Hello all. Start of ARC 1 officially (and end of ARC 0 too I guess)
Thanks be to Sweetolebob18 once again ⬅(Editor here guys 🍓)
Please point out mistakes so I can correct them and improve.

Voices on the rooftop. Prey's eyes were closed. He lay on his side by the edge, unmoving.

He didn't respond or even twitch as the hated Solar Guard's voices drew near. He couldn't see but he could still hear them.

"-Captain Valour is on his way. Melody, set up a light spell, and get those sky chariots out of here, we need room. Sargent, how are they?" Prey heard. He knew that voice, dazed as he was. It was the lieutenant, Bright. The other ponies, sounded like at least eight of them, he wasn't so sure about.

"Not...not good I'm afraid sir. Gold Bit, he's, I don't think he's going to make it." A voice answered. Prey could hear the sorrow in it. Prey would have laughed in delight if he could.

"You're the medic, isn't there something you can do?" Bright asked angrily.

"Sir, I wish I could. But, his magic is burnt out, he's badly hurt and, well, he's not there anymore sir. Gold Bit's gone-"

"Don't say that!" Bright snarled.

"Sir, it's the truth. What ever that filthy mind leech did to him, he's gone. Do you really think Gold Bit would've viciously attacked his two fellow Guards on the way to the hospital, before coming here to do all this? The mind leech took Gold Bit sir, and only left this husk behind." The second voice said sadly.

"...Tartarus take him. He'll pay for this." Bright cursed.

"I'm sorry sir. He was a good guard. I know he was your cousin too..." The second voice trailed off.

Prey heard the sound of an approaching set of armoured hooves.

"Sir, here's the prisoner. The other mind leech is gone though. The magical signature ends here at the roof's edge. It's faint, and will fade in a few minutes, but it looks like he's gone." A deep, third voice said. 'But not an earth pony, or he couldn't track the magical residue. A unicorn then.' Prey thought, 'Well you're not wrong Mr. unicorn. Night Watcher, or rather Lemon Pink is gone.'

Prey had caught that bit, right at the end, a wash of disjointed memories from Night Watcher. It wasn't much, but he saw that he'd actually been a she. A pink unicorn mare called Lemon Pink to be precise.

'Still dead either way. Went over the edge.' Prey thought. His body still wouldn't move. Everything he heard had an odd ringing echo to it.

"Sargent, get the pegasi in the air and start scanning. Wherever the mind leech went, it doesn't seem like he teleported out of here. I want that scum found." Bright ordered.

"Sir, I don't think he went far. In fact, I think he went down." The third voice near Prey said. The other two trotted over, armoured horse shoes clopping over concrete, and stood listening to the faint gurgle of the river far below.

"What are your thinking?" Bright asked, breaking the silent vigil. Prey could hear the effort the lieutenant was putting into controlling his anger and frustration. 'Captain Valour would be so proud of you.' Prey mused.

"Seems like he used poor Bright Bit to do his dirty work for him, then came for prisoner 452. The lamb tried to flee, and the mind leech caught him here. Seems like they fought. Either they both lost and whomever they were fell over the edge afterwards, or they won and then jumped to try and escape us."

Prey could feel their gazes move to him even if he couldn't see. None of the Solar Guards had made any move to pull him away from the edge or see if he was injured.

"452 couldn't have fought back, the inhibitors are still in place. And there's no chance something as physically weak as him could have pushed a unicorn off the roof." Bright noted.

"Perhaps the unicorn tried to invade the prisoners mind and was injured in the process?" The second voice suggested.

"Injured?"

"I don't know sir, I haven't a clue how mind magic works. Perhaps injured mentally?"

There was a brief, thoughtful silence, broken only by the noise that drifted back along the roof top from the other Guards, doing what ever it was they were doing. Weeding the flower boxes for all Prey cared. He wasn't quite in his right frame of mind at the moment.

"Then the other mind leech might still be out there. It's possible he could have survived the fall." Bright said.

"I hope he didn't." The third, deep voice muttered.

"I know. I shouldn't agree, but..... Sargent!" Bright abruptly barked, snapping out of his melancholy.

"Yes sir!"

"Get the pegasi down there and scan the banks. Rouse the city guard and have them trawl the river for a mile upriver and five down. I want his body found, or his tracks. I don't hold out much hope of finding either, but it's better than doing nothing."

"Sir yes sir!"

"And prisoner 452?" The third voiced asked with distaste.

"We will wait on-"

There was a clatter of running hooves interrupting Bright, large and heavy sounding.

"Lieutenant!" Came the unmistakable bellow of Captain Valour. It always sounded like he constantly was on the brink of losing his temper.

"Sir!" All three voices replied at once and there was the scrape of armour as they all presumably came to attention.

"Lieutenant, report!" Valour ordered.

As Bright quickly ran over everything they'd just discussed, along with their fears about the mind mage's escape and Gold Bits bleak condition, Prey could hear Captain Valour getting angrier and angrier.

And why wouldn't he be? He'd just lost. They had apprehended the thieves, done what they'd set out to do and yet they had still lost in the end. The ring leader had escaped, quite a few of their number were injured, and one looked likely to die. Whether it was physically or mentally made little difference at this point. In the end, one outcome would result in a casket, and the other in a lump of still breathing meat for his relatives to mourn.

Prey didn't feel any sympathy. He felt nothing but contempt for the Solar Guards and Gold Bit. They'd held him prisoner, threatened him, forced him to work for them, dragged him into dangerous situations, handled him with magic, almost gotten him killed, and refused to listen to his warnings. This was the outcome. Gold Bit deserved his fate.

Bright finished his report. There was a pregnant pause before Captain Valour finally spoke. Rather unexpectedly, he sounded tired rather than 'frothing-at-the-mouth' livid, "Thank you lieutenant, please continue. Sargent, I want you to take the sky chariots and get the casualties to the hospital. We'll finish sweeping the roof top and begin the search for a body. Meet us back at the City Guard station in the morning." He ordered.

"Yes sir." Came the subdued responses. Then, "What are your orders regarding the prisoner?"

"Ah, that." There was the furious contempt that Prey had been expecting.

A magical field grabbed Prey's limp form none too gently and jerked him into the air. Where before Prey had immediately lashed out and protested most vehemently at being so much as touched with magic, now he didn't even twitch. His numb body just flopped about bonelessly in Captain Valour's magic.

"Prisoner 452, stop pretending and answer me. What happened here?" Captain Valour demanded loudly.

When no response was forth coming, Prey was shaken bodily, "Answer me criminal! Do you think that I can't touch you anymore? That you have nothing left to loose? I have had it up to here with you. So help me you are going to tell me one way or another what happened up here or I'm going to get violent!" Captain Valour roared. Prey felt spittle strike his face.

A few seconds later when still no response came, a blow joined the spit, rolling Prey's slack head on his shoulders. The mostly healed cut in Prey's cheek from Rich Almond split open again from the blow. However Prey's body didn't react, despite the poisonous fury he felt coursing through his veins at his treatment.

Prey could hear Captain Valour fuming, and he braced himself mentally for more blows. "Doesn't seem to be faking it. The other mind leech must have done for him." Captain Valour said abruptly, and dropped Prey like a sack of potatoes.

"Should we put the prisoner on the chariots for the hospital too sir?" His Sargent asked.

"No, have him sent to the city dungeons. I'll deal with him later. He's just an empty husk now, I'll get in contact with Dreverton when this is all over to see if they want it back or transferred somewhere else. He got his just desserts in the end." Captain Valour said turning away. His hooves clopped off, and a few moments later Prey heard the captains voice raised in shouting orders.

Someone grabbed the chain from Prey's inhibitor collar and began dragging him off.

Prey was bumped and roughly hauled about, but he couldn't see where he was taken. The rough handling lasted for a long time. All Prey could do was listen, his body didn't move and his eyes wouldn't open.

Prey knew whomever was carrying him was taking him to the dungeon, but he had no idea of the route they took or what they passed on the way. He didn't like that, he wanted to be able to see.

Whomever they where, they didn't say anything. Why would they? He was a brain dead vegetable to them, a broken tool that now served no purpose. 'At least I'm still alive.' That fight with Night Watcher, or rather Lemon Pink, had been very dangerous. Both of them could have lost their minds, but in the end only the unicorn did.

He was dumped unceremoniously in a cell on what felt like a bale of straw, and heard the squeal and clang as the cell door was shut. There was a rattle of keys, then the jailer and the Solar Guard who had brought him here walked away.

Prey had only been aware of his trip into the Guard station and subsequent delivery to the dungeons from what he had overheard. The Solar Guard had spoken briefly with the jailer, (who once he'd heard that Prey was a dangerous criminal and that the Solar Guard themselves wished him imprisoned, had been all to happy to oblige) leading them past the entrance and down here.

'A faithful believer of the Sun queen then. Never even thinks to ask questions once the authority of Celestia and her lackeys is mentioned.'

Prey listened. All was quiet, just the feeling of straw poking into his wool and the smell of dry stone walls. 'From one prison to another.' He'd been in far worse places before.

However, Prey could feel the enchantments on this cell. It was unlikely anyone but a unicorn would have normally noticed, but Prey had spent fifty seven years in one of the most heavily enchanted and magically suppressed cells in Dreverton. He knew what that feeling in the air was.

Despite its humble appearance, this dungeon cell was nothing to be laughed at. Or broken out of. Especially as an invalid.

Prey couldn't sense anyone watching him, but that didn't mean there wasn't. This could quite easily be another test. Prey waited.

One hour dragged by, then another. Still no sign or feeling of being observed, just the quietness of being underground and the itch of straw.

Another slow hour, counting the minutes.

Prey opened his eyes.

Of course he hadn't been crippled by the fight, although it had been a distinct possibility. Fighting is never safe, and one like he'd just fought even more so, but in the end he'd emerged the victor. But it had been advantageous to pretend otherwise. He'd been acting, playing at having been removed from the picture by having his mind shattered just like Gold Bit.

It had gone better than Prey had anticipated. The odds had still been in favour of Captain Valour throwing his body back into Dreverton out of pure spite. But evidently for once sense had trumped emotion in the angry Solar Guard Captain. Valour didn't have the time or resources right now to spare a contingent of his Solar Guards to transport Prey back to Dreverton. Instead, he'd just secured Prey, who was no longer a threat, and decided to deal with him later.

Later is what Prey was counting on. The longer he had to come up with an escape plan, the better his chances of success.

Prey would've preferred being locked back in the office with all his original rune work, but he could work with this too. Also the longer Captain Valour took, the longer the runes on that desk would have to work their slow influence. Prey moved cautiously around the cell.

It was just as he'd pictured it. Three stone walls, floor and ceiling, and one set of metal bars and door leading out into a corridor. Prey looked as far up and down the corridor as he could but saw no Guards.

Down the corridor lay more cells like his, all empty, and up the corridor was a large, heavy bolted iron door.
But the real problem was those enchantments on the cell that Prey had first noticed. After he'd had time to further inspect them, he discovered that they were indeed what he'd predicted.

Suppression against teleportation, both in and out, attempts at telekinesis, further enchantment, transmutation or long distance communication, and alarms to trigger if any of the above were tampered with.

Nowhere near as sophisticated or thorough as his old cell in Dreverton.

Prey decided that they must also put inhibitors and shackles on all their prisoners. They would have been suicidally stupid not to. There was just no way that the Guard would throw someone like a unicorn in here and expect them to still be behind bars when then they got back. Magic was just too powerful to be imprisoned by so few wards. Any unbound unicorn with half a brain and arcane power at their hoof tips could find a loop hole. Either that or the city Guard were complete push overs. Prey wasn't placing any bets.

For all their, admittedly lacking, wards, the dungeon didn't have anything to stop Prey in the long run.

Whomever had designed this cell, hadn't accounted for ancient runes. Probably because it was a lost art, but still, their failure was his gain. All that Prey needed was time to fully circumvent the wards, and then he would be free. Prey rubbed his bruises and scrapes, took a deep breath, and got to work.

'If I didn't know better,' Prey thought with venom, 'I would say there was something out there with it in for me.'

He just couldn't catch a break, no matter how he schemed and squirmed. That was life, forever unfair, but that didn't make it any less bitter. Prey knew that there wasn't any greater force out there messing with his life, but sometimes, no matter how illogical, it sure felt that way.

'I don't believe in fate.' He knew many ponies did, in Destiny or Harmony, but he didn't. The world was too random and cruel for that. There was only what you could take, and what the world could take from you. If he failed to take something, or if someone took from him, he was the only one who had the power to change that.

And right now, Prey had no power to do anything, he was trapped and helpless, held by the whims of others who held power over him. He hated that.

Prey was sitting in a lead lined cell, more of a box really. Apparently, the City Guard did have this one cell for especially dangerous individuals. From the dust and cobwebs, Prey doubted it had ever seen use. Dim light filtered in through a small, smoky, crystal panel. Half an hour ago the jailer had abruptly returned with two unicorn guards, and had transferred Prey to here without a word.

Prey suspected that either Captain Valour or his Lieutenant, Bright, had sent a further message detailing that he required 'special treatment'.

What had made it so frustrating and galling, was that if the jailer had turned up just fifteen minutes later, Prey would have already claimed his freedom. Twelve hours of non-stop engraving during through the night and what must've been the rest of the morning. He'd worked until his hooves shook, never pausing, with nopony coming to check if he was even still alive or breathing, and then this happened.

On hearing the first jingling of keys, Prey had flopped back onto the straw bale and pretended to return to nothing more than an unresponsive husk. But the cursed jailer and his guards hadn't left. Instead, they'd picked him up in their magic and thrown him in this lead lined coffin instead.

'Well, that's that then,' Prey thought. 'There is nothing further I can do.' The walls would not hold any runes, even if he had a power sources for them. In the other cell, he'd been going to feed the arrays by siphoning off from the original enchantments, riding them like a parasite till the enchantments harmlessly collapsed.

But in here there was nothing he could use. Every surface was just blank metal, even the door, and the hinges were on the outside for good measure. For all intents and purposes, this might as well be his old cell back at the prison fortress, Dreverton.

He was stuck once more, and there was nothing he could do.

Prey dug his hooves into the hard floor until the still tender quick screamed, and then pressed harder. "Damn," he muttered quietly as the pain flared unheeded, "I was so close."

It was like he'd never left Dreverton. The monotonous drag of hours passed exactly the same in the maddening boredness .

There was nothing to do, nothing to see, only time to think. Prey had spent fifty seven years doing nothing but that, and after being so close to his freedom, only to have it snatched away, was a hard trial to endure.

Prey tried continuing faking to be comatosed to see if he could get one of the Guards to come and try to feed him. If he could just lay a hoof on one of them, he could steal their minds.

He lay unmoving throughout the first whole day on the cold hard floor, ignoring the hay and water they gave him. Even the tray and bowl were made from glazed lead. He did the same for the long second day as well, resisting the tantalising tray as his hunger and thirst grew.

However by the end of the third day, when still they made no move to enter the cell aside from opening the door just far enough to push in the new tray and grab the old, Prey was forced to drop the act.

Prey came to the conclusion that either they didn't care if he died, which seemed unlikely for these soft ponies, or, more likely, they were just incompetent.

Apparently it didn't occur to either one of the two Guards who brought him meals that there was something wrong. Evidently, it just never crossed their minds. They just continued on merrily with their work, assuming that everything was fine and that theirs was a job well done.

If Prey ever got out of here, he was adding them to The List.

Captain Valour had not been forgotten either, he too would have his comeuppance. A few days did nothing to blunt the edge of Prey's thirst for revenge against the unicorn. A few days was nothing. Prey had waited fifty seven years in his last cell, and The List was still as fresh as the day he'd written it. And it never got any shorter.

Three days dragged into four. Four became six. Six turned into a week. One week lengthened into one and a half, then two, and still no one came to collect him from the Solar Guard. That could only mean one thing, Captain Valour had forgotten about him.

And that meant the back up runes he'd left on the desk were working.

That desk had contained runes that were supposed to be used for Prey to break free and escape, but when he'd been dragged away he'd been forced to set off the back up.

It was a series of runes that slowly leeched away at anyone's memory who was in the room. Prey had added additional rune combinations to make it only affect the period of memory from its creation onwards. Or in other words, to make the Solar Guard forget the period of time when Prey had been locked in the room. Roughly.

It wasn't exact, and the process was so slow and gradual that you wouldn't notice unless you were looking out for it. Prey also estimated that those arrays would only last for about three weeks. The back up runes would cannibalise the original runic arrays power source as fuel until there were none left.

It wasn't foolproof, and there were gaps in the theory. Not least of them what if the mind lock on the Solar Guards helmets counteracted the memory loss effect?

Evidently, by the fact that Prey had been abandoned in here, it had worked.

Prey comforted himself with that fact as he sat on the hard lead floor. At least he wouldn't be returning to Dreverton where escape was ninety nine point nine percent impossible. Here it was ninety nine percent, making this outcome the more desirable one.

As the third week slowly ticked into the fourth, Prey sat and waited, as a spark of confidence slowly kindled within him. Prey knew escape was extremely unlikely, but that didn't mean he wasn't getting out of here.

As far as he could see, there were two possible outcomes from here.

Outcome one; the jailer would eventually request orders from the Solar Guards on what to do with him. If that happened either the Solar Guard wouldn't have a clue who he was and have him investigated. Or someone would still retain their memories of him or track down his record and he would be thrown back into Dreverton.

Outcome two; Eventually, someone would make a mistake and he would be let out. One of the jail guards would eventually wonder who he was and what he was doing here. After finding out that they actually had no idea, they would let him go. Or, the same events that'd occurred the first time would happen again. Someone in a position of power would want his services.

Now that it had happened once, it was much more likely to happen again.

More days slowly passed. Prey spent them planning and meditating. He relived more old memories over again, occasionally bittersweet, more often than not just bitter. There was no day or night in here, just the schedule of meals and Prey's own internal body clock. And so it drew close to a month.

On the twenty ninth day, there was one thing out if the ordinary that happened.

The jailer did not bring his daily meal on time. That was slightly unusual. Normally, they kept the same unimaginative, predictable schedule. When they finally did appear, five hours late, from what Prey glimpsed of their tired faces, they seemed distracted and scared. 'Perhaps they have a new prisoner?' Prey didn't think too much of it.

The half way point of the second month rolled around.

'If they don't feed me something else aside from hay soon, I'm going to start deteriorating.' Prey noted in detachment, rotating his hoof and critically examining the wasting muscle. It was true. In Dreverton, the meals had been awful, but contained every essential vitamin and food group a prisoner needed to stay healthy.

Prey had only lasted this long because he was so small and unable to grow any further. Also, the curse kept the break down of his body to an extremely slow and gradual deterioration. But eventually even that wouldn't be enough. 'At the current rate of deterioration, exterior muscles will start to fail in approximately three weeks. And there's nothing I can do about it.' Prey thought.

One week later, something happened. Afterwards, Prey still didn't know exactly what it was.

It happened when Prey was sleeping or meditating, one of the two. For him they were both very close to being the same. He was in the ashen fields of his outer mind scape, reliving a memory of cowering in a fallen tree trunk, stuffing his hooves into his mouth to keep his teeth from chattering while outside a bug bear rampaged.

Prey felt a presence, just the lightest touch against his mind. It felt like it had come to watch. The suddenness of it and the ease with which it reached out for him and established the connection scared Prey.

Immediately Prey shifted the memory, conjuring up a false landscape.

A happy scene sprang into existence, of a flock of young lambs and donkey colts laughing and playing on a grassy hill. The sky was blue, the birds sang, daisies bloomed. It was a picturesque scene, but under its surface, Prey silently coiled up his mind and prepared to attack. Like a cragadile just under the water. The light touch of the foreign presence didn't seem to come any closer, instead it observed from the outskirts.

Prey silently reached out for it, spreading his snares to drag it down the moment it came too close.

But it was like trying to catch smoke. Smoke that was always drifting just beyond your line of sight. The presence was strange and fleeting, moving from one corner to the next, but never letting Prey get a feel for it. He didn't have a clue what it was, and that frightened him.

Soon it left, or at least Prey thought it did. He couldn't be sure, it was so light and quick that he didn't know for certain. Grimly he kept up the happy scene of childish merriment, while under the dream he braced for an attack.

Prey stayed like that long into the night, fruitlessly casting about for the presence, always unsure if he was alone or being watched.

The feeling did not return that night, or the next. If Prey didn't have complete faith in his memory, he would have been inclined to think he'd imagined the whole experience. As it was, he decided he would likely never know what the unnatural phenomenon had been.

Then one week later, it returned while Prey was in the middle of another dream meditation.

Prey was already on edge, still tense after the last incursion. So when he felt that first tendril of alien presence brush against his mindscape, he immediately snapped the scene back to that happy scene on the hillside. The foals and lambs began mutely chanting some half remembered nursery rhyme, the first that came to his head.

"Raven magpie fly away, Scarecrow, keep at bay,"
"Wheat n' barley dance and sway, Harvest King, come to play."

This time, the presence stayed and watched. It seemed to be searching for something as it floated at the edge of his consciousness. Prey pretended to be oblivious, once again secretly preparing himself for a fight.

Then a feeling came from the presence, one that would best be described as one of safety and strength. The presence seemed to be projecting the feeling that it wasn't a threat and that Prey shouldn't be alarmed.

That made Prey immediately distrust who or what ever it was even more.

The feelings changed, almost like it was asking a question, 'What is it you want?' It didn't ask in words, only with subtle feelings and impulses. Yet the prompting washed into him, like a warm tide. Quiet, gentle, but almost irresistible.

Prey recognised what it was doing. The presence was trying to influence his subconsciousness, to get him to change this scene and unwittingly reveal information about himself.

'This is bad.' Thought Prey.

Again the prompting came, more insistent this time, 'What is it you want?'

Prey almost reacted, almost lashed out in an attempt to strike back against whatever it was, but at the last second he stopped himself, 'Keep up the facade.' He thought.

The scene of the sunny hillside shifted, with the playing children melting away to be replaced by just two figures sitting on a small wooden porch, pretending that the outside influence had succeeded in it's goal.

The sun was setting, throwing long shadows over the rows of carrots in the field. It was quiet, no birds. The scene felt far away, like it was forever out of reach. On the porch, facing away, Fleece leaned into their mothers cream wool and hugged her, while she hugged her brown coated son back. Just the two of them sitting quietly there watching the field.

They never turned to look at Prey.

The presence watched for a while, and Prey got the distinct impression that it was satisfied.

Prey expected it to disappear without a trace just like last time, but it didn't. Another prompting came, powerful yet quiet; 'What would you give?' It didn't specify 'give for what'. Just 'what would you give?'

Prey oh so gently spun the scene into another, letting it seem natural and unmanipulated. A hoard of treasure, such as one might expect from a mighty dragons den in the stories, came into view. It was unfocused, but gave the unmistakable impression of extreme wealth and value. The message it portrayed was clear, 'I would give all this'.

'What would you give?' The feeling came again, firmer this time. Prey thought fast, 'What does it want to see? Gold and treasure didn't inspire it, so it must expect my subconsciousness to offer something else of value.'

Slowly the treasure melted into a golden pool of dream stuff, and out of it rose a banner on a pike staff. It grew larger and larger, flapping proud and regal in the dream wind, and it radiated 'Honour and Loyalty.' That was the concept that Prey had put behind it.

It seemed to have been the correct choice, for Prey felt a sense of approval, almost of arrogant confidence emanate from the unknown presence.

And then just like last time, it was abruptly gone without any warning.

Prey kept the banner flying high as he spread out feelers of consciousness, cautiously searching to see if he was really alone once more. The presence felt like it was gone, but Prey wasn't about to let his guard down.

Gone or not, it had left behind even more questions. Prey was certain whatever it was, it was highly intelligent and capable of rational thought. It had also proved to be subtle and powerful, a dangerous combination. Prey did not like it. He didn't need any more powerful enemies. Especially with being as weak as he currently was.

It was a long night once again.

Prey spent one more day and a night in the cell. The morning after, the jailer came along with four Royal Guards, chained him up, and took him away.

Prey sat silently on the train journey, across from him the four Royal Guards did the same. The train car was empty aside from them, the Royal Guards having politely directed the previous occupants of the car else where. Prey had never been on a train before. Actually, he'd never so much as even seen a train before. Back when Gossamer had lived in the village, trains were only tall tales of new fangled pony inventions over the mountains.

Who would've thought he'd ever end up riding in one? It was too bad about the Royal Guards.

There were two unicorns, one pegasus, and even an earth pony. Prey was dismissive of that last one. An earth pony? Why use an earth pony as a Guard when you could have a unicorn who could set your internal organs on fire? Prey supposed this wasn't quite the Solar Guard. For one thing these Royal Guards were far less alert, and no where near as professional.

"What did a foal do to end up in prison?" The earth pony whispered into the Sargent unicorns ear, his eyes fixed curiously on Prey.

The unicorns hazel eyes stayed firmly on Prey as he muttered a reply out of the corner of his mouth, "No idea, maybe somepony put her there out of harm's way? I read a book where the guy hid in a jail to keep safe. Maybe her father hid her there? Why else would-"

"Maybe the little gal's a bad guy?" The earth pony interrupted quietly.

"Shh! Don't let the kid hear you, she's just a lamb still." The unicorn hissed back.

The pegasus joined in, cupping the earth pony's ear with her wing, "Remember our orders, don't let our guard down. Even if she looks adorable, she must have been in there for a good reason." The mare whispered. That seemed to do it, all of the Royal Guard shifted back to attention and fixed that look of watchful disinterest back on their muzzles.

Prey snorted and lightly kicked the chain leading to the Sargent's grip, before propping himself up against the window. Once again everyone seemed not to realise that his big droopy ears weren't just for decoration. And they'd made the same inaccurate deduction about his gender once again. For some reason. Idiots.

Their masks of professional detachment were also flawed. Prey could see the small tells on their faces.
The unicorn Sargent was bored and curious.
The other unicorn was also bored but more relaxed.
The pegasus mare was the most alert out of the four of them. She was guarded but curious too.
Earth pony was just curious.

'Definitely not up to Solar Guard level.' Prey decided.

Unfortunately, they were still professional enough not to leave him unguarded. They kept four sets of eyes on him closely enough that he couldn't place any discreet runes on his bench either.

They'd also maddeningly kept out of hoofs reach, even when he had faked a bad stumble being led onto the train. One of the unicorns had merely levitated him over the high step and onboard. It had been so quick and mundane that Prey hadn't even had time to freeze up at having magic used on him.

Prey gave the two unicorns a sour glare, plotting the best way to kill both of them. Sargent unicorn seemed not to notice and his fellow unicorn seemed to find it funny. Prey turned away and tried to see out the window. He propped himself up on his hind legs, chained front legs resting against the wall so he could reach the window sill. This was his first time travelling by train after all. It was more unpleasent than he'd expected.

There wasn't much to see outside, just rocks and trees passing by in the evening light. Prey gave up and sat back down, "How much longer?" He asked, speaking for the first time.

He got four blinks of surprise in return but no answer.

"How much longer?" He repeated patiently.

The Royal Guards exchanged glances and raised eyebrows under their helmets. The Sargent shrugged, then answered, "Four hours."

Prey started going over all the old maps he had seen in his head. It had been over fifty seven years and things could have changed since then, after all he didn't remember Vanhoover from the maps (albeit few) he'd seen. A glance out the window at the position of Celestia's blighted sun gave him their direction.

After a quick calculation of distance, time and speed, Prey came to one conclusion and it made his stomach drop, "Canterlot." He breathed.

The capital city of Canterlot is in and of itself a monument to the achievements of pony kind. From an engineering perspective, it is impossible. But as with a lot of things, pony kind had the distinct advantage of magic at their disposal through unicorns.

So what should have been completely impossible, simply became completely unfeasible. By all rational perspectives, building a entire city so that it overhung a massive mountain side was folly. It would be much easier, simpler, cheaper, and faster to build the city down on the plains, or even on the mountain side itself rather than jutting out over oblivion.

It would certainly make mundane things like sewer lines, travelling access, and supply routes easier.

Yet its construction had gone ahead. The city's foundations and support structures themselves were feats of technical genius and each one unique. Support beams, stress points, load bearings, counterweight, foundations, the sheer amount of forward planning involved was staggering. And yet without the addition of an obscene amount of enchantment that took an entire generation of unicorns to lay, all those blue prints and dreams would have been for naught.

Looked at another way, Canterlot was a monument to unicorn pride and superiority. A blatant statement that pony kind was unbound by the laws of nature. The sheer waste of resources that could have built ten cities, all spent frivolously for this one. To those who looked unfavourably on the equine race, it was an arrogant declaration. 'You cannot compete with us. Bow your heads and be still.'

And at the heart of this great cities display of power, sat the crowning jewel of this achievement. From all those centuries ago, the orchestrater herself. Celestia, the sun queen.

He was in a temporary holding room. The chains clinked gently as Prey methodically tested them. The Royal Guards situated around the room didn't react. They had been visibly surprised at Prey when he had been brought in, but now they'd re-donned their masks of professional calm.

Prey could feel the sickly touch of fear coiling in his gut. He was all too familiar with it.

It was the type that came just before the plunge into a fight. The slight but uncontrollable tremble in your hooves, the tiny shivers that ran up your frame every few seconds; Prey was sadly very familiar with the helpless state of miserable anticipation of knowing that shortly you were going to be fighting for your life, and there was nothing you could do to avoid it.

The longer he stood here waiting, the worse it got.

A Royal Guard shifted on his hooves and readjusted his spear. Prey's eyes locked onto the movement in an instant, then his gaze flicked away, darting around the large room, constantly searching for something, anything that might give him a way out of this.

But there was nothing he could use. Just plush furniture, a gilded tapestry, fancy wall mosaics and ornate candlesticks set in alcoves to light the room. Prey would've marvelled at the opulence of it all, at the gold leaf and marble work everywhere if he'd been here under better circumstances. He would have been made mute by the vast wealth on display in every inch of the palace, (and likely sneered and cursed at the ponies who took such luxury and waste for granted). But he didn't have time for that.

A sound of hooves on the other side of the door. A knock, the ring handle turning and being pulled open. A servants stuck his head in and murmured something to the closest Guard that even Prey's sharp ears missed. The servant vanished and the Royal Guard turned to the rest of his fellow ponies, "She's ready. You may bring the sheep now."

Prey swallowed, and fought down the urge to be sick. He hated feeling afraid, but the fear had never left him, no matter how many times he stared into the jaws of death. Prey knew he was only negatively impacting his chances of survival by letting the fear get to him, but he couldn't help it, no matter what logic dictated. All he could do was learn to keep it under control, at least enough to prevent it from controlling him instead.

The Royal Guards tugged on the chain, and Prey fell in behind him as he was led out into the corridor. A tall, stain glass window cast moon light over them as they passed. Prey tried to look out of it for one last glimpse of the night sky as he was dragged by, but the refraction in the coloured glass prevented it. Prey felt cheated. 'Stupid ponies, they manage to deny me even this.'

He was dragged into a high ceilinged marble hall, with gilded torch bracketed columns stretching from floor to ceiling. Clever crystal patterns inlaid into the ceiling gave the impression of a twinkling night sky.

Prey only paid attention to those details for the brief amount of time it took to note them, evaluate them, and dismiss them. He was far more interested in the number of Guards in the room and the placement of the exits.

'Twelve guards. Three unicorns, three earth ponies, six pegasi, spread out around the perimeter. Alert. All armoured and armed. No windows low enough to reach. Only one other exit, guarded. Chances of escape: nil.' Prey bitterly observed.

The Royal Guards arrayed against the walls were looking at Prey with interest and some surprise. They were obviously all thinking the same old thing, 'A tiny sheep in chains? What's going on here?'

Prey squinted closer at the pegasi, there was something off about them. It took a moment for Prey to work out what in the low light. His hearing had always been better than his sight, but when he saw it, his eyes widened involuntarily.

'Those are Bat ponies. Dusk fliers, night wings, or thestrals.' He had never seen one, and had thought from the literature that he'd been able to steal out on the border that they were supposed to be extinct.

Yet here they were, bat winged and slit eyed. Prey looked again at the other Royal Guards, looking for other signs of abnormality. All he saw was normal ponies. Normal ponies, now that he was looking more closely, that seemed slightly leery of their fellow bat pony Guards. It was in the way they stood, the slight placement in their hooves and drift of their gaze, 'Something big has happened here in Canterlot, but what?' Prey thought.

The far exit opened before Prey could hypothesise further, and his eyes immediately snapped to the grey maned unicorn who stepped through. He was dressed finely in a suit jacket and wore a look of bored haughtiness on his long muzzle.

"Ehem," He cleared his throat, "Presenting her Royal majesty, Lady of the Night, Mistress Nocturna, Lady Protector, rightful ruler and Heir to the Throne and dierarchy of Equestria, Princess Luna of the Night." He announced.

'Princess Luna?! Didn't she die a thousand years ago?' Prey thought in shocked disbelief.

Both doors swung open, and in strode the formerly deceased Princess of the night. Her dark mane was a dark pool of flowing stars, and her long horn was held high as she marched in.

From the moment she entered, there was an almost unnerving air that clung to her, something that couldn't be properly described. Not something you would ever be able to put your hoof on. Just the niggling sensation in the back of your mind that you were in the presence of something dangerous and not all together equine.

Maybe nobody else felt it, but Prey knew it the second his eyes rested upon the alicorn.

'Alicorn.' The mere word instilled fear and made Prey want to curl up and hide.

Prey hated ponies for their gifted station in life. He hated unicorns the most out of the three pony tribes. But that was nothing to how he hated and feared Celestia, although in a more broad and abstract way.

He had never even been within a hundred miles of the sun queen. But it had been the Resistances biggest unspoken fear, of what would happen if Celestia ever bothered to notice them and took the field.

It is impossible to overstate how much the Resistance had feared the Solar alicorn. All of their propaganda revolved around pulling down her and what she ruled, but deep down they were afraid. And why wouldn't they fear and hate her? She was so far above them they couldn't even see her.

They told themselves comforting lies to bolster their courage; "She's not here." "She won't come." "She doesn't care." "We're safe here." "She won't find us." "The stories aren't true." "She's just a liar." "The Sun Wolf..."

But now before him stood another alicorn, the second one in existence. And if she was anything like the stories about her sister, able to warp reality for fun with powers that lesser mortals could barely imagine. Prey's head was reeling with the implications, thoughts racing frantically at break neck speed.

Princess Luna. A joint ruler to Celestia, her long lost sister. Nightmare Moon and what Night Watcher had said, 'Her return is nigh.' If Luna didn't die, then was Nightmare Moon also alive? No, that didn't fit, Luna was Nightmare Moon. But no longer.

'Celestia did something. Returned her sister. One thousand years. Sun Celebration happened recently. Luna is linked to the thestrals. Night ponies and Princess of the Night. Celestia didn't send for me, so Captain Valour didn't report in. Luna had me brought here instead, not the sun tyrant.'

As a prisoner, Prey was likely one of the only people in Equestria who'd been unawares of the reemergence of the moon deity until right this very moment.

The lightning quick connections took only two seconds, as Prey stood there staring as Princess Luna strode into the centre of the room with fluid grace, and up onto a raised dias. With a flick of her long horn, a glowing blue throne made of magic popped into existence. She sat, head high as she peered imperiously down like some giant bird of prey at the assembled Royal Guards, who were all bowing. And Prey, who was not bowing.

"Does thou not kneel before thy princess?" Princess Luna boomed, voice loud enough to hurt Prey's ears. He didn't answer, still frozen as he stared wide eyed at the dark blue alicorn towering above him. Her magical throne was more than ten hoof lengths away, but it felt like she was towering right above him.

A Guard reached over and pushed his head down, "You need to bow in front of the princess, kid." The Guard muttered. Prey hardly even noticed the Guard's touch.

The smallest smile of amusement flitted across the princesses' muzzle, "We see thou art struck speechless with wonder. It is a refreshing prospect to behold, when held up against the screams of terror. Never the less, onto weightier matters, we have business with thee."

All at once it came to Prey why he had been brought here, 'It's the same reason Captain Valour fetched me from Dreverton, I had expertise he wanted. Something similar must be true here.'

"Princess Luna." Prey squeaked, then as a few Royal Guards worked hard to stifle laughter, Prey hurriedly cleared his throat and tried again.

"Princess Luna-" That 'Princess' bit stuck in his throat, but he carried on:

"-What task is it that you want me to do for you? I am but a lamb, surely there is little I can offer somebody like you." He said. His hooves did not tremble.

"Thou art well spoken for a lamb. We commend thee, but thou art also mistaken and sell thyself short. There is much that thou mayst do for us." Princess Luna replied in the same booming voice.

Prey winced at the volume, but managed the discomfort off his face. Never show weakness of you can help it. If Celestia was the Sun Wolf, then right now he must be facing the Moon Wolf. The sense of invisible danger still exuded from her presence. Prey licked his lips, "Well your majesty, I suppose that depends on what it is exactly that you want me to do."

"Excellent!" Princess Luna announced with a smile, "We knew thou wouldst be eager to serve ponykind in what ever capacity was offered to thee. Let us proceed to-"

"Forgive me, but you misunderstood me Princess Luna," Prey interrupted quietly, yet all heard him, "I never agreed to anything. I was just asked what you wanted." He stated calmly. It had taken all of his courage to say that.

The room went deathly quiet. Prey could see the looks of disbelief that he had dared to interrupt the Princess reflected in the faces of the Guards. But Prey had to know what sort of enemy he was dealing with here, that and the mere idea of serving the new joint ruler of Equestria made him want to vomit.

Princess Luna seemed to grow bigger as she drew herself up and took a deep breath, and all around the room the Royal Guards braced themselves.

"THOU DOEST NOT INTERRUPT THY PRINCESS WHEN SHE IS SPEAKING! WE ART THE RULER OF THE NIGHT. WE HAVE A RIGHT TO THY SILENCE AND RESPECT! WE HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN ONCE BUT IT SHALL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN!" Princess Luna roared in a volume so extreme that it could only be magical.

The backlash physically picked Prey up and tossed him almost three yards back, where he lay curled up on himself, trying to block out the awful noise. His ears hurt and his head rang something fierce. 'Oh. So that's what I'm dealing with.' He thought.

Princess Luna blinked and sat back down, enormous dark wings refolding themselves. Taking a deep breath, she composed herself, "Ehem. My apologies to you all, that was most unbecoming of us." She coughed.

"It was nothing your majesty." The two bat ponies on either side of her magical throne murmured.

Prey squinted as he got shakily to his hooves. He felt dizzy, every word they spoke echoed oddly and he could only hear through one ear, 'Burst or damaged ear drum on the left side.' Prey noted distractedly. He didn't have time to spend dealing with that, he needed to focus here. At least he wasn't crying like some pathetic cry baby.

"My apologies as well Princess Luna, it seems prison has left me irritable." Prey apologised, only slurring his words slightly.

Princess Luna nodded magnanimously, then coughed again and gestured the bat pony on her right forwards, "Yes, well. Ehem." She cleared her throat. Her words sounded flustered, but Prey felt sure it was no more than an appearance the alicorn chose to put on. "Captain Nighthawk, if thou wouldst kindly read him in?" Luna asked the Guard standing next to her throne. A look went around the room and there were a few raised eyebrows at realisation of the word: 'him.'

"Of course princess." The grizzled looking bat pony answered. He stepped forwards and pulled out a scroll from his armour. Sitting on his haunches, the bat pony known as Captain Nighthawk unrolled it and began to read out loud clearly. Apparently, those slit eyed pupils let him read in the gloom.

"Her Royal majesty, Lady of the Night, Mistress Nocturna, Lady Protector, rightful ruler and Heir to the Throne and dierarchy of Equestria, Princess Luna of the Night, " He began, repeating the titles from earlier.

"With the military authority granted her, hereby orders the creation of a sub section of the newly created Division of the Royal Guard, the Night Guard, to be headed up under supervised direction and under the direct command of the Captain of the Night Guard, Nighthawk, to assist with the defence of national security, secrecy, and protection of the crown. This new division, to be known as ISND, the Intelligence and Secrecy Night Division, is in effect immediately. All posts and positions are by approval of Princess Luna, the Night Guard Captain, or their duly appointed representative."

With that, Captain Star Wing rolled the scroll back up.

"Please forgive me for asking, but it didn't make any mention of your sister in there. I mean, Princess Celestia is your sister, isn't she your majesty?" Prey asked as meekly as he could stomach. Using the words Princess and Celestia in the same sentence left his mouth tasting of ashes, but he had bigger issues right now. His emotions wanted him to shout and scream at this Princess Luna, but the desperate need to live kept his mouth in check.

"Tia, we mean our royal sister, Princess Celestia, has given us permission to do as we believest best in this matter and expressed her heartfelt support of our proposal. We believest it to be sound and it offers great potential for the future." Princess Luna replied stiffly.

Stiffness at the mention of her sister? Some resentment there? No, it was directed at him for daring to ask whether Celestia was her sister. 'So,' He thought, 'You want to exercise you authority, and Celestia gave her younger sister her blessing to do so. You want to prove your worth to the Sun Wolf, desperately, but she doesn't think your suggestion holds any merit. But it costs her nothing if you fail, so she told you to go ahead.' Prey thought. His new headache was getting worse.

"You want me to serve under your hoof in this new ISND you've just created," Prey started carefully, "I must respectfully ask Princess Luna, why?"

Princess Luna frowned, and for a moment Prey held his breath, but then she shrugged, "We suppose that thou hast asked a valid question of why we wouldst have thee. It is for a cause most noble." She announced with pride.

"We have been searching for those who wouldst be worthy at a chance of redemption. Thou wast in prison, yet thou couldst, if offered the chance, right thy wrongs and emerge a new pony. This is an opportunity not granted to many, yet we know thou art one of the few who would embrace the chance. Except villains most foul, all who are truly willing should be offered the chance at redemption. This we firmly believe." Princess Luna told him, offering what was probably meant to be a benevolent smile.

Redemption?

Redemption?

Prey's face twisted, 'This again?!' He thought murderously, 'They think I need to repent and change, and that I should serve them to do it. What's wrong with them? Are they all insane? I'm not the one who needs to change! You're the ones who caused all of this. Everyone who died" All of this is all your fault, not mine!'

"Redemption?" Prey spat, unable to keep up the polite mask as fear and hate finally got the better of him, "Be honest here Princess, you just want me for what I can do. I don't know what your reports said on me, but whatever you found must have been something you wanted. You're just using your power and influence to get it, and threats to ensure I comply." Prey squeaked furiously. Then slapped a leg over his mouth in horror.

Prey never let emotions cloud his judgement and dictate his actions. Never. But these were so strong that they overwhelmed his usual survival instincts, caused by years of hate finally bubbling over. But with the hate, came the terror.

To the observers, Prey's outburst probably didn't appear any worse than a particularly angry child. But to Prey, it meant he'd completely lost control of both himself and the situation. That feeling of helplessness was almost as terrifying as the being sitting in front of him.

Princess Luna frowned again, but it wasn't in outrage with like Prey had feared. Annoyed yes, but angry? No.

Waving a hoof to the Royal Guards who'd stepped forwards, or more accurately the Night Guards, to stand down, she addressed Prey imperiously, "Thou art too young to think thou knowest anger and resentment, and thou wouldst do well to lay it aside lest it brings thee grief as thou grow up. This we know. Also know this," Her gaze turned icy, "Lamb or not, we know that thou clearly understands right from wrong. Thy disrespect will be forgiven this once, but let it not happen again." Princess Luna warned.

'Just like every other pony she rules over, they all think respect is their automatic privilege.' Prey thought, disgust mingling with dread. His legs trembled badly, but he refused to sit. He needed to remain strong right now.

Prey took a shaky breath, and made his tone as polite as he could, "Since I'm so small and young, what happens if I decline your offer, your majesty? Your ponies have chained me and imprisoned me, dragged me about to their wishes, isolated me, and now press ganged me. Will you throw me back into the dark to waste away on starvation rations if I say no, Princess Luna?" He asked, eyes politely lowered.

The Night Guards were getting restless, clearly annoyed by his disrespectful words, even if he'd managed to keep his tone deferential this time around.

"Thou misunderstands. The good captain has already read thee in. A tad unorthodox admittedly, but it amounts to the same as a full swearing in. If it makest thou feel better, thou mayest now consider thy conscription to our new Night Guard Division official, by our own Royal decree. We both know and expect thee to do thy best in thy new calling. Thou wilt see'st fit to thank us in the near future." Princess Luna announced with a smile.

'Oh, I see how it is. Free will is only for those who are born ponies and don't currently hold skills you want.'

Prey gritted his teeth, having to brace his manacled hooves to stay upright under the ringing sound that kept pounding away at his ears, "Alright Princess Luna. Since you know me so well and can decide what's best for me without any of my own input on the matter, then may I present an easy question. What's my name?" Prey challenged.

Princess Luna didn't even notice his impertinence, she seemed to only hear the words, not the tone they were said in. Luna blinked at Prey's question, "Why, thou art Gossamer of course."

"Gossamer's dead! Stop calling me by that name!" Prey shrieked at her before he could stop himself, then flinched and shrunk back.

Princess Luna paused, looking perplexed rather than offended, "Thou art not Gossamer? Then who is Gossamer..." She trailed off, then rapped her gilded shoe sharply on the dias, "Aha! You have our most sincere apologies, we truly did not mean to cause thee distress. Gossamer was thy father, was he not?"

She lowered her tone into what was probably supposed to be a comforting tone, but coming from something like her, it just sounded creepy, "We didst not spy him with the others, only those we take to be thy brother and mother. We understand now, to return to thy remaining family is thy dearest wish. Separation is cruel, especially for one so young, and death doubly so. Know this though, if thou servest truly and honestly, thou mayest visit them and be reunited. Thy remaining family must surely miss thee, and will stand ready to forgive thy trespasses." Princess Luna said to him.

Prey froze. There was only one scene she could be talking about, and only one way she could seen it, "That presence, those nights. In my dreams, it was you. Y-you, you, you were in my head." Prey murmured, not even noticing the complete inaccuracy of her statement as an even greater sense of fear stole over his wool.

'She was in my head!'

"In thy dreams, yes. Tis' our duty to oversee the land of dreams and keep it safe. It is how we searched for ones who were worthy of a second chance." Princess Luna confirmed with a touch of pride.

'She was in my head, she was in my head! How dare she.'

Prey felt violated and terrified that someone as powerful as Luna could come and go inside his mind at will. The fact that she also took pride in that made him furious. The mind was supposed to be the last retreat, the one place were you were safe. No one understood quite like Prey just what it meant to shatter that last resort of protection. That was one of the reasons Prey had become a mind leech, to protect himself against anyone ever doing that to him again.

It was ironic that he, a master at breaking minds, should be so deathly afraid of the same when he came up against someone like an alicorn.

Against Night Watcher it had been different. Prey could fight back then. He could protect himself. But against the likes of Princess Luna, a literal deity, he would be as helpless as a mouse in the talons of an eagle.

Prey took a step back, then another and another, hardly even realising that he was doing so. Princess Luna paused, "Where art thou going? There is nothing to fear. It is our duty to conquer nightmares. We used the opportunity to see that thee are also pure at heart. Most wouldst be pleased by such a visit by ourselves." Princess Luna told him, a look of slight puzzlement on her almost scarily perfect features.

"You need you to stay out of my head. I want to be left alone." Prey mumbled, taking another step back. The closest Guard took a step towards him, blocking his retreat.

"It is our Royal duty to visit the dreams of our subjects-"

"No, I need you to stay out of my head." Prey repeated, louder this time. He swallowed, then bowed his head until he was touching the floor, "Please. Please just stay out of my head. Please..." He begged.

The words burned in his throat, but he had no choice. 'She's an alicorn, I cannot stop her if she does that again.' Prey realised he could not run. If Luna had invaded his dreams while he was locked in that cell, then distance was obviously no obstacle to her powers.

There was no way to keep her out, and it didn't matter how far he fled. He would have to sleep eventually, and then, then she would get him.

The princess seemed a bit baffled by Prey's entreatie, and she looked over questioningly at Nighthawk. He shrugged, "I have no idea your majesty." He murmured in his gruff tone.

"A strange request. But if that is what thou truly wishes, we see no harm in it. It is but a small boon to grant thee. We will stay out of thy dreams unless we detect thou art being afflicted by a nightmare." She raised a hoof to forestall anything Prey might have to say further, "This is how it shall be. The dreamscape 'tis our rightful domain to rule, and it is not thy place to contradict us." She announced firmly.

Prey swallowed again and forced himself to murmur his thanks, scarcely able to believe that she had actually listened to anything he had to say. 'I can work with this, I can work with this. I'm safe for a little while, at least until I can find some way of protecting my dreams fully. Until then, I cannot afford let myself have a nightmare at any cost.' Prey thought fervently.

"That leaves the question then, what is thy name, if not Gossamer? Thou canst not work within our Night Guard nameless." Princess Luna stated.

Prey sucked in a slow breath filled with bitter resentment. He wanted to reply with with a zebra vulgarity that would have melted paint at Luna once again taking his obedience for granted. But he didn't. He knew he was beaten. There was just no way to fight back against something like an alicorn. He had no choice but to become a slave and serve.

He'd become Prey rather than accept death. He'd killed while still a child rather than lay down and die. He'd fought on when only he remained rather than bow his head and fade away.

Yet now, he would have to kneel and wear the yoke.

But he would do it the same manner that he'd served Captain Valour. Secretly searching for any way to escape, and looking for any chance to cause harm.

"Your majesty, my name is Prey." He answered, eyes still lowered. His voice did not waver.

"Prey? We are curious. That is truly a most unusual name. Tell us why thy parents didst named thee such." Princess Luna ordered.

Prey affected a polite but nonchalant shrug, "I never actually asked them." He replied truthfully. He had never asked them, because they'd never called him Prey. He was wary of lying to the Princess. He didn't know if she had some way of detecting it. So instead, he just didn't tell the full truth so that it probably didn't technically count as a lie.

"Hmm, it seems our curiosity shall go unanswered this night. But enough of this," She boomed, clapping her hooves together with a ring of metal and making Prey wince, "Thy fellow will be here any moment, so we shall abdjourn until he has joined us."

Prey squinted, had he misheard? His hearing was damaged after all, so it was possible, "Your majesty, who do you mean?" Prey dared to ask.

"Why, we hast found another whom thou shalt work with of course." Luna answered cheerily, looking quite pleased with herself. Next to her, Captain Nighthawk smirked nastily down at Prey.

Prey mostly had the captain figured. He didn't like Prey, and only seemed to care what the Princess thought. So it was easy to guess why he might be grinning sharp toothed at Prey.

"I beg your pardon, majesty. But you mean you've been trawling the prisons of Equestria and found other criminals that you now want me to work with." Prey stated, rather than asked. At least he managed to keep his tone submissive, rather than screaming the blatant stupidity of her idea.

"Of course. Did we not explain that earlier?" She asked in frank puzzlement, turning her piercing blue gaze towards Nighthawk to double check.

"No your majesty, you were waiting for the other one to arrive before you explained what their duties entailed." Captain Nighthawk murmured from beside her, still grinning tightly down at Prey.

"Ah, thou art indeed correct my good captain."

There was a knock at the door, and the same grey maned servant from earlier stuck his head in, "They are here with the prisoner your majesty." He announced formally.

"Our thanks Long Scroll. Send them in." She replied.

'This is insanity. She's pairing me with a criminal. A pony criminal. But most importantly, a pony. Pony's who think they're hardened and tough. And one she already knows will be loyal to her. Or worse, someone cunning like me who will play along and put my own schemes at risk. A pony that I'll have to kill. It's going to be a blood bath.'

Perhaps something must have showed in Prey's expression, for a strange look of sly amusement spread across the luna rulers features that made him shiver, "Surely thou didst not think thou wast to be in charge of our new Division? Nay, we have found another worthy individual for that role, for the darkest nights produce the brightest stars. Perhaps when thou art a bit older." She chuckled.

And with that the door behind Prey swung open.