Moonlight

"Hey, wake up, kid. Wake up!"

Something prodded Mooncatcher in his shoulder, causing the tan stallion to stir. His eyes opened to seeing a grayish blue blur sitting across from him. Shaking his head, Moon's vision focused on the object to reveal that it was an earth pony. His weathered face bore scars from what Moon had guessed had been from fights while his brownish blonde mane touched his shoulders. The stallion once again poked the unicorn in the shoulder.

"Good, you're finally awake. I was beginning to think that the Celestial guards were a bit too rough on you."

"Celestial guards? What are you talking about?" Mooncatcher shook his head in confusion. His shoulder was bruised and his head ached as if a rock slammed into him. "Where am I, anyway?"

"Oh boy," the earth pony rolled his eyes. "I guess they were rough with you, you don't even remember how you got here."

"No, it's not that. Last thing I remember was that I was beside the river and some thief ran up to me- the thief!" Mooncatcher immediately rose up to his hooves. However he soon noticed that they were buckled together and landed face first into the floor.

"Easy, big guy," the stranger gazed down at Moon as the unicorn struggled to pick himself up. "You don't want the guards to come back here and beat the hell out of us. Honestly, I think they get off on the whole whipping thing." He then chuckled at his own joke while Mooncatcher sat down on his haunches.

"What? That doesn't even make any sense," Mooncatcher tilted his head confused. "None of this does. I'm not even supposed to be here!"

"Sure, just like how everypony else here isn't supposed to be here for something they didn't do," the grayish stallion sarcastically replied.

"But I'm not!" Mooncatcher snapped. "I was traveling and had to take a break near some river! Then some little thief comes bursting out of the forest and throws some necklace at me. Next thing I know, a lumbering stallion is standing over me and slams my head into the rocks!"

"Quiet back there!" A booming voice rang behind Mooncatcher.

"Great, now you've upset the guards. You can't keep your mouth shut, can you?" The stranger grunted in disgust as he looked over at the guard who was driving their carriage. "Sorry, your highness! We promise that we'll use our inside voices while we're being dragged off to our deaths!"

The guard only mumbled under his breath until he looked over at another guard walking with him and started a conversation. Mooncatcher felt a quick flash of anger rise up underneath his chest. The stranger that was locked inside this cage with him was quickly getting on Moon's nerves.

"Why don't you just shut your mouth already and tell me where I'm at before I set you on fire?" The young shaman growled deeply while his eyes glared into the stranger's green eyes. He began to focus his magic into casting a small flame above his horn, however Moon immediately felt a sharp pain shoot back into his body. "Agh!" The unicorn cringed.

"Pfft, it seems like you're a bit of a hot head, aren't you?" The stallion smirked slyly while watching Mooncatcher grit his teeth in pain. "Don't even bother using your magic. The guards placed a clamp that obstructs the flow of magic throughout your horn. Once you cast a spell, it builds up and gets sent right back to you."

While rubbing his horn with right hoof, he felt some type of cold ring brush against his fur. No matter how hard the unicorn tried to remove the device, it continued to snugly stay put wrapped around his horn. Glaring up at his cellmate, Moon sighed in defeat.

"What's up with the gems in your horn? You some kind of high class daddy's boy with a jewel obsession?" The stallion nodded towards Mooncatcher as he eyed the gems embedded in the shaman's horn. It looked as if he were tempted to try and steal the gems for himself, if they weren't locked up in a cage with their hooves bound.

"No, it's none of your business," Mooncatcher turned his head and rested it against the metal bars. He sadly looked out at his surroundings to see where he was. They were in a snow covered forest, the trees were closely packed together and the sky was gray. Snowflakes were heavily falling down and they shrouded Moon's visibility. As the tan stallion exhaled, he watched his breath slowly rise into the air. Thoughts of his parents filled his mind while he closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, mom and dad. I promise you guys I'll find a way out of this. I have to."

"Hey, look at it this way," the stranger's voice broke Moon's train of thought. "Soon you'll be dead and you won't have to worry anymore."

"I don't plan on dying today," Mooncatcher replied bluntly.

"Oh I'm sure you'll do well with that plan. I bet you've already figured out how you're going to get past all the guards, break out of your bonds, and escape out of the walls of whatever village we're going to without even getting a scratch."

Moon only blew out with frustration. Only he'd have the type of luck to get arrested for no reason at all and then get thrown in the same cage with some stallion that seemed more related to an ass than a horse.

"Can I say one thing?"

"What?"

"That thief friend of yours is locked up in one of the carriages in front of us. If you're lucky, you'll get to see her executed first."

Mooncatcher only ignored the stallion's statement, resting his head on the cold, metal bars once again and looking out into the wilderness. Thoughts raced in his mind, trying to create some type of plan that would be able to let him escape from being executed. However soon afterward, the young shaman gave up and started to pray to the Phoenoc that he'd be able to get out of here. The only way Moon was leaving here alive was by a miracle.

About half an hour later, the wind began to pick up, causing one of the guards to shiver and mention something about a blizzard rolling in. Mooncatcher brushed off what he overheard, a simple blizzard wouldn't even be enough to give him a chance to escape. The unicorn's cellmate had occasionally started to sing a few songs that were unfamiliar to Moon. It did interest him, despite the earth pony's horrid singing ability, the rhythm actually felt soothing. As if it told a story of a great battle that a lone warrior had won when all hope was lost.

Suddenly something caught Mooncatcher's eye. A black silhouette had appeared standing next to a tree. It resembled a pony only standing there, staring at him. The sight had caused an unfamiliar chill to creep down his spine. It had reminded him of the nightmare he experienced. However Moon was unable to clearly get a good glimpse at what the figure was when an abrupt breeze carrying snow blew past him. He quickly squinted, trying to see past the snow. Once it the breeze had past him, the figure was no longer there, as if it was only a mere illusion.

"What in Celestia's name is with this snow storm?!" The guard hauling the cage Mooncatcher was in shouted towards his companion. "It's as if it came out of nowhere!"

The blizzard had became so harsh that now Moon could only see a few feet in front of him. A distant scream sounded in front of them, followed by a thunderous crash with the sound of metal breaking. Moon felt his blood run cold at the noise of the screaming being cut off. He felt the carriage he was in stop as everypony else around him was alerted to the sound. The stranger in the cart with him stood on his hooves and peered out into the unknown.

"Hey, guard, I think that was one of your buddies," he snickered loudly before the guard swiftly glared at him.

"Will you keep your mouth shut!"

"Ooh, I think I can see fear in your eyes. What's wrong? Shouldn't your Sun Goddess protect you?"

"Enough!" The guard slammed his hoof down. "I've had it with your remarks-"

Before the guard could finish yelling at the prisoner, a whirring sound filled the air as the guard was thrown into the snow. A giant spear of ice had impaled itself into his throat while he gagged. The force from the object being thrown into him had caused his bronze helmet to go flying into the air, crashing into the stone road with a loud clang.

"Huh, I guess not," the prisoner frowned as he watched the dying guard's last breath escape from his body. The sight of seeing the blood stain the white snow red seemed to not bother this earth pony even the slightest.

"Is this your doing?" Mooncatcher quickly glanced at the other stallion. "Why aren't you scared?!"

"Not that I know of," the grayish blue pony shrugged, unphased with what was going on around them. "Either this is the work of the Thieves Guild or this is some necromaniac who's going to use our dead bodies for experiments. The Thieves Guild doesn't kill ponies though, unless Runebearer is on one of his secret missions again. So that means it's probably some magical nutjob."

Before Mooncatcher could react, the stallion next to him broke the bonds that were holding his hooves together. The earth pony noticed Moon's surprise and gave him a wink.

"I've been biting through these things the whole time while you were busy moping around," he quickly dashed towards Mooncatcher and began to untie the rope that was bound around the unicorn's hooves.

"Wait, why are you helping me?" The shaman asked when he rubbed his hooves once they were free.

"Because you seem like a good kid. Plus we're all a bunch of misfits, whether we like it or not. It's job to make sure we keep each other safe. Now let's get out of here."

The two quickly dashed over to the back of the carriage as they heard more shouting around them. Mooncatcher had guessed that the guards were all attempting to try and fight off whomever, or whatever was attacking them. However by the sound of the scuffle, it sounded as if they were losing this fight. The grayish blue pony reared his hindlegs and bucked the cell door with all of his strength. The door soon fell onto the ground with a loud clang and the two stallions jumped down onto the stone road.

"Alright, I got you this far. Now you're on your own," the earth pony winked at Mooncatcher before he began to take off.

"Wait! What?!" The tan unicorn shouted out loud. "What do you mean I'm on my own?!"

"I can't hold your hoof through everything, kid. You got to do things by yourself," the stallion backed away slowly. "If you're ever in a Hold named Fornax, I'll buy a you mug of mead on the house!" With that, he galloped away into the relentless blizzard.

As Mooncatcher prepared himself to run out into the unknown, a voice shouted at him.

"Halt!"

Moon spun around instantly to see the an orange unicorn levitating a pulled back bow at him. The guard's armor was covered in blood while Mooncatcher noticed that the arrow was shaking uncontrollably. It looked as if this unicorn had just stared at death itself.

Reacting to seeing the stallion in front of him, Mooncatcher quickly tried to summon a flame spell so he could defend himself. Soon the memory of the device clamped around his horn filled his mind while his body reacted to the pain of his magic being shot back into him. He heaved over, trying to remain on his hooves instead of falling over into the ground. The only thought that ran through Moon's mind was that he had to escape.

The guard standing in front of him took a step forward, keeping the arrow trained on Moon's head. The tension was growing, Mooncatcher could hear the blood pumping throughout his ears while everything around him seemed to slow down. He readied himself to dodge out of the way if and when the unicorn released the arrow. If he made one wrong step, Moon's journey that had just began would soon be at an end.

Watching the arrow being released, Moon could see its shaft flex back and worth. As he quickly shifted his body to the side, Mooncatcher pushed with his hind legs as hard as he could to jump out of the way in time. He prayed to Laas to spare his life and to allow him to make it through this. A sharp pain penetrated Moon's shoulder, he could feel a blunt force knock into him and felt the jagged arrowhead tear through his muscle. Falling onto the ground, the tan unicorn glanced over at his attacker and saw that they had suffered the same fate as the guard pulling his carriage. A giant ice spike was sticking out of the guards neck while his lifeless eyes stared out into the sky.

Forcing himself to his hooves with the arrow still sticking out of his shoulder, Mooncatcher galloped off into the wilderness without looking back. With each step, the pain in his shoulder throbbed. While glancing around to find a place to treat himself, the stallion found a small opening to a cave and made his way towards it. Once he was at the entrance, he tried to catch his breath, only to end up having a coughing fit from the cold air stinging his lungs. Once he had caught his breath, the stallion bent his neck down to his side so he could grip the arrow in his mouth. Preparing himself, Mooncatcher yanked as hard as he could, ripping the arrow free from his shoulder. Blood splattered onto the rocky ground as he threw the arrow into the snow.

A faint jingling sounded from behind the stallion.

"Who's there?" Moon asked while turning around. He spotted the same figure that he had seen before the attack he had escaped from. He was cornered.

It was a pony wearing a black cloak, the hood they were wearing covered their eyes as they silently stood in front of Moon. The only thing he could guess was that this pony was a pegasus. He could see their grey wings folded against the black fabric. A light teal colored scarf was wrapped around their neck with two little bells gently flowing in the wind.

"Get away from me!" Mooncatcher started to limp away while he felt the warm blood drip down his hoof. This was the pony that had attacked the guards escorting the prisoners to what seemed like a better death than this. That prisoner Moon was with was right, it was some magical nutjob who was after them. How could a pegasus even have the ability to use magic?

"You're hurt," the gray pegasus mumbled as she took a step towards him. "Let me heal you."

Mooncatcher was about to retort, until his hooves buckled from underneath him. The injured unicorn's chest heaved as he coughed once again. All he could do was watch as the stranger neared closer to him until she was standing over him. She raised her hoof slowly over Moon's shoulder and forcefully pressed it into him. His body flinched as his wound screamed in despair feeling the mare's hoof dig into his side. Mooncatcher felt an intense freezing sensation shoot throughout his body. The stallion grit his teeth while he hissed in agony, it felt as if he was being burned by the cold.

"I've finally found you," the mare spoke as she lifted her hoof off Moon's wound. "Come, we'll set up camp here for the night. I'll need you to make a fire."