The massive, and crowded gathering hall was ablaze with countless shouts, yells, and sometimes even screams. All of those in attendance wishing that their voice be heard, some even going to the lengths of calling down vulgar statements to silence those that attempted to speak over them. Nothing seemed to be easing the situation at hand, as the many fires that burned both in the middle of the hall, and those ignited by flaring tempers only exacerbated the chaos of the room, not allowing one voice, or one solution to be heard. This was the Minotaur way of dealing with political, social and local matters. to assert your own opinion loud enough to were enough in attendance took notice, and started yelling it with you, or you sounding intimidating enough, that others would dare not oppose you. There was one amongst the herd of bovines that did not shout, he did not yell, he wasn't even standing on the finely polished hooves of his feet. He just sat there in his chair, letting the copious amounts of incoherent voices wash over him.

   "Ambassador Onyx Thorn." A smaller Minotaur said as he leaned down, having to speak directly into the ambassador's ear to get his attention. Onyx Thorn, did only a small head movement, and looked to the side with his eyes to let the young bull know that he had been heard. "I doubt there will be any progress tonight sir. Why not head home, get some rest. I will report on whatever decisions are made here." Onyx did not respond at first to the advice his aide had given, though it was a decent idea. The Ambassador to foreign lands just returned his quiet, and furrowed gaze back to the bellowing masses. To a newcomer, this would seem like the most destructive, belligerent and chaotic way to conduct a meeting. However, to this tempered Minotaur politician, it was the way of things. He could easily single out individual conversations between groups, he could hear counterpoints to arguments that had been made minutes before, and with minimal effort, he could guess what the next clash was going to be about, even before it started.

   All of this was a simple distortion to him now. As much as he tried to focus on the matters at hand, as much as he tried to take in the mass amounts of information being spewed forth from all directions, all of it became a haze as his mind kept returning to the fact that not only his son was now gone, he would soon have to tell his sister that her child was dead as well. He had to fight off the emotional repercussions of such thoughts in this place. Showing weakness, even in the smallest form would make him the target of already heated tempers, it was something that he could not allow, as he was not in the mental condition to deal with such stresses. With this final thought, he looked up to his aide, and gave a simple nod, causing the small Minotaur to give him a nodding gesture back, and start to move along the wall, pushing others out of his way to clear a path for his employer. Onyx Thorn took one more slow wide look around the room, and listened to the countless voices once more, before rising to his hooves, and walking the path that the young intern had cut for him.

   "And what is this?" A growling, and booming voice came from the crowd, causing most, if not all those in attendance to come to a rapid quiet. All eyes turned to the back of the room where the question had came from. All falling on a massive bull who slowly came to his hooves, his own gaze locked on Onyx Thorn, who was the only one in the chamber to not look at what silenced the room. "Has our esteemed ambassador become bored with us? Or perhaps he is going to fill his over sized gut with a hot meal? Then maybe lay for a while in a large soft bed with his beautiful wife? All the while planning his next exercise in failure." This series of taunts caused a large uproar of laughter from many, while at the same time, making others get a look of disdain, and even loathing over their faces. Onyx was unmoved however, he simply stood with his back still to the monstrous warrior who for some reason had decided to call him out, simply shaking his head at the floor.

   Onyx Thorn's aide was quick to anger, and even quicker to jump to his master's defense. He knew that Onyx Thorn was little in the mind set to deal with such ignorance at this time. So he decided to become the voice that his mentor could not have. "Leave him be Monger!" The young Minotaur snapped as he stepped in front of Onyx, placing his own back to his master's. "The only failure I see in this hall is how you, and your police forces have yet to determine the cause of these unexplained deaths on our borders." After these words were spoke, a dull uncomfortable silence came over the room. Even those who supported Onyx Thorn held their breath as they looked to the very brave, yet very dumb young bull. Then slowly turned their eyes to the master of Minotaur defense and national policing, War Monger. After what seemed like an eternity, someone in the back cleared their throat, snapping Monger out of the dead stare he had on the small bull that just addressed him.

   "Very cute." Monger said as he started to take small steps through the crowd. His heavy red coloured plate armour shifting, and creaking with each step. "I see you taught your new little pet to bark, Thorn." At the end of these words, Monger was standing directly in front of Onyx Thorn's ambitious right hand man, and while many larger bulls in the immediate area took efforts to clear out of the way as the master of the police planted his hooves to the ground, the new politician named Cast Iron remained perfectly still. "Now let's see if he knows how to bite!" As soon as the huge Minotaur finished speaking, he drew his armour clad fist back with great speed. Then just as quickly launched it forward with highly honed precision that was aimed directly at the tip of Cast's nose. This strike would have severely injured, if not worse the small unexpecting Minotaur, the punch did not find it's target however. With a sudden stop, and a loud clap of metal to flesh, Monger found his gauntlet resting firmly in the clenching claw of Onyx Thorn's hand.

   "How very brave Monger." Onyx said in a calm, and disciplined voice as he pushed the armoured fist away with minimal effort. "Using all your great strength to strike down someone who isn't even old enough to start military training yet. Your father must be proud." Monger took a single step back, while slightly baring his teeth at the old politician.

   "At least this young caff has the mettle to stand up for himself, instead of walking away. Unlike you who just throws months of planning out the window because of some minor set back." Monger said as he readjusted his stance, and rolled his shoulders, causing several unseen rippling muscles and bones to crack with intention.

   "Minor setback!" Cast Iron shouted as he tried to step past his master to get back into the conversation, only to be held back by Onyx Thorn's large stiffened arm. While this stopped the small bull from getting within striking range of Monger, it did not stop him from continuing his protest. "Master Onyx lost a son, and a nephew to some Pony assassin! How dare you put such a loss in trivial words!" While his words were deep, and sincere, the words of 'pony assassin' made Monger, and a great deal of others to burst out laughing.

   "Pony assassin?" Monger echoed in a tone that made a mockery of Cast's passion. "I do doubt those four legged grass munchers even know the meaning of the word. Let alone how to actually perform such acts." This caused another series of laughs, that caused Cast to grind his teeth from the anger that was welling up inside him. Monger then made a quick wave with his hand, making all those still chortling to come to an abrupt stop. "The point is." Monger continued while regaining some ground by taking a step forward. "It was the Nations that demanded an alliance with Equestria, and it was you who was sent to make that alliance happen. Now we have the Skylords kicking down our doors, demanding we bring murders to justice we did not know about, and the Dragons laying in wait, just watching for an opportunity to strike at the weakest of the two. The Ponies would have brought stability, and security. Let alone the knowledge of three or more living Goddess's into the fold." Monger pointed a long nailed finger at Onyx, who still stood there with a dead pan glare. "Then you throw it all away because of your unconfirmed suspicion of some phantom killer in Canterlot. It is truly pathetic!"

   In an uncharacteristic move, Onyx Thorn slapped away Monger's hand, then raised his voice to a volume that rivaled his opponent. "Do you really think the Ponies would have come to our aid in a time of crisis? The whole race of them haven't suffered the ravages of war since before your and my father's fathers were born. They rely wholly on the intervention of their Goddess, or a small handful of individuals to make things right when they get out of hand. Their magics have made them soft, and oblivious to the world around them. To the point where the are scared to death of small forests. The treaty would have not only brought a hefty resource exchange, but an open culture exchange, where they would have trotted right in, and started spewing their blinding opinions of how wonderful their world is. Never once wanting to acknowledge the horrors they have with in their own borders, before bringing them into ours, all with a happy smile on their short stubby snouts!"

Monger by this time had crossed his arms over his chest, while listening to the counterpoint Onyx was trying to make. Afterwards however, he simply shook his head and let out a sigh. He didn't see it before, but it was all to clear now, Onyx Thorn had completely let the loss of his family members cloud his mind, and skew his judgement of the Ponies. It was truly something he had thought impossible to happen to such a wise and experienced bull like Onyx. In a way the master of the police forces was rather disappointed, more times than not he had seen Onyx Thorn bring a peaceful resolution to a situation others would have gone to battle over. It was something he did want to bring up here in this hall, so at this point, he decided to keep it a more patriotic debate. "All of that doesn't matter Onyx Thorn." He started in a tone that sounded much softer now that he had come to realize Onyx's reason for closing the peace talks. "All that matters is that the Nations as a whole finally came together to reach one goal. You should have done better to achieve that shared goal." After saying this, Monger gave an ever so small bow with his head, turned around, and walked back to his original resting place, where he was surrounded by others of his group.

   Onyx turned as well when he saw that the discussion was over, those in his camp of thought giving him nods of approval, or small words of praise as he walked past. Cast Iron was quickly back to his side, and was about to open up with a torrent of questions to his master, Onyx just raised his hand to stop the deluge before it started. "Remain here Cast. Listen to what is said, report to me in the morning." The young Minotaur just nodded to his mentor, then turned and slowly made his way to where Onyx had been sitting before. "Oh, and Cast." Onyx said, making Cast stop, and turn back to see what his master needed. "All those here know who you are now. You should be proud of that, and very afraid." The young bull got something that could only be described as a fearful grin, as he turned once again, and walked to his seat. Onyx watched for only a second as his charge took his seat, he then turned and left the crowded hall, stepping out into the night air, where he would make his way home.

*****

   The Ambassador shuffled slowly towards his home, truly not wanting to go in due to the fear that his lovely, yet heart broken wife might still be awake. She took the news of their only child's disappearance rather hard, and worse still, in a fit of sorrow filled rage, took some of it out on him earlier this day. He thought himself a fool, there was a family crisis at hand, yet all he had time to do was inform his mate of over thirty years of the tragedy that had befallen their house, then just as quickly run off to some meeting that could have just as been easily attended by someone in a more reasonable state of mind. He believed that he deserved such a vicious tongue lashing however, for the loss of their son was all his fault. To only make matters much worse, he had still to think of a way to write to his sister to inform her of her loss as well, and that he had failed to protect his nephew on a trip that he told her would be less perilous than wading in a mud puddle.

   The door slowly creaked open, and he only placed his head inside to survey the interior of the main room, before entering entirely. All was quiet, everything was dark, save for the last few smoldering embers of a once roaring fire in the hearth. He completed his entry with the most delicate of steps, trying not to let even the smallest sound come from his hooves as they hit the hard wood floor. His skills at stealth were all but gone now, perhaps in his most youthfull of days he could have entered such a place without sound being his ever incompetent sidekick. Low thumps, and scratches were all he could manage as he traversed the ill lit trappings of his house, all with the intention of making his way to the first door in the hallway, where he knew his wife would be. The door handle made a moderate click sound as he tried to enter without being detected, failing at this attempt as well. Once again he poked his head into the room to take in the environment, only to let out a small sigh as he saw the same darkened theme of the rest of the house, save for his wife sleeping with paced, and small breaths.

   "Stone." She whimpered in a slumber slurred tone. Onyx Thorn stood there for a few seconds to see if she would say something more. However, all that came from her were just the sounds of light breathing, and he thought it best to let her rest. After returning to the main living room, Onyx knelt down in front of his fireplace, and began placing several large logs into the blackened stone alcove. Within only a few minutes, nice warm flames started to crack, and buzz as they caught the kindling. He remained there for a moment still, hovering his large clawed hands over the fire, he then raised to his hooves, and walked over to his favorite chair where he sat down with a long sigh that gave away his age. This is where he started to let his mind go, to finally let his both mental, and physical barriers fall as he watched the flames begin to dance with more, and more intensity. It was when he was about to let the hypnotizing fire take him to his own land of slumber, did he hear a single foot step behind him.

   Trying to move as fast as his aged body would allow, Onyx Thorn attempted to rise to his hooves. However, before he could even put enough weight on the arms of the chair to lift himself, he felt a pain filled grip of a clawless hand take hold of where his shoulder met his thick neck. This was not what brought him to a halt, it was the feeling of a razor sharp edged weapon being placed directly onto his throat. The feeling of the paper thin blade being pressed to his neck made him freeze in his chair, all the while wondering who, or what was there, how long they had been there, and how they entered his home without him knowing about it.

   "Hello Ambassador." A low rasp of a voice said in a growling whisper. This made Onyx swallow hard as it hit him that the person standing behind him knew who he was, taking away the suspicion that this may be some random robber. "You, and I are going to have a little discussion." The voice said again, while releasing his hand from the Ambassador's shoulder, but still applying a vairing amount of pressure with the weapon that Onyx was now able to glance as a black steel hand axe.

   "Who are you? What do you want?" Onyx said, not being able to properly contain the panic that made his words shake, and quiver. All the while his eyes were darting from side to side, and up, trying to see if his attacker was anywhere near his line of sight.

   "Me?" The assailant said. "I am nothing more than a Shadow, an ever willing harbinger of the Night herself. And what I want." After he said this, Onyx could feel the axe on his throat release it's push into him just slightly, as the sound of foot falls came from behind him, to the side, then directly in front of him. What he saw made everything make sense now, the creature wearing the long coat, the hood, and the black featureless mask let Onyx know all to well who was here before him. "Like I said, I want us to engage in a simple discussion, a pleasant trading of words."

   "Shannon Nyx." Onyx Thorn voiced through clenched, and bared teeth, and while he still had the point of the top of the axe pointed at his neck, the sight of this Pony loving Human made him have to restrain from leaping from his chair.

   "I am honored you have heard of me, and even remember my name Ambassador." Shannon said in a very mean sounding, and mocking tone of voice, while at the same time, raising his free hand to his chest, and taking a subtle bow. "I wouldn't think an animal as ignorant as yourself would be able to take in such details as a single insignificant member of our Worship's royal guard."

   "I see." Onyx Thorn said as a smile came to his face, and he leaned ever so slowly into his chair. "I am the dumb animal? You will have to forgive me for not understanding sir, but it seems I am not the one stupid enough to creep into a hostile environment, break into other's homes, and hold a predominant member of society at weapon point. Oh and yes, I know all to well who you are. I made it a point to know all the Alicorns more important little minions. Especially one as rare as you." Still using slow motions, Onyx laced his fingers together, while crossing his legs over one another. "I take it you are here on the behalf of that Sun envious Luna."

   Onyx Thorn's bravery by testing the boundaries of this Human's limits was met by something he was not quite expecting from a person that used such a soft speaking voice, and intelligent words. Shannon made a move that even if it wasn't executed in a room of almost complete darkness, would have still been a blur to the Minotaur's eyes. It was so quick in fact, that Onyx did not realize what had happened until he felt the warm trickle of blood, and the throbbing heat from the wound on his cheek that was caused by the bladed top of the axe, just before it was placed back to it's original position at Onyx's throat.

   "On my world Ambassador." Shannon started with a clenched jaw, trying very hard to dismiss the previous comment made. "There are some of my kind that think a cow's tongue is quite the delicacy." He then pressed the tip of his now blood stained blade atop his axe just a little harder into the Minotaur's neck. "If you ever speak in such sacrilege again. I will demonstrate this fact for you."

   "You have my apologies then." Onyx Thorn said while trying not to imagine having his tongue removed from his mouth, then consumed by a mask wearing axe murderer. However, his thoughts betrayed him, and just for moment his eyes drifted from Shannon, back to the closed door that led to his bedroom, where his sleeping wife lay. Letting the horrid image of the same thing happening to her.

   "Hmm, something of import there?" Shannon asked as he followed Onyx's gaze. "Perhaps something you hold dear? An heirloom maybe? Or precious information I could use to my advantage?" The two men looked at each other now, and Onyx Thorn could swear he could see the pure unfettered grin under that cold looking mask. "Or maybe, just maybe, someone who enjoys the donning of fine jewellery?" With that, Shannon quickly brought his free hand out towards Onyx, and opened it to let a large golden locket attached to a thick gold chain fall from his grasp, then stop in mid air as Shannon made it swing back and forth from one of his fingers.

   Onyx Thorn stopped breathing, his body froze, all save for his eyes that followed the gold trinket that dangled from side to side, for it was the same locket that his wife wore, the one that she never took off, even when she slept. Now every part of the Ambassador's being was telling him to jump from his chair, to retrieve the jewellery, and to crush this thin horror where it stood. The thought of this creature even near his wife, let alone with his hands near her neck filled him with a rage that he had not felt in years. He had to preserve his composure however, he had to remain calm. He knew that if he couldn't over take this Human, and he lost the fight, then there would be no one left to ensure his sleeping mate's safety, and that had already been compromised.

   "Very good Ambassador." Shannon said with an ever so subtle laugh in his voice. "I was hoping that this would throw you into a fit of rage, and force me to drive my blades here down your gullet. Thus allowing me to pursue a more, youthful perspective on how this situation is going to be handled."

   "And what situation is that?" Onyx asked as he finally was able to bring his internal emotional outburst to a dim anger, and settle back in his chair.

   "The Pony situation of course." Shannon paused for a moment to see if the Ambassador would say something to this remark, though the large aged Minotaur remained quiet. "There was an alliance proposed, the alliance was denied. You will return to Canterlot, you will speak to my Worship, and you will apologize to her on the matter of your short sightedness. Then you will offer the alliance again, without negotiation. When all of the proper documents are signed, and all the formal technicalities have been dealt with, this." Waving the locket once again in the air. "Will be returned to you, and you will never see me again."

   "And if I refuse." Onyx said in a tone that was more tuned to when he was dealing with others from across a negotiating table. He saw as Shannon's head slowly dipped towards the ground, then turned to look at him with those unmoving eyes, this was not the best course of action.

   "I entered your territory, I entered your city, then I entered your home." Shannon now started to walk back around Onyx, all the while dragging his axe blade so close to the Minotaur's hide, that it was causing the metal to make audible scratch noises over the unshaved stubble of Onyx's face. "I did all this, without the slightest hint of being detected, and with the most miniscule amount of effort." This is when Shannon stopped, and leaned down to were his covered face was just inches from Onyx's who was still as a statue, all save for his anger shaking eyes. "So either you do as I ask, gain the favor of the Night herself and all under her by doing so, and regain your beloved's lost keepsake. Or I give it back to her myself, and I ensure you Ambassador, you will not want me to do that."

   Onyx Thorn had to blink away the tears that were forming in his eyes, though these were not born from the rage he had been feeling from being talked down to, and manipulated. These were brought on from the thought of this monster once again near his bride. Save for this time his intentions would not be to sneak away with her favorite gold piece, but to end her. He had already lost his son, his nephew, his political standings with many of the ruling members of his race. The thought of losing the one thing he held most dear in this world was something he just could not fathom. With these thoughts thrashing in his mind, he dipped his head down towards his chest, and closed his eyes. "Agreed." He sighed out in defeat, trying not to let the shame of his cowardice over take his decision.

   "Excellent." Shannon remarked as he took the axe from Onyx Thorn's throat, and placed it back on the belt clip. "You will find this waiting for you in Canterlot. After you redeem the mistakes you had made during your prior visit." With that, Shannon placed the locket in his coat pocket, turned on his heels, and simply started walking down the main hallway, as if he was getting ready to leave an old friend's house.

   "I wish to ask you something before you leave." Onyx said as he stood to his hooves. Shannon came to a quick halt, though he did not turn to face the Minotaur, only simply tuning his head to show one of his covered eyes. "Please tell me that not all of your kind are like you. Are there at least some that are some what decent? Or are they all Tartarus born Demons like you?" Onyx swallowed hard after speaking, waiting for a response. He knew the Human's wrath would be quick if this series of questions angered him, as it did when he spoke ill of Princess Luna.

   "Yes, they are." Shannon said in a low tone, almost a whisper to any other that may have heard it. Shannon then turned and started walking back towards the way he used to enter the home without being detected. Though he decided to leave a parting statement that would perhaps enlighten the Minotaur a little more. "Pray to Darkness you never meet us in scale Ambassador. For I assure you, I am not the worst of my kind." With that, the tall, slender masked figure became a dim shadow in the unlit rooms in which he entered, then vanished from his victim's sight.

*****

   The last few days for Devan had been rather quiet all things considered. He was expecting now that his presence in this world had become common knowledge, that Shannon would have tried to make his way towards him. He had even suggested on making his way to the city called Canterlot to bring his mission to an end, though several Ponies that had just come from there had informed him that there was quite the situation in the capitol, as many of Princess Luna's guardsmen had been injured, and the Human one had been gone for some time. Thinking on this made him chuckle several times, as it reminded him of his and Shannon's days in Floor Thirteen, and how more often than not, Shannon would be the reason that many that had nothing to do with the job at hand, suddenly became injured, or just vanished.

   He couldn't hate the waiting he had to do however. All the citizens of this town were more friendly than he was used to, sometimes bordering on the point of suspicion on his part. It just wasn't something he was used to, the populous here gave favors almost without thinking, nor did they truly want anything in return for their services. Even most of the shop owners would give away items at random for free, or just make up some arbitrary pay as you go plan, or a tab that was to be paid at the consumers leisure. The other Ponies he had met did well enough to help him, and explain certain situations, or even social taboos that he would have committed. The most helpful in his eyes however, was Fluttershy. She was the most impartial to the goings on in any given situation. While the others would explain things to him, they would always add in their own personalities to what was there. Rarity always broke everything down to a fashion show, Pinkie was to ADHD to finish a sentence half the time, Rainbow Dash was positive everything could be turned into a competition at some point, and Applejack, besides her rural demeanour, saw most things as a business opportunity.

   Fluttershy to him was the most calm, and observative of the group. She took in all factors, and details that most would miss, and then try to process them in the most logical manner. She had a repor with most all the other Ponies that made her approachable, yet not in the least bit intimidating, and if she could just shed that shy nature, and fear of, everything. Devan thought honestly she could become a world class assassin, and spy with little training. Still he wondered why the soft eyed yellow pegasus was on his mind so much as of late. He knew that it was her that offered him a place to stay, and over the past couple of days, the two had spoken quite a bit on all sorts of subjects. Or, it could have been the fact that as he was sitting there on her porch, he had a very revealing view of her backside.

   Applejack had come over earlier, and had agreed to help her friend with some basic gardening needs in Fluttershy's personal vegetable garden. Devan offered to help as well, but when they were working, he used one of the tools to kill a spider, and Fluttershy had given him a look that made him feel like he had punted a puppy into a wood chipper, so he decided to let her and her friend deal with the plants, and bugs. However, from where he was sitting, Fluttershy was several meters in front of him, and when sometimes when she was digging around in the dirt, or grabbing weeds with her mouth, she would bend over, while placing her yellow rump into the air. Upon doing this, her motions would cause her hips to sway back and forth, making her long groomed tail swish from side to side, every second or so, giving him a rather full, and gratuitous glance at parts of her body that most women would take great precautions to not show in public.

   He didn't know why he was staring at her in such a way, and even more so why he felt waves of guilt wash over him as he did so. On Earth, he was never embarrassed to glare at a woman, it was a tactic he used over, and over again to gain the attention of a target he was trying to get close to, or if he just wanted to have sex with them. This was different for him though, while if he knew the person of his stares was going to look at him, he would let it be made known that he was doing so, but whenever he thought for a second that Fluttershy was going to look in his direction, he quickly snapped his head, to where he was looking in any other direction, instead of at her. This went on for several minutes, and Devan even began to enjoy the view he had, until he felt the sudden, and constant feeling of something thumping on his foot.

   Looking down, he could see Fluttershy's pet, Angel Bunny. The two exchanged glances at one another, then Angel got a mean look on his face, while at the same time pointing a paw over at Fluttershy, while shaking his head. The little rabbit then crossed his arms over his chest, and shook his head from side to side with closed eyes.

   "Listen buddy." Devan started, not quite sure why he was about to have a conversation with a tiny bunny. "I got a lot on my mind, and I have a lot of stuff to do. So if I want to sit here and look at a cute butt, then that's what I am going to do, and I don't need any shit out of you. Now go eat a carrot or something." With that, Devan looked away from Angel, and back to the gardening mares. Angel got a deep furrowed brow of anger as he was dismissed by his master's new friend. So he reared his powerful back leg back as far as it would go, then released it in a swift kick, that made a small thud noise on Devan's boot.

   Devan got a look of confusion on his face as he looked down at the rabbit again after it kicked his leg, only to see Angel with his arms in wide arcs to his sides, and his chest puffed up with heavy breathing motions. "I said shoo!" Devan said as he reached down to make a waving motion towards the rabbit with his hand. Though just as Devan finished making the first waving motion, Angel leaped into the air, and bit Devan right on the knuckle of his index finger. Devan ripped his hand away, and pulled it to his chest with a teeth mashed silent groan of pain. He looked at the bite mark, and while there was no blood, or breaking of the skin, the area was red, and now had large indentations of Angel's bucked teeth. "Oh you are done!" Devan exclaimed in a voice that was meant to contain his anger at the now smiling bunny, though not loud enough for Fluttershy, and Applejack to hear. The enraged Human then reached down, and tried to snatch up the biting rabbit, Angel was quicker however, and started to run away, making Devan jump to his feet, and follow Angel in chase.

   "So you kinda missed the gathering at the barn the other night Fluttershy." Applejack said, breaking what was otherwise a long silence in the two mares conversation. "Took notice our new friend Devan wasn't there either." This caused Fluttershy to stop dead at what she was doing, while her eyes popped open, as she stood there with a weed in her mouth.

   "Oh, umm, it was nothing really. I was just kinda tired." Fluttershy answered without looking directly at Applejack, she just grabbed the weed again, and pulled it slowly from the ground.

   "Uh huh, tired eh? And just what happened that would make you all so tired?" Applejack responded with a half lidded gleam in her eye, while at the same time wiggling one of her eyebrows up and down. However big Fluttershy's eyes were before, they grew to at least two times that size as she took in what Applejack was getting at.

   "What? Oh no, Applejack! H-how could you say such a thing? W-w-we were just cleaning the cottage, and then we made dinner. And umm, I guess after that, we were just tired is all." At this point, Fluttershy's voice had turned into a small, cracking version of itself, and she could feel her entire body go flush as the thoughts of what AJ was suggesting pounded their way into her mind.

   Applejack just let out a long, loud laugh at her friend. "Alright Sugar, you know I was just fooling with you. It's just when you don't show up to a social, and then everypony knows there is some exotic creature living at your house. Well, folks tend to get certain ideas in their noggins." After Applejack said this, it made Fluttershy get a more worried look on her face than anything. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of her friends thinking she was doing such things when she wasn't with them. "So what do you all talk about anyway. Devan's been here for a couple days now, haven't rightly seen much of him."

   "Well he's just a bit nervous. He told me he was here to see his friend, but was worried about him since we all heard about what happened in Canterlot with Princess Luna." After she finished talking, Fluttershy decided it would be best to maybe let the talk about Devan go. Applejack wasn't on the same thought train however.

   "That it then?" The hat wearing mare asked as her indecent look came back to her face.

   "He's a perfect gentleman!" Fluttershy said in a squeaked version of something that resembled a yell, then shoved a quick push of air out of her nostrils in frustration. Applejack just tried to contain the laugh she was holding in as she planted another seed into the ground, then covered it up. "Although." Fluttershy continued without provocation. "It is very nice having a stallion, err, or I mean, a man, I guess, around the house."

   This made AJ stop digging in the dirt for a second, as her eyes whipped back up to look at her Pegasus friend. "Oh really?"

   "Oh yes!" Fluttershy said in a light voice as she nodded her head up and down. "He can get things from high places for me without me having to fly. And while he's not as strong as an Earth Pony, he can pick up all kinds of heavy objects, and move them for me. Then there's his hands." Fluttershy stopped talking for a short second as it seemed her mind drifted off before she shook off whatever she was thinking, and finished what she was going to say. "Well, you can only imagine what he could do with those."

   "Mmm Hmm." Applejack hummed as she once again tried not to let her mouth blurt out what her head was thinking.

   "Besides, look at how well he gets along with all my animals." The two then took notice of how Devan had gotten up from where he was sitting, and was now chasing Angel around the main yard, then behind the large tree made house. "Aww see, isn't that just precious?" The two watched for a second, then looked at each other and giggled at the scene of Devan and Angel playing chase before they both went back to their gardening.

   Once again Devan, and Angel rounded the house, Devan getting more, and more frustrated each time the small rabbit made an almost ninety degree turn, just before Devan was about to snag him up off the ground. If it wasn't for the fact that the two Ponies were here as well, Devan would have just pulled his gun, and unloaded a clip into the little biting animal. However, since Fluttershy got such a sorrowful look on her face when he used a simple gardening tool, he suspected the look she would give him would be even worse if she saw him mow down her pet bunny with a semi automatic hand gun.

   Another time around the house the two ran, and then Devan saw something to give him an advantage. A bucket was resting on a nail in the side of the house, and just a few steps from him now, was a rake propped up against the trunk. In just a few strides, Devan altered his course, then grabbed the rake in mid stride. With a twirl of the rake as if it was a staff, and even adding in a complete spin to his own step, Devan let loose the rake like it was a spear. The now refashioned tool flew through the air with a great amount of speed and precision, causing a result that not even Devan could have imagined possible. The rake hit the bucket on the wall perfectly, it bounced off it's nail holder where it flew through the air with several spins. It then came to the ground, not with a crash, but a perfect thump noise, as it landed directly on it's top, and completely over the still running Angel Bunny, who had no idea what happened, only that it became very dark, very quickly, and he hit his head on something hard, knocking him back to his hindquarters.

   "Woo! He shoots! He scores!" Devan shouted as he jumped up into the air with an over exaggerated fist pump. "Ah man! Full court shot at the buzzer, and the crowd goes insane!" While saying this cheer, Devan started turning to, and waving at people that weren't there, while every now and again, taking deep bows, and acting as if he was wiping emotional tears from his eyes, even wording 'thank you, thank you' with his lips. Devan then turned his attention to the overturned bucket that contained his prey, noticing that it had started to wiggle back and forth, then he saw one of the edges lift up slightly, showing that Angel was trying to escape his darkened metal prison. Devan was close enough, and quick enough to place his foot on top of the container, even twisting it so the edges dug into the ground. "I've got you now. You little fuzzy biting bunny bastard!" He shouted, tapping his foot onto the metal bottom of the bucket with every other word of his insult.

   Devan was about to reach down and pick up the bucket, and claim his prize. His tuned ears caught the sound of something however, a noise he couldn't quite make out at first. Then the more and more he listened, he began to realize it was the sound of dirt, hitting the inside of the bucket. With a swift kick, Devan knocked away the bucket to see his suspicions were true, Angel had started digging a hole, and was almost completely submerged as a steady rooster tail of earth flew behind him as his little front feet were going as fast as they could.

   All was for naught however, Devan was to quick this time, and was able to snatch up Angel Bunny with a tight grip on the rabbit's back legs. Angel still tried desperately to continue digging, even after he was completely extracted from his escape tunnel, and was lifted high into the air, where he and Devan were now eye to eye. Angel was not about to give up so easily though, he was going to do an upside down stomach crunch, all with the purpose of biting his captor once again, flipping through the air, and hitting the ground running. However, just as he was about to put his plan into action, He saw Devan reach behind his back with a blurred speed he had only seen other rabbits use, then whip out a contraption with a long metal barrel on it, that had a hole going down the center. While Angel had no idea what this was, the look on Devan's face made it all to apparent that it wasn't anything good.

   Devan clicked back the hammer of his pistol, while at the same time blowing some of the long black bangs out of his face with a short puff of air from his mouth. He then remembered the thought he had earlier of having to describe why he was firing his gun to Fluttershy. "No, no, you know what?" Devan said as he placed the hammer back in it's resting position, then holstered the weapon so that he could reach up and grab Angel by his two long ears, flipping him upright, while still keeping his tiny opponent at eye level. "I am going to make a very special dinner tonight. Would you like to know what it is called?" Devan then got a very long, and sinister grin on his lips that seemed to stretch from ear to ear. "Hasenfeffer." As the word came out of Devan's mouth, he started a slow snicker, one that began to escalate into a mild chuckle, then turning into a full blown devious laugh, all the while making Angel's face contort into one of sheer terror.

   Devan came from around the house with a victorious stride in his step. Angel had several times tried to free him self from the death grip that the Human had on his ears, all to no avail. Devan's attention was to enter the house with his small prey, though he became distracted as he heard the two mares in the garden start to clap, and cheer.

   "Yay! You got him." Fluttershy said while still clapping her hooves together, causing Devan to get a boyish smile on his face as he took a respectable bow towards her.

   "Woo doggie!" Applejack shouted in a much louder voice than Fluttershy. "You must be slicker than an ice cube on a frozen pond there Devan." In all their excitement, and admiration of the skills their new Human friend had demonstrated in capturing the quick footed animal, neither of the two mares had noticed Angel desperately trying to grab their attentions by franticly waving his arms in wild, and waving motions.

   "Thank you ladies, you are too kind." Devan said while taking another bow, making sure that the arm he brought up to his chest was the one with Angel in it. causing the bunny to swing back and forth in great arks. "Well, I am going to head into the house, and make something to eat. You two want anything?" AJ,and Fluttershy just both shook their heads with long upward turned smiles. "Well okay then." He said as he started to remove his waist coat by letting one arm slide out, then switching his catch to that hand while letting the coat come off his other arm. "If you guys hear a lot of crashing sounds coming from the house, don't even worry about it. I am kinda clumsy in the kitchen." Applejack gave a small laugh, while agreeing to not fret over it, Fluttershy however, was caught up in something that had taken her off guard.

   She had never seen Devan without his coat off before, she knew that he didn't sleep in it, but he always had it on when he came out of the spare room she had fixed up for him. This was a new sight for her, the black shirt he was wearing was very form fitting, and it had no sleeves. This feature showed off his arms, which weren't as big as she had thought they were. They were long, and slender, the muscles were lean, and each one seemed to twist, stretch, and contract of their own accord as he moved his garment from one part of his body to the other. Devan turned around and started to walk towards the house, and Fluttershy took notice of another feature of his anatomy that she hadn't noticed before, the way his hindquarters fit very well in his pants. Upon noticing this, Fluttershy just kinda stopped moving for a few seconds, as she watched the Human's lower cheeks just move up and down as he walked. Her eyes were so locked in fact, that she had no idea how long she had been sitting there, and in no way noticed that Applejack was staring right at her.

   "Ahem!" AJ coughed out, while rasing her hoof to her mouth. After a few seconds, and getting still no response, she repeated the throat clearing, only with more volume. A few more seconds past, and Applejack's eyes moved from Fluttershy, to Devan, then back to Fluttershy. "Hey Fluttershy. Really hate to tell you this darling, but I am afraid the forest is on fire." While this was one hundred percent untrue, the orange mare was just trying to get a reaction from her gawking friend.

   "Oh, okay. I will do that in a minute." Was what Fluttershy said in response to Applejack's statement, making the Earth Pony raise an eyebrow, and hold back a laugh.

   "Yep, he's a cutie alright." Applejack said with a sly tone. "Athletic to boot. You have to be quick on your heels if you want to catch a critter as fast as Angel there. I wasn't quite sure before, but now I think I am going to see if Devan wants to maybe go out sometime." This statement got a reaction from Fluttershy, and then some, as she snapped her head so fast to glare at AJ, Applejack could have swore she heard a couple of of her back bones crack. The look on the Pegasus's face was what really got her though, as it was a mixture of anger, and fear all rolled into one wide eyed expression. "Whoa there nelly!" Applejack said in a nervous laugh. "Just pulling your tail there Fluttershy."

   "Pulling my what? Why, what happened? There's a fire?" Fluttershy started spouting in a panicked voice as she started to realize what she had been doing, and even worse, she had been caught doing it.

   "Think it's time for me to head on back to the barn." AJ said as small chuckles emitted from her mouth.

   "Oh, well you don't have to go." Fluttershy said as she stepped in front of her mare friend. "I was just about to head to the edge of the forest to catch some fish. You could come with me, I mean, if you wanted to."

   "Nah, I ain't much for being a third wheel." Applejack responded as she started gathering up her own tools to place in the saddlebags she had brought.  "You should ask Devan though, I bet he would like it."

   "Well, umm, he said he doesn't like fishing, said it is to boring. Plus I guess he was in his version of the Royal Guard on his world, and they made him fish all the time so if he ever got lost, he would know how to do it. So he said he only does it if he has to."

   "That's all fine and good there Sugarcube." AJ sighed out as the weight of her friends timidness seemed to start pressing down even on her. "But you know, folks like fishing for other reasons as well." Applejack looked over at Fluttershy, and saw just a glossy blank look in her eyes, making the Earth Pony shake her head. "Look, just be careful is all I am saying. Those Diamond Mutts might still be in the area."

   "O-okay." Fluttershy said in a small quivering voice, as the thought of being captured like Rarity, or chased to no end by those greedy animals made her think of actually not going. She needed the fish for her ranch however, and decided to go ahead and go. "Thank you for your concern though, and thanks for the help today."

   "Anytime Fluttershy." Applejack said as she tossed the saddlebags over her back, She then reached up with her hoof,and tipped her hat to the yellow mare, before walking away in a quick step. This left Fluttershy alone there in the garden, watching her friend become a small orange dot down the road, then turning towards the house, and swallowing a lump of fear that for some reason caught itself in her throat, before walking towards the door.

       Devan was now in the kitchen, placing several pots and pans on the counter, while whistling 'Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah.' After placing all the containers on the counter he was planning to use, he then pulled a large knife from one of the drawers, making sure the blade rubbed against the wood, so that it made the metal on another object scratch sound, followed by a high pitched ding, causing him to pause for a moment to look at the wide blade with a malicious grin. He started chopping several different kinds of vegetables on a solid wooden cutting board, finishing with two carrots that he quickly diced into medium sized round pieces.

   After finishing with the vegetables, he picked up the board with one hand, and moved over to a large polished metal pot that had the lid placed over it, and a stack of books sitting atop the lid. He removed the books, placing them down next to the pot, then quickly ripped the lid away, showing Angel Bunny being contained inside. The tiny rabbit looked up at his captor, then stuck his bottom lip out quite a ways before making it start to quiver. Angel's eyes increased in size to almost two times what they were prior, and he placed his two front paws together as if he was praying. Devan looked into the large swollen black eyes of the bunny that bit him earlier, then he let out a sigh, as his head dropped down to his chest. "Aww, that is so sad." The Human stated in a low somber voice. "Here hold these for me would you?" With that, Devan shoved the cutting board to the edge of the pot, and with the knife, pushed all the vegetables into it, cascading Angel in an avalanche of chopped, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and carrots. After bombarding the bunny with fixins, Devan snatched up the pot lid, and slammed it back into place, while at the same time, grabbing the books, and putting them back to where they were before as well.

   Fluttershy walked into the living room of her home, and only took a few glances around before she saw Devan at the kitchen counter, still whistling his tune. She gained a long smile over her muzzle as she watched him silently for a few seconds. Though within that time, she found her eyes gravitating towards the general area of his buttox, making herself blink several times before making her presence known. "H-hello." She said in her normal quiet high voice.

   This made Devan turn around, and give her a warm smile in greeting. "Hi Shy." He said while leaning back onto the counter, and really wondering why he was trying to make himself look cool.

   "Hey Crey." The Pegasus responded, not knowing that she had rhymed his name, just as he did hers.

   "Nice." Devan said, commenting on the fact that they had just shared a spontaneous moment with their small word play.

   "So, umm, I was going to go to the uh, pond." She stopped her sentence there, she felt very nervous all of the sudden. Like asking him to come with her would be as if she was going to ask him out on a date, and the nervousness exploded into full on embarrassment. "Just thought I umm, would, you know. Let you know."

   "Sure thing." Devan responded while turning back around, grabbing a towel, and starting to clean the knife off. "Just be careful, it's going to be dark soon, and I'll be here waiting for you."

   "Oh, okay, t-that would be nice. I like the idea of you waiting for me." Fluttershy let her mouth fall a gape, and her eyes widened. She could not believe she just said what she did, and the feeling of embarrassment had now turned into a raging inferno, taking the form of a full body blush. Devan said nothing at all to this, and he was very happy that the Pony could not see his face, as he too was wearing a new set of rosey cheeks. After what felt like forever and a day to her, Fluttershy could think of nothing else to do, except turn away, and start walking towards the door. Something then suddenly struck her mind, and she whirled her head back around. "Have you seen Angel Bunny? He loves to come with me to the pond."

   "Angel?" Devan answered, using a tone that would suggest he had never heard the word, or the bunny she was asking about. "Umm no, no, I don't think I have, little guy must be hiding somewhere." At that moment, the metal pot with the lid on it, suddenly shook, causing both Devan, and Fluttershy to quickly look at the container.

   "Oh, I really hope he isn't in there." Fluttershy said as she raised one eyebrow, and taking a small step in the pot's direction. Devan made a preemptive decision, and slid over to where Fluttershy had started moving, he knocked away the books, and pulled off the lid, all while gluing a look of absolute shock on his face as he looked into the pot.

   "Well here he is!" Devan shouted as he reached into the pot, and picking up Angel as if he was the most precious thing in the world. "How did you get in there?" While this display caused Fluttershy to sound off a small giggle at the pair, Angel was giving the Human a glare so intense, that if his eyes were daggers, Devan would have been skewed. Angel was quick to jump from Devan's grasp, and hopped to the ground, where he made a bee line towards Fluttershy. He leaped at her, and then buried himself in her mane.

   "He's so silly." Fluttershy giggled again. "Well I will be back in just an hour or two." Devan bowed his head, and gave her a long smile, accompanied by a generous wave. The yellow mare turned around, and started walking towards the door, that's when Angel popped his head out from his mobile fortress, and stuck his tiny little tongue out at Devan. Devan in turn made a quick motion as if he was going to jump at Angel, all while bearing his teeth, and pointing at the taunting rabbit, then placing a thumb up to his neck, and moving it from one side to the other. This series of soundless threats, made Angel get a deeply worried look on his face, then duck back into Fluttershy's mane, as she exited the house.

*****

   Through the abyss of his own making he flew, now truly understanding why the Pegasi took such enjoyment in the breakneck speeds they could achieve in the skies. This was not the sky however, this was Shadow Vein's own personal domain, and to him, it was perfection in execution. There were no winds, no clouds, there were no obstacles to get in his way, or hinder his movement. Here, he could go as fast, or as slow as he wished, all by just simply thinking, and willing it to happen. The only thing that existed in this seemingly eternal void were him, his 'lovelies' as he like to call them, and the uncountable windows to the world beyond this one. Every shadow that cast itself on the real world formed a window that he could peer through, or could be used as a doorway were he could step in and out of at will.

   Often times he would come to a halt during his travels. He would place himself as close as he could to one of these reversed shadows, and simply gaze at the outside world. Ponies and other creatures of the world would walk past him, they would not even take notice of the dark absence of light that they passed, Not even for the smallest second that he was there, looking at them, watching them. It made him smile beneath his shifting mask as sometimes somepony would look at the shadow he was in, making him think that perhaps they could see him in some way, not with their eyes, but some deep seeded fear that there was something lurking there, completely able to take advantage of the situation if it so chose to. To Shadow Vein, it was a euphoric sense of power that washed over him as he saw who ever looked into his world, then see them shudder, as they quickly turned tail, and put as much distance between them and the shadow as possible, all without knowing why.

   It was during one of these times, as he was watching simple Ponies go about their late afternoon, did something he was waiting for come to him in his void. One of his lovelies, shapeless now in this place, whispered to him in a series of words that only he had come to understand, they had found his target. He loved his new friends here in this place, they could help him with goals, and desires that no other Pony in Equestria could even come close to achieving. They did exactly what he asked without question, they whispered to him their love of his great power. They could be anywhere, at any time, becoming a perfect network of unseen spies, and information gatherers that there was no defense for.

   With the lost Guardsman found, Shadow Vein turned away from his subject that he had been studying, making a mental note to see if he could find the Pony again at a later date. He turned in the direction his void bound friends had told him to go, and started floating in a whimsical manner. His pace was slow at first, to where every window into the other world would just pass him by, then his speed started to increase. Faster, and faster the portals would flash by him, until after just a short time, the doorways were becoming a series of solid straight lines, random streaks of light in an otherwise perfect place of darkness.

   It wasn't long before Shadow Vein had to slow himself, as not to pass by the place his Lovelies had told him about, coming to a halt as his ears were filled with words of encouragement to proceed to a small patch of trees that grew on a long vast plain. He didn't quite know where he was, but he knew he was far from his home country, so much so, that when he looked through one of the windows, he couldn't even see Canterlot on the horizon. This made him give a slight chuckle at how he was now truly the fastest thing in the world. No flier, and probably not even magic could carry it's user as far as he could with just the smallest of thoughts. hours of normal travel were just mere seconds to him, and the days themselves were just a small brisk walk.

   Floating closer towards the tree patch, which to him was an open space filled with shadows of all shapes and sizes for him to observe through. He couldn't believe what he was doing, and the thought of it sent shivers up his spine, for there, sitting on a fallen tree, getting ready to make a fire, was Shannon, completely oblivious to what stalked him, just a few short yards away. The rush of being able to sneak up on the one thing in Equestria that he thought could never be snuck up on almost made him laugh. "Hello Shannon." Shadow Vein whispered at the Human as Shannon continued to rub sticks together on the kindling he had gathered, making a grin slide it's way across his covered muzzle as Shannon did nothing to react to what was said. "Let us return home, your Worship wishes an audience with you." As he finished speaking these words, The white maned Pony was about to let his Lovelies lash out from their hiding spaces, and wrap Shannon up in an inescapable cocoon of living shade.

   Just as he was about to strike however, he heard the soothing whispers of his void, causing him to quickly turn his head to view the image of what he had been informed about. There floating high in the tree branches was a ever shifting black cloud, it retained a high altitude, itself sticking to the shadows of the the trees, sometimes even conforming itself to take the smokey shape of a branch, every motion was in reaction to Shannon looking around him, gathering all the details of his environment. Then the cloud came to rest in a thick patch of bushes, and a few boulders, it started to condense, and twist on itself, until finally it took the form of his troop mate, Chaosia.

   At first Shadow Vein felt a small rush of anger come over him. He figured that the Dark Mare was here to either check up on him, or attempt to steal his prize, along with his glory. This was something that he would not allow, this mission was his, and his alone, and he wasn't about to share the accolades that would be showered down upon him by equal, and peers alike. Something caught his eye though, something about the expression she had on her face, it was sinister, cold, filled with a sense of determination. It was studying her face, and body movements did he finally realize that she was going to try and attack Shannon, and while he could have easily stopped her from doing so. The thought of a weakened Shannon made him think it would be easier to get him back to Canterlot, if he so protested. "Hmm, now this is interesting my Lovelies. Let us see what happens." With that, he simply rose to another window, where he had a better vantage point of the unfolding scene.

*****

   After Fluttershy had left to go fishing, Devan decided to take advantage of the now quiet tree cottage, and rest on the couch. Most of this was due to the fact that all in all, it was a rather comfortable piece of furniture, but it was also where Angel Bunny liked to sit, so Devan made sure to rub his feet right where the rabbit's favorite spot was. As he let his body start to relax, he couldn't help but start to grin at his overwhelming victory over the tiny white terror that was Fluttershy's favorite pet. It really wasn't that he disliked the animal, he had quite a bit of personality to him that was not found with most animals of his world, let alone bunnies. Content in the knowledge that he had proven himself as the more powerful individual, Devan let himself get pulled into a nap.

   The sleeping Human's slumber was short lived. Much to Devan's surprize, he was suddenly awakened by the feeling of something pouncing down on his chest, and the sound of a large padded foot thumping on him in his ears. He opened his eyes in a snap, to see that Angel was standing on top of him, franticly beating his feet on Devan's pecs, all the while wearing a look of anxious fear. With no information to ascertain on why the brave bunny was doing this, Devan took it as another attack set on him in his vulnerable state, and took action. The only thing near him at the time was a large fluffy pillow that he was using for his head. He reached back as fast as he could, grabbing the pillow, and swinging it like a hammer with a side arm motion. The soft makeshift weapon found it's target, colliding with Angel hard enough to knock the critter several feet away from the couch, and down to the floor, where he stumbled back and forth, while his eyes rolled around his head like a pair of loose marbles in a glass. "Oh you ready for round two?" Devan shouted as he leaped to his feet, still brandishing the pillow like a blunt force melee weapon.

   Angel just started waving his arms back in forth in a form of surrender. He then started jumping up and down, while at the same time pointing at the door. "I don't speak bunny, stupid!" Devan exclaimed, while getting ready to sit back down on the couch. Angel still trying to convey his message, hopped up on the sofa as well. Angel thought for a moment, then got a bright idea look on his face as he grabbed both of his ears, and pulled them to one side of his head, while at the same time, getting a subtle frightful look on his face, and slowly moving his foot back and forth across the ground. After this, and while keeping his ears over to one side, he made a motion as if he were casting a fishing rod.

   Devan was rather put off at first, wondering if the rabbit was trying to make fun of him in some way. It was when he saw the fishing pole motion, and finally recognized the ear placement did he start to understand. "Yes, Fluttershy is fishing." This made Angel stop what he was doing, and point at Devan with a celebratory look of glee. The white bunny then shaped his face into something different now, a look that made Devan think he was trying to do maybe a frankenstein monster or something. Overall he couldn't guess it, and just shrugged his shoulders.

   While waving his arms, Angel put on the face again, this time puffing up his chest, then he started digging at the ground for a second, only to pull up an imaginary item, that he pulled to his chest, and started to cradle. "Would you just start talking already?" Devan moaned out in a tone of frustration. "Almost everything here can talk perfectly. Just say it!"  The two gave each other a set of mean looks, then Devan paused as he thought he could have heard something, way in the distance, just barely out of his hearing range. Several seconds passed by, and Devan heard the sound once more, a high pitched squeal of some kind. He looked down at Angel who was now almost doing flips in the air, all the while pointing at the door with furious thrusts of his arms.

   Once again, the sound came, a little louder now, and Devan's brow began to contract downwards as he began to take in the hurried game of charades. Then in a flash, the monster face, and the digging made Devan's heart jump into his throat, as he himself jumped from the couch. "Diamond Dogs!" The Human yelled, causing Angel to shake his head up and down, while at the same time, bolt towards the door. Then he heard the high pitched squeak again, and the realization of what it was caused Devan to become a raging conflagration of rage, and malice. Fluttershy was being chased by Diamond Dogs, and those were her screams. In movements that still impressed Angel, Devan let out an incoherent growling yell as he snatched up his coat, and smashed through the door, almost taking it off it's hinges.

*****

   Fluttershy let out another scream of terror as one of her pursuers lept up from the ground, causing her to change course once again. There were five of them now, four of them wearing the normal looking heavy plate armour she had seen before, the fifth was something different however. He was much larger, both in height, and in width. He wore a full body suit that was completely encrusted in dirt stains, both old and new. His fur was a deep brown, shaggy and matted, it had varying lengths over his whole massive body, mostly sticking out in patches from his sleeves, and neck line. His head, and face are what frightened her the most though, for it was him that tried to snag her at first while at the pond, and she could have swore it was a wolf when she first saw him.

   She wanted so bad to leap to the air, and take flight, as it would be the perfect way to get away. She was just too scared, her wings wouldn't open, and she found it was all she could do to make her legs move as fast as they could. For a couple of minutes the team of ground dwelling canines dove, and emerged from the ground, sometimes making a quick grab at the terrified yellow Pegasus. Most of the time they would just jump from their tunnels, and bark or growl, causing her to meep out in a panic, and change directions once again. Fluttershy's heart sank to the bottom most part of her chest when she saw what was ahead of her. A tall hill side that had a towering wall of dirt that became a sheer, and steep face, looking as if it had been dug out by something. The wall was nearly ten feet in height, and she knew she could never climb it, so once again she tried to force her wings to open, so that she could at least leap over the hill, and put a considerable amount of distance between her, and her chasers.

   Her wings popped open, and for a moment she felt a sense of relief come over her as she knew that soon she would be air born, and free of this terrifying experience. With a fast flap of her fully outstretched wings, and a hard bound, the yellow Pegasus left the ground with enough speed to leave a uprising of dust where she once was. She could see herself start to crest over the dug out hill face, and soon after she could see the horizon over the hill. However, all of her hope left her in a flash, as she felt the long dirt crusted claws of one of the dogs take hold of her long swept back tail. The alpha of the pack had launched himself into the air, just as quickly as Fluttershy had, and while he did not have the means to maintain altitude as she did, his reach was much further than any Ponies, and he was able to grab the only thing he could to bring her back down to the ground.

   Fluttershy let out a soft cry of pain as her flight was brought to a sudden end, and she face planted into the ground. Due to the momentum, and speed of which she had achieved before, her landing caused her to slide through the dirt, finally coming to a rest right up against the very hill she was trying to ascend over. Very slowly, the mare recovered from her crash, she had to blink several times, and rub her eyes with her hooves as to remove the large amounts of dirt that had accumulated on her face and muzzle, even having to let out a couple of coughs as some of it had made it's way into her mouth. She then saw the group of Diamond Dogs start to surround her, and she jumped to her back legs, and placed her back to the wall as tears of horror started to build, then flow from her widened eyes.

   "Looks like it gave up, eh boss? What do you want to do with it?" One of the armoured Dogs said as the group began to encompass Fluttershy's position.

   "Shut up stupid!" The one in the dirt covered suit barked out as he reached up and knocked his cohort on the head with a fist that still had strands of Fluttershy's tail in it. "We're not doing anything with her." The leader of the pack gave the one that had spoke a mean glare, then gave the rest of the canines the same look, all while adding in a deep growl. He then looked at the Pony, who was completely frozen in her stance against the wall. With a couple of small steps, he approached her, then knelt down on one knee, and placed his hand up to his chest. "Drill."

   As much as Fluttershy recognized that he was introducing himself to her, she just could not begin to muster the courage to make her mouth move, or cause the sounds needed to say her own name. "You sure this one can talk Boss?" Another one said, confident that he wouldn't get smacked as he was to far away at this point. "I mean, I know it can scream and all, but."

   "Of course she can talk you moron!" Drill growled out again. "All Ponies can talk. Just a matter of getting them to." He turned his head from the one he was scolding, and back to the still very frightened Pegasus who was watching them with unmoving eyes. "So listen Pony, real sorry about all that back there." Drill stated while pointing a claw back to where the whole ordeal began. "Like I said before, I'm Drill. I investigate above ground matters, and I would like to ask you a few questions."

   While her entire body was still completely unable to move in the presence of this massive creature, Fluttershy was able to feel her throat start to loosen up. "F-f-f-f-fl-flu-flutter-fluttershy." Was all she was able to get out, and even that seemed to make her feel like she was going to faint.

   "There, you see that boys?" Drill said as something resembling a smile came over his long brown muzzle, bearing his teeth that caused Fluttershy to recoil a little. "She can talk just fine." Drill looked back at his pack, but immediately noticed there attentions weren't anywhere close to him. All of them now were looking directly up to the top of the hill, a couple of them with confused looks, and dropped jaws. With a fast snap of his head, Drill also turned his gaze to where the others were looking. This was done just in time to see a shadowy, coat wearing figure, launch itself from the hill top, and with a loud roaring yell, plant it's thick soled boots squarely into Drill's face.

   Drill hit the ground flat on his back, letting out a long exhale, as most of the air in his lungs was pushed out from the impact. Devan was the second to come to the ground, though his landing was far more graceful, as he came to rest on his left foot, and right knee. While the other Diamond Dogs, let the shock of what happened settle in, and Drill drug himself away from his attacker, while at the same time pulling himself up to his feet, Devan rose to his as well, keeping his head down as to accentuate the hood over his head, covering the eyes of his mask.

   With only a few fast twitches of his eyes, Devan took in the scene before him. The five canines had now grouped together in a tight formation, they were for the most part no different than the ones he encountered when he first arrived, save for the one in the middle. It was this one Devan focused on the most, he was much larger than the others, and Devan took notice that as just as much as he was measuring up the five of them, this larger one was doing the same to him. Though what drove Devan's next actions is what he saw hanging in the large wolf like creatures claws, strands of long pink hair. He turned his head quickly to look behind him, and what he saw was Fluttershy, dirty and panicked. Her tail was ratted, and parts of it separated, telling him where the strands came from, but it was the dark wet trails of tears that were now mingling with the dirt on her face that twisted his unseen face into a jaw clenching madness. To him, it wasn't the fact that this other animal pulled at her tail, and for all normal observations it seemed she was unharmed, but her tears, he hated them, he despised them, and these filthy dogs were the ones that made them exist, they made her cry.

   "All of you just fucking died!" Devan screamed as he whipped his head back around to face his targets. While yelling this, he reached behind his back with both arms, his hands taking a death grip on the pistol grips of the weapons stored there. His arms went straight, now wielding his custom made forty five calibers. His first targets were the two armoured dogs at opposite sides of their group. Then his fingers squeezed the triggers, and what came next was a smoke filled cloud of bullet hails. In a slow sweeping motion, Devan let fly as many bullets from his guns as fast as his fingers would move, and the cyclic rate of the weapon would allow. Both arms still outstretched moved to the middle of the pack, before his limbs crossed over one another, and continued the spray of ballistics into the small group. The only thing saving each of them from a sudden demise, was his rage that had taken over his ability to aim properly, and his want to inflict as much damage on as many of Fluttershy's aggressors as possible.

   The Diamond Dogs had absolutely no clue what was happening as this dark creature unleashed it's wrath down upon them. This lack of reaction was quickly cut short as they witnessed two of their pack members yelp out in pain as several of the bullets struck one in the arm, and another in the uncovered part of his shoulder. The next two in the row were lucky enough to not feel being struck in their flesh by the projectiles, though they did feel the force of them striking their armour with enough power to cause deep dents, and that was enough to send them to the ground in evading rolls. Drill was quicker though, and in reaction however, as he saw what happens when this creatures weapons came in contact with unprotected hides. He knew he wore no armour, he knew he could not let them bounce off him as they did with his partners armour beside him, and as he saw the two dual firing guns point at him, he knew he had to move. Drill lept forward and downwards just in time as he could actually hear the whizzing sound of the small metal bits fly past him. He tucked himself into a loose ball, so that he could somersault towards his attacker, and get in close. The speed, and agility of this mask wearing defender was something he was not expecting though.

   Just as soon as Devan's arms came crossed across his chest, he heard the clicking sounds of empty clips emanate from the barrels of his smoking guns, at the same time he saw the largest of the group launch himself forward. This prompted Devan to release both of his weapons, as he himself bent his knees slightly, then aided by the strength of his muscular legs, put himself into the air, leaping over the Diamond Dog, as he was in mid roll, landing on the ground just a mere foot from where Drill had started his own dodge. Devan turned his body three sixty to take in the new positions of the group he attacked. The one that had been shot was still letting out dog like yelps to vocalize the agony of his now throbbing bullet wounds, the other that was on the end showed his true colors by turning tail and diving into the ground, showing the tunnel he had dug to be in the opposite direction of the action. The other two were now up on the ground, and one was making his way towards Devan, while the last, and biggest of the group was recovering from his evade, taking in the information that the masked figure was now no where near where it was before.

   The one Diamond Dog that took a bullet to the armour was now the aggressor, he moved as quickly as his body size, and weighted metal garments would allow. He let out a long growl as he came into striking distance of the creature that attacked him and his pack, by letting his clawed hand fly directly at the masked figures head. Devan was not even close to being in the mood to play with these Dogs like he had with the first three he had fought. As soon as the canines claw was about to make contact with Devan's face, he reached up with his arm, bent slightly at the elbow as to deflect the blow, and absorb the energy of it's momentum, turning it into nothing more than a mild slap. With three fast strikes Devan brought his metal plated fist into the Diamond Dogs uncovered face, each blow causing more damage than the last, until finally a steady flow of blood came oozing from the now yelping Dog. Devan wasn't finished with this one yet however, as he took hold of his bleeding opponents wrist with the hand he had blocked with, twisting it as Devan turned his back to the Dog, then stepped backwards and to the side, all the while bringing the now contorted and tensed limb with him. Pushing and pulling, Devan placed the hand of his now victim to the metal plate of his back, then pushed up, bringing the hand almost directly to the bottom of his fur covered neck. Then with a powerful blow, Devan struck as hard as he could on the Diamond Dog's elbow, then smiled to himself as he heard the all to familiar sound of bones snapping from one another, and the cry that came from his opponent as it realized his arm was just shattered.

   By this time, Drill was now on the move, he got to witness first hand the martial prowess of this faceless creature as he watched his pack mate get struck, turned and twisted, then broken. He let out a determined grunt as he pushed himself forward, to try the best he could to get to the aide of his companion before more damage was done to him as the now howling armoured Diamond Dog fell to his knees, using his one good arm to grasp his broken one. Devan however, saw the movements of the largest of the canines, and was not about to let him get in a preemptive strike. The Human planted his right foot on the back of the kneeling Diamond Dog, then the left, climbing up the broad plated back, and then leaping into the air while at the same time bringing his right knee into a tight chamber before letting it go, flinging his foot in an aerial spin kick, that caught Drill squarely in the jaw. This crushing blow would have been enough to fell the largest of Humans, or even snap their necks from the trauma it would have caused in the resulting whip lash. Fortunately for Drill, he was no Human, and while the flatly planted kick rocked him off his desired course, and even made a pain singed wave of darkness flow through his eyes, he quickly righted himself in a few steps.

   Devan landed from his spinning attack, and decided to continue the circular motion as he spun on his heels, closing the distance to the last of the canines that had a bullet ricochet off it's armour. Upon completing a full spin, Devan tuned his movements to a fully extended side kick, one that planted itself directly into the chest armour of the Diamond Dog, who himself thought would be prepared for any attack placed on him, and while the kick did not cause much damage, it was strong enough to make the Dog have to step backwards, to avoid being knocked off his feet. All this small distraction did was open an opportunity for Devan to lunge forth, and commence a series of lightning fast punches, palm strikes, and knife hands that ultimately ending in a full hooked uppercut, that finished the job of the kick, by lifting the Diamond Dog to the air, then down to his back.

   As soon as the last of the armoured Diamond Dogs were taken down, Devan looked behind him, to see the largest getting ready to come at him with another assault. The Human then took a very aggressive stance, by stomping his foot to the ground, forming a 't' shape with his feet, then making a clawed fist with his middle, and index fingers, and thumb on both hands. Drill let out a loud vicious growl as angered drool flowed from his bared teeth, and shaking lips. This gave Devan only a reason to get in as close as he could, as fast as he could, so he would be able to latch onto those oversized chompers, and pull them out one by one. However, all of Devan's rage, all of his wanting to cause bodily harm to his opponents, and even his desire to kill the massive wolf creature washed completely from his body as he saw something that he would have never even expected to see, causing both combatants to halt their actions.

   Fluttershy placed herself on the battleground, doing so by quickly trotting between Devan, and Drill, then sitting down on her haunches, while giving a soft, sad look towards the ground. "Please stop fighting." The yellow Mare said in a voice that was on the verge of cracking due to the mental state she was in. Then without moving her head, her eyes focused on Devan. "Please Devan? I'm alright, I promise. Just please don't fight anymore."

   Devan couldn't believe what he was feeling, every emotion he had thought himself immune to came smashing into him like a runaway train. Regret, fear, and shame were just a few that washed over him as he stood there dumb founded, gazing sadly into those large sea green pools that were the Pegasus's eyes. Never once in his life, personal or professional had he just ended a confrontation because some woman asked him to. He had heard pleas from hundreds of people, none of them affecting him in the slightest, but in just one short sentence. This four foot tall Pony was able to completely defuse his want to fight, and his need to bring harm to his targets. All he could do, was remove his hood, and then take off the featureless mask that covered his face, then toss it to the ground, as he himself fell to his knees. "I'm sorry Fluttershy. I just thought they had hurt you. I thought they were going to do something horrible."

   Drill himself couldn't believe what he was seeing, this alien looking creature was just seconds before, an unstoppable whirlwind of feet, fists and pain inducing techniques that he himself thought he would become the victim to. Yet here in the very heat of combat, a small yellow Pony was able to bring the tall and slender typhoon to a halt, and even make him apologize for fighting in the first place. He was even more surprised when he saw the mare step quickly to the now kneeling creature, and place her head on his shoulders causing him to raise up just a little, and wrap his arms around her in a hard embrace. "I see." Drill said as he let his body relax, his stance changed to one of a more passive stand, and he just stood there for a moment, watching the two finish their hug, and realizing he had just probably chased down this black cloth wearing creatures mate, inducing the rage filled attacks on him, and his pack.

   Fluttershy kept herself close to Devan, She didn't know why, but she so wanted to stay near him. Even after witnessing all the pain he could inflict with the efforts of his body, knowing that he had rushed to her defense, seeing what he was willing to do to ensure that she did not befall injury, it made her feel very safe, even safer than she normally felt when she was with her dearest friends. She did however, turn her head slightly to look at the large Diamond Dog, who was in turn looking at her. "I am sorry. Mister, umm, Drill was it? My friend is new, and there was a filly from town that got chased by some other Diamond Dogs because they wanted her gem, and."

   "Stop." Drill said, though without yelling it, and by only rasing his hand to accent his request, which Fluttershy did quickly, getting a look on her muzzle as if she had said something wrong. "A filly is the children of your kind?" He asked, making Fluttershy just nod in response. Drill looked down for a short moment as he took in this information, he then looked to the ground where Devan had first landed, and used his weapons. He noticed scattered on the ground were small, hollow, long and round pieces of metal the weapons threw from their sides just as they made a sound. He sighed as he knew the same kind of metal was found at the scene where his fellow Diamond Dogs were found dead at the forest's edge just a few days earlier. Now with what this Pegasus had told him, it all became very clear. The three now dead Diamond Dogs were looking for gems, they saw a small Pony child with a gem, they tried to get it from her, and this creature intervened.

   "Mister Drill?" Fluttershy said in a small voice, not wanting to chance the possibility of angering the massive wolf looking Diamond Dog.

   "Perhaps it would be better if all in all, your and I races stop interacting with one another. Some bad things have happened because of it." Drill sighed as he gestured for the remaining members of his pack to come towards him. This did cause Devan to tense up as he saw the movements of his former adversaries come past him, only to be soothed again as Fluttershy made a very soft 'shh' sound. The one that got shot, was the first at Drill's side, still whimpering from the pain of his wounds. The next was the one that had been kicked in the chest, though he did stop to aide his comrade that had his arm broken. Drill then looked at the one that didn't have a gun shot wound, or shattered bones, and made a digging motion with one of his hands. The Dog complied, and quickly bent down, then with blinding speed, completely vanished in a small explosion of dirt.

   "Umm, I am really sorry about all this, and I am sure Devan is too." Fluttershy really was sorry about the whole ordeal, though from the look she got from Drill, she could see her heart felt apologies were more than likely falling on deaf ears. All she did was stand there with Devan, and watch as Drill helped the first of his pack into the freshly dug hole, then the next. Soon Drill was the only one who was standing there, he looked at the pair, the alien creature that was staring at him intently, and the small friendly Pony that stood by him. Then he just let out a sigh, and shook his head before lowering himself into the hole, filling it behind him as he dug away.

   Fluttershy stepped away from Devan, but offered him a happy smile as the relief of having this whole situation finally come to an end. She also took notice of how very dark it had become, almost completely night now, save for the very last glimmers of sunlight on the horizon. "Well, umm it's getting kinda late. Would you like to umm, maybe go home?"

   "Go home?" Devan repeated, though his voice had a saddened inflection to it, and the position of his eyebrows showed he seemed to be confused by her statement, though for an instant, he thought she actually meant the home he had left behind on Earth, and it was something he was starting to miss less and less.

   "Yes, home. You know, the umm, tree cottage. I could probably really use a bath." She said, taking notice of her self as she looked up and down her body. After this, she gave a small giggle, and Devan couldn't help but smile at the sound of her laugh.

   "Yeah, sounds good." Devan responded as he stood to his feet. He walked over to where the fight had first started, he retrieved his pistols from where he had dropped them, and placed them back in their holsters. Fluttershy stood by him as the two started walking back in the direction of Ponyville, then Fluttershy stopped and looked behind her.

   "Oh! You forgot the mask thing you were wearing. Don't, you know, want it?" She said, while looking at the scary covering that he wore.

   Devan in turn stopped and looked at the garment he had worn so many times before. Every time he put it on it meant that he was removing himself from the normality of being Human. With that mask on he wasn't just a person, he was a faceless monster that could do what ever it wanted, because at the end of whatever he was doing with it on his face, he could look himself in the mirror, and in some way convince himself that it wasn't him looking back. "No." He said as he turned back around and started to walk away, prompting Fluttershy to make quick steps to put herself at his side again. "I don't need it anymore." This made Fluttershy give another big smile up at him, lighting up her still now completely dirt encrusted face. She also leaned in while they walked, placing her head against his side, and she was happy to feel his hand being gently placed atop her head, and gently rub her ear. This is the position the pair moved in as they slowly walked back to the warm tree house, content with each other's company in the new night's breeze.

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A Broken Mind

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