reveal another solar guard.

"Princess, there have been more reports of strange, dark figures around the entrance of Canterlot and just beyond. Orders ma'am?" Celestia sighed once more. This was the sixth time she'd heard this, the last guard to have been here telling her the same thing. She could guess how it had happened.

A citizen would meander up to a guard, comment about how nice the day was, exchange a few pleasantries and be off. But not before mentioning thinking they saw somepony in a shady spot, the pair of them laughing it off as the pony going mad from the glorious heat today. The guard would then bid the citizen a good day before going about his duties once more. He'd run into more ponies, most with nothing to say, but one with another comment about thinking they'd seen something. The guard would smile widely, telling him about how somepony had just told them the same thing, the two chuckling it off. Then there would be another to comment on it, and the guard would get confused, suspicious maybe. By the fourth time, he'd go to his superior, telling him about having a bunch of citizens telling him the same thing. The pattern would repeat. The private would tell the sergeant, who would brush it off as the sun making ponies see things. Then, three more would say the same thing and he'd pass it up. The lieutenant would get this report and act on it in the same manner. It was just too flimsy to look into. Then the other sergeant would say something, and he'd finally send another grunt to send word. It had finally reach Celestia's ears, and she knew exactly what this was.

Blood Moon was proud, but not stupid. He'd call in every available assassin under the Shadow Weaver banner, mass them at the gates to Canterlot and pull out a full, frontal assault. These ponies in the shade weren't the assassins making mistakes, or ponies getting lucky and spotting one, these assassins were sending a message: we're here. They may kill from the shadows, but they were more than willing to get in on a battle like this, and they wanted to make sure that it was a good one. Celestia was only thankful that Shining Armour was still out of town, training a few of the more promising troops for posts as lieutenant or further.

Back in the real world, Celestia nodded once.

"Thank you. Please, get these to both lieutenants Redwing and Quartermane" she asked of the Pegasus guard. He took both rolled up notes and stashed them in his armour, saluting before he galloped off again. The notes contained orders for both lieutenants, telling both to mass their stallions and mares for the incoming wave of highly-trained murders. Or, put simply, have your troops kiss their flanks goodbye.

With yet another sigh, Celestia donned her own armour, covering her body in the metal's protective layers. The black belt holding the scabbard to her body went over her right shoulder, the tanto strapping to her left shoulder. She grabbed her mane in a magical grip, holding it up and pulling it through the thin gap in the helmet, letting it fall down her face once more when the helm had settled on her head. Her horn flared once more, two pieces of ribbon floating over to her as her mane and tail wrapped themselves into a controllable braid. And then, just for old time's sake, she dropped the spell.

A golden flow of mist wrapped around her body, covering her pure white fur and soaking into it before it dissipated and flowed away. What was left, was a rather terrible sight; Celestia, now that her cloak had dropped, was shown in her true form. Every blemish, old wound and scar that was dotted across her body. Scars over her left eye, below her lower lip, crisscrossing her neck, deep gashes over her body, a claw mark on her chest. All of these were testament to the fact that Celestia was no simple, delicate ruler, no dainty monarch, that she was more than capable of taking the problems of Equestria into her own hooves, and on more than one occasion had.

Celestia took a deep breath as she got used to her 'new' look, releasing the spell she'd come to master and perfect over the centuries, to such an extent that she barely noticed it anymore, that she could even keep it up when asleep or unconscious. Or, though technically impossible, that she could use it while wearing magic inhibitor rings. Celestia trotted for the door, her skill in her armour keeping her silent, and pushed through the door to her chambers.

She paused as she went to follow the Pegasus guard down the hall, her eyes finding Luna's closed door. She was already asleep for the day, Cadence having likely crashed on the same bed with her thanks to a few more…subtle persuasions, I.E a cup of tea that hadn't been as pure as she'd promised. Celestia was glad that Luna didn't know about what was going on with Blood Moon, as she knew that she wouldn't be able to fight him. They were too close, and though Celestia wouldn't let herself hold it against her sister, this was a battle, and a battle was fought, not reasoned. No…this was Celestia's fight now, hers alone really, and she knew that nopony would be able to help her.

She trotted down the hall alone, everypony who wasn't a guard having retreated to their quarters and any guards within the palace having gathered in the main stretch. She was alone. It was a very isolating feeling, having everypony she loved either unable to help her or out to kill her.

The princess of the day soon found herself in the throne room. She looked around herself, casting her gaze over the stained glass windows depicting the most famous memories of Equestria's past. She could remember each and every one of them, when they'd happened, when the glass panels had been created and placed within the walls of the throne room. She sat daintily on her throne, her gaze meeting the empty room with a glare of thought and apprehension.

She got a sudden thought as she looked to her left flank, her fore-hoof digging around within between the metal of the throne and plump, silk red cushion she sat her royal flank upon.

'Let's see…cookie…dictionary…Equestrian law…photo album…dildo… Ah, there you are.'

She pulled her hoof out from between the cushions and levitated the objects to her vision. A pack of Mareverick cigarettes and a lighter. She really shouldn't, she knew, but given the circumstances she felt herself a little entitled. With a small breath, she placed one of the slims between her lips and sparked the lighter a few times before it lit.

Celestia inhaled the smoke, the taste of tobacco washing through her system while the stress of ruling a kingdom she hadn't wanted in the first place was given a small outlet. She loosed excess smoke through her muzzle, letting it flitter through the air and vanish into the atmosphere. She took the cigarette in her magic and held it away from her maw, blowing another small flow of smoke into the room. Maybe…five hundred years since she'd last smoked? With a grin, she remembered the first time she, Blood Moon and Luna had first 'hit the town' when she'd been much younger, when she hadn't the weight of a country on her back, when she and her sister were allowed some time to themselves, usually at the hooves of Blood Moon himself, when the three of them would just have fun. Celestia huffed lightly, flicking some ashes away; when Blood Moon had asked Faust out on a date. He'd made sure that punching bag wished it had never been born when she'd politely declined. It had taken him a while to learn to deal with rejection.

She took another long drag of the cigarette. With a small chuckle, she remembered when that one shady pony had approached Blood Moon when they were at a bar.

"Hey, you wanna buy some Death Sticks" the blue, Pegasus stallion asked as he slid smoothly to Blood Moon's side. Blood Moon cast him the smallest of glances before he let his horn sparkle lightly.

"You don't want to sell me Death Sticks" he told the pony, who nodded and let a slight-of-hoof hide his illegal merchandise.

"I don't want to sell you Death Sticks" he agreed automatically, going back to his drink.

"You want to go home and rethink your life" Blood Moon continued.

"I want to go home, and rethink my life" the Pegasus agreed again, turning swiftly away from the bar and trotting for the door.

With a small sigh, she leant back in her throne and put the cigarette back between her lips again, letting the smoke calm her and let her relive the memories without so much pain. She let her perfect lips hold the small stick in place while she inhaled and exhaled the smoke. She'd never truly see smoking as an altogether acceptable thing, given that they weren't called 'Death Sticks' once upon a time for nothing, but could definitely see the pluses to them. That, and she couldn't really get addicted to them. Being an Alicorn had its pluses, after all.
She let her gaze linger on her golden lighter, her sun engraved into the sides, and flicked it on and off in rhythm. She took the last few drags and stubbed out the bud on the arm of her throne, contemplating lighting another. That was, until, the doors at the other side swung open.

Three stallions. Three warriors. Three knights.

Long lost and almost forgotten was the royal stricture that a princess, prince, king or queen were allowed to appoint a champion. They were by no means part of the royal armies, Shining Armour's domain, or the Solar or Night guard, Celestia and Luna's personal factions of the army, nor were they of the Crystal guards, Cadence's forces. What they were instead, were the soldiers Celestia, Luna and Cadence would be personally represented by. Their Knights.

The first in the small triangle was the Lumen Knight, Celestia's champion; armour of pure, virtuous white and regal gold covered every inch of his body in thick armour, straight and neat, nothing in the way of decoration covering him asides Celestia's sun, engraved into the chest piece. The helm was simple, basic, yet strong and durable, obscuring his face with a piece of white metal, solar-iron accenting his jawline, while the space over his maw was dotted with small holes while three slits of metal over the visor allowed him to see. His sunset red mane flowed from the top like a plume, his tail shaved short. His unicorn horn was covered in a blade, similar to that of Celestia's, while on his back sat a simple, dual-bladed long sword and traditional, six-edged shield, Celestia's sun engraved upon the front metal. This unicorn was known as Light Guard.

The second was the Umbra Knight, Luna's champion. Blacks, greys and dark blues covered him in lighter metal, a less standard shape and forging method used for inspiring fear into foes, Luna's moon on his chest moon given a sharp and intimidating feel to it, the fearsome metals covering his chest, back and flank, his leg protected only by greaves. His mane and tail were once again used a plume and shaved short, yet this pony's helm did not cover his entire face, instead it was left uncovered so the vampire could sink his teeth into anypony he decided was having too good a day. His bat-like wings rested comfortably on his back, his pair of short swords and collapsed crossbow laying between the armoured wings. This vampire Pegasus, was Deadwing.

The third and final was the Crystalline Knight, Cadence's champion. His full-body armour was identical to that of his coat; crystal in appearance, translucent and gleaming regally. The dark grey jewels used to forge this armour were jagged and uneven, giving him the appearance of a walking diamond of sorts, while the Crystal Heart on his chest did little to portray his hard personality. He carried an axe of crystal and moon-steel, the large weight doing nothing to slow the earth pony down. He was known as Geode.

Celestia looked between them all, imagining that neither Luna nor Cadence would be all too pleased that she'd 'borrowed' their personal Knights, but if it came down to it she'd just pull rank. As it were at the moment, she didn't much care. Instead, she just gave them a single order.

"Make sure my foalsitter is well received" she said evenly. They all brought their right hooves over their hearts in a saluting manner, bowing their heads slightly before turning away. Rarely seen and rarer still heard, these knights. She watched them with a sort of admiration; aged, experienced, trained in the old ways of combat. They were well and truly the best Equestria had to offer, save Luna and Celestia themselves. And they didn't stand a chance.

Celestia instinctively sparked another cigarette to life, placing it gently in her maw. Damn, there went her 'once a century' rule. Well, technically she was owed five, so whatever. All thoughts of broken rules were thrown to the dogs as she heard the sounds of the door opening and closing. Was she sending them all to their deaths? Was she right to do this? Shouldn't she just face Blood Moon herself, instead of hiding behind droves of guards? Blood Moon, she knew, prided himself on fighting with his troops, his assassins, and was always at the front of the pack.

Maybe it needed to be done, to show Equestria that her forces would rise to any challenge. Or maybe so she had a hope of defeating him, setting him in chains or something when she was done with him. She could probably send him to Tartarus when she was done, another legend for the ages to remember. She smirked at the thought of Blood Moon sharing a cell with Tirek.

For now, however, she just sat back and waited for what was to come.

"Come on, daddy. Your little girl wants to see you again" she said around the smoke in her maw, puffing out unwanted plumes with her words. She moved the cigarette away from her maw, losing another stream of smoke to the side as she tapped away some ash. "And I can't wait to tell you just how much I've missed you."

Twilight stirred gently, squeezing Blood Moon in her fore-legs as her sleep escaped her.

'Good, he hasn't left yet.'

She nuzzled her coltfriend and snuggled into him some more, her hooves pulling him in some more as she cuddled with him. All murderous intentions aside, she'd really missed this, the day when she'd had to sleep with only Fluttershy for company making her realise how much she'd really meant it when she'd told her friends how nice it was to just go to sleep with him. She leant her head against him, breathing in his scent.

She narrowed her closed eyes and slowly opened them, hoping her stallion was trying a new aftershave. A pillow.

"No" she muttered, trying and failing to get up gracefully. She managed to sit up, looking down at the fluffy, white cushion she'd been snuggling with. "Nonono" she said, her voice growing slowly more panicked. The hamster running on the wheel in her mind finally got up, spinning the gears as she made sense of what was going on; she threw the covers off her body and sprang up, well, she fell of the bed and got up rather quickly but she'd tell anypony who'd ask that she'd sprang. "NonononononoNO!" She frantically looked around herself, searching for her coltfriend with wide and panicked eyes. "Blood Moon" she called, uncaring as to anypony she may be waking up "Blood Mooooon" she called again, galloping through the house. "Blood Moon" she shouted as she burst into the bedroom, cantering to the door to the master bedroom. "Blood Moon" she called as she flung the door open, looking frantically around inside.

"Twi" a southern twang asked as she went to go back into the living room. The purple mare stopped in her tracks to find Applejack waking up, rubbing her eyes as Applebloom did the same.

"AJ, have you seen Blood Moon?" The orange mare frowned.

"Naw, I've been asleep. Why, what's goin' on?" By now, everypony else had woken up too, finding Twilight's panicked state having a conversation with Applejack's sleepy one.

"It's Blood Moon, he-"

"The assassins that came with Blood Moon are gone" Sand Stalker told them all, his expression flat and his tone calm, as he cantered into the room. The Element of Magic's eyes widened.

"Oh no, not them too. That must mean…" she put her head to the ground, her hooves covering her head "no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" She rocked her head back and forth on the carpet, everypony watching in confusion.

"Twilight, what's the matter" Rainbowdash asked as she hopped out of bed, Scootaloo following her.

"I-it's Blood Moon, he's gone" she answered. Rainbow looked back at the other mares, confusion in her eyes.

"Gone? Gone where?" Everypony suddenly noticed that Twilight was shaking, sobs leaking from her. At that point, The Elements of Harmony, Spike, who had only just woken up, and the fillies all cantered over to her, while Sand Stalker remained in the doorway.

"He-he's gone to-to" she sniffled a few times. How could this be happening, her best friend, her tutor, killed by her lover, her coltfriend? "He's gone to kill her" she said in an eerie state of calm. A few gasps and gulps ran through the small crowd of ponies as the words left her maw.

"K-kill who" Spike asked, his somewhat young mind now corrupted by the concept of death. Twilight looked up at him, her eyes still wet with tears, and pulled him into a hug. No, this wasn't what was supposed to happen, she was supposed to have woken up before him, or at least with him, and talk him out of this. She should have stopped him.

Meanwhile, Spike had returned his big sister/mother's hug, finding it both worrying and confusing that she'd be so broken about Blood Moon going off to kill somepony. He didn't know for sure, but that's what assassins do, right? Twilight's brief explanation the day he'd been gone hadn't really been enough fill in the gaps for him.

"Who" Rainbow prompted "kill who, what's goin on" she asked. Twilight looked over Spike's scaly shoulder to find her best friends, all watching her with worry, and couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Celestia" came Sand Stalker's voice, his hard and stable tone shaking Twilight out of her stupor slightly "he's gone to kill Celestia."

Silence. That was all that could be said for the Elements of Harmony. Celestia, the princess, no, The princess of Equestria, the most powerful country on the globe, the immortal ruler of all ponies, was to be killed?

It was such a…foreign concept. Celestia had been alive…forever, she'd always been there, and always would, to hear the words 'kill' and 'Celestia' without the topic being the princess of the day vanquishing a great beast wasn't possible, the words shouldn't be used in a sentence like that. But they had. Somepony was going to kill her. Her own foalsitter to boot.
None of the Elements of Harmony's usual quirks shone through; Twilight just kept crying. Spike had joined in. Pinkie Pie was looking to everypony desperately for answers. Fluttershy was holding a broken down Applejack in her hooves, the apple buckers head hung low as she tried to comprehend what was going on. Rainbow was speechless. Rarity just stared at the floor, unable to find her naturally 'drama queen' flare. The fillies just sat still, unwilling to offer their input.

During her tears, Twilight felt something atop her head. She blinked a few times as she realised it, straightening up, still holding Spike close, and looked up at the tip of her horn.

"D-Dusk?" The little critter nodded a few times. "What're you doing here?" He squeaked a few times.

"H-he says Blood Moon asked him to look after you" Fluttershy translated. Twilight blinked a few times, trying to adjust her thought pattern from sorrow to thought. She shook her head and blinked a few more times.

"W…well, when did he leave?" More squeaks.

"About an hour ago" Fluttershy says. Something inside Twilight lights up.

"Y-you mean he might not be there yet?" The critter shrugs. Twilight looked around the room at the confused faces, all of them facing her, looking for guidance. She bites her lip lightly. "We've got to stop him" she declared. Their faces were suddenly horrified, their expressions reminding her of when she'd told them that they were going to look for Blood Moon after his first appearance.

"Bu-but Twilight, if he's going after Celestia, if all of them are, what can we do to stop him" Rarity asked. Twilight swallowed lightly.

"I…I don't know, but I can't just sit here and let my coltfriend and teacher kill each other. I can't just…do nothing" she told them with a surprising strength. She looked between them all. "And I can't do it without you all" she added. More gulps and bit lips. Twilight took a long breath. "I'm not going to force you into this…but I need your help. I can't stop Blood Moon from killing the princess myself, so please, please,come with me" she begged. Everypony looked to be in worried thought for a few seconds. She got a weak, collective smile from everypony.

"Alright Twi, I'm with ya" AJ told her.

"Yeah, we got your back" Rainbow added. Everypony else was a little more quiet, but just as supportive. If a little scared.

"And how, pray tell, are we getting back to Ponyville? Or even Canterlot" Sand Stalker asked. Twilight turned back to him.

"Well…I may be able to teleport us back to Ponyville, but from there we'll have to take the train" she answered. "But…Sand Stalker, I know we haven't known each other for a long time, and that you've been sorta keeping to yourself, but I have to ask you…could you look after the fillies and Spike?" That got an eyebrow raised.

"What?"

"Please? I can't take them into what might turn out to be an all-out war, so I need somepony to take care of them, or at least take them to Sweet Apple Acres" she told him. Sand Stalker took a long, drawn out breath.

"I never did like escort jobs" he muttered under his breath "yeah, sure" he answered in an audible tone. Twilight thanked him and turned back to her friends.

"You guys don't mind, do you?" Rainbowdash said no easily, her trust in her uncle having improved greatly over the past few days, while AJ and Rarity looked a little more hesitant.

They relented either way, seeing no other option, and comforted a little by the fact that Blood Moon wouldn't forgive him if any harm came to Scootaloo, or the other fillies. "Alright, we should get outside so I can…get a better look of our surroundings, I guess" she said, finding it unlikely that she'd find anything of use up there anyway.

They all trotted out and clambered out of the Square, standing together-

"What in Tarnation?" Applejack's outburst had been prompted by the set massive claw-prints in the ground besides Blood Moon's shack. Pinkie looked at Spike.

"What" he asked in return.

"How were we not woken up by those" Rarity asked from AJ's back. Sand Stalker grunted.

"Speak for yourself" he mumbled "anyway, are we ready to do this" he asked Twilight as she looked around herself, finding nothing but fog in the distance and swampland nearby.

"Yeah, I guess" she answered in a mumble of her own. Everypony stood together, Rarity unwillingly standing on the ground between AJ and Sweetie-Belle. Twilight took a long breath as she cleared her mind, closing her eyes and picturing Ponyville. After a long while's concentration, her horn flashed and she, her friends, the fillies, Spike and Sand Stalker were in Ponyville. They were stood just outside the train station, a few boarding passengers and passers by jumping slightly at their sudden appearance. Everypony looked around themselves to assure they were safe, finding everypony present, then looked to Twilight.

"We're all here" Pinkie said brightly. Twilight smiled dimly before she fainted. A chorus of 'Twilight' went up, Applejack catching her on her back. After confirming she was breathing, Sand Stalker spoke up again.

"You should get going, get her on the next train to Canterlot and do what you gotta do" he told them as he ushered the Spike, fillies and Dusk, who had hitched a ride, towards Ponyville's apple orchid. They nodded and trotted into the station, Rarity sweet-talking the pony at the ticket booth to give them all one free of charge when they remembered nopony was carrying any bits. Sitting in one of the carriages in relative silence, Twilight using Fluttershy as a pillow for her head, they awaited the driver to call 'all aboard' and get whisked off to Canterlot. They would be lying, however, if they said they were looking forward to the end of their trip.

Grárvinda landed with a thud. While the inside of Canterlot may have been on lockdown, the outside of the walls was home to the ponies of shadow. It was an amazingly terrible sight, this mass of ponies all stood atop, around, before and within the main entrance to Canterlot. Blood Moon and his cohorts hopped from the Gargoyle's back, Blood Moon patting his hoof to her head in thanks before she took off again, landing a little ways behind the mass of assassins, no few of them stunned by the great beast's sudden appearance.

The dark stallion trotted forward, the ponies to have come with him scattering to the mass of assassins around them, while Blood Moon took to looking around himself as they did. Such variety. So many races fell beneath the Shadow Weaver banner, all of them dressed in by no means similar garbs, but all representing the same thing: loyalty. He approached the Chapter Leaders he'd contacted with the birds; Zaycor, leader of the Zebra tribal Weavers; Geld, leader of the Griffon Shadow Weavers; Grey Scale, the leader of the Changeling Shadow Weavers, and one of the few of the insect equines to have a name; Husk, leader of the Diamond Dogs Weavers; Dead Bolt, leader of the Manehatten chapter of the Weavers; Tenacity, leader of the Minotaur Shadow Weavers; and of course, Blood Moon's Canterlot chapter of assassins stood with them.

Around them, all the different races were mingling, talking, getting to know each other before they trusted their lives to one another. Griffons and Pegasi, earth ponies and Diamond Dogs, unicorns and Minotaurs, hay, just ponies and Changelings mixing like it was another Friday. Who said world peace was impossible? They'd formed a small ring around their leaders, another empty strip up the middle granting Blood Moon passage, all of them lounging atop guard houses and nearby rocks, some of them having set up a small training area and sparring arena in case of long waits. The gate was locked and sealed, the nervus looking guards atop the walls keeping any assassins away, only none of them were attacking yet so they were just getting scared. The gate itself had been left alone, the area before it vacant, while everypony, griffon, Minotaur, dog and whatever else had turned up in this en masse cocktail of lads and lasses preferring to socialise instead of goad their foes.

"Huh, some assassins."

'Say what you will, but just try and say they're soulless.'

Blood Moon stood with the other Chapter Leaders, all offering greetings, some admiring the Phoenix on his shoulder, a few giving off the vibe they were bored.

So different, yet so alike these beings. Zaycor was a renowned potion master, his nickname 'Poisoned Rhythm' well earned, a particularly large supply of poisons and potions of varying effects on his back, clad in a less urban version of the infamous Shadow Weaver coat and mask. His black and white furs were covered by black bear fur, a sash of red made from plain silk dyed with Manticore blood over his chest, bracers of ruff and unwashed bear fur on his fore and hind hooves. His dreaded mane fell over his wise face, a tomahawk-dagger combination hanging from his belt, while his face was covered in muzzle-only gasmask, the grey of his hard eyes staring over the top. Easily in his seventies and still in his prime.

"Blood Moon" he started in a voice deep enough to reach the centre of the earth "why have you lead us to our doom? To wait at Celestia's door is to trot this earth no more." Husk nodded his head, his race’s generic vest replaced with a black coat that reached his ankles, the red sash of his rank around his waist, a mask that could fit his race's muzzle non-existent. His stone-grey fur was as unwashed as any Diamond dog, but he had a certain cunning hidden behind his eyes.

"I agree with the Zebra. Not even a pack of this size could break through these gates and defences" he said in his raspy voice, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Who's to say" came a devilishly smooth voice. Every…creature looked to Dead Bolt, who looked back at them. The standard hood and mask were replaced by a black fedora atop her head, the coat opened to reveal a sharp white blouse beneath, the red sash replaced with a loosely tied red tie. Taking greater interest in blending in with the 'downtown', or whatever, society Manehatten assassins exchanged their intimidating masks for a more 'acceptable' garb. She was no doubt Redwave's mother, possessing his cheeks and eyes, small lines of age hanging below, her fur a deep maroon and her tail a greying, deep purple, both kept in a classy yet laidback style. She was a real looker, but it was the roguish smirk Bolt shot them, almost identical to Redwave's, that lifted at least a decade from her face that really got the knees wobbling. "I'm sure Blood Moon's got a plan" she finished.

"Agreed" came Geld's input, his garb identical to that of a standard Shadow Weaver, asides from racial needs from size differences and the such. His lion-half a molten-bronze colour, the eagle in him a deep gold, his wings a little lighter in shade. "Blood Moon would never call us all here unless he was certain in his thoughts" his strained voice finished.

"What's to say the Royal Guard do not also have a plan" Grey Scale posed, hissing his words out in a strained and quiet voice. The Changeling was covered in basic armour, colours matching his rank, only missing the mask, hood and undershirt, so his could strip it away in case he needed to change. "There could be spies hidden amongst us" he said quietly, leaning into the group.

"Unlikely" Tenacity retorted, his head high and his back straight, looking over the gathered assassins as they prepared for what was to come, coat and equipment in similar makes to Husk's "my and Geld's guys have been mingling, looking for any kind of trouble" he told them, his deep yet calm voice assuring them all.

"Not particularly subtle, don't you think" Grey's was answer. Tenacity shrugged.

"Exactly. Who'd suspect it?" Blood Moon smirked, the silent move capturing and drawing all attention to him.

"It's good to see you all getting along so well" he commented, prompting grunts from his allies.

"You have the Weaver's blessing, yes? Else this will be quite the mess" Zaycor inquired. Blood Moon shrugged.

"Not officially, but I doubt he'll care anyway." Dead Bolt snorted.

"Sometimes I wonder if that guy even exists" she mumbled before she looked to Blood Moon "so what's the plan?" Blood Moon grinned.

"Simple" he said as he made his way to the gates, his horn sparking as a platform of rock grew beneath him.

"Alright ponies, listen up, we got some serious shit to discuss!" That garnered the attention of every assassin gathered before Blood Moon, the other conversations dying down as all faces turned to him. "I trust you all know why we're here, but for any who don't, let's get one thing straight: we're here to kill Celestia." What should have been a roar of agreement came out as silent grins, the nodding of heads and small chuckles from these calm, quiet and disciplined assassins.

"Why, you may ask? Well I'll tell you why. Princess Celestia, raiser of the sun, ruler of Equestria, has had it too good for too long! We're here to change that." More smirks and chuckles ran through the crowd, but a few hooves, claws and hands went up too, Blood Moon waving them down.

"Now, I know some of you have questions, primarily along the lines of 'how in the hay do we stand a chance against Equestria's biggest stockpile of thugs that call themselves guards?' Well, I'll tell you that too; a while back, the Changelings invaded Canterlot, sneaking a few into the crowds while Chrysalis impersonated princess Cadence and fooled Celestia herself for more than a month, and when it came time to strike, the guards couldn't hold back the assault from both directions. However. That didn't change the fact that they were still beaten." A few slightly insulted snorts went through the gathered Changelings.

"Around ninety years before that, the Griffons attacked, using brute force to overwhelm the guards as they flew in and tried to take Canterlot from all angles. They too were beaten back. In fact, every race gathered here today, has been defeated once or more times by Celestia and her forces. Why do we stand a chance? Look around you. What do you see?" The gathered assassins actually looked around, a little confused as to what the Hunter was getting at.

"Variety" he eventually answered "never once has an army, throughout history, ever consisted of more than one race. Sure, there've been mercs here and there, but no real force consisting of such a diversity of troops has ever had the chance to take on Celestia's forces. And never will they again, for once this day is done, there will be no such thing as 'Celestia's forces'!" A small ripple of agreement ran through the crowd. "The armies of white and gold will become the army of red!" Another, larger, ripple of agreement went through the crowd, cheers called out here and there. "The protectors of Equestria, will be reduced to mere ashes, to protect the ground from the blood of their fallen comrades!" More cheers echoed through the dense crowds, a stronger wave of accord hitting the crowds. "On this day, this great nation's military will know the meaning of fear, will see what a true fighting force looks like and they will DIE FOR THEIR COUNTRY!" A full roar exploded from the crowd, prompting a grin from Blood Moon. "But know this" he said in a serious tone when their cheers had died down "our order's code still stands. Kill only those who seek to kill you, do not leave your brother or sister's back unguarded and pillage only the foes to have fallen. This fight is between us and Celestia, not Canterlot as a whole." A few more disgruntled, but by no means less agreeing noises rippled from the crowd, all respecting their current leader's position. "But, above all my fearless assassins" he waited for an appropriately suspenseful second "have fun" he told them, cheers and laughs rippling from the crowd. Blood Moon had the platform of earth he stood upon lower back into the ground and stood aside, letting Tenacity take the reins for a second. Ember meandered to his side.

"Not bad" she mumbled as Tenacity told his assassins what they would be doing. Blood Moon had grunted.

"I've never been all that good at 'uplifting speeches.' That's one of the reasons I enjoy being an assassin, silence and all that" he answered. Ember shrugged.

"Could have been worse" she reassured as the leader of the Minotaurs bellowed out their cue.

"Alright… Minotaurs" Tenacity roared, his assassins moving towards the gate. The muscular titans of half-bull, half biped of some description all put their hands to the door, digging their hooves into the ground behind and heaved. Quickly, the hinges groaned in protest, the metal bending to the will of these great beasts of muscle and power. After a long wait of a whole lot of pushing, masculine grunting, a few encouraging comments from behind and a whole lot of sweat, the hinges to the great gate finally gave, the two purple, gold and silver doors falling to the ground with a minute explosion, dust thrown into the air.

As the Minotaurs congratulated themselves and each other, flexing their muscles and fist-bumping each other, the other assassins clambered over the fallen doors and into the city, Blood Moon and the other Chapter Leaders leading the way. The great stretch lay before them, leading directly from the gate to the palace. Technically counter-productive in terms of security, but if one were to look closely, they would see the well-hidden vantage points, hidey holes, assassins perches and other ambush points that the guards would use to take down forces unawares as they advanced. Today, however, the only guards between them and their goal were in plain sight. Dead Bolt and Blood Moon had their Pegasi assassins take to the roofs, a few of Geld's griffons following, and await a signal to attack from above. As they trotted, Blood Moon picked out the winged ponies taking down the ambush the guards apparently had planned for them, claws and blades slicing through veins and necks silently as they moved along with the other assassins. Blood Moon couldn't help but cast a grin at the leaders with him as he counted out the small 'ahhhg's coming from the rooftops. There must have been at least a few hundred of them waiting in the 'shadows', as they called them. Celestia was wasting too many troops trying to sneak up on the guys who did the best sneaking, and her numbers were being severely cut down because of it.

'Never meet an enemy on his playing field, and never try to use their tactics against them unless you know you can do it better.'

"General Stone Greaves, 866 Post Discord Wars."

'Yep, after his Pegasus forces beat back a force of dragons trying to fly in.'

After a few minutes of parading through the Canterlot stretch, no less than three hundred assassins in coats, robes and armour of black, grey, red and brown stopped half-way into the city. They were randomly mingled and otherwise fairly unorganised, no form to their structure. Before them, maybe twenty five meters away, stood the gold and white soldiers of the Royal armies and Solar guard, a perfect rectangle of armour and weapons, races strategically placed for maximum efficiency in battle. At the forefront stood two guards, one an earth pony and the other a Pegasus. The earth was lieutenant Quartermane, of a hazel brown lion-like mane and tail, and grey fur, the Pegasus Redwing, his mane and tail amber while his fur was silver, asides his wings, which were as red as his namesake. Blood Moon held his right hoof in the air, the assassins behind him stopping while he kept going, Quartermane and Redwing narrowing their eyes as they trotted towards him.

When they met in the middle, Blood Moon looked between the two undoubtedly nervus guard lieutenants and smirked.

"Lieutenants Quartermane and Redwing. I've heard…nothing about you" he said dryly.

"Blood Moon" Redwing replied "we can't exactly say the same."

"Why are you here, assassin" Quarter spat. Blood Moon's smirk went a little wider.

"I'm fairly sure the small army behind you can tell you why" he answered.

"I don't supposed there's any chance of you surrendering, is there" Redwing guessed. Blood Moon's smirk widened again.

"No." Both soldiers narrowed their eyes again.

"Good" they said at once, turning away to return to their troops. Blood Moon quickly moved in return, grabbing their tails and pulling them back, both letting a small yelp escape their lips as they were heaved back by Blood Moon. The assassin released their tails and let the scales forming the bracers of his armour shift, the sharpened scales shooting out, forming blades inspired by the weapons given to him by Tinker, and stabbed into the bases of their skulls. The two lieutenants froze in their steps, twitching slightly.

"Never, take your eyes off the opponent" he told them before he threw their dead bodies to the floor, the scales returning to their places on the armour.

Blood pooled from their fatal wounds, the two guard's staring into the void as their mouths hung open. The guards across from the assassins all gasped, their leaders killed before them. A few jaws hung loose in shock, something that confused Blood Moon to no end; who the hay expected an assassin to fight fair?

Some of the more tenacious guards roared in anger, the others following soon after as they charged, organisation killed with the lieutenants as weapons were unsheathed, spells flared to life and hooves thundered along the ground.

"Hunter" Blood Moon began, the bird looking at him "let's hear a real battle cry, huh?" Hunter's eyes showed a lethal smile. The phoenix raised his head, spread his wings a little and let a great cry escape his throat as he took flight, likely unwilling to sit by and watch. Blood Moon was a little proud of his bird.

In response to Hunter's call, the assassins behind Blood Moon returned the guard's charge. With a grin, Blood Moon joined them.

A roar ripped through the streets of Canterlot as ponies, Griffons, Changelings, Minotaurs and dogs let their battle cry add to Hunter's. Hooves thundered for three seconds until both factions clashed.

And then they did.

Several guards fell before they'd even joined the fray, bolts growing in their necks as the assassins above drew first blood, the guards foolish enough to look up in confusion finding their own necks opened by claw, blade, magic or good old fashioned brute force. Pegasi and griffons alike flew from their perches, landing in the midst of the guards and around the sides, Diamond Dogs exploding from the ground in the midst of them while the changelings were lost in the crowds to flares of green fire.

The initial clash of combatants sent guard and assassin alike into the air in a small mountain of fighters until they came down again, the battle erupting in proper. Bigger fighters pushed their ways to the front to find worthy prey, smarter ones took to better vantage points, flasks of potions and poison exploded in blasts of smoke, poisoned blades ripping through flesh and opening hide. Dogs howled as they gave wounds, Minotaur's fists breaking guards and rock alike as the fired out strikes left, right and centre. Guards were felled by invisible forces, a snapped neck here or an opened throat there, their killer fading into the crowd again. And in the middle of it all, was Blood Moon.

The dark stallion had yet to draw his weapon, his expression passive as he trotted through the crowd. However, trying to keep from conflict in the middle of one was rather impossible. Errant guards of all races and creeds lunged for him, some falling to a swift neck snapping or
turning their weapons back onto them.

Blood Moon's sight was filled with combat, as were his ears and muzzle, not to mention his hooves. It was almost impossible to follow it all. Earth pony lunged, he sidestepped and took his head by the sides, twisting harshly as he stepped past another's sword, taking him by the hoof, twisting it all the way around, breaking the bone and forcing the snapped bone through the skin before shoving it into the owner's eyeball. A hoof wielding a blade came down, the killer's own jabbing into the gripping hoof and stealing the weapon, removing the head with the same blade. A guard was thrown at him from the side; he ducked, let him roll over his back, stood on his throat and struck the guard over the heart, stopping it with the broken ribs to have been forced into it. A hoof from the side, he parried it up, flipped its owner over his shoulder and threw his to his back, pulling him onto his front with the same leg before he wrenched it out of place. A strike from the front: parried, countered with a strike to the face, a knee to the cheek and fore-head to the skull.

Another blade swung for the assassin's face, the killer swaying backwards, putting his fore-hoof to the ground, spinning his hind-legs around and taking his foe's neck in his hind-hooves and wrenching the vertebra through the spinal cord. The dark stallion's fore hoof swung into another's jaw, following it up with a neat chop to the neck as he stepped to another; leaping up, his hind-legs slammed into the guard's chest, crushing the ribs and forcing bone into the heart and oesophagus. Landing on his fore-hooves and neck, he bounced gracefully back to his all four's and trotted forwards once, more guards taking the time to attack him.

Three struck at once, Blood Moon countering by leaping up, holding himself up on two of the guard's head while the third found his hind-legs either side of his neck as he was thrown over the assassins body, landing on his head as Blood Moon rotated his balance on the guards holding him up, landing on one guard's shoulders so he was straddling his head. A quick twist of his hips, and the guard's life was at an end, Blood Moon falling and snapping the remaining guard's horn off with his fore-hoof, catching it in the other and ramming it into the guard's jugular. A bigger guard charged him, Blood Moon leaping and round housing him heavily across the jaw, following through with a hoof ripping out his eyeball. Leaving the screaming guard behind, he continued trotting calmly.

Three more guards, two Pegasi from above with an earth from behind; the winged ponies dived as the earth pony tried to grab him from behind; he leapt into the air, his hind-hooves crashing into the Pegasi's faces, his fore-legs taking the earth's head as he flipped backwards, twisting the head around as he went. A dull 'crunch' was signalled another snapped neck, Blood Moon wrenching the head away from the body as the two guard charged again. The first was knocked from the skies by a severed head careering towards him, while the other's strike was dodged before the assassin stepped on his spine and ripped his wings off. Returning to the last, he parried the first blow, dodged the second and countered the last, pulling the guard past him with his fore-leg before he threw him to the ground, snapping the leg before he flipped him over and shattered the spine with a single blow.

The large battle had dispersed into smaller skirmishes by now, guards and assassins alike lying dead or unconscious between the fights. Surprise had taken down many of the guard's superior numbers, the few thousand of them reduced to no more than seven hundred within the first five minutes of the battle, while the original three hundred assassins had dropped to only two fifty, most of the still living assassins having been pulled out by their comrades. Such was the skill of the Shadow Weavers. Blood Moon trotted through the mess of clashes, dispatching guards now and then as he went.

Zaycor was stood with a few of his assassins, the mares and stallions facing the guards off with tomahawk, dagger, hoof or whatever else they'd brought along. Zaycor was the centre of the show, working his way through the guards with what could only be described as a dance of death, his small axe and blade spinning around him, growing steadily more bloody as guards were wounded and eventually fell to him. A blur of black and white spun past the gold and silvers, reds spurting from the as axe met meat and fur, dagger opened flesh and skin, strikes places strategically to cripple opponents before he finished them. The others assassins did their best to keep up with the elderly stallion, spears, short swords, tomahawks, chains leading to blades, daggers and bare hooves felling foes as they moved around and between each other, their weapons opening wounds and protecting themselves and each other.

Geld had his own claws full, him and his assassins rending guards asunder with their talons and powerful jaws, no few of their foes dropped with missing limbs. Unlike their zebra brothers, the griffons fought with brutality and ferocity, killing blows more common than simple strikes in their battle. Any griffon standing with Geld was stained with blood, gore and no few wounds, their armour and strong hides incapable of stopping the guard's blows, however, their adrenalin kept them from feeling it.

Grey Scale's first weapon, surprise, had soon turned redundant, as he and his changelings were surrounded and set upon by numerous guards, none of them wearing armour nor weapons as they fought hoof, fang and spell with unrelenting savagery as they fought for their lives and pride. Blood Moon watched, dropping another guard as he trotted, as the changelings were pushed back, no few of them taking to the skies to escape their fate, only to be shot down. Before long, changeling casualties ripped through the Weaver's numbers, only Grey managing to sneak out of the guard's wrath.

Husk and the other Diamond Dogs held their own, fist, claw and weapons defending themselves against the assaulting guards as they slowly managed to push the guards back, their superior size and strength giving them an edge as they let their brothers behind them burrow into the ground and come up behind their foes, taking their enemies from behind. Even so, the guard's superior numbers made the difference, keeping the dogs at bay, driving them towards buildings as they tried to corner them.

The Minotaurs looked to be having the most fun, their rippling muscles punching through guards all around them, leaving refinement to jobs of stealth as their fists left perfectly flat surfaces where faces used to be. Their trouble came in the form of unicorns keeping their distance and firing spells at them from afar, out of range of their melee fighting styles.

Dead Bolt's and Blood Moon's assassins had banded together, Bolt herself, Ember, Leaf, Candle and Redwave standing together and taking on a large bulk of the guards between them, while the other assassins held their own grounds around them. Ember and Dead Bolt proved to have complementing fighting styles, Dead Bolt working with joints, pressure points, locks, cripple points and throwing the enemy off balance while Ember would follow through with a fatality, opening throats, thrusting through the heart and lungs, taking limbs and driving her hidden blade through the eye. Leaf, as was his nature, took to his own path, cutting his way through whatever was to come his way, breaking bones, slashing throats and using whatever was at his disposal to fell his foes, bolts growing from throats and eyes, the quiver on his back half-empty, throwing knives singing through the air and landing in soft spots, the blow-pipe on his back having already been discarded in a guard's throat. Candle and Red stuck together, both stallion's blades singing through the air, sprays of blood following them, but it was evident that the two didn't have as much experience as the others, Red's limp and a missing mask testament to that, while Candle's left wing was crippled, his armour opened to reveal a deep gash.

Blood Moon left them to it, his objective lying before him. In the palace. He trotted the last few blocks, ending the lives of guards to approach from all angles as he went. He ducked under a flying blade and struck back, stepping around him as another attacked, catching her strike in his hoof, his hoof going up and snapping the leg before he threw her away, another charging him, the assassin leaping over him, grabbing him by the tail and yanking him back, his hoof finding the back of his foe's skull.

Trotting the last leg, he found his way towards the gate to Canterlot Palace. He raised an eyebrow at the guards atop the wall, stomping his hoof into the ground and catching the spikes of rock to fire out of the earth and throwing them at the guards. The sentries done with, he put his hoof to his maw, the same earth shattering whistle ripping from him. There was a flap of wings bigger than any mortal, or immortal, as Grárvinda flew over the mass of fighters. Ignoring the battle, she flew straight to Blood Moon's position, a bloody Hunter joining her glide as they came to a stop before him, the phoenix landing on his shoulder, breathing heavily. Blood Moon glanced at his pet and smirked lightly, the bird returning with his version of a smile. The dark stallion looked to Grárvinda and held his hoof towards the gate.

"Would you kindly?"

Grárvinda's eyes showed her deathly grin as she looked to the gate, gatehouse and walls protecting the palace. With a roar that bested any dragon, her claw landed on the gate and wall, destroying it all, as well as a few guards in there. Blood Moon looked up at her appreciatively, nodding his head in thanks.

"Many thanks, Grár" he said, the Gargoyle nodding her head in return. Blood Moon remembered the fight going on behind him, his memory prompted by the axe he caught on his armoured hoof, the spikes on his body firing into his foe before they returned to his body. He noticed Grárvinda's look, grinning lightly. "Have fun" he told her, the great beast taking off immediately and taking the fight to the guards still standing, Hunter following after her once more to rejoin the fray. Blood Moon looked to the rubble that used to be the gatehouse, trotting towards it and clambering over it.

"Was there really any need to have Grárvinda do that?"

'If I'm gonna storm Canterlot Palace, I'm gonna do it right.'

A few guards stood between Blood Moon and the locked door. He cracked his neck to the right as he approached the grunts, the four of them drawing weapons and readying spells. Two earths lunged Blood Moon, the assassin's horn flared as the shadows of the wall cast by the morning sun lashed out at the guards, four serpents of darkness grabbing them in their toothy jaws and ripping the screaming ponies to shreds. The unicorns loosed their spells at the assassin, the serpents intercepting them on their scaly hides as Blood Moon rode another over its brothers, leaping off and landing on one of them. His scales formed a blade in either hoof, the assassin stabbing them into the guard's neck at both sides and twisting it off. The other snapped his gaze to the assassin who'd appeared next to him, only to be hit in the face with a leg; he stumbled back, catching the severed head in his hooves and looking down at it in disgust before he looked back to the stallion, only to find a hind-leg connecting with his face and throwing him through the doors to the palace entrance hall.

The doors came down around the guard that had been fired through them, the gold, white and purple barriers crashing to the marble floor, casting dust into the air. Blood Moon trotted into the palace, the dust blowing away from him as though even the clouds feared him. Before him, stood three stallions who were by no means guards. Blood Moon snorted. The knight champions of Celestia, Luna and even princess Cadence stood between him and the door to the throne room. He hopped off the door and stood before them.

They stood in a row, emotionless, still, silent. Blood Moon stood across from them, emotionless, still, silent. A discrete gust of wind whistled lightly through the palace they stood within, disturbing the dust once more. Blood Moon cracked his neck left and right as he drew his blade, the knights drawing their own in response. This would be interesting.

The Crystalline Knight struck first, moving with a swiftness that betrayed his bulky appearance, his axe swinging for the assassin's neck. Blood Moon ducked the strike and dodged another swift swing of the dual-bladed weapon and countered with his own; the knight took the strike on his shoulder, the well-tempered metal sliding off the crystalline armour as he over-countered with his axe once more. The Hunter took the strike on his blade and stepped back to strike once more, only to be interrupted by another fighter. The Umbra Knight.

Blood Moon stepped back again, the pair of fighters attacking him together; the Umbra Knight took to the air, his pair of blades singing as he struck, the weapons searching for fur and blood as he slashed, stabbed, swiped and sliced at the assassin, Blood Moon taking each strike on his blade as he parried them away with nimble grace while the less agile crystal knight advanced on him, his axe swinging for the assassin's skull. The dark stallion rolled away as the two of them continued their assault with a brutal efficacy. They didn't make a noise between them, not a grunt nor a growl, while Blood Moon took their strikes on his weapon and let the sparks fly between them.

The Umbra Knight thrust both weapons as the crystal knight swung his weapon at Blood Moon's throat; the assassin's blade parried the Umbra Knight's blades away while the axe sung past his neck with a rush of wind. His hoof met the crystal knight's helm with an earthly 'crunch', a small crack appearing in the crystal armour; he followed through with his left hoof, shoving his crystal foe back. He leapt and took the Umbra Knight by his hooves as he attempted to regain his balance after Blood Moon parried him, the assassin taking him by the fore-hooves and pulling himself up until he wrapped his hind-legs around his foe and pulled him down, slamming the knight's head into the ground below.

Without given respite, the Lumen Knight charged. Blood Moon smirked at their confrontation; the assassin was more impartial to the way of the samurai, using a Daishō style of weaponry in a nitōjutsu/ittō-ryū fighting style, a traditional and old Japonyese sword fighting style of one and two blades that he was very well versed in. A knight, by comparison, would use a less grace and speed oriented combat style in favor of strong offence and relying on a solid skin of steel and shield to deflect blows. A samurai versus a true knight of the old ways. A fight for the ages.

The two met with a clash of steel, both stepping back and retorting with another strike. The knight's broadsword swung for the assassin's vital points, Blood Moon's katana taking it on the curve and parrying it past him while he stepped in, countering with a stab at his chest. The lumen knight's shield intercepted the strike, Blood Moon's strike cutting a groove into the protective plated metal as he spun past and angled another blow, his weapon coming down on the knight's back. The strong metals took the brunt of the attack, yet left the stallion otherwise unharmed. The Lumen Knight's shield met Blood Moon's face, sending him stumbling back.

The knight's blade thrust forward, aimed for the assassin's face; Blood Moon stepped out of the sword's path, returning with his own across the chest, sending more sparks through the air as the tempered metals met the hardened plates. The Lumen Knight sent another strike the Hunter's way, Blood Moon parrying it up and away from him and countering with a strike aimed at the knight's head, taken on his shield once more.

A bolt of darkness whipping past his face reminded the assassin that he and the Lumen Knight were not alone, Blood Moon rolling around the day knight to get a view of the night and crystal knights. Both were standing once more, the Crystalline Knight holding his axe over his shoulder as he regarded his foe in a new light, while the Umbra Knight reloaded his crossbow. Blood Moon turned his attention back to his current foe, the Lumen Knight slashing his sword across the distance between them and following through with his shield, Blood Moon parrying one and dodging the other, his hoof taking the wakizashi in hold and striking out with it as he drew it, the blade meeting the slits in the pony's helm and knocking him back as Blood Moon planted his hoof on his head and flipped over him and heaving his flank to the floor in the confusion, driving the shōtō through his short tail as he landed and rolled to his hooves again, galloping for the other two knights.

The crystal knight met his charge, settling into a stance better suited for battle as he took his axe in two hooves and shifted his weight to his hind-legs; the crystal knight's swing was something no sword could block nor parry without severely damaging the blade, as such, the assassin slid under the strike and rose behind him, taking his blade in his right fore-hoof in an under-hoof grip and driving it backwards into his foe's left hind-leg. The tip of the blade met the chainmail between the crystal plating of the knight's armour, pushing through the metal that was practically paper in comparison to the crystal armour. The knight elected a small hiss of pain as the blade bit into flesh a muscle, blood seeping from the wound as the assassin left his blade there. Letting go of the blade's handle, he turned his gaze up to the Umbra Knight.

He whipped his fore-hoof to the side, a few scales coming loose in the armour plating before he whipped his leg in the knight's direction, the black scales flying from his leg like thrown knives. The knight deflected the first three easily, but the four after them found their marks, his, piercing the thin membrane of his left wing and quickly taking it out of commission as the scales pushed through and returned to their spots on the assassin's armour with the deflected scales.

Done with disabling the crystal and umbran knights, Blood Moon looked back to the Lumen Knight, only to find he had disappeared. The sound of a blade mid-song prompted him to duck-and-roll away from his current spot, a few sparks jumping from his armoured hood as he avoided the knight's strike. Blood Moon tore his katana from his crystal foe's leg, getting another small growl of pain form the crystal knight, and returned to his duel with the Lumen Knight.

The knight of the day pushed Blood Moon backwards, slashing, cutting, thrusting and jabbing with his blade as his shield followed through with a heavy-hoofed swing to his face in an attempt to knock him off balance. Blood Moon took every strike on his weapon, more sparks flying between them as they fought with strength, speed and agility. The assassin parried a strike that left his foe open, throwing his enemy off balance and into the pommel of his foe's blade. Blood Moon back-flipped from his enemy, landing on his fore-hooves and jumping back to his hind-hooves again until he came to a stop next to his wakizashi. He picked it up and slid it into its sheath as the knight struck again, his weapon meeting Blood Moon's time and time again.

Blood Moon took a strike along his blade's curve, slipping past it and countering with a strike of his own. The metal of his weapon met the metal of his foe's shield, the knight parrying the assassin past and opening him to offence. Blood Moon growled as the knight's blade met his armour, likely leaving a bruise in its place. He knight followed through with a second strike across his chest, Blood Moon blocking it away with a 'clang', the knight was unrelenting with his offence as he transferred the momentum of the bounce from the blocked strike into a second strike, swinging his sword around and upwards, only for Blood Moon to parry the strike, the knight slipping his blade gracefully up Blood Moon's own and swing his blade the Hunter's way once more, across his chest, only for Blood Moon to dodge the attack. The knight let the swing whistled past Blood Moon as he dodged, pulling his blade back and thrusting it at the assassin. Blood Moon caught the strike on the tsuba, against his blade, and forced it upwards. He stepped in and rammed his fore-knee into his foe's solar plexus, pushing the wind from him. His opponent stunned, he leapt into the air and struck him across the face with a well-placed roundhouse that sent his foe flying in the opposite direction.

Blood Moon looked up to find the Crystalline and Umbra Knights stood again, blood leaking from their wounds as they stared him down. The Umbra Knight reached back and drew his crossbow, firing another bolt at him. Blood Moon deflected the projectile on his blade, looking up to find the crystal knight charging once more, a limp in his step.

The assassin met his charge, the knight swinging his axe with a small grunt, Blood Moon ducking under it and retaliating with a strike of his own, the weapon landing on his foe's knee. The right fore-knee bent inwards, the knight letting a badly contained growl of pain leave his lips as he fell back, landing on his flank and rolling not-so-gracefully to his hooves again. He was met with the assassin bucking him in his armoured face, a second crack forming in his helm and leaving it impossible to see through it. Blood Moon grabbed his foe by the plume of mane coming from his helm, yanked his down and rolled over his back until he came to the Umbra Knight.

The dark stallion hissed a vampiric hiss and he lunged for the dark stallion, his teeth bared as he tried for the assassin's blood. Well in the knowledge of how to handle a vamp, Blood Moon flipped his magical grip on his weapon and shunted the pommel of his blade into his opponent's mouth. There was a sickening 'crack' as the vampire's teeth shattered, the Umbra Knight falling to the floor as he concentration faltered him, holding his mouth in trembling hooves as tear welled in his eyes. He looked up to find the assassin stood over him. His foe's eerie hidden face and the vile pain in his jaws killed will to fight.

"P-please, have mercy" he begged through his hooves, the discreet air sneaking over his mouth stinging his nerves. Sheathing his blade, Blood Moon leaned down and pulled his hood off, his face contorted with terrible magic, the fur and skin dripping from his face and running over his maw in a ghastly image of hatred and despair, his skull exposed in spots while his upper and lower lips melded together in spots to create an image that would haunt the knight's dreams for as long as he'd live.

"Does THIS look like the face of mercy" he demanded in a guttural voice. He took his foe's face in two hooves, on either side of the jaw, and pulled apart, the Umbra Knight screaming as the skin and muscle slowly split, his bones cracking and crunching gruesomely as the Hunter, rather literally, ripped him apart. The helmet split in two as the assassin pulled his face apart, the metal groaning in displeasure as he yanked the head apart, the helm breaking apart and falling off as the knight's screaming became a roar of guttural agony, the leather binding his armour splitting as the rest of him came apart. The skull had split to reveal the brain, blood spurting out and the mane fell away and more cracks rumbled through the now very silent room. Blood Moon repositioned his hooves, forcing them inside the now very dead pony's head and steadied himself; with a final yank and roar of effort, the Luna's Umbra Knight was no more as he came apart in two bloody, equal sides.

The assassin stood on his hind-legs, holding the two sides up in his outstretched fore-legs, entrails falling from the Umbra Knight's broken stomach, blood pooling beneath them, the lungs hanging from one side as the stomach, liver and kidneys fell from his corpse, the heart held in only by the veins connected to the remains of the body. Blood fell in liters, covering the ground below the assassin and ex-knight, Blood Moon breathing heavily with a manic look on his face while the knight's entrails continued to plop from his body.

"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED" the assassin roared to nopony, throwing the pony's remains to the ground and turning to his other foes; the Crystalline Knight, having removed his helmet to see properly, was looking incredibly pale, the pool of vomit next to him suggesting why, while the Lumen Knight was just stood off to the side, watching, unable to move. Blood Moon took advantage of their fear, lunging for the crystal knight in a mad haze. He struck the crystal guard across the face, spinning him, and took the crystal plating protecting his flank in hoof; he tore them off to find a newly emptied bowel, his hoof careering down and into the pony's back. He took hold of the spine in a death grip and yanked it out, the pony quickly paralyzed as some of the bone severed the spinal tissue as the assassin showed a practiced hoof at this, leaving his foe conscious as he spun him back around. The helpless pony swiveled his eyes upwards to Blood Moon, seeing a sight he'd never thought he'd have to see: a pony, holding his spinal column. Blood Moon took the stallion's lower jaw in hoof and yanked it open before he put the base of the spine at his mouth; with one, swift shove, he'd ripped out the pony's spine, and shoved it down his esophagus.

Letting the stallion choke to death, he looked up to his final foe.

"You still willing to stand between me and my target" he asked with a deathly and insane grin. He could hear the Lumen Knight swallow slightly, but he held his ground either way. Blood Moon grinned, rolling his neck, letting the stallion catch a glimpse of his blood-speckled face below his hood as he gave a wolfish grin. They advanced again, Blood Moon unsheathing both his blades while the Lumen Knight settled into a battle stance between Blood Moon and the throne room.

The knight charged while Blood Moon waited, the knight striking and the assassin taking the attack on his katana, retorting with his wakizashi; the shorter blade cut along the knight's chest, sparks flying once more, Blood Moon following through with a pommel-jab to his armoured snout, sweeping his fore-legs from beneath his foe with the flat of his blade, helping him up again with a pommel uppercut, slashing both blades in an X across his chest before taking both blades in a side-by-side grip, slashing both across the knight's chest at once in a diagonal and horizontal pair of strikes. The knight tried to fight back, raising his shield in defense and taking a few strikes along the defensive metal as he attempted a counter, blocking a katana strike and using his broadsword to stab at his foe, only for Blood Moon to step past him and fire a thrust-kick into his head, coming down again with both blades leading, the strikes racking across his foe's back. Blood Moon followed through with another combo of strikes; the dual-blades side grip across the face, chest and chest again, a pommel to the horn base, a tidy slice to the exposed rear of his fore-knee, another dual-uppercut sending his foe into the air and Blood Moon following him up, a powerful thrust-kick launching his foe through the doors to the Canterlot throne room.

The doors blasted open, the Lumen Knight landing on his back and skidding a little into the room. He rolled over and attempted to crawl away, only for Blood Moon to stab his katana through his back and pin him to the ground. The knight growled in pain, trying to reach back and withdraw the blade keeping him down as he squirmed helplessly. When he felt the assassin push the sword in deeper, he screamed in pain once more arching his back as he roared to the heavens. He fell limp to the floor, unable to move, his strength sapped from him and simply looked up at Celestia, sat in her throne, watching him die. He raised a hoof to her, in a last ditch attempt to survive, before Blood Moon took him by the helmet in both hooves.

"Princess" was his last, strained word before the Hunter snapped his neck.

The assassin yanked his hoof from the fallen knight's back, whipping it left and right to clean it of blood, looking up at Celestia as he sheathed it once more. There she was, the immortal ruler of Equestria. Well, almost immortal; she did not age and would never grow fatally ill, but a lethal blow would send her to the Alicorn afterlife. And she would be gone forever. Blood Moon trotted into the throne room, Celestia silently standing from her throne as they approached one another, Blood Moon's eyes darting from window to window as he looked upon Equestria's history, both ancient and new. It dawned on him with a grin that his dark colours were in none of these images, lost to time, forgotten to history. As it should be.

Blood Moon and Celestia stopped, a few meters between each other as they stared each other down.

Blood Moon stared at her. He had to admit, he knew she'd been hiding her scars, be he hadn't realized there's been so many. She was stood as regally as her title, perfectly poised and straight. She was so different now, not the filly he'd seen grow up. None of her usual innocence, none of her usual curiosity, none of her optimistic gleam. None of her happiness.
Celestia stared at him. He hadn't changed a bit, maybe asides the odd scar here and there, but beyond that he was exactly the same. The same exact foalsitter, the same exact father, the same exact stallion. The same exact pony who'd abandoned her. She narrowed her scarred eyes at him, taking a deep breath through her muzzle as they regarded one another.

"Celestia" Blood Moon started slowly, the name suddenly alien to his lips. The faint grin never once left his maw.

"Blood Moon" Celestia replied just as slowly, the name tasting like the bitterest of poisons to her. The grim expression never once left her face. The assassin suddenly sniffed at the air lightly.

"I thought you'd given up smoking…"

The stallionhood pumped into her with lustful ferocity, making Twilight squirm in pleasure as Blood Moon held her, made love to her and just generally made her feel good.

Twilight…

She wrapped her fore-hooves around his neck, pulling her lips to his as the pain of her first time was quickly replaced by the pure bliss of her first time, the blood coming from her treasure flowing away on a constant stream of her love.

Twiiiilight…

Her lover repositioned himself slightly, changing his angle, and the pleasure in her marehood was suddenly changed, focused on different spots, in ways that made her groan in pleasure and arch her back in ecstasy.

"Twilight, are you alright?"

The purple mare stirred slightly in her exhaustion-induced sleep, a soft voice penetrating her sweet dreams. Her eyes fluttered open to find a yellow furred mare looking down on her with a kind smile on her face, prompting a tired smile to creep across Twilight's own lips.

"Hey" she said sleepily, yawning soon after, sitting up properly as she stretched her stiff muscles. "I'm…" she cut herself off again as she stretched her back, her spin cracking in a few spots "I'm fine" she managed to get out "what's up?" Fluttershy smiled slightly as she leaned in to speak a little quieter.

"I think some of the girls heard your moaning" she said quietly. A blush soon warmed
Twilight's cheeks, swallowing slightly.

"O-oh, uh, oh" she answered eloquently. Fluttershy giggled lightly.

"Was it a nice dream?" Twilight blushed a little harder at her friend's gentle teasing.

"M-me and Blood Moon…doing…science" she answered bashfully. Fluttershy giggled again. Twilight took the opportunity to look around herself; she and her friends were the only ones on their carriage, most of them having dozed off on the moderately long trip to Canterlot from Ponyville. Looking out one of the windows told Twilight that they had almost reach their destination, maybe fifteen minutes between their current position and the train station.

Looking back at her friend, she caught her slightly distant expression, as though 'Shy was thinking about something, not to mention her close proximity.

"Fluttershy…" The butter yellow mare looked to friend.

"Yeah?" Twilight held her gaze for a second, biting her lip thoughtfully.

"Are…are you okay?" Fluttershy smiled slightly.

"I'm fine" she answered.

"No, I mean…Blood Moon" she finished at length. The reaction was immediate; the yellow mare's expression quickly went downcast, her gaze going to the floor, as her body went limp and saddened.

"Oh…um, well I, uhh…" The Pegasus's timid nature soon shone through with her sorrow, preferring to curl up inside rather than talk. "Well… I-I guess…"

"Fluttershy, I want you to know, I never wanted him to do that, and that-"

"Oh no, I never thought you wanted him to do that, in fact, I know exactly why he…um…" Fluttershy caught herself in her sudden burst of confidence, curling up again and hiding behind her mane. Twilight frowned.

"What do you mean? Know why he what?" Fluttershy, sensing she was in a corner here, swallowed gently and relented.

"W-well, i-it's the same thing as me and my animal friends; Angel Bunny is my only real pet, because I know I couldn't give all of the critters the attention I give him. H-he's not my favorite exactly, I just…love him a little more" she explained. Twilight was a little shocked.

"Fluttershy…" she said quietly "…wow" she finished. The animal caretaker just gave a bashful blush, too adorable for description. "I'm…really impressed, I didn't even think of it like that" she admitted. Fluttershy just shrugged gently. "But, if you don't mind my asking…do you…still, y'know, like me or Blood Moon at all? Like a friend, I mean" she added quickly. Fluttershy looked down.

"Well… I'm not sure… I know he doesn't want to come between any of us" she mumbled, looking up from behind her mane "and you never did anything" she continued "so I still love you" she said, wrapping her willing friend in a hug, her wings going around the purple mare. Twilight smiled a big smile, returning the hug with gusto, nuzzling her gentle friend with her head. Though, she had to admit, she wasn't quite sure what 'love' pertained to. And she wasn't quite sure she'd mind the more…loving, side of it.

"But…what about Blood Moon" Twilight asked, her words muffled a little by Fluttershy's embrace. The Pegasus deflated slightly at the question, pulling back from her friend as she sat back on the seat they shared.

"I...I don't know Twilight" she told her friend admittedly. "I'm just not sure. When he…broke up with me, I felt like my whole world had shattered. I don't like what he's done, I hate it" she said shakily, her voice cracking a little "I-I know why he did it, and I'm happy for you, it's just…" tears welled in her eyes as he lip wobbled, Twilight moving in and nuzzling her friend from the side, prompting Fluttershy to sniffle a few times as she strengthened herself again. "I still…I'm so confused; I don't know if I like him at all, or hate him. It's almost like if we can't be lovers, we can't be anything" she said lightly. She took a light sigh. "I…I don't know Twilight…I need to think about it" she admitted. She felt Twilight nod a little, prompting Fluttershy to look over at her again. "But…it really doesn't matter either way. I don't really need him in my life" she said with more strength than Twilight had ever seen in Fluttershy before. "I've got you, the girls, Angel, Spike, the fillies…and I think Blood Moon helped me realize something." Twilight gave a curious look.

"What?"

"That it's easy enough to be confident. I just needed some motivation; Blood Moon showed me the great things that could happen when I was" she answered. Twilight smiled at her friend's conclusion.

"Sounds like somepony has a letter to write" she giggled, Fluttershy following suit.

"Canterlot station, five minutes" the conductor called through the door, rousing the sleeping ponies and shutting the door after him.

"Hermm, whatsa, what" Rainbowdash asked as she stirred awake, scratching her mussed up mane as she raised her head.

"We're nearly at Canterlot, Dashie" came the answer of the pink pony who owned the flank the rainbow mare's head had been resting upon. 'Dash quickly woke up when she figured out what she'd been using as a pillow for the last while, blushing lightly and unwilling to comment on how plump, squidgy and…perfect it had felt.

The train quickly chugged into Canterlot train station, the six mares riding it soon disembarking. The train station, to their worry, was deserted. They continued through Canterlot, finding nopony and nothing on the side and back streets either as they continued through.

"It's like a ghost town" Rainbow commented, looking around the deserted streets.

"Please don't say something like Rainbow dear, especially considering why we're here" Rarity implored. RD gave a small, 'heh, sorry' in response as they continued through the overly quiet streets.

"Hello" Twilight called, hoping for a reaction. There was none, nothing but her own echo and the whistle of the wind.

"Hellloooo, anypony there" Applejack called, garnering the same response.

"Is anypony home" Pinkie asked the whole of Canterlot.

"Isn't everypony supposed to be inside" a gruff voice asked from behind them all. Each mare jumped at the sound of the dark voice, quickly turning to face whoever had spoken. A shadow wearing a fedora and trench coat stood out from the shade of one of the alleyways.

"W-who're you" Twilight asked the dark creature. In response, the shadow stepped from the shade and formed a pony, a stallion of dark colours. He trotted towards and then past the girls, all of them watching him go.

"You're Twilight Sparkle, right?" Said mare raised an eyebrow.

"That's right" she answered hesitantly.

"And these are your friends, Rainbowdash, Applejack, Pinkamena Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity" he listed. The Elements of Harmony looked between each other.

"Jus' who are yew, mister" Applejack asked pointedly. The pony looked back at them.

"My name is Skullduggery" he answered simply.

"Oooo, mischievous" Pinkie commented. Skullduggery gave a small grunt.

"Indeed… I can only guess as to why you're here" he said vacantly, still looking out at a street the girls couldn't see from their angle.

"We came here to…find somepony. Could you help us" Twilight asked. Skull shrugged.

"Probably, but I doubt it."

"What's THAT supposed to mean" RD asked from behind Twilight.

"It means, I should hope so, I am a detective after all, but in this mess, I doubt it" he explained. The girls all frowned as they trotted up to his side, AJ cantering up to Twilight.

"Are ya'll sure about this guy Twi? Ah mean, ah jus' don't like him, he's a little too…" she took another look at the pony "mysterious, for mah tastes." Twilight gave her a look that agreed with her but was unable to follow through with their shared suspicions.

"Not really, but he's the only other pony around so what other choiioooohhhh m-m-m-my goodness" she breathed as they arrived on Canterlot's main stretch.

Carnage, was the only word for it. Pure carnage. Blood, bodies and pure chaos had detonated in an ugly bomb of gore and death across the main strip of Canterlot, ponies both living and dead situated around what could only be a battlefield. Most of the standing ponies were clad in coats of red, black, grey and brown, all smattered in red and gore, while the rest were undoubtedly guards and soldiers. The six mares looked on in horror; yes, their time with Blood Moon had been marred with death and battle, the six mares no longer strangers to such scenes, but it was pure scale that hit them. This wasn't dead rapists nor corrupt guards either, these were royal, solar and night guards, just ponies doing their jobs having been cut down and murdered by the ponies still standing. Suddenly, a stone dropped in Twilight's chest.

"Oh no" breathed, cantering forwards slightly, uncaring towards the blood staining her hooves.
"Oh no, please Celestia no" she begged, her friends following after her.

"Twilight, what's wrong" Rarity asked, attempting to pick her way through clean spots. Twilight spun back to them.

"Shining Armour, he may have been here, he may have-"

"Twiliy?" Twilight perked up at the voice. She looked around herself desperately; it sounded healthy, calm, if a little annoyed.

"Shining" she called back, looking around herself before she spotted him; purple and gold armour, white fur and a blue mane and tail of dark and light blues. With relived tear in her chest, she galloped over to him, lunging for her brother. "Shining Armour" she squealed as he caught her out of the air and hugged her tight, Twilight returning the favor. "Oh Shining, I was so worried, I thought-"

"Twilight, what are you doing here?" Twilight blinked a few times and looked up; despite him holding her lovingly, her big brother had fixed her a very stern look, not to mention a disgruntled tone of voice. Twilight blinked a few times as she released him and took a step back, and it was only now that she noticed that her brother was leading a small group of maybe five or six troops through the gore, not to mention, that most of the remaining assassins had left. Then, Twilight realized she didn't have an answer for him. She couldn't tell him about Blood Moon, not to mention, Blood Moon was likely to have been right about her big brother's reaction to finding out they were dating when they'd had their first run in together.

"W-w-well, I-I mean I was, I-" Shining rose a hoof to stop her, sighing slightly.

"It's alright Twilight, it can wait" Shining told her. Twilight had to admit, she'd never seen her brother like this before; official, firm, sharp with her and apparently in no mood for hugs. He turned back to one of the guards. "You, take her and her friends back home" he ordered one of the guards. Twilight panicked.

"NO, I've gotta get to the palace" she argued. Shining cut her off with a small glare, though a confused one nonetheless.

"The palace, why would you want to go there?" Twilight bit her lip; if she said anything about stopping Blood Moon, Shining Armour would inevitably catch on, and she'd be stuck here explaining everything to him.

"I…just wanted to go see if Celestia is alright." Shining made a look that suggested he didn't by his little sister's story.

"I don't think so, she can look after herself, besides, according to some of my guards, one of the assassins made his way in there" he smirked slightly "I'd like to see what princess Celestia's gonna do to him" he said with a look Twilight had only seen in Blood Moon's eyes before.

"Captain Armour, do you even know what's going on here?" Everypony looked to Skullduggery, who looked back, and found him looking through one of the dead ponies, searching her pockets for clues.

"No, I don't, care to explain detective" Shining replied calmly, showing a certain respect yet short fuse with the P.I. Skullduggery responded by holding up the corpse he was looking at, showing it to everypony. Instantly, Shining bared his teeth. "Damnit, not the Weavers" he growled as he cantered over. Twilight quickly realized what the detective had just done, both her friends and the detective prompting her to go. She quickly complied, turning and galloping for the palace. Hearing her hoof-steps, Shining Armour turned back to his sister to find her gone. "Twilight, get back here" he called after her. When she ignored him, he growled again and turned back to his guards. "You lot, make sure the girls get to safety, and you" he glared at Skullduggery, who glared right back "I'll see to you later" he growled before he took off after his sister.

Twilight hadn't gotten very far before her much fitter brother had caught up with her, his hooves pounding the road behind her as he quickly gained. Fortunately, Twilight was much better versed in the art of magic than galloping, so a quick flash of light was all it took to appear in Canterlot palace's entrance hall. Two ponies lay dead in the most hideous of fashions, but neither held her attention. What did instead was the standoff going on in the room before her.

She still had a chance. She could stop them.

Then her brother appeared.

Shining Armour grabbed his sister from behind, hiding the pair of them against the wall besides the destroyed door.

"Twilight, what do you think you're doing" he hissed. Twilight squirmed free and cantered for the door, Shining grabbing her tail and hauling her back.

"Please, you don't understand, I've gotta stop them" she tried to explained as she attempted to wriggle free from her brother's hold.

"Stop what?"

"So…ten thousand years…and that's all you have to say to me" came Celestia's voice. Twilight suddenly stopped, going limp in her brother's hooves.

"That…" Shining Armour, inevitably, was a little confused. He moved carefully towards the door frame and peered around, Twilight looking with him, knowing there was nothing else she could do.

Blood Moon and Celestia stared each other down, both watching each other for any sign of sudden movement. Still, Celestia had a grim expression across her face, Blood Moon an ever smart-flank grin. The assassin shrugged.

"I thought it prudent" he replied. Celestia's neck twitched slightly, her left eye following suit and she bared her teeth.

"Prudent!? You've been gone for longer than most history books go back, you left me and Luna before the bit was in circulation, and all you have to say is I thought you'd given up smoking!?" The assassins shrugged.

"It's good to see you again Tia?" Something in Celestia snapped, her neck twitching gently once more as her horn sparked to life and her magic gripped her blade. With a roar to match any dragon's, she lunged forwards, bringing her blade down on the assassin like a mad-mare. Blood Moon drew his own and rolled to the side, Celestia's blade meeting the marble floor and slicing into in with ease. She followed the assassin with her gaze, ripping her sword from the marble and swinging it for him again, the dark stallion taking the strike on his blade with practiced ease, Celestia allowing her weapon to slide up his own and quickly spin, lashing a hind-leg out with lightning fast speed and sending the assassin into one of the white, marble walls.

The fine stone cracked and splintered around him, Blood Moon dropping from it and landing on his hooves again, the deep indent of a pony marking where he'd just landed.

He looked up at his foe, and cracked his neck left to right.

Celestia lunged once more, their weapons meeting with an almost blinding flash of light as they clashed, rebounded and struck again, the two never stopping in their movements. Celestia struck hard, and fast, her weapon meeting the assassin's with the ferocity of a wild beast, a small sun sparking between the two blades as they met, sparks replaced with a small sun as they met in equally powerful blows and strikes, blocked and parried by the similar weapons and they stepped around and towards each other, away and past on another in an extraordinarily complex dance of death, Celestia striking with her blade like a lunatic, grief and anger fuelling every one of her powerful strikes. Her blade shimmered sharply, white-gold flames igniting on the metal as she struck, an arc of blinding white light following her sword as she struck against her foalsitter, using the techniques he'd once taught her.

Her blade flashed down across his guard, the assassin taking it on his blade as he stepped past her next offence neatly and parried her follow through, taking the uppercut on the flat of his blade and stepping inside her defense. The assassin's smaller stature made it easy on him to out maneuver her, cleaving a neat X into her chest piece. Celestia stabbed her blade down, into his back, only for him to vanish with a blast of dust following his invisible movement. Blood Moon landed on the back of her neck taking her mane and throwing his and her weight to the side, dropping them both and slamming his foe's head into the ground.

Blood Moon rolled to his hooves again, leaving Celestia to clumsily scramble to her hooves, using her weapon as a support.

"Didn't I ever teach you to put your defense over your offence? A perfect strike is nothing if you don't have a perfect counter to follow up with" he goaded. Celestia growled.

The solar princess spread her wings, kicking up dust with the gust of wind to follow, and set the tip of her sword next to the marble besides her hoof. She crouched slightly before she shot forwards on her wings, her speed casting her from one side of the hall to the other in less than a second. In another blast of dust, Blood Moon had moved with her, his speed invisible to their audience. They met in a clash in the center of the hall, their blades locked at the tsuba and growling into each other's faces.

"It's clear, just blades aren't going to settle this match" Celestia hissed as they pushed back and forth, sparks grinding between the two "so, what do you say we up the ante?" Her Alicorn stature shone true as her strength built behind her weapon, pushing Blood Moon back several paces as her horn's glow turned to a glare.

Sunrend stabbed into the marble, cracking and splitting it like a spider's web, as lava burst from the ground. Celestia used her horn to conduct the magma like a conductor would guide his orchestra, the liquid blaze lunging for the assassin. The assassin stamped his hoof to the ground once, and in response, and wall of stone erupted from the ground, the lava spilling around it. The lava flowed around the stallion, crashing into the wall, spilling over and onto him from above and behind. His wall of rock reach over his back, protecting him from the magma, making a loop and splitting at the middle, reaching around the initial wall and shooting at Celestia. The two shots of earth careered at Celestia like a tribe of stampeding buffalo, though the mare of the day was unfazed; she raised her blade and slashed through the rock with ease, stepping into her lava like it was an innocent puddle as she galloped for her foe.

But two steps away from the stone defenses, the dark stallion broke through the stone, his blade in hoof as he brought it down on Celestia with a bull roar, his back arched as he sailed through the air. He brought his weapon down on his foe, Celestia showing some impressive speed by stepping out of the way and countering with a swing at his throat, the metal scales shifting and forming a throat guard along his neck; her foe staggered for a second, Celestia drew her tanto in hoof, thrusting it into his now exposed chest. Blood Moon stepped gracefully out of the way, careful to stay upon the platforms he'd formed from his attack, and took her offending hoof in his own, twisting it further than it was meant to go and taking the weapon for himself.

He leapt, leading with a round house to the face and following through with his katana, finishing with the tanto, the sword sending sparks across the helm and the dagger a small spray of blood as the metal met flesh. He dropped, landed on the stone bridge, leapt back, flipped hind-legs overhead and landed on the back of Celestia's throne, as careful as before to stay away from the lava.

Blood Moon stood crouched on the back rest, his hind-legs bent as he kept his balance on his left fore-leg, maw busy with her tanto and his spare hoof holding his own blade. Celestia whipped her head to his position, glaring at him before realizing what he'd done. His horn sparked once more and the platform of rock gained small ridges all over that shot upwards as sharp points, threatening to impale her. She leapt up and flew to the roof, where she landed inverted and gazed at him from above.

The assassin wasted no time, stabbing his katana into the wall behind and jumping backwards onto it, using the slight bend to add power to his jump as he leapt up to Celestia. He drew his wakizashi with his spare hoof and stabbed both into the ceiling, flipping himself to an inverted position and gripping both weapons in his magical grip. Their battle continued upside down, Blood Moon taking Celestia's attacks on both his and her weapons, using the agility of two smaller weapons to his advantage as he took her Dai-katana on one, slipped under and countered with the other, aiming for her face. Celestia took a neat step back as their weapons sparked off on another, taking her tanto in hoof and twisting Blood Moon's grip in an attempt to disarm him as he had her, only for the assassin to let go of her weapon before she'd finished her twist, taking his wakizashi between his teeth and grabbing the tanto from above them and drive it down at her.

Celestia raised her left leg to block the strike, the blade sparking down her armoured hoof until they held each other in a hoof lock. Blood Moon quickly spread his fore-legs and opened her up to offence, drawing his head back and slamming his fore-head into her face. Celestia growled in pain, the metal of her helm bending in with his strike as head met muzzle, breaking her nose and rendering her helmet useless in one go. Beyond that, she fell from the roof, her concentration broke. She flipped her fall as gracefully as a cat, spreading her wings and gliding to the ground, landing in the lava to which she was immune.

Blood Moon fell with her, landing on the second platform and standing above her, sliding his wakizashi into its scabbard. They gazed at each other with a glare in their eyes, Celestia slowly reaching up and pulling off her helm, throwing it to the side. It clattered through the lava and against the marble, leaving her face free. She was a different type of stunning in her true form, an admirable battle-maiden of great prowess rather than a perfect ruler, of unnatural beauty. She let her braided mane fall to the side as she sheathed her tanto once more, gazing up at her foe. Her would-be assassin. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she let her lava seep through the cracks of the marble, flowing back into the hole she'd made with her blade, Blood Moon's abstract barrier of stone falling back into the earth.

With a second spared to stare each other down, both charged once more; the assassin galloped with no weapon drawn, Celestia with her blade held aloft as she galloped for her foe. As they neared, she let loose a roar and brought her weapon down. Before it met Blood Moon's fur, he disappeared in a black cloud of smoke, only to reappear as a grey furred wolf.

The canine crashed into Celestia with a mountain toppling force, his dagger-sharp, white teeth snapping at her neck as his claws ripped at her chest. Twice as large as a normal wolf, his stomach, legs and neck were covered in dirty, dull silver-grey fur, his back, tail and head covered in fur as black as midnight, the wild hunter's eyes blood red and focused with an unnatural intelligence. Perhaps the animal to best personify Blood Moon, rather than the creature, was the wolf; capable of great silence despite its great size and natural affinity for battle. A stalker, rather than a true hunter, better at tracking its prey than taking it down, the cat's place, but a great hunter nonetheless.

The great wolf clawed and bit at her armour was an unrelenting ferocity, snarling and growling at her, a hungry drool leaking from its maw as he barked at her with deadly intent. Celestia struggled and growled from beneath the wolf, trying to keep anything vital from its jaws as she attempted to get her hooves underneath. She caught a break when the dog took a second too long to strike at her with its maw, instead receiving a fore-head to the muzzle instead. Blood Wolf whimpered in pain for a second, giving Celestia the chance to get her hooves under him and launch him off. The wolf sailed through the air, flipping over and onto its paws as it landed. Celestia got to her hooves in much the same way the assassin would, bouncing from her fore-hooves and neck to her all fours, and snarled at her doggish foe. She galloped forwards a few paces before she exploded in a flash of white smoke and burst from said cloud as a snarling white and gold saber tooth tiger, giving the creature's signature roar as it bounded forward. Celestia's chosen animal form, powerful and strong, fast and furious; the beat's fur a pure, dazzling white, slashes of a faint gold running through the fur, the dagger-like canines glittering and claws a light gold, the eyes Celestia's light magenta.

Blood Wolf gave a small howl before he returned Celestia's charge, lunging forward and meeting her in the air. The two clashed heavily, clawing, biting, roaring, barking, snarling, drawing blood, howls of pain and growls of anger, the two rolling around on the form. Celestia's saber form held true to the beast natural strength and power, the huge tiger easily capable of overpowering a wolf. Only, Blood Moon's lycan form was no normal wolf. His canine body was as big as Celestia's feline, his muscles just as powerful and his senses just as sharp. The only difference came in the form of weaponry.

Celestia's great, golden teeth rent the fur and flesh from Blood Wolf's back, the dog howling in pain while his own jaws clamped over her neck, drawing blood from her throat in shallow yet numerous wounds. Their claws ripped at each other's stomachs, Celestia's going deeper while Blood Wolf left more scratches across her white fur. Their tussle rolled them over and across the throne room, leaving bloody streaks where they had once been, yelps and pained growls marking each wound given. After a while of rather in-your-face clawing and slashing, Blood Moon's nature as an assassin shone through.

With a flash of smoke, Blood Moon reappeared, in the clutches of the saber cat; he slammed his hoof into the tiger's face, letting it whine in pain as he clutches his blade in his hoof, drawing the weapon and blood as he slashed the sword along Celestia's saber form, opening her chest as he hopped back, dodging the wild swipe of her clawed paw, hopping back again and slamming his hoof into the floor. Dust was cast into the air, obscuring him.

When it settled once, more a bloody and weary Celestia had returned.

She looked around the throne room. The red carpet was torn and stained with blood, the marble floor was cracked and splintered in no few places, a large bunch of the windows had cracked in spots, close to shattering and Blood Moon was nowhere to be seen.

"I'll admit Celestia, you've improved since last we fought" came Blood Moon's voice from all around. Celestia growled as she heard his thrown voice, coming from all directions.

"Come out Moon, I've no time for games" she barked, drawing her Dai-katana and holding it in defense.

"No sense of your foe, eh Tia" came his voice again, from all around. Celestia whipped around when she heard the marble behind her shift, looking at her throne to find that Blood Moon's blade had gone. "I'm an assassin, I hide."

"You mean you cower, uncle" she spat, still searching her throne room. How they'd done so much damage to it in so little time, she'd never know.

"No, Celestia. Cowering is not facing your foe. You just can't find me" he goaded. Celestia growled and went to retort, only for a burning pain to lash across her back. She barked in pain, her legs buckling slightly as she looked back. A shōtō was stuck in her side, the blade going deep, only the handle sticking out. She went a little light headed, almost losing her balance; the blade hadn't hit anything important, but she'd likely bleed out from the deep wound. She had to heal that wound.

"So you think you've outsmarted me, Blood Moon" she called out "you think you've beaten me, assassin" she spat as her magic gripped the blade and yanked it out. She gave a small whimper of pain, tears tempting, and stabbed the blade into the ground. The internal damage knit itself back together quickly, not exactly painlessly, no matter how good at healing magic you were, it was never without pain, but still a hay of a lot better than anything Blood Moon could conjure, she was spitefully sure of. The slight hiss to escape her came from both her, and her wound that was slowly burning away any infections, smoke rising from it as the spit skin reformed.

In the shadows, sat on one of the rafters deeper into the room, beyond the well-lit ceiling above the throne, was Blood Moon, healing his own wounds. That, and forming a plan. He needed time to think, to use the intelligence bestowed upon him by the training he'd once received. A plan of attack. Normally, the plan of attack was just 'attack' but here he required more tact, more subtlety. How does an assassin fell a foe who couldn't be killed in one blow, forcing him into open combat. A remarkably easy question to answer, actually; weak points, cripple points, disarming them, confusing them, a distraction. Creating an edge where one does not otherwise exist. Unfortunately, he had only his blades and armour, well, blade now, he's used the wakizashi to stall Celestia.

'So now what, Hunter?'

He got a truly evil idea.

He reached under his cape and took three scales in hoof, feeling them form a dagger in his clutch. He wound his leg back and threw the improvised blade, watching it sing silently through the air, curving back. The black, sharpened scales met their mark, landing right in Celestia's rear. The glorious bounty of flesh was split by the assassin's weapon, prompting a pained squeal to rip from her throat. Tears of both pain and humiliation welled in the solar princess's eyes, undecided in taking the weapon in her magic and pulling it out as her back arched in pain. Another kind of pain rocked her system when Blood Moon dropped from the rafter and landed with his right fore-knee meeting her neck, dropping Celestia to the floor as blood flew from her maw. The two ended on the ground, Celestia sprawled on the ground and Blood Moon stood above her, blade once again in hoof.

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle watched in horror as her lover and teacher fought, Blood Moon coming close to winning the fight. She could feel hot tears running down her face, her mind screaming at her in desperation to do something, to scream out 'stop' like she had when she'd first been victim to watching Blood moon fight, but she couldn't, her whole body was paralyzed in fear, anguish and pain. However, her brother wasn't; Shining Armour let go of his sister, standing from behind her and galloping over to the fighting duo. Blood Moon perked up at the sound of a charging pony, turning to find the guard captain galloping towards him. His first instinct was to strike him down, only hot on its hooves had been his relationship to Twilight. He hesitated for but a second, and it was all the stallion needed; he slammed his hoof into Blood Moon's face, spun and bucked him in the chest, sending the assassin across the room.

Shining Armour looked down at princess Celestia, finding her still coughing up blood, or the blood leaking from her throat or something to make her bleed from the mouth, whatever it was it was bad. He reached down to help her up only for her to bat his hoof away, getting up on her own hooves as her horn ignited, her mutilated throat reforming as she rose on her own muscles. Celestia looked up at the stallion, her heart dropping a little when she realized who it was.

"Captain Armour" she said in a slightly panicked voice "what are you doing here" she half asked, half demanded.

"Me and the troops saw smoke coming from Canterlot, we returned to investigate, only to find a town full of dead troops and assassins. What's going on?" Celestia looked around herself, only to realize Blood Moon had vanished again.

"Blood Moon, he's back, attacking, it doesn't matter! You have to get out of here, I can't let Twilight live through your death" she told him taking him by the shoulders. "Listen, just go, get out of here, you can't-" She was cut off when the ground behind Shining exploded and Blood Moon shot out, grabbing the guard Captain by the tail and throwing him back out of the throne room, listening to him slam into the wall, leaving a crack as he slid down, unconscious.

Shocked for a second, Celestia couldn't block Blood Moon's next offence; he swept her fore-hooves from beneath her, lifted her back to her hooves with a strong uppercut and leapt into the air, planting both his hind-legs into her chest and firing her back. Celestia fell to her flank, rolled over and skidded along her front.

She looked up to see Blood Moon stalking towards her, picking his wakizashi up and sheathing it with his katana. Celestia stood, her face a little bloody, and growled once more.

He stopped a few paces away.

"Come on Celestia, where's that fire? Don't tell me you've gone soft?" The solar princess growled at his taunt, drawing her blade once more.

"Alright then Blood Moon, alright. You want to see what I can really do." She rolled her neck once more and let her horn flare. "I'll show you, what I can really do."

Her wings flared and in an instant, she'd moved with an impossible speed, right before Blood Moon before a second had elapsed. She brought her blade down on the assassin, catching the afternoon sun on the metal, and met Blood Moon's crossed Daishō weaponry. He pushed his blades together and forced her own weapons up, pushing her defense away and driving both weapons forwards. When both blades were about to meet her chest, Celestia exploded into fire. The assassin gave a small yelp of breath as he dodged back, away from the flames. Sunrend flew past him, the blade formed from the fires of the sun as she swung for him, the air around him burning away as he hopped back, the fluttering of the fire singing past him as the weapon flew at him. It came down straight, the assassin back flipping away, and watching as the blade dug into the marble, turning it into magma before she pulled it out and stabbed at him, the assassin feeling the concentrated heat of the sun slash past him as he stepped past it, letting her pull the blade back and swing for him again, the assassin rolling away and out of her range.

The dark stallion looked up to a truly malevolent sight; Celestia, her mane and tail ablaze, her fur the white-hot of her mother, the magenta of her eyes taken by a fire red blaze as she stared the assassin down. The marble at her hooves cracked and splintered, the pillars either side of her splintering and coming close to tumbling, the roof above her tempting to fall in as debris fell to the ground.

The assassin grinned.

"That's more like it."

Celestia gave an angelic roar of anger as she swiped her blade at the assassin, the blazing sword sending cracks through the marble and burning up the red carpet as she swung at him. The assassin ducked beneath his foe's strike and stepped in, feeling the heat of the sun meet him as he advanced. He leapt, taking both swords in hoof in an under-hoof grip and brought them down on Celestia. Her mane and tail wrapped around her like a cocoon, the metal of the blades melting as it met the flames until nothing but the handles were left, Celestia's mane and tail of flame ripping from their protective position and sending a shockwave through the palace that shattered every window, splintered every piece of marble with ease and sent the assassin flying. He crashed through a marble pillar and through the wall beyond, landing in the air around the throne room only for Celestia to appear from said thin air only to kick him back into the throne room.

Landing on the ground, digging a groove into the floor and losing a small 'I'm gonna be sore in the morning' the assassin rose to his hooves, only for Celestia to appear next to him in her vengeful fury and put her hoof to the back of his head and shove him back down. She leant her head down to him and spoke into his ear.

"Tell me, Blood Moon, how's it feel to have me, you daughter, sweet little Celestia kill you?"

"Like a real bad hangover, only the mare I open my eyes to is ugly" he grumbled from his small crevice. Celestia growled, lifted his head up in her hoof and slammed him back down, cracking the marble further. "Hey, Celestia, you got any aspirin? I'm getting a little headache here." She roared, lifted him up and let her mane consume him, burning him from all angles at once. His roars of pain were something she'd remember for a long time. Her mane eventually spat out his smoking, burnt form, his body sliding across the floor. "Sssssssmoking" he managed to mutter out. With another growl, Celestia trotted over to him, lifted her fore-legs and brought them down on his spine, no doubt cracking his vertebra in no few places. His scream of pain brought a smile to her lips. "Owwwwwwwww" he managed to strangle out. Celestia pulled the hood from his head and took his mane in her hoof, lifting him to eye level.

"So, just where has your pride led you, huh? Where has your 'frontal approach' left you, hmm? You know Blood Moon, it's painfully obvious to me now, I wonder why I couldn't see it before. You're nothing but a liar. One thousand years of training and you can't even defeat me? The mare you trained yourself. You've so much more experience than me, allegedly, and you've so much more knowledge and prowess." She leaned her face in and sneered. "You're a bucking liar, aren't you? You don't have a thousand years of training, not a chance. Not when you're crippled form is just too familiar an image to me." She cocked her head and chuckled a mean chuckle. "Because, if you did have one thousand years of training in combat, in subterfuge, in anything really, you could take me easily. I mean, I've only had around five hundred years of fighting training, the rest was all princess stuff, you know, eloquence, ladylike mannerisms, that sort of thing" she said with a mockingly casual tone "and these ten thousand years haven't been filled with fighting practice, sure, a session or nine every years or so, but nothing like what you, apparently, went through." Blood Moon managed to flicker his eyes open, Celestia responding with and vile snarl and her head connecting heavily with his forehead. "Don't you look upon your ruler, you filthy peasant" she snapped, her hoof finding his gut "you don't have the right to look upon me you piece of shit." She snorted. "So tell me, how much training did you really have? One hundred years? One fifty? Just one? That wouldn't surprise me much." She shook her head at him, smirking cruelly. "Answer me Blood Moon" she demanded. She narrowed her eyes and struck him heavily in the gut, forcing blood from his maw. "I said, ANSWER ME" she roared, slamming her hoof into his gut once more, forcing more blood out.

Twilight, watching in dismay, finally found it in herself to move. She slowly lifted one, traumatized hoof, both from having to tend to her brother's wounds and watch the battle between Blood Moon and Celestia. She took a step, and she'd crossed the threshold.

Another, and she was on top of the broken down door, the only thing keeping Celestia's lava away from her and her brother earlier. Another, and she got part way across the door, only to feel and pair of hooves wrap around her barrel and pull her in, away from the room once more. The purple unicorn looked down, expecting to see white, only to find the midnight blue of princess Luna's hooves having grabbed her.

"Princess Luna" Twilight said in shock, finding her worried and pained expression looking down at her "what are you doing? I've got to stop them" Twilight tried, attempting to squirm free. Luna just held her tighter, her restraint devolving into a desperate hug of sorts.

"I know you want to stop my sister from killing somepony" she said a little obliviously, yet not all wrong "but I'm afraid there is no stopping her like this, Twilight" she said hopelessly. "I cannot stop her as much as you can't" she told her. Twilight looked back to Celestia killing her coltfriend with tears in her eyes as the realization hit her. She really was unable to help.
During their brief conversation, Celestia hadn't stopped forcing the blood from Blood Moon.

"SPEAK! YOU! WORM!"

Blood Moon responded by suddenly opening his eyes and pressing his lips to Celestia's.

The princess of the night's eyes snapped open in shock, Twilight gagged in disgust while Celestia herself blushed a pink blush. The shock threw her focus, losing her mane and tail's blaze while the assassin dropped from her lips and magical grip, the former of which she quickly wiped with her hoof in revulsion.

"Do you really think" the assassin's hoof met her armoured solar plexus, denting the metal in and crippling Celestia's stance "all's I learned back then was how to fight?" He turned, took her head in his hoof and flipped her over his shoulder, letting her crash to the ground. "They taught me how to fool somepony like you." He stepped up to her and took her head in his hoof once more, smacking her skull into the marble floor. "They taught me how to kill" a hoof met her face "they taught me how to survive" another strike connected with her face "but most importantly" he lifted her above his head with his fore-legs, slamming her back to the ground and casting more cracks through the marble "they taught me how to cheat." His hoof connected with her face again as he stepped down her body, taking her braided tail in his grip and raising to his hind-legs. He leant back slightly and stepped in a circle, pulling Celestia with him. He continued spinning until the princess of the day was getting spun through the air like ragdoll, their combined speed casting dust into the air. Eventually, Blood Moon let her go. The solar princess flew through the air at speeds just under Mach-1, hitting her throne and shattering the royal metals, the wall behind crumbling in agony as it came close to tumbling down on the two of them.

Blood Moon took heavy breaths as he stood still, his body sore, his limbs heavy and his spirit cracked slightly. He watched the rubble Celestia had vanished under carefully, his eyes darting over the chunks of marble. Light seeped from the gaps in the small mound, a blinding white light, the strange glow quickly intensifying before it detonated in a shockwave of flame and power.

The marble debris shot into the walls and floor, doing further structural damage to the palace, while the majority shot towards Blood Moon. The assassin dodged the first, leapt upon the second lunged at the third and took it in hoof, throwing it at the fourth, rolled under the fifth and struck the sixth with his hoof, shattering it.

Celestia emerged from the explosion, breathing heavily with an enraged snarl on her lips, her mane and tail ablaze once more. With a roar to oust any banshee, she flung herself at the assassin, her blade held high in her magical grip. It met the ground rather than the stallion, Blood Moon stepping away, then hopping over the low swipe, countering with a jab to the face that threw her next offence and opened her up to another strike from the assassin. He darted in and under the princess, his hoof finding the back of her knee and crippling her joint. He sent the same hoof upwards, into Celestia's diaphragm. Celestia gave a breathless scream as the wind was pushed from her, gasping for air as she rolled to the side, her mane and tail going out again.

"No matter…how strong…your magic and…and your offence" Blood Moon said between exhausted breaths, trotting around Celestia so his legs didn't buckle "fight with anger, and that red mist will obscure everything" he goaded exhaustedly.

On the ground, Celestia had finally regained control of her breathing, her lower chest still sore and bided her time before she had to get up. Half because she couldn't quite stand properly yet, and half because she needed a more opportune moment.

"No matter…how much we fight, Blood Moon…you will never beat me. Because I have something, that you don't" she managed to get out.

"Oh really? Pray tell" the assassin replied. Celestia looked up at him, and let her eyes narrow. Then, they caught alight, though with no normal fire; a purple blaze while her eyes turned green and a beam of darkness hit Blood Moon in the chest. He immediately fell backwards, holding his chest as a tight, constricting pain took hold of him. His heart was stopping. She'd hit him with Umbra Linguam, the word 'end.' An instant kill spell, nothing but cheap in the assassin's mind. But how, she wasn't in shadow she-

Then he saw it. Her shadow, stretched ever so slightly, to an out of place piece of shade. He looked up, and there she was. Philomena. Hovering a few meters in the air, in just the right spot to cast a shadow on the floor next to them, just out of his field of view.

'The bitch used the move we created together.'

He staggered back. He had to stop it, to heal, but he was wide open here. He couldn't use a spell to restart his heart with Celestia, not to mention Philomena, right in front of him.

"So, how does that feel Blood Moon? Your bird and you little girl" she said with a smirk, looking down her nose at the assassin. Blood Moon, still holding his chest, looked up and smirked.

"She's not my bird anymore" he answered. Then, like an angel with no better timing, Hunter darted through the window. The assassin would never be able to say how he knew, he just put it down to some backwards ass 'connection' between the two, but either way he didn't really care; miracles happened now and then. The bird of fire hit Celestia and Philomena like a speeding bolt, his streamline body hitting Philomena in a cloud of fiery feathers and displeased squawks. Celestia shouted out in shock, her attention thrown for a second, and Blood Moon used it to his advantage. He didn't have it in his for a spell, so, desperate times…

He fell to his back, and raised his right fore-hoof over his chest.

'If a perfect strike can stop it…'

His hoof came down on his with the force of a bull, striking himself in the chest and likely cracking a few of his ribs in the process. He struck right above the heart and felt the pain spike through his nervous system, but beyond that, it was bliss. His heart staggered to life again, beating harder than it should have been capable of beating, and he took a greedy breath, sucking down as much oxygen as he could. He looked up to see Hunter and Philomena fly out of the palace, duking it out, and Celestia watching them go. She turned back to the assassin to find him standing up again. She growled again, stamping her hoof to the ground.

"Don't you ever die?" Blood Moon chuckled.

"Throughout my life, Celestia, I've lost six fights, all of which ended in my death. I've never given in, I've never cowered away from a foe and I'll never stop fighting. It's my pride you see, tenacity, a never give up attitude. Because…where's the fun, in giving up, huh?"

Celestia just grunted, a blast of air pushing from her muzzle. She drew her sword in her magical grip, and held it above her head, perfectly vertical. It gained a golden glow, and she slowly pulled it around in a clockwise manner. The sword gave an unnatural groan as it drew a seal in the air, a strange spell circle of white and gold, ancient languages forming an ancient incantation in the sword's wake. Celestia slowly drew her weapon in a perfect circle, Blood Moon watching patiently as it happened. After five, long seconds, the seal was complete, hanging in midair, flaring slightly upon completion.

The pair locked gazes for a second before Celestia slashed her sword through the seal; the seal exploded into blinding white and gold light, an arc of magical light flying through the throne room, towards the assassin. Blood Moon responded by letting his horn flare, the ground behind him firing up to for columns of stone that cast shadow around him. As the arc of light careered towards the dark stallion, Blood Moon let his horn flare once more. His serpents of shadow burst from the darkness, all four of them hissing and snarling as the princess's attack slashed through them. Three of them fell to it, their heads dropping to the ground and bursting into black flames, while the last swerved away from the weakened spell, the arc of light coming to a stop a mere inch before Blood Moon's muzzle, the spell's momentum carrying a blast of wind and dust with it.

The remaining serpent coiled lightly before it lunged for Celestia. The white mare leapt upon its back and watched as the great serpent, the power usually reserved for the other shadow serpents further fueling this one, making it bigger, more powerful, and much more aggressive. It coiled back on itself and went for a bite at Celestia, only for the solar princess to leap off and let it sink its teeth into itself. As the serpent did too greater damage to itself for it to survive, falling to the ground as it exploded into black fire, Celestia landed on the cracked marble and galloped for Blood Moon, her blade held high, and spread her wings. With a sharp beat of her wings, she was in the air, coming down on Blood Moon from above, her sword singing through the air.

A torrent of black flame surrounded the assassin, forcing Celestia to catch her descent and hover in the air as the flames of change roared before her. Blood Moon was just visible inside the torrent of fire, watching her. He narrowed his eyes and the flames lurched for her, a tidal wave of fire falling onto Celestia. However, before the assassin's flames could reach her, her own flames exploded upon her once again. Her mane and tail's fire fought back the dark fire of the assassin's magic, slowly forcing it down until she'd extinguished it.

She descended and landed before the assassin, finding him standing on wobbly knees.

"Nothing else Blood Moon? I'm disappointed" she told him snidely, her lips curled into a sneer. She trotted towards him, flames flickering around her in a weak breeze as she held her sword over her shoulder, looking down at the assassin with a cocky grin on her face. They glared into each other's eyes for a while until Blood Moon's horn flared; Celestia stiffened as she felt something in her rear end shift and rip out with a small splattering of blood, the assassin's scales of darkness flying out and driving at her face. She caught the sharpened scales out of the air, an unimpressed look on her face. "Pathetic, Blood Moon" she told him before she drove the improvised dagger into his shoulder, between the scales.

With a small growl, the assassin fell to the floor, blood pooling from his wounds. He tried and failed to lift himself, his legs unable to take his weight, and fell limp to the ground once more. Celestia leaned her face down to him.

"Is this all you have to show? No taunts, no surprises, none of your infamous prowess?" She huffed. "I'm disgusted in you" she spat "you accuse me of going soft. You're the one who can't even pick himself up." Blood Moon attempted to lift himself again, failing once more. Celestia smirked. "What's this? No witty remarks? No insults? No passionate speeches? Nothing up your sleeves, no backup plan?" Celestia chuckled again, standing up straight before she gave a truly fearsome smirk. "I'm going to break every bone in your body. I'm going to systematically rip apart your vital organs so I can make you watch as I rip out each and every one. I'm going to rip off your limbs, then hook you up to a breathing apparatus and blood drip, to keep you alive. Then, I'm going to take you down to the lowest dungeons, strike chains through your mutilated body to keep you suspended, in eternal pain…and leave you there. Yes…that should do it; you won't be dead, but the next best thing, the mutilated corpse of a stallion still living…just. Tell me Blood Moon, any last words before I end this?" He grumbled something out from his spot in the broken marble.

"Celestia…did you ever wonder…what my last word was?" Celestia frowned.

"Your last wor-"

The solar princess was flung back by an indescribable force, sending her crashing into the pile of rubble that was once her throne. She looked up to find a sight that made even Celestia's eyes widen in worry.

Beyond the assassin, Twilight and Luna watched in confusion and worry respectively; the towers of rock fell, crumbling and toppling to the ground, every piece of earth missing the assassin, thanks to what can only be described as a shell of darkness. Twilight covered her eyes as a shockwave of power exploded from Celestia's blade and the shell, dust and wind blasting past her and Luna. They opened their eyes again to find that Celestia had brought Sunrend down on the shell of darkness surrounding Blood Moon, getting thrown back by the same shockwave.

The darkness seemed drawn towards Blood Moon; the shadows of the throne room all crept over to him, joining the shell of darkness around him and augmenting it, powering it. The bottom of the dark shell was pure black, four points reaching up the length and moving around the shell, casting darkness all over the cocoon of sorts. The rest of the shell was just barely translucent, the strange image of the shadows caught in a whirlwind contorting a clear image of the assassin within.

"What's going on" Twilight asked as Celestia trotted back to the shell, bringing Sunrend down on it time and time again, none of her strikes leaving a mark on the shell, every swing of her blade marked with a curse. The purple mare heard Luna swallow.

"You don't want to know, dear Twilight" she answered. Meanwhile, shadows were still joining the assassin's shell, the darkness forming a completely obscuring black shell. Celestia was still trying to break through it, her blade meeting the black shell with ferocity and power.

"Damnit, no, no, don't, no, c'mon, no" she growled out every time her sword bounced off the impenetrable dome, sparks flying off the shell and weapon. Celestia's blade struck the shell a final time, and suddenly the shell cracked, and splintered. It then shattered with an explosive force, far stronger than when Celestia had initially attacked the shell, sending what could only be described as glass forged from shadow through the air, the shrapnel digging easily into the walls and floor. Twilight drew a panicked breath as a torrent of the black shrapnel flew at her and Luna, covering her head in her hooves, only for it never to meet her fur. She opened her eyes to find a dark blue shield protecting her and Luna, looking up to find the princess of the night, her horn aglow. Luna looked down and smiled slightly before she dropped the shield once more, the two of them looking back to Blood Moon and Celestia.

Something had happened to Blood Moon. Where he had once stood, there was nothing but a dark mass, the shape of the most basic pony. There was nothing to define this creature, except the fact that it was the blank canvas on which a pony would be formed. The shadows that had formed the shell, the shrapnel lying around the throne room, all suddenly melted, dripping to the floor or forming puddles before it all darted back to the assassin. With every drop to find him, the assassin grew a little. The shrapnel embedded in Celestia's armour all melted and flowed back to the assassin, prompting her to look up. She found his bank form, stood motionless, watching her from the middle of the room. With every drop of shadow, he got a little taller, his horn grew, his muscles accentuated, his scars took form. Celestia knew she couldn't stop it now, instead she put the tip of her sword to the ground and heaved herself up on it, trotting over to Blood Moon. He'd gone past his normal size now, gotten taller, taller than Big Macintosh now or Shining Armour, his muscles following suit as he grew. Celestia stood before him now, watching his liquid-esc form grow faster than before. He was a little shorter than Celestia now, five inches, four, two, one, then his forehead grew past her own, then went further and then further still until he stopped, beating Celestia's six foot tall height with a six eight stature.

With the cease in his growth, the shadows seeped into him instead, his muscles building slightly, his horn growing slightly thicker and longer, his legs getting stronger, his body more powerful. It all stopped for a second. For a second, he was a blank shell of darkness so deep nothing reflected from it, so still he could have been an illusion, so quiet he almost wasn't there. Then, it shattered.

For a second time, the shell of darkness shattered around the assassin, falling delicately to the floor and tinkling to the ground, shattering almost silently to nothingness. Blood Moon stood once more. Taller than Celestia, his muscles a little bigger. His mane and tail hung in the air, fluttering like his black flames, gently curling and flickering in a wind nopony could feel.

They were just as badly washed as before, greasy and dull from his lack of care for appearances. They were both longer, the tail reaching to the floor, his mane reaching a little down his fore-leg before flickering up. His blood red eyes were eternally narrowed, his maw set in a growl. His armour had grown to accustom his body, covering his larger body and longer legs in its protective scales, the armour woven into the tail reaching the floor with the hairs ever moving hairs, the hood draped around his neck, the cape reaching down to his knees.

The assassin rolled his neck, moved every joint in his body to relieve a small crack and then spread his wings.

Twilight gasped, Luna gulped lightly and Celestia loosed a small breath.

Wings on his back. Silver-grey feathers. They certainly matched his personality and appearance; while Celestia had the wings of a swan, beautiful and elegant; Luna the wings of a darker bird of graceful flight, a raven; and Cadence the wings of a dove, dainty and pretty; Blood Moon had the wings of something all the more threatening. His were the wings of a hawk, an eagle, a bird of prey. A hunter.

The Alicorn bone cracked and settled, reliving years of stillness as the assassin took a long breath, settling his new form.

"You know, Celestia" came his voice. It had changed little, just as dark and malevolent as before, only now he spoke much quieter, much slower and much more deliberately. "If there's one thing I hate in this world…it's Alicorns. What they stand for, what they represent and what they are forced to endure." He looked back at himself, at his wings, and narrowed his eyes, turning back to the solar princess. "Specifically, this one" he said, tapping a hoof to his armoured chest. Celestia narrowed her eyes.

"I wondered if it would come to this" she murmured, taking a noticeably more cautious cause of action here. Blood Moon stepped, Celestia stepped with him. They circled each other slowly, regarding one another, Blood Moon with his head turned, his body facing the direction he trotted, Celestia keeping herself aligned with him.

"As did I" he said slowly. His scarred face was just as ugly as before, only now it was distorted by the natural beauty that came with Alicorn blood and bone, giving him an unnatural appearance of widely distorted, brutally ugly and impossibly good-looking face. If anything, it just made him look worse. "When, oh when, was the last time I changed" he mused quietly "a little before I left you and Luna, I think" he said absently.

They were silent for a few more seconds, slowly circling each other once again.

"Heritage. My blood, my legacy. What I truly am. An Alicorn. Hidden by Umbra Linguam. My last word. Wasted, some might call it, but to hide this form" he growled "anything…"

"Alright then Blood Moon" Celestia started, halting his small monolog "here we are. You, in your full power, versus me, in my full power." She raised her sword, cracking her neck once more, watching him. "Shall we dance?" Blood Moon took a breath. His horn glowed gently, a void growing before him.

The tear in the ether soon grew a handle, black leather, blood red diamonds covering the length. The assassin to the grip in hoof, pulling it from its whole in the universe. A tsuba came next, a black serpent, identical to Blood Moon's spell 'battle', coiling around and eating its tail. Then came the blade; silver steel, a blood red glowing tang running up two thirds of the blade, housed by shadow black metal as it slid from its ethereal sheath, growing until the katana reached the tip, coming free and re closing the gap in space. A katana. The assassin's weapon, forged by Father Time himself and given to him upon ascension. The bone of a Gargoyle formed the blade, the tang forged from the heart of a dragon, the shadows between life and death heating the metal and cooled by winds of the void. The Messorem.

"'Till the night is taken by dawn" he replied.

With a blast of dust, Blood Moon was gone. He reappeared before Celestia, the mare taking his strike on her blade; the dark Alicorn's sword pushed down on Celestia's with ease, Blood Moon's newfound strength coupled with Celestia's weakened form creating a strong advantage for the assassin. He slid his blade down hers, whipping the blade up again, Celestia taking it on her defence once again, aura's of golden light casted by orbs of darkness flashing every time the blades met. Each time the assassin struck, Celestia would parry or block, but she was driven back with each meeting of their weapons. Her defence was sloppy, Blood Moon stepping past with ease and slashing up her side, only Celestia's armour protecting her from a lethal blow. Although, every time the Messorem met the solar iron, it cut through easily, opening a shallow wound in her flesh.

Even Twilight, with her heavy lack of knowledge in the art of battle, could tell Celestia would lose this fight. Perhaps at full strength, she could hold her own, end this fight in a stalemate, but in her current condition, she hadn't a hope. Blood Moon really did have no intention of fighting clean here, he used her weakened state to its full advantage, his own new speed, strength, reflexes, senses, agility and magical prowess to finish his foe. Although, it wasn't lost on her that except the time he'd spread them to relive their age long cramp, he hadn't used his wings.

She was still a little shell-shocked from that; since when was her coltfriend…an Alicorn? Part of her told the other that she shouldn't really be so surprised with this development, but…wasn't there more to being an Alicorn than a pair of wings? A whirlwind of confusion and questions spun around Twilight’s mind; she had to know.

Twilight was brought from her thoughts when she heard a scream; she looked up to find Celestia falling, Blood Moon having swept her teacher's legs from beneath her with the flat of his blade. He flipped the weapon and drove the tip down at her face, Celestia rolling away and hopping back up, her wings spreading as she took to the air. Blood Moon didn't follow her, instead he whipped his blade to the side; the blade of his katana suddenly split, the individual inches of the blade coming apart, connected by a flickering red flame between them all, presumably the dragon heart of the tang. He turned the handle of the newly formed blade-whip in Celestia's direction, the sharp edges wrapping around her.

Celestia growled in pain as the metal bit into her, stabbing into her wings, her neck muscles and face. With a violent wrench, Blood Moon brought her back to ground, where he trotted over to her. The blades of the Messorem pulled themselves from Celestia's body, retracting into the assassin's weapon with a small 'chink' with each one to reform the blade. Blood Moon said nothing as he stood over Celestia, instead he just raised his weapon and slashed at her neck, Celestia's Dia-katana intercepting his strike and parrying it up the length as she got up once more. Her wings too sore to fly, she simply stood before the assassin as their weapons clashed, parried and collided in the air between them, both stepping around each other as their fought. This went on for forty-five seconds before a tired Celestia made a mistake.

Blood Moon's katana came down in a diagonal slash, Celestia intercepting it. She recognised the mistake before she'd even fully performed it, only she hadn't the time, room or energy to correct it; her weapon clashed with his at too steep an angle, their blades crossing at a tall, thin X shape. The dark Alicorn moved his handle, knocking hers away and giving himself ample room for a killing blow; he stepped past her defences, barged her with his shoulder, pushed down her blade with his own and brought it back up, aimed at her throat, driving it up through her oesophagus.

Twilight watched it in slow motion. She wasn't entirely sure where the notion had first come from, and, truthfully, she had only really just noticed it; for whatever reason, she'd had the blind hope Blood Moon wouldn't kill Celestia, that, for whatever reason, he wouldn't end her teacher's life, he would spare his daughter. She wasn't sure why at all, just blind hope in a guess. Already, she could feel her world crumbling around her; Luna would solely take the throne, ruling over both night and day. The other kingdoms and countries would see Equestria's weakened state; they'd attack. They'd fight Equestria for her land, her resources, they'd fight each other for sole ownership of the land. The peace of the world would crack, and splinter and eventually, the world would descend into anarchy. All because of one pony dying, all because of one fatal grudge and unstoppable assassin. Twilight would likely never see him again, he'd go to ground, hiding away from the wrath of the world. She'd lose her coltfriend, her teacher and with the inevitably ensuing war, her friends and family. All with the blood of one pony being spilled.

With tears in her eyes, with a sob in her throat and a tug free from her restraint, she stepped forwards.

"STOP!"

That one word. It had started this whole thing for her and her friends. 'Stop.' The first word she'd said to her lover. And likely the last thing. It echoed over the distance, time slowing to a pause as the single word travelled the space between them.

Blood Moon heard the word, but he didn't care. He recognised the reasoning behind it, but he didn't care for that, either. He knew the voice…

He turned his head, and there she was. Twilight. Watching him, watching him kill her mentor. Having watched him turn into an Alicorn. A stone dropped in his chest.

He'd turned his head.

Oh, how Heartless and Rose Blood would torment him for weeks for that slip up, how they'd constantly remind him of his mistake. Never, take your eyes of the enemy. It was but a second's glance, but it was all Celestia needed. She moved her head back, the assassin's katana cutting a shallow, red line up her neck and chin as she narrowly dodged the attack.

She moved back just enough, and took her blade in her hoof. She drove it upwards, into his neck. She didn't falter, she didn't stop, she didn't pause nor look away. She made no mistake. She felt an ever so slight resistance as the blade bit into flesh, beyond the protection of his armour. It sliced through the skin, cut through the muscle, stabbed through the windpipe and out the other end. And still she went, with a roar of effort and victory, she went, pushing the blade until the tsuba met his throat, a splatter of blood leaping out with the contact.

The assassin blinked as his muscles failed him, drooping slightly as he leant on the princess's blade. Right through the neck, a killing stroke. The kind of strike he'd use. He was a little proud of her. He felt Celestia heave again, making sure Sunrend had gone through the whole way. He looked up, watching her legs take a step back, and found her face. Her smug, condescending face watching his dying form. The glow in his horn flickered to a death, the glow on his blade flickering away like a flame dying in a breeze. It fell. He caught it.

Messorem fell into his hoof, he held it in both hooves and thrust it upwards.

Celestia realised her mistake too late. The blade had already pierced her neck, in the same spot she'd stabbed him, and had left the same wound. Punctured oesophagus, blood trickling into the lungs, severed spinal cord, blood loss and trauma. All thrown together to create a fatality cocktail.

"NO" Luna shouted out, stepping towards the pair of them, but was otherwise rooted to the spot in fear. She held her hoof out in a vain attempt to stop them, her eyes wide and panicked with tears of loss running down her cheeks. Twilight fared no better, only the burning pain in her heart stopping her from fainting from the shock.

Blood Moon and Celestia stared each other in the eye. It was over. It was done.

Blood dripped from their wounds, trickling down their maws and chins, their strength quickly fading. Blood Moon wasn't quite sure what would happen to him. He'd never died as an Alicorn before. He wasn't sure if he'd 'die' and go to purgatory, or if he'd be sent to the Alicorn afterlife, to stand with Father Time for eternity. Was this it? The end of it all? Celestia was doomed. She hadn't the energy to heal herself, the faint flickering on her horn told him that, that she couldn't gather the strength to cast the healing spell. It was worth it, he guessed, watching her die. To have an end to it all.

He stared at his quickly dying foe, Celestia, the mare he'd once called daughter. Killed by his hoof, at long last. Perhaps the only hoof that could kill her, he supposed. Celestia stared back at him, her vision fading. She saw her assassin, the stallion who'd tried, and succeeded, to kill her. His Alicorn self, so distorted and strange, a being who'd haunted her dreams for thousands of years. Her eyes bulged slightly as a puddle of blood spewed from her mouth, staining her chin and floor.

Blood Moon watched it happen with a sort of pity. Such a…delicate creature, she could be, despite her admirable strength. He raised his hoof a put it to her chin, dumbly wiping away the blood she'd puked up. Celestia watched him do it in a laid back and uncaring state of confusion, figuring die and let die their current situation. She heaved again, more blood coming up, splattering along the floor. Again, Blood Moon watched it happen. He raised his hoof, wiped it away from her maw. It lingered. He didn't move his hoof from her face until his balance left him, falling forward. His left hoof ended up on her shoulder, his right went to the handle of his blade. He grabbed it, Celestia cringed, and he yanked it out. She gave a strained cry of pain, tears falling from her eyes with the stinging pain that replaced the dull pain of the adrenalin masked stab wound.

Messorem fell from his grip, clattering to the floor. He stumbled again, blood trickling from his mouth. He looked up at Celestia; she was watching him with eyes filled with tears of pain, hurt, confusion. For a second, he didn't see Celestia in her current form, the battle-maiden, this ruler of a great and powerful nature. He saw her, in her young form, the little filly he'd adored once upon a time.

She was small again, her mane and tail pink again before she'd grown older and they'd developed their other colours, her expression one of innocence and curiosity rather than that of grim thoughts and the weight of a country on her back. Back when she could smile, for the sake of smiling. He remembered a few years after they'd first met; she'd tumbled and scraped her knee. The tiniest of scratches, but in her little mind it would need amputating. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know how she already knew that word. He'd wrapped it in a piece of damp binding, wiped her tears away and carried her back to her room in his hoof, making a promise of always being there to help pick herself up whenever she fell down. Promising that he'd never leave her alone. She'd smiled dimly before resting her head in his shoulder, her favourite spot to rest, and just lay in his hooves.

He tried to swallow back the emotions, but resulted in just shifting the sword in his neck painfully. He looked back up at Celestia; she was fading fast. He picked himself up again, a new burst of strength, and looked Celestia in the eye. His horn glowed, dimly, a grey light that flickered wearily along the Alicorn.

Celestia felt another stinging sensation, in her stab wound. A dull, tingling sensation at first, but it soon grew, grew to a tight, burning sensation in her throat. She moaned slightly in tired pain as she felt something sizzling in her neck, the smell and taste of smoke overrunning her senses. The pain intensified slightly and she cringed again, her legs failing her as she fell to the ground, her eyes still leaking. She felt something on her neck, a strange feeling of stillness. She took a breath. Her lips wobbled slightly.

She took a breath.

She was alive. She was still going. She'd make it through this.

The princess of the day looked up to find Blood Moon, his legs wobbling and his stance swaying gently. He took the blade in his hoof and yanked it out in one motion, cringing gently before he too fell. His face ended up in front of Celestia's, his eyes dull and tired. The red of his orbs met the magenta of hers, and he grinned softly.

"Hey Tia" he mumbled as blood continued to leak from his neck and mouth, pooling around him. Celestia blinked a few times.

"H-hey" she replied.

He grinned gently before the light escaped his eyes.