The Everfree Forest is pretty much the same as it always was. A thousand years later and the feeling it was pervaded with remained constant and unchanging. A sense of deep, unnatural darkness overtook you as soon you took cover beneath its canopy and dread filled your whole being. The slightest movement became the covert passage of a stalker and the faintest of sounds was the measured approach of a predator sizing you up before its charge.

The shadows in here were not the soothing gentleness of my night in an open field. They were oppressive and threatening, refuge and concealment for a thousand possible fates. A dark patch on the uneven ground could hide a hole for the unsuspecting to trip on or break their leg, leaving them sprawled among the gnarly roots for the hungry residents to defile and feast on. The disfigured branches played their own twisted shadow theatre, creating so many hungry puppets reaching out for the passing traveller that their tired eyes would soon take them for granted and ignore the deadly real threat that hid among them.

The Everfree shadows were not anyone’s allies, not for the strangers that strode into it or the residents of these woods .

I felt more at home in this dangerous forest than I did at that unknown castle with my sister. At least here I knew what to expect and what was expected. I wondered if my companion did. He seemed strangely exuberant.

“You understand that we only have little more than an hour of daylight at best before night arrives?” I try to warn him. He has told me that he has hunted here often, but given his horrific timing and what seems to be unconcern for the threats of the Everfree Forest, I find myself questioning him for the first time since we met. Granted, we would only skim the relative edge of the forest and stay far away from the deep depths where the true horrors lied, but even the comparatively safety of this area translated to monsters that could kill us in seconds if caught unaware.

“Exactly as planned,” Raegdan says. He kneels down and bends the bow so he can finally brace the string on it. It takes considerable effort for him to do it. The wood is thick and the string lightly vibrates as it struggles to keep it from springing back straight.

“You wanted to hunt at night?” I can barely believe that he would try something like this in a simple hunt for food. If this is an attempt to impress me-

“No. I just don’t like spending the whole day cramped in a little niche in the bushes waiting for something to come by.” He uses his shoulder to hang the bow on his body and picks up one of the spears. He throws the second one to me and I grasp it in my magic. “Usually, I just spend an hour or two hunting. If I don’t kill anything by then, some monster will invariably start hunting me at nightfall. I just need to keep on guard and I have my meal delivered to me.”

“Is this your usual hunting ground?”

“It used to be. The last couple of years I’ve been hunting further south. I like to keep the area near Ponyville as clean as I can. If we had gone there I’d have packed axes instead of spears. There are too many timberwolves down there for some reason. They avoid me now though so it’s hard to put them down.”

“What happens if what comes after you can overpower you? A cockatrice for example.” The spear is pretty good. He has changed the handle I notice, replacing it with a much longer one. A bad choice for an earth pony or a pegasus, but for him, and my use of magic, the extra distance is always welcome.

Raegdan was walking carefully, his attention dedicated to inspecting the ground for tracks. Maybe I judged his wilderness skills too harshly. He seems to know how to differentiate recent tracks from old ones at least and he can certainly take care of himself. “Cockatrice. Is that the one that looks like a chicken snake with the petrifying stare?” he asks.

I wait for him to look back at me and then I nod.

“I hope we do run into one. They taste just like chicken, even the snake part, and they are easy to kill.” He taps the area right next to his eyes. “Their stare doesn’t work on me you see. I swear, I saw the last one actually sweat before I killed it. You know, predator meat is usually not good at all but I would take cockatrice over everything else in here, even boar.”

Intriguing. A hunting partner that was immune to some of the most fiendishly difficult opponents. Magic like abilities were always among the worst to deal with. Usually, a moment of distraction meant the death of those who made the mistake.

“How about a manticore?” I challenge him with a more physical encounter.

“I have killed two already so no go.” He lifted up his spear as if to show it off while we walked deeper into the forest. We were still near the northern edge; we had to head even more inwards before having a good chance to find prey, so we still had the opportunity to talk. “They jump for the kill like idiots. I just placed the end of the spear against the ground, held it in place with my foot, and waited for them to land on it.”

“Just like that?”

“I may or may not have been mauled a bit before that the first time but I was the one who walked- well, crawled away in the end. I found a nice, comfortable hole to hide in until I was strong enough to have a chance to make it out alive, you know the drill.” I nod along as he talks, I know the drill indeed. “I didn’t have to make it all the way out on my own though. Your sister got worried after two days and came to find me in person. She came into the forest and actually started calling out loud for me. That’s why I no longer tell her when and where I go hunting. I’m not saying she can’t deal with most of what creeps in here, just…”

We walk along in silence for a while.

“The second one I finished off in seconds though. Its meat was hard and tasted like old leather so it really wasn’t worth it.”

I could have told him that. I weigh the spear I hold. A pony might have trouble properly setting the spear to kill a manticore this way, but with the extra length I could picture the manticore’s flesh sliding deeper and deeper under its own mass. I could spot the obvious disadvantage in this method of killing it however.

“And how would you fare if your blow failed to kill it?”

“Meh,” he voices. I chuckle at this.

This in itself is a victory for him. My… banishment had robbed me of many things, my laughter among them. Raegdan was terrified upon the realization of what I had lost while I struggled to even understand the notion once more. He had gone to great, and now I recognize them as ridiculous, lengths to spring laughter out of my heart once more. He had tried jokes, games, and even resorted to slapstick with himself as both the perpetrator and victim. I could now finally laugh at the memory of how his long body circled in the air when he, with great presence of mind, stepped on the banana peel he had surreptitiously dropped a few minutes ago. It was an amazingly stupid and stale joke but when he said he’d try everything, he meant it. He didn’t give up until I had honestly laughed for the first time in centuries.

And have I mentioned how refreshing it is to finally be accompanied by someone who shrugs at the idea of pain, killing, or dying? Raegdan did not fear being hurt. He liked to avoid it if possible but if he had to he would place his hands in a fire with another one of his common shrugs. Someone sensible to interact with at last.

Raegdan has given some thought to the scenario I presented him with. He shrugs again, making me chuckle. “I’d play it by ear I guess. A lot depends on how much it got hurt, whether it would manage to slug me while being so close to me-”

“You’d have lost your spear at this point,” I remind him.

“So I’d back up a little and hit it with an arrow I suppose? Worst case scenario, I leave empty handed. No, wait,” he corrects when he sees me lift an eyebrow at this, “worst case it rips off my head. But at this point there is no need to guess what I would be doing, is there?”

As I said, refreshing.

I try to think of something else he might not have ran into in his previous hunts. Something different than a manticore or a cockatrice. A flying predator perhaps.

“How about a wyvern? Have you ever seen one?” Wyverns were much more dangerous opponents. Flying, fast, agile, moderately resistant to magic, and their stingers were imbued with one of the deadliest venoms you could encounter. I had seen ponies lost to the merest scratch. I had been lucky, or good enough, to never find out how resistant, if any, I am to their venom.

He has stopped beside a burnt out tree, the sad victim of a lightning storm, and examines the sky through its naked branches.

“It depends. Are they larger than me, green, have a beaked kind of snout, and a long tail that looks like a whip with a hooked knob at the end?”

“A pretty good description,” I concur.

“Then yes. Two of them,” he answers.

I’m impressed. When I was at my best, I would have hesitated to take on more than four of them at a time even with the element of surprise. “When was that?” I am very curious to hear this story.

“Just now,” he says and points upwards. I anxiously stride to his side and look through the narrow window the burnt tree provides. I manage to catch a short glimpse of two wyverns circling above before they fly towards the west. I saw enough in that little time.

“Those were young ones,” I tell my companion. “Their skin was still mottled with brown.”

“I noticed that. I thought it was just camouflage for the forest.” Now that the wyverns have gone out of sight he has turned his attention back to our surroundings. Good. He hasn’t forgotten where we stand.

“It is. Wyverns are late fliers and hunt on the ground in their early life. But their presence indicates they have a nest to our west nearby. Their numbers can easily run wild, and given how close we are to the forest’s edge…”

“Some ponies are going to be lunch sooner or later?” he guesses. I nod once more. I’m not sure if I honestly care at all about this possibility anymore but going after such an inviting target is an ingrained part of me. The idea of combat was too tantalizing after sitting on my flank for so long. “You know Luna,” he says nonchalantly, “we came here to hunt. You do remember that?”

He was right. This short hunting trip was for his benefit, I only came along because he invited me. He has been sneaking daily into my chambers for the last two months -the guards still have no idea that he slips around them- to talk and spend time with me and this is the first time we left Canterlot. If it wasn’t for him I would still be trapped in my own room waiting for the next ticking of the clock to pass the time.

If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be doing even that.

These two months have been a struggle for me, for both of us. I told him things I never expected to share with another living soul. Raegdan in turn shared his own secrets with me. Places we have been, creatures we have fought, acts we committed, people we lost. There were too many of them all.

Amidst those late night conversations we had found ourselves drawn back to the one question that a silky, inviting voice whispered seductively in both of our heads, again and again. Why keep on going? What could make this struggle worth it anymore when you had nothing left?

We haven’t figured out a good enough answer yet, not solid enough at least. When you have been pushed beyond your limits, when you have no other choice but to lash out, screaming against injustice at a world that does not care, cannot care, are you still the one to entirely blame for your actions? I wasn’t sure about the answer and neither was he, but we agreed on one thing. Whether we were to blame or not, we did accept that these actions, in the end, were our own. There was a choice, there always had been, even if it was between death or depravity. And as for punishment, retribution, the pretension of fairness that so many clinged to... should there be one? If the punishment is a grace and relief like no other… do you still give it or deny it?

Reprisal could not touch us. How could it? We had gone far beyond our mere deaths to being proper justice, laughable concept as it was, even if we would not welcome it. There was only one horror for each of us that could torment us adequately.

But even if we had been ten times the monsters we became, we would not deserve that! It was too much. This torture… there were no words to describe the crushing loneliness and the loss of self in a sea of inner terror. Neither of us would face banishment again. We would see this world burnt down to ashes before this happened once more to either of us. We’d rather kill everyone and everything than.. than...

The path of retribution was barred with the twin chains of want and fear… that left us with only one other possibility to consider. But it wasn’t time yet. Our plans were still in infancy, mere shades hinting at the idea of an outline at this point. We were going to build our arms and prepare for a war they had no chance to win. Scout them out and aim for the chinks in the armor of this kingdom before we strike. Not on our own, the two of us would not be enough. We were discussing a possibility that could be the key in everything, a small army trained to our standards. This time, we would do our worst in the best way possible. Their disdain would not influence us. Their animosity was unimportant. We would show these fools what hid in the deepest darkness.

And that in the absolute murky depths they would find us.

“You are correct,” I tell him as I return to the present. “We are here to hunt.”

“Still,” he says thoughtfully. “Nest, huh? It would be faster than just wandering around, and I’ve never had wyvern before…” Oh, I misjudged so much. So this is how he would excuse our venture? “I wouldn’t mind having an exciting hunting story either. Besides, Ponyville is not that far from here for something that can fly. I’m not letting these things come anywhere near my kids. Let’s go play exterminators. West, right?”

Why couldn’t he have been here a millenia ago?

“I count six of them,” I whisper to my companion. The wyverns have found a large clearing to nest in. I see two breeding pairs among them and there’s a raised, freshly dug area on the ground, right in the center, that I’m certain hides their eggs.

“Seven,” he answers back. His hand reaches out and gently moves a few of the leaves out of my line of sight, with one finger pointing slightly upwards at the same time. Behind the dense branches of a tree I spot movement. He was right. Seven wyverns.

We keep watching from the deep shadows as the sun sets. The wyverns get agitated all the more as time passes. They must be hungry. The area around us was devoid of most animals. It would not be long until they expanded their hunting territory.

“We may have missed more of them,” I instruct him. There could be more hidden deeper into the edge of the clearing or flying above. Others could be hunting, but might soon return if they heard their nestmates call out.

Raegdan slowly and quietly places down his spear and nocks an arrow, briefly sighting down his target before lowering it. “More, less, does it make a difference?” he asks with a shallow shrug. “Is there a chance that we are going to turn around and beg for the guards to come help us?”

The idea alone makes me feel as if I tasted something foul. I may have often conscripted aid but I never left the field like a coward in order to seek help. If I had to achieve victory on my own, as it often was the case, then I did so. I was weaker now but I was not helpless. I still had my pride, my old experience, and the lessons thousands of fights have taught me.

“Wyverns are resistant to magic,” I whisper. “Even with my old strength, I could not gain victory over this many in a fair fight on my own without fatal risk.”

“Who says we are going to let this be a fair fight? What are we, idiots? And don’t forget, this time you are not on your own. How resistant are they to an arrow in the chest?”

“None at all,” I chuckle. “They may look slightly draconic but their physical defense is nothing like them. Their wing musculature conjoins at the chest though, so your arrows better have enough power to pierce through them. Remember, beware their tail. Their venom is not magic.”

He looks around, carefully examining the area we hide in. This part of the forest is especially thick in an outstanding contrast to the clear area in front of us. The trees are too close to each other and fallen branches, logs, and giant rocks made our approach from this angle problematic, at least for me. Raegdan had no problem navigating around, over, or beneath each obstacle, using his hands to hold his balance or briefly falling on all fours to silently creep over the trickier surfaces. “Alright. Depending on what you can do, I think I might have a plan.”

“They outnumber us four to one at least, maybe more if we are particularly unlucky. If you have an idea I’m all ears.”

“First, we are going to surround them...”

He gave me thirty minutes to make my way to the other side of the clearing and prepare, having already lost almost twenty five of them to just repositioning myself. I felt like an amateur. He would have made it in half the time at most with the way he moves. Hooves are great for striking your opponent, but I would trade them in a heartbeat for the functionality and stealth granted by his appendages.

Carrying both spears, most of his arrows, and keeping active the tether with the three arrows I had positioned at his location did not help matters either. I endeavored to keep my horn’s treacherous glow as low as possible, so I held everything with my wings and teeth. Dexterity dies a disgraceful death when you carry two spears about two meters long each. Dignity follows soon after but nopony saw me at the moment.

I only have seconds before we begin the assault. I do a quick recount as I spread the arrows in position. I count two more wyverns. Nine in total.

Nine wyverns. If there were more than that or they caught whiff of us before we were ready we were doomed. My magic was no longer strong enough to hurt them easily and Raegdan had nothing but his bow, four arrows, and a knife. I could teleport to his side, risking an injury in the tangled area, but one spear in his hands would not save us. One scratch from their stingers and it was over for both of us. I suppose I could fly and escape if it came to it but…

What would be the point?

I cannot help but feel more excited than I have been in a long time as I silently count down the seconds left. Seventeen. Sixteen. A fight against overwhelming odds with a worthy companion at my side for once. If our plan worked we would take down the majority of them with ease, any of them remaining would have to be dispatched the old fashioned way. My tongue slides over my teeth in anticipation. A single wyvern could be death on its own if you fought it carelessly in close quarters. Seven. Six. Even if the hasty plan failed, I could barely wait for us to begin. My heart was drumming a familiar beat. This, this is what I had been made for, what I had been doing for centuries. Four. I was once again risking my life; kill or be killed. Three. Raegdan was doing the same, his hard earned instincts crying for bloodshed. Two. There was nothing like this thrill. Nothing could ever compare.

One.

The hunt was on.

I saw the glint of the recently raised moon on the arrow as it flew towards its target. It hit its mark with devastating strength. It actually knocked the wyvern slightly backwards. When it fell, I saw the arrow had embedded itself almost two thirds in despite the distance and the wyvern’s mass..

The rest of the wyverns hissed and cried out when they saw their dead nestmate. All of their vital organs were located in their chest, tightly packed. A single hit with enough power to pierce the dense muscles and thin scales surrounding them would fell them every time. For their large size and ferocious attacks they could be slain easily with the proper strike. Raegdan’s heavy bow had strength to spare. His preference for a single fateful strike made them easy prey to his weapon of choice.

The pack had started moving towards Raegdan but stopped when I used my magic to make the nearby branches rustle loudly. As one, the wyverns seized their advance and seemed torn between choosing a direction to attack or defend from.

A second arrow was let loose. Not as fast on the draw as I had hoped but it was dark, his bow was heavier than anything ponies ever used, and he hadn’t practiced for fast volleys. I only wished he would not miss. He only had two more chances to thin their numbers.

He did not miss. The wyverns had remained still, only moving their heads as they scanned the woods for their quarry. Another one fell. Seven remaining, hopefully.

The wyverns had spotted where the mysterious strikes were coming from. They unleashed a screeching cry that silenced the forest around us and soared for their target in a straight line, ignoring any further distractions I made. Disappointing but expected. Another arrow easily found its mark, this one piercing a wyvern through the soft neck and down its torso. Six of them left.

I could barely keep myself from charging in among them through their vulnerable flank, or unleashing a magic bolt of my own, but I had to stick to the plan.

I spotted Raegdan standing up while drawing on his last arrow. That was too much of a risk. He should have already ran. They were getting too close. He let loose, dropped the weapon and ran into the trees without waiting to see the result. He had missed this one. I huffed in disappointment. Really, they had been in spitting distance and the best he could do was slightly discomfort one of them with a small hole on its leather wing. How did he manage to kill the first three and entirely miss this one? Still, three of them dead was an amazing success, far beyond our expectations.

The wyverns follow him under the trees, folding their wings and using their claws to speed on the ground. They were unbelievingly fast but we hoped that Raegdan would prove faster in the tangled area they followed him into. As long as he did not trip, he should make it.

We hoped. It was completely dark among the thick trees and he had less than thirty minutes to memorize the route he would take.

I use the time I have to charge up my spell. I wanted each arrow to have at least as much force behind it as his own. He would never let me hear the end of it if they just bounced off their chest. Of course, in that case we would be dead so there was really no point in obsessing over this eventuality. Angry thrashing, wood splintering, and Raegdan’s taunting bellows are heard from the forest across.

A little over a minute afterwards Raegdan makes his way into the clearing from the same point the wyverns entered. He had managed to take them in a circle. Good. That meant they would be after him any moment now, packed together and in position.

Scant seconds later the wyverns scampered out of the dense forest edge. They stood still for a moment as they located their prey and unfolded their wings. They soared low to the ground and charged for the meat that brought them so much trouble.

“Luna?” Raegdan yelled out as he ran towards me. He sounded out of breath and exhilarated. He had been having fun.

Time to have my own. I smirk in anticipation. Just a little bit closer. The glow of my horn intensifies, shining his way to me like a lighthouse.

“Now!” I yell back. He dives to the ground as I instructed him, rolling in a smooth motion to bring himself looking the other way around. At the same time I unleash my spell.

Twenty three arrows give in to the pressure that was building inside them and are magnetically pulled towards the three arrowheads I had tethered them to at the other side of the clearing. The sudden discharge of magic dazes me for a few moments but it was nothing compared to how I would have felt if I tried the same through more traditional spellcasting.

I do not waste time trying to witness the result. Raegdan is unarmed. I grab the two spears and dash right behind the arrows’ path, making my way towards him.

The spell had been an unmitigated success. Five more wyverns lie dead, pierced like pincushions. Or not. I can barely make out the feathers at their end, so deeply they have penetrated their target. Using magnetism instead of pure force to launch the arrows worked as efficiently as he promised. Bolts of pure magic be damned, I had a new favorite method of killing. The last of the monstrosities, the one Raegdan had made a hole on its wing, had been sheltered by its brethren in front of it. I throw one of the spears towards Raegdan as it slowly comes for us. We make our way to opposite sides around it without the need to communicate our intent.

The wyvern screeches angrily and turns towards me. A wise choice made by the unthinking animal. I had a greater reach than Raegdan with the spear and I was the more dangerous opponent.

It lunges forward, trying to bite me with its beak shaped snout. I cannot help but take the opportunity it gives me for a strike. As the wyvern’s head reaches for me I smack it sideways with the spear. Raegdan takes the chance he was given by its attack to cut apart the leather wing, grounding it. He is too close to it, which is a boon as the envenomed tail end fails to pierce him. The whip like tail however hits him hard enough to launch him slightly backwards, dropping him on the ground, the spear falling from his grasp. The stinger bites downwards for him, but he started moving as soon as he landed and he rolls away from it. Too close, too damn close. He needs a distraction.

I slash at the right wing. This wyvern will certainly not be able to escape us now. Nine of these creatures die tonight, no matter what.

The wyvern ignores me and my strike. Instead, it focuses on Raegdan despite my efforts. As he makes his way onto his feet, the wyvern’s neck snaps forwards like a snake uncoiling. He barely dodges once more, but his right hand snaps forward in an instinctive counterattack.

The wyvern’s eye pops like a grape as his fingers dig in and squeeze. It thrashes its head in pain and Raegdan is once again launched backwards, this time much harder, his manic laughter silenced by the lack of air in his lungs. He is an easy victim where he lies, lumbering back upright as fast as he can manage, but with a single flare of light from my horn and a challenging yell I finally attract the wyvern’s attention to me.

I could end this easily with my magic. One single wyvern was easy prey, even as I was now. Raegdan fought without magic, however, and it would be poor manners to show him up.

Besides, it’s so much more fun this way.

The wyvern slashes wildly with the talons at the tips of its folded wings. I dodge the first and sidestep the second, feeling the air vibrate right past my snout, and give it a shallow cut when it snaps with another attempt to take a bite out of me. I growl in frustration. A little bit closer and I could have torn its throat open.

As it was I got too close for nothing. The wyvern unfolds one of its wings and pummels me with enough speed and strength to make me falter. I did not expect it to strike back in this way to gain this kind of reach and now I have handed over the initiative advantage on a silver platter. My balance is off, my side aches, and it might have sprained my own wing.

The wyvern whips its tail behind it, forcing Raegdan who had approached to duck low, and tries to puncture me with it. I desperately jump back with the aid of my wings despite the pain, barely avoiding the fatal gash it would have made. The wyvern lets out a hiss, spreads its talons, and prepares to leap towards me in an attempt to overtake me. I am still too close to avoid such an attack from something this large with no injury. I brace myself for the mangling to come but then the wyvern gets tugged violently backwards.

Raegdan had grabbed hold of its tail and dragged it away from me with an almost psychotic smile. His legs were working like pistons, overpowering even the two legged clawed hold of the much heavier wyvern on the dirt and stone.

The wyvern let out another frustrated scream, stopped struggling to move away, and turned its long neck towards my companion. Raegdan was risking being eaten alive to give me the opening I needed. I rush forward, aiding the thrust of my magic hold with my physical momentum. The metal point sinks into its flesh, meets some resistance as it rips apart tendons and muscles, and then slices apart lungs and it’s heart. A fountain of blood rushes out of the heavy wound caused by the spear on the side of its chest as the wyvern folds to the ground, some of it spraying on me. I felt a little disappointed with the short length of the battle even though it gave us quite a bit of trouble. Maybe I should have made sure that a second one had survived. One versus one would have made for a better, longer fight that could chip off the rust off me more efficiently. I can’t believe I let myself get hit like that.

Next time, I’ll be the bait. At least Raegdan got a better dose of adrenaline by having them snap at his heels.

Raegdan was inspecting his arms, searching the myriad of scratches he had on them for one gained by the wyvern. His action had been a little reckless but I could not deny its effectiveness nor the amusement he and I derived from it. As long as he hasn’t been harmed that is. That wyvern had been whipping its tail way too much around him.

“Anything?” I ask somewhat anxious as he brings his bleeding forearm closer to his eyes.

He shakes his heads after a few seconds. “No. These are all from my run in there,” he says as he points towards the forest. “What’s the score?”

I laugh, finally overtaken with the sweet scent of victory. “I took down six of them. You got three.” That’s right. The Lady of the Night might have to work off some crinkles but she is still undefeated.

“I claim half a point for this one. Plus, I shot four times,” he complains with a frown.

“Your last one missed.”

“What, at that distance? Damn, I suck-” we get interrupted from a furious screech behind him.

A lone adult wyvern had returned to its nest and saw the two of us standing over the remains of its nestmates. My spear was still lodged in the last kill’s chest and Raegdan had dropped his somewhere I could not see. I spread my wings and rush in front of him as the wyvern dives with massive speed. I would shield him and buy him time to find his weapon.

Death after a victory of such ease, despite the strength that stood against us, was stinging my pride. At least wyvern venom was almost instant and this one was ready to pierce me through. I stand my ground as its stinger comes towards my inviting torso-

The world becomes a blur. My stomach aches as my body is rushed into a speed it was not prepared for and my lungs empty forcefully when I crash against a fleshy obstacle.

I fall to the ground dazed and confused. I manage to get a glimpse of Raegdan pressing his knee on the wyvern’s head to hold it down before he savagely plunges his hand through its eye socket almost down to his elbow, reaching for its brain.

I think I hit my head, or my sudden lurch and stop nauseated me beyond reason. I close my eyes and painfully throw up. My side hurts and one of my back legs is either sprained or dislocated. I spit to clean my mouth from the remains of the vomit and try to get my breath back. Before I have the chance to, a slimy hand grabs my face and forcefully pushes me on my back.

“What did you think you were doing?” Raegdan yells into my face, overpowering the ringing in my ears with ease.

“I tried to stop it…” I protest weakly. Oh stars, I can smell the wyvern’s fluids on his hand.

“Bullshit! You didn’t even attempt to use your magic. No shield, no attack, no nothing! I know what you tried to do.” He shoves something in my mouth.

“What are you-” I choke through the obstacle between my teeth.

“Remember the promise we made? You just broke it. So now, you pay for it. Bite down!” He is furious. I have never seen him even slightly angry before, nevermind this searing rage. He is not talking so much as barking, grinding his teeth and snarling when he stops roaring at me.

“No.” I know what he is talking about now. I can’t do it. I am not paying this kind of price! I refuse.

He has been my only friend. He kept the night terrors away as much as he can ever since he found out about them. He listened to me, without judging, only understanding. He wanted to be around me, he cared for just me, with no obligation, duty, or blood ties driving him! He knew my secret and did not care. I- I couldn’t bear the thought of mangling him so permanently after what he has done for me in such a short time…

He gives me no choice. “Either you pay the price we agreed on or I break my promise too, and I won’t do it where you can stop me,” he threatens.

I bite down instantly, as hard as I can. The crunch of bone thunders in my ears and the iron taste of his blood floods my mouth.

I bring bandages for Raegdan to replace the rags he had used to staunch the blood flow at first and to cover the wound later. He had removed them a few moments ago and is critically inspecting the damage I did to him.

“How is it?” I ask him. I have no idea how the anatomy of his hands work. Could removing one of his fingers damage the others beside it? Have I robbed him of the efficiency of one of his precious hands with my selfish actions?

He picks up the bandages and gauze I have placed on the table in front of him and carefully starts wrapping it around his hand. I move in to help him but he jerks his hand away from me and shakes his head. I wouldn’t be much use anyway. It is hard to apply a bandage with care on someone who dispels your magic field as soon as it touches him.

“I have no idea. I’ve never had to deal with amputation from the healing side of things, at least in the long term,” he finally says. “I think it’s going to be ok. It doesn’t bleed and you cooked it pretty well. It has a nice crust and everything. It looks delicious,” he jokes.

“Does it hurt?”

He shrugs. “A lot. Cauterising is always hell. We can’t do anything about the pain now so why dwell on it? Later on, we can open up that whiskey bottle I saw in your drink cabinet and celebrate our successful hunt properly.” Raegdan wiggles the little stump he has left. “Huh, it’s true. I can still feel it!”. He chuckles and seems to talk to himself. “Heh, I’m nine fingered like him, only I wasn’t wearing a ring to lose.” He tightens the knot he made with his other hand and teeth. He winces as it forcefully presses upon the fresh injury. “I miss proper painkillers so much…” he whispers, but I hear him.

“I’m sorry. I- I wasn’t really thinking, this won’t-”

He presses the hand that is still unmarred on my lips to silence my apologies. “Hey, the whole point of this is that it’s done and over with. There is nothing to forgive now. We start anew, agreed?”

“Agreed,” I answer smiling and I kiss his cheek on an impulse. I... honestly have no idea where that came from.

He reaches where I kissed him with the tip of his fingers. He is… he is actually blushing! I cannot believe I managed to get him to do that so easily. I would have made fun of him but… I hoped my dark coat was enough to hide my own burning cheeks.

“Well, at least my efforts are appreciated,” he awkwardly jokes. He fiddles with the bandage for a few seconds, keeping his eyes away from me, before he jumps on his feet.

“Celestia! Sunrise is only hours away. Celestia will be coming over to check on you later and we don’t want her to know where we have been. Bath. You need a bath or she’ll know! I’m, uh, gonna go and prepare it for you, alright? I’ll be right back,” he rants in a panic, barely bothering to breathe, and rushes into the bathroom, almost tripping himself up, closing the door behind him.

That… might have been a mistake. We will have to clear up things later or… just ignore it in its entirety. Yes, that would be the wisest move. We don’t need any further complications. This kind of thing never happens to someone like me or him anyway.

I can hear the water filling the large bathtub from where I stand. Raegdan, in his haste, failed to close the door properly. I listen to the taps running with eagerness to soon put myself beneath them. If there’s something I really enjoy about this modern age it’s the plumbing. I would be hard pressed to return to making do with an icy river or heated up buckets of water and a pile of rags in the corner of a room, especially midwinter.

Now that I think about it, I remember that some of the past noble mares, even my sister, used to have maids to help them bathe. I believe that Celestia probably still has ponies employed for that. I never felt comfortable enough allowing anypony I did not trust so near to me to do that myself, but I could see the appeal. I was always tempted to give it a shot the rare times I stayed in our castle. I hum in thought. He was right here and if I asked he would oblige in my request as he always did, I was sure. He needed to clean up too after all and the bath was certainly more than big enough for the two of us. No one minded having some help with those hard to reach places, right? Closing my eyes I wonder how efficient and relaxing his dexterous fingers would be shampooing my-

There is another sound from the bathroom. A high pitched whine, followed by the crash of something heavy.

“Raegdan?” I call out his name, not thinking much of it.

There is no answer.

He always answers back. Always.

I hurry inside the bathroom, my magic almost ripping the door off its hinges. The luxurious bathtub, a small pool on its own, has started overflowing, water spilling on the white marbled floor. Above it on the wall one of the tiles has broken apart, revealing a circle of spent runes. I look across it. There, slumped against the wall, Raegdan lies unmoving. His clothes were also smoking on his chest and had been lightly burnt. I dash to his side. There is a little blood on the wall above, where he hit his head, and the porcelain sink he crashed into had broken off and sliced his arm. The cut looks pretty deep but luckily it barely bleeds at-

No.

NO!

I put my ear against his mouth. I hear and feel nothing. He is not breathing! I push my head against his chest, where he showed me his heart was located.

No heartbeat. Nothing at all.

No. No, no, no! Stars above, help me! This wasn’t supposed to happen. He is immune! No magic, either from a spell, rune, or pure force, should be able to touch him. How? How did this happen?

I look back at the runes, desperate to decipher them, to understand what was done to what’s mine. It is sloppy work, inelegant work, but it worked well enough. It stored magic inside it -the paper thin tile had hidden the slight glow it would have generated- it detected the water level on the tiled pool beneath it, and then collected all that magic to turn it into…

A lightning spell.

His heart. I had to restart his heart! If I take too long-

How? He mentioned something about this once, when we were discussing what little he knew of his kind’s medicine. Compressions to the chest and forcing air into the lungs using your own. He mentioned a steady rhythm that you had to follow, but either I could not remember it or he never said what it was.

But what he had said was that this was relatively rare to work, even less if you didn’t know how to do it properly, which I did. The other option was… another electric shock? I- I think that was it. He said they used a machine. I think ponies might do the same thing but I am not sure. I’ve almost never been at or used hospitals of any kind. I could do it with a spell but… it had to be directed to the heart, didn’t it? How powerful was the shock supposed to be?

I was wasting time, doubting myself when I needed to choose a path of action. Another electric shock. It would either work or it would not. I could start with a low power spell and amp it up as I kept trying. If I attempted restarting his heart the other way I would have no way of knowing whether I was doing it wrong or right until he either came back, or there was nothing left to save. I could drag him to the castle’s infirmary but if I was wrong and they didn’t know how to save him either… no time, I have no time!

I turn off the faucets and swipe the water away from him with my magic. I lay him down on his back carefully. Did he hurt himself when he crashed against the wall? Was his spine still whole or had he broken it? No, I should focus on the immediate concerns. Bring him back to me first, tend whatever injuries he has afterwards.

I needed to direct the spell to his heart. Would just hitting him with another lightning spell be enough? I didn’t know, and I had too little time. How would I do this? If his touch wasn’t stopping me from casting I would just stab him with my horn and then cast to make sure, but I can’t, and I don’t know exactly where I should-

I have an idea.

I move quickly. I’m not sure how long he can stay like this before he perishes entirely, but I’ve allowed two or three precious minutes to pass me by in vain. I run back outside and head to the dining room. I need a knife, but Raegdan’s is too large and sharp. I rip open the cabinet where the cutlery is stored and take one of the dull butter knives. I make my way back to my precious companion. I would have teleported but I did not want to risk my magical reserves. I had no idea how many tries this would take me.

He hasn’t moved. He is still not breathing. I… I kind of hoped I’d find him sitting up, waiting for me with a smile, waving away my worries. Raegdan is dead. My friend is gone, his corpse lies right in front of me getting colder by the second. They killed him. Somepony took him from me. I-

I grab his shirt with my teeth and pull. The fabric stretches and then tears. In the bright, strong lights of the bathroom his scars are painfully visible as are the bruises he got earlier. There, right over the centre of his chest. The scar Celestia gave him. I can use that as a guide.

I take aim and stab him. A few drops of blood ooze out, but nothing more follows. His heart is no longer beating so it can’t pump his life outside his body.

I have my connection. This should be close enough to almost touch his heart if what he told me was correct. I just hope I angled it right.

I focus and cast the weakest lightning spell that I can on the knife’s handle. Raegdan’s body spasms lightly. I press my ear against his chest once again, mindful of the knife.

Nothing.

Another shock, more powerful this time. Nothing again.

A third one. His skin has gained new burns and a slight whiff of cooked flesh starts to permeate the air. Please, please, let me hear his voice once more. Don’t take this from me, don’t.

No heartbeat.

I swipe at my eyes. No! I had to keep going. I needed to cast the spell with more power. I was too gentle. Raegdan could handle some rough treatment. He would not let death win, not now. I would not allow this to happen. I won’t lose what little I have left.

I cool down the knife with a frost spell first and then hit him again with much more power than my last feeble attempts. His muscles contract and expand violently. His torso rises up in one sudden movement, stays up for half a second, and then lands back down on the floor with enough force to dislocate the knife. I must have either cut something, or the sudden lurch did, cause blood has started gushing-

Blood!

Raegdan takes a sudden deep breath and starts coughing. He lives. He lives! I kick the knife off him and quickly pull down two towels with my magic, throwing them on his chest and the gash on his arm. I push against them with hoof and wing to staunch the blood flow that has finally started in earnest.

The coughing and gasps for air continue for a minute. I don’t trust my own voice to speak yet. I just wait for him to regain his senses, drinking in the sight of his chest rising and falling in an unsteady rhythm.

He finally has enough control of himself to open his eyes. He is… there is obvious pain on his face. His eyes have reddened up with blood from burst tiny veins. There’s a small tear of bright red leaking down his cheek from one of them. He looks at me as if not recognizing me.

“Luna?” he asks unsure. My relief is beyond words. I feared I had taken too long, that I failed him. I blink rapidly to chase away the burning in my eyes.

“It’s me,” I whisper back. I can barely keep myself from crying like a foal. He was dead. He was dead and now… now he has returned to me. He hasn’t left me!

“I- I heard you call. I tried to answer back but…” He coughs. His voice is rough and hoarse beyond words. I can barely understand the raspy sounds he whispers. “I couldn’t. I tried but I couldn’t. I’m sorry, I… I tried as hard as I could…”

I shush him gently. Stupid stallion. Needlessly worrying about not answering to my summons for once. “Everything’s ok. You are going to be ok.” I use my unoccupied right wing to caress his shoulder, to assure him that nothing else is going to hurt him. I think it helps him to calm down so I keep at it, needing the reassurance myself.

“What happened?” he rasps. He takes deep, fast breaths, as if he had been running all day with no stop.

I tell him. He doesn’t remember what happened after he stepped into the bathroom. I tell him how I revived him. He weakly tries to lift my hoof from his chest so he can see the stab wound for himself. I allow him a quick glimpse before I continue applying pressure. I need to bandage his injuries. I remember where I left the gauzes. I summon them to my side and with as much help as he can given his condition we wrap up his new injuries. Thankfully, his severed finger did not start bleeding again.

Several minutes passed in silence as he rested. “Help me up,” he finally demands.

“There may be other injuries,” I caution. “You might have broken something.”

“Then help me get up and find out.” I would have wanted to do the same, so I help him up, having no counter argument that wouldn’t ring false. He is struggling to keep his balance, staying upright more out of sheer willpower than strength. His body shakes and he can’t hold his limbs still despite his obvious attempt to do so.

“This was a trap for you,” he says. “Someone wanted to kill you.” The rage I saw earlier is slowly returning, targeted at the unknown assailant this time.

Attempts on my life were nothing new, but usually they took the form of dark silhouettes advancing on me while I rested. I never expected to face assassination in this new, softer Equestria that my sister had built. My naivety almost- did cost Raegdan his life. Whoever did this would scream for a mercy that would never come. They bucked with the wrong Alicorn. I was no soft Celestia.

He stumbles towards the runework on the wall to examine it. He almost falls but I stay by his side and steady him. Despite the agony of every little motion he keeps moving, refusing to give in to something inconsequential like pain when he has a goal he wants to achieve. “Someone knew you were gone. This took time to set up.”

“The guards.”

“Maybe. Or they just took a hike when they heard a purse jingle, if they were even around. They are not really keen on guarding you. There are days I just walk up here with no one to stop me.” He collapses on the edge of the filled bathtub. “There may be more like this,” he groans.

I agree with him. I certainly wouldn’t have missed the chance to place more traps ready to be sprung if I were in their place. The possibilities were endless. We couldn’t trust anything in any of my rooms anymore. Everything could be trapped, poisoned, or envenomed. Everything edible and drinkable could accommodate death. Every door was a gamble. A needle hiding in the furniture could be waiting to deliver a lethal scratch.

A simple walk to the exit of my tower was now a threatening undertaking.

“Give me a few more minutes,” he gasps, moaning in pain as his body keeps convulsing periodically. “Then… then we start searching everywhere. After that… I’m moving up here with you.”

Author's Notes:

It has come to my attention, thanks to Abstract Indigo, that the medical science behind what happened with Raegdan is wrong. I will fix this later on to reflect a more realistic way of what happened but in essence the chapter doesn't really change. Raegdan gets electrocuted, half dies, Luna saves him.

Apologies for my half assed research. I did try, but apparently there's a reason I never became a doctor DAD!