"For three days I've been walking in seemingly random direction." Lucky wrote in his diary. "My partner doesn't want to tell me anything more that could possibly help me with this quest. It looks like I'll have to search the entire forest.

Luckily I avoided any contacts with the wild beasts. However, at night I can hear the timber wolves' howls and I have to admit that I'm a bit scared. I have still plenty of food and water in my backpack and I haven't used my potions yet.

I don't know what happened to my pursuer, if there was one. My gut feeling says he is very near, though many times I stop to listen but without luck. He must be really good, I'll give him that, but what is his purpose? I'm yet to find out.

However, I'm more worried about my nightmares, I've been having lately. I try to make sense from them but the images of the dream are too blurry and unclean. There was a throne made out of crystals, I think. Or it wasn't a throne? I just can't tell. In another dream, I saw myself as a young filly and then I start falling.

I wish they'd stop but they may prove useful in recovering my memory."

"Are you finished?" Discord asked. He was not fond of Lucky's writings.

"Yep." the pony replied. He put the diary in his backpack and moved on. In these parts of the forest the flora was so dense that made traveling through it very hard. Countless leaves and bushes hit his body on his every step. It was utterly unpleasant but he had to keep going.

He walked for an hour or so when suddenly he stumbled across an opening in the forest. It was small and was surrounded by the forest like a fire cloak. In the center a stone monolith stood alone like a Guardian, who fought nature's forces. It looked really old and forgotten by its creators. On Its ancient walls ponies were engraved. They all seemingly looked down at the ground, as if they were watching anypony, who would stand in front of the monolith.

"What is that?" Lucky asked, while closing to the structure. He took a closer look, though his pink crystal didn't give him a good picture of the entire thing.

"How should I know?" Discord replied. "It looks like it's pony made."

"And ancient. It must be some sort of a pointer. Is this the thing you wanted me to look for?" Lucky asked.

"Of course not. Do I sound like I'm interested in history?"

"Well, you don't talk to me, so how should I know." Then the pony looked around and something caught his eye. It was hidden by long grass and plants. He managed to pull it out of the dirt and he got amazed by the sight of his finding. It was very light sword that had dirt on it but looked like it survived the elements in perfect condition.

"Weee, you've uncovered a rusty sword. How exciting." Discord ironically said. "Maybe now you can cut those branches and bushes on your way."

"It's not rusty, at least that is what I get from my crystal vision. Who it belonged to, I wonder?" Lucky looked carefully at the weapon. There were some old words written on the steel but he couldn't make any sense of them. With a help of a hoof he cleaned it from the mud that was still on the blade. When the sword was cleaned, it shined under the sun's beams that passed through the hundreds of openings in the trees' coronas.

"It's beautiful. Don't you think?" Lucky admired.

"Yeah, now we need just an opponent to test your might with the sword." Discord said.

Suddenly on the blade magically appeared two words: "Behind you!" Lucky was stunt for a second, when he saw that, but he immediately pulled together and jumped to the side. Two shurikens flew by him. He successfully dodged them but the next attack surprised him. A pony with a dark robe silently appeared from nowhere and was closing the distance between them very fast. The assassin took out two swords using magic and pointed them directly at Lucky. Though he never used a sword in his life, he gripped his blade with his teeth and prepared to counter attack.

"You and your big mouth!" Lucky said to Discord.

"It's not me." Discord replied.

There was no time for talks. The attacker's two swords magically swang to hit him. Lucky used his entire body to jump again to the left and simultaneously block the two swords. However it wasn't over yet. The blades swang again and again at Lucky. He jumped left and right successfully parrying every attack but on the last attack the defender exposed his flank. The assassin made a full use of the situation and hit Lucky in his defenseless side with his hoof. The blind pony flew backwards. He stop in the air by using his wings just before crashing into a tree.

"He has no wings. I should exploit this!" he thought. Lucky then flapped his wings and gained a considerable attitude.

"Aha, what about now. Can't catch me here!" he mocked at the attacker and almost dropped his sword.

The assassin then magically pointed his blades at Lucky and threw them at the flier. When Lucky saw the incoming guided swords he regretted his big mouth too. He dodged them in the air by doing a barrow row and for some bad luck the blades turned around and flew at him again. Lucky then flew as fast as he could but he wasn't able to out maneuver the incoming swords.

"He is good." Discord admitted.

"I don't have many options. I'll have to make a dive now!" Lucky flew straight down and when he was about to reach the ground, the pony raised his nose and flew directly to the attacker. The magically held swords followed his flight path. Lucky didn't stop and he crashed into the assassin. They back-rolled and barely escaped untouched from the guided blades, that drove into a tree.

Lucky found himself on top of the attacker, breathing deeply. He was little exhausted from the fight but he knew he won. His blade was just a few centimeters from the throat of the other pony.

"You must be an unicorn." Lucky analysed. "Who are you and why you attacked me?"

"I'll tell you everything, just get off me." she said, while trying to break free from Lucky's weight.

"Sure and then back stab me. Not even if Celestia's beard was made out of gold." he said ironically.

"Okay okay. I'm Foxy Tail, a hired ninja. Somepony wanted you to disappear for good. However, in his note he stated, if I fail, I'm to help you with your doings. That's what I only know. Now get off me!"

Lucky wasn't convinced she was telling the truth but he didn't have all day to stand there. He slowly moved away and let her have her private space. She then stood up, took off her robe and showed herself. Foxy was indeed an unicorn, a gray one. Her mane was colored in red-yellowish and her eyes were orange. She was wearing a black cotton cloth, which had slots for her weapons and rations. Lucky kept staring at her for some time until she asked:

"Why are you staring at me? Haven't you seen a ninja before?"

"I'm blind, so I can't stare." he kept the medallion's power in secret. "And I've never heard of ninjas. Though I guess you are the same as assassins."

"You are partially correct. We, ninjas, are the best skilled hitters in Equestria. For the right price we can even assassinate Celestia and make it look like an accident." Foxy said with pride.

"Then I'd better warn her." Lucky joked though the ninja didn't get the joke. She went to the tree, where her swords drove and tried to use her horn to pull them out.

"I don't trust her!" Discord said.

"Is she the one, who knocked out the guards in the tower and then hid herself in the basement? She must be." Lucky thought.

"Be careful with her." Discord warned.

"Thank you for your concern. I will watch out for any surprises." Lucky thought.

While she was trying to get her swords, she realized something: "You were blind? How did I lose to a blind pony? My master will be ashamed."

"I guess I had luck. I never used a sword before." he said, while he was walking to her.

"Will ya stop talking and help me get my swords. They are stuck in the darn tree." she yelled, which Lucky found funny. He then grabbed one of the swords and pulled with all his strength.

"Don't stand there and help me!" Lucky said. Foxy then grabbed him and they pulled together. The blade was eventually pulled out but Foxy and Lucky found themselves lying on the ground. However, now Foxy was on top of him. They both looked at different directions and tried not to think of this incident. The second sword was a lot easier and when Foxy brought back her weapons, Lucky said:

"It's getting late let's make a camp here. If you are going to help me, I must tell you why I'm here. And the story is not short, I assure you."

"I have no problem with the long stories, if they are not the boring ones." she said.

Lucky made a friendly smile. Finally he could share his past with somepony, who was going to join his adventure.

Next Chapter: Chapter 9: The Wolf Stare Estimated time remaining: 12 Minutes