"Missing? What do you mean, missing?!" I almost screamed at Rainbow Dash.

She looked at me and said: "I mean, we don't know where she is. She went missing shortly after you flew off." My gaze dropped to the floor as I mulled it over. "I thought she had gone after you, but apparently not..."

I nodded dully, thinking about what to do. I then looked up at her, and she clearly heard my question before I asked it: "Does anyone know where she was going direction wise?"

"I'm not sure, it'd be best if you asked around, probably," she replied, and I nodded before turning on my hoof and exiting the tent, Night Spirit on my tail.

It wasn't long before I had a general direction to head in and we were off, Ace, Spirit and myself, heading south as we were told to find my wife. We flew over the forest, and watched as it got thicker and thicker the further we went. I was worried that we'd have to head back soon but after what seems like an eternity we came across a clearing in the trees. I motioned for us to land and we did, first me, then Ace, and finally Spirit. Then we headed off on hoof to try and find Night Rain. We continued heading South when we came across a small camp.

It looked empty, three of the five tents were taken down and the other two still stood next to one another. In the centre there was a fire pit, still smoking but no longer burning, and a few stray weapons were laying around.

"Shit..." Ace whispered, to which I responded with a hoof in front of my mouth. For all we knew, there could still be someone here.

I took the lead as we slowly inspected every inch of the encampment, and discovered who had been here; Changelings. I didn't like the looks of that. There were several green pods inside one of the tents, which I assumed the occupying Changelings were sleeping inside of. The pods were covered in a slimy, green goo that dripped onto the ground, and it smelled like someone had let a few dozen citrus fruits go bad.

I backed out of the tent slowly, and told the others what I found. Ace found it surprising, and Spirit just looked at me worriedly.

"Is my sister in there?" he asked me. I shook my head in response.

And then there was a scream.

It was female, and sounded close. We looked at each other before heading off in the direction of the scream. She sounded like she was in pain, and that hit me in the gut pretty hard.

"Night!" I yelled. We were sprinting now, and the screams were getting closer. We were almost there, and then... Silence.

I didn't know what that meant, but we kept running until we came across a figure hanging from the trees. They were in the middle of a clearing, and I could see something attached to her legs and wings, holding her in place. We got closer, and I saw several tools, a tazer, several scalpels, and other assorted items laying on top of a small table. I pushed it aside as I continued to approach the mare hanging from the trees, her midnight black coat covered in blood where what I now could see was barbed wire was wrapped around her limbs.

It took one look at her brilliantly colored mane to know who it was, and I almost broke down into tears at the sight of her. She groaned dully, and tried to look up, but she was clearly too weak. I flew up and put my hoof under her chin, bringing her face up so I could look into her eyes. The bright red irises no longer filled with energy, but sorrow and pain.

"N-Night, baby. It's me," I said to her, my voice shaking as I took in the horrible state she was in.

She looked into my eyes and smiled weakly, leaning her head forward a bit. I took the message and closed the distance, kissing her gently as though not to hurt her. I broke away and wrapped my forelegs around her torso, under her own, and looked down to Spirit.

"Cut her down," I told him, and he flew around us in a flash, cutting through the barbed wire with his scythe, and Night instantly fell limp against me.

I slowly lowered her to the ground and layed her down as gently as I could, not wanting to cause her unnecessary pain. I then looked at her limbs, and it was then that I realized that the barbed wire not only was wrapped extremely tightly around her limbs, but also slightly rusty. She was also covered in other, smaller cuts and bruises, but I was more worried about the barbed wire.

"Spirit, help me with this," I said, gesturing to Night's legs and wing opposite me. I then looked into Night's eyes, bloodshot and tear-soaked, and whispered into her ear; "Stay still. This is probably gonna hurt a bit." I kissed her cheek and returned my attention to the barbed wire wrapped around her left foreleg.

I carefully gripped the end of the wire and slowly began unwrapping it from her leg. Blood seeped from where the barbs had dug into her flesh and I wanted to cry seeing her in so much pain, but I kept on. She cringed and squirmed a bit, and I gestured for Ace to hold her down while I removed the wire. Once the wire was off of her leg I quickly pulled the medical kit from my saddlebag and wrapped three layers of bandages around her wounds.

Then came the other three legs, which I also wrapped in bandages, and then her wings. After the second leg was cleared of the wire and wrapped in bandages, Night passed out from the pain. I almost broke down crying when she did, but I could hear her heart beating when I put my ear to her chest, so I kept on.

I gently lifted her wing off the ground and began slowly unwrapping the wire from it. Blood seeped from the punctures, but it wasn't as bad as her wings were. I still wrapped them in bandages after I removed the wire and had Ace and Spirit lay her on my back. I tried to wake her up, but decided to let her rest while we flew back home.

***

I was sitting by Night's bed when she woke up. We had her in the medical tent, and I volunteered to stay with her once the medics got her hooked to an IV and knew she was going to be all right. I had been sitting there, holding her hoof between my own when her eyes fluttered open.

They were still a little bloodshot, but looked otherwise okay. I smiled when she looked at me, even though my face couldn't hide the fact that I'd been crying.

"Hey," I said, just over a whisper.

"H-hey," she said weakly.

"Are you okay?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"I've been better," she said with a light laugh. I smiled and sat a little closer to her.

"What, uh... What happened to you?" I knew it was probably too early to ask her, but it was bugging me like crazy.

She sighed and closed her eyes, and I thought I saw a tear or two going down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that," I said, "it's just... I can't stand seeing you like this."

"It's okay, sweetheart," she said. "I understand."

I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, not knowing what to say, and looked lovingly into her eyes.

She smiled at me and said: "You missed."

I laughed and bent down again, kissing her lips this time, and we sat there enjoying our little reunion for several seconds. It didn't last too long, however, because Rainbow Dash soon entered the tent, flanked by both Applejack and Ace. I sat up and looked at them one by one, and then exchanged a glance with Night Rain on the bed. They approached us, and I could see the concern in Dash's eyes. She looked at Night, and I could just barely see a tear or two in her eyes.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

Night looked at her and shook her head, "Seen better days..."

"Care to explain what happened?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Night sighed and looked at me. I shrugged and took her hoof in my own. She sighed again and looked at Ace and Applejack. They both gave her concerned and questioning looks.

Night took a deep breath before she started;

"After Sharp came in and saved me from Basil, I was obviously flooded with relief. I mean, how couldn't I be? But then you called him in and threatened him and it was gone. Once he flew off... I don't know, I just kinda lost it. I tried to go after him, but I lost him. Then I decided to go for a flight of my own to clear my mind and I came across a Changeling camp."

Rainbow Dash's eyebrows raised at that.

"They must have seen me because I soon found myself dangling from a pair of trees, barbed wire wrapped around my limbs and the Changelings... they..." she started crying then, and I instantly wrapped my legs around her and let her cry into my chest.

"Tortured you..." Rainbow finished the sentence for her.

Night pulled away just enough to tell us; "well, yeah... but they did something worse, too."

I knew what she meant, and the rage that surged through me was worse than any I've felt before. I wanted to go to that camp and brutally kill every single Changeling there, but I knew that right now Night needed me. I hugged her and stroked her back as she sobbed into my chest, and I silently vowed that I would avenge her.

***

Night had fallen, and I was getting ready for my own personal raid on the Changeling camp. No, it wasn't authorized, but I didn't really care. I was getting revenge. I set out with nothing but a saddlebag, night vision goggles, and my backup sniper rifle.

Unlike the one Night gave me the night I proposed to her, this one was semi-automatic and had an integrated suppressor. It was bullpup with a shiny black sheen and a variable scope with three modes: regular, night vision, and thermal. I had it on thermal.

I flew until I came across the camp again, and landed in a tree nearby. I pulled the ghillie suit and draped it over me while I scoped in on the camp. Those bastards were gonna pay. I didn't catch any movement right away, but the small fire blazing in the centre of the camp gave me all the clues I needed to know that they were awake.

It took a while, but I finally saw the changelings walking around. There were two of them, one of which was carrying something I couldn't make out using my thermal. I kept my crosshairs on one of their heads and waited for them to separate. Once I felt that he wouldn't be noticed, I put a bullet in his brain; splattering brain matter and yellowish green blood on the tree behind him. I noticed that his blood started steaming when it hit the tree, and I could see that it was actually eating through the wood.

"Acid blood..." I murmured to myself, thinking of an old movie that came out several years back.

I searched for his buddy, who was sitting by the campfire, all alone. I looked around him to make sure that there was no one nearby, and then blew his brains out. I didn't know which one had violated her, but I didn't care. They were all dying for what they did to her.

Judging from the pods I found in the tent, there were only three more of them in the camp. Before long, I saw them. All three of them. And they could see the bodies of their two friends as well.

"Oops," I whispered, and then shot two of them before they knew what hit them.

The third guy his behind his tent. Smart changeling. Too bad I was planning on killing him face-to-face. I flew around the camp silently, and spotted the changeling hiding right behind the corner of the tent. I glided down and landed silently behind him, drawing my knife out as quietly as I could.

I snuck up behind him and shoved the blade of the knife into the side of his neck, pulling it out and flicking the acidic blood on the ground. Once the deed had been done I headed back for the camp, my anger subsiding at last. I know that this may have been a bit extreme, but nothing else would be able to calm me down after hearing what they had done to her. Basil is lucky I stepped in when I did, otherwise he'd be dead, too.

Author's Note

Some more cute moments between Night and Sharp plus a bit of me torturing my favourite OC. All in fun times. (Of course I made a fucking Alien reference). I am so sorry it took so long for this to update, I just had other things to work on. Hope this was worth the wait! I'll see you next month since I plan to make this my main concern now.