Nights light

Chapters

Night as a shadow
Orientation day
The letter

Night as a shadow

A hunched figure lingered on a tiled rooftop watching his helpless prey walk through the street alley. With his charcoal coloured cloak flailing with the cold wind, he gracefully leaped across the silent alley to land upon the next brown rooftop with ease. Turning to stand back at the edge of the roof the slender navy blue unicorn brushed his long knotted hair from his face, revealing his tired ocean blue eyes.

He took another stride over to the building opposite pursuing his prey, all the while taking in the beautiful view of the glistening white moon and how it softly illuminated wonderfully decorated buildings of Canterlot. The icy wind on his heated body sent an enjoyable chill down his spine allowing him to appreciate the cold darkness.

Landing on the popular double story cafe that served many busy city goers during the day, he noticed his prey cautiously scanning up and down the dark damp alley, as mice do when exiting their home in the wall. As he edged his way towards and peered over the roof, he gave his target a deadpan stare not noticing anything out of the ordinary in which headquarters had informed him of.

With her grey coat and brown eyes, she looked just like any other unicorn that wandered the streets of Canterlot during the day. A single citizen could have a thousand reasons for wandering the streets at night ranging from a simple stroll to a late night date.

Though the stalkers doubts were put to rest as the unicorn spread her wings out wide, summoning summoned green flames around her to vaporize at the fleshy body. The night-watcher from above raised a hoof in front of his face, protecting his eyes from the radiating flames. Even from his heightened position he could feel the heat of the intense light singing the ends of his hairs. When the glow upon the walls of the alley began to died down, he gazed back at the figure finding that the grey pegasus had disappeared only to be replaced by a black pony like creature.

The flames faded to nothing revealing the smooth black shell of the mysterious creature beneath the disguise. With a dark green glow from it’s hole punctured horn, a puff of smoke formed a parchment and pen in the air.

Staring through the darkness, the nocturnal adventurer attempted to read over the shoulder of his target, but with the writing too small and light scarce, the stalker from above knew that with her attention averted, this was his best opportunity. Reaching under his cloak, he unsheathed both of his two polished steel daggers from their homes and held each firmly in his fore hooves. Leaping from his perch, he threw one of his daggers downwards, watching it slam into the floating parchment, pinning it to the ground.

Before the saber toothed creature could turn to hiss at her assailant, a weight was brought down pushing her to the ground crushing her bones with an audible crack and splitting a hole through her chest. She opened her mouth to scream but not a breath escaped her lips, no air or sound whatsoever, just red blood as it dribbled it’s way to the floor. With her cheek to the dirt she could only glimpse from her green compound eyes a shadow, blurred into the ground across the alley brought by the rising moon. An intense sharp pain shot through her body as the double edged knife retreated from her body causing a rasped gasp for what little air would be accepted by her dying lungs.

“Please…” She whispered to the floor as her world was consumed by darkness.

An impassive voice answered her call, whispering like an angel of death from above. “I’m sorry,” The voice replied looking down with his red eyes. “I just missed your heart,”

The bloody cutlery accelerated downwards, splitting apart the flesh and opening a deep wound to the chest.
______________________________________________________________________

With one still bloody blade sheathed in his belt the relentless stallion tugged the other from the ground bringing the dusty parchment that the unfortunate creature was writing on with it. He pulled the note from the blade, sheathing his dagger with his gaze still fixated on the unfinished writing. Taking a closer look, he made his best attempt to read the fancy writing. Whilst struggling, he read aloud to himself.

“To my coo-een, it ap-pearz that I will not be returning to hoof this to you myself as see-curity is tight. I have gathered that there is going to be a…” The stallion stopped and sighed before tearing up the paper letting the pieces drop to the dirt as nothing more was to be read.

Turning towards the limp body laying in the alley, he sat,staring into the lifeless green eyes the creature itself had once looked through. The glow that had once gifted it with night vision was gradually dimming and becoming a lifeless grey the longer he watched. He lowered the eyelids as to allow eternal rest befall the unfortunate mare, before he himself closed his eyes, allowing himself a moment's reprieve.

Breath. That was all that he could hear. The soft wisps of wind as it slowly twirled in and out of his lungs. The first and last thing that would be done from the beginning until the end of a life. Breath.

The chilly wind suddenly dragged him from his restful moment as it whistled in his ears. Looking up, he sighed noticing that more than his intended moment had passed. The moon had floated it’s way across the black sky signifying that dawn was creeping closer.

A black hole emerged on the wall next to the navy unicorn as he lit his horn with a dark colourless glow. He reached into the mouse sized hole and taking no notice of his disappearing hoof, pulled out a roll of white bandages followed by a dark stained rag. He then proceeded to circle the deceased body, cleaning the blood from around the wounds and bandaging them with care stopping any more red liquid from leaking.

After rolling the body over many times and inspecting his handy work he carelessly threw the stained rag and remaining bandages over his head into the pitch black void that sat like a painting on the wall. As the glow of his horn dissipated, so did the mystical black shadow that was hung on the wall until neither was to be seen.

Hoisting the body onto his back, he crept through the side streets and dark alleys towards his most familiar destination. He covered ground quickly having traveled the streets many a time at night. More beads of sweat trickled down his forehead the closer he was to his destination, but not once did he delay at the thought of having to wait longer to reach the convenience of home.

It wasn't long before he splashed through a puddle reaching the old wooden door hidden near the end of an alley. Knocking heavily on the wooden door, he waited a few moments expecting it to fly open, but when the door stayed ajar he quietly let himself in.

He laid his load over the maps and other reports that sat flatly on the table in the center of the room with a loud thump. The sudden rumble woke the three sleeping ponies that sat around it.

The eldest of the bunch was the first to respond to the commotion. “You know not everypony wants to wake to see a dead changeling on their table. Dare I say that back in my day...” The wrinkled brown stallion ranted on, boring the room with his history lesson.

Wit, still the grumpy old stallion that you were the day I met you.

“Put it away old timer,” Rose Cheek yawned. “Just do your job unless you want to get reassigned to the Canterlot boring history division,”
Rose, you better watch what you say to old ponies. You’re lucky he can’t run anymore.

“You can’t talk about others not doing their job,” The daisy mare shot back. “Especially when your lazy flank can’t even find anything about him-” She gestured to the cloaked stallion standing among them, “-Even after working with him for three years,” She said expectantly.

An exasperated sigh came from the stallion standing before his crowd. “It’s okay, Keen eye. He does what he can. Could you just get started on the body before I go?”

“You can’t stay? Not even for a few minutes?” She cooed, widening her eyes and pouting her lips adorably. “How about finally giving us a name?” She pawed the air adorably, hoping for an answer.

To her disappointment her attempt was in vain as the body was swiftly picked up and carried through a door into another room. Rose and Sharp looked at each other before snickering behind Keen’s back.

“Do you two have something to say?” She threateningly spoke instantly silencing the room.

Worrying that somepony was about to get sucker punched, Sharp quickly broke the silence. “I don’t know why you even tried that,” He began in a frustrated tone. “You should know by now that he’s not interested with getting close to anypony. Not you nor anypony else, so give up the lovey dovey stuff kid. Just let it go,”

A mix between irritation and embarrassment caught her off guard as her cheeks flourished red like a rose.

“Hey, making people tomato faced is my job” Rose laughed, leaning back in his chair inviting it to be knocked over by an angry mare.

“And how would you know that, Oldy?” She huffed. “Have you ever had a crush or, been in love?”

The comment seemed to hush the old stallions tone close to a whisper. His eyes drifted to the scratched wooden table in which they sat at. “Well, who hasn't, but it’s a wasted effort. He’s not looking for a relationship,”

“Why say that?” Rose questioned as he picked himself up. “He’s strong and handsome, I mean if I weren’t so popular with the mares I’d go for him too,” His joke called for a shove to the stomach sending him to the ground once more.

“It’s all in the eyes, boy. You can say what you want, and lie to any face, but the eyes are gates to the truth. It takes a lifetime to learn how, but if you do, you can read a person like a book just by looking at them,” He said as his knowledge was passed on.

“I feel like you've deviated the topic. What are you talking about?” Keen asked suddenly interested in the old ponies weird rant.

“That stallion’s got them, the eyes that that have seen all and can now, tell all. But trust me when I say, they don’t come cheap.” He uttered gloomily. “He’s done and seen things long before he should have, one of which was dead on this very table. You may see it happen, but taking a life in a war is very different than sitting in the back lines,”

An uncomfortable silence ran through the room keeping everyone’s eyes glued to the walls and furniture. The once embarrassed mare now sat confused in her thoughts. As the minutes passed more and more questions arose until the dam had to be released.

“Why are you saying all of this, Oldy?” Rose asked. “What’s gotten into you? What’s with all of this preaching?”

Sharp Wit pushed his chair in before heading for the alley door. Without turning to face his colleagues he finally answered. “It’s not something I can explain ms Eye. All I can say is that nothing has changed for him and it’s beginning to hurt him whether he knows it or not. Injuries are born from tragedies and mistakes, but even after a lifetime not all of them heal,” He ushered as he swung the wooden door open, exiting into the darkness. “Good night kids,”

“I think he’s finally lost it,” Were the first words heard echoing through the room.

“How could you say that?” She exclaimed, turning to the joker standing next to her.

“With my mouth,” he jested. “I mean, old people lose their common sense after a while, he’s just reaching the stage where things only make sense to him. Either that or we’re a part of a really bad author’s story,”

“Sometimes I think you're mad. If there was such a thing as ageism, you’d be a labeled as one,” she said shaking her head in disapproval.

Following the hoof steps of Quick Wit, he too made his way into the night, but not before leaving his signature mark. “Actually there is such a thing as ageism. Now i’ll leave you two lovers alone,” He yelled back.

Keen released her stress, rubbing her fore hooves around her temples for a minute while thinking of sunflowers and ice-cream. She eventually made her way into the next room where she found a silent stallion at the window gazing into the night. Without a word she approached the splayed body on the table in the room, picking up a pen and clipboard along the way.

The next few minutes were spent with Keen examining the changeling taking notes every few seconds with a single ceiling lamp as her only source of light, while her silent assistant gazed towards the midnight diamonds through the only open window of the room. Eerie silence condemned any sound made. The only noise to be heard was forged by the painful scratching of pencil on paper.

An hour passed with long descriptive words being etched onto the clipboard by the focused mare. Her concentration only broken when the door of the room was swung wide, slamming into the opposing wall revealing the red pegasus pony made of muscle standing behind it.

“Hello beautiful,” He introduced, but then turned to the quiet pony next to the window. “So this the famous, stupendous and may I say mysterious knight that everypony talks about?” The stallion spoke with arrogance as he approached the uninterested other stallion of the room. “Don’t look as amazing as everypony says back in the castle, if you ask me that is,” The stallion spat, proceeding to stroll into the room slowly gaining everyone's attention.

“Oh, someone new. You here for cleanup duty?” Keen interrupted with a slightly annoyed tone. Before the stallion could even answer she continued without hesitation. “Then you should take the body to this address and this identification report with it,” She said sternly whilst hoofing him a few pages covered in boring words. “I’m done here so I’ll be heading home,”

“Hey, missy,” He said throwing the paper away as he sat next to the much smaller stallion throwing a wing over the cloak. “Why don’t you grab me a drink on your way out while I have a chat with your friend, huh?”

“Take care of what you say to him,” she called out from the front room as she put her brown trench coat on pulling the collar up to her cheeks hiding most of her face. “Or you might regret talking to him in the first place,”

The room door slammed shut as the mare trotted through the darkness, leaving the two stallions sitting next to the window in each others uncomfortable company.

“So what makes you so special, huh?” He questioned in a condescending tone, still with his wing resting intimidatingly on the pony’s cloak. “Why does everypony think you're so good that you deserve your own room in the castle. Yout think you're so much better than us? Is that it?” He leaned in closer making the pony seem even smaller than he already was. “I bet you’re just a chicken hiding under that piece of trash you've got there. You don’t even look like guard material. You're so tiny you look like a mare,” He added obviously trying to cause a reaction, but when none came his short patience was worn even thinner. “You even listening to me little colt? Answer me!” He demanded placing the ponies neck under his wing and squeezing to hold him in a headlock.

And as if he had awoken from a dream, the shadow under the hood finally spoke in a calm expressionless manner. “If you're done with these games little colt, I would like to see that you finish your job so we can both go home,”

“WHY YOU LITTLE…!” The grown stallion yelled as he brought his hoof down towards his provoker’s head. The few words spoken had hit a nerve, sending the pegasus’ mood into the red zone. The strong toned foreleg of the pony would have cracked a skull that night if the pony that was held under-hoof hadn't suddenly vanished into thin air leaving nothing in his grasp. In confusion the pony searched the room, accidentally falling over and crushing the table behind him.

Laying on his back he opened his eyes finding a dark figure looming over him.

“You should be more careful, the body could have been damaged if I wasn't quick enough,” The pony said before disappearing again as a hoof swiped at his face.

The embarrassing fact that he couldn't find a pony in such a small room only aggravated him further. “Show yourself and I’ll put a hoof in that smug face of yours!” The angry pony tempted, forgetting how useless his provoking words were against his opponent. “I’m just like another bucking changeling aren’t I? You enjoy killing, don’t you? I bet you kill them just for the laughs, you little piece of… uurrrgh,” he grunted as a powerful force was brought to his chest sending him flying across the room until his back slammed into the wall. Shaking his head he began regaining his composure when a cold steel met his neck causing to him instinctively freeze.

“IF YOU DARE SAY THAT AGAIN IN MY FACE I SWEAR ON THE NEXT SUNRISE THAT YOU WON’T SEE IT!” He growled with teeth clenched grating on one another in fury.

“WOAH WOAH CALM DOWN! WHAT’D I SAY!? WHAT’D I SAY!?” He pleaded pushing against the wall in vain as he tried to create distance between the sharp implement and his delicate throat.

“IF YOU THINK THAT MY JOB IS FUN THEN I SHOULD LAUGH AS YOUR LITTLE LIGHT FADES!” He shouted in his victims face, his voice being drowned out by another deeper more sinister voice resonated in the air and rattled the floor boards with each word.

Instants of time seemed to last minutes as the room was plunged into darkness each time the light failed to subdue it. Shadow’s all around, seemed to wobble and change shape, growing into creatures with red eyes and sharp teeth that glowed.

For the frightened stallion, his situation only grew worse as the air became thick and heavy making the next breath more difficult than the last. He turned away from the horrifying scene unfolding in front of him and shut his eyes, waving his hooves in front of him in a vain attempt to keep anything from approaching. “What the hell is going on!?” He cried, terrified as sweat dripped from his chin. “Okay Okay I’m sorry! I’ll never say anything like that again! Please just let me go!”

Light slowly returned confidently to the globe, brightening the room and shooing any darkness away bathing the two opponents in a dim light. The shaking stallion stood slowly as he looked around the room noticing he was no longer under the charm of a steel blade. He leaned against a wall allowing a moment for him to slow his heavy panting that was creating the most noise within the room.

“That’s all I wanted to hear. Once you’re ready-” The cloaked pony said sternly and confidently as he distance himself from the frightened pegasus. His voice now gentle as it had been originally. “-you will take the body to the address Keen gave you and place it in the open coffin along with the other papers. I’m sure you can work out the rest,” He assured, walking up to the lone open window and slowly begin climbing through it.

“Wait a sec,” he requested only to have the cold unicorn ignore his pleas. Unsure of why he did, the white pegasus continued to asked a simple yet most challenging question. “Who are you?” he whispered through the cold still air. “What are you?”

The stallion froze at the question, slowly climbing back into the room. The air was completely silent save the rise and fall of two chests. An icy breeze ran through the open window revealing hot moist breath ejecting from under the hood of the cloak. A firefly buzzed it’s way towards the still figure landing on his head whilst glowing brilliantly in the gloomy room.

A long saddened sigh was discharged before an unexpected tear hit the floor. “That is a very good question, isn't it?” He breathed, finally leaping from the window into the shadowy domain.

______________________________________________________________________________

The long soft royal red carpet that decorated every marble hall soothed his tired hooves as he tiptoed quietly through the hallway. The tall pillars aligned with ancient pictures of sunlight and moonshine reminded him of the loyalty and fortune that had been bestowed upon him. Tall stained windows coloured sections of the floor as the moonlight shone through. The stallion embracing the nostalgic feeling of seeing his teacher again for another class.

He approached a double door entrance a few rooms down from his. Guarded by two unblinking fierce looking bat ponies in purple armor he turned to give them both an acknowledging nod before he approached. Few guards had met him despite his lengthy time within the castle gates, but the few who had, admired his humble glory. Looking up at the archway he examined the crescent moon, halfway between a full moon and a lunar eclipse and reminded himself of who he was about to see. He knocked three times as he did almost every night, not having to wait more than a few seconds before he heard a familiar voice usher him in.

“It is good to see you,” The tall mare acknowledged as she gestured him to come closer.

“And you as well, Luna,” He greeted as he made his way past her immensely large bed to meet her next to the balcony door. He pulled off his hood. “Before we start… umm…”

“Yes,?” She urged, raising a brow in both expectation and surprise. “What has thy done this night?”

“Oh, i-it’s nothing. Just if someone does complain about us perhaps… assaulting them just brush it off. It wasn't even that big of a deal,”

Luna sighed as she placed a hoof on his shoulder. Whether it was for comfort or for his complete attention he didn't know. “The time where you must accept other ponies for their good and bad will come, and for your sake I wish it to be soon. I shall not be here to veil it forever,”

“We know, we know. It’s just that his words went in the worst direction possible,” He grumbled.

“He spoke of your profession, did he not?” When the only response she received was him turning his head away, she immediately understood. “You have spent far too long in the castle. We think it would be best if you were to re enter into the world,”

He laughed at the thought of busy streets and his reaction to being caught in the middle of it all. “We think we’ll be fine where we are now,”

“That was not a decision we were leaving to you,” She giggled as she watched his eyes widened.

“Wait, but.. you can’t… where do we… WHAT?!” His jaw dropped to the floor leaving an expression mixed between stunned confusion on his face.

As nothing more was being said by the paralyzed stallion, Luna decided to try to calm his nerves. After all, she was his mentor and that made it her responsibility to comfort him. “My sister’s own student was once apprehensive about such a change, but after the experience she never turned back and decided to continue her studies elsewhere. Perhaps you will choose a similar path,”

A sigh came from the tired stallion, one that had accepted his fate. “So how long did you plan on making us go for?” His question brought a devious smile to the mares face.
“Until the next Galloping Galla,”

“What?! But that’s ages away and you know I've never attended those before. Just because some rich stuck up designer wants to see the personal prototype thingymabob of Luna herself, doesn't mean we’ll turn up,”

“Ah, but this time I give you no choice. You must turn up AND you must bring a friend along as well,”

“WE HAVE TO BRING SOMEONE AS WELL? Arrrrggghhh. You're making this impossible for us,”

“Don’t be like that, I’m sure it will be better than you think. Also, just to make it that much more impossible, you’re leaving first thing tomorrow morning,”

An irritated grumble came from the distressed pony. “Do you also want us to take the train miss ‘turn your life upside down’? Or should we just crawl there, hooves tied?”

Luna’s bright and sincere expression quickly changed to one of rigidness. “Don’t use that tone with me!” She stamped her hoof on the ground sending a small shock wave throughout the castle. Two guards rushed in asking if anything was the matter only to be sent away being told that it was trivial.

With a much less strict tone she continued. “You will be taking an air carriage there,”

His ears perked at the sentence. “And where exactly is ‘there’?”

“Well, it’s a nice quiet place that we have had the pleasure of visiting a few times. It is a small town where my sister sent her student to for her first time away,” She paused for a moment before leaning in close taking him in a warm embrace. “Know that this is for your own good and I would not do this if I did not think that you would benefit from it,”

“Yeah, I know,” He replied as he wrapped his own forelegs around her. “Thanks, we guess that’s all you do,”

“Stay safe,” She whispered, “And try to keep ‘him’ in line,” Leaving the hug she pointed towards the entrance of the room. “Now off to bed, now that you are waking during the day we wish you to be fully rested,”

He made his way to the exit, pulling the hood of his cloak up as he did so. “Don’t worry about a thing, I’m sure we’ll survive a few months in a quiet town.

With a new lifestyle to look forward to, he walked off to pack and rest for his new life in a new home. He slowly paced his way to his own room located much further away from Luna’s quarters, allowing the guards to once again shut the entrance behind him with a quiet yet still audible creak.

After a short stroll, he found himself opening the tall sturdy double doors to his room. Flicking a switch to his left, the small chandelier hanging in the center of the room, blinked to life to illuminate his few belongings. These included: a double sized bed against the wall, a matching cupboard and drawer set and a desk covered with rare books only found in large libraries such as the Canterlot archives.

He shut the doors behind him as slowly and quietly as possible as to not send a reverberating sound through the castle halls and wake the off-duty guards from their rest. Undoing the ribbon of his cloak which hugged it to his neck and unbuckling the brown straps that held his daggers, he carefully placed each where they belonged. He took his time folding his delicate cloth before tucking it neatly into the top drawer along with his belt and tools of the trade.

Satisfied that his long night was finally at an end he turned around to bound across the polished wooden floor to land on his messy bed that had rarely been made.

Curling into a ball, he threw the sheets over himself to shut out the light and be consumed by the darkness where he could disappear from the world. Packing for his new social life could wait until tomorrow.

______________________________________________________________________________

The rain poured down, drenching anything it could reach. Dirt roads turned to muddy rivers and saplings could be seen swimming with the tide. Unusual clouds from the Everfree blocked any sunlight from warming the hearts of townsfolk who looked for a stop to the torrential storm. Icy wind blew open windows only for them to be closed instantly by the cold ponies in their homes. Children shivered in their beds as all heat was taken from their bodies.

“It will be okay children,” The aqua coated zebra soothed with her soft delicate voice. “The storm will blow right over our heads. Do you know why?” She asked, not expecting a response from the colts and fillies that were wrapped up in their blankets. “Because the orphanage is the strongest building there is. I could even say that it even…” She was interrupted by a loud thunderous knock at the door. “Who in the world would be out in this weather?”

Rushing over to the entrance she slowly opened the rickety wooden door. The wind gushed in throwing her off her hooves for a moment before she pulled her head outside to take a peek at her unexpected guest. Looking around, she found nopony waiting in the horrendous storm.

“HELLO?” She called out. Her voice barely audible over the whipping wind. “IS ANYPONY THERE?” She yelled one last time.

When no response came she shrugged and was about to haul her head back inside when she heard a cry. A high pitched cry that screamed in short bursts, muffled by some sort of cloth. Looking passed the wind that forced her blue eyes to squint she looked down at her hooves to find a ball. A round ball of cloth. One that yelled louder than the storm itself.

Quickly picking up the mysterious noise maker, she tucked it under her foreleg and made her way inside, hurling the door closed behind her. She trotted to her room as to not wake the children from their sleep before laying the thing on her bed. She began to unravel the soaked cloth finding that it was actually a scarf. Underneath the scarf was a young pony foal no more than a few months old. His dark blue coat and black mane was an unusual combination which made the mare’s eyes widen a little, but once the crying baby opened his eyes she couldn’t look away. His large adorable blue eyes were teared up with emotion. There was a moment of peace where the two stared at each other in the calmness of the company before lips quivered and he began sobbing again.

“Hush, hush,” She whispered picking up the foal from his damp cradle. “It’s going to be alright. You're safe now,”

Author's Note

First attempt at... something, Please comment on what could be improved and if you enjoyed it.

Orientation day

He pulled his red hood over his droopy eyes as the chariot descended into the small village. The early morning sun glowed red over the hills in the distance painting the sky in a magenta haze. Buildings basked in the warmth of daylight as their shadows appeared like bruises on the landscape. As the sun had still just risen the town was utterly silent. Not a single pony could be seen wandering the long dirt roads.

Turning his attention away from the beautiful sunrise and quiet town the hooded stallion tapped one of the flying pegasi that was pulling his white and gold ride. “Sorry, but do you know the name of this town?” He asked as the chariot made a graceful descent, landing gently onto the ground without a bump.

“I believe this is Ponyville, sir. It is a small town that receives much of its funding from supplying apples to Canterlot,” The white pegasus informed as he slowed to a halt.
“Thank you. We’ll be fine from here on out,” He assured, exiting the chariot carefully.

“Umm, sir?” The other brown pegasus enquired. “Didn't you bring any luggage?” he asked noticing no saddle bags or other was to be seen.

“Don’t worry about that, we’ve got all we need,”

“If you say so,” he replied before taking nudging his partner who gave the assertive nod to take off.

As a glow from his horn emerged, so did a dark hole in the ground in which he reached into, pulling a small note out. Removing the glow from his horn caused the spell and therefore the hole to disappear from sight. He walked up to what seemed likely to be the town hall where a three story dome roofed building stood. With the streets still empty in the early hours, he took the opportunity to read the note.
*******
Dearest Night,
I hope you have arrived safely in Ponyville, I can only hope you make the most of your time there. You know why I have sent you there, thus I shall not bother repeating myself in this letter. Please, understand that this is a necessity, for studying and staying indoors is not a true life, even for someone such as you.
Know that I do this for your benefit. Stay safe and worry not about your job. You are on leave for now, but will still be kept up to date if the need arises.
Sincerely,

Your teacher in the dark arts,

Luna
*******

As he quizzed himself as to how Luna had such brilliant writing after so many years of imprisonment before a voice called out to him from above.

“Good morning Zecora!” The enthusiastic grey mare called from an open window. Her blond mane waving in the wind along with her.

As the mare grabbed his attention, he was unsure of how to respond. “Is she talking to me? No, must be someone else.”

He walked away from the awkward scene to travel around town, attempting to memorize the buildings and shop names that appeared.

“Hello Zecora,” A stallion greeted as he passed by, tipping his hat as he did.

Are they mistaking me for somepony else, or is this Some kind of large scale joke?

He moved on through the town until he reached a park. Obviously it was, with its no dog signs and long wooden benches it was as plain as a cutie mark on an exposed flank, that it was used for recreation. Taking a seat he rested on his haunches, tucking his note under his cloak.

The stallion sat there in thought.

With his new life right in front of him how should he spend his time? Sitting around and doing nothing until the next gala was going to be difficult. He had never done nothing before. The thought of free time was scary, not having a schedule to stick to. Such freedom was a pipe dream long ago, but now that he had it, it he didn’t know how to use it. He thought about jobs he could take, but most would suggest having to meet other ponies, which wasn’t something he needed or wanted to do.

He began to wonder about where he would be staying is such a small town. There had to be an inn or something nearby. Spending nights under the stars sounded familiar and pleasant, but it was probably considered weird amongst the townsfolk. It was best to blend into his new home, if that were even possible for him. His dark coat and mane weren't exactly the colourful norm that most other ponies walked around with.

His thoughts were distracted as the morning sun rose slowly over the horizon. He pulled his hood further over his eyes as the glaring sunlight intensified forcing him to squint. Closing his tired eyes, he took a few deep breaths to appreciate what would be his last restful moments before his new life came running full pelt at him.

And as if irony herself stood there, two little fillies rushed up to him in frenzy. “ZECORA! ZECORA!” They yelled, halting in a dust storm before they crashed into the bench.

Opening his eyes he found two little ponies huffing away in front of him. Without pulling his hood back, he took a peek at them. One was pale yellow with a pink bow to go with her bouncy red mane. The other was orange with a spiky purple mane.

“Are you two alright?” He asked, sliding off the bench to stand tall in front of them.
“We’re... fine,” Puffed the orange filly. “But Sweetie Belle isn’t,”

“Mm hmm,” the other interrupted with a western accent. “Even the doctors can’t figure it out. So we came looking, hopin’ you might know what ta do,”

At the statement of being asked for help, he was taken aback, literally backing off further into the bushes of the flourishing park. “I don’t think I can help you,” he said sorrowfully. “I’m sorry, but if the doctors can’t help then there’s not much I can do. Why don’t you send a letter to one of the princesses, I’m sure at least one of them would be concerned by this. ”

“But aren't you meant to be good at all this crazy Everfree mumbo jumbo?”

“Wait, what does the Everfree have to do with this?” He questioned, suddenly interested when he heard the familiar name.

“Wellllll… We may have been playing in the Everfree forest yesterday and she may have started coughing and wheezing and she started changing different colours, we think she got sick because of that,”

“Hmm, we don’t think it’s very likely, but if you’re right then we’ll see what we can do. No promises though. Lead the way,” He finalized, following the two ponies that shot off like a rocket.

They ran through street after street, navigating their way around both buildings and other civilians like it was second nature. With firm dirt under his hooves, a comfortable grin crept onto his face. The hard paved roads of Canterlot had nothing on the soft dirt. As they ran, every so often he would pull his hood back over his head as it began to pull away with the wind that he ran against.

Allowing her friend to lead the way, the daisy filly slowed down to even her pace with his. “What’s wrong with your voice Zecora? You got sick or somethin’ as well?”

“Which way from here?” He asked, choosing to pretend he didn’t hear the question. Only now did he realize his silly mistake. Zecora isn’t a weird game the town played, but the name of another, most likely a zebra due to its strange sound and pronunciation.

The three of them ran in silence save the few ‘This way!’ and ‘over here!’ calls he received from the exhausted girls.

Reaching a tall and wide brown building, the two speedsters raced inside offering him to do the same. Walking into the lobby he found himself alone, having lost them in the crowded waiting room. He approached the front desk pulling his hood further over his face. “Hello, we’re Zecora…” He lied, bringing the receptionists eyes away from her papers and up to the hood of his red cloak.

“Oh, Zecora. They’re waiting in room five around the corner there,” She quickly told, smiling at the sight of him.

Nodding back to her he rounded the corner to enter the long hallway to find the room numbered “5”. Entering, he was greeted with more than a comfortable number pairs of eyes. Two unicorns and two pegasi stood around a hospital bed. There were sighs of relief as they noticed him. With the silence rattling his nerves he backed out slowly. “We’ll just come back at a better time,” He whispered.

“Wait, you can’t go now!” A white unicorn called out before levitating him back into the room, dropping him at the foot of the bed. “Look at what has become of my poor Sweetie Bell!”

Peeking from under his cloak he stared at the bed finding it shaking slightly due to a little filly’s tossing and turning. Loud audible groans could be heard from the girl. He looked at the young pony analyzing her. “So what’s the pro…?” He began before silencing himself at the tragic play that erupted in front of him.

Within a second her coat and mane had changed colour to a deep red and green respectively. The thermometer in her mouth rose to a dangerous level only to drop to below freezing a few seconds later.

“What in the name of Luna...” He accidentally said aloud.

The white unicorn, whom obviously held her appearance in high regard, took on a much more worried look than previously. She leaned into his face and with great desperation asked, “And what do you mean by that?!”

“We don’t believe in fate or destiny,” He said pulling off his cloak throwing it into a corner, revealing his hidden identity. “But we will admit that I have pretty good timing,” He turned to face his shocked audience who gasped at the realization. They had been tricked. “We need everyone except you-” He raised a hoof at the white mare in front of him, “-to leave now and get us some Poison Joke as quickly as possible,”

“Hold on a second!” A rainbow maned pegasus said. “You're not Zecora. Who are you?” She growled.

Face hoofing himself for his carelessness and stupidity he faced them all as he now held their full attention. “Look, there’s no time for this. We’re just trying to help and I’m pretty sure we can help. You wouldn’t trust a stranger with your life and I understand that, but I’m not asking you to trust me because you can, I’m asking you because you need to,” They stared at him, unsure of what to make of this strange guru’s sudden words of wisdom. “Now if you want help you can all go and find for me a Poison Joke flower, or you could kick me out without giving me a chance. Your’ choice,” he waited for their response. He was being quite straightforward and blunt in what he was demanding, though experience had taught him that difficult momentary decisions were unavoidable yet necessary.

There was a stillness haunting the room save for the ill bed ridden pony. All eyes were on the dark unknown stallion standing in the middle of the room.

“Please, girls,” A voice behind him pleaded. “The doctors have tried, but they can’t do anything and Twilight doesn’t even know what’s wrong. What other choice do we have? She’s my sister and I will do whatever it takes for her sake.”

There was a moment of absolute silence when nopony moved a muscle. The lights of the room could be heard buzzing with electricity. Hoof steps could be heard passing by the hall into the distance. The moment was awkward as nopony knew what was the best course of action.

Then all of a sudden, the purple unicorn of the group turned to the rest of them and nodded, causing them all to leave. The door shut gently behind the group leaving the two sisters and him alone in the room.

“Wow, that was unexpected. Nice, but not how I saw it ending. Anyway, what’s your name?” He asked as he turned turned to face the concerned mare.

“It’s Rarity,” She informed taking a quick glance at her grunting sibling in the bed that now flared a bright yellow coat. “Is she going to be alright?”

“That depends on how long it takes for me to get some poison joke and how strong you are with your magic,” He said as he filled a glass with some warm water from jug that had been sitting on a nearby table. “We don’t really remember the name of this virus or even if it’s a virus at all, but we do remember a technique that cures most of these illnesses,”

Rarity moved next to the bed taking a hold of her sister’s hoof in comfort. Her eyes glistened with sadness as liquid crept down her cheek. With a magical spell, she grabbed a tissue and blew her nose, disposing the rubbish before turning back to the bed, eyes still wet. “Everything’s going to be alright sweetie,” She whispered whilst brushing the sweaty mane from her sister’s face. “Big sister Rarity is here to keep you safe and sound,”

From the other end of the room a stallion watched as two siblings bonded. The strength of their relationship something to behold for the stallion. He starred as a peck on the filly’s forehead was given. His gaze dropped to the floor hiding his teary ocean eyes.

Without warning, the entrance flew open with a loud thud revealing a rainbow maned cyan pegasus. With one wing noticeably growing larger than the other she fell to the floor, spitting a large blue flower onto the table. “Eugh, I’d better get to the REAL Zecora’s place for some medicine. Will you be alright-,” She glanced over at the mysterious doctor, “-with him?”

With a weak smile she thanked her friend for her concern before the door was shut leaving the three of them alone, just as had been requested. Looking over to the replacement doctor, she noticed the navy blue pony crushing the Poison Joke’s juices over the water with his hooves. “What are you doing, dear?”

For a few seconds, the room was filled with frustrated grunts as he squeezed the blue leaves over the glass, letting black liquid drip into the water colouring it black. When the last leaf had been shriveled up, he turned around with the black foul smelling sludge and gave it to Rarity. “You need to make her drink this,” He spouted suddenly.

“What is this… stuff? It’s all black and looks something not far from poison. How can I trust that this is going to help my sister?” She questioned firmly. “You did just walk in here as someone else and now you seem to be a miracle doctor. Apologies for my lack of gratitude, but understand that my concern is for my sister, not to try and incriminate you,”

With a sigh, he rubbed the tiredness from his face before responding. “Okay, I can see where you’re coming from, so I’ll try to explain if that will lessen the distrust. That stuff you're holding is the poison jokes magic, meaning that whoever drinks it will have the same effect as you would if you touched the flower,” He raised a hoof in front of Rarity’s face as she opened her mouth to question his knowledge, but he continued. “Simply put, when your’ little sister drinks that, it will disrupt and confuse her magic including whatever magic is making her sick,”

“Really? That sounds quite simple,” She said placing her free hoof on her chin. “So It’s like medicine?”

“Sort of, it doesn't get rid of the illness, but it does make it possible for me to extract with a spell. After the magic is confused and is fighting off the Poison Joke, I’m able to remove it, curing her. Unfortunately it also takes away her strength and natural magic. So there is a possibility that she could die due to ‘magic deficiency’... Did I use that word correctly?” With a hoof to his chin he looked to the ceiling in thought. A cough from the unfortunate filly brought him back to reality. “Anyway, The point is that you’re also needed as we take out the bad stuff, you replace what’s missing with your magic,” The mare just gave him a strange look.

“I’m sorry, I know it sounds simple to you, but you've somehow lost me, darling. What am I supposed to do exactly?” She inquired, swirling the black liquid around in its glass.

He sighed, frustrated at all the explaining he had been forced to do. “When I pull the bad black stuff out, you put your horn to her’s and start sharing your magic with her. Do you know how to do that?”

“I think so,” She replied nervously, wiping away her tears, smudging her makeup around her eyes. “Twilight lectured me on magical properties once. Sad to say that I fell asleep though,”

“Well, we hope you know enough, because this only works since you two are closely related,” He informed as he approached the bedside. “Your purple friend wouldn’t be much help,”

The two nodded to each other signalling that they were both ready for the operation. Rarity held her sisters head up, whispering in her ear which awoke the sleeping filly.
She glanced back and forth between the deep azure eyes of her sister and the black watery liquid that swirled in the glass in front of her.

With two weak hooves, she grabbed the glass. Her nose wrinkled up as she sniffed the putrid liquid. Rarity whispered something else in her sister’s ear and gave her a long tight hug. Taking a deep breath, Rarity let go allowing her sister to once again stare at the glass. All at once she threw the liquid down her throat in one quick gulp. Almost immediately the filly’s eyes widened, her pupils shrinking to dots before she let out a high pitched scream, alerting the entire hospital to her anguish. She flailed about, spitting out the thermometer onto the floor shattering it, leaving the red mercury to crawl along the tiles.

“Hold her still!” He demanded.

As Rarity struggled to subdue her sister, the door of the room flung open.
“What in the world is going on?” A caramel pony asked. Dressed in his white lab coat with a long stethoscope dangling around his neck, he was obviously a doctor.

“Get out,” The navy unicorn commanded as he charged a spell up in his horn. “You need to leave now!”

“Who are you and what do you think you’re doing? You have no authority to be doing anything,” The doctor stamped his hoof firmly onto the ground.

“We don’t have time for this,” He waved the doctor away. “We know what We’re doing and we’ve already started, so whether you trust us or not you need to leave,”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that. You don’t have the authority to do this. You need to leave or I’ll call security,” He proceeded to pull out a small device with a large red button on it. All of a sudden the mysterious stallion rushed the doctor, slamming the end of his hoof into his body multiple times with force, as a boxer would as he jabbed at his opponent. The coated stallion then fell to the floor in a clumsy heap. “Whaa.. What’s going on? I can’t move my body.”

“Don’t worry about it,” A voice replied. “It’ll only last about an hour, after that the nerves will recover,”

Wide eyed, the caramel stallion stared at his assailant. “Bu.. But is that even…”

“You don’t know me” He said barely audible over the squeals filling the room. “So don’t think for a second you know what I can do.”

He looked down at his limp victim. Whether it was from fear or shock the doctor didn’t talk back. He didn’t care as long as no more complaints were distracting him.

He looked over to the struggling sisters. He watched as Rarity finally managed to subdue her sister, restraining her two fore hooves with her own. With hind legs still lively and kicking, the filly squirmed, trying to free herself from the shackles. Rarity looked over, wide eyed at the sight of the doctor struggling to get up. “What did you do to him?” She asked a little worried for the doctor.

“Pressure points,” He turned to face the bedridden filly. “Time to get to work then,” He added a darker glow to his horn empowering the spell. “This’ll probably be strong enough,” He bowed his head aiming his horn at the vulnerable filly squirming on the bed. Closing his eyes in concentration, the black glow on his horn intensified.

He grunted as he began to tug on an invisible rope with his magic. “Ready?” He dared a glance at the nervous unicorn whom nodded back. “Three…” His hair rolled onto his face, already drenched in sweat. “Two…” A glow from Rarity’s horn arose whilst she continued to subdue her sister. “One! He yelled as a black stream of slime surged up and out of her mouth, flying into the air.

It came out quickly, like lava from an erupting volcano. The black oil like substance flew to a single point and was then drawn into the stallion’s mouth. He gulped down the liquid, seemingly to never get bloated despite the vast amounts of volume.

“Now, she needs your magical energy!” He informed her, still drawing a stream of black magic from the sister’s open mouth into his own. Immediately she gently touched her horn to her sisters’ allowing her magic to be drained. As this process went on the filly’s colour began to return to normal, which was apparently a white coat with a pink and purple mane. Rarity smile at the sight of her recognizable sister.

“It’s working,” She muttered with strain.

Minutes passed before Rarity asked. “How much longer?” With sweat dripping off her chin. “I don’t know if I can keep this up,”

“Just a little more to go,” He replied. “From here on out she’ll be fine and will probably recover in a few days. Taking out some more will just ensure that she does recover,” With a little strain he continued to drink the oily substance. He licked his lips making sure not to miss a drop.

Out of the blue the door flew open and the room was filled with a single massive white pegasus, whose muscles bulged outwards threatening to tear away it’s furry covering.

“Hey! You! Out! Now!” Was all he yelled before he dragged the blue unicorn out of the room by his tail. The magical stream that glowed in the air was cut off and what was left he began to slurp up. Turning onto his back, the unicorn angled his rear hoof and began to hit the leg of his bully.

“Let us go!” He ordered said, kicking over and over, hoping to hit a pressure point of some kind. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t seem to phase the giant and his tail was kept in a tight grip in strong hooves. “Where are you taking us?” He already guessed the answer, but not knowing much about country towns he asked anyway.

The white pegasus brought his ‘guest’ to his hooves. “To the station for questioning. We got an emergency call from the hospital. So I came in and a group of mares told me where you were,”

Thinking back, he remembered the group of mares that had been colleges of Rarity. Maybe they called the police. He was a stranger that had just turned up as someone else in the midst of the commotion. Why wouldn’t they have been cautious about him. With a sigh he began to walk down the hallway. “We can walk there ourselves,” He said, brushing away the large hoof of the officer.

Rarity held her sister close, whispering words of thanks and encouragement into her ear. proper pink and purple mane along with the genetic white coat, she was surely recovering from the worst of it. She brushed the filly’s sweaty messy mane from her face once more before taking a seat. she watched her sister sleep, noticing how her chest would rise and fall. How her eyelids would move during her dreams. How she would mumble words like ‘dark’ ‘gone’ and ‘safe’.

“Oh, I think it’s wearing off now,” A voice announced suddenly. Rarity searched the room finding that the limp caramel doctor that had been assaulted was now getting to his hooves. Very slowly and wobbly, but he was standing none the less. “Sorry, to intrude on the moment miss,” He picked something up from where he had lay. “But it was quite lucky that I fell onto the button, don’t you think?”

Looking at what he held in his hoof, Rarity grew a frown. A black box with a red button sat, crushed and compressed by the stallions’ weight. “Is that the security calling device… thing?”

“Yep, and when I fell to the floor, I happened to fall on top of it. A bit uncomfortable I must say, but he’s gone now and he’ll probably be taken to the station for questioning,”

“But he helped Sweetie Belle. Something that you doctors couldn’t do! Why in the world would you stop him from trying to help?”

“I’m sorry, but he wasn’t authorized to-”

“HE SAVED HER!” She yelled back in fury. “Out of his own generosity no less. You should understand what that means to me,”

“Despite him empathizing with your element, may I ask miss Rarity, whether you actually know him personally? Or did he just strut in here as Zecora?” I heard from Twilight that that was who he had called himself,”

Taken back she realized how trusting she had been to the stranger despite knowing nothing about him. She had lost her cool and had taken her last chance to save Sweety Belle, on a complete stranger.

“Be that as it may, he did no harm and he actually helped with the situation. So I have no regrets to look back on,”

The caramel doctor brushed his brown mane in embarrassment. “Well, you've got me. He did the impossible and actually helped despite his lies and crooked looks. So I apologize for getting him arrested, but I can’t undo what’s been done. Rules are rules and I had to follow them. An unauthorized pony isn’t allowed to do any procedures. He gave me no choice,”

Hours, It had only been a few hours and he had already ended up in a prison cell. Luna was not going to be happy about that. If there was one thing she did not like, it was getting imprisoned. Having spent 1000 years in the moon; seeing someone else make a similar mistake was not something she enjoyed witnessing. Especially if it were her own pupil.

Now in his plain cell with concrete walls and iron bars across the window, he lied down on his makeshift straw bed and began to doze off. For a prison it surprised him that there was no reeking smell, no rats to nibble at him and more sunlight protruded in than most other jails.

His eyelids bobbed up and down as his consciousness retreated to the back of his mind. However, a voice deeper and stronger than his own wouldn't let him sleep, yet. “Of course you would end up here on your’ first day. Typical,”

The tired stallion’s eyelids arose at the voice. “Oh no, leave me alone,” He folded and covered his ears despite knowing the uselessness of his actions.

“Bahahaha,” The voice cheered. “You and I both know that’s not possible. Now let’s have a chat about what you just did,”

“For assault, wrongful impersonation and executing procedures without authorization, bailing him will not come cheap ma’am. He has caused multiple offenses on a single occasion,” The large stallion, sat in his tiny chair reading through his papers.

“Thank you Biceps, but money is not the problem here. The price matters not, for his good deed deserves another,” Rarity fluttered her eyelashes having redone her makeup after the exhausting drama. “Now how much would that be?”

Biceps rubbed the back of his neck. “Looking at this,-” he slid his hoof down a page of a large book, “-it’ll cost 1,100 bits, at least” Rarity’s jaw dropped to the floor upon hearing the words. Earning 1,100 bits wasn’t exactly an overnight job and could take almost a year to save, especially in her unpredictable line of work. “I’m sorry ma’am, but releasing a criminal isn’t taken lightly,”

“Criminal my rump,” Rarity composed herself, picking her jaw up from the floor and clearing her throat. “Well, could I speak to him before I make my decision. I’d like to know the pony that saved my sister before I decide whether I should bail him or not,”

“Sure thing, would you like to talk through the grill or meet him personally?”

Rarity took a moment to think, before answering. “I think it would be polite personally to meet my sisters’ savior, thank you,”

The pegasus nodded as he grabbed a set of keys hanging from a hook and headed off into the back of the building. Rarity followed closely. The two walked down a long hall. Walls sturdy with bricks and cell doors wooden with a small barred grill allowing them so see the space inside.

Rarity looked around noticing that despite what some books may have pictured, the cells she saw were actually quite clean and unspoiled. “This isn’t at all what I imagined it to be,”

Biceps chuckled. “Most prisons are quite filthy and rotten, you’d be right to think that, but Ponyville is a nice quiet place. I’ve only had two arrests since I've been working here,”

“And how long is that?”

“Seven years. Used to be a guard at the Castle, but it became too noisy and busy for me. Haha, I’m still young, but here I am complaining about the little things,” Rarity giggled at his joke. “Well, here we are,” he said entering the key and unlocking the door. “I’ll leave the door unlocked. I won’t be far off so if you need anything just give me a yell,” They both nodded before Rarity entered the dark cell to meet her sisters savior.

Looking around the grey room, she spotted a figure laying in a straw nest. “H-hello?” she called out, but when he didn’t react she took a step forward. “Ahem,” Once again no reaction. Slowly she crept up to him careful not to startle him for he could react unpredictably.

As she got close she heard him talking. Peering over his shoulder, she spotted a black bound book.

“Side effects include, changing colour, p-pain all over the body, magical outbursts and tiredness. However, there is a strange cr-cree-a-toor..? cree-tor? crat-oo-re? Urgh, Damn it,” The stallion seemed to be stuck on a single word.

Rarity, placed a hoof on the stallions shoulder, he flinched at the touch, but didn’t shout or jump. He slowly turned his head to face his visitor. “Umm, are you alright dear? She asked. “You seem to be having a little trouble with something,”

He stared at her for a second, glancing between her and the door. “Umm, Rarity, right?” She nodded. “This is gonna sound weird, but can you please read this word to me?” he shuffled over allowing the mare a full look at the book he was reading.

“Umm sure, dear,” she leaned in taking a look at the word infested book, but only read the single word that his hoof pointed at. “Creature,” she read, taking a step back allowing him to finish the sentence he was reading.

“Thank you, I’m not the strongest reader, but i’m still learning. I’ve got a tutor and she helps me to…. Never mind,” He rubbed his neck nervously before his eyes fell back to the page.

“I must thank you so much for helping my sister out. It’s not every day a stranger ends up being our saviour,”

“Uh hmm,” he mumbled.

“But I must say, it was quite unusual that my close friend Twilight didn't know anything about my sisters’ condition. She’s a bookworm that knows almost everything there is to know about magic. You must have quite the collection of books if you know more than Twilight,” The stallion kept quiet. “May I ask something?” Still no response, so she asked anyway. “How is it that you knew what to do when everypony else didn't? Did you go to a special school?”

Turning back to Rarity, he looked her up and down before looking at himself. His eyes grew wide and his breath suddenly became heavy and erratic. He stood and turned on the spot searching the room, but somewhat resembling a dog chasing its tail. “Where-is-it -where-is-it? No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no,”

“Er, you missing something dear?” she looked around the empty room finding nothing of interest.

“It’s nothing really. Just, umm, have you seen my cloak? It’s red and kinda patched up,”

Putting a hoof to her chin she recalled events of her day. “I think I have yes,” The panicking stallion stopped his frantic search to stare at Rarity. “You threw it into a corner of the hospital room if I remember correctly. Is it important to you?”

The stallion ran up to Rarity placing both his hooves into her shoulders. “Please, could you get it for me, as quickly as possible,” he begged, shaking her back and forth in a frenzy. “I’ll do anything, but I need it as soon as possible. It’s all I’ve got left of… Please, could you get it? I’d get it, but...”

“You can’t leave, I know,” With her body still being shaken violently she agreed. “Please, could you let go of me? I think I’m going to be sick,” she was released from the grasp allowing her to fanned herself with her hoof. She continued after he had finished apologizing for his irrational actions. “I’ll be back with your’ cloak in a minute. Is it okay if I bring some friends along as well?”

“I don’t care, as long as I get what’s mine. Please, just make sure it’s safe,” She left giving him a comforting wink before heading for the exit. “Wait, what did I just agree to…? ah crud,” He sat down, trying to calm his nerves.

Rarity headed into the front room finding Biceps working through his documents. “Everything okay?” he asked looking away from his black and white papers.

“Just fine dear. However, I would like to know what book you allowed him to take and read?”

“I’m sorry, who are you talking about? I didn't give anypony a book. Does he have one with him? He shouldn’t have anything with him,” He was about to stand up before Rarity spoke.

“Oh, no. I was just er… Curious. That’s all,” she quickly trotted out the door. “I’ll be back later this evening dear. Until then, tata,” she said, making way towards the hospital.

Biceps turned to his computer. “Okay, now that he won’t tell me his name, I’m gonna have to search him up manually. Now what did he look like? Black this… Blue that… about this tall…” He continued to enter data into his keyboard with his massive hooves gently tapping the tiny keys. Satisfied with the information he had input, he pressed the button allowing the machine to search the files for previous criminal records. If this stallion had been in jail once before he would find him. If not, names would have to be taken down.

Minutes later a loud buzzer went off and a red warning sign blinked on the screen. “Woah, what’s this?” Getting rid of the annoying red blinker, he inspected the picture that looked exactly like the currently imprisoned stallion. Sure that he had the correct file, Biceps read through the stallions criminal record. He scrolled down the extensive list. “What in the name of Celestia is this?!”

“Com’n Gordon, we’re gonna be late for class,” said the panicking zebra. “You know Ms Molecule hates it when we’re late,” she tugged on his foreleg trying to urge him to walk faster.

The pony kept his pace. “Just go on without me Whisper, I just got back from my suspension so I don't think Ms Molecule wants to see me and I don’t think anypony else in class does either. I don’t really like school anyway, it’s too hard,”

“That’s because you don’t pay attention. If you watched her instructions and didn’t blow up the lab like last time then I’m sure she would like you better,” She stopped tugging him and began to dance on the spot in a panic. “Please can we go now? I don’t want to be late,”

He nodded, causing a smile to emerge on the filly’s face. The two ran down the dirt path across the grassy plane. They panted as they ran through the small town. Many Zebras watched them huff down the street, some giving Gordon disapproving glares. He ignored them. Passing through the gates of their school they slowed their pace. Quietly trotting through the hall, the two late comers approached a door that sat at the end of it. Whisper knocked quietly, but there was no answer. “Did we miss class?” The navy pony laughed before he knocked on the door, making sure it was loud enough to hear.

A stern voice called them in. The two took deep breaths as they entered. The room was filled with the whispers and ushers of all the young zebras.
“Of course he was late, he’s always late,” ---
“Why is she always with him? She’s too smart for that,” ---
“He’s so dumb, why did he even turn up? he should just go home,” ---

They ignored the comments they could hear and walked up to the teachers desk. She looked at the two before waving Whisper away, but called for Gordon to come closer. “If you do not want to be here, then you don’t need to come at all,”

Still huffing he replied as clearly as he could. “But, we ran here. I saw a snake and got really scared so I…”

“I don’t care, you need to come to class on time if you want to learn, young colt. Now go sit down,” She stood up chalk in hoof. “Today, thanks to Gordon’s tardiness, there will be no practical experiment,”

The room grunted and moaned in the disappointment. Practicals meant no writing, and the less writing the better. Gordon, with his black mane hanging over his face, slowly made his way to the back of the classroom where he could start searching his mane for the spitballs that were currently getting fired at him. Sometimes he would be lucky enough to sit next to Whisper, but having everyone hate him made him think that for her sake, it would be better to stay away. At least during class.

All throughout class, he was hassled by the other kids, paper balls were thrown in his direction, pencils, rubbers, anything that was hard enough to hurt, hit him on the head time and time again. He tried to ignore them, picking up an eraser from the floor to clean up his writing.

The class was spent, writing up effects of water on compounds. Most could keep up with the work and what Ms Molecule was saying, but few such as Gordon sat there dumbfounded, unsure of what was important, thus sat waiting for the lunch bell to ring.
______________________________________________________________________

Lunch was a break from all the mind work and provided him with enough energy to eventually go back to class. However, Gorden didn’t know how bad his day would be and that today would be his last lunch break.

He was walking towards the gazebo. The place he met Whisper every day, during lunch and after school. They would travel to and from the orphanage together and both were rarely seen without each others company.

As he ran to meet with Whisper a group of older kids intercepted him, blocking his path. He tried to make his way around them, but they continued to halt his advance, eventually surrounding him with numbers. “You guys want something?”

“You’re stupid, you don’t belong here,” one of them said. “Why don’t you just go away,”

“Yeah, you ruin everything for us,” another yelled. Looks and glances from the rest of the school made their way over to the scene that had arisen. “You can’t do anything right,” That’s why nobody wants you. Not even your parents wanted you. They left you there because you’re too dumb,”

“You're so weird. You don’t even have any stripes.”

“Yeah, and what with that horn? Or did you bump your head? Do you want a band aid?

“What kind of name is Gordon anyway? That’s the stupidest name I’ve ever heard.”

“Shut up! Blue Rose gave me this name and I like it, so Just leave me alone,” he yelled back, unsure of how to sound smart as he retorted. “For once, would you guys just let me go. You do this every time, but I don’t get it,”

They all looked to each other before snorting in his face. “It’s because you’re stupid, and you can’t do anything about it. You can’t do maths, or science. And you’ve got a horn, but it looks like you can’t use that right either,”

“Go away!”

“You don’t even have any friends. Nobody likes you,”

“That’s not true, Whisper likes me. We’re best friends,” He looked around for his friend, finding her watching from afar. “HEY WHISPER, WE’RE BEST FRIENDS RIGHT?” he asked in a desperate attempt to prove the bullies wrong. Whisper’s eyes lowered to the floor as the bullies turned to watch her. She mouthed an apology before she turned her back, walking to the far end of the school grounds, to meet some other school kids. Her head hung low, almost licking the ground. “Whisper? W-where you going…? I’m over here, y-you’re walking… the ….wrong…” He couldn’t finish his sentence, something got caught in his throat.

The group turned back to him, each wearing a smile. “Ha, I was right. You’re just a loner loser,”

“No, she just didn’t see me, that’s all. You guys are in the way,” He lied.

“Face it loner. You don’t have anything here, so just go home you spaz. Oh wait, you don’t have a home ‘cause no one likes you. Even the older parents in town hate you,”

“Shuddup!” Tears formed around his eyes. “I still have friends, you’ve just never met them,”

The group closed in on him. “Liar, I know you don’t play with anyone, you just sit in bed and stare at a wall, because that’s all you’re good for,” They shoved him over into the rough dirt. “Just go away. No one wants you here anymore.”

Gordon heart throbbed with sadness. How could Whisper do this to him? “I’LL SHOW YOU! I’LL SHOW YOU ALL!” he shouted as he picked himself up, running through the school gates. He took one last look back only to see the striped bullies smiling with content, before he ran into town.

Running behind a building he hid himself away from the strange zebras that he had once called neighbors. His thoughts were muddled up. He couldn’t think straight, the world just seemed blur into one colour. He sat down crying his little heart out to his own content. Here he was alone, here he could be free from the watchful, judging, malicious eyes of those different to him.

______________________________________________________________________

It was getting late, but he wasn’t tired. Dinners were being served, he wasn’t hungry. Wiping the tears that had soaked his fur during the past few hours, he got up and walked down the street, away from the school. His heart felt heavy, as if a burden had just been placed on him. One that he could never control, one that wouldn’t let him forget.

It wasn’t fair, friends that had found parents no longer visited. With his Rose wilted, loneliness allowed bullies to grow and strike like thunderclouds, hitting precisely and painfully. Here he was, alone and hurt. Abandoned by his last light, his last friend, left alone in the dark.

He passed some mares, each giggling to each. He watched them cross the street together. They seemed to be having a lot of fun, enjoying each others company. Suddenly, one mare spotted him and tapped her friend on the shoulder. “Hey looks it’s that pony kid,” Their laughter was silenced.

“Wasn’t he in juvenile a while ago?”

Gordan stared at them as they watched him, whispering amongst each other. Despite the sunset’s dim light he still could look into their eyes. Those cold, unpleasant, distant eyes stared at him from afar. How dare they look at him like that. What had he done to deserve such treatment. Not just from school kids, but from all the adults upon that.

He ground his teeth with rage. “STOP LOOKING AT ME WITH THOSE EYES! I’LL SHOW YOU! I’LL SHOW YOU ALL!”

With a broken heart and sour tears, he ran. Passed the mares, through the streets and away. Far from the empty place he had once called home and into the abyss of the unknown.

The letter

With books upon books stacked up to the ceiling, a purple unicorn sat, skimming through her collection with unmatched speed. Having returned from the hospital she had began to search through books titled “Illnesses and diseases” through to “The strange and queerie”. She had been useless when her friends needed her and it brought a shiver down her spine thinking about what could happen to Sweetie Belle.

“Spike how’s the research going?” She called out.

A little purple dragon with green spines emerged from behind a large pile of books only to be seen carrying even more books in his tiny claws towards Twilight. “Well, these are all the books about cures and healing spells, but I can’t find anything on the weird disease you were talking about,” He put the books down next to Twilight. “Maybe we just don’t have the book here. I’m sure Canterlot would have the book we’re looking for,”

She put a hoof to her chin in thought before a face lit up with enlightenment. “That’s it!” she exclaimed accidentally knocking the book tower over. “We just need to ask Princess Celestia to send a book that could help us with this. I’m sure if we explain the situation to her she’ll happily lend us a book from the royal archives,” She turned to Spike who now lay buried in the book stack she had tipped over.

“You sure about that Twilight?” he questioned as he dug his way to the surface. “Celestia’s always busy, do you think she’ll agree?” He began to re shelve the books clearing a minority of the floor.

Twilight turned to her desk, grabbing hold of a quill in her magical grasp. She began to scribble on a parchment. “We can at least try. What’s the harm in that?” She rolled up the parchment tying it with a red ribbon before giving it to Spike. “Could you send that to Celestia, please?”

The dragon took a deep breath, but held it in for a moment before gently exhaling. With the scroll still in claw, he turned to Twilight. “I’ll do it on one condition. You have to clean up your mess this time,” He gestured to the room and it’s state of chaos. Books were lying everywhere, on the floor to shelves, the kitchen sink all the way to the doorway.

“Okay, you win Spike,” With a glow of her horn every book in the house began to levitate. They began to order themselves, aligning with the shelves before neatly sliding into place. A minute later, the floor, kitchen and bedroom were all clear of the books. “There, wasn’t to hard,” she smirked at the little dragon whose jaw had been left open at the display of magic. “Now it’s your turn to hold up your end of the bargain.

The dragon shook his head before smiling at her. “That never gets old,” he said, blowing on the scroll with his green flames. The scroll evaporated into a mist that flew up into the air. They watched as it circled the room a few times before flying out the open window, towards Canterlot in the distance.

The purple unicorn turned to her companion. “That, also, never gets old,” they chuckled to each other, glad that their work was done for the moment. They were about to relax when a knock at the door followed by a friendly voice called out to them. “Hello? Twilight dear, are you home?”

“Oh, I’ll get it!” The little dragon offered excitedly. “Rarity how are you?” he said pulling open the door. “What in the world is that thing? I didn’t know mud brown was in season.” He chuckled.

The white unicorn entered carrying a musty old cloth on her back. It was a dark red with different coloured patches all over it. Someone had tried to fix it up, but had unfortunately made a mess of the sewing. She draped it over the nearby coat rack.

“That, my dear Spikey, belongs to my sister’s guardian angel,” Twilight and Spike looked at each other confused. “Oh, you haven’t heard the news? My sister’s all better now,”

Twilight’s eyes lit up at the news. “That’s wonderful news, how did the doctors do it? Did they use an antidote? Or was it surgery? I’d really like to know.” She headed over to shut the open door that brought in a draft. Glancing at the red cloak that now sat on the coat rack she gave Rarity a puzzled look. “Wait, doesn’t that belong to um… that stallion?” Rarity nodded.

“It’s quite scary actually. He squeezed the Poison Jokes juice into a cup and made my sister drink it. could feel my sister getting really hot and she was screaming in pain. I’ve never heard her cry so much before. I thought she would die! Oh Twilight, it was horrible,” she covered her mouth with a hoof, trying to control the sobbing that was to cause her to tear up.

Twilight and Spike saw this. They stood next to her, holding her in a comforting warm hug. “Shhhh,” It’s okay. It’s over now.” They stood there for a few moments longer until Rarity was sure she could continue confidently.

“Well, after he cured my sister of the dreadful…”

“Umm, Rarity,” Twilight interrupted. “Not to be rude, but you missed a bit,”

“Oh, well, while I restrained my sister to the bed, he used a spell to literally pull out the umm… bad stuff. That’s how he described it anyway. It looked like a slimy eel and I think he swallowed it,”

“That strange, I’ve never heard of a spell capable of extracting illnesses like that,”

“You haven’t exactly read every book in Canterlot, so there’s bound to be stuff you don’t know,” Spike informed.

“True, true,” Twilight paced back and forth as she often did when she was thinking hard. “Did he give his name?”

“Umm.. well… Now that I think about it he didn’t. Not even when I visited him in jail did he tell me, which is quite rude. Alas I can not be complaining for what he did,” She picked up the patched cloak examining it closely. “Do you think he perhaps may want it repaired?” She turned it inside out looking closely at the fabric. A small torn note fell from it. Spike picked it up, skimming over it quickly.

---------------------------------------------- If you don’t remember
Dearest Night,
I hope you have arrived safely in Ponyville, I can only hope you make the most of your time in the town. You know why I have sent you there, thus I shall not bother repeating myself in this letter. Please, understand that this is a necessity, for studying and staying indoors is not a true life, even for someone with skills such as you.
Know that I do this for your benefit. Stay safe and worry not about your job. You are on leave for now, but will still be kept up to date if the need arrises.
Sincerely,

Your teacher in the dark arts,

“Umm, I think you should read this,” He held it out for Twilight to grab with her magic. She read it aloud to them making sure not to miss any details. She finished reading only to turn it over, searching for what seemed to be a missing paragraph.

“Who is it from?” Rarity asked curiously having put the cloak down.

Twilight shrugged. “I’m not sure, the bottom line is torn off. Did you do that?” She shook her head. “It does tell us some interesting things though,” Both Spike and Rarity listened intently. “Firstly, it tells us that his name is Night,”

“But couldn’t that be night time as well?” Spike questioned, thinking he had outwitted Twilight in someway. He only got an unamused glare back.

“Really, Spike? Now who in the world would address the night?” Spike looked to the floor. “Anyway, this also tells us that he’s a hermit. It says that he basically lives indoors.”

“I think you could relate to that,” Spike joked, receiving a deadpan look from Twilight

“Anyway, problem is that it’s written from his “teacher in the dark arts,” She looked up to find her audience staring at her confused.

“Is that a bad thing,” Rarity asked. “I didn’t even know there was a dark arts.”

“Well, I’ll do my best to explain, but Celestia hasn’t let me into that part of the library yet. She says that dark magic is unpredictable and dangerous and it will be some time before I’m allowed to even look at a book,” She paced back and forth.

“There are many forms of magic, but the two main sources come from positive and negative energy. Like Ying and Yang. With me so far?” They nodded. “Mine obviously derives from the light or Ying. Although unicorns usually have positively influenced magic, there are many cases in which they may be capable of dark as well, although they never develop the skill to unlock said power. The ones that do usually end up in insane asylums or prisons, because of breaking the law or they just can’t control the power. My theory is that it messes with their head although I’ve never been up close to one with the dark power before. That’s most of what little I know. However, seeing this strange stallion just walking around with such dangerous magic makes me worried and It doesn’t bode well with me,”

“He didn’t seem too dangerous when I was in his cell. He just seemed to really want his belongings back,” Rarity pointed a hoof to his cloak. “Twilight dear, I hope you don’t intend on accusing him of being evil or dangerous just yet. He has only helped me so far,” Twilight stopped her pacing.

“I won’t accuse him Rarity. I just need to know how powerful he is. Very little is known about dark magic. I don’t even know what spells are capable,” She continued to pace around the room, looking at the floor as if in search of something lost.

“Too bad you can’t just read his mind or something,” Spike said as he walked to the kitchen picking up a cookie out of the glass jar.

A light switch flicked on inside Twilight's head as she gasped in delight. “Or maybe I can! Spike get the dolly, we’re going to move some equipment.”

______________________________________________________________________________

They knocked the front door of Biceps office, waiting for a reply. Heavy hoof steps could be heard approaching the door before it opened, revealing the muscular white pegasus behind it. “Hello girls, come in,” Twilight, Rarity and spike walked through the doorway to a very messy room. What had been an organised neat room had been turned upside down. Now covered in documents and large books labeled ‘law and order’, it looked as if biceps had suddenly been drowned with an important research task. “Sorry about the mess, I needed to find out about something and it’s been bothering me,” He leaned in closer, only a nose away from Twilight. “You girls wouldn’t be here to see him, would you?”

They looked at each other before Rarity answered him. “Is there somepony else here? Who else would we see?

He rubbed his neck, turning to his desk to grab a stapled document. He hoofed it to twilight. “I found something quite scary about this guy,” Twilights ears lowered as her jaw fell, leaving her mouth agape. “It doesn’t give a name for some reason, but it does show that he has a lengthy criminal record; and when I say lengthy, I mean you're looking at fourteen pages of arrests and fines he’s had since he was a young colt,”

“No name?” Twilight asked. He shook his head in reply. “That’s certainly odd. All the files should have the name at the very least.”

“Wait, he’s done all of these things? But he seemed like such a nice stallion.” She pouted cutely trying to take the frightening information as a joke.

“This is serious Rarity!” She flipped through the numerous pages. “Since he was about Sweetie Belle’s age. He’s committed an unbelievable number of thefts, been diagnosed as insane, and even… Oh my,” Twilight’s breathing became deep slow and heavy. She hoofed the papers back to biceps before turning to the others.

“What is it Twilight?” Spike asked, impatiently tugging on her hair. “What else has he done?” She looked directly at Rarity.

“He’s killed somepony before,” The room went silent save for a gasp from a shocked mare. “Although it happened a long time ago, when he was really young and here it says ‘involuntary pony slaughter’. Imagine what he could do, now that he’s all grown up,” A fainting couch was magically pulled through the door as the white unicorn fell head over hooves. Spike quickly grabbed a small book and began to fan the mare in despair.

“Are you okay Rarity?”

“Yes I’ll be quite fine thank you. It’s just a bit of a shock. Just the thought that I was recently in the same room with such a frightening creature is making me faint, little poor me could have been hurt,” Biceps returned to his desk.

“Well, since you surely don’t want to meet this guy, I’ll be seeing you later. Yeah?” He returned to reading a rather thick book labeled ‘Justice’.

“Actually,” Twilight spoke up over Spike’s comforting words towards Rarity. “I would like to meet him,”

Bicep’s jaw slammed onto the table. He picked it up and shook his astounded expression off his face. “Are you crazy?! You know what he’s done and what he can do. What in Celestia’s name makes you want to even know of him?”

“I don’t need to get to know him personally. I’m just going to run some tests with my ‘Magical Power Interpretation Evaluation-ator’ or also known as the MPIE.” Spike giggled behind her back.

“Err, what is it?”

“it’s a machine that determines the strength of a unicorns current capabilities and turns it into data that I can interpret. Spike, could you bring it in please?”

“Sure,” He ran out of the front door returning within a few seconds with a dolly carrying a large metal box. Lights, switches and button riddled every face. A small metal helmet with wires attached from it to the machine, sat on top.

“With this I can determine if he’s a serious threat. If he’s weak enough I will be able to control him myself. I am a pretty powerful unicorn, if I do say so myself. If he’s somehow stronger than me, I’ve already sent a letter to Celestia telling her of our circumstances. One can never be too careful.”

“Hmm, I still don’t know about this,” Biceps put a hoof to his chin in thought. “ I trust your judgement, but I would rather have him locked up than out and about being tested on. I don’t think he’d like being a guinea pig any more than being in his cell either. It’s probably best just to let him sit out his three week sentance, then watch him carefully.”

“Only three weeks?” Spike asked.

“Well, he’s being jailed here for a minor assault, not for his previous crimes despite what they are.”

Well, if he’s able to leave so soon, don’t you think it’s best to be prepared. You know, learn what he may do so you can prepare, or put a warning in the local paper or something? And if I am able to take some data, we’ll have more information about his magic, it’s the least known material in Equestria. Even the Canterlot archives are limited in what they can tell. The more we know, the safer we can make the town.” She gave him a smug smirk, knowing she had the upper hoof. “Soooooo? For the safety of the town and Equestria, will you let me make a small study out of him?”

He gave a long exasperated sigh in defeat. “Fine you win, I guess if it’s for the safety of the town I’ll let you through just this once and no more. But for you safety I have to be right there the entire time, okay?

With a big smile on her face, Twilight trotted past him into the hallway of cells hidden behind the door. Biceps rolled his eyes before grabbing his keys and doing the same followed by Spike who carried the metal flashing box. Rarity sat comfortably on her fainting couch while she held firmly onto the cloak.

Biceps unlocked and opened the door to the unsafe lair of the mysterious stallion. Entering first, saw the dark pony leaning against the wall panting heavily. His mane drenched in sweat. He stared back at his pegasus guard with lazy sleep deprived eyes.

Twilight and spike walked through the doorway, humming machine in tow. They both froze and stared at the exhausted stallion.

*Huff* “Afternoon, what can i do for you?” *Huff*

“Umm, are you alright? You look like you just ran the ‘Running Of The Leaves.” She attempted to approach him, but biceps placed his large hoof in the way.

“I’m fine, don’t mind me-” He wiped the sweat from his face and brushed away his heavy mane revealing the dark rings that hung low around the eye sockets. “-just ask me what you want and leave.”

She was a little taken back, but didn’t delay her curiosity. “My name is Twilight, I read this letter that fell out of your hood and from what I can tell, I presume you use an, err, uncommon type of magic,” She gave him the letter. He looked at it before scrunching it up and throwing it over the the straw bed. “Am I right in saying that you use umm, dark magic?” She uttered the words quietly as if it were taboo.

“Get to the point,” He breathed, obviously agitated.

“Yes, sorry. Well you see, dark magic is very uncommon and little is known about how it works and it’s capabilities. So with your permission I would like to conduct some simple tests, that would allow me to-”

“No.” He interrupted.

“No what?”

“No, you can’t do any ‘tests’ on me.” He raised his hooves in the air creating some air quotations at the word tests. The word itself seemed to displease him.

“May I ask why?”

“Will you leave if I answer this one question?” Seeing as though she wouldn’t be able to get a willing volunteer she had no choice but to get what little information she could.

“Yes, I’ll leave after you answer that at least.”

“Because I’ve been ‘tested’ on before and I don’t enjoy being prodded, poked, and examined like some kind of creature. I’m just like you, but you won’t see that. Your experiments show you data, what I’m made of, not who I am. Now I’ve answered your question, you can go now.” He turned his back to them as they did the same. Spike left first with the humming box. Twilight and biceps were about to follow when they were called out to.

“Wait, did you say you got this from the inside… of my cloak?!” The urgency in his voice grabbed the full attention of Twilight.

“Yes, Rarity’s in the front office with it.”

“Could I have it back? It’s important to me. Just make sure it’s not damaged.”

“Important huh?” A shifty smile spread across her face. “Well how about we make a deal, if I give you back your belongings, you will let me do a quick study of your magic. Deal?” With a confident upper hoof over the navy stallion, she raised a hoof ready to shake in agreement.

“No. There’s no way I’m agreeing to that.”

“All you have to do is put a helmet on and cast a spell or two, it won’t be that bad. I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” He stamped his hoof, displaying the firmness and unmovable mentality he had. “Listen, it’s for your own safety that I won’t let you put that thing on my head. I can’t leave to get my cloak and I won’t let you experiment on me. Isn’t there another way I can get my things back?”

They sat there for a few seconds, each contemplating a compromise to their predicament.

“What if we were to duel?” He proposed. “If I win, I get my cloak back, and if you win, I’ll be apart of your experiment.”

“Do you know the rules to a duel?” She quickly asked.

“Yeah,”

“I think we have-”

“Hold it right there missy,” Biceps interrupted. “Can I talk to you outside for a second?” A few seconds later, the cell door was locked and the two ponies were once again talking at the front desk.

“I thought you were supposed to be princess Celestia’s logical smart pupil. What are you thinking?”

“It’s the only way that I’m ever going to be able to study dark magic. I may even discover something that nopony has ever seen before. This is a chance of a lifetime.”

“Your giving him a chance to be a criminal again. It hasn’t even been a day and you’re giving him a chance to commit a second crime, one that may even leave you scarred! I can’t let you do this.”

“This is my decision and nothing within the law can stop me from challenging him.”

“What if I don’t let him out? How are you going to duel him if he’s in here.”

“Well, then we are going to have a duel in a very cramped space now aren’t we?”

Biceps shook his head, no matter what he or the law said, he had no legitimate power over her. She had worked around the law and could easily halt his movements with a swish of her horn. *Sigh* “You unicorns are devilish to deal with. I’ll be right there at the match when you start, I’m the authority around here and I’ll kick myself if somepony gets hurt.

“I won’t lose, trust me. If winning that duel means collecting information that can keep my friends safe, then there’s nothing that can beat me. Now bring the keys if you will,” Twilight shoved her way passed and into the corridor of cell doors. “I’ve got some arrangements to make.”

Author's Note

Blah, stuff happens and chapters get delayed.