The Princess & The Rogue

CANTERLOT CASTLE

A slow and deep breath in the nostrils, followed by a slightly slower breath out the mouth. A lavender alicorn with a purple mane and tail with a pink stripe on each stared at herself in the mirror. She wasn't disappointed, to say the least... just downright nervous. She wore a bright purple dress with yellow trimming... something that one of her best friends made for her. The pattern was quite simple, but then again, simple is what she preferred.

She cleared her throat and attempted to speak, when the sound of the front door bursting open caught her attention. She turned around and deadpanned when she saw a young purple drake with a green stomach and green spines running up to her.

"Twilight! They did it! They-" the drake began, only to be cut off by the princess stomping a hoof down.

"Ugh, Spike! What have I told you about knocking first?"

Spike stopped in his tracks before pointing out the door. "I know that, Twilight! I just wanted to say that I saw a group of guards who were carrying that human that was on those WANTED posters!"

Twilight's ears perked up at that. She warmly smiled at him before checking herself again in the mirror. "Oh... well, at least we know we won't be in danger during the ceremony, then! Thank you for letting me know, Spike."

Spike nodded his head and turned to leave. "Any time, Twilight! Who would've known that your brother would be the one to stop that fiend from terrorizing Canterlot, and potentially ruining your coronation?"

Twilight gasped before turning to Spike again with a shocked expression on her face. "Wait, SHINING ARMOR was the one who stopped him?! He isn't hurt, is he?!"

Spike shrugged his shoulders before replying, "Well, aside from him having a little limp in his step, he told me that everything was okay, and that any wounds he got would be gone within a day."

Twilight sighed in relief before nodding her head. "Thank you, Spike... though now I'm going to have to have a little talk with him about risking his life like that! Who knows what that human would've done to him?!"

Once again Spike shrugged his shoulders before stepping out of the door. "I'd hate to imagine... though at least everything will be more peaceful around here now! Anyways, I gotta go help out with the decor! See you in a few hours!"

Twilight nodded her head and waved. "Alright, then. Goodbye, Spike! Thanks again!"

With that, the door closed, and Twilight was the only one in the room once again. She sighed before clearing her throat and practicing the speech she would say at the ceremony again.

She stood at the top of a balcony while looking at a huge crowd that gathered in the castle courtyard. After clearing her throat, she began, "A little while ago, my teacher and mentor, Princess Celestia, sent me to live in Ponyville. She sent me to study friendship, which is something I didn't really care much about... but now, on a day like today, I can honestly say," she beckoned a group of five mares, her friends, towards her, "I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for the friendships I've made with all of you! Each one of you taught me something about friendship, and for that, I will always be grateful. Today, I consider myself the luckiest pony in Equestria. Thank you, friends... thank you, everypony!"

The crowd let out a loud cheer as she exited the place. Princess Celestia, who was wearing a purple and golden dress similar to Twilight's in honor of her student's ascension, walked up to her and gently patted her on the back. "You did wonderful, Twilight... and now, would you care to join your family in the Dining Hall?"

Twilight nervously giggled before replying, "Um... t-that will be okay, Princess Celestia. I... I just need a moment to myself, that's all."

Celestia smiled at her former student before nodding her head in understanding. "I understand your nervousness, and will respect your decision... but please, though, do remember that your family would like to congratulate you, at least."

Twilight nodded her head and replied, "O-of course! I'll be there in a minute or two! I just... have to collect my thoughts, is all."

Celestia nodded her head again before heading out of the Throne Room to give Twilight some space. Twilight, on the other hand, stepped into the guest room where she was planned to spend the night in.

CANTERLOT DUNGEONS

Shade was woken up by a huge torrent of cold water. He gasped and coughed a few times before trying to wipe the water out of his eyes, only to find that his hands were bound together, and chained to the wall. With an annoyed sigh, he looked towards the entrance of the cell he was in and found the jailer standing there with an empty wooden bucket in his hands, with a few droplets of water dripping from the rim.

The jailer smiled menacingly and said, "Wakey wakey, Mr. Shady... wouldn't want you to oversleep when the gallows are waiting for you!"

Shade, despite the situation he was in, smirked and scoffed, "Well teach the gallows how to be patient, then!"

The jailer's smile shifted into a glare. Then he opened the gate, stepped inside, and inched closer to Shade's face, until his was just a couple feet away. Finally, with all his might, he struck Shade's right cheek with the back of his right hand and backed away a few more feet. "Welcome home, Shade. Do try to actually get... comfortable this time."

Shade groaned in slight pain before puckering his lips towards his nose in an attempt to lower his mask. Then, once his mask was below his chin (which wore a thin stubbly beard) he spat a small hint of blood out and shook his head left and right while looking down, in an attempt to raise the mask back up.

Once his mask was back over his face, he grinned. "I see you've been anticipating my return, then?"

The jailer said nothing but turned to leave. Along the way, however, he lifted the bucket back up and stepped out of the gate, which he closed and locked shortly afterwards. Then he walked over to the desk conveniently placed in front of Shade's cell and sat on the stool behind it.

Shade yawned before looking towards the only source of light in his cell; a barred window. The sun was out, but it was getting slightly closer to night time. Despite the fact that the sun was out, however, Shade felt slightly sleepier than he did before he was knocked unconscious. Deciding a few hours wouldn't hurt, he lowered his head and fell into a deep slumber.

CANTERLOT CASTLE: MIDNIGHT

A pair of guards were standing at the corner of the hallway that led to Twilight's room. The two of them had their eyes firmly glued directly in front, while one of another pair of guards who were patrolling the hallway reached the two of them to turn around and proceed through the hallway once again.

When he was in-between the two, however, all of their attention was brought to a small droplet of blue liquid that landed in the center of the red carpet that they walked and stood on. When they looked at the droplet, it spread widely across the carpet and emitted a white smoke that, once inhaled, caused the guards to gag before passing out.

Then two of the hooded diamond dogs landed in the center of the carpet with their masks firmly over their snouts. The one on the left turned to the one on the right and motioned for him to move forward. He nodded his head in response before rushing to the nearest pillar and waited while the forth guard made his way towards them again.

Once the forth guard was in eyesight, his eyes widened at the sight of his fallen comrades and instinctively, he rushed to their aid. As soon as he crossed the pillar where the diamond dog waited, though, the diamond dog firmly gripped his snout with his left arm and slit his throat with a dagger that was concealed behind the diamond dog's right sleeve.

Then the diamond dog looked at the other one and nodded his head while the other one nodded in return and silently rushed through the hallway. He stopped the moment he saw the door with a pink six-sided star embroidered on it.

Twilight was sleeping peacefully in her guest bed, which was a Princess-sized mattress with pink sheets and a lavender blanket. Spike, despite being her number-one assistant, was sleeping in another room, though.

Her dreams were quickly interrupted when a pair of paws covered her snout while another pair gripped onto her horn to keep her from using magic. She tried screaming, but the second she took a deep breath, her snout was covered by a cloth coated in the same blue chemical as the one used in the hallways. Mere seconds after the chemical entered her system she passed out again, while the pair of diamond dogs lifted her up and carried her out of the room through the window, where she was then carried through the darkness of the night.

Shining Armor was on his way to Twilight's room when he noticed something off. There were supposed to be guards stationed at the hallway, but there weren't any in sight. It wasn't until he was almost halfway down the hallway when he noticed something else off. The center of the carpet appeared to be wet, but the liquid didn't appear to be water. He inched closer to it and took a quick whiff of the liquid before gasping at the all-too-familiar scent... blood.

His ears twitched when the sound of a thin metal object sliding out of a wooden surface caught his ears. In the blink of an eye he did a quick forward roll and narrowly dodged a sword that would've surely met his neck otherwise, and drew his own sword from its scabbard.

Two hooded diamond dogs with longswords in their hands were now standing in the center of the room. The one at Shining's left lunged first, but his sword was deflected away and Shining's own sword met the attacker's stomach.

The diamond dog backed up and growled in agony before falling onto his back and vanishing in a black mist... something that caught Shining's attention immediately. "What the-"

The second diamond dog decided to interrupt Shining while he was confused by slicing vertically. Shining managed to side-step out of the way before plunging his sword in the other diamond dog's chest. The diamond dog fell over and, like his friend, disappeared into a black mist.

Shining decided not to take any more chances and ran up to his sister's room. When he opened the door, however, he was met with an unnerving sight... her bed was empty, and her window was open. He rushed up to her window and was only able to catch a glimpse of her unconscious form being carried by the other pair of diamond dogs towards the docking area for the airships that traveled over the sky and the seas.

Shining's heart nearly skipped a beat as more hooded figures filled the streets and drew weapons while the guards were unaware. Shining decided to take charge into the matter and shoot a blast of white light into the air that exploded into a red smoke; signaling the guards that they were under attack.

CANTERLOT DUNGEONS

Shade woke up to the sounds of war cries, explosions, and metallic weapons clashing and clinking just outside the walls. He looked outside his cell and noticed that the jailer was now frightened, and drew his sword from his scabbard and lifted his shield off the ground. Then he rushed towards the door that led to the stairwell up the castle... but once the door opened, the body of the guard that had his throat slit flew into the room and sent the jailer's shield flying from the impact. His eyes widened at the sight before his eyes, but Shade wasn't able to see who it was clearly... at least, not until the jailer backed away with his sword still raised.

The figure was much taller than the diamond dogs that wore the cloaks, but the cloak must've meant that the figure was, indeed, on the same side as them. One of the most distinguishing characteristics that the jailer was staring at wasn't the tall hooded figure's green, pointy-nosed face, but rather, his left hand... or in this case, his tall, red, foot-long bladed claw for a hand. His piercing black eyes with demonic red pupils only struck even more terror in the jailer's heart.

The jailer then decided to attempt a bold move... he lunged his sword at the tall figure. Before it could even get anywhere near the figure, however, he caught the blade with his left claw and pinched his bladed fingers together, which clipped the outermost half of the jailer's sword clean off. The jailer then felt overwhelming fear as the stranger's claw raised up. The last thing he could see was the red claw moving towards his chest. Then overwhelming agony followed, and beyond that, the jailer was another corpse on the ground.

The hooded figure then turned to Shade and grinned wickedly. "Well, well... if it isn't our old friend Shade... how long has it been? A whole year?"

Shade shrugged his shoulders before replying in a casual manner, "Eh, probably a bit more. Honestly, Red, I would've assumed you'd have been done with this sooner!"

The hooded figure's pupils glowed even redder before he pointed his pointing claw at Shade. "You know good and well that we couldn't even get close to the border until Cerberus escaped Tartarus! And even then, there was only a few measly hours to even reach Equestria! And when we saw the WANTED posters... well, let's just say we knew we would have to hire a few extra paws and hands to ensure that you've been dealt with."

Shade smiled before inching his face towards Red. "Ah, so you've decided to surrender your attempt at 'reclaiming your honor'? You've hired a few henchmen to finish me off, then?"

Red shook his head before turning towards the two diamond dogs who just entered the room. "No... I still plan on being the one to kill you. I've just... come to pay my respects to your foolish hide. It's not like you won't try to cheat Death again, after all."

Shade smirked before replying, "And yet again with the whole 'cheating Death' thing. Honestly, I'm pretty sure Death just simply works in my favor!"

Red glared at him again before looking down at his clawed hand. "Oh, trust me... you wouldn't have been thinking the same had this curse not bound me against killing you... though believe me when I say this! We're not here for you now, but come our next visit, we shall settle this once and for all..." he flicked the blood from his claws before turning towards Shade again with a slightly bored expression on his face, "that is, unless Death finally grows tired of you."

Shade briefly nodded his head sideways in thoughtful agreement. "Eh, touche. So, what exactly are you after, then?"

Red deadpanned at him before smirking. "Oh, come now! What makes you think I would just tell you like that?"

Shade, on the other hand, smiled at him before replying, "Because as the Binder's Codes state, you are bound to tell all of your crew about your plans... and while I may have ran away once things got hairy, I was never deemed traitor until after your curse was inflicted on you... and you still can't properly deem me a traitor until the curse is released. Correct?"

Red glared at him while several red sparks began to shoot up his left arm. Finally, after slightly growling out of minor frustration and pain, he replied, "Alright, then! We're here to abduct the newly crowned princess, and use her blood to lift us from this curse!"

"Ah, the 'Blood of the Forth Alicorn'... so once the information from those dusty old books came true..."

Red nodded his head with a snarling expression on his mouth. "That was our cue to start the operations." He then pointed his left claw at Shade before spitting, "And now that you know this, I'm certain you will bring your old crew of rebels up once again... so hear this warning! We will make it to that shrine again... and once we do..." He lifted his left pointing claw up to his throat and slowly drew an invisible line across his neck before pointing the finger at Shade.

Shade smiled beneath his mask before chuckling. "Well, I'd be on my way if I were you, then! After all, since the 'Binder's Curse' doesn't work on me, seeing as how I did manage to escape, that means you're still a target of mine... and with that reminder in your mind, once I get out of here, I'd watch my back, if I were you."

Red stood there for a moment before smiling menacingly at him. "That is... if you get out of here. From what I've heard, you were on your way to the gallows... and with your reputation, I'm certain the princesses will not want to call that off."

Shade's smile only grew. "We shall see, old friend. For now, though, don't you have a princess to abduct, and some ritual to complete?"

Red's smile dropped into a more serious expression once more. "Indeed... be ready, Shade, for your time is coming... and when that time comes," he stepped outside of the jail room while the two diamond dogs followed behind him, "not even DEATH will want to save you."

Shade sat there for another long moment before turning towards the dead guards. "Yeah... that guy has some issues..."