"What happened? Argg... every part of my body hurts. Can barely move my legs..."

The pegasus tried to stand up but the pain was too great, so he fell on the grassy ground. A new agony spread through his little form and almost groaned. He clenched his teeth and waited for it to tone down, when suddenly Lucky remembered the events, that led him to this state.

"We were flying for about twenty minutes, when out of nowhere a strong turbulence hit us, preventing me from maneuvering correctly. For some reason, I felt heavier... no, it wasn't me. The ninja's spell wore off and her full weight returned. I told her that I couldn't fly but she would not listen. Darn spells!

Then I lost control and we began falling rapidly. I felt scared and was completely numb. Funny, I couldn't see the ground but my guts feeling was telling me. that it was getting dangerously close. We were going down with an incredible speed, I don't think, I've ever flown so fast.

The ninja shouted something... was it to pull up or was she warning me for obstacles? My heart was going nuts. My mind was too afraid and the wind in my ears made it impossible for me to make sense of what she yelled. Then did she stood up on two legs and used me as a surf? Yes, she did just that... Then blackness... Can't remember anything else.

I guess, my landing was rough. At least, I'm still in one piece and alive, thank the Goddess!"

A very nasty headache interrupted his thoughts. He slowly closed his left hoof to his head and shakily checked for serious wounds. Luckily there were none, only a swelling on his forehead. The pegasus also noticed that his pink towel was messed up and it almost had fallen off him.

"Enough rest! I feel like I've been unconscious for quite some time. Come on! Get up, Lucky and start looking for the ninja!"

The pegasus made a second attempt to stand on his four legs. He barely kept himself from falling again and was dangerously leaning to the sides. The pain was big but manageable this time. Lucky was breathing hard. He had a very torn look, with many bruises and scratches all over his body and wings, which were hanging down to the ground. His mane and tail were extremely messy. Dirt spots here and there made his white fur look like it wasn't cleaned for weeks.

Lucky felt something was not right but couldn't immediately figure what. He checked, if his medallion was still on him. The locket was still miraculously on his neck and unscratched. Then the pegasus proceeded with making sure everything in the coat's pocket was there. Suddenly Lucky realized his jacket was missing and he began slowly groping the earth around him but without success.

"Crap! Everything was there! I'll have to quickly find the ninja and start searching for it." Lucky worryingly thought.

"Ninja?!" he sorely yelled and after some time waiting for a response he shouted again with greater force. "NINJA?! Where are you?"

The pegasus was looking anxious and uncertain of what to do next. He called for her one more time. His voice echoed in the thick forest, scaring some birds near him. The coronas of the tall trees moved a little because of the wind, letting a few thin light beams to go through the small gaps and shine on Lucky's dirty face. He tried to listen to his surroundings but there were no sounds coming from his partner.

"I should try to find her!" Lucky thought.

The pegasus made a cautious step in a general direction, when suddenly he felt hurt in his ribs, which almost brought him down to the ground. Lucky was panting in fear that he broke something important. Few moments later, the pain began to disappear.

"This is not gonna be easy but I'll have to endure this. Need to find her!"

Lucky slowly made another step and the pain returned almost instantaneous. However, he was prepared for it this time and kept sluggishly moving forward with clenched teeth. Every bump on his path was a challenge for him and despite his body hurting, the pegasus was limping with more and more determination.      

After some minutes later, the exhaustion was too great that Lucky simply collapsed on the green grass. He was almost without a breath and couldn't move any part of his body without experiencing more pain. He lay on the grass for a few minutes, until trying to get up again.

When doing his attempt, Lucky touched something, which felt like a tail, that had cloth wrapped around it. He immediately followed it with a hoof and for his amusement, the pegasus found somepony's flank.

"It must be her!" Lucky thought with relief.

"Ninja, can you hear me?" he asked with a tired voice. The black pony was completely silent and motionless.

"She must be unconscious or is she..." the pegasus's heart started beating really fast from his last thought.

The ninja was laying lifelessly on his right on a round big rock. The blind pony quickly checked, where her head was and found out she was facing the ground. Lucky turned her around with all his remaining strength. She proved quite hard to push because of her unusual high weight of her body.

Lucky placed his ear on her mouth and listened carefully to her breathing. There was none, which was a bad sign. Lucky remembered from his Guardian Training, what he had to do in such situations. Despite not having the best feeling towards her, he didn't want the ninja to die.

"Cardiac massage and mouth to mouth. Was it 30:2... Darn!"

Lucky nervously tried to remove her mask but for some reason he was unable to do so.

"Blasted masks!" he painfully exclaimed.

Then Lucky put his hooves on her chest, where he thought was her heart and began pumping hard and fast.

"... fifteen, sixteen, seventeen... Come on!.... nineteen..."

The pegasus continued pumping, when suddenly his hoof touched the first golden padlock on her clothing. He felt electrical current going through his leg and spreading to his entire body, immobilizing him in one place. Then a spark was formed, where his hoof made contact and Lucky fell backwards on the ground. The pegasus was dazed for a few seconds until he managed to get a hold on himself.

"What on Equestria was that?" he surprisingly asked himself.

Lucky got back on his feet and closed on the ninja's body. Now he could sense the magic, which surrounded the mare. His green pendant was very brightly glowing, illuminating his chest and her black clothing with vert light.

The blind one stood next to her, unsure of what to do. The magic coming from her had a dark tone, which worried him a lot. Suddenly he felt hot and a drop of sweat went down from his forehead. His breathing began to slow down and soon Lucky was suffocating out of no evident reason.

The cause of his torture was just in front of him. The ninja had opened her eyes and was gazing into the pegasus's soul. There was only one emotion coming from her - hatred. She steadily raised her upper half of her body to a level, where their faces almost touched. There was something wild in her look that was rapidly taking over her will like a forest fire.

Lucky was trying to gasp some air but the invisible force didn't let him. He fell on his knees, shaking uncontrollably in greater pain. The ninja kept staring like a demon with her orange balls of doom. She grabbed him from the ground and lifted him up high. Then her mouth mask magically fell down, revealing many white sharp teeth.

She prepared to feast on his flesh and bones, when the ninja accidentally looked at the crystal medallion on his neck. It hypnotized her immediately and flashed three times really fast, which made her to remember how she got in this situation in the first place.

Fifteen minutes earlier...

The two were falling with greater speed to their deaths. The green sea was getting closer and closer and with each passing moment their chances of survival were diminishing. The pegasus was unable to slow down for some reason, which she did not like at all.

"Pull up!" the ninja yelled in his left ear but Lucky couldn't hear her.

She looked at the closing tree tops to search for a suitable place to land. Unfortunately, there was none she could see at the moment. For her horror, she glimpsed a big rock formation on their flight path. It was a certain death, if they slammed into it, so the ninja immediately tried to correct Lucky's flight vector, stabilizing him a little. Then she got up on two legs and rode him like a surfboard.

"Watch out for the rocks! Pull up on my mark!" she shouted but the pegasus didn't indicate that he heard her.

There was no time to slap him on the cheek cause the solid obstacle was just meters from them. The ninja looked calm and focused on the task at hand. There was no room for error, so she had to do the risky maneuver perfectly.

The moment came. The ninja used her legs that were connected with Lucky and hurled him to the left. Then she swiftly jumped in the air, barely flying over the rocks. She quickly looked at her partner's position and saw him disappearing in a tree's corona. The skillful pony turned her eyes forward and saw a wide branch, which she could use to stow down her speed.

She managed to grab it and immediately began rolling around its axis. After doing three circles, the ninja released her grasp and went flying forwards, continuing to roll in the air very fast. She prepared to do the same trick on the next branch.

When the ninja got a grip on it, because of her high speed, she managed to snapped it and the wood slipped through her hooves. The pony began falling down with her legs up in the air but she still had her calm look, as if it wasn't something the ninja couldn't handle. Her body disappeared in the corona of a lower tree, where her back and head got hit multiple times by leaves and tree branches. Somehow, she reappeared below without a scratch on her and promptly turned around to face the closing ground.

Her left eye caught Lucky's rough landing before she concentrated her sight on the her last hope for safe touch down. The ninja reached her front legs to grab on the branch but unfortunately for her, it was too far away. The falling pony could only watch how her last resort was quickly distancing from her and that was when she looked scared. Her eyes turned to the rounded rock, which was a slightly bigger than her.

"Crap." the ninja said, before slamming hard into the scale and losing conscious.

Suddenly she realized what was going on at the moment and released the pegasus, who fell down like a puppet. He was barely breathing and looked quite weak. The ninja's eyes normalized and the sharp teeth shrank to normal sizes and forms. She put back her mask and then checked on Lucky.

"How did he trigger my true form? Was it by accident?" the black cloth pony asked herself, while examining him. Although she fell from such an enormous height, the ninja felt very little pain in her body.

Luckily for the pegasus, he wasn't hurt badly by her, so the mare left him to lie and sat on the rock with a thoughtful look.

"He couldn't have done it. Only specific magic can make me morph into my inner monster but he is just a pegasus. He is not a powerful wizard unless..." her eyes turned to his glowing pendant with a shape of a spiral and analyzed it carefully. "... his locket can provide him with magic. I can't remember, what made me get a hold on the transformation process but I sense it was the little medallion. In this case, I'll need to learn more about it."  

Lucky rested for a few minutes, when he suddenly woke up and quickly tried to stand on his four legs. Although the pain was great, the pegasus looked like he was about to fly away as fast as possible. The ninja put her hoof on his shoulder and tried to calm him:

"It's alright. You are safe." her voice didn't have the effect, she hoped for and it only scared him a lot more.

"You-you tried to kill me!" Lucky exclaimed and violently removed her hoof from him.

"You'd be surprised, how many times the thought went through my head." the ninja smiled like a demon. " For the moment, there is no danger. Trust me."  

"No, I'll not make such a leap of faith. I need to know the truth! Who are you exactly? What you have in common with the pony that tried to kill us? Who is this powerful pony? I bet you even have an accurate guess on his motives and goals." he sounded pretty angry and rightfully so. After a short pause he continued: "Last but not least, why you attacked me for no reason?"

These were a lot of tricky question to dodge, that were all connected with her dark past. The ninja was not in a mood to tell him everything but she felt he deserved to learn at least some pieces from the entire picture.The assassin looked at the surroundings. Tall trees and hundreds of bushes prevented her from seeing afar. However, a gut feeling was telling her that they're being watched, so she jumped from her rocky seat and stood mighty in front of him.

"This place is not safe. I know a path through the forest to Manehatten and we should get moving cause in six hours it will be dark in here."

"I want my answers now!" Lucky closed his angry face to hers but she was unmoved by his act.

"Don't worry, you'll have them on the way to the city. Now we need to get out of here fast."

The pegasus calmed a little and sighed.

"Alright. However, I need my coat back. The money for this trip, the visit card..." Lucky got interrupted by a hoof in his mouth.

"I lost my apples too but there is no time to search for our belongings. For your relief, I have memorized the address, so no problem there and from now on, we'll travel my way."  she quietly said.

The pegasus freed his mouth and then returned to a more serious look. "More pain than gain... It feels like I've said it ages ago but it was just yesterday. Got to hold tight, if I want to survive this. Buck! Why did I accept this job?!"

"Why are you so thoughtful out of a sudden? Come on, we can't waste our time here!" she said, while looking behind her.

Then the ninja began moving in a general direction, which seemed to lead deeper into the thick forest. Lucky had no choice but to leave his favorite coat behind and follow his partner. It was very hard to keep up with her pace, so she quickly return to him and put him on her back. The pegasus didn't object at all.

"Don't get the impression I'm gonna carry you on my back all the time.", she earnestly said, while looking at her partner.

"I didn't even think of it." Lucky said with little anger in his voice.  

Then the ninja began galloping and soon the two disappeared in the shadows. She was running swiftly around the countless obstacles, the forest had to offer. Lucky barely was holding onto her. She had to jump on a few occasions, which made the pegasus's ride very unpleasant.

After ten minutes of galloping, they entered a section of the woods, which was more open and brighter. Long, fresh grass with lots of beautiful flowers made this gorgeous picture of a place, which would be perfect to have a lovely picnic. However, the ninja didn't have time to look at the scenery and passed through the wild garden without slowing down.

Not too soon, they went in a large, open field with grass as tall as a pony. The ninja headed there because she thought it would give them a perfect visibility in all directions and would be easy to fend off any attacks. However, it was the opposite of what she learned of being a ninja, who should never make an appearance in the open.

There she slowed down and tried to pay attention to everything around them, so that they'd not get surprised. Her change in speed made Lucky to think, that it was perfect time to continue their conversation.

"My answers, now!" Lucky demanded in her ear.

The ninja looked carefully around them before giving some attention to her burden.

"Let's make a deal. I'll respond to one of your questions, then you to one of mine. To be more fair, if you know what I mean."

"Fine." he unsurely said.

"You should know that I'm under an oath here, so I can't get into too much detail. I'm an assassin for hire from clan Dragon Claw. Now mine, from where did you get your medallion?"

He was little surprised, that she asked him for his pendant.

"It is a gift given by my parents on my graduation day from the Academy." Lucky sounded a little sad and the ninja knew there was something more, she could squeeze from him. "Second question."

The ninja carefully listened and checked the empty field to make sure no pony was following them and then answered:

"You are right. I do have some history with a Shadow Sun user. I was sent to kill him some years back but never managed to catch him. He always was one hoof ahead. What happened on your graduation day?"

The ninja touched a delicate matter but Lucky had to play the game, if he wanted to learn the juicy stuff.

"It's the day I heard about my parents' death. They served in an expedition to the far west and stumbled across a rampaging dragon. They saved the others but paid the horrible price. The third!"

The ninja looked back at the blind dirty pony, when she heard about the fate of his old ones. For a moment, he reminded of her and she perfectly understood his sorrowful look, because the black pony had lost very close relatives too. However, a little memory emerged from the depths of her mind, recalling a very nasty event, in which she took a great part of a bloodshed and had no power to stop herself from doing it. Suddenly her pace was slowed down for a moment and Lucky noticed the change of speed.

"I'm not certain what his goals are." the ninja tried to sound indifferent. "It could be anything from killing only for fun to personal revenge. I don't see him as a thief but maybe it's all part of his crazy plans. He used to be kind of a wacko and I guess, he still is. Do you know what exactly your locket can do?"

Lucky got very surprised, that she continued asking him about his locket. He didn't want to reveal it's secret ability but the pegasus knew, she'd see through the lie and it will only get him into more trouble with her.

"It can prevent anypony from escaping the pony, who wears it, by creating a magical barrier in a small radius around the user. Also, it senses magic and alerts the wearer by glowing or telepathically. In my case, the later." Lucky didn't look quite glad but at least he was about to hear the answer for the forth question.

The ninja felt a little uncomfortable to speak about why she almost killed him, so she deliberately delayed her reply.

"Well? I'm all ears." Lucky reminded from her back.

"What do you expect to be my reaction, after falling on my face from 10 meters high. If it wasn't for your crappy flying, we'd already be in Manehatten!" she cynically said. "It wasn't intentional, you know! Just an angry impulse!"

The ninja deliberately lied, cause the sudden turbulence, that hit them, felt unnatural and the cancellation of her ninja trick wasn't a coincidence. However, the pegasus didn't buy any word from her answer but decided to play her game.

"My crappy flying, your stinking magic! I told you, I couldn't fly anymore but you didn't care!" he sighed and continued with calmer voice. "Anyway, this is the first time I hear of anypony falling from such a height and keep going with a pony on its back like you. Are you made of steel or something?"

The ninja looked straight in front of her, when she whispered: "More than steel."

Lucky barely heard her and after some quiet minutes of her galloping through the grassy field, he broke the silence:

"I'd like to hear your plan on the matter at hoof. How do you deal with a pony, who can go through solid walls?"  

The ninja kept going even faster.

"You are the brain of this investigation, you tell me?" she darkly said.

Lucky took her words as saying she had no plan whatsoever.

"So, it's that bad... Hm, what's his connection with the theft? Maybe, he is only after her for some personal revenge? Her story kind of supports it. More and more question... I do not like where this is all headed. I should expect an introduction soon until then I'll have to find a way to beat a ghost!" Lucky thought.

The two quickly exited the open field and entered in another forest. For the rest of their lengthy journey on hoof none spoke a word. Not for once the ninja stopped for rest, which surprised Lucky how much stamina she had and made him wonder, if his partner was a pony at all. Little did he know, she was trying her best to escape the feeling of being watched all the time.

Crystal blue eyes stared at the two from the shadows, analyzing their every motion. Without a sound the pony covered in black followed her every step and skillfully evaded her careful sight.  

They needed a few hours to get to the borders of the Big city and the sun was steadily moving behind the horizon. Manehatten was famous with its unique architecture and ponies, who dressed in a very civil fashion. The tall buildings there were constructed by using bricks, unlike many other towns. Because it was founded near the seaside, the city prospered by sea trade and grew quite large in a short manner of time, becoming one of the most important economical and cultural place in Equestria.

The ninja stopped, when her hoof stepped on the first paved street and made hint to the pegasus to get off her back. He jumped off her and immediately felt the pain in his ribs once more. Lucky tried to look normal by adjusting properly his pink dusty towel on his head and despite that the stylish looking ponies looked at him with disgust.

His chest began hurting a lot and it became hard for him to make any movements.

"I'll have to see a doctor. I must have broken something." Lucky said with little agony with his voice.

The ninja turned to him and whispered in his ear.

"The hospital will be a dangerous place to be in. We'll need to find a quiet spot, where I'll attend to your wounds. Until then, try to bare with the pain."

Small ironic smile appeared on his scratched face.

"Since when you became a nurse?"

The ninja looked at him without any emotion and put her hoof in a spot behind his neck, making him to froze like a statue.

"I can do this again on another energy point and stop your hearth. Does that answer your question?" she swiftly removed her hoof from him and Lucky could again move freely. He forgot the one basic rule, when talking with the ninja: to not get on her bad side and he cursed himself for breaking it.

The pegasus silently nodded that he understood her perfectly.

"Good. Follow me." she said and began walking steadily on the wide street. Her yes checked every roof, every corner for surprises. The black suited pony didn't like to be down below but the pegasus had no chance of getting on top of the high buildings. The ninja expected an attack any moment, so she had to stay frosty and analyze her surroundings very well. It was her second time in the city and she didn't have time to study where most streets led and what was the safest location.

It was getting darker by the minute and many ponies had returned to their homes. There were less and less on the street and the ninja found it a lot easier to maintain a good view of everything around them. However, the feeling of being followed alarmed inside her like crazy and she couldn't tolerate being the pray anymore. The ninja closed her eyes and concentrated on a place, she saw earlier. Suddenly, the mare felt light and when she looked again, with a smile found out, that her trick worked flawlessly.

She was no longer on the street but was standing on the roof of a tall building. She looked down and saw her copy, walking beside the pegasus, who was unaware of what happened. From her position, she could see a big part of Manehhaten and had a clear view on Lucky. The ninja had a telepathic connection with the clone, so now she could find the pony, who was following them, without worrying about Lucky's safety.

The ninja checked the other roofs of the nearby buildings and found no pony there. Then her sight moved to the street and yet again, there was noting suspicious, only a few earth ponies and a grey unicorn with a top hat.  

The ninja began scanning the other roofs and found no pony there. Her sight moved down to the street, when the painfully familiar feeling alerted. The assassin quickly moved away from the edge.

"How am I still being watched, when I'm on the highest building around?" she calmly thought. "At least, I know that he is after me and not the pegasus. Let's see how he follows this!"

The ninja went to the other side of the roof and quickly checked the situation. There was a balcony, from which she could make a jump to a smaller yellow building. Without hesitation, the black pony went down to the tier and made a powerful leap forward to the other roof. She successfully landed on the other side and by holding to the facades, the pony went down on the street.

From there she began running as fast as her legs allowed. However, today's marathon had its toll on her and quickly the ninja got tired.

Her pursuer silently followed her like a shadow in the increasingly darker city.

After a few minutes of running through the empty streets, she began considerably slowing down, which was very bad for her, despite giving all she got. The light from the street lamps was bright and it illuminated her weary figure. The ninja glimpsed back and saw no pony on the street, but she knew, he was somewhere there.

The runner turned left into a dead end. It would prove perfect for what she had in mind. Her brain was working on high speeds to figure how to trap her pursuer. She quickly saw a way to get up on a high ledge, from which the ninja was going to ambush him. With a few jumps, she managed to get there and waited in an attacking pose.

Her breath slowed down and her heart was steadily pumping blood to her body. She concentrated on the moment and time slowly went by. There were no sounds coming from the street. The small alley, she was in, felt like a tomb, from which there was only one way out.

Out of a sudden, she heard somepony's whistle and almost instantly looked up, where the ninja saw a dark figure of a pony, standing on the edge of the roof of the other building. They stared at each other without blinking once. Not a single muscle moved in their bodies.

His blue eyes had an wild feel to then, unlike her emotionless orange ones. Both waited for each other to make the first move.

Then swiftly the upper pony threw a kunai, which hit the wall next to the mare. She glimpsed at the weapon and qucikly turned her eyes to her pursuer, who had disappeared without a sound.

The ninja looked again at the kunai and now noticed a piece of paper around its handle. She took it out of the brick wall and then silently jumped to the ground. She unfolded the paper and froze, when she read the message:

"It's not me! Meet me, tomorrow!"

"The pegasus!" she worryingly whispered and threw the weapon with the attached list on the ground. Before it even reached the dusty ground, the ninja was already on the street, galloping towards Lucky's last location. The telepathic link was cut and she cursed herself for not noticing it sooner.

The pegasus slowly moved from light to light, when suddenly he felt alone. The last ponies that passed nearby were far away and he couldn't hear their steps anymore. No sounds were coming from his partner and this made him worried a lot.

"Hey, do you know where we are headed?" he asked but got no answer. "Ninja?"

Lucky stopped below a street light and carefully listened to his black surroundings. He stood there for a few minutes, which  felt like eternity.

"Pony crap! She left me!" Lucky angrily thought, when suddenly new wave of torments struck his chest. "Argg... the pain is increasing and I do not know where the hospital is! Maybe if I scream for..."

His thoughts were interrupted by the quick drop in temperature. The last time such thing happened, was when he had his weird moments of wild imaginations.

"No wind, in the middle of spring and somehow it feels like winter again. It's only my mind." he encouraged himself.

The world around him sank in total blackness. The street lamps, the lights from the windows and the buildings all disappeared behind the dark curtain, surrounding the pegasus. Only his little spiral medallion was alarmingly glowing.

"Magic?" he astonished.

"Lucky!" his name echoed, sounding stranger every time he heard it.

The pegasus shook his head to wake up from this dream.

"Come over here. We are here!" this new voices sounded familiar but he couldn't figure out, who they were.

"Let's take a picture, son!" this one sounded, as if it came from another world but Lucky recognized the voice.

"Dad?" he shakily asked and began slowly walking in the direction of the coming sounds. It hurt like hell with each step and only his will power kept him from collapsing on the ground.

"Smile, my little cyan feather. Come closer, I want to hug you!"

Lucky stopped and looked scared.

"No there's no way. Mother, you are dead like father... I must have hit my head again... or... Am I dying?" he shakily asked. The green light, coming from his medallion, shined on his horrified dirty face. His breathing was on fitfully.

"Closer, my filly. Soon will be together." said the distant voice.

Lucky could barely move because of the extreme pain but like hypnotized, he put a hoof in front of the other.    

Suddenly something bumped hard into him and he fell on the ground. The temperature instantly raised to its former levels and the light from the lamps again lightened him.

Lucky felt somepony on himself, who tried to get off him. He heard two other ponies approaching him. They immobilized the filly and moved him away from the laying pegasus.

One of them turned to Lucky with a smile and greeted:

"Ah, thank you, good sir, for capturing this little stealer. We almost lost him, isn't that right, dear Volts?" he sounded like a very educated pony.

The other only nodded, while holding the energetic filly, that tried to escape again.

"Oh where are my manners, not introducing myself. I'm Phoenix's Just and you, good sir, are?"  

Lucky barely stayed conscious because of the great pain he was experiencing and only managed to whisper a few words:

"Hospital... Metal E..."

Then the pegasus fell to the darkness of his mind.   Next Chapter: Chapter 11: Nightmarishly Real Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 24 Minutes