The forest was quite dark and it was almost impossible to distinguish any object, while inside its thick green barriers. No moon light could get to the lowest levels. Strange sounds of beasts, coming from the bushes, were echoing in this wild place. They were near and in the same time seemingly far away. The only thing certain was that the old forest was full with life, some of which wouldn't hesitate to tear apart any careless creature, that would happen to be wandering around in the night.  

There was a timber wolf howling in the distance, when the pony, who was wearing a black clothing, arrived at the location, where he'd meet his comrades. A big stone, surrounded by trees, stood proudly under the shade. It was mostly covered by mold and long plants, which had white buds.

The ninja carefully scanned with sight the meeting place and surprisingly he couldn't sense his colleagues. They had to be somewhere near or just a bit late. He silently went to the stone and when the ninja got in front of it, he hid behind a bush. The pony waited for some time but still there were no signs of his partners, that they were coming. Something smelled very fishy but the ninja was patient and tried not to think of any reasons why they were so late, which was very unusual for such high-ranking ninjas.

Suddenly the black stallion sensed somepony's presence. His brown eyes moved from tree to tree, from bush to bush and his ears were listening very carefully for any sounds. However, he still couldn't pinpoint from where the pony was coming.

"Are you happily camping?" a very dark voice sounded behind him. The ninja quickly turned around but saw no pony from the direction it came from. The assassin felt like a pray and that wasn't in his liking. He drew his sword with his mouth and prepared to defend himself.

"I'm over here!" this time, the voice sounded above his head. His brown eyes looked up and saw a shadow, that dropped from a thick branch. The ninja quickly moved away and pointed the sharp blade at the center of his opponent.

"You!" he looked surprised to see the longtime fugitive. "I guess, the others are dead."

A smile appeared below the blue eyes of his black face.

"You are correct! You had to see them, how easily they gave up on their little lives. One of them even managed to scream his mother's name." the stalker giggled and then he became very serious. "Did you enjoy your toy in Manehatten? I saw everything you did on that stadium's roof."

"I don't know what you are talking about!" the ninja pierced him with cold eyes but the master of shadows saw through his blockade.

"Oh, don't you lie on me, Number One. Or nowadays do they call you ambassador One?"

"You do know the rules, boy?! No naming! Or does your little head have a cruel dementia?" he said with clenched teeth.

The smile reappeared, though this it was a lot bigger. His eyes now looked in a more maniacal way than before.

"Old one, you always make me happy, when you open your pathetic mouth." he sarcastically said, then he swiftly closed like a ghost to the veteran ninja. He stopped just a centimeter from the edge of his blade. "Now tell me, what business you have with the inventor from Manehatten?"

"I'd rather drink lava than tell you anything, monster." he looked very calm, despite knowing his ultimate fate. "Are we going to dance or talk all night?"  

The shadowy pony shook his head and giggled.

"I'll have to take the information the easy way then." Blue Circle then put his head on the blade, while he was constantly staring at the older pony's eyes. The edge impaled through it without any resistance. "I'm sorry, One. But I can't let you tell your master about Foxy and her new boyfriend. By the way, why are you aiming your sword at nothing?"

The veteran quickly swung his blade to the right with all his strength but it didn't matter. His world got consumed by the blackness. There were no sounds coming from the black sphere. The forest became quiet, as if it carefully watched the murder. After a minute, his lifeless body fell hard on the ground and soon after his broken sword landed on top of him.

The orb disappeared and a pony figure came down from one of the trees. He looked at the body with his wild blue eyes.

"You did put a better fight than those youngsters. Not many survive more than 10 seconds." Blue Circle calmly said and then began searching his body. Soon he found a letter, addressed to the dead pony's master. He opened it and read it quickly. "So that's what you are planning. Maybe I should pay you a visit but first, I need to contact Foxy!"

The shadow ninja turned away and went behind the bushes, without noticing the blue eyes, that watched him from the tree branches.

Meanwhile, somewhere far away...

In the dark corner, a bright light shined the endless vegetation. The two ponies appeared next to a giant tree, that was so ancient, somepony could say it predated the two Princesses. Immediately they stood up on two legs and touched their backs, while looking around in total confusion.

"What is this place?" Lucky asked, without moving his eyes on the surroundings.

"We are in the jungle." she calmly answered and quickly put the red crystal under her clothing.

There were lots of trees as big as the one next to them. Millions of leafs covered the sky, absolutely blocking the moon light. Long lianas were hanging from the high branches. The ground was covered in dense tropical vegetation. The jungle was a tight space, where a wrong decision could mean a life's end.  

"Jungle? Like the ones in the adventures of Daring Do?" he raised his left eyebrow.

"Be quiet! We don't want to bring unnecessary attention to us. There are predators behind every bush, so keep your cool and watch my back." Foxy whispered. Her eyes attentively scanned their surroundings. There were a lot of places, from where a hungry wild cat would attack. Unfortunately for them, there wasn't a safe spot, where they could defend themselves from the beasts, that lived here.

Suddenly, the bushes in front of Lucky shook. Something was coming very fast to them. Out of the shadows, a black panther appeared. Lucky spread his wings to fly upwards but the big cat jumped on him and together they fell on the ground. The ninja had moved away, so that she wouldn't be caught in the beast's attack. The panther was on top of the weather pony and didn't let him to move at all. The black hunter mightily roared, as if saying to all of the nearby creatures to beware of him and then closed its teeth to Lucky's neck, when Foxy hit it from the side with her entire body. The cat rolled a few meters before stopping. It quickly jumped back on its paws, from which big sharp claws protruded. The beast's wild eyes pierced the ninja, like a demon.

Foxy stared back at the panther with her emotionless eyes. Lucky stood up without a problem. He had only a few scratches, where its claws had touched his flesh. The pegasus looked at the big cat, which stood still in very threatening pose. Its eyes were green and they revealed its age. The feel, coming from them, hinted of the creatures intentions. The panther was an experienced one, who didn't like defeat but was able to admit its mistake.

After staring for more than a minute, the demonic cat understood that it would be not possible to eat them and it unhappily looked away from her orange balls. The panther silently went behind the bushes and disappeared into the thick jungle. It became quiet again. There was a slow wind but not even the leafs rustled.    

"Woaw, you are fearless!" Lucky smilingly said.

The ninja kept looking at the direction the beast went.

"Why didn't you protect yourself? You have the strength and the reflexes..." she looked at him with cold eyes. "You could have easily dodged its attack."

The pegasus lowered his head and tried to face the cause.

"I was scared and couldn't move at all until the very last moment." he said with a low voice. "Pretty pathetic for an ex-Guardian..."

Suddenly his eyes became big, when he felt her hoof on his chin. Tail gently lifted up his head, so that their eyes could meet.

"Lesson three: feel no fear, but happiness in the face of danger! Each battle is a test of your strength and mind. The jungle is unforgiving, everything here will try to kill you. It's up to you to survive the struggle with a smile or perish without anypony noticing. The panther was clever and attacked the weakest. She deserved to claim you life, your energy, that would feed her and keep her going, until her next meal. Do you understand me?"

Lucky nodded. The ninja removed her hoof from his chin and then began looking around for any other dangers.

"Then, why did you help me?" his eyes looked very serious at her.

She began walking in a general direction, when the ninja answered:

"Because I like you and I'll need your help to defeat him. Now let's get moving, we need to find a safe spot to rest for the night. Be as noiseless as possible."

Lucky without hesitation followed her into the bushes.

Quite some time had passed from their unexpected meeting with the queen of the night. Luckily for them, they were unnoticed by the many predators, that lurked nearby. Foxy carefully chose her path and led them to a small hill that had some big rocks, which formed a wall around an old tree. She chose it to be their stay for the night because they could defend easily from all directions and if things would get hot, then they could use the window in the tree's crowns and fly away.

The two climbed the rocks and got under the tall tree. The moon light fell down from the opening in the green ceiling and shined the place in a very romantic way.

Lucky looked perplexed at his partner.

"Why are you not changing to your normal pony form?"

The ninja sat next to the thick root.

"If you don't mind, turn around, while I fix myself."

The pegasus reluctantly did as she wanted and looked up to the moon. He felt warming feelings of the past.

"A full moon." he said quietly. "The last time I saw it in this phase was more than an year ago. I and my friend were drinking cider in the on the roof of the tallest towers in Canterlot. We thought we were the princes of the world, until one of the Guards approached us and we had to quickly fly away before he'd recognize us."

Suddenly, a sad feeling emerged from the deeps of his soul.

"Now, I may never see him again!" he thought.

Lucky turned around and looked very surprised to see her not even slightly changed.

"Aren't you going to alter?"

Foxy only stared down on her clawed hoofs and didn't say anything. She had realized something very wrong had happened in the deeps of her body. The mighty beast had awakened and it was slowly taking over her every part.

"Are you okay?" Lucky stepped closer to her but the later lifted her left hoof in the air.

"I'm alright. Just decided to stay in this form for a little longer. You'll never know, when you'll need some claws to defend yourself." she calmly said, though Tail couldn't lie to his hearing.

"So, you can't change back?" Lucky moved a little closer her. His orange eyes looked concernedly at her.

The ninja clenched her big teeth and said with her odd husky voice:

"I can't lie to you anymore, eh? Yes, I can't but don't worry, I'll not turn into a dragon yet! We only need apples!"

"What is the cause?" now Lucky was just a hoof away from her.

"Apparently loss of a lot of energy. In the battle, I was badly wounded and I needed to regenerate very quickly to keep the fight going." she turned her eyes to the pegasus. "As you know, you need great control over yourself to not let the dragon take over your body completely. Apples help you maintain that control by giving you a fair amount of energy, some of which is used to hold the beast in one place. They also are the only thing in this world, that can feed you. Every other food would be utterly rejected by your body. The question is: where can we find an apple tree in this jungle?"

"So, its very bad." Lucky felt kind of sad about his partner. He had no idea the pain, that was about to struck her like a furious storm. The pegasus sat beside her, while thinking of what to do next.

"Don't think of trying to escape the forest by air. I've been here before and it's a long way to the nearest civilization." she looked at him and smiled. "Oh, don't worry about yourself. Without apples, you'll only feel hungry but won't transform before your time."

"But surely we can make it quicker." Lucky opposed.

"Yeah, if we knew the direction of the nearest village."

The pegasus looked her in puzzled way.

"If you've entered it and exited it, then why cant you just point me the way? I may be a terrible flyer but I'm not gonna wait here until you morph into a dragon."

The ninja sighed, that sounded like snake's hissing. Her orange eyes turned to the source of the only light. The moon was quite big at the moment and it felt like it was carefully watching them.

"I've been here only once. That was on my final test of self-control and survivability. My sensei put a white towel on my eyes, when we were still in the Dragon Claw's village. I had to wear it all the way from there to here. After a week of walking in the forest, they left me alone without apples or weapons to defend myself. My goal was to find a way out from the jungle without changing to a dragon even once."

"That's when you failed..." Lucky whispered.

For the first time, the ninja looked very disappointed but this only lasted for a moment. She looked at the weather pony with her emotionless stare.

"After two weeks of wandering around and without any apples, I barely managed to stay on my legs. The hunger was so great and I was losing the battle against the inner beast with each passing moment. Yes, I failed hard." she remembered a very nasty moment from that time and tried to hide her feelings. "Then I don't how I got back to my village. The other ninjas said that I came from the dusty road but there were some, who believed that I returned from the sky. So, you see, I don't have the slightest idea where we are on the map, if we had one..."

The pegasus put his hoof on his forehead. Things got complicated more and more and there was no hint of their situation going in the positive direction.

"We are two walking time bombs!" he ironically smiled and giggled.

The ninja scarily smiled too and began laughing. Foxy couldn't remember the last time she had fun with somepony. A new wave of feelings went through her, when she looked at him. Lucky was growing on her, though she was unsure to fear this or to accept it as a natural development of their partnership.

The two laughed for a while until silence took over again. There were a few sounds from animals, who were far away from the two lonely ponies. The moon light shined them like a projector in the theater.

They looked tired but neither of the two would close their eyes.

"Could you tell me the history of your ex-husband and how you became his wife?" Lucky suddenly asked.

"You should know that such information is strictly forbidden to outsiders but the rules can go to hell!" Foxy sighed. "Blue Circle is his real name but any ninja from either clan are calling him the White Shadow."

"Strange name for a pony, who is covered in black tentacles." Lucky noted.

"He has this nickname because of the white outfit. Circle used to be from the clan Moon's Shade." she said huskily.

"Used to be? Did they banish him?" Lucky raised an eyebrow.

"No, he was the leader of the shadow clan. It was the smallest but had one of the finest ninjas ever to walk on this earth. Like the rest of the clans, they worshiped a certain warrior from the distant past. His name was White Circle, the pony he mentioned, when you met him in Manehatten."

"Ah, yes. The pony, who saw the evil Goddess." he nodded.

"Like every leader from their clan, he took a name, similar to the first pony, who founded it. This was a part of their tradition, which also involved doing very strange and downright disturbing rituals. Every new leader had to perform them like the founder did ages ago. After that they would go alone in a secret cave. I don't know what they do there but it creeps me every time I think about it."

"She feels fear... that's impossible!" Lucky thought, while carefully listening to her story.

"After a day in the cave, they'd leave it from another place, that only their shamans knew its location. Then they'd appear among their peasants with completely changed personalities."

"Woaw... so, he wasn't crazy before he became the leader of his clan?"

"I don't know. There aren't any records about him before his transformation." she looked at the ground. "Circle took the power in a very bad times, when the clans were on a brink of war."

"War?" Lucky surprisingly asked. "Do you have daily conflicts or something?"

"It was the first and the last in our over one thousand years history. Small conflicts are common for the clans, in which few ponies duel each other. However, a full scale war was something that could destroy forever the balance between the factions, which so many ponies had worked and fought for."

"If diplomacy between failed, why didn't they asked a neutral power to help them resolve their issues. Princess Celestia would help anypony, even if they are not her subjects."

Tail looked at him like a teacher to a young student.

"The clans are independent from anypony or kingdom. They consider themselves free and are completely isolated from the rest of the pony world. Asking a foreign power to deal with their own matters would be considered like an act of cowardliness and would be viewed as a weakness.

As tensions grew more and more, two camps formed. From one side there was my clan, which is the biggest and on the other the two opposing, clan Tiger and clan Diamond Shuriken. His clan was In the middle."

"So, each side wanted his clan to be on their part of the field, am I right?" Lucky sounded confident in his guessing.

"Yes. Although the shadow clan tried to stay neutral, the horses of war were just in front of their door. Blue Circle played a dangerous double game with both sides and..."

"... when they found out, his clan territory quickly became a war-zone!" Lucky's eyes looked at her very darkly.

"You took the words from my mouth! His clan mates became high valued targets. There were fights between my clan and the other two, but they seemed quite symbolical. The battles against Moon's Shade were bloody. For every one pony, three would fall from our side. Blue Circle was in front of their defense and was like a rampaging monster. When he'd make an appearance on the battlefield, you'd know the pony beside you had little time left on this world."

Foxy turned her eyes to the white moon. In her mind she heard voices of dying ponies and gory images of the battles floated in front of her, as if she was there.  

"Did you participated in the war?" the pegasus asked with a low voice.

"Of course, I did. After all, I was the best weapon my clan had." she closed her eyes and sighed. "In that damn war, I lost all of my comrades and for what? It was so pointless to even try to think about a good reason. When we were at the gates of their village, my leader decided to make a final offer to Circle. Peace or face total annihilation. Of course, he wouldn't want to see his ponies dying in an hopeless battle and Circle took his offer."

"That's when you married him, right?" Lucky sounded very curious. He felt kind of sad for her, that she participated in the horrors.

"Yes, I was given to him by my leader. I had one order and that was to watch his every move." Foxy looked back at his orange eye and she felt his sympathy. Everypony she knew never showed such feeling towards her. They friendly talked with her but there was always fear coming from them and they kept a distance. However, this pegasus showed courage to sit next to a monster and look it in the eyes.

"The war moved away from the their village, while I had to live with him for a couple of months. I was among his ponies and they all looked frightened and some very angry. For them, I was an outsider, a killer, who murdered their comrades and loved ones. It was a very painful moment of my life, which ended with Circle's sudden disappearance. Then I was tasked to find him and bring him back to my master."

"You said you weren't able to catch him. You couldn't get back with empty hooves and you decided to leave everything behind, am I right?" Lucky asked with a gentle voice because he didn't want to offend her.

"Yes." Tail huskily said. "I realized something about myself, which completely changed my mind." the ninja smiled with her sharp white teeth. "I just stopped being a weapon."

Lucky was silent. His mixed expression said a lot of what he was thinking:

"Woaw, I never thought this rude and almost bad pony had such a sad and cruel history. The war must have been devastating to her soul. That would explain her odd behavior... I feel very sorry for her. War is something, I've read only in the books but never experienced it. It's unbelievable that such a thing still exists in this day and age!

Maybe I should forget about my prejudice towards her? Ah, these last days have been a pain in the plot and I can't think straight at all, but it wouldn't hurt, if I learn more about her. However, work comes first!"

"Hm, I don't understand this. If he wanted to kill you, why not doing so, when you went after him? I guess his mind really is a mess after the things you mentioned. But then why would he send us here? How did he even manage to do that?" he said. "Is he only after revenge or are there bigger goals?"

Foxy's smile disappeared. She looked at the jungle around them, which seemed had moved closer to them. Bushes and strange flowers made the flora on the ground but the real kings were the tall trees, that were competing for every light beam. Under the giants' shade life battled daily for survival and there was no room for weaknesses.  

Suddenly, an exotic yellow bird flew on top of them and headed to the darker corners of the forest. There was no hesitation in its movement and gracefully maneuvered around the thousands of branches, that were covered in lianas.  

"What a brave little thing." she thought. Then the ninja looked back at Lucky.  

"I don't know." then Tail pulled out the red crystal from under her outfit and looked at it. "This is just a capacitor and nothing more. It can not make magic or be used as a spell conductor. It was empty, when we got under the teleportation spell, which was quite powerful. Not even he could pull off such a thing."

"So, back again at a dead end. Great!" Lucky thought. "Could he have a powerful ally behind him? If there is one he must be an unicorn with a great magical talent. Crap, I need more information!"

"Hey!" she waved her clawed hoof in front of his face. "Don't think of going back in Manehatten!"

He confusingly looked at her.

"We need to go back and learn..."

"No!" she interrupted him. "What ever he has in his little sick mind, is not our concern! Our priority here is to begin your training!" then she looked at him on a short leash. "Do you want to be completely consumed by the beast inside your darkest deeps?"

The pegasus negatively shook his head, though he was unhappy, that they'd to leave everything behind like that.

"At least, we are very far from the nearest town and wont be bothered by anypony. What a coincidence, that you'll learn to control yourself in the same woods, where I did." now she looked a bit more friendly at him.

"I don't believe in coincidence!" he turned his head away. His orange eyes moved on the grassy ground and then to the thick green roots of the tree. "When do we start the training?"

"Tomorrow. We'll need some rest but also protection from the natural life. I'll stay on the lookout, while you sleep for a few hours. After that you'll take my place."

"Agree." he said, without much enthusiasm.

Lucky lay down with his back against her and closed his eyes. He couldn't fall asleep for the first half an hour because of the many thoughts, that floated in his head. The pegasus finally saw his favorite band and in the same time fought for his life. He almost died the night before but gained the ability to see again the colorful world. Slowly he grew tired of trying to find the logic of the resent events and his mind flew away to his little world of hell.  

The ninja looked at him and froze, when she saw herself in his image. He reminded of her, when Tail was young and inexperienced to hold the great power in herself. But the weather pony also exuded endurance and readiness to face the uncertain future, which made her smile.

Then her orange yes looked at the bright moon. It shined its last beams on them, before moving behind the wall of leafs.

In a cave, near Manehatten...

The pony in the white outfit walked carefully through the black tunnels. He shined the wet walls with his torch in his mouth. The little flame desperately fought the battle against the darkness, which it was losing with every minute. This was his penultimate but Circle didn't want to light the other one, which he would use later to get out of this place.

Stalactites and stalagmites made much of the decoration in the cavern. Some of them were short, others were taller than a two story house. There were no sounds beside the echoes of his steps. The floor was extremely slippery and there was a constant danger of falling into the abyss. The master ninja ably moved from one chamber to another and made no mistakes.

Soon, he began approaching a place that had a dim light coming from its end. The sources of it were dozens of candles on the clean rock, that were carefully placed in half-circle. Though they weren't ordinary but magical, which couldn't ever burn out. In center of the chamber, behind the candles, there was an altar with the shape of a pony, who looked at the newcomers with a serious sight.

Blue Circle threw the almost extinguished torch into the black pit and went to the holy place. He stopped in front of the candles and bowed down, while his blue eyes didn't lose the alter from sight.

"White Circle, the father of my fathers. Let me use your power once more for the greatness of all living things!" he said loudly in a very ceremonial way.  

The statue's eyes flashed. The little fires from the candles fluttered and suddenly a slow cold wind blew in the chamber. This was a sign that it was safe for him to move closer to the altar. The white ninja stood up and went in front of the shrine. He then began waving his hoof in the air and suddenly ancient symbols appeared on the entire stone altar.

The pony sat down and began meditating with closed eyes. He looked very calm and didn't move a muscle for a few minutes. Then, Circle opened his eyes and looked at the solid foundation of the shrine.

"I can't sense her... That means they are too far away." he thought. "Strange... I should be able to get their location, if they were in Equestria. How did they travel so fast?"

Suddenly, the flames fluttered again. There was another presence in this sacred place. He lifted up his head and stood still again.

"How did you get here?" he calmly asked. "Aren't you little lost, dear friend?"

The ninja then steadily turned around and looked at his exact copy of himself. The other pony was staring him with emotionless eyes, he gazed back with his wild blue ones.

"Hello, my clone! How are you today?" Circle happily asked. "I hope you didn't have troubles at work!"

The pony kept silently staring.

"Oh, you don't say! You mean that crazy daughter of a confectioner forced you to eat all of her disgusting pastry? Didn't you call for help?" Blue Circle stood up and slowly went to his clone, who was standing like a statue next to the candles on the rock.

The ninja was only four steps away from the intruder. His maniac eyes looked deep into the other, who were so cold, that the air between the two ponies would freeze.

"Hey light up a bit, will ya! I too had a very nasty day but you don't see me crying! Of course not!" Blue Circle said very energetically. Then he stood up on his back legs and made very earnest appearance. "Don't tell me you didn't clean your room, mister! Go and don't return until you've made everything sparklingly clean!"    

He pointed at the dark gap but the other pony didn't react to his orders.

Circle closed his face to other one and pierced him with his crazy blue eyes. The two were shined from the small fires next to them and both looked like demons, who had given half of their bodies to the blackness.

"Why so serious, son?" he darkly asked.

Suddenly, there was a little flash in the the pretender's eyes. Then the pony swiftly tried to jump on him but its attempt was stopped by the magical barrier, that now surrounded the holy place. The newcomer stepped back and again stared at his goal.

"Tz, tz, tz, don't they teach you at school, that it's impolite to not knock first?"

A sable smile appeared on the white mask of the other. Its eyes turned from blue to icy candid.

"You talk too much, son of the damned warrior!" the clone said with a very strange voice, that sounded like it was coming from another dimension.

Circle's eyes looked very serious now.

"Shadow Sun! No, you can't be her. You must be one of her minions but I never expected you to talk!" he said provocatively and then he turned awkwardly polite. "I'm honored to meet you, shadow. Are you feeling tired from the long travel? I can always drink some fine cider with a friend like you."

The imposter began giggling and then burst into laughs.

"You have a sense of humor. Fascinating! Please tell me the reason of your visit. I hope uncle Shadow didn't have another heart attack!"

Then the pony outside concentrated his eyes on him and suddenly the barrier disappeared. Circle looked at the floor, then the ceiling and back at his opponent.

"You need to tell me how you just did that, partner!" he sounded as if noting serious was happening.

Out of a sudden, twenty tentacles quickly came out from the demon and aimed for the ninja. They all pierced the target but no blood was shed. The attacker looked at the wall, left from the shrine and giggled again.

"Clever, master ninja. You used that technique in the last second."

"I don't know what you mean!" the voice sounded from behind.

The clone quickly turned back and saw a pony fully covered in black waving shadows.

"Let's dance!" Circle shouted and his voice echoed in the cave.

He sent a few tentacles to the minions direction but they couldn't reach their target, because of the black wall, that formed in front of him. However, Blue was not over yet. He swiftly sent another wave of black spears at his opponent, that tried to go around the obstacle and hit the minion from the sides. The big shield split in half and successfully blocked the two attacks.

Then a tentacle went in the middle of his open defense. It was so close to hit the clone, when the two walls cut it in the middle. It fell on the wet floor and disappeared with a flash.

"My turn!" the demon said.

Suddenly, the black buckler divided into many smaller waving tentacles, which immediately flew towards the white ninja. Circle began jumping around and managed to dodge every shadow thrown at him. However, they turned around and aimed at him again from all sides. There was no way for him to physically escaped the incoming projectiles, so he used his technique. He turned into a ghost and quickly fell under the cave's floor. Over his head, the shadows slammed into each other.

The minion cautiously looked around but he was not able to sense the master ninja's presence. Then, he felt cold things slowly climbing his body. The white eyes looked down and saw a black spot under him, from which three shadows had caught him in a tight grip. They pulled him down and when his face almost kissed the ground, Circle emerged from the dark puddle.

Their faces were just a breath away. The ninja's blue eyes pierced the minion's.        

"What did you do to Foxy and her partner?" he asked in a very earnest voice.

The diabolic black smile became bigger.  

"They are fulfilling their destinies! Soon everypony shall dance around my little flame!" the clone said. Then a snake tongue appeared and touched the white mask of the ninja.

"You sound familiar... can't be!" Circle whispered. "You are dead!"

"You are correct, master ninja. But here I am, talking with you. Don't you find it strange?" he giggled. While they were having their little conversation, a sneaky tentacle grew from the minion and silently moved into position.

"I do find it awkward, that I'm speaking with a dead dragon's spirit. I always thought you went to a better place after your beheading." Circle provocatively said. "So, you work for Her now, eh? I thought you were a creature without chains."

"What made you think I'm being controlled? You of all ponies must know, that I can not be tamed by any force! Wasn't I your inspiration through the years before you became a leader?"

The ninja noticed a movement on his left but he kept looking in the white soulless eyes.

"I've read a lot about you. Can I have your autograph?"

Suddenly, from the black peddle one tentacle appeared and hit the minion's face. Then Circle completely submerged and the black spot on the ground quickly moved away before his opponent could react. When it got to a safe place, the ninja reappeared behind a stalagmite and looked back at his clone. The minion had turned completely black. Its two white eyes frantically scanned the chamber and when he couldn't find the pony, it changed to a shadow on the ground and went to search for Circle in the tunnels.

"He is as strong as me, so I should only follow him and learn his weakness. I'm curious about his main objective. Whatever it is, something big is about to happen and I'll need to be prepared. I get the a bad feeling, that Foxy and the pegasus are in more trouble than they should be but they'll manage!" he thought, before leaving the chamber without a sound.

In a pony's dream...

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. He felt good and no pony could stop him now. The blue sky was empty of any clouds. The ground was covered in green grass and pretty flowers, that had the colors of the rainbow.

Finally Lucky found the so much needed peace in his dream world. He was laying on the warm ground and admired the magnificent view of his imagination.

The pegasus smelled the pleasant aroma of the yellow and red flowers. Everything seemed so perfect, so clear, until he heard somepony approaching. He was enjoying himself too much and didn't bother to check, who was the pony, that stood next to him.

Then in front of his orange eyes appeared the ninja's emotionless stare. Lucky tried to not look at her and kept admiring the grass and the flowers around him. However, she moved and blocked his view. The pegasus turned to the left and looked at the vast beautiful fields. Then the ninja again stood in front of his sight.

"Oh, come on! Even in my dream you are persistent as a bull! Why can't you leave me alone for a few minutes?" he stood up and angrily looked at her.

The black pony didn't say anything. She moved closer to him. Her eyes changed from stone cold to friendly and even had a romantic feel, coming from them. Suddenly her black mouth mask fell on the grass. He was surprised to see that her teeth hadn't grown. Tail closed her face to his. She looked calm. Her breathing was steady and her eyes looked deeply in him, as if she tried to gently touch his soul. Lucky could feel the hormones jumping out her like in volcanic eruption. He was unsure what to do.

Suddenly, Lucky felt her warm lips touching his and immediately a wild feeling took over his body like a forest fire. His cheek reddened, his eyes became big. He wanted to run away but his body didn't let him. The pegasus was floating in ecstasy and no rational thoughts could break him free from this chain.

He closed his eyes and gave himself completely to the moment. It felt so real, but Lucky knew that she was just a part of his imagination and noting more.

"Gift of the dragon!" a voice whispered but the white stallion didn't give it any attention. He never kissed a mare before, even in his dreams.  

After some enjoyable moments, he slowly opened his eyes and was astonished by the sight. The ninja was not there anymore and the colorful world was changed by the total darkness. He worryingly looked in all directions. Then Lucky froze because he realized, that this was the end of his sweet dream and the beginning of the dreadful nightmare. He closed his eyes and lowered his head to the ground.

"Be quick!" Lucky whispered.

"Oh, no my little pony. I shall not let you to the living world so easily!" the scary voice sounded from all sides.

Lucky lifted his head in total confusion.

"Since when the nightmares can answer back?" he asked the nothingness.

Two big evil eyes stared down the pegasus.

"I'm more than a scary dream. I'll consume your world and watch everything you love burn to eternity! You'll be the doom of all!" the mare powerfully shouted and her every word echoed.    

"Interesting. So, is my subconscious trying to say, that I'm gonna turn into a dragon sooner than I think?" Lucky made a thoughtful face.

"Young and naive, you are! I've come to deliver a warning. Do not open the temple, let me step in your world and I shall grant every living thing a quick death!"

"Sure." he said disbelievingly. "Could you show yourself, so that I know with, whom I'm speaking with?"

Then the darkness moved and concentrated in one place, leaving a bright white space behind it. A black figure formed into a big alicorn, which stood in front of him. Lucky carefully monitored its transformation without any fears. Its white eyes pierced into his soul. Black fire burned on each feather of its two wings. She wore only a triangular shaped, red crystal medallion on a golden chain. From the center of the locket, the little green orb, that stared at Lucky.

"Who are you?" Lucky asked.

"The absolute darkness! The Queen of the Cosmos! The fabric of space and time!" it answered with a loud weird voice. "I have many names but only one stands above all!"

"Shadow Sun, hm, Is this a trick or something? Should I feel scared, Blue Circle?" he looked around but there was nothing but them and the white space. There were no sounds in this place, which made him very uncomfortable.    

"We are alone, little pegasus."

"Yeah, I've figured that out! So, are you just a part of my imagination or a real being in my head? You must be the first." Lucky lifted up his right hoof and touched the dark alicorn on its shoulder. Immediately he felt very cold.

"I'm as real as the stars on the night sky." she creepily said and then took his leg and removed it from her body.

The pegasus couldn't feel his hoof anymore. It was completely frozen and Lucky worryingly looked at it.

"Don't deny the fears! Release yourself to me and you'll feel no pain in your life!"

"Why would I ever do that?" he closed his serious face to hers. "Get out of my head, nightmare!"

The white eyes stared even deeper in him.

"Your pain is great. Give it to me!"

"Huh, I need to wake up before I get mental illnesses from this conversation." without losing her from sight, he stepped back. Suddenly Lucky felt weaker but for no apparent reason. Then the pegasus saw how the green from his mane flied in the air and aimed at the emerald orb on her medallion. At first, he was shocked by the sight but the pegasus quickly managed to bring himself together and stay cool.

"Is she draining my life? Maybe I should try to get away from her as far as possible!" Lucky quickly turned around and began galloping into the whiteness of the dream. He turned hes head to the right and saw that the dark alicorn didn't move. However, the green stream was still connecting him with the locket. With each passing second his strength decreased, despite being so far away from her.

Lucky kept running without looking back. Quite some time passed but still he couldn't break her spell. The pegasus felt so tired, only his will powered his muscles. He felt that he was near the incantation's range.

Suddenly, he stopped and disbelievingly looked in front of him. The black alicorn was only a few steps away.

"No, I can't have galloped in a circle! Crap, this is a dream, laws of physics don't apply here! However, why do I feel like I'm really dying?" Lucky tiredly thought.

He fell on his belly because of the great fatigue. Lucky tried to stay awake but his eyes slowly closed. The pegasus fought to the last drop of strength. His head shakily began lowering to the ground.

"Sleep, my little pony. Eternity awaits you!" the alicorn said with its unnatural voice.  

"Never!" he shouted. Then he opened his eyes, which now looked beastly.

A silhouette of a dragon with spread wings appeared behind him. The white eyes of the dark mare immediately turned to the big transparent figure. The giant clawed hand hit her like a train. Bits and pieces of her flew to the left and scattered on the white ground. There was no blood and only black smoke came from every part. The two white eyes still stared at the pegasus, who was barely holding himself together.

The red medallion was laying near them and was still draining Lucky's essence. The dragon slammed its hand and broke it to tens of pieces.

Lucky breathed deeply and almost got up from his place. He hugged the ninja. The winged pony seemed out of breath and he was uncontrollably shaking. Lucky was sweating so much, that somepony could say he just had a shower.

"Calm down!" the ninja said. "It was just a dream!"

The pegasus only tightened his hug and touched his head to hers. Tail wanted to push him away but was unable to due to his strength. She looked at his back and saw a line of sharp spikes coming out of him. They violently teared his flesh and warm blood began to come out of the wounds.

"No, it's too soon! I must calm him down or I'll be dealing with a dragon. " Foxy worryingly thought.

"Lucky, everything is alright. There is no need to be afraid. The dream is no more." she tried to sound as soft as possible but her snake tongue didn't help her much.

She felt his heart going nuts and his hug getting tighter.

"Let your fears go away because you are among a friend."

When Lucky heard the last word, his breathing began slowing down.

"Good, don't let yourself to the beast. You are in control now. Feel the rhythm of the nature around you and adjust yours to it. Slow the beats. Find your peace in me. The balance, you must achieve and only then you'll feel free."  

Lucky gradually calmed down and the symptoms of his transformation began disappearing one by one under his skin. He needed a few minutes before Lucky was confident enough to let go of her. The pegasus slowly stepped back and sat on a big root. Great pain was coming from all parts of his body.

"I never thought this would hurt so much!" he said with clenched teeth. His eyes slowly turned to normal but his fangs were still big and razor sharp. "Do I still have weeks until my change?"

The ninja looked very troubled. For the first time she was unsure of what to do.

"What happened in your dream?" Foxy moved in front of him. Her eyes analyzed every surface of his body. She needed to be sure, that he was going to be okay.

"It was a sunny day. I was laying on the grass, admiring on the perfect view, when you appeared in front of me." Lucky paused and he hesitated to continue. Then he somehow found courage to say it out loud. "We kissed."

Tail looked at his face with a serious eyes.

"Pervert!" she said.

"No, I'm not! I'd never kiss a mare with your sharp teeth." Lucky defended himself. "Anyway, then the world turned black and a dark voice spoke to me. It warned me not to open the temple, whatever it means. Then she appeared in front of me. Her name was Shadow Sun and she was a dark alicorn, who had a red triangular shaped medallion with a green orb in the center."

Foxy froze.

"She has white eyes, that stare deep in your soul and little flames burn on her feathers, right?" Tail calmly asked him.

He painfully nodded.

"She used her locket, that began sucking my life force. I was almost done for, when I felt this incredible power going through me. I saw a huge clawed hand slamming her to the ground. Then it destroyed the medallion and that's when I woke up."

Lucky looked at his bloody shaking hoofs, from which small claws had come out. If he doesn't control himself better, these hooves would be stained with not only his blood.

"A dream attack. No pony has the ability to do that, except the alicorn named Luna but even she can't trigger prematurely his transformation. Shadow Sun, is she a real being?" the ninja thought. "Circle warned us about her. Strange unexplainable stuff happened. Lucky's nightmares..."

Foxy looked at his emerald medallion. When ninja saw it for the first time, she knew there was something fishy about it.

"Lucky, could you give me your medallion for a moment?" she asked.

"Why do you need it?" he uncertain took it off and hoofed it over to her.

Foxy didn't answer. She grabbed one low branch and cut it from the tree. Tail belched fire at it and placed it on the ground. Then she pulled out the red piece from under her clothing. The ninja lifted the two lockets above the small fire and analyzed them carefully. She slowly turned the green one, so that its top faced her. The emerald spiral looked very similar to the green orb that was on the painting. She closed the two and imagined the other missing parts. Suddenly, it all became clear.

"They look like they are parts of the her medallion!" Lucky said, when he stood next to her. His curiosity had a bigger power on him than the pain waves.

"Like in the artists' painting!" she whispered.

Their orange eyes stared down on the two crystals.

"Could it be that he was telling the truth?" Lucky asked.

Tail turned around to him. Her eyes very serious.

"I guess, we'll need to have a talk with him!" Next Chapter: Chapter 14: Each Morning Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 36 Minutes