It was getting darker in the woods. Deep shadows consumed every small shrub and grass. It was getting colder but that was least of their problems. The trees' coronas were gently shaking by the evening's wind. It brought the smell of fear and death in this peaceful forest. Somehow this small garden from heaven avoided the war and remained beautiful. Many small creatures were hiding behind it's tick green barriers to save themselves from the fires, that consumed their previous habitats. Prey and predator had to live together in this place and hope that nature would spread its skirt to the scourged fields that held the remains of thousands of warriors. Bones, weapons and standards were lying chaotically in those barren plains. Not a single tree or grass grew in those places. The only inhabitants were the worms and the vultures, who were feeding from the decaying flesh of the many brave ponies. It was Hell and no living thing wanted to be near those fields.

The sun was diving in the horizon. The Guardians had hidden themselves in bushes or on top of some trees, the pegasi that was. The trees were enormous. Their thick stems were homes of many mushrooms. The grass was very low because of the lack of sunlight, which was mostly blocked by the tall coronas. The higher a plant grew, the more strong it became and thus dominated the local flora. Of course nothing could bring down the real kings but many bushes and smaller trees fought in a unwinnable battle against the hegemony of the ancients.

Half of their force stayed on guard, ready to attack any unsuspecting pursuer. The ones, who were too wounded, fought their own war against death. Three unicorns were doing everything possible to help the unluckiest ninjas. The ninjas were all exhausted but they couldn't stop to rest 'cause the enemy was near, well rested and probably fed. Those fresh warriors would make a short work of them, if it would come to a front confrontation, so they had to hide just like the animals and pray not to get caught by the flames.

"How many you sense, Master Triple?" Free Feather asked. The pegasus looked dirty, bloody and his eyes begged for some sleep.

"None." the pink unicorn angrily stamped the ground. "They must be using that damned cloak."

"Master Triple, please, it is not your fault that they've ambushed us back in the palace." Feather tried to calm his teacher but it caused more rage inside the elder's heart.

"Should have seen it coming! If we had killed him quickly, then so many lives would have been spared. The blood of my students and the dragon guards is now on my hooves." he hit a nearby stem. His leg impaled the tree and stayed inside it for few moments. "One pony! One son of a tyrant!"

The white pegasus came closer. His blue eyes were full with anxiety and understanding.

"Master..."

"Don't call me like that!" Triple removed his leg from the stem. The hole reached the center of the tree. "I lost my position as your master. I've brought doom to the Guardians of the Portal and I should perform seppuku to clean myself from this shame."

Feather and few others from the near public were shocked to hear him saying this. They would never imagine that he would suicide to save the honor of their holy organization.

"No!" the young pegasus almost shouted. "We need you, master. Without you, there won't be anypony to guide us! You are like a father to us and none want to see you perish like that!"

"Yeah!" one earth pony concurred.

"We stand behind you, Master Triple. Performing seppuku, would mean that you leave us alone in this harsh world." the yellow pegasus said from his long branch.

"You are all delusional!" Master Triple waved his hoof at them. He looked down at the ground because he couldn't look at them in the eyes. "I-I... am not worthy to lead you or teach you!"

Crystal-like tears fell from his experienced eyes and smashed into the ground.  

"Master..."

"There is no place for an old peace-loving fool like me." then he suddenly looked up at them. His brown eyes had a lot of pain in them but also that small feel of a master. "This world is lost to the cold. It doesn't need our protection anymore, when it tries to kill us. There is just no point...."

Everypony was a little stunned. They couldn't say anything. The mood was so depressing that Triple wanted to grab it and brake its neck. Only if he could...

"We, no, you are going to survive this. When we get on the other side, I and Blue Circle will go back and finish the job. The rest of you will head north, to the pony kingdom!"

"No, we are coming with you, master! We'll follow you to the death, if that's how it was written!" the Blue Ninja said fearlessly. Others followed:

"Yes, let's get revenge for our fallen comrades!"

"We will show them the might of the Guardians!"

"No!" Triple shouted. He then approached them and slapped the pony in the blue ninja outfit, though most of the original color was gone because of the blood of the slain. "You cretins! You seek death and destruction! Is this what we stand for? Your lives mustn't be thrown like kunais. You must continue our traditions, here they'll only get forgotten."

"But-But!"

Triple lifted up his right hoof.

"I've decided!"

"Master, it's like running away from a duel! We can't let you carry all the weight, you need our help to dethrone the Dragon Claw leader!" Free Feather placed his right hoof on the unicorn's shoulder. "If we are not united, then we are weaker. This is a moment, when we need each other the most. Separating us, will bring only harm!"

Triple looked at him with the eyes of father.

"From all Guardians you should understand me the most. You wanted to live your own life and be free from your duty. It's good that you finally saw the bond that connects us all but your time is not now, will not be soon but after you've experienced the outside world. As you said, nothing holds us here." he then turned to the rest. "Don't you understand? Our purpose was not only to protect these fools from utter destruction and chaos, which we utterly failed at but to save our heritage. We are warriors, we are free and we like to take a nap in the afternoon. I know that what I'm asking you to do is too coward-like but in order to preserve what is sacred, you must live on! Staying on this cursed island will get yourselves killed and for what? Because of duty? Because of honor? Ha, honor is not known in this place, when even the leader disgracefully disregards it."

The unicorn turned his back to them and stared in the shadows of the old forest. It was painful for him to say it but it had to be said now:

"From this moment the Guardians of the Portal are no more."

Everypony froze on their places, as if time stopped for them.

"From now on you all shall be known as the Phoenixes. Born from the ashes of the old to meet the brave new world." then he pointed at Free Feather. "I appoint you the leader of the Phoenixes. Your goal is to find a suited place, which you can call home. As the last master of the Guardians that's my last order and I relinquish my position. I've spoken."

No pony said anything. If this was how destiny wanted it to be, then they had no choice but to comply to its will. They were going to follow this last order of their beloved master without objection. However, there was none. who didn't felt the bitter kiss of failure. They bowed and then silently returned to their posts.

"Why me, master?" Feather asked incredulously.

"Because you are the only one, who can lead them to a better place. You have leadership and know what you want. You always speak your mind and most importantly, your desire to live is what will make them change for the better.” Triple placed a hoof on the shoulder. “Be the example of how they should live. Do not go on that path, from which there is no return. Look at them. They are all in their prime and some just passed the green. They deserve to raise a family, find happiness in life and peace.”

Then he placed a second hoof on the left shoulder of Feather. He stared inside his crystal blue eyes that had so many things to see. Those eyes had to be stroked by the mare's beauty. They had to see how his future seed were going to grow and have children of their own. Free Feather was too innocent, too young for this world and yet he had the spirit of a future leader.

“I am counting on you to get them safely to the northern kingdom. Watch over them as your own children. Be their light, breath and pulse.”

Those words sealed in the pegasus's mind. He was not going to disappoint his former master.

“Will you join us, after you've done the deed?”

“Son, after I and Circle kill the Dragon Leader, we won't be coming. His death will ignite the flames of war once more. We'll be needed here to extinguish it with our own blood.”

Feather felt heavy. The future was not looking bright at all.

“Hey, at least we'll meet in the afterlife, so don't get upset by it.” Triple smiled.

Out of a sudden, noises came behind the bushes. Every ninja stood ready to greet their followers. Twenty black ponies were approaching their trap like unaware game. They were all wearing steel brondie helmets. Most of them were earth ponies, who had single short blades. The few pegasi were girded with two belts that were fully loaded with kunais. They moved in cautiously. Their commander wore a crimson outfit. He was in front of the patrol.  

The Guardians were lying in waiting for their prey to come a little closer. The winged ponies' feathers were itching for some sweet revenge. The unicorns planed the attack in their minds and selected who was going to die first. The earth ponies tried not to make any noises.

Suddenly the commander of the blood ponies stopped and lifted his right hoof high.

“The voices came from somewhere near. Spread out and hunt those smelly foolish suckers, who dared to challenge our beloved leader!”

“You mean me?”

The crimson ninja turned around to see how Master Triple simultaneously paralyzed two of his ponies. Then he pushed them on the ground. They fell like statues. The commander pointed at him and shouted:

“Get this pathetic old bad breather!”

The moment he ordered the command, four kunais pierced his plot. He jumped and cried out loud before he was silenced for good by the big sword of the blue ninja. In the next second the dragon ponies found themselves almost surrounded. Steel was raining from the dark coronas, softening the enemy forces. Then the real body crusher came. They tried to fight back but their luck went short on them.  

The black pegasus threw a barrage of razor sharp knifes at the blue ninja and his wings. With one swung of his giant sword, he was able to parry most of them. One of the kunais struck the pony on his right in the leg. Battle cries spread throughout the woods like a forest fire, alerting the lonely White Shadow about the slaughter. It was another blood bath, which was filled mostly with the bodies of the enemy.

Free Feather jumped in the air, dodging two kunais. He landed just in front of another pegasus. The later quickly drew his blade for close quarters and parried the incoming blow. The black ninja jumped backwards to distance himself from Feather. The white pegasus spread his wings and got high in the air, then he flied in a straight line towards his opponent with a knife in his mouth. His target prepared to jump to the left in the right moment.

Feather was merely a meter from him, when the blood pony dodged his attack from above and swung his knife at his left wing. The blade touched the plume, moved to the flesh and then it went through the hollow bones. The black ninja managed to cut it entirely. Tremendous pain, Feather felt, such that could not be measured. He crashed on the ground, while doing barrel rolls. When he stopped, his amputated wing fell next to him.

The pegasus tried to withstand the hurt and steadily stood on his hooves. Blood was gushing out of the wound. There was a lot of anger in his eyes. They impaled his adversary's red ones. Suddenly he noticed the fear in them and the hope to survive this massacre. The stained knife in his hooves was shaking.

"He wants to live too! What are we doing?" Feather looked at his own bloody hooves. The white had long turned red. He felt dizzy.

The enemy approached with a knife in the mouth. Death was calling his name. He wanted to escape but his movement was sluggish. He was bleeding, losing the precious fluid that powered his body. Fear was creeping his spine. His time came.

The black ninja stood in front of him. Now Free realized that his enemy was a mare. Her weapon was shaking in her mouth. She had to claim his life and move on to the next warrior. Their eyes met closely. He thought that they were beautiful, at least he was going to die, while staring at them.

Then the knife was dropped. It felt on its edge and drove into the ground. He stood there completely shocked. The mare ninja was breathing fitfully. Then tears formed in her gorgeous eyes.

"I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to cut your wing!" her voice was like melody for his ears, that eased the pain a little bit.

"Why? Why are you stopping?" he asked with a quiet voice.

"Because you are a Guardian of the Portal! It's against the sacred laws! I-I do not know what happened to us." she quickly bowed down shakily. "I ask for your forgiveness!"

He seemed quite confused. Nothing looked real to him now. The short battle was at its end. The few enemies dropped like flies, only one managed to avoid attention. He was further back and the only thing left was to run away. The earth pony didn't want to follow his comrades' fates. He turned his pony tail and began galloping as fast as he could. Some of the Guardians saw him. They were about to pursue him, when the coward was impaled by dozens of black tentacles.

A shadow appeared from one of the trees. His crazy blue eyes stared in the victim's soul. The unlucky pony was still alive but barely. He was uncontrollably shaking from the cold pain. Heavy sweat was coming from him that smelled like death. Circle approached the loser slowly until his tall covered in black figure was in front of the dying ninja.

"Very, very unfortunate for you. If you surrendered, you might have breathed another day."

Circle glimpsed at the others, who were watching the execution from their places, near the fallen dragon ponies. Then he concentrated all of his attention on the goner. He was moaning like a child.

"Crap. I do enjoy stabbing suckers but judging by your age, you are not ready to meet you ancestors." then something caught his eye. Another tentacle appeared from his chest and pulled out the only object that interested him from the dying's cloths. It was a small drawing of a pretty mare. There was even a name on it. Circle sighed heavily.

"Very unfortunate indeed. Just made another enemy." he then lifted up the drawing at the level of his eyes. "Look in it. Immerse in its fine details. Think of her only!"

The almost dead pony painfully opened his eyes and looked with his blurry vision at the only creature in his heart. Then lightening fast, the master ninja pulled out his tentacles. The runaway collapsed on the grass. He was dead. Circle put the drawing back in the pocket of the rightful owner and carried on to the stained with blood ninjas. He was not looking happy to see what went on, while he was laying false tracks.

"Casualties?" he asked coldly.

"One dead."

"How many survivors?"

"Six from twenty." Triple answered.

"Seven!" Feather said, while he was helping his opponent to stand up. "She is asking for forgiveness."

The white pegasus swayed a little on his place but he quickly found balance, when she put a shoulder.

"I, no, we are ashamed that we participated in this ugly act of killing. I know that it's too much, but please, spare our lives!"

"What the new leader will say about it? Will you choose life or death?" Triple made a serious face at Feather. Circle raised an eyebrow. It seemed a lot happened in the camp, while he was gone.

"If we leave you be, you'll willingly or unwillingly notify the Dragon Clan of our position. If we kill you, we'll save ourselves because you'll not tell anything and we will be spared of the trouble of carrying you around as prisoners. So, I'm asking you to willingly join our clan, clan Phoenixes, only if you choose the path of life!"

The mare looked at him and felt something, something she never had: the freedom of choice. From the moment of her birth, she was a slave either to her family or clan. This had driven her to the point, where she was thinking of leaving and now her dream moment became a reality.  

"I, Silver Knife, choose life. I will be honored to become a member of your clan. And I'm sorry to cut your wing."

"It will grow up!" he painfully smiled before the dizziness opiated his legs. Everything seemed to spin around him.

"Medics, begin treating everypony's wounds." Triple ordered. "Silver Knife, as the first deserted, I welcome you to our small herd. Your first duty is to give medical attention to those, who need it. After that talk some sense in the other six. If their pride is too strong, then they don't leave us other choice."

Circle turned him around and looked in him very seriously.

"Phoenixes, right? What happened?"

"I had to create the Phoenixes because those baboons were too stubborn to understand that they don't have a future in this land. I had to direct them to the correct path."

"And you gave up the command?" three tentacles dangerously closed in to the old pony's face. "Are you sabotaging us on purpose or was this just an honest mistake?"

"First of all, stop waving your demonic snakes at me, young man."

Two unicorn spirits pressed the four points on his back and thus his shadow technique was ceased. Circle was not surprised or impressed.

"Second, our objective is still the same: get to the other side and seal the portal. However, they will not wait for us and they will be heading north. Lupi was right, when he said that another war will ignite, if we remove him from power. The same thing will happen, if we tell the other clans about his plans, though they'll surely lose because of those evil machines. And that leaves us with one choice: to kill him and hope that the war won't drag for years.  So, they are going to preserve our traditions in a safe place, far from here. Have you calmed down now?"

Circle bowed his head.  

"I apologize for my inappropriate behavior."

"Using Shadow Sun techniques too much doesn't seem to work so well for you, eh? Why don't you get some rest?"

"The prize of my powers is my sanity." he whispered. "No rest can help me."

Circle silently went forward, Triple gave him path, while the rest began encircling the old master. They began to worry, when they saw the legendary ninja so down.

"Master, what should we do now?"

"After we've helped the wounded, we'll have to move far away from here. Other patrols are probably alerted about our presence in the vicinity, so we need to disappear quickly." he turned to Feather, who was been taken care of by one of the unicorns. Crimson Knife was assisting the medic. Triple saw the spark of goodness in her red eyes and that made him believe for a moment that the future was going to turn out to be brighter.

The last orange light beams were piercing the thick coronas, one of which illuminated the new leader with the blessing of the late sun. Though lost a wing, he gained a new ally, which in the future had to prove her trust. His first battle, his first alliance. Tonight the Phoenixes forged their their glorious first page in the history. Yes, the future was theirs for the taking.

"Cut the ill branches to save the whole." Triple remembered an old saying.

Across the ocean, in the throne room...

Celestia and Luna were finishing the last documents. The guards were still standing on the same places. It was almost time for dinner. Everything was quiet. The two Princesses looked very cute, when they were working.

"Ah, the last one."

"Luna, I didn't know that you had such a flair for sorting public problems." Celestia unrolled the last document and placed it, so that both could take a look at it. "You've been in so much help, we should do this more often."

"Ay, it was quite enjoyable, sis." Luna made her forever charming smile. "So, do you know what the royal chief has prepared for us?"

"Probably the same as two weeks ago. I've noticed a pattern in his cooking, so I guess it will be a lot of green salads with banana cake." she answered without moving eyes from the yellow piece of paper.

"Your favorite. I wonder, when would he make the traditional Canterlot meal from thousand years ago?"

"Probably, when you shout at him with your royal voice from that time." Celestia winked.

"You do realize that you talked like that a thousand years ago?" Luna looked away and continued with a more provocative voice: "Last week I heard you singing in the bathtub with the traditional royal voice. It would be very embarrassing, if this landed on somepony's ears."

"You would not dare." Celestia gave her the blood stare.

Suddenly the two alicorns noticed something wrong and looked forward, when a shadow entered the magnificent throne room. Before the guards could react, tentacles came out of the black pony and froze the rulers' personal guards. Celestia and  Luna jumped from their seats and stood in defensive stances. Their bushes of manes waved like flags. Pure magic was coming from their charged horns. The two most powerful beings on the planet prepared to send this intruder in a world of hurt, when the shade spoke in a familiar voice.

"Greetings, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. How's the kingdom progressing?"

"Who are you?"

"You have not heard of me, though I will introduce myself. They call me The Jester of Flame. Pleasant to meet you!"

"State the purpose of your coming in here!"

The shadow pony began fearlessly walking forward. No living creature would dare to face them like this, a good thing that he was dead.

"I'm here to smell the fright from your hearts. In a few days from this moment, you'll be bowing to me." a white grin appeared on the dark face. The two soulless eyes were looking at them in a mocking way.

"What makes you so sure of yourself?" Celestia accepted the challenge and began walking towards the shade.

"You think you've defeated the right enemy but you are so wrong! Shadow Sun was never a real threat. You've all played my game to the last letter."

"You know about the prophecy? You should also know that utter destruction was prevented. No black cloud will darken the sunny future of our ponies."

"How foolish of you to think that." the shade shook head. "Keep staring at those future-telling mirrors, they are as good as the fortune cookies, which are not bad, if you try them with apple sauce."

Celestia was not fond of its mockery and was quickly losing patience. Luna joined her. Her cyan war eyes wanted nothing but to see this intruder punished for his trash talks.

"And where is your evidence? We, the mighty sisters, would never let chaos rule over Equestria, so do not expect an easy fight."

The shade lost its shape and went to the throne, where it materialized and sat like a king. Such an insult was not tolerable, though the two sisters kept their cool.  

"I do not need proof, cause it's a fact. When I get the throne, I'll hunt you and put you on my walls like game. Fires will consume this land and the rest too. Every living creature will call me master."

Luna remembered the images from the vision in the mirror and that made her feel fear like no other time. She looked at Celestia and saw only the face of the strategist, who was calculating everything without a drop of emotion. Her bigger sister, who had lived like an immortal among mortals, knew how not to get easily scared by claims of delusional psychopaths.

"Try to take over Equestria, I dare you..." the white alicorn made a brave step forward. "... I double dare you, powerless spirit. Get back from what ever hole you crawled from and stay there. As long as I and Luna are alive, your existence is threatened. Now get off my throne!"

"Shish, somepony needs her pills. I'll leave, Your Highnesses. Enjoy your rule, while you still can and don't say that I didn't give you a friendly warning. Have a pleasant evening!"

The tentacles around the guards went back to their owner. The ponies unconsciously fell on the ground. Celestia and Luna fired spells from their horns to capture this demon, though he proved too difficult to capture and managed to get outside from one of the windows. The noise from the magic, alerted the guards outside. They broke in and checked the entire room.

"Your Majesties, are you all right?" the white pegasus asked.

"We are unharmed. Take care of the others. I'll need the commanders to be called and gather in the Ready Room. It's an emergency."

The Guardian bowed down and began performing his orders.

"Sis, the spirit's words..."

"Words of delusion." Celestia interrupted. "Nothing what he said will happen. Believe me, my little sister."

Luna looked inside her and she saw the fears of the future. Deep down, her guts knew that something bad was going to happen but the angel of night was too powerless to overcome them. Luna really wanted to believe that everything will be okay. Only if her spirit was like Celestia's. Next Chapter: Chapter 29: Sweet Love Of Mine Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 54 Minutes