Dust flew out around him, tinted silver by the full moon above him. Rock hard hooves pounded the ground kicking up dirt as it raced across the landscape. Gloved hands grabbed at the horse's reins and snapped forward with a loud crack. John Marston watched as the landscape flew by in a dark blur. His horse, Pestilence, a sickly gray horse covered in open wounds with a dull green aura surrounding him, trotted on at high speeds. The horse of legend neighed quietly and picked up speed.
John mussed to himself silently, losing himself in thought. The past few weeks had been crazy to say the least. The dead walking the earth, legendary horses with incredible powers roaming the land, people keeping dead family members as pets. The bounty hunter grimaced and tore himself back to awareness. Something farther out on the road caught his eye. A purple light shone brightly further down the trail. John reached down and pulled his Lemat Revolver from its holster and held it in his off hand. He flicked his other wrist with a soft "yaa", never taking his eyes off the strange object. As they neared the object, John got a strong feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. Pestilence stopped in front of the floating purple orb, pulling up onto its hind legs and whinnying loudly. The horse stopped short a few feet of the anomaly and refused to go any further.
The bounty hunter hopped of the horse and patted its bloodied neck. Walking forward cautiously, John aimed his revolver at the violet orb. "What is this?" John whispered. "Only one way to find out." He held his hand out and slowly walked forward, keeping his weapon trained . The second his hand touched the ball of purple am tremendous force propelled him backwards. John skipped across the ground, distinctive cracking sounds echoing out of his body. He screamed in pain as he barreled into pestilence, knocking the horse down. John threw his head back and groaned painfully. Blood leaked from his mouth and he closed his eyes trying to help ease the pain.
John yelped and snapped his eyes open as he felt himself being pulled. He looked up and saw that the lavender orb was pulling him towards it. The bounty hunter panted and frantically grabbed at anything he could get. "No!" John screamed in panic as he neared the now portal like ball of light. His hand touched something metal. He grabbed at it with the strength he had left. Pulling it up he was greeted with metallic form of his trusty Lemat Revolver. John pointed the gun at the shimmering purple ball that was dragging him ever closer.
Explosive cracks filled the air as John squeezed the trigger. After three shots, John gave up and quickly stuffed the revolver into it's holster, knowing that he wouldn't have the strength to hold up the powerful weapon and aim properly. He closed his eyes and laid back. The last thing he heard before the ball dragged him through was four horses letting out distinctive powerful neighs.
Princess Luna sighed as she looked up into the night sky. Today had been hectic.
A week ago a threat had been made to the castle. A group who identified themselves as The Sunburst Rising, detailed in a cryptic message about the time of the sun coming to pass. The threats at first had been put off as hot air. Earlier that morning the guards burst into Celestia's chambers after a pained yelp emanated from inside. The royal guards drew their spears as soon as they saw the scene before them: Celestia on the floor, her horn glowing orange as she held up a salmon colored shield. Small, wickedly sharp knifes were stuck into her forearms, blood leaking down. Her pain filled eyes locked on the guards as they rushed the three ponies attacking their Princess's protective bubble. The attackers were wearing black cloaks, with a red sun eclipsed by a white one on each side of their cloaks. Two were pegasi while the other was a unicorn. One of the pegasi responded immediately: Diving to the side and smashing through a nearby window. The shards of glass fell, making small cuts on the two remaining ponies. The two attacked the guards with skilled close combat moves, smashing the guard's elbows and dislocating wings.
The guards managed to get a few good hits, but they were just too untrained to do much. Before the highly trained assassins could finish off the guards, they were pushed to the ground by a powerful, unseen force. Celestia stood over the two magically restrained assassins, burning anger in her eyes. As the injured guards were pulled out of the room and down to the infirmary, the commander who was sporting only a couple bruises, looked up at his Princess
"You majesty we must get you down to the infirmary. And deal with those two dirt bags" He jerked his head over to the restrained ponies. The two looked at each other, before nodding. They reached their heads down and bit off a part of their cloaks, revealing a pill secured by a small band. They pulled the pill out and held them between their teeth. The commander's eyes widened as he ran over to them. The two hooded ponies swallowed their pills. The effect was instantaneous. Horrible gurgling sounds came from within their throats and they started to vomit up a thick frothy substance. The commander backed away as the pills finished off the ponies.
Luna shivered as she though about what might have happened to her sister if the guards hadn't intervened when they did. Those assassins meant business, they might of been able to kill Celestia. Luna shook the thought from her head. A night flight would do her nicely. She stretched her wings and took off. The wind blew softly against her feathers and she breathed in deeply, savoring the crisp night air. As she flew away from Canterlot and down to the great fields that surrounded the Everfree Forest, something grabbed her attention. A bright violet pulsating light down near the edge of the Everfree Forest. She glided down, a deep curiosity burning within her.
The light died down with a bright flash and a bipedal figure dropped out of the light. Luna landed with a gentle thump and eyed the creature with a mix of curiosity and caution. The thing began to stir and she took a step back. A the creature opened it's eyes, Luna let out a little gasp. The princess, lacking the social skills of most ponies, had gotten adept at reading emotions. It's eyes were full of a variety of different emotions: anger, sadness, desperation, sorrow. The bipedal creature got to it's knees and looked at Luna wierdly.
"What a strange horse..." The creature mumbled absentmindedly. The Princess regarded the human with a look of surprise.
"Thou can talk?" Luna reverted to old equestrian in her moment of surprise. The human's eyes widened and it stood up quickly. It drew an odd metal device and pointed it at her. Luna crouched down and flared her wings defensively. "Who art thou?"
The creature's eyes narrowed, it's scarred face scrunching up. "John Marston"
