The hatred of the shadow

The hunters searched through the whole town to find the killer but they didn't found anything. At noon they came back to the castle and told Rising that they would watch the castle over the night from the arena. Rising agreed to their idea.

A the late evening they had build a small camp of tents inside of the arena. At least one of them was always watching the surroundings from the walls of the arena while the others would rest.

Lock walked back to the town at the evening. He wanted to hear if the dead ponies were found and he wanted to see if the security has been improved. As he walked through the town he got hungry and went to a cafe. After he got his sandwich he listened to the other ponies at the cafe if they knew anything.

After a while he heard something interesting. "Did you hear the news? Two of the guards are dead!"

"What? How did that happened?"

"I don't know any details but I know that it happened inside of the castle. They think it was a dark mage and he is still free!"

"A dark mage? Here? I thought that every kind of dark magic is illegal!"

"But it is true and they fear that this mage will try to free you know who!"

"Really?"

"Yes I think so. They already ordered some magic hunters to here and they are searching for the killer. They already went around the whole town asking ponies questions..."

Lock heard enough he stood up and walked toward the castle. He saw one of the magic hunters standing on the walls of the arena watching everything.

He also saw the improved security at the prison. 'This makes everything way more complicated.'

He began to think of a plan and after a while he got one. He made his way back to the place where he rested the last night and began to work on his plan. He created a small container crystal ball.

He created tiny hooks so he could throw it at fabric and it would stick there. After that was finished he lifted his crystal leg in front of his horn and used a energy ray to give the crystal Malonexs aura. He used his spell to see auras and moved the crystal ball around and as planned it left a trail of Malonexs aura behind. Lock created another two of these, he also caught a small bird and a rabbit. He attached to each of them one of the crystal balls.

As Lock was done he looked at the sky. It was already night and he decided that it was time to start. He walked back to the town and walked between the buildings and tired to find a pony.

After a while he found a mare who walked around with a small bag on her back. Lock smiled at his luck and took of his cloak. He sneaked behind the mare and said. "Turn around."

As the mare turned around the screamed as she saw Locks crystal face half and began to run. Lock threw the crystal ball at her bag and it the hooks stuck in the fabric. Lock shouted after her. "Run as fast as you want I will get you!"

After the mare was gone he let the bird and the rabbit go and they both ran in different directions.

Lock began to ran towards the castle.

The hunters were watching the area as they heard the scream of the mare. The leader immediately reacted and talked to his companions. "Fast! This could be the killer."

They all left the arena and ran inside the town. They walked around till they found the place where the scream came from. They looked around and the leader gave the signal to activate the masks. The runes began to glow and they saw the three trails leading in different directions.

One of the pegasi turned to the leader. "Where should we go?"

The leader had to think for a moment but he knew that they needed to hurry or they would lose track. "We split up. I will go alone. If one of us finds him he uses the signal."

The others nodded and the ran in different directions. The pegasi followed the trail of the bird, the earthponies that of the rabbit and the unicorn leader ran after the pony.

Lock reached to castle and saw that there were two guards guarding the prison. They were so busy talking that they didn't noticed Lock running towards them. As he got closer he shot two paralyzing bolts at them.

Both guards fell on the ground unable to move or talk anymore. Lock ran inside of it and saw that there was one guard watching Malonex. As the guard heard Lock coming he hadn't had enough time to grab his spear before he got hit by Locks crystal leg.

After the guard fell to the ground Malonex stood up from his bed and walked with a smile to the worktable with the potions. He took out the bag and walked towards the door of his cell.

Lock looked at the door for a moment and quickly noticed the magical seal on it. He hurried to cast his magic and used his special talent to break the spell. After that he ran past Malonex and began to work on the enchantment that in placed on the light crystal. He quickly disabled every security spell and took the crystal on his hoof.

Malonex nodded at him and he put the crystal in his bag. They both then began to ran towards the exit of the prison. As they reached it a small energy bolt flew past them and as it reached to outside it exploded in a loud red explosion. Malonex turned around ready to cast his magic and saw the guard that Lock knocked out falling exhausted to the ground.

Malonex used his magic to let a crystal spike grow out of the ground beneath the guard stabbing him in the chest. After the guard was impaled by a big crystal Malonex turned back around and they began to run.

They heard guards calling after them so Malonex opened the bag with the potions. He threw one behind them and it created a smoke cloud. The guards simply ran through it but a few guards fell behind because they stumbled in the smoke.

After a short time they reached to forest where Malonex took out another potion. This time he threw it against a tree and it created a fire that began to speared. Five of the guards managed to follow them before one of the trees fell to the ground blocking the path.

Malonex noticed that there were also five pegasi in the air above them. He took two potions out of the bag and threw one of them to Lock. He pointed at the sky and Lock knew what he meant. Malonex threw his potion at the five guards behind them while Lock threw his in the sky.

Both potions exploded in massive dark fireballs. The guards on the ground began to scream as they burned to death while the pegasi turned into small fireballs that fell from the sky. Lock had to dodge to not get his by one of the falling pegasi.

After they weren't followed anymore they decided to run till the sun rose and so they ran.

At the same time the hunter managed to catch up on the false trails. The pegasi found the bird and as they saw the crystal ball one of them took out a small stick. He broke it in half and threw it into the air where it exploded in two small green fireballs. After the signal was finished they started to fly back where they started.

The earthponies saw the signal and began to run faster. A short time later they found the rabbit and activated their signal.

As the leader saw the two signals he already could see the pony. He ran after it and the pony began to run faster as it noticed that it was followed. The leader began to shot paralyze bolts at the pony and managed to hit his target very quickly. As the pony fell to the ground the leader began to smile and walked towards it. But after he could see the pony his confidence began to fade. He saw that this was an earthpony.

He looked for the aura and quickly found the crystal ball. After he took it he let the mare go and she immediately ran away. The leader looked at the ball for a short time and the crushed it under his hoof in anger. He took out his signal and activated it. Then he walked back to the beginning of his trail.

As the sun filially lifted over the horizon Malonex and Lock stopped. Both of them had to sit down and get a few breaths of air before they could talk. Lock was the first who talked. "I think they weren't able to follow us."

Malonex stood up and looked back in the direction where they came from. "You are probably right. I think we can take a break for now, but we don't have long till the hunters will catch up."

Lock took out two sandwich from his bag and gave one to Malonex, who took it and began to look how many potions he had left. "While he looked he talked to Lock. "I must say I am impressed. After I heard that two guards died. I thought that it would be impossible for you to finish the plan."

Lock nodded. "I didn't thought that this would work either but still, thank you."

After Malonex was finished looking through his bag they ate the rest in silence till Lock had a question. "So, since this plan is finished, where are we going now and what is the next plan?"

Malonex thought for a moment if he should tell Lock but decided that Lock had earned to know where they were going. "Well first I need to know where we are now, it has been a long time since I last saw a map of Equestria."

Lock gabbed inside of his bag and took out a map. After he enrolled it on the ground he looked over it for a short time and then pointed at the forest in the north-west of Ponyville. "At the moment we should be in this forest near Ponyville."

Malonex looked at the map for some time and then spoke. "We are going to follow the forest towards west till we reach the mountains. from there we and heading towards north. We have to avoid getting near any of the small towns on the way."

Malonex looked on the map once more. "On the way we have to stop at least two times. First we are going to visit an illegal tavern located in the north-west from here, it could take a few days or a week to reach it. After that we are going to meet with allies. When we have them we are going straight towards the crystal empire."

Lock looked at them map for a moment. He followed the route Malonex had described and it looked like it could take at least one weeks till they would meet the allies and even longer till they would reach the empire. "Well, I hope I have enough to eat."

Malonex rolled the map up and gave it back to Lock. Before they started walking Malonex had to take care of his master. He concentrated on his crystal hoof and on his master inside of it. The presents of his master concentrated on one point and a small round crystal grew out of his hoof. Malonex took the small crystal and looked at it of a moment.

He could see black smoke moving inside of it and then a red glow. Malonex place the crystal on the ground and black smoke covered a small area on the ground. Lock was watching everything curious.

They both heard Sombras voice. "Finally free from this hoof. I see that you managed to escape. I am impressed by both of your actions. But mostly by you Lock. Ponies that are able to sacrifice so much for their goals are always welcome as my allies. Normally they are too fearful to risk anything."

Lock smiled a bit. "Well thank you, but I have to say that it wasn't very hard for me to make this decision."

Sombras voice responded. "You made the right decision. Not long till all of Equestria will realize that it should have surrendered long ago. I have to meditate now to regain my strength."

The smoke disappeared back inside of the small crystal and Malonex put it inside of his bag. Lock looked at him for a moment. "Can he hear us now?"

After Malonex shook his head Lock sighed. "Your king sure likes to be dramatically, to be honest I don't care about his revenge. I just want to help somepony to fight for his goals."

Malonex nodded. "Well, till now this is the first time I can honestly say that I appreciate someponys help."

After they finished their food they both stood up and Malonex began to talk. "I think we should start now. We are going to walk till the night then we are going to rest. After that we will walk the whole day without breaks and only rest at night. We have to make room between us and the hunters. No more magic till we are able to face them."

Lock nodded and they began to walk through the forest.

In Ponyville Rising was woken up by lots of knocks on the door. He got up from his bed and walked to the door. As he opened it he saw the general standing in front of him with panic in his eyes. The general breathed heavily in and out and Rising raised an eyebrow. "What is the matter general?"

The general took one last deep breath and answered. "Malonex escaped and at least twenty guards are dead!"

Rising stared at the general with shock. "What? That better is a really bad joke!"

The general shook his head and Rising wasn't able to say anything anymore. He walked past the general without a word and walked through the hallway of the castle. He left it and made his way towards the prison. At the entrance he saw a group of guards watching everypony that stepped closer. As they saw Rising they made room for him and he entered the prison.

Rising could already see the impaled guard as he entered the prison. He ran towards it and as he was inside the main room he saw that he hunters were standing there analyzing everything. As Rising saw them work he got furious. "What are you doing still here. Go and find Malonex! NOW!"

The leader turned around slowly and looked at Rising for a moment. "We are not able to track him down till he uses his magic again."

"What? You have a big clue to track him down right there." Rising pointed at the crystal.

The leader looked at the crystal for a while before he responded. "This crystal was created hours ago and only with weak magic. Every magic inside of it we could have used is already gone."

Rising got more and more frustrated. "Then follow the trail of his aura. Every unicorn, especially the mages leave one behind. "

The leader shook his head. "We already tired that but the light crystal that he is bound to blocks his aura for the most part and thus weakens the trial he leaves behind. The only thing we can do is wait for him to revile his location through a strong spell and hope that his aura becomes stronger again."

Rising growled and hit the next wall with his hoof. "Why weren't you there as he escaped. It was your job to guard him."

The leader waited for a moment and sighed. "We were tricked by another pony that helped him escape."

Rising wanted to shout a them for their foolishness but he hold himself back. "Go back to Canterlot and tell the princesses what happened. I also need a damage report before noon and the exact direction were they left."

The leader looked to his companions and nodded. They left the prison and Rising closed his eyes, trying to get his mind back together as he heard somepony entering the prison. He looked up and saw that it was Bright. "The general told me what happened. Is Fallen really gone?"

Bright already turned around and wanted to walk away. "Then we have to go and get him before he can do anything to himself or to others!"

She began to walk and it took Rising a short moment to realize what she meant but as he did he ran after her. As they ran he used a spell to grab her at her tail. "Stop! You don't even know the direction he went."

Bright didn't wanted to listen. "But we have to get him."

Rising shook his head. "I already asked the hunters if they could track him down but they said that even they couldn't find him till he dose something that will reveal his exact position."

Bright let her head hang and Rising stepped closer to her. He pet her shoulder. "Come on. Let us go inside. You will go and just learn as usual while I will do everything I can to bring Fallen back, ok?"

Bright slowly nodded and they walked back to the castle. Bright walked to the library while Rising made his way back his room. There he sat down at his desk and began to write letters for the high mages. He wrote them to watch out for signs of dark magic. As he wrote the letter the leader of the hunters came and gave him a complete damage report. Rising was relived and shocked at the same time as he read that 'only' twenty-one ponies died.

After that the hunters left for Canterlot and Rising gave them the letters. As the hunters were gone it was already noon. Rising wanted to meditate for a moment but as he closed his eyes he heard Spike calling for dinner.

Rising made his way towards the dining hall. While they ate Rising noticed that Bright was lost in thoughts and just poked her food. "Are you ok Bright?"

She just nodded and finally began to slowly eat. Rising tried to calm her down a bit. "You don't have to worry. If we are lucky we can manage to find Fallen before he even reaches one city."

She again only nodded but she began to eat with normal speed now. To bring her on different thoughts Twilight began to talk with her about her magic studies which lighten up Bright mood a bit and Rising thanked her for that.

After they all finished Rising spent the rest of the day searching through different books to find something that he could use to find Malonex while Bright went back to learning and Twilight decided to tell her friends what happened.