It has been a few minutes since the fight with the Naga and everything was silence in the forest. Luna was carried by Rock throughout the trip still trying to get the pieces together at to what just happen. First Luna went back to her old garden to looked at the memory stone, Rock going all sad, a legend now an actual fact and Rock magical healing power. Everything was confusing to her, but she needs tell her sister about the Naga attack and this 'Master' it mention. Who or what is the Master and why does it want her died? These questions will be answered soon but for now, she is safe thanks to Rock. Luna looked up at Rock to see if he was okay, even though his hand was healed it still worried her.

"Are you sure you're alright Rock?" Luna asked "You did had your hand almost ripped off in that fight"

But Rock didn't listen to her. He was looking around to find where Ponyville is. He had just fought a serpent and he does know it won't come back to fight him again, but that doesn't meant that there isn't others out here or how many there are. He needs to keep a watch for them and be prepared for anything in the darkness. Rock is never a big fan to the darkness. He checked left and right, head up in he sky and turned to see if anything was following them. Luna took noticed of this.

"Are you alright?" Luna once again asked Rock. This time though Rock answered.

"Rock the Vanguard is fine" He muttered through his helmet "Rock the Vanguard is making sure that no one is following Rock and Moony"

A crack was heard in front of them and as quick as a flash, Rock picked his mace up and span in around his head ready to defend him and Luna from whatever made that noise. Turned out that it was a small squirrel that was having a midnight snack from a nut. It looked at them with a small smile. Rock however growled at it and it ran away. Luna now knew why Rock was so jumpy.

"You're afraid of the dark" Luna said with a bit of anger at him for scaring the poor creature.

"No Rock not" Rock protected

"You have a thing called Nyctophobia"

"What's that?"

"It means that you have a fear of the dark"

"Rock the Vanguard has nothing to fear, only Rock the Vanguard's foe must be...scared of...." Rock's protects slowed down. Rock remembered the faces of all the slaves he fought in the Area. He remembered one of them very well. A small griffin girl who looked like she hasn't even reached the age of seventeen was sent into the Area and well... Rock just remembered her face when he was forced to fight and... kill her. Pure Fear.

"Rock?" Luna's voice broken his little daydream "What's wrong" Her voice was one of confuse and worry for him.

"Rock's fine" Rock said weakly "Rock just needed to think. Where do Rock go now?" Rock asked as he looked around trying to guess which where to go.

"We're nearly there" Luna answered " If you continued down from here then we'll be there in around-" She stopped talking and she heard the sounds of hooves and flips of wings coming this where. Luna was about to shout when Rock jumped to the nearest trees to hide him and Luna. Luna didn't understand why he did this. But to Rock, he thought that it was the griffins that came to looked for him. Though they have stopped searching for him for two whole years. He still didn't think that they'll let him go that easily. Luna wanted to tell Rock to come out but Rock covered her mouth with his hand and waited to see what was coming towards them.

"Come on girls" Came the sound of a familiar mare voice that Luna knows to well but to Rock. Not really. "Princess Luna hasn't return to Canterlot and we need to find her." The voice was getting closer to them. Luckily Luna manage to move Rock's hand of her mouth. She wanted to tell them that she was here but this leaves Rock out of it though.

"Rock relax" Luna softly told Rock "They are my friends" Rock didn't listen to her and slowly began to lift his mace ready to attack her friends, she needed to think of another word for Rock to understand. Her friends were getting closer, Luna got an idea.

"They are Moony's friends" Luna once again softly told Rock. Rock then looked at her. She couldn't see it under his helmet but Rock was looking at her with surprised. Rock put his weapon back on his belt but he didn't went out behind the trees. He whole life was fighting so this was a big thing for Rock's willpower to put Kevin away.

"What about Rock?" Rock whispered to Luna " What will Moony's friends do to Rock if Rock comes out from the shadows and see Moony like this?" Luna thought for a moment. He has a point. If she knows them well. Two of them would attack him without question.

"You let me do the talking alright?" Luna answered. Rock looked at her for a few seconds but then nodded his head. Rock the slowly came out of hiding from the trees. As Rock was coming out of the shadow. Luna and Rock heard gasps of shock as they saw an unknown creature carrying their princess who was very injured. When Rock turned to face them, Luna saw the friends she knew. There in front of them was the Mare Six and like Luna knew, two of them were not happy to see their ruler injured in the hand of creature.

"What have you done to the princess?" The rainbow Pegasus angrily yelled at Rock. She was about to changed at him when Luna used he royal Canterlot voice to stopped her and the rest from making a bad mistake.

"EVERYPONY STOP!!" Luna voice echoed through out the whole forest. Everypony stopped what they were about to do and looked at Luna. With everypony's attention focused on her she began to talked in her normal voice.

"Right, now lets get the questions out of the way. This is Rock the Vanguard, no he didn't hurt me in fact HE saved me from a beast known as a Naga and finally nopony try and have a fight with him because you WILL lose to him because he manage to fight of a Naga and healed his injured with some kind of magic. He saved me from death and is trying to take me back to Ponyville to get treated. Everypony got that?"

After her little speech, everypony was quiet for how Luna tried to defend Rock's honour and not to have any more fights tonight. A lavender ailcorn came closer to Luna to see if she help. But Rock will have none of it, he growled and moved back a step from her. Luna understand why he did this but not why did he saved her. He had no reason to but he did. This question will soon be answered but not tonight.

"It's okay Rock" Luna said to relax Rock "Twilight here is trying to help"

"Will get helps from Ponyville" Rock bluntly answered. "Where is place to make Moony better?" Rock asked Twilight.

"The Ponyville Hospital" Twilight replied friendly, trying to gain his trust. "We can lead you to it"

"Then lead" Rock commanded. He wanted to make Luna safe from anymore danger and get out of the darkness because he was 'uncomfortable' around it. Soon twilight nodded and walked back to her friends (even though some of them were not to sure with this) and lead the group back to Ponyville to get Luna to the Hospital.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

miles from Equstria...

The sandstorm raged on for hours and it didn't helped the Naga's injures as it was slithered up an mountain made of pure iron. The mountain was named Iron Peck in the Badlands of the West where even the surface of the mountain were made of iron. The Naga's broken jaw was open so all the sands in the sandstorm was getting into his mouth. It continued to slither up the mountain with it right claw holding it left broken arm until it reached an entrance. This entrance had carving of strange symbols and two huge statures of a cobra that were at the doorway. Next to the statures were two more Nagas that had the same colour and armour of injured Naga that fought Rock. But instead they had spears that looked like a cobra and when reached towards the head of the cobra, a curved blade that looked like the same iron from the mountain. The heads of the two Nagas were like geckos but curved horns that reached to their mouth and iron masks that covered their faces. As the injured Naga was about to enter through the doorway when the spears of the two Nagas came together to make an X shape and looked down at the injured Naga.

"Well looky here" The Naga on the right spoken in a cranky voice "Cysgod Ofn, how was did you mission turned out?"

"And better yet" The Naga on the left spoken with a growl "Why haven't you regenerated yourself?"

The injured Naga answered these questions with a stare. The two Nagas then looked to each other and removed their spears to let it through. Cysgod slithered inside and the two Nagas closed the doors behind it. Inside the mountain was an ancient hall with columns that was made of quicksilver that held the hall from collapsing down on those who are inside, dark blue flames covered these columns to make the hall lighten up so Cysgod can see where it was going. It slithered through the hall on the purple rug that held the image of the same cobra on nearly everything that the Nagas see. Cysgod continue it path through the hall and reached where it was going. In front of it was a pool full with unknown purple and blue magic that was called the Yn dda o Bŵer and in the middle, drinking it...

Was The Master.

It too was a Naga but it had black and purple robes that covered its gray and black upper body, it's tail was long and sharp as if it was a weapon of its own, it wore ebony gauntlets on its claws with spikes on it's knuckles, it held a necklace that was made with bones of ancient warriors of the past and in the middle of the necklace was eye with light blue as it colour. The Master was much taller then Cysgod or another Naga in his kingdom. But the main thing about the Master was it head. It was a cobra head with golden reptile eyes that also a bit of the mighty Yn dda o Bŵer's power inside. The Master stopped drinking but didn't looked at Cysgod. Cysgod bowed before It.

"Did you completed your mission Cysgod Ofn?" The master sinister deep voice boomed. It echo for how much power it has inside of it. Cysgod however couldn't answered for its jaw was broken and held a lot of sand. The only thing it could do was grunted. The Master didn't like what Cysgod just did.

"AND IS THAT A YES OR A..." The Master yelled at it only to stop to see Cysgod all injured and beaten, "WHY HAVN'T YOU REGENERATED YOURSELF!?" The Master slithered out of the Yn dda o Bŵer and near to Cysgod, looking down at it from how tall The Master was, it dwarfed Cysgod by half. Cysgod once again grunted, so the Master lifted one of it claws and used some of his power to removed the sand out of Cysgod's mouth and fixed it. With Cysgod's jaw fixed, it spoke

"Master" Cysgod said "I have failed my mission to slay the princess"

"Why?" The Master angrily asked.

"Because of the Vanguard"

The master looked at Cysgod with shock but didn't shown it in it's face.

"Impossible" The Master spoken "The Vanguards couldn't arrived yet and even if they did you could-"

"Beg you forgiveness Master" Cysgod bravely stopped The Master from continuing "But it was HIM"

This time. The Master shown shock in it's face. The Master thought that he was gone a long time ago. This could effect everything it has planned for centuries. The Master placed it's claws on Cysgod's head and pulled them to let Cysgod looked at it.

"You done the right thing telling me this" The Master replied with a smile of it's face. But it short lived "But that doesn't mean you should fail the mission"

And after it said that, purple and green magic came from the Master's claws. Cysgod roared in pain and in a quick of a flash, only the skeleton remains of Cysgod remained. The Master then went back into the Yn dda o Bŵer and sat in the middle again.

"HORNETS" The Master bellowed. In a short time, dozens of giant orange and black strips hornets with tiny gold gems on their backs came down from the sealing like an endless rain, soon the whole hall was surrounded by the hornets.

"GO AND FIND THIS VANGUARD THAT HAS SPOILED MY PLANS. IF YOU FIND HIM, STAY WITH HIM AND TELL THE OTHER TO RETURN. NO REST UNTILL HE IS FOUND!!!" The Master yelled it's commands to the drones of hornets. "NOW GO, OPEN THE DOORS!!!"

After it has given the hornets their orders. The doors opened and the dozen of hornets flew out in all different ways to find this Vanguard that has spoiled their Master's plan.