Liazo put a cigarette in his mouth and ignited the end, inhaling a breath of tobacco smoke, then he turned his head to the side, and slowly exhaled. He rarely ever smoked, but on the rare occasion he did, it was after a botched mission. He cleared his throat a little as he reached towards the checkerboard in front of him, and skipped his black piece over two of Charles' red ones- then he gave the turquoise stallion a smug grin. "King me."

"Damn." Charles cursed Liazo under his breath as he took one of Liazo's ousted chips and placed it on the chip that made it to his end of the board.

Liazo took another deep breath of cigarette smoke as he leaned back in his chair and looked up at the starry sky. There was no moon, no wind. There were no distractions that night, and Liazo always enjoyed playing chess on Charle's patio- enjoying the company of the humble ginger-haired stallion. "Heh, look at the sky tonight."

"Yes, wonderful indeed. So nice of Luna to give us some stars tonight." Charles grinned as he grabbed his fancy pipe and began smoking with Liazo.

"C'mon Chuck, you don't really believe in those fairy tales, do you?" Liazo smiled as he ran his hand through his frosted blue mane.

"No, but it's nice to dream once in a while- distracts you from reality." Charles inhaled on his pipe, then exhaled, and released a puff of black smoke into the air. "I suppose you'd need to do so. You've had a rough day after all..."

"Yeah, I-. Yeah... it was my fault, I panicked when Masami went offline. It's my fault that mare got-." Liazo cut himself off before he could continue, and took another deep breath out of his cigarette.

"I know what happened Liazo, and you shouldn't fret. I will send a letter to the family of that poor mare, they deserve closure." Charles tried reassuring the disappointed half-changeling, but Liazo grunted and took another puff from his cigarette. "You did your job well, and there was no way we could've known that sniper was up there."

"I had a gut-feeling Charles, and I ignored it. I knew I should've told Butch and Spike to check those buildings!" Liazo ran his hand through his mane again, then furiously tossed his cigarette in the ashtray right next to the checkerboard. He massaged the side of his skull vigorously as he shook his head. "We've never lost anypony before..."

"This is different Liazo, you've never gone up against something like this. Our team is used to fighting foreign, or minor domestic threats. This cult threatens to plunge our nation into chaos, and they are organized- a rare trait amongst similar groups. I'm not even certain if there are any other groups like them." Charles admitted as he took another whiff of smoke from his pipe. "Perhaps more light can be shed on the matter when the autopsy reports arrive, Evelyn will figure it out..."

"She always does..." Liazo added with a half smile and a nod as he got out of his chair. "Well, I'm gonna get some tea and hit the hay here quick, you want anything?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Charles replied as he followed him into the mansion, "I'm going to tuck-in James and Lucy."

****

As the others prepared for bed,

Charles knocked on James' door softly before entering, and he was surprised to hear an unfamiliar voice emanate from within- soft and sweet, but it wasn't Eleanor. "Come in."

Charles opened the door a crack to see who it was and was happy to see Fluttershy- standing next to young James; sound asleep in his bed. "My word, you managed to get him to sleep?"

"It wasn't all that hard... I just sang a bedtime song to him, and he drifted off like that." Fluttershy smiled as she looked down at the snoring bundle of innocence. "He played all day with his mother while you were upstairs."

"My, my... I am speechless." Charles grinned as he brushed his James' mane to the side and kissed him gently on the forehead. "Goodnight, Jameson."

"Sorry for tucking him in without asking you first, I just thought you were too tired. You filed papers and talked with other ponies all day on that... what did you call it?" Fluttershy scratched her head as she tried to remember the name of odd device Charles would speak into.

"A telephone." Charles reminded her as he patted James on the chest before looking out the door to Lucy's room across the hall. "And, you shouldn't be apologizing. If anything, I should. I haven't paid attention to either of them as of late... my job just eats up too much of my own time. Is Lucy all tucked in as well?"

"She's asleep too, Eleanor tucked her in." Fluttershy answered him as they stepped outside and closed the door behind them, then Fluttershy brushed her hand across the soft wool of the scarf Lucy made. "Look, she knit me a scarf!"

"Ah, yes. She is quite the knitter, let me tell you!" Charles said as he admired the carefully crafted red scarf around Fluttershy's neck. "My little angel..."

"She reminds me of her mother when she was young. Clever, yet quiet, innocent and honest." Charles uttered in a sweet voice as he pressed his ear against Lucy's door to make sure she was asleep.

"Aren't we going in?" Fluttershy wondered as she gripped the door handle but was stopped by Charles, who placed his hand on hers.

"No, she doesn't like it when ponies enter her room at night," Charles whispered as he carefully removed Fluttershy's hand from the door and found that the handle had been slightly dented where Fluttershy placed her fingers. "Hmm, you have an impressive grip my dear- one that certainly caught me off guard!"

"Oh, goodness! I'm so sorry about that!" Fluttershy whimpered as she blushed in embarrassment.

"Oh, don't fret, I will have that fixed tomorrow." Charles insisted as he walked down the main hall, where his room was located. "See you in the morning! Oh, and one more thing!"

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked as she looked over to Charles, who had his head poking out of his doorway.

"I think you'll be a great mother some day." Charles uttered with a warm expression as he gently shut the door behind him, to which Fluttershy blushed in response, pondering over the idea. She brought her hands to her chest as she heard James snoring away in his room. "Goodnight."

Upstairs on the second level, Rainbow Dash changed into her pajamas- long baggy sweatpants and a tank top. After stretching her aching back, she jumped backwards onto her fancy bed. As soon as she made contact with the soft mattress, she let out a long sigh.

She stared at the ceiling for a while before rolling on her side. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel guilty about what happened to the sniper that day. She knew she could've stopped him, could've helped him, but she was at a loss as to why she let him off himself like that. She always got frustrated whenever she felt an emotion she couldn't accept, like the strange warm sensation in her chest when she looked at Masami. Masami vexed her greatly. Typically, it was Rainbow Dash that did the teasing, but with Masami it was a completely different story. She had Twilight's intiution, coupled with Rarity's charm and wit. It was a spectacularly lethal combination, and Rainbow Dash was always flummoxed around her.

Rainbow Dash's thoughts seemed to bounce back and forth between Masami and the sniper, which caused her great anxiety. She took a nearby pillow and pressed it against her face, then screamed as loud as she could into the soft muzzle. Half of her felt guilty, whilst the other half was still thinking about Masami's silver eyes. She yelled into the pillow again for good measure.

A knock at the door interrupted Rainbow Dash's train of thought, and admittedly, she was relieved that it had. "Uh, who is it?"

"It's me," Masami spoke through the crack in the tall wooden door. "Can I come in?"

"Um, yeah hang on." Rainbow Dash replied, then buried her face deeper into her pillow- letting out an even louder cry than before. She got out of her bed, walked to the door, and opened it slowly. "Duh- Um- I."

Masami was wearing a red, almost translucent nightgown that made Rainbow Dash's face almost match the hue of the revealing sleepwear. "C'mon Kitten, out with it..."

"Uh... what did you need?" Rainbow Dash looked away for a moment to focus her thoughts before speaking to the more than attractive mare in front of her.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay is all... may I come in?" Masami asked politely as she gave Rainbow Dash an innocent look that made the flustered pegasus' heart explode.

Rainbow Dash stepped aside and ushered her to a chair near her bed. "Just, sit over there, I guess. Hey, your arm looks a lot better."

"Oh, yeah," Masami remembered as she looked down at her arm that was no longer in a cast. "Evelyn's a wizard when it comes to medical stuff, she used one of her weird concoctions to fix it. Kind of tasted like apples... so, how are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess." Rainbow Dash tried to play cool, but Masami raised an eyebrow curiously, and got up from her chair and sat next to her.

"It doesn't take a psychic to realize that something's obviously bothering you. So, what is it?" Masami deduced as she shuffled a little closer to the rainbow-haired pegasus.

"It's just... that sniper-." Rainbow Dash trailed off to regain her composure; trying to retain her fearless demeanor, but she found it difficult to explain without spilling her guts clumsily. "I feel guilty about what happened to that stallion today. I could've saved him, I-."

Masami gently leaned on Rainbow Dash's shoulder to silence her. "It wasn't your fault Rainbow Dash, you were just... scared is all."

"Scared? I wasn't-." Rainbow Dash paused for a moment to recall the emotions she felt at that moment. There was confusion, panic, and to her surprise, the cold and empty feeling of fear. Rainbow Dash curled up into a ball, and she rested her head on her knees. "I-. I think I was afraid..."

"You know, feeling fear doesn't make you weak... everypony experiences it one way or another, but we all get scared sometimes," Masami reassured Rainbow Dash, who was on the verge of breaking down. "It's okay now... there's no one around here to see you afraid."

"I... I..." Rainbow Dash began to whimper softly as her eyes watered. Her cries were weak, fragile, like an injured bird. Masami patted her back lovingly as she watched Rainbow Dash softly weep, and she comforted her as best as she could. "Thank you..."

"No problem, Kitten." Masami nodded as she wiped away Rainbow Dash's tears and lifted her up- sitting her back on the edge of the bed. "I've been here before."

"Masami, who gave you those injuries? Was it one of those freaky guys right? You seemed... bothered, like you saw a ghost or something." Rainbow Dash wondered as she wiped away one last remaining tear. "Who was it?"

"Somepony I used to know when I was a lot younger." Masami sighed as she looked up at the ceiling; recollecting her memories. "When I was around twelve years old, I stole a wallet from a stallion, who later confronted me in an alleyway. I gave it back to him, and surprisingly he was a lot more impressed than he was angry. He introduced himself to me- Hiro Wakahisa. He was a former lord back in my homeland, Sato Island."

"How did you all end up here?" Rainbow Dash asked as she watched Masami stare at the ground in shame.

"My father was in the Ausrüstung army, and he and his division were sent to Sato Island to subdue the anti-government terrorists, that's where my father met my mother." Masami took a deep breath before continuing. "When I was five, he was killed by a suicide bomber, along with the rest of his squad. The Sato Island War ended not long after, and because the war caused so much damage to crops and soil, my people were forced to move to the mainland."

"Wow, that's... totally not awesome." Rainbow Dash sympathized with the anguished mare.

"After we all immigrated, my mother had to find a job, but when we arrived, the dictatorship came into power, and the Pēru ponies were assimilated into their society by force. Pēru foals were put into public schools where the Ausrüstrian children had more rights, and they tried their best to kill our way of life. However, that's a different story, for another time..." Masami laughed lightly all of a sudden as she remembered a happy memory. "Anyways, back to Hiro. I thought Hiro would report me to the police, but... for some odd reason, he took a liking to me and offered to train me in the ways of his ancestors, along with his son, Ichirou."

"So... why did you steal from him? If you don't mind me asking." Rainbow Dash inquired as she moved slightly closer to her.

"Money was tight, and my mother did everything in her power to keep us alive, but it wasn't enough. I had to go out into the rich part of town and steal from others. I'm not proud of it..." Masami sighed as she continued to stare at the ground.

"But, you had to, I guess..." Rainbow Dash tried to comfort her, but she didn't seem to pay attention.

"Hiro brought me into his dojo and taught me every martial art he knew; kenjutsu, battōjutsu, Iaijutsu, ninjutsu, karate, judo, every Pēru martial art- both ancient and modern." Masami chuckled as she recalled her master's stoic expression, his cool demeanour, and ruthless training. "He was a hard-ass, but I loved him nonetheless, and he loved me. I grew on him and Ichirou, even though I was a handful, but we learned to live with our flaws and focus on our training."

"Wow, so you're like... a martial arts master?!" Rainbow Dash became overjoyed, and got up off the bed and began to kick and punch; showing off her knowledge of martial arts.

"Well, I wouldn't say that, but I know quite a bit." Masami smiled as she watched Rainbow Dash over exaggerating her "hi-yah!" sound effect.

"So, what happened to Ichirou and Hiro?" Rainbow Dash asked Masami politely, and the silver-eyed mare immediately became sombre once again. Rainbow Dash reacted quickly and sat down beside her on the bed once again. "Sorry, if that killed the mood..."

"No, you should know... I've gotten this far into the story already." Masami insisted as she continued. "Ichirou was different from his father. He was brash, arrogant, he didn't respect his father or his teachings. I guess he felt neglected like I had robbed him of his father or something, but I couldn't see it at the time. I got really confused whenever he would snap at me, or hit me too hard during training."

"Geez, and you and Hiro put up with that?" Rainbow Dash thought of her younger years, when she was like Ichirou, perhaps too much like him. "I suppose I know the type..."

"For a time, we thought it was just a phase, but one day in training, Ichirou sliced my arm; cut it on purpose. He was angry I guess... to this day I have no clue what set him off." Masami looked back on the incident but was still flummoxed by his actions. "Maybe he was a bottle of soda, just building pressure for so many years until he... popped."

"So what happened after that?" Rainbow Dash wondered as she shuffled even closer to Masami- very intrigued by hr story.

"Hiro kicked him out of his dojo, and when he did, he left... for a long time," Masami explained as she turned to look at Rainbow Dash. "Hiro and I didn't hear much about Ichirou until we learned about a new gang called The Nikuya, who were terrorising the upper east side of Kupfer- a city to the south. That's where a lot of Pēru ponies immigrated to, and where I spent most of my life. Anyways, Hiro became curious of this new gang and decided to investigate, and discovered Ichirou had been leading them. When he found this out, Hiro knew he had to atone for the sin of casting aside his only son, and he decided to meet with him and bring Ichirou back into the light. He challenged Ichirou to a duel."

"And... what happened?" Rainbow Dash asked, although she already knew the answer based on Masami's miserable expression, and the tears in her eyes.

"Although he told me to wait at the dojo, I followed him in the shadows, and I watched the fight." Masami began to sob. "He won the duel, and after he sheathed his blade, he offered to help his son up. Little did we know, Ichirou had mastered a forbidden technique- one that Hiro thought was extinct. The Shadouītā. Out of desperation to win, Ichirou had consumed his own shadow to gain evil power, and he struck down Hiro right before my eyes... as Hiro fell, Ichirou turned his head to the side... and looked at me... he knew I was there the whole time- hiding behind a nearby brush like a coward!"

Masami began to cry out of shame and frustration on Rainbow Dash's shoulder, and the blue pegasus comforted the black haired mare to the best of her ability. "It's okay..."

Masami wiped the tears from her eyes and continued, mush to her displeasure. "After that, Ichirou disappeared. In exchange for incredible power, a Shadouītā's life is decreased to only weeks... I thought he was dead. Somehow, he managed to extend his life; prevent his body from being cast into The Shēdo. Ichirou shattered my arm, he's the one I met in Riker's Station, and he'll kill anyone close to me."

Rainbow Dash thought back to when she saw Masami's shocked expression, the worried eyes she had for just a brief moment before shaking it off to dispel any suspicion of her fear. "So that's why you were so shaken up... you saw-."

"A ghost that never seems to leave," Masami muttered to herself as she looked down at the ground once again. "And now you know who that ghost is, and what he threatens to do..."

"Masami, I promise you, I won't let anything happen to anypony you love!" Rainbow Dash shouted with determination, which seemed to liven-up Masami's spirit. "I will protect you, I promise!"

"You did just meet me yesterday morning, are you sure you want to make that commitment?" Masami joked as she punched Rainbow Dash in the shoulder.

"Hey, don't you remember spillin' your life story just now? I think we're closer than friends!" Rainbow Dash chuckled for a brief moment before her eyes met Masami's once again, and then her cheeks flushed red. Masami's looked even more stunningly beautiful in the dimly lit room, as he eyes shone like two silver stars. Masami stood up and approached Rainbow Dash slowly; lightly placing her hand on the dazed pegasus' cheek. "I- um- uh!"

"How close?" Masami spoke in a seductive voice as soft and smooth as silk as she wrapped her arms around the back of Rainbow Dash's neck and pressed her voluminous chest against hers.

"Masami, this is... not-." Rainbow Dash was silenced by Masami's graceful finger- gently placed on her lips. "It's not ri-."

"Not right?" Masami interrupted Rainbow Dash's sentence. "Then why can I feel your heart beating so fast, and your skin burning up? Your body strongly disagrees with that statement. Let me ask you something, Kitten... how old are you?"

"I turned nineteen not long ago, why?" Although, once again, Rainbow Dash already knew the answer to her question.

"I was around nineteen when I had my first kiss, about six years ago. Pretty late, I know... but I never had a lot of time for relationships when I was that age." Masami rambled on as her face moved closer and closer to Rainbow Dash's. To the young mare, Masami smelled like chocolate and herbal tea. An odd combination, but pleasant to say the least. "My first was a mare. She was cute, a little shorter than me, an athletic type. She had an exotic mane like yours, legs like you wouldn't believe... she was the whole package."

"Um- I." Rainbow Dash could only stutter as she stepped back into a wall, with Masami still grappled to her. Then, Masami kissed her. At first, Rainbow Dash resisted weakly, but then, the kiss became deeper, and Rainbow Dash closed her eyes as she began to enjoy the taste. It was brief but passionate, and as she pulled away, Rainbow Dash muttered softly to herself. "One more..."

Masami wasted no time and firmly planted her lips on her's once again. This time, she lashed around with her tongue more violently, pleasing Rainbow Dash immensely as the pegasus moaned passionately. The two moved towards the bed with precision, desperately trying to keep their embrace alive as they fell backward onto the bed. Rainbow Dash fell on her back, and Masami was on top, her more than hefty chest weighing down on Rainbow Dash. "Let me tell you a little secret, Kitten..."

"What?" Rainbow Dash said weakly, her eyes fixated on the voluptuous mare's 'come-hither' look.

"This room has soundproof walls..." Masami purred as she kissed her once again, Rainbow Dash's wings shooting out to either side of the bed from arousal.

"Awesome..." Rainbow Dash groaned as she began to pull Masami's body in closer to hers.

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading! As always, I hope you enjoyed! Leave a like and a comment if you did! See you all in the next chapter!