The wind stung Ash’s burns as he flew. The wounds healed quickly, but still had a way to go, and to add to the agony, there was an intense pain in his left hind thigh. He glanced back at the metal bolt protruding from his flank. Upon jumping out the window to escape the pair of unicorns who had hunted him down, the grey Pegasus had attracted the attention of a pair of Royal Guards. Both were armed with crossbows, of which they were trained to use.

And they were trained well.

Ash had felt the first bolt fly past his head, and couldn’t help but cry out when the second had struck him. He didn’t waste any time, and gave every ounce of energy available to getting him as far away from his attackers as possible, his wounds burning with every movement. Luckily, the Princess’ assassins hadn’t followed him, for the effort had left him out of breath and turned the joyful act of flying into an unforgiving torture.

His thoughts drifted back to Rainbow Dash. Fear crossed his mind when he realised he hadn’t seen her escape. Is that why they haven’t followed me?

Ash’s fear subsided when he heard a familiar beating of wings behind him. It had to be her, nopony else could have caught up to him that easy, and the guard dog in his head hadn’t sounded the alarm. He turned his head around again and, as expected, spotted a rapidly growing cyan blur. He slowed his pace slightly, easing the strain of his flight. Rainbow caught up to him with ease, leaving a brightly coloured trail in the night sky.

She pulled up alongside him and matched his speed. He looked at her for a moment, waiting for her to speak, but the cerulean mare was busy examining his burns. Her eyes widened when she saw the crossbow bolt protruding from his flank. Rainbow glanced back and forth between the wound and Ash’s face, her own holding an expression of shock.

With a slight tilt of his wings, Ash descended to ground level. His hooves touched the grass with a barely audible thump. As soon as he landed, a lance of pain flared through Ash’s body, and he had to fight to stay upright. The burns were almost completely healed, and fur was returning to the damaged areas. It was strange to watch his body change so rapidly before his eyes.

The crossbow bolt was a different matter. Ash guessed that the metal bolt was preventing the wound from healing. He reached back and grasped the bolt in his teeth, the wound protesting fiercely. He took a moment to brace himself, and then whipped his head back, praying that the tip wasn’t barbed.

Ash couldn’t help but groan loudly at the feeling of the metal ripping out of his flesh. He cast the bolt aside, just as Rainbow landed next to him. “Are you ok?”

He forced a smile. “I’ve been better.”

The grey Pegasus glanced back at the hole the bolt had left. It was gone, some bloodstained fur the only sign it had ever existed. Rainbow spoke.

“What are you going to do now?”

The question caught Ash off guard. He had only planned to far as to speak with Rainbow, and that part had ended disastrously. He fell back on his haunches, looking at the grass, taking a moment to think.

“What did that mare say?”

“Huh?”

“Just before they attacked. She said she was Eclipse, the Princess’ something or other.”

Dash raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Well, what is Eclipse?”

She shrugged.

“The Princess sends them to kill me, not her guards, so they must be important. They must know something.”

Rainbow realised what he was planning. “Wait wait wait. You want to go back to the ponies that just tried to kill you? Are you insane?!”

“They have to know something about me.”

“But they’ll kill you!” she cried.

Ash remained adamant in his decision. “I don’t know what’s happening to me, Dash, but they might. There could be a cure!”

“I am not a disease. There is no cure.”

Ash slammed his hoof into the side of his head, wincing at the sudden impact. “Fuck off!”

Rainbow shrank back from the sudden display. “Is... is it talking to you?”

“Yeah,” Ash sighed, “But just forget about it. I have to find answers.”

Rainbow Dash’s ears drooped, and she looked into his eyes. “I don’t want to lose you again.” Her voice was barely audible, but the statement had a huge impact on Ash, but still wouldn’t change his mind.

“You won’t.”

Dash didn’t respond.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” He performed the necessary gestures, and although he feeling quite silly doing so, Rainbow visible improved.

Ash looked up at the moon, which rested high in the sky, lazily making its way toward the horizon. It was going to be a long night.

Fluttershy approached Rainbow’s cloud home, constantly checking over her shoulder. She didn’t like being out in the dark, but Rainbow Dash needed a friend, weather the cyan mare knew it or not.

That’s more important than any of my silly fear-

She yelped and sped to a nearby cloud when something brushed past her. Poking her head out of cover, she felt instant relief when she realised that it was merely a bat. She attempted to apologise for getting in its way, but the bat either didn’t hear or didn’t care, and continued on its way.

Summoning her courage she left the cloud and braved the dark night. Soon enough, her efforts were rewarded as her oldest friend’s house came into view.

But Fluttershy’s courage began to drain as she realised something was wrong.

A chariot was parked out the front of the house, and an intimidating looking Royal Guard stood inside. A second guard stood out the roof of the cloud house itself, brandishing a nasty looking crossbow. Fluttershy’s shrank back in fear when a pair of dark clad unicorns exited the building. The intimidating masks they wore were enough to make the remainder of the yellow pegasus’ courage evaporate. She had never liked the guards, as she was a pacifist and opposed to anything involving violence, and there was something about those unicorns that put her off.

But what about Rainbow Dash?

Fluttershy couldn’t leave her there. What if she did something wrong and they were there to arrest her... or worse. She whimpered at the thought. She didn’t want to leave her friend there, but she couldn’t find the courage to face the guards, let alone those unicorns.

Twilight!

Twilight is the Princess’ student. Maybe she knows what’s going on.

Without a second thought, Fluttershy sped off toward the Library as fast as her wings could carry her.

“Backup’s on the way.” The mare said.

The stallion acknowledged her with a grunt.

“So now what? We just wait?”

The stallion nodded.

The mare stomped her hoof on the cloud, the soft surface giving off a slight puff. “You know he’ll be long gone by the time they get here.” She growled.

“And where’s he got to go?” the stallion turned to face his companion, “He’s wounded with nowhere to go, and we’re closing in on him like a noose.”

The mare didn’t respond. The mask covered her face, hiding any expression from her companion, but he could still tell she was extremely irritated.

“He’s also got the mare with him, she’ll slow him down. And who said he’ll run?”

“Of course he will. He knows we’re here for him.”

“And he should have known we would be here. He had to have known we’d look for him here,” the stallion gestured toward the cloud house, “but he still came.”

The mare stayed silent.

The stallion waited a moment to see if she would speak. When it looked like she was done he turned away and moved toward the chariot.

“Why are we doing this?”

The mare’s voice stopped him in his tracks. “What do you mean?”

“This assignment. Why are we after this guy?”

The stallion sighed. “You got the same brief as I did. He killed three guards, and Celestia wants his head.”

“But why? Why send us? You get a rampaging dragon, you send Eclipse. You get a Nightmare Moon terrorist cell, you send Eclipse. This guy just killed a few guards and Celestia sends us to deal with him.”

“Weren’t you paying attention in there? That firebolt should have killed him, yet he still has it in him to escape, and take a fucking crossbow bolt!”

“Celestia’s sent her guards to take down stronger magicians that can do more than that.” The mare retorted, “Remember that dragon Dust took down a couple months ago? The Princess only sent a single squad of Eclipse for it, but she’s got our entire organization after this guy. Doesn’t that seem weird to you?”

The stallion thought for a moment. His companion did have a point. “Yes, it does seem weird, but I only know as much as you do, but I can guess that this Pegasus is more dangerous than we give him credit for.”

It was obvious to him that the mare wasn’t satisfied with the answer, but she held her tongue. He turned and trotted towards the chariot, letting out a loud whistle as he did so. The Pegasus guard on the roof jumped into the air and glided down.

The stallion took a seat in the chariot, and looked back at the mare, who hadn’t moved.  She was snapped out of whatever trance she was in when he called out to her.

“C’mon! We have work to do.”

A/N: Thanks for reading! Don't forget to rate/track/comment!

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