Twilight’s ear flicked when she heard a faint knocking noise from downstairs. She almost missed it because of the snores of her baby dragon assistant, who slept peacefully in a padded basket at the foot of her bed.  

      Another set of knocks emanated from her front door as she pulled herself out of the comfort of her bed. Who would want to come to the library at this hour? She thought wearily.

      She slowly descended the stairs, still not completely awake. “I’m coming.” She called softy.

      A purple glow enveloped the library door and it creaked open, revealing the butter-yellow Pegasus waiting behind it. She shrank back slightly as light flooded out from the library, hiding behind her long pink mane.

      A confused look crossed Twilight’s face. “Fluttershy? What are you doing here at this hour?”

      “Oh, um, I’m really sorry to bother you, but, um, I just thought that since you were the Princess’ student that you might know, so I came to ask you, but I can go if you don’t want me here, it’s just...” her voice lowered in volume as she spoke, eventually trailing off completely.

      Twilight shot Fluttershy a quizzical look. “Fluttershy, what are you talking about? What do you mean ‘I might know’?”

      “There are Royal Guards at Rainbow’s house, and some unicorns, and I just thought because you were the Princess’ student you might know why. I’m sorry for bothering you, I’ll go home now.”

      Twilight’s frowned slightly. She could only assume that the guards were messengers from the Princess, perhaps bringing information on Ash’s death, but they would almost certainly be pegasi, mainly due to their speed, but also because there were the only of the three pony races that could walk on clouds without magical assistance. “Wait! What do you mean unicorns?”

      Fluttershy shuddered at the thought of the unicorns. Something had just seemed... off about them. “There were two unicorns there with the guards. They looked kind of like guards, but they were wearing black armour and masks that were... scary looking.”

      The pegasus’ description only confused Twilight further. She had spent much of her life in Canterlot Castle, and was quite familiar with the Royal Guards, both pegasi and unicorns.

      “Was there anything else that seemed... unusual?” the unicorn asked.

      “Well... one of the guards was on Rainbow’s roof, and they both had... crossbows.” She shuddered again. Fluttershy loathed violence, and anything that was associated with it. She couldn’t help but imagine a bolt fired from one of the weapons tearing through the flesh of one of her animal friends.

      “What?!” Twilight’s sudden exclamation made the timid pegasus jump. “I need to write to the Princess about this!”

      The unicorn spun about and galloped deeper into the library to find a quill and paper, leaving a startled pegasus at the door.

      Finding where the Eclipse officers were had been the easy part for Ash. The hard part would getting the information he needed, as they probably didn’t keep it written down. And I don’t think they’ll give in if I ask nicely, He thought, Although, it can’t be harder than convincing Rainbow no to come.

      Prior to leaving to find the guards, Ash insisted that Rainbow stay behind, as she was more vulnerable to their attacks. Naturally, she was opposed to the idea of letting him go alone, and overly confident in her ability to defend herself, but he was quite adamant on the matter. Eventually, overwhelmed by logical points from Ash and frustrated from the argument, she reluctantly gave in.

      Ash immediately felt better knowing that she wouldn’t be putting herself in harm’s way, as her undying loyalty would see to that. She was the only thing he had left, and he didn’t feel comfortable with her throwing her life at what he believed was a lost cause.

      He didn’t tell her that, though. He decided to withhold that truth from her, lest it worry her further. I’m risking my life in hope to find something I don’t believe in, and just to make Dashie feel better. The strange things that love makes us do.

      The Eclipse officers had left Rainbow’s home some time ago, and descended toward a spot just outside of the town. The unicorns dismounted themselves from the chariot, and the pair of guards unhooked themselves. They grabbed their crossbows and checked the weapons over for a minute, before conversing with each other and taking flight into the night sky, each travelling in a different direction.

      Must be looking for me. The grey pegasus thought as he watched them. The unicorns, however, did not make any effort to search. They merely waited by the chariot. Ash couldn’t tell if the pair were speaking to one another, due to the masks over their faces.

      What are they up to? He continued to watch for a time, but the unicorns remained where they were, occasionally pacing around the chariot. Are they waiting for something? The guards, maybe?

       Ash decided that this would probably be his best chance to strike, and readied himself for the fight ahead.

      A bright flash of green caused Celestia to look up. She sat in her chambers, mulling over several documents on recent events with her sister. The Princess of the sun spotted the cause of the light, a scroll hanging in mid air. It took a few moments before gravity took hold, but by then the Princess’ magical glow had caught it and was floating the parchment toward her.

      Luna cocked an eyebrow at the sudden disturbance. The letter could only have come from one source, the Princess’ personal student, and her next report wasn’t expected for at least another week, possibly more due to the recent events.

      The letter unfurled magically, allowing Celestia to read. A frown slowly grew on her face as she read. Luna grew concerned. “Tia?”

      Celestia sighed, and then passed the letter to her sister. “I was afraid this would happen.”

      The Eclipse unicorns waited patiently by the chariot, their pegasi escorts sent out to watch for any sign of their target. The stallion of the team remained in the chariot, scanning his surroundings constantly, his gaze never remaining on a single spot for more than a few seconds. The mare paced impatiently around the chariot, sometimes pausing to look over her shoulder.

      “ETA?” the stallion asked.

      Her response was short, betraying her impatience. “About an hour.”

      The silence returned.

      The mare looked back toward the stallion, who hadn’t made any effort to continue the conversation. “This is taking too long.” She stated.

      “So you keep saying.” He replied, in a less than enthusiastic tone.

      “But it’s true! This is disgraceful! I am honestly-”

      She cut herself off and made a swift gesture. Both unicorns froze, listening intently. The mare’s ears twitched. “Did you hear that?”

      The stallion opened his mouth to respond, but the mare cut him off when she caught a flash of movement to her left. She swung around to face her attacker, horn lighting up with magical flames. “HALT!”  She barked.

      A bush rustled.

      “Show yourself! Now!”

      There was a moment of silence, and the mare poised herself to attack, when an owl flew up from the undergrowth, a small rodent hanging limply in its talons. She muttered a curse, and relaxed, soon hearing an all too familiar chuckle from behind her.

      “Jumpy, are we?”

      “Shut up.” She grumbled.

      The stallion laughed again. “You need to relax, you know? You’re getting way to stressed out over this-”

      He screamed mid sentence when something crashed into the chariot at a blinding speed. The chariot was smashed on impact, a large chunk of wood nearly hitting the mare in the head as she ducked for cover. The stallion wasn’t so lucky. he was sent flying across the clearing and into a tree. He hit the trunk with a loud thump and fell to the ground, unconscious.

      The mare jumped to her feet and looked toward the chariot, or what was left. Pieces of wood and metal were scattered across the clearing, and standing in the centre was an ash grey pegasus, his red eyes staring her down.

      A faint chuckle escaped his lips. “A friend taught me that.”

      The mare was quick to react. Her horn ignited and sent a bolt of flame at the attacker, but he had been expecting such a move and evaded the fire with ease. The pegasus surged forward, slamming into the unicorn with his shoulder and sending her sprawling to the ground. She tried to regain her hooves but a swift punch to her gut drove the air from her lungs and sent her back down with several broken ribs.

      The unicorn gasped for air, every breath sending waves of pain through her chest, and her mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood. She felt the mask ripped rudely off her face, pulling painfully at her mane. She looked up at the pegasus, eyes blinded with tears of pain. A pair of red orbs stared back down at her. She fearfully realised that she was at his mercy.

      “I hope you didn’t miss me.” He sneered.

      She didn’t respond with words, instead spitting on him. He frowned.

      “Let’s get straight to it then. I have some questions, and you have some answers.”

      The mare tried to charge up a spell, but the glow from her horn was painfully obvious, eliminating any hope of discretion. A burning pain erupted from one of her hind legs, and a loud snap filled her ears. Her concentration wavered at the sudden pain, cancelling the spell.

“Oh, no you don’t!” the pegasus growled.

      She glared at him, tears now running down her face freely. For a moment she thought she saw a hint of regret in his eyes.

      “Who are you?” he asked.

      “I’m not telling you shit! Just kill me already.” she hissed.

      He uttered a shot bark of laughter. “Kill you? I’m not going to kill you.” A disturbing smile appeared on his face. “Tell me, how precious is you horn to you?”

      Her eyes widened in fear when she realised what he had planned. Her magic was everything to her, it defined her, and she couldn’t imagine how the other ponies could live without such a thing. To be robbed of her magic would be worse than death.

      His smile widened when he saw her reaction. “Now you understand. Now I’ll ask you once more. Who are you?”

      She hesitated. Torn between losing her magic and betraying everything she stood for. He frowned. “Fine, have it your way.”

      He forced her head into the dirt and placed a hoof at the base of her horn, gripping the upper end in his teeth. Slowly, he applied pressure to the appendage, and it began to give. Normal ponies wouldn’t have a chance at breaking the horn off a unicorn’s head, but she had seen what he did to the guards back in Canterlot. This was no normal pony, and any doubt she had that he wouldn’t be able to break it vanished.

      “NO!” she screamed, “Stop! Please! I’ll talk!”

      The pressure on her horn lifted and she found herself looking into those red eyes again.

      “I want to know everything.”

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. Especially that last scene. Ash is Real charmer, ain't he? Don't forget to rate, track and comment. Especially that last one, it really helps to know what you guys think.

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