Chapter One

There are times when the realm is a calm, peaceful place with little strife and conflict weighing down on the ponies, when they can live full lives with their families in peace and happiness and when all of the alicorns of the tribes are happy with each other.

These were not those times, as evidenced by the several squads of Speed and Electric ponies that were currently doing their best to hold the line along the mountain ridge in the pouring rain. The odds were against them as it was pitch black and their enemies were an alliance of Bat and Flutter ponies. Flutter ponies were a joke in single combat, too small and too easily scared to be warriors, but Bat ponies were another matter altogether. Their ability to see clearly in the night put the squad at a clear disadvantage despite their own powers being very tough to counter.

Lightning Shot, a Speed unicorn, looked at the small camp that included her younger sister Quick Shot, two other Speed ponies and a single Electric unicorn mare. Who was reading a book, of all things, at this dangerous time and place.

“You can stop glaring at me, Lady Shot,” the Electric mare said, flicking the rubberized page without so much as looking up at her. “We’re on the outermost flank of this battle, and it is raining.” The mare, a something something Sparks or Sparkle or whatever, huffed in annoyance. Shaking her two toned mane out of her face, she leaned in close to the minor noble. “Even with how insane those Bat ponies can be, even they wouldn’t be out in a storm like th-” Her eyes bulged out suddenly and started to shake. Her last words were lost as she spat out blood, falling onto her face with a crossbow bolt sticking out of her back.

“ALARM!” Lightning yelled, jumping into a battle stance with her head whipping around as she unleashed bolts of fire into the sky, hoping to catch several ponies above them. It didn’t matter if she was just tossed here with her sister as a token show of force from their parents, few things could outpace a Speed pony’s magic. One of the two other Speed ponies, an earth pony and thus a messenger, had already taken off to alert the other encampments while the other whipped out their crossbow and fired wildly into the air.

They were put down by a bolt straight into their chest, annoying Lightning as the fool had panicked and wasted their entire supply in five seconds. Gritting her teeth, she knew that their encampment was already lost, so she began to create a shield for Quick and her to escape and fall back behind.

“Let’s get out of here Quick, it’s,” she frowned, realizing she’d never heard or seen her sister shoot her magic into the sky. Turning her head, she saw her sister was in her death throes, a Bat pony pegasus plunging a short blade into her chest. “NO!” she shouted, watching her little sister die by the hooves of the masked pony. She, her figure was too slender and curved to be anything but a mare, was wearing a detailed mask with a fierce snarling face on it that was connected to the light body armor she was wearing. A crossbow was slung across her back, two bolts missing thus labeling her the killer of Lightning Shot’s squad.

With a hiss, the mare stalked her way towards Lightning to kill her too and Lightning knew she had the advantage of her quick magic, but she was no fool. She was just a prompted up squad leader - kicked upstairs, she’d heard some calling it in hushed whispers - and this was a trained member of an assault squad. If she tried to take the other mare down, she would be dead quicker than she could move - a fact that insulted her very core as a Speed pony!

With a growl in her mouth, she used her magic to increase her own speed and fell back to the central command for this flank, leaving the Bat pegasus slowly bringing the crossbow up and firing at the same time. If she had been anypony but a Speed pony, she would have been dead on the spot.

As she looked over at her sister’s killer, she made a vow to get revenge no matter what.

Huffing angrily, the mare of the Terror Mask squad slung her crossbow onto her back as she watched the coward Speed pony run away.

With a twitch of her ear, she heard her squad leader land beside her with the rest of the assault squad returning from their targets.

“Good work,” Sharp Claw, their leader, said with a short nod of approval. “All targets are eliminated with minimal screw ups.”

The mare gave an annoyed snort at that - she figured that the Electric pony would be the greater danger due to all the water as per their orders from the higher up - but a glare from Sharp Claw made her straighten up. “We’re clear to move ahead, so let’s go ladies!” he shouted, the squad already leaping into the sky. “Not you Snarling Fang,” he snapped, startling the mare as she started to take off. “Return to base to get patched up.”

“For what?” she snapped, snapping her wings once to show how angry she was with this order.

“Your rear right leg, it’s bleeding.” Claw towered over her, narrowing his eyes, which were just barely visible behind his mask.

Turning her head, she saw it was indeed cut but it was a superficial cut if anything. “I can fly and fight just fine, I don’t need to return for this!”

“The red will give you and the squad away despite this blasted rain, so do as I say and return to base now and maybe you will be quick enough to rejoin the fight,” he snorted heavily in her face, daring her to strike back. “Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir,” she snarled back, taking to the air and flying away from her squad and back to base. Anger was building in her at being forced to leave the battle, her face twisting to match her mask. Fang was also angry as Claw was more right than he knew, the leg causing her pain as she had landed on that Speed pony base. That Speed pony unicorn bitch had clipped her and she was mad at herself that she’d killed the wrong pony and the other one had escaped.

Shaking her head, Fang forced herself to focus that anger for the coming battle as she hovered over the camouflaged base, spotting the medic tent. The quicker she got a bandage for her leg, the quicker she could rejoin her squad.

Flying inside, she saw that it was a madhouse under the control of several Flutter unicorns barking out orders, although they were probably only listening due to their Bat earth pony body guards. With a tilt of a head from one of them, she was directed to a Flutter unicorn medic that was alone for the moment. He was a bit taller then most, three quarters of her height instead of half, and seemed to be focused instead of a near panicked mess.

Landing in front of him and giving him a snort, she leaned into his face. “My leg has been cut. Heal it so I can go fight.”

Surprisingly, he ignored her commands and sent out a probe of magic that encompassed her entire body. His eyes went wide as he learned of her injuries and shot her a look of disbelief from his half covered face. “Are you mad? Your leg is the least of my concerns, you have a host of minor wounds that if pushed too hard will cause you to bleed out! You are staying here!”

Surprised at his loud tone and his outright boldness, she blinked behind her mask before shaking her head. “I need to get back out and you will do as say, you tiny little ball of fluff!”

“You are mad as well as a fool, you damn mare!” he shouted back, jabbing a hoof into her chest which caused her to wince loudly as he hit directly on a piercing shot that the Speed pony had hit her with before - more than likely on purpose by the medic to prove his point.

With a loud snort, Fang left the medic and flew towards another Flutter medic to get the treatment she wanted. He started to chase after her but a crash of voices dragged his attention away as several injured Bat ponies were brought in.

Fang would later return to the battle after her leg was healed and the medic did his best to save as many of his allies as he could, the meeting between the two pushed to the back of their minds.

But fate was mindful of the chance encounter, smiling in approval of the future parents of the alicorns who would one day raise the sun and moon.

Author's Notes:

This is meant to be a prequel, of sorts, of a new series I am planning to write in the future as well as a way to get myself back into the flow of writing.

Some details of this world may be confusing but rest assured that all will be explained in time.

Chapter Two

It was only a few months later when Velocity, the alicorn of the Speed pony tribe, capitulated control of the Broken Spine mountain and the surrounding valleys to the Bat pony tribe. As it were, this was just a minor claim dispute that neither Velocity nor Nocturne wished to turn into a full fledged war and as soon as victory was declared, the surviving Speed and Electric ponies were allowed to leave alive and with their dignity intact.

As the camps were broken down, there were miniature celebrations breaking out here and there from the ponies that had been in the thick of the battle while the reserve squads moved in to secure the mountain for the future generation. The front line soldiers had the right to return home first, the other squads standing to witness their counterparts march with pride and heads held high. They were then allowed to follow behind them with the Flutter ponies doing their best to keep up but due to their short stature, timid nature towards anything larger than them and the different military structure in this minor conflict, they were quickly a far deal behind the rear Bat pony squad. It caused a small tiffle when they came to the juncture in the Neutral Lands, with the entire army coming to a halt to let the Flutter ponies catch up to the front to give them a proper send off. Snarling Fang, and the Terror Mask squad, watched the ponies pass by and for some reason, she found herself looking at the medical section a bit longer.

Convincing herself that she was just curious if she could see that medic that had refused her orders, she stared down at the slightly cowering ponies walking past her. She knew that it was no insult to her or her tribe, the Flutter ponies were simply not suited for this. They were small in nature and more aligned to the flow of the natural world around them, and most if not all other ponies were an unpredictable presence to them.

The fact that one actually was brave enough to talk back was really surprising and…

With a snort and shake of her head, she forced the medic out of her head. He was just a foolish stallion and nothing more.

Flicking her tufted ear, she heard the orders to fall back into step and moved forward. The sooner she got home, the better. Her life could get back to normal and just maybe she could get promoted to a more honourable squad.

With a smile hidden behind her mask, Fang stood next to her fellow ponies in the Address Square. The cheers that they’d received once they returned to Erebus, the capital of the Bat pony tribe, made her feel wonderful. The citizens were overjoyed to see them home, and a few brave ponies had even run out to kiss their soldiers home. She giggled to herself as she recalled the poor mare that had run to a Shrieker and triggered his combat reflexes. Poor sod got heckled by his squad so badly his face turned red under his brown coat.

Even a few went to her squad, pulling back their masks for a daring kiss. Her ears fell, as she hadn’t been picked out even though she was close to the side and she had seen a few mares from other squads surprised by a tongue hungry civilian.

Shaking away the memory, she looked around the crowd of her ponies, spotting Sharp Claw near the front with the other squad leaders. With a nod from him and the other squad leaders, the soldiers around her removed their helmets and face coverings. For this kind of address, it could only be viewed as the most disrespectful act to their alicorn to be hidden. It would say to Nocturne that they did not want to be seen by her, that they had something to hide from her.

Reaching up, Fang removed her mask and shook out her dark chestnut mane from it, letting it fall to the side of her head. Blinking, she stared up at the balcony with her sharp green eyes. Fang felt an unusual stab of worry about her appearance; while she knew she, along with almost every other pony present, was dirty and sweaty under their armour, Fang thought she could have at least done something more to make herself appear more proper.

Biting her lip to chase away the thought and doing her best to avoid comparing herself to the other mares in the gathering, she stared straight up at the multicoloured curtain with her wings pressed against her eminence coated sides. Unfortunately, she could see gentle curves of their faces that could woo young stallions or mares as well as hard chiseled faces that would entice the more dedicated ponies out there. Fang was aware of how plain she looked, how unappealing she was, how ord-

The ponies around her stiffened, snapping Fang out of her thoughts and back to the balcony. She could see several heralds announcing Nocturne’s arrival, trumpets blaring.

Despite their training, everypony was shuffling on the spot, all leaning forward to catch a glimpse of their alicorn. Being in Erebus just made her feel even fuller and stronger, her magic and soul deeper now that she was back in Nocturne’s city and seeing her would just be even grander.

Then, with the crowd exploding with a roar of joy and applause, Nocturne was on the stage. She was a russet coated mare with sharp silver eyes that bore into everypony. As it was said of every alicorn, there was no white in the sclera, only the colour of their iris filling everything in the eye socket. Her mane was pitch black and utterly beautiful to look at; lovingly groomed with white flowers woven in that made it appear that Nocturne was walking with the night sky on her back. Even bare of anything on her body, Nocturne was the most wonderful being in existence to Fang and everypony in the Square.

With a chuckle in her throat, Nocturne smiled at her ponies before dropping her smile into a small content look of approval. “My dear ponies,” she said in a voice that could belong to a young singer, no matter the fact that she was just shy of being one hundred thousand years old if the stories were true. “I am beyond pleased to see so many of you have returned home to me. You have done what I have asked in bringing back our mountains to their proper owners and I have yet one more task to ask you all to undertake for me.” This caused the ponies in the Square to take a step back, shooting each other a look of clear confusion. There was no word of future conflicts, but whatever Nocturne wished them to do, they would do so.

Nocturne bowed her head slightly, eyes closed now. “Many of your fellow soldiers did not return home and we shall grieve them. Their losses weigh heavily on me, and will be with me until I join the Ancients in Elysium.” She then snapped her eyes open, looking at the ponies below her. “I shall not ask you to forget them or put them away from your mind, but instead honour them by living lives of peace and prosperity. I ask you all to search for the one you can call your soulmate and let the lives lost be honoured in the new generation that I know you all will bring to life!”

Fang felt a chill down her spine, standing ramrod straight among the cheering crowd. Of all the duties that Nocturne could have bestowed upon them, finding someone to spend her life with filled her with the most dread. She had spent her life dedicated to fighting and serving in Nocturne’s army and left the interactions of the normal pony life behind her. She had no true plan in navigating the waters of civilian society or how to properly to begin a relationship with a pony. What was she going to do-

Shaking her head and forcing her doubts out of her mind, she resolved her will to do what Nocturne asked of her. She was no social pony, true, but how hard could it be to find her special somepony?

Chapter Three

Life, in Snarling Fang’s honest and unbiased opinion, was unfair and plain awful. It was seven in the morning, and the mare dreaded to drag herself out of bed to face the world once again. It had been several weeks since Nocturne’s address and Fang had nothing to show for it. She had been foolishly optimistic about it, even going to a nearby tavern to celebrate the news with her squad and a couple more.

The city was still celebrating their return and more than one stallion was dragged off to the dance floor. Fang later realized that going directly to the bar had been a mistake, but she had pushed herself to do this. Her second mistake was drinking the heavy stuff that impaired her reasoning. She remembered with regret how she’d acted when nopony gave her so much as a glance of attention and how she’d reacted to her squad mates’ attempt at humour on the matter.

Rolling over in her bed, Fang weighed that being told she looked better with her mask on by Night Shade did justify her getting angry enough to punch him in the gut and throw him across the counter. She also realized that doing so would also scare away any ponies that wanted to be with her and get her in trouble with the law.

She leaned into her pillow and sighed. He was right, the stupid lout. She wasn’t beautiful but she sure as Faust wasn’t ugly either. She wasn’t curvy like those plump civilians nor did she have that alluring simplistic body of a mare that had spent years in the service. Her coat didn’t make her stand out nor did her mane. She was just simply there, in the damn middle of everything that got no attention from potential suitors and the ponies that did speak to her were clearly after a one night stand or just rubbed her the wrong way.

Forcing herself to her hooves, she walked over to the bathroom and looked at herself. She knew her squad had each found themselves a partner, talking about them at length during the days they trained together. She couldn’t help but feel so much like... an outsider, like she didn’t belong with them anymore. Running a brush through her mane, she recalled how much they were trying to help her. All the blind and double dates they set up for her, all the awkward conversations and nights afterwards trying to let the pony down gently.

She paused in her morning grooming, wondering if there was something wrong with her. Grabbing the sink tightly, she did her best to push those thoughts out of her mind as quickly as possible. It was getting harder and harder to do so each day that she failed to find any pony that interested her, each day she was still alone.

Letting out a sigh, Fang looked at herself. Her coat was matted and her mane was a mess but at least this way she looked different, out of the norm.

Maybe, just maybe, it would finally get her noticed.

“Still no luck honey?” the bar owner, a grizzled old earth pony stallion by the name of Fruit Punch, asked unneededly. Snarling Fang gave a soft snort as she sat down at the spot that was depressingly quickly becoming her spot at the counter. She pulled out her coins and rolled it over to Punch, who knew her drink by now.

“Spent all day at the dance halls,” she muttered, rolling a coin back and forth. “Tried to strike up some conversation but they all are either just scared of me, not interested in dancing with me, or interested in me for the wrong reason.”

“Speaking of wrong reasons,” Punch gave a loud snort as he pushed her drink toward her, causing Fang to pick her head up. “A cute little thing over has told me, and I quote, ‘Let me pay for whatever that cutie with the nice set of flanks over there buys today.’”

Fang coughed loudly, ears reddening at the sheer boldness of this mare. Turning her head, she saw a light gray coated earth pony mare at the far end of the bar wave her hoof eagerly at her and then give her a flirtatious wink, something that Fang didn’t even know existed until she just saw it!

Licking her lips before raising the glass to her face, she tried to decide what she was going to do. “Might as well try,” Fang said to herself under her breath, trying to figure out if the fact that at least one pony was interested in her outweighed how… ‘eager’ this mare seemed to be.

“Might as well, you never know what you’ll find,” a voice purred in her ear, causing Fang to jump as she saw the grey mare was sitting very close to her. “In my life, it’s far easier to ask forgiveness than permission and you should never turn down a chance to do something new.” The mare then bumped her flank against Fang’s and giggled as the pegasus blushed.

“I... I…” Fang tried to speak, trying to say something to this mare but nothing came to her mouth.

“Are very cute, so tell me, why are you here alone Fang?” the mare asked in her seductive voice, leaning against her very closely and batting her eyes up at her.

Fang’s ears fell to the side of her head, trying to come up with an explanation to this mare when she realized that something was off about this whole thing.

“How do you know my name?” Fang asked, trying to push the mare off of her but she was far stronger than Fang expected of the small thing.

“Why my dear Fang, I know a lot of things,” the mare purred once more, causing Fang’s face to redden again. “But that’s not how one starts a conversation with a new pony, Fang,” the mare placed a hoof up, booping Fang’s nose with a grin on the grey mare’s face. “Try again.”

Sputtering, Fang did her best to focus her mind while keeping an eye on the very amused mare. “Who... who are you?”

With a tsk, the mare shook her head in a seemingly disapproving manner. “Not the best way to ask a pony their name, dear, but as you did try I will accept it,” the mare patted her cheek before pulling away from Fang. “My name is Nocturne, Snarling Fang.”

Fang grew bold at this lie, turning her head to tell this mare off when she froze. The little mare’s eyes changed, becoming pure silver. There was no way an earth pony could change her eyes like that and no pony of her tribe would ever dare pretend to be their alicorn.

Her heart falling like a stone, Fang began to backpedal. “My Lady, I did not know it was you - I am so sorry that I-”

“Tut tut tut,” Nocturne tsked, placing a hoof over her mouth. “If I wanted ponies to know about our little get together, I would send you an invitation to my palace. But as I wanted to talk one on one with you, I felt that this was a far more appropriate approach-” Nocturne broke off, staring openly as Apple Slice, a server, walked past them. Fang did her best not to whimper as she saw Nocturne lick her lips at the sight of Slice’s retreating form. Already, all of her preconceptions of her alicorn were rapidly changing and she was too sober to handle it. “And a lot more fun,” with a chuckle that shouldn’t belong to any revered leader, Nocturne turned her attention back towards the pegasus. “So tell me, how come you are so sad lately, my dear little pony?”

“I’m not sad,” Fang said, pulling back from Nocturne. But Nocturne tsked again, staring deeply into her eyes.

“Well, I see you are truly trying to do what I asked and I must applaud you for being so dedicated to finding your special somepony,” Nocturne’s face then took on a playful look. “Although you could have certainly had fun with some one night stands in my opinion.” A roll of her eyes caused Fang to blush again, feeling embarrassed by what Nocturne was saying to her.

“Well, is it wrong that I want somepony that means something to me?” Fang asked her alicorn who was taking long sips from her mug in a way that really made Fang wish for a cold shower right now.

“Not at all,” Nocturne said, running her tongue over the rim of the mug in such a way that Fang had to bite her lip to keep her mind clean. “Not everypony is suited to such an open manner of searching for their true love - can you believe that I am still searching for my own true love?”

Fang could believe that and that Nocturne was very persistent in her searches. Of course, Fang couldn’t say that and simply nodded her head. “I am just getting discouraged that I haven’t found so much as a single pony that isn’t a sleazeball or isn’t taken already or anything. Faust, Nocturne is there something wrong with me?” Fang looked at the mare desperately, her fear taking over her.

“Of course not, my pony,” Nocturne said with utter certainty and love, a complete departure from her previous behaviour. “Not all ponies can easily find love and I am sorry to have caused you so much discomfort, my dear little pony. It may take a long time for a pony to find another that they are interested in, but it is okay that you take your time Snarling Fang.”

“Thank you, Nocturne,” Fang said, letting the words roll around her head. It did make her feel better that there was nothing wrong with her, that it was okay to take her time and it was normal that not all ponies would find their true love in coffee shop or a dance hall or a common place like in one of those trashy novels that she certainly did not read. That... she should look for ponies that interested her, like that medic back on the flank.

“Ah, I know that face,” Nocturne tapped the counter and startled Fang out of her thoughts, a grin on the disguised alicorn’s‘ face. “You are thinking of somepony,” she said in a sing-song voice, her tail swishing in an eager fashion. “Tell me, I wanna know who got your attention.”

“It’s no one,” Fang said, trying to look away but Nocturne’s hoof reached up and held her chin in place.

“How do you know that?” Nocturne leaned in close, causing Fang to feel small now. “The fact that somepony caught your attention must mean that they are something special.”

“He’s no one, my Lady,” Fang said, trying to look away but Nocturne held her in her gaze.

“A he,” she tilted her head, running a hoof over her lips. “Sorry dear, but I will simply need more information about this pony of yours before I can help you.”

“He’s not my pony!” Fang shouted, flaring her wings out. “He was just some Flutter unicorn medic I saw during the conflict. He’s nothing, I-”

“Eye colour.”

“Light blue, eggshell white coat with a pale green mane-” Fang blushed as the details fell out of her mouth.

“Seems like he left quite an impression on you if you could remember him after all this time,” Nocturne purred, staring at her with half lidded eyes. “You should go looking for him.”

“What?!” Fang squeaked.

“Go out and find your medic, dear,” Nocturne said, shaking her mane out as she took another sip from her mug.

“But I don’t know where to look or his name!”

“Well, going across the Neutral Lands to the Flutter tribe lands would be a great start and asking his name is a perfect opener,” Nocturne bumped her flanks against Fang’s again, flashing a knowing smile. “Trust me, if you leave something like this alone, it will drive you to madness later on in life. The could have beens and what ifs will plague you for the rest of your days if you do not try.”

“But I just can’t up and leave,” Fang protested.

“You do realize to whom you are speaking with, correct?” Nocturne smirked at her.

Fang took a moment to collect herself, steeling herself against Nocturne’s continuous attacks. “And if I say no to all of that?”

“Well then,” Nocturne smiled too broadly now, wrapping an arm around Fang’s neck. “I shall help you myself to find your special somepony. We shall go to all the holes in the wall, dance halls, taverns and what not and find you your pony. I will take you under my wing and teach you all that I know to snag yourself a pony - why look at that one, Fang.” With her free hoof, she pointed at a towering earth pony stallion that gave the two a nod on his face, expecting something far more with the look on Nocturne’s face. “I’m sure he could easily make us feel like young mares within an ho-”

Turning her head, she saw the flanks of Snarling Fang race out of the bar, the door slamming loudly behind her. With a snort, Nocturne picked up Fang’s untouched drink and lifted it to her mouth. “Kids these days.” Shaking her head in dry amusement, Nocturne turned to leave the bar to attend another equally important pressing matter of state.

Not before asking Fruit Punch for the towering stallion’s name, of course. She’d be a fool to pass him up and she knew that she’d walk funny after a round with that mountain.

Author's Notes:

And now you know what I meant rated T for Nocturne!

But in all honesty, the first three chapters didn't have my usual team look over everything and while I know I should wait for them, I just couldn't wait to show everyone I am back.

I will be working on the next of chapters shortly, and I hope you all enjoy what I have in mind.

Chapter Four

Snarling Fang looked at the bag on her bed and sighed. She had been packing and unpacking for the last half hour, gathering up all of her belongings that she thought she would need and her mind rebelled once more that she didn’t need any of it. With that said, she emptied the bag of her meager belongings and shifted through them. A couple of those trashy romance novels her squad mates got her as a joke, a few interesting knick-knacks that she had picked up over the years, her combat blade, a few blankets, a few knives, her bedding and a few extra bolts for her crossbow.

Looking at it, she groaned and began to repack it all. It was hard to wrap her mind around the idea that she was going to go out and look for a random pony that she barely knew because Nocturne thought she was interested in the pony, the perverted old biddy!

Fang froze in fear, realizing that she just thought of Nocturne like that and how wrong it was! Nocturne was the lifeblood of the Bat pony tribe and without her, there could be no Bat ponies! She deserved all the respect and adoration of her ponies, no matter what!

Even if she is a very dirty old mare.

Fang spun around with the combat blade in hoof, the thought almost certainly not her own although she could not help but agree with it. The sooner she could get away from Nocturne’s influence, the better. It was a known fact that an alicorn could influence their tribe, that the power of an alicorn was connected to every single pony of their tribe. Some had said that power went even deeper the closer a pony was to their alicorn or how much the alicorn was focusing on a pony, that they could even change their minds!

Although, if that were the cause, the Bat pony tribe would be very different from what she knew Nocturne was really like. In any case, the sooner she was out of Erebus, the better she would be mentally and the clearer she could think.

Although, it might be cold, so it might be good to take warmer clothing.

With a loud hiss, she tossed the blade onto her bed and threw her face into her pillow to scream into it at this latest bout of intruding thoughts, while the intruding thought laughed in glee at her torment.

Fang locked the door behind her and flew out the pegasus window in the hallway, enjoying the breeze that came from living high up in the apartment lofts designated for soldiers like her. With a chirp, she landed on the busy street, ponies making way for her as she joined the masses.

While she could have easily flown out of the city, it was also highly illegal to fly near the towering buildings that housed so many of their tribe without due cause, being part of the police force that patrolled the skies or having a messenger permit. Not even Nocturne or the other alicorns were above that law, and Nocturne strongly enforced the law. According to lore, it had happened twenty five hundred years ago when somepony had flown around and set the buildings on fire only to run into a furious Nocturne who had smacked the poor fool down with only her glare. Now, everypony had to either live in the building to fly there or have invited permission if caught going to another one.

Shaking her head clear of the thoughts, Fang made her way to the city’s gates fairly quickly, most ponies recognizing that the mask on her saddlebag and the posture of her body marked her as a soldier and thus got out of her way. The capital wasn't large; no tribe capital really was but she’d heard Erebus was smaller than average, especially for a tribe their size. But it was home, which made Fang perk up a bit.

As she walked down the cobblestone road, she smiled as she looked at the statues of previous alicorns, her heart swelling with pride. There were countless statues in the city, glorying them for what made them unique in their tenure, with massive ones placed atop of each the living facilities of her tribe. Nocturne had yet to have a statue raised to her as she still lived, but according to the rumours, she was going to either be remembered as the Teacher of the Young due to having a hoof in the education of the younger generation of alicorns - Helios, two thousand years old and the youngest of her students so far, and Velocity, seven thousand years old and the oldest of her students - or as the Ancient One if she outlived Hard Head, the alicorn of the crystal pony tribe. He was one hundred and twenty-five thousand years old and counting proudly, so that was in high dispute.

Fang shuddered at living that long, not understanding how anypony could live that long and still be sane.

Maybe that was why she was just a pegasus and they were alicorns...

Shaking her head at the nonsense of trying to comprehend alicorns, she made her way to the gates that led out of the city.

“Where, by the Ancient Ones, do you think you are going?” Sharp Claw shouted, running across the street. Fang stared at her squad leader, trying to come up with an adequate excuse for leaving all of a sudden that didn’t sum up to her leaving to find a Flutter pony because Nocturne had told her that he might be her special somepony.

Something told her that saying that would only get her into trouble.

“Out, sir,” Fang snapped a salute at him, her mind racing for a proper reas- “I am going out to the Neutral Lands for personal reasons.” Okay, so she was going with honesty mixed in half truths, apparently. Wonderful.

“Out of the question,” he snapped his fangs at her, his hard eyes boring into her before softening. “Fang... I-, we are all worried about you, the squad I mean,” he sighed, eyes going to the side. “We’ve seen how depressed you have become since we’ve come home and... look, I cannot in good conscious let you leave right now.”

Fang shuffled on the spot, feeling her cheeks heat up at this gesture. Well, she knew that Claw wasn’t attached to-

“Message for Squad Leader Sharp Claw,” a pegasus messenger flew in, snapping a salute to the both of them. He had a letter out for the Squad Leader as well as a packet of other letters and what smelt like foodstuffs… “From Lady Nocturne herself, sir.”

Claw’s eyes bulged at that, and shot Fang a look that demanded a long and detailed explanation. Which might mean destroying his beliefs in Nocturne, and learning the truth of your alicorn was not to be done sober.

With a frown, he read the first line to himself before sighing. He then spoke loudly, reading it aloud, “‘To sir Sharp Claw, Squad Leader of the Terror Masks, I, Lady Nocturne, Alicorn of the Bat Pony Tribe, do wish you to read this note aloud so that Snarling Fang can hear my words through your lips. I have observed my little pony’s current mental state and I have felt that it would be best for Snarling Fang to withdraw from Erebus to allow herself time to think about certain matters. Snarling Fang is to be given extended leave up to and lasting no more than one year, at which point I shall personally go and aid her should such a situation arise.’”

Claw paused as he heard Fang gulp loudly at this, but she wasn’t about to explain why.

“‘Further note, I bestow a bag of one hundred fifty coins, ten of which Swift Note has pocketed,’” Claw glared at the messenger, who gulped and pulled out the stolen coins and the heavy purse. Fang took both and waved over a unicorn so he could do a proper co-

“‘Tell Snarling Fang that getting a unicorn to count the coins is not needed as I know for a fact that this is not the first time that Swift Note has stolen from me and he has always taken ten coins as it is very easy to miss them. Regardless, Sharp Claw please inform Swift Note that he is now fired and that if he follows on his thoughts of flying away to the Ice pony tribe for sanctuary, I will be most cross at this act as it would be a further insult to me as well as pointless as Soft Snow will not grant him asylum as she is far more harsh than I. Also, I am not reading your mind Swift Note, I am just that good.’” Claw looked at the panicking pegasus stallion who now was in awe of their alicorn’s ability to predict the future so clearly.

“‘Inside Swift Note’s messenger bag are several foodstuffs to last Snarling Fang a short while until she manages to obtain some herself from the towns in the Neutral Lands, some tinder and matches, first aid, and several other necessities that she has forgotten. Again, I am not reading your mind but I am just that good.’” Claw paused to clear his throat, rubbing it with his free hoof. He was not a talkative pony by nature, more suited to give orders only once or the pony that couldn't understand the order would be out of the squad.

“‘Sharp Claw is now rubbing his throat despite the orders of the doctor, whom he is seeing discreetly to avoid Snarling Fang and the rest of the Terror Mask squad’s teasing, to leave his throat alone, to which Tender Touch has been informed of and will not be displeased with you as I am making you talk more than you should be. Once more, I am not reading any of your minds, I am just that good.’” Sharp Claw shot a look at Fang, who was torn between beaming in mischievous glee at her captain who was seeing somepony at long last and panicking at Nocturne’s ability to predict the future.

“‘Tell Snarling Fang to relax and not overthink the matter as I have had a long time to hone my abilities,’” Claw shot Fang a look and went back to reading. “‘In addition to the purse, packets of meal rations, a first aid kit, and the miscellaneous items, I have also placed a packet of letters that Snarling Fang is to fill out once per week on the details of her journey so far and I have placed a spell on each one of them to make sure that Snarling Fang fills them out as she will find out right now.’”

Fang did not have any time to blink as a letter flew out of Swift Note’s bag and started to smack her across the face until she managed to grab it and pull it open. With a snort, she reached into the pack for the enchanted quill she knew would be in there and started to write something that told Nocturne exactly what she thought of all this. As soon as she was done, the letter took off into the air and back to the Mirror Palace, Nocturne’s home. She then realized she had said all that to Nocturne!

“‘Please tell Snarling Fang not to worry, as I have most likely heard far worse in my long life and will be pleasantly pleased if she wrote something new. In conclusion, I wish Snarling Fang the best of luck in her journey and that she finds what she is looking for. Nocturne,’” Claw said, breathing a bit heavily after reading all that. With a frown, he pushed the scroll up a bit more. “‘P.S. The mountain we discovered was a lovely climb and I wish we had enjoyed it together.’”

Claw snapped a look at Fang, who was blushing horribly under her coat and started to shuffle on the spot. He seemed tempted to ask about the ‘mountain’ they discovered but thankfully something told him that it would be a horrible idea.

Letting out a sigh, Claw rubbed his face before looking at Fang again, who moved the small bag from Swift Note to her flank, covering her descending sword cutie mark. “How much do I want to know?” he asked her as she tightened the straps while a pair of police officers had come over for Swift Note.

“Honestly, sir? None of it,” she answered truthfully as she took a short flight upwards to test the bag. Landing in front of him, she was aware that she wouldn’t be seeing him or any of her squad mates again for a long time. True, they were just put together out of luck but she was fond of her squaddies and leader... they were like family, in a fashion and she was leaving them all without so much a proper farewell. “Sir, could you please inform the rest of the squad that I am leaving?”

“Of course,” Claw gave her a friendly smile before snorting. “Of course, knowing them, they just might try and follow you.”

“Wonderful…” Fang rolled her eyes, before giving a toothy grin, snapping to attention. “I will see you once I can, sir.”

Answering back with his own salute, he gave a nod of his head before saying, “Dismissed, soldier.”

With that, Snarling Fang turned around and trotted out of Erebus.

Chapter Five

It was odd to be away from her tribe, Fang had to admit. On one hoof, ponies were a herd species and to be away from one’s herd was very difficult. The isolation that came from being on the road meant she had no one beside her that was familiar by tribe and there was a risk it could cut into her mental well being if she was alone for too long.

On the other hoof, she had felt this sense of freedom that she had not experienced before. That she could do anything she wanted now, that she was free to soar high in the sky and buck a cloud or scream to the heavens without anyone viewing her as weird for doing so.

All she really had to worry about was finding one pony and talking to him so her alicorn wouldn’t step in.

Fang paused mid-step and let out a whine, hanging her head. This was still an insane mission; not only travelling through the vast Neutral Lands but actually managing to enter the Flutter tribe’s homeland city and finding that medic among countless others without a name to go by. All on the off chance he was her special somepony.

What would she even say to him if she found him? Fancy meeting you here, I’m Snarling Fang. No, that was just awful. Hey, do you come here ofte- No, she just sounded desperate. My, you have a nice coat- No, just no. Hi, do you remember me, I was that bat pony that yelled at you during the war when you tried to patch me up. My alicorn thought we’d be good togeth-

Fang let out an annoyed groan; she couldn't even finish that thought. Kicking at the ground, Fang took in her surroundings. The Neutral Lands were wide-open flatlands, rather dry and empty save for a few rare stands of trees every couple of miles or so. She knew there was a mountain range off to one side, but it was several hundred miles away, so she couldn’t see it yet. She also couldn’t see any of the settlements that were home to either the outcasts that would not, or could not, make it in the south where the alicornless pony nations lived, or to the ponies that had left their tribes on their own volition for some reason. She also had yet to spot any wardens on her travels and she certainly wasn’t planning to fly to the direct centre of the Neutral Lands to see their headquarters.

Those ponies bothered her more than she liked; she clearly knew the power that fear had for those whose faces were hidden, and the wardens of the Neutral Lands covered their entire bodies to promote their supposed neutrality in their duties to the travellers in this mostly lawless land. In truth, they were their own enforcers and there was little to no oversight in their actions. The danger in fighting them was the high risk that one might be a disguised unicorn, and she wouldn’t be able to tell until it was too late; there was also the fact that she would have no safety in the Neutral Lands in the future if one of them went after her unless she could convince other wardens that she was innocent.

Twitching her wings, Fang continued on the stomped out pathway that was the Main Road, eyes travelling along the barely visible other pathways that led elsewhere before she reached out for her map to study it again, looking for the next town and hoping it was close.

Casting her eyes upwards, she knew she should start to move quickly if the storm clouds were anything to go by; it was looking to be a real gully-washer and she did not want to get caught up in something that bad.

Cursing under her breath, Fang stalked into the small tavern. She’d given up walking and started flying in the hopes of avoiding the coming storm, but had barely - just barely - come in sight of the town when the skies opened up. Now she was drenched and in a thoroughly rotten mood.

Shaking her head to clear her face of the water, Fang heard a few shouts of complaint. Ignoring them, she was about to shake herself dry when Fang head a loud voice directed at her.

“Hey, stop that or I’ll toss you outside!” a large Sound earth pony shouted at her as he headed her way. “Bad enough it’s raining outside, we don’t need it raining inside too!”

“Shove it up your plot!” she shouted back, stalking over to the hearth where she began to warm herself up as the ponies in the tavern went back to their conversations. The pony behind the counter glared at her before blowing some air at her that caused her coat to fluff up. Flapping her wings to keep herself steady, Fang leaned against the wall and let out a sigh as her people skills had yet to improve beyond insulting others. How was she supposed to talk to this medic when or if she ever found him? And she didn’t know if she would need to clean herself up before meeting with him; she knew that she couldn't show up like a vagrant but she had no idea exactly how clean she needed to be and she had no way of knowing of what would be appropriate in terms of additions to her appearance. By the Ancient Ones, what if she had to use makeup‽

Letting out a defeated sigh, Snarling Fang let her head slide down the wall as another wave of doubt slammed into her. She was so far from home, following the off chance that this pony she met once could actually be her soulmate on the notion that love at first sight existed. It was all so ridic-

“Good, no pony took my space,” the quick pace of a Speed pony’s voice caused Fang’s ears to perk up and with some worry, Fang saw it was the same pony from the night she had met her medic walking right past her.

“None would, my lady,” another voice came from behind her and Fang’s worries grew even further as she saw it was a warden. “Now we can continue where we left off, Lady Shot.”

“Please stop it with the lady talk,” the mare let out an annoyed sigh before lowering her voice even more. “I’m not returning home until I find her; that bitch that killed my sister.”

“And we are doing our best to aid you,” the warden said. “We know that there have been a number of Bat pegasi out in the lands and if it were not for this damnable weather, we would be able to tell you where this one we’ve been following is.”

Snarling Fang felt her heart fall at this; she had some insane mare after her and the wardens were helping the nutcase to find her! She mentally shook her head. This day could not get any-

No. No, she was not going to finish that thought. It was tempting fate, and that would bring down something even worse on her.

Picking up her belongings, Fang knew she had to get out of here before things developed into something further beyond her control. Shuffling to get out from behind the table she was sitting at, Fang had her eyes focused on the door, so much that she didn’t see the pony in front of her.

With a shout as the two fell to the ground, Fang was able to see the mash of colours that told her that she had run into a speed pony. A thousand thoughts ran through her head in what she could do and suddenly Fang was able to settle on one.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, you idiot!” she shouted, shoving the pony off of her and managing to hit the pony across the face.

“Hey, you should watch where you’re going and how dare you hit my friend!” the Speed pony from behind her shouted as she pulled her and shoved her chest. The mare was a unicorn with a pale turquoise coat, while her mane, like all Speed ponies, was striped - in this case, a mix of a light brilliant lime green, brilliant amber and brilliant gold, and she had a very angry look on her face. “You’re the clumsy griffon that couldn’t see in front of you!”

“Piss off,” Fang shouted back, shoving the mare back. “I’ve got better places to be then here,” she snorted with the mare snorting louder and shoving her again.

“Oh, I don’t think we’re done here, missy,” Lightning sneered at her, clearly getting worked up which was part of the plan.

Now came the part that sucked.

“And what are you going to do abou-” that was as far as she got before the mare in front of her sucker punched her in the face and the bitch began to use her natural speed abilities to attack her.

She was able to hear the Sound pony shouting at the Speed pony to stop as well as the warden ordering ponies around to take her to the local healer before blacking out.

Chapter Six

Fang hated getting knocked out; it was always a pain in the flanks and it was disorienting to wake up from it.

The sound of clinking as she tried to move her legs was even worse.

Damn, she mentally cursed. Either they know who I am, or this doctor’s really obsessive about keeping his patients in one place. Either way, I’m in trouble.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” a voice off to the side grumbled. “My latest guest from another stupid barfight is back in the waking world.”

Snorting, Fang turned her head to see where this doctor was but he was hidden from view behind a wall that was covering half of his workshop. “What a warm welcome back,” she rolled her eyes before shaking her leg. “Care to explain this?”

“Beyond the fact you and that… speed pony,” he stuttered a bit, seemingly scared for some reason. “Got into a fight, it is something I’ve incorporated into treating patients of more notable tendencies to be… flighty.”

“Really?” Fang laid as much sarcasm as she could, turning her head to the other side, seeing her bag and crossbow, as well as the door. “What on Equuis could make you do that?”

“Well,” the doctor said as he walked up behind her. “Back in the war of our tribes against the Speed and Electric ponies, there was this one crazy mare that refused to be treated. She had so many injuries but she was so thick headed that she went to go to Soft Bandage to be treated and I couldn’t stop her due to an influx of patients. So now if I feel a patient of mine will be difficult, I take matters into my own hooves.”

“That’s fascinating,” Fang grumbled and hissed as the doctor began to poke her sore body. “Reminds me of this complete asshole doctor that refused to treat me; sure I might have-” she couldn’t stop herself from letting out a yip of pain and shock as he pushed onto the small of her back, causing her wings to unfold before blushing as something cold was brushed across it. Closing her eyes shut, Fang forced herself to continue on “might have had a few extra injuries but I was part of an assault squad; it means I needed to be able to get back into battle quickly so I could help move the line closer to the enemy and help our side win the war.” Fang grumbled into her hoof, letting out an annoyed sigh. “And this pushy medic tells me no, I need to go lay down and stuff and then he has the gall to push on a wound as if to prove he’s correct or something.” Rolling over to the other side so she could look the doctor in the face, she continued speaking. “I mean, isn’t it some kind of oath you guy hav-” she trailed off as she saw that her doctor was the medic pony she had been searching for! Light blue eyes, eggshell white coat, pale green mane and tail... But before she could even continue to say anything, the flutter pony pushed something onto her tongue and shined a light into her mouth.

“Yes, you are correct that there is an oath, but I suppose he was quite busy that day,” he said, looking deeper into her mouth. “And thank you for opening up, this does save me some time.”

Staring gobsmacked at him, she dimly closed her mouth while the pony in front of her continued to scribble some notes down on a levitating clipboard. “I would recommend you see a specialist for your teeth; in your little fight, you chipped one of your fangs.”

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Fang managed to push herself upright as far as she could. “You!” she jabbed a hoof towards him.

“Me who?” he asked, frowning and narrowing his eyes.

“From the war!” she shouted, shaking her head in disbelief. “How can you not remember me?!”

“As I recall, all of your warriors wore masks,” he said, eyeing her sternly.

Forcing back a blush, Fang shook her head and said, “I mean, you were the medic that refused to serve me for my minor injury.”

“As I recall, you were the idiot that wanted to go back out into the fight,” the stallion said, blinking a couple of times before lightening his horn up and sending a probe of magic through her body. With a snort and a roll of his eyes, he peered down at her and pushed a hoof onto her chest, directly onto the place that her injury had never healed properly. “If you had listened to me back then, ma’am, this would not be hurting you.”

With a hiss, she slapped his hoof away and pulled him in close. “It would not be hurting if you were not purposely making it hurt!”

“Excuse me for trying to care for my patients, miss!” he snapped back, shaking his head at her. “If it were not for my oath to treat everypony, I would toss you out of here this sec-”

“Sshh,” she slapped a hoof across his mouth, ears twitching as she tilted her head. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” he asked just before somepony started banging on the door. In response, the doctor yipped loudly and ducked under her table.

Blinking in disbelief at his cowardness, she rolled off the bed as best as she could to glare at the pony.

“What are you doing?!” she hissed at the shaking Flutter pony.

“I’m sorry, it just startled me,” he said, pulling himself from under the table. “We Flutter ponies don’t do well with surprises. Or stress. Or confrontation.”

“And yet you were able to mouth off to me just fine,” Fang muttered as she shifted in this unnatural position. “Look, be careful when you open the door; the bitch that punched me is searching for me due to the fact I killed her sister.”

“You what?!” he squeaked, standing upright and smacking his head into the table, muttering something under his breath. “You killed-”

“It was during the war, you dunce!” Fang hissed. “She was an enemy soldier; besides, I was supposed to wipe out the entire squad, but one got away. The one I’m in here from getting hit by.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” he said, blinking rapidly in a way that was oddly endearing. “But wait; isn’t going after ponies for what they did in the war kinda… not allowed?”

“Oh yes, but I don’t think she cares, and besides that one of the wardens is helping the nutcase find me!”

“Oh my that’s terrible!” he said with his eyes widening. “Don’t worry, we can go to my homeland in Glistening Valley and I can get Tiny Terror to help you.”

“What, you really think you can get your alicorn to help me?” Fang asked, blinking in surprise.

“Of course,” he said, nodding his head as his horn lit up and the chain holding her arm to the bed came undone, causing her to smack herself in the face. “Go grab your belongings and hide under the bed, I will get rid of the pony at the door.”

Doing as she was told, Fang watched the stallion open the door to see a warden push their way into the office, shoving the doctor into a wall. “Where is she?”

“Wh-”

“The bat mare,” the warden snapped into the Flutter pony’s face. “I’ve been searching for this individual and I believe your latest patient may have some information on them.”

Stammering, he said, “Sh-she left a while ago,” he said while picking himself up. “I -I’m sorr-”

“As you should be,” the warden sneered, bumping into the doctor and knocking him over again. “All you had to do was keep her here.”

Before the doctor could stammer an apology, the warden spun around and left the office, slamming the door shut.

Doing the best to hold back her snarl of anger, Fang moved herself out from under the bed and looked over the stallion. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, yes,” he said with a bit of shakiness in his voice. “I’m a Flutter pony; I’m used to other ponies bossing me around…”

“That’s not right,” Fang snorted as she slipped her bag onto her back. “Look, get your stuff ready to go as soon as possible and don’t say it, I understand I am being a complete hypocrite.”

Chuckling to himself, the stallion lit his horn again as items began to fly around into a saddle bag. “I may not have been part of your army, but I was still in the army and one thing they made sure we were able to do was pack up and get out of the area quickly.”

“A very useful tactic for noncombatants,” Fang noted, with the stallion perking up with pride. “Come along, we should leave now.”

Nodding his head as he opened a window out into the storm, he was actually smart enough to allow her to go first as she was the more martial trained of the two. Squirming her way through the window and dropping to the ground, she quickly looked around for any trouble. Seeing none, she tapped the wall behind her with her hoof, with the Flutter pony letting out a squeak of surprise before grunting as he climbed out the window and landed next to her with another squeak.

Turning her head to check on him, Fang saw him pull himself upright. Nodding her head at him, the two began to run down the street out of the small town. After an hour of running and despite his shorter legs, the stallion was able to keep up with her just fine.

Turning her head to the side, she spotted a small hill and walked towards it with the doctor behind her. Walking to the other side of the hill, Fang let out a smile as she saw a burrow.

“We’ll be safe in there tonight,” she told him as she climbed in first, throwing her pack into the farthest part of the hole. “Pegasi hate being underground and she’ll never expect me to hide down here.”

“That seems reasonable,” he replied, sliding in next to her. “Somewhat of a tight fit though.”

“Well it is getting late and we needed to get off the road before something happened,” Fang said as she propped up her crossbow and pointed it towards the outside of the burrow while shifting to get comfortable, a wing almost draping the pony next to her. “I’ll keep an eye on things from here; make sure nopony comes sneaking up on us.”

“Thank you…” he trailed off, looking up at her. “I’m sorry, I never got your name.”

“I’m Snarling Fang,” she said, looking down at him.

Leaning against her, his soft coat against her chest, he replied, “My name is Tough Love.”

Chapter Seven

Fang let out a happy chirp, holding the pillow in her hooves closer to her chest. She couldn’t remember buying this soft and squishy pillow but it was simply the best. She thought it was trying to move away but that was impossible and she just pulled it closer to herself.

Her ear twitched as she thought she heard somepony calling her name but she was so comfortable. Even to the point she was tempted to do the one thing she always loved to do with her pillows and run her fangs across-

“Snarling Fang?!” a voice squeaked at her, causing to her to wake up in an instant and seeing she was in some hole with a Flutter pony in her arms-

She froze as her mind refused to process while she took in this scene, her face heating up as fast the stallion’s with her mouth making a few failed attempts to create sound.

“Um,” she said as her eyes darted around while she tried to move around but she was fairly wedged in, precluding any way that didn’t involve going closer to both the stallion and the exit. “What… what happened?”

“Well,” he said with his voice cracking as he wiggled in her hooves. Blushing even more, Fang lifted her arm off his chest and did her best to pull it in. “You kept watch for a few hours before you woke me to take over. After you fell asleep, you kinda… grabbed me and held me close. Really close; I’ve tried to wake you up but then you only held me tighter.”

“By the Ancient Ones,” Fang moaned, trying to face hoof, only to cause Tough to fall into her chest as he was still pinning her arm and both of the ponies were blushing even worse now. Scrambling backwards, Fang saw that Tough had also backed up and fallen out of the hole they were in. Hurrying after him to see if the unicorn was okay, Fang saw that he was indeed fine and standing upright, brushing himself off and looking at her.

Fully aware of how unlike her this was normally, she rubbed her legs together and looked away while she apologized for what happened in the cave. “I mean,” she continued as she went back into the hole to grab her bags, only for the unicorn to use his magic to grab it for her. Thanking him, she made a point to continue her apologies and explanation. “This has never happened to me before; I’ve never… held a pony like that before.”

“What has happened to ponies you have, um,” he said as he pulled out his own bags and gave her an awkward look. “Shared a sleeping spot with?” he asked, clearly trying to be polite.

With her ears flicking about, Fang pawed the ground and admitted to him, “Actually, you were the first one I have… slept with, in any manner.”

“Me too, Snarling,” Tough said sheepishly. “Me too.”

They both coughed and did their best to look away from each other for some time before Fang managed to get a proper hold of herself. “Okay, we should get a move on, Tough. Do you have any idea how far it is to the backways to Glistening Valley?” she asked him as she began to walk towards a small cluster of trees that were some distance away from the main road.

“I think so,” he said nervously as he followed by her side. “I tend to stick to the main road when I travel but I do know some out of the way paths when I feel there are dangerous animals nearby.”

“Feel?” she asked as she slowed down for him, his shorter legs struggling to keep up with hers. The fact that she wouldn’t be able to fly ahead would normally have been annoying, but it did give her a chance to talk to him. “Is that some kind of unicorn thing?”

“More of a Flutter pony kind of thing,” he told her with confidence back into his voice. “We’re more nature inclined than other ponies. We can all… feel life energy, sort of, and I’ve trained myself to be able to pick out different kinds of life. They all have their own feel, sort of.” He ducked his head. “It’s all part of our survival instinct,” he muttered.

“With your tribe’s other qualities, I can hardly blame you,” Fang replied. “Good skill to have.”

“Thank you,” he smiled at her before eying her crossbow and then her flanks. “Is that weapon of yours related to how you got your cutie mark?”

“Yes,” she smiled back, taking a look at the flying bolt cutie mark she had. “I got it when I was training to become a part of my tribe’s army. It means how proficient I am with my crossbow and thus long range assault missions.” She tilted her head and looked at his flanks to see a rod with a single snake wrapped around it. “And yours?”

“Well, I was a young colt when there was a small accident and I did my best to help out with the healers and doctors. After everything was over, I had my cutie mark.”

“Impressive,” Fang said honestly. “Being viewed as a skilled healer at such a young age.”

“Thank you,” he replied as they went down the back street that should provide them with a way to get to his homeland if her map was accurate. “My father was most impressed and helped me progress in my learnings farther than I could have done on my own.”

“And he aided you to get that place in the village we left?” she asked as Tough took the lead from her, showing her where they should go as her map proved to be worthless when she almost walked off a cliff.

“No… that was my own decision, to stay and make a life for myself out of his shadow,” Tough said a bit wistfully, causing Fang to raise an eyebrow. “Besides my dad being who he is, we Flutter ponies don’t do well with other ponies; they’re too chaotic for our innate nature skills to deal with and cause us to panic.”

“That makes sense,” she said as she ducked under a branch. “Would explain why you were so focused before as well; you were treating me for that punch-”

“And the other injuries,” he added in without missing a beat.

“Yes,” she bristled, face reddening. “You were also tapping into your natural talent thus overriding all of your other senses. It’s the same with me when I’m in the heat of the battle,” she said as she slipped out her fright mask. “It is also when I use this mask of mine.” she said.

“Ah, that thing,” he said a bit nervously, looking away from it for a moment before he turned back, staring at it with his horn glowing as a wave of magic washed over it. “It has spells in it?”

“Yes, several in fact, but the main one is in the eyes,” she said as slipped it on and turned to face him. “As you can see, the eye slits can move and cover different parts of the eyes. It allows us to send messages without saying anything,” she explained while closing off the left eye and having the far corner of the right eye open. “This means dodge to the right.”

“Very interesting,” he said before looking around. “I am not sure about you but I am getting hungry. Do you think we should, or can, stop for breakfast?”

Fang flicked her ears before nodding her head as she began to move towards a more secluded area of the forest, Tough Love following close behind.

A few minutes later, they had settled into a small clearing, and both ponies kept an eye on their surroundings as Fang began pulling supplies out of her bags. “I am both glad and annoyed that she thought to pack these for me,” she muttered as she started fixing something.

Tough Love raised an eyebrow. “Dare I ask?”

“Long story, and not one I’m entirely thrilled by.” Fang focused on her cooking for a few minutes, then nodded, passing him a plate of something. “The short version is, I’m out here for two reasons. One’s kind of personal, and one’s because one of my superiors insisted. She helped me with my supplies, and while I’m glad for the help with the supplies, I’m annoyed at the fact that I had to leave my home for a while to carry out my assignment. Which I can’t talk about yet,” she added. “When I can, I will.”

Tough Love nodded. “Classified?”

“Sort of.” Fang dug into her breakfast, and winced inwardly; she hoped her companion wouldn’t be upset when he found out just what she was talking about. “By Nocturne, I hope I am strong enough to do it.”

“From what I have seen of you so far, I wouldn’t doubt that at all,” he said as he began to eat his food. “You have managed with that chest wound for this long without much complaint, after all.”

“Yeah,” Fang sighed. “Of course, I’ve only had it a few months, since the day we met… you should have seen some of the veterans from my squad.”

“Oh?” Tough Love looked interested.

“Yeah. One of them?” Snarling Fang gave a grin. “He had half his face burned off by a Volcano pony early on in his career, and he still served as a field leader for almost another twenty years after that before he got promoted out of the squad. Never complained about it a day in his life.”

Tough Love stared at her. “You’re making that up.”

“If you ever come visit Erebus, I’ll show you his statue,” Fang replied. “Of course, he was a legend long before I was born - our alicorn is the only one still alive who’s met him in person. But she tells his story and some others to every new generation of Terror Masks, my squad, and the other assault squads. It’s kind of a rite of passage now.”

“You don’t say.” Tough Love still didn’t look like he quite believed her. “Regardless... if you want me to heal your injury, I can.”

Fang looked contemplative. “I’ll think about it.” She flashed a look as she moved the food around the plate. “Wouldn’t it be a very dangerous procedure?”

“Not actually,” Tough Love replied. “It would require me to focus a very specific spell on your chest. It would be somewhat painful but not that bad and I am sure you would to able to withstand it provided you didn't move.” He then looked at her, then the sky. “But perhaps we should wait on it and keep moving?”

Snarling Fang nodded her head in agreement and began to move to put her cooking equipment away.

“About how much further is it?” she asked as she packed with Tough Love aiding her.

“A few more days,” Tough Love replied. “But definitely less than a week, barring something unexpected happening.”

“Good.” Fang sighed. “The sooner we’re out of the Wardens’ territory, the better.”

“Quite.” Tough Love cocked his head. “I’m surprised that any of them would break their own laws like this - as I understand it, the punishment for those who do is very harsh.”

“Who knows?” Fang finished packing up her things. “I have a bad feeling we’ll find out at some point though. Something tells me that neither he or that mare are the type to give up so easily.”

Tough Love nodded, and the two started to head back to the path when something flew out of Fang’s pack and started to hit her in the face. Tough Love gave her a look as the mare sighed as she grabbed the object, which turned out to be a letter that the mare took some time to answer before sealing it up and watching it fly off.

Fang gave him an embarrassed look before saying, “Don’t ask.”

Shaking his head, Tough Love started back onto the path with Snarling Fang following behind him.

Chapter Eight

Snarling Fang ducked her head under a branch as Tough Love continued to guide them on a winding path in the forest, with her amazed that he could be this accurate without any type of map or real defining landmarks. Even with her training, she was having a hard time keeping a mental map of the path they were taking and yet Tough seemed to have no issue whatsoever.

Both of them paused at the same time, ears flicking as the noise in the forest suddenly died off and shared looks with each other.

Tough looked at her as she slowly reached for her crossbow, loading a bolt and getting it pointed at a dark patch of greenery. Holding a wing out to keep Tough silent, she squatted low and began to breathe slowly.

A long period of time passed, her ears flicking and she was about to put her crossbow away when there was a crack of twigs and the growl of a predator.

“SIDE NOW!” she shouted at Tough as a bugbear came charging out at them.

An infant bugbear, almost knocking her onto the ground. Tough, poking his head out of a bush, began to laugh as the bugbear started to sniff at her back when Fang glared at him.

“Are you nuts? This is notfunny,” she hissed at him as she tried to squirm away from the bugbear cub.

“Yes it is, Fang,” Tough snickered as he began to step closer to her. “It’s just a little cub all… by… itself…” He trailed off as he realized what was wrong.

Fang gave him a look, seeing he’d figured it out. “Exactly,” she said as she continued to scramble backwards. “Cubs like this are never alone. And I may be a soldier, but even I have no desire to tangle with an angry mother, especially not from this species.”

“Any idea of what it wants?” Tough asked as there was a much louder growling sound behind him.

“The mother’s probably out here looking for food,” Fang replied as the cub pawed at her pack. “Her cub, on the other hoof, is most likely just curious about us and wondering what we are. Regardless, we need to get away from it and here before its mother decides to actually come after us, because when she does, things are going to get ugly.”

“Do you have anything smelly in your pack it could want?” Tough asked with his horn lighting up in preparation to retrieve whatever was required of him to get out of the pack.

“I think so; there is some dried fish in my pack,” Fang said as Tough began to reach into her pack, the little bugbear watching the magic with wide eyes. After a few seconds, he managed to find the fish with the bugbear yapping loudly at the sight. Tough gulped loudly as he tried to unwrap the fish with the cub’s happy noises getting louder.

“By the Ancient Ones just throw it!” Fang shouted at him, with Tough yelping loudly but doing as he was told.

Only for it to smack into the face of a much bigger bugbear, which the cub immediately ran up to and started to nuzzle.

As both ponies began to slowly back away, the mother bugbear looked up at them and growled softly, but as Tough bowed his head to it, the growling quieted. Still, the animal kept an eye on them as Tough approached Fang, waiting until she’d gotten to her hooves again.

“I think we should be good, as long as we keep far enough away from her and you put your crossbow away so she knows you’re not a threat,” he said softly. “She’ll be watching us until we’re far enough away though.”

“How do you know that?” she hissed, even as she reluctantly followed his advice and stowed her weaponry away.

“Nature instincts.” Tough shrugged. “It’s better in some areas than others, but this time I think it’s pretty accurate.”

Fang stared incredulously at him, but she knew better than to argue. Still, she kept a watchful eye on the two bugbears as Tough led her away, on a somewhat winding route that took them well around the pair.

When they’d finally gotten far enough away that she could no longer see or hear the animals, she looked at him again. “So, about how good at that kind of thing are you?”

“Well, I’m no expert at animal communication, if that’s what you mean,” Tough replied as he kept going. “But I have learned how to understand their instincts to some extent, enough to get the basics of what they want. There are others who are far better at it than I am. Besides,” and here he snorted a little, “Thanks to our other abilities, a lot of animals just don’t see Flutter ponies like me as a threat.”

“Convenient,” Fang remarked while wincing a bit and rubbing her chest. “I thought for sure things were going to get bloody there…”

“It still might have, if that adult hadn’t been in a cooperative mood,” Tough told her, giving her a sideways look. “I’m just glad it turned out as well as it did.”

“Yeah.” Fang looked ahead. “So, about how much further is it through here, you think?”

“A fair deal but I would like to examine that chest wound again,” he frowned at her. “That bugbear barely touched you and it could have only weighed about ten to fifteen pounds, and yet you’re in clear pain.”

Fang scoffed at him, her ears flicking to the side. “What can you even do now; we’re in the middle of a forest.”

“I’m still a medic and can treat wounds,” he replied sharply. “And while this may not be the ideal spot to do it, the way you reacted to it means that there’s something worrisome going on, and I’d rather check it now and hopefully keep it from getting worse rather than wait and find out too late that it’s infected with something potentially fatal, especially after all this time has passed.”

Fang growled, but reluctantly sat back to let him examine her chest, sliding her pack off of her with Tough lighting his horn again to send a wave of his magic over her chest like before but going deeper this time. Wincing more, Fang kept an eye on the unicorn's face as he frowned and tilted his head, listening to his magic.

“No infection, that’s good,” he muttered as he climbed onto and placed his hoof on her chest, frowning. “But I think I see something…” he said his lowered his head onto her chest with Fang bushing at his close proximity to her.

“What do you see?” she asked him, wincing in pain.

“It looks like a…” He peered closer, then his eyes narrowed. “You’ve got a metal shard in there. It’s not penetrating your heart or any other organs, but it’s dangerously close, and we’re going to have to get it out, before it does reach some vital spot.”

Fang’s own eyes widened. “How did I not…”

“Notice it? Because you were too stubborn to get full treatment when you needed it,” he replied grouchily. “In any case, I think I can put together something real quick that will at least hold it in place until we can get to the valley and I can do actual surgery.”

Fang nodded. “Do it.”

Muttering to himself, Tough’s horn lit up and some things flew out of his own pack. As he examined his equipment, Fang watched in interest until he’d cobbled together something that looked decidedly odd, but as he affixed it to her chest, he nodded. “That should hold it, as long as I keep it charged.”

“That’s good.” Fang looked up. “So, is it safe for me to move now?”

“Just a moment,” he replied as he climbed down off of her. “Okay, now.” He waited until she’d stood up before he asked her. “How does it feel?”

“A fair deal better than before,” she replied, looking at the contraption on her chest. “You know, you’re really full of surprises.”

Tough just shrugged in response, but she could tell her compliment had made him happier.

Once he’d finished re-packing his things, the two moved on, Tough continuing to lead and Fang keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.

They’d made a lot of miles by the time the sun was going down that evening, and as the two found a spot to settle in for the night, Fang hoped she’d be able to control herself this time as she took the first watch again.

“Ung…”

Snarling Fang let out a groan as she came to the next morning, her eyelids flickering as she looked up to find another pony’s muzzle in front of her own.

A moment later, she realized what had happened, and groaned even louder, her ears falling to the sides of her head. “I did it again, didn’t I?”

“Yes. Yes, you did.” Tough Love looked at her, somewhat bemused from his spot in her forelimbs. “Though at least I wasn’t taken by surprise this time.”

“By the Ancient Ones, I don’t know why I am doing this; it was never a problem when I was with my squad!”

“Some ponies are just cuddlers,” Tough replied. “Back when I was training, one of my fellows mentioned that he was close to somepony back home with the same problem, and he was the one she usually went after in her sleep when they were younger.” He shook his head as he remembered. “Though in their case, they’d known one another since they were young, and everypony who knew about her little cuddling habit also knew there was nothing serious going on between them.”

“Well, at least it’s not just me who is like this.” Fang finally reminded herself to let go of him and get to her hooves. “So, aside from my apparent incessant need to cuddle, did anything happen last night?”

“Nothing,” he told her. “No dangerous wildlife, no ponies passing by… we’re all good.”

Fang nodded. “Good. Let’s grab a quick bite, then get moving.” She paused. “You’re sure there was nothing… more, going on between the two ponies you mentioned?”

“Positive.” Tough smirked. “The cuddler was his little sister.”

“Got it.” Fang nodded her head while making a mental note of this.

A while later, the two had finished eating and packing, and set off once again.