The train thundered down the tracks, towards Canterlot’s station where the glistening golden armoured guards were set up around the perimeter of the train station. There had been an increasing number of bandits and thieves which plagued Canterlot in a variety shape and form hence the extra security. The train was filled with valuable resources for the new student of Celestia in which to say Celestia was proud. Twilight Sparkle had been excelling in her studies faster than her old student Sunset Shimmer and in doing so had to order new resources about the history of other places that were currently developing into well-known cities to keep up with her pace. The package was delivered straight to Celestia’s door with an escort which was a bit overwhelming but secretly there was something else being brought to Celestia that had to be kept under lock and key at all times and watched closely. No one knew what was inside the crate except for Celestia herself and two trusted guards and underneath the pile of straw, hidden in a small chest there was a soft heart beat barely audible to the pony ears.

*hr*

Celestia was pacing around the floors of Canterlot with a grim face. The package was meant to arrive 10 minutes ago making her start to panic. The package was something that had been discovered recently by a young archaeologist adventurer who goes by the name Daring Do. It was a bit of a wonder for Celestia as she could remember the day so vividly even though it happened weeks a go. It was that somepony needed to talk to her privately and urgently and the guards were not letting her in. It was only by chance with the morning stroll that Celestia met the young energetic pony with the eyes of danger through the gates. She was also in a good mood to listen and have tea with the young archaeologist who told a grizzly story which reminded Celestia of Luna’s monster hunting stories. However, Celestia couldn’t quite tell how much was real until they got to the point where the young archaeologist wanted to talk about specifically. The artifact in detail was something that Celestia had never heard of before, the description of the power that it held in the one hoof was too devastating. After the long talks of setting arrangements for discovering the priceless artefact in which in return Daring Do would be more renowned for archaeology and would be further funded for expeditions, Celestia was exhausted. But by the look of Daring's face, a deal was struck and Celestia congratulated Daring one last time before going of to mentor Twilight. Now as Celestia sat on her bed, Celestia glared at the ticking clock in her room with every sound of the ticks making her right eye twitch in discomfort. The right eye, she couldn’t understand herself even with the best doctors around why the right. She sighed, making herself stress over a little artefact but what she had heard from the reports made her shiver.

A growl echoed in throughout her chambers, causing her to look around for an animal. That was when she realised it was just her own stomach. It had been only been 2 minutes since the clock stroke 12, and she knew she needed to calm down. Sitting down and calling for tea she recalled the tales that her sister would say when she went on her monthly hunts into the wilderness to hunt down monsters and creature to bring the populations down. It was a gruelling job and she wished it didn’t have to be that way, but her sister insisted on the job with Starswirl the bearded long ago. The hunts would last for a week and every time Luna would come back battered and bruised looking as she hadn’t slept for days on end. It sickened Celestia but every time the subject was brought up Luna would immediately talk about something else as if avoiding the question entirely. But in a matter of days Luna would be back to her normal self as if nothing happened. It was a concern to Celestia and when she did talk about it, it was only when she wasn't in the infirmary to heal that she would boast it to the moon. But even those were rare times, she sighed thinking about Luna, the sun still up high in the sky. Celestia always wondered what would happen if she was sent to her own sun that she grew up to love. What would be like to stay trapped, alone and scared with not needing to eat. A nightmare, she thought but was lost again that she didn’t notice the knocks on the door. She was already taken back to the last days with Luna and loosing her beloved sister again. In all the times she had felt pain, the raw breath of sadness escaped her lips in a form of a whimper and the thoughts of what she could have done to change the outcome was what rocked her mind. The knocks grew louder, and she unlocked the door with haste and magic expecting the parcel, but it was only the tea.

The brew of camomile relaxed Celestia's mind, with the aroma permeating the room as she felt one with herself. The stress of running a whole kingdom by herself was starting to get to her head with being alone everyday, no family to talk to was difficult. Whenever Luna woke up to have breakfast which was Celestia’s time to sleep they would always talk about each other jobs and having fun with each other by playing pranks and just good old sisterly time. Now the empty room of Luna resides in the highest observatory tower waiting for her return. In Luna’s room, it consisted of all the things she liked such as moon decorations with a glowing night sky on the ceiling, but it wasn’t finished when Celestia moved into the castle and still needed work. The room could be seen from Celestia's bedroom chambers in which she would always see it as she did her paperwork. Thinking about Luna hurt her heart, she always felt alone since that very day. The day her parents disappeared was a memory that was too painful to remember but with the help of her sister they managed to pull through the tough times. And tonight, was Nightmare Night, something that she had been dreading, to create a day for Luna from a bedtime story was something she asked herself why did she do it. It was strange to her that the package being late, but she shrugged it off as being a coincidence and nothing to do with Nightmare Moon. She left the window and sat on her bed and realised that she could have just sent a message to find what had happened with the parcels instead of stressing over it. Then the door burst opened with 2 bulky unicorns in armour huffing and puffing holding behind them 2 crates.

“Princess Celestia” the guards said in unison while bowing simultaneously. “We are deeply sorry for the delay in the delivering of the package. There was a problem that occurred with the train.”

“Hmmm, what was the problem, it must have been a big problem to be so delayed,” Celestia said her brows furrowed in concentration figuring who was behind the attack. “Diamond dogs...dragons”

“Before reaching the station, one guard, Twilight Velvet, was tossed out of the end carriage and we had to stop and wait for her to catch up. We don’t know who it was but what we got from her and her partner that it was no ordinary pony or even animal,” the guard said calmly. As the guard described the creature Celestia face remained neutral but her mind was already guessing who it was and didn’t really know what to feel.

“So, he’s back...” Celestia murmured to herself. “Anything else?”

“Also, there was sighting of a mysterious shadow across the roofs too fast for us to catch up to. We even sent our fastest pegasi, but it still managed to evade us,” the unicorn guard said.

“That is fine, as long as no one is seriously injured then the threat can be contained, call in Twilight Velvet and Night Light here immediately and you are relieved for the rest of the day,” Celestia said, her tone indicating a sense of worry, but the guards shut there mouths not wanting to question the princess's judgement

“We will do this at once princess,” the guards said in unison while bowing again then hurrying off to find the two ponies. “Should we have asked Princess Celestia to cancel Nightmare Night”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Princess Celestia knows what she is doing and it's a day of remembrance for her...” The other guard said as they trotted towards the stairs.

Celestia waited till the doors closed before sighing loudly to be able to think now. She looked outside her window of her chambers towards the now expanding city of Canterlot, with the preparations for Nightmare Night in the background wondering why Silver was here and how did he escape the stone prison.

She looked to her desk filled with paperwork almost as tall as her and shuffled through the desk drawer taking out something of his, the narwhale crescent pendant. She didn't know the history behind it, but she could feel terrible bloodshed and great sadness with a touch of her magic. The white but dull bone was something she had admit was something of beauty, the carvings on it entranced Celestia’s eyes and the thought for that special pony. Thinking about him Celestia had no clue what to say the day that Nightmare Moon appeared and to blame it all on Silver. Luna's trust in the creature was strong but flawed with only an inch away from death. That night Celestia had never ever felt true anger before, seeing someone even daring to kill her little sister right in front of her. Celestia felt betrayed when the words from Sol came out, that single word knife was enough to set her off and she blew it but now as Silver roamed her new city in pursuit for what she had no idea she felt like she was wrong...

Silver stood on the edge of a tall building on the outskirts of the place called Canterlot, a lot was the same since he visited, and he could taste the blast of mountain wind. He could see many things, but he didn't know what festival was being held as white tents, stalls and caravans were being set up. He was here for 2 reasons which was to heal and get his pendant back. The train that stopped to pick up the guard he threw managed to catch up with him and only by letting the guards on a wild goose chase, that Silver evaded the flying pegasi. It was exhilarating running through the streets of Canterlot, but it was still to close to his likings. He was meant to be working in the shadows not in broad daylight and getting caught especially with the mysterious festival going on. Silver looked to the grand marble castle with the one of the observatory towers being Luna’s room, but he could only see emptiness. The security had been tightened a bit because he had been seen but it wasn’t impossible. Crouching low and sticking to the shadows of the trees and buildings he crept like a lion. But as he approached there were more pegasi on the move and less darts to use. Reaching the side wall of Canterlot castle the grand scale of it was bigger than the old castle by double the size, he couldn't really believe it himself that the whole of Canterlot was built in less than 20 years. He then spotted the white and purple unicorn that he threw off with a dark azure blue coat unicorn talking to some guards about something to do with Celestia. Silver’s eagle vision had been becoming faulty and he knew it himself, at times when he needed it most it would fail, and it all began after his return to Equestria. He clambered through the bushes, trying to not rustle the guard’s attention but it was hard when he did not fit in the bushes because ponies were evidently much smaller than humans. Climbing over the gates he landed on a flower bed in which the garden was empty. A green mystical grass hedge was all that Silver could see and he realised it was a giant maze, reasons to him unknown. As he past the maze he felt a presence that shouldn't be there whispers of deceit and betrayal formed in Silver’s mind as he neared a particular statue. Its weird figure was enough to deter Silver but upon closer inspection the voices where very similar to the being he talked to before. The statue of Discord stared right back at him with a grin and a smirk but before Silver could decide what to do voices cut through his thoughts. The voices belonged to the one that he saw earlier but it was too late to do anything as he could hear the voices right around the corner of the maze.

Climbing the nearest tree, he was lucky that the guards weren’t looking straight. Velvet Sparkle was arguing with Night Light about Shining Armour their son at school and his grades in which he wasn’t doing the best in maths and science, but he excelled in physical education. Silver couldn't really bother about them arguing and continued to the castle through the gardens. He started scaling the wall of one of the observatory towers but he was going up too slow as of his right arm, he was going to be spotted soon. The window was locked and peering inside he found only darkness. Then in a heart beat Nightmare appeared on the window, her evil glare locking onto Silver smiling.

“What do you want?” Silver asked angrily with so much distaste that Nightmare almost gagged.

“Awwww did you hurt your little stringy arms and visiting my sister to go fix it,” Nightmare Moon said sarcastically “You know you should take better care of yourself, wouldn't want my royal pet to be dead when I come back,”

“I know your coming back and I will be here to stop you and end your reign,” Silver said with confidence, he was starting to think that talking to the window out in the open as not being a good idea with the seconds passing by, he could have been spotted.

“Don't make me laugh!” Nightmare snorted, “like I just did, I am an all might powerful goddess and you are nothing but only a pawn in a greater chess game, powerful in the enemy’s territory but a sacrifice no doubt.” Silver wasn’t listening as he continued climbing but every time, he past a window it would darken and show Nightmare.

“STOP…IGNORING…ME! Today is Nightmare Night meaning today everyone fears me, especially those loyal to me, they shall rise and raise me from the moon,” Nightmare Moon smirked.

“What do you mean loyal...you don’t mean there are cultist that worship you!” Silver exclaimed, his head spinning from the elaborate scheme that Nightmare was planning.

“And what are you going to do about it, there are followers all over Equestria it would take too long to find them all!” Nightmare said. Silver was silent, not knowing the answer, one way or another Nightmare will rise but is it the right time to? “Do you even have any idea of what you have become part of, since the day you created me, I have become my own entity...” Nightmare said,

“I did not create you Nightmare Moon,” Silver said, but by the looks of Nightmare's face she wasn’t lying.

“So, you are telling me that you didn’t even think for yourself why I suddenly took over Luna,” Nightmare Moon laughed, “This is perfect, your in for a special treat,” the images of Zecora showed up in Silver’s mind and the day that she kissed him on the lip, something that he didn't understand. Zecora kissing him on the lips felt awkward for him as he didn't expect the lips to be so smooth and soft like a human and what was worse was, he wasn't attracted Zecora. The only pony that he felt any attraction was Luna, but the scene played out as Luna transformed into Nightmare Moon. He could feel the jealousy that Luna held meaning that she liked him making himself feel guilty. The scene played out till Nightmare stabbed him from behind, the horn bright with blood as Silver looked down towards his scar. An X mark was only left from Discord healing him, but he felt searing pain there as if it was fresh. ‘What am I going to do…it looks like the only thing I can do is confront Celestia about the truth... I can’t do this alone anymore, I need help.’

“Don't even try to go see my sister if you want her to still be alive, I have bonded with you meaning I have control over your body, and I will do something that you will regret!” Nightmare Moon yelled staring down Silver, as if to call her out on the bluff. Silver was conflicted and didn't want to risk losing Celestia as a potential ally and decided it was for the better. Looking back at Celestia, Silver had a very strong distaste towards her with problems such as creating Nightmare Night to cover the truth and for caring more about her reputation as a ruler rather than trying to free Luna at any cost. He could hear the manipulative whispers that Nightmare Moon was saying, and he was trying to resist the urge to kill Celestia. Silver weighed the options and took a giant push of the wall before smashing into the nearest window with his feet and rolling through trying not to hurt his right arm. Along the broken glass and the frame, he could see a long hallway with different rooms and Nightmare’s voice gone allowing his head to clear up but now causing him to think about the truth.

Originally Silver first goal was to find the pendant and then confront Celestia to heal himself. He realised it wasn’t the best plan, even now with the circumstances that had been laid out to him the plan was terrible and the only option was to look for the pendant in Celestia’s chamber. His right shoulder felt numb and, in more agony, than before as he stumbled through the long hallway. The white paint of the building glared at Silver, where it was meant to brighten the place in Celestia’s eye but in reality, Silver felt strange. The feeling of white felt uneasy for him as he treads carefully through the castle. He could hear the guards coming closer with the uniform and armour rattling making it very easy for Silver to pinpoint them. “Amateurs,” Taking the first door on the right it opened to a royal guest room with drapes of silk and colours of royalty. He didn’t even know if Celestia had his pendant, but it was a chance he was willing to take as he climbed through the balcony that faced the very front of the castle looking towards the city. He could feel the vast nation of Canterlot's power as he zipped to the top of the observatory tower. The wind rippling through his black hair and hood as he sailed to the top of the tower working the gears of his gauntlet, as he reached the level of Celestia’s Chamber and landed on her balcony. Reaching towards the door handle he leaned over listening as his control over his eagle vision was little to none and concentrated. The door clicked open with it swung forward as a purple unicorn filly yelped and quickly shuffled herself underneath the bed.

Twilight Sparkle had been reading alone through some new history books that her personal mentor Celestia gave to her when she heard the balcony door opened so suddenly, she jumped and quickly scrambled underneath the bed. After finishing the book, she was gonna get ready for Nightmare Night and it was the first time that she was allowed to go out on her own with friends. She didn’t know if anyone should have been in the room as Celestia was at a meeting with her parents in the throne area and Cadance was outside meant to be looking after her, but Twilight hadn’t heard from her in a while. ‘Probably preparing for Nightmare Night, or on a date with Shining,’ She didn’t know who it could have been as the beating in her ear didn’t stop at all. She could hear the clanging of weapons hitting into each other as the newcomer walked into the room. Silent she was as the strange figure with only two legs walked towards Celestia’s desk. She peeked a bit under the bed to see the hooded figure start rummaging through the pile of paperwork that Celestia tries to get through everyday. She gasped at the hooded figure as she could see the weird things that it carried but also that it was injured in the right arm. The figure was silent not making any sound as Twilight didn’t know whether to scream for help or to try and escape. That was until Cadance barged through the door and asked for her. The hooded figured disappeared from Twilight’s eyes as Cadance found her open book on the floor. Then in a blink of an eye Cadance had a blade next to her throat. Cadance gulped audibly as the hooded figure made a shushing noise. Then it spoke and his voice was something that both Twilight and Cadance were both stunned by.

Silver realised the mistake of grabbing the pink bubble-gum unicorn by the horn and holding the hidden blade against its throat as not being diplomatic, he didn’t know if he could escape from Celestia’s grasp a second time nor did he want to try. He retracted the hidden blade and let go of the unicorn letting it up to chance for her to run or stay there.

“I mean you no harm,” Silver said softly but realised that was a poor choice of words when he just threatened her with a blade to the throat. That was there he saw the wings of a Pegasus and he realised that he was facing an Alicorn, like Luna and Celestia. The great magic potential that he read in the scrolls and book was almost limitless and he was actually a bit terrified of the species.

Cadance tilted her head in confusion, on the one hoof she was very confused, she thought she would have died but on the other hoof she wasn't scared. She was intrigued, she didn’t understand why though, she inspected the creature and the way it looked was nothing she had ever seen before and from the look of the sling on its right arm she could see that the creature was injured and looked like it was in great pain. She approached the creature with determination and spoke softly trying to not anger the new creature. She could sense something deep within this creature, but she didn’t know what. She thought that she would be scared or more really terrified and flee from the situation but here she was wanting to understand the creature more than ever.

“My name is Cadance, the royal niece of Celestia and you are?” Cadance asked,

“My name is Silver, I am sorry for placing a blade next to your throat, I was startled and thought you were a guard,” Silver said pulling down his hood revealing his now bearded face with black hair, the dangerous eyes of grey softly looked back in to Cadance when suddenly his right arm shook violently causing excruciating pain to flare throughout his arm. “Argh”

“Are you alright, here let me look at it,” Cadance said as she moved closer to examine the injury and her horn glowed with power. Twilight wanted to come out of her hiding spot and show off her magic skills to Cadance with what she learnt with Celestia just recently to do with applying bandages, but she was having second thoughts to trust the creature. Twilight could see Silver as being dangerous, it for some reasons had blades in wrist and other strange weaponry on it's back, “What would happen if Cadance healed Silver, would he attack or even kill!”

“Cadance don’t do it,” Twilight said loudly from under the bed and shuffled herself before hitting her head hard “OW!”

“Twilight, that’s where you’ve been, I have been looking for you all over the castle, it’s my duty to foal sit you when not supervised, I don’t want you to get in trouble with your parents,” Cadance said, while lifting Twilight from under the bed with magic. “I know what I am doing, and I can’t let Silver suffer from this pain, I can feel the both physical and mental pains of anypony I am close to, it is my magical ability, and it is my nature to help those in need,”

“But we don’t even know how Silver got the injury, he could have fought with one of the guards or something,” Twilight countered, pointing at his makeshift sling.

“Your imagination is strong Twilight but why don’t you ask him yourself, I am sure he can answer for you...” Cadance said,

“But what happens if he lies,” Twilight said, and looked towards him again to inspect him further. The many weird contraptions and funny looking items on Silver made Twilight even question more about who he was, “Why does he have blades in his hands. He looks dangerous Cadance, nopony should have that many weapons, it’s like he is an assassin or a mercenary of some sort...”

Silver had been silent during the argument and was wondering where Celestia was now trying to ignite his eagle vision but felt nothing until Twilight said “Assassin”. In that time Twilight burned a sudden golden yellow while Cadance turned a deep green hue symbolising an ally. It was strange as he didn’t expect Cadance of all ponies who he just met to be already helping him. It then occurred to him that Twilight was one of the six from the prophecy, but he still couldn’t understand Cadance. He could see through the many floors of the castle as the enhanced sight came back to him. The layout of the castle was something typical of a regular castle of the world he was from and be could spy Celestia on the ground floor in the throne room attending day court talking to two unicorn guards. His arm wasn’t getting any better as he laid down, resting his back on the bed side as he decided it was best to answer Twilight’s claims and tell her the truth instead of ignoring it or lie.

“And you are right...Twilight, I am an assassin, but I am not here to kill Princess Celestia I swear that is not what I am here for. I was here to get something that belongs to me dearly, that Celestia holds,” Silver said, he could see in Twilight’s eyes the burning desire to discover more as she was bouncing up and down saying “Told you so, I'm right you’re wrong” around Cadance. “I hurt my arm from falling and trying to stabilise myself with my grappling hook.” While showing his left gauntlet and the mechanism inside. Immediately Twilight looked at the gauntlet with curiosity but then blinked a few times and looked Silver in the eye trying not to stifle a laugh.

“As if you would say the truth, you’re an assassin that would say anything to get out of any situation” Twilight argued, glaring at Silver with distrust.

“Tell her Cadance, I'm not lying, I know you can tell if somepony, I mean someone lying or not,” Silver stated and mentally hitting himself ‘Speaking pony language already what am I crazy!’

“How did he know I can tell the truth or not!”Cadance thought but just put it aside for now, there was more to Silver than meets the eye. “Twilight he is telling the truth, and I think it’s best we heal him,” Cadance could feel inside Silver many things, the strong emotion of love and caring for the ones he loved but a big chunk of Silver's heart had been filled with regret, an empty hole and a raging bull in a corner of the mind wrapped with chains. Cadance could feel the pulses of mental energy, this emotional energy generated was hard for her teenage mind to comprehend all at once but after learning to follow the beats of Silver’s heart she could truly unlock Silver’s distraught mind. Trying to put together the emotional trauma and mental damage Cadance could perceive a strong dislike towards Celestia and felt best to respect Silver’s wishes of not wanting to meet her again. She could perceive an enormous amount of bloodshed involving Celestia and felt that if Silver wanted to, he could have killed them both before they said anything to Celestia.

Little Twilight looked back to her foal sitter and saw the seriousness in her gaze, which Twilight then realised that maybe she should go tell Celestia about all this instead of making a judgement herself.

“What is your history with Celestia?” Cadance asked, wondering why Celestia would keep something of his and what could have caused this long-standing hatred towards her.

“I... was the one that caused Nightmare Moon,” Silver regretted, the room fell silent as Cadance unravelled the sling around the right arm with magic. The more frequent hallucinations were not helping He felt powerless every time Nightmare showed up, playing mind games constantly to bringing him down to be fearful which was his job as an Assassin to the Templars. “Why couldn't be as simple as killing Templars than facing magical ponies”Itmade him wonder if he could even free Luna now from Nightmare Moon's influence, the possibilities crossed through his mind as his statement hit the two ponies in the face like a slap. Twilight jaw hung in disbelief and shock not wanting to believe the news. Cadance was also lost for words, she hadn't really read up on Nightmare Moon like Twilight but back before when she magically teleported into Celestia’s throne and was adopted by Celestia there was a glass stained window which was almost covered up by drapes but there exposed was a dark mare face, black with hatred and eyes of piercing blue that Cadance had no idea who it was. Cadance as a young filly filled with curiosity asked why Celestia covered up the window and who was that pony but all Cadance saw were tears of sadness and regret from the eyes of a benevolent ruler almost walking briskly away and murmured “All my fault if only I was there from the beginning.”It was only by asking the nearby guards stationed in that area that Cadance learned the truth. The truth scared Cadance when she was little but as she grew older all she could feel was remorse. “Celestia blames me entirely for Nightmare Moon, I just know it, but it was also her fault for not being her big sister and taking care of her when Luna needed it most...like me,” Silver said mumbling the last few words realising it was like himself and his brothers, if he had been there from the beginning and checking on Reign and instead of ignoring him maybe he could of stopped the betrayal. However, Twilight already stopped listening at ‘Celestia fault’, Twilight had lost all respect for Silver as he blamed Celestia for the cause of Nightmare Moon, she knew Celestia at heart like a second mother who always knew what was best. She could see Celestia as honestly being perfect in every way possible, never had Celestia made a mistake teaching her magic and life in general. Twilight started disliking Silver more and more as she thought about it. “That is why I do not want to confront Celestia,” Silver lied, the real truth was that he was scared for both himself and Celestia and the capabilities of Nightmare Moon.

Cadance was having trouble with Silver’s right arm as she didn't really have a clue on what she should be looking for. She presumed Silver had broken or fracture the bone, but it was very strange the structure of the human body. Moving the sling was hard without causing horrendous pain for Silver but he couldn't do anything as Cadance was only trying to help. Twilight had been silent the whole time and was wondering whether to go tell Celestia, she could hear the remorse in Silver's voice, but she didn’t know if it was all an act. Conflicted wasn’t how she usually felt, she always felt like she had a sure answer to the questions that loomed over her. She could see the pain from Silver and her heart was feeling sympathy. She didn’t understand why though, she thought that Silver couldn’t be trusted but whenever she was lying to Cadance about eating a cookie when she just brushed her teeth or any other thing, Cadance always knew if she was lying. Meanwhile Cadance decided it was best to refer to the other arm and compare them and what ever fault the right arm had she would fix. Looking through another spectrum, to see the bones was precise magic, but she was an Alicorn. She wasn’t a doctor but Celestia taught her a simple healing spell in case of injuries and what to look for if something wasn't right and she believed it should work on Silver. Cadance then spotted a small breakage on the right arm bone connected at the socket, she could also see heavy bruising from the dislocation of the shoulder.

“This might hurt a bit,” Cadance said with concentration as she prepared the healing spell. A shock of light and a scream in pain echoed through the chamber. Silver could feel the individual cells of his bone fuse back together in an instant when it should have taken a month as he tested his arm thinking about it. He also couldn't really believe that Cadance had actually healed him when she just met him and especially that he threatened her with the hidden blade. “The ponies are too nice, if a war happens would they even survive or even Nightmare Moon returning...”

His right arm felt amazing after the pain subsided as he rolled his shoulders and realised he could move faster. “Thank you Cadance, I am truly thankful for what you did. I have no other words to be honest and want to repay you back, it is the way of the Assassin’s code.” Silver acknowledged, as he faced Twilight, “Twilight, you have no reason to trust me but...” Twilight looked away and already was gone to tell Celestia of what had transpired hoping that Silver rot in the prison. She hadn’t mastered the teleporting spell, so she moved the old fashion way and ran. Silver didn't expect that to happen and realised that his combat perceptions were a bit slow, but Cadance beat him to it and released a magic blast. Twilight fell onto the floor with a “Thud”, Cadance couldn't believe she just used her magic without even thinking and was horrified with herself. She quickly ran towards Twilight realising her mistake acting impulsively and checked Twilight vital signs. She relaxed a bit when she could feel the soft beats of the heart echo through her ear but then she wondered what she hit Twilight with?

When Cadance turned back, Silver was gone already. ‘How could he leave me like this! Why did I even heal him in the first place he’s an assassin, you don't just generally heal a random stranger that could kill without a thought but why did I do it and whydo I feel like this won't be the last time I see him...’ as she tried to wake up Twilight. ‘Reckless, Stupid, Celestia was right I have become too quick to act, after that one-time incident against Prismia. I need to start growing up and think first before acting and that starts from today!’ She then got a fright of her life as Celestia stormed the door, wings flared and magic primed. Celestia already had a face of worry when she saw Twilight on the floor next to Cadance and asked what happened, hoping it had nothing to do with Silver.

“Nothing happened, I found Twilight like this, sleeping and was gonna take her to her room. I think she fell asleep from over studying,” Cadance lied, and already lifting the knocked-out Twilight towards the door.

“I heard a scream coming from my bed chambers, a stallion’s voice” Celestia said, looking at Cadance suspiciously, but Cadance acted like nothing happened.

*Start Pearl - Kari Sigurdsson*

“I didn't hear anything aunt Celestia, maybe you misheard something,” Cadance replied and was already gone out the door. Celestia on the other hoof knew that he was just here but couldn't understand why Cadance would protect him. She lifted the pendant hidden within her ethereal rainbow mane with magic, and peered at the crescent, a symbol of love or a symbol of loss. She could feel her mane flying from the opened balcony door as she sat down on the floor staring at dusk, the beautiful arrangements of orange and yellow mixed together darkening to open up the night sky. Tonight, was Nightmare Night, one that she created as a memory for her and to feel remorse over her actions and cherish the one she loved. It was one of the main reasons that she took Twilight as her own personal student, to be a big sister again. But this night especially she could feel a creeping darkness close to her, a cold feeling up her spine, tendrils of deceit and lies filling her head.

“Silver I just wanted to say sorry...I don't know...I blamed you for everything and since you returned, I feel I was wrong to accuse you, Luna was my fault...” Celestia whispered into the night the wind picking up as if a storm was coming. A great mythical storm that the Pegasi could not control.

Silver hanged from underneath the balcony with the gauntlet and sighed, wondering was he wrong to hold a grudge against Celestia, if only he talked to Celestia earlier, maybe nothing would have happened between Cadance and Twilight. He hoped that Twilight was alright knowing that it was slack of him to run away when Cadance healed him, but he couldn't bring himself to show Celestia that he was still alive. He waited patiently waiting for the right signal of the closing door as he leapt through the darkness traveling a different route. What were his next plans, he didn't know himself as he clambered the walls and free ran across the roofs of the houses his mind on autopilot. A majority of the ponies he could see where gathered in the centre to celebrate Nightmare Night where little fillies and Colts where running about and getting candy. “No wonder Nightmare showed up in the middle of the day,” But as he crossed over a majestic mansion, the words “Kill Celestia” rang in his ear something that he thought would never been said. He peered over the edge of the mansion looking at the open window, the candles set up to show the shadowy figures and the elaborate assassination attempt against Celestia. He didn't know what to say as he heard those words, should he stop the assassination plot? Nightmare’s whispers echoed Silver’s mind telling him to let it happen or to do it himself her voice cutting through his own thought like butter. He couldn't bring himself to do it though, his morals told him that it wouldn't of what Luna wanted nor did he hate Celestia so much to wanting to kill her. He realised that he had a lot more in common to Celestia allowing him to fight against Nightmare’s suggestion of killing. He was gonna stop this assassination plot and stand against Nightmare Moon proving he isn’t a pawn to her game.

Climbing downwards with both his arm felt great as he approached the window, with the wind howling and as the rain came pouring through, he saw his opportunity gone with a click. His only possible chance was to go through the front door which he was regretting but it was the only way in without drawing so much attention to himself. Ringing the doorbell, he waited for somepony to open it. To his surprise there was only the sound of pitter and patter from the rain and his beating conscience. Silver bent down on one knee and unlocked the door realising that the first floor was almost completely empty apart from the kitchen area. He also came to notice was that the lights where magic not normal globes. Magic was a weird concept to Silver as he believed you could do anything with it but still there were limits to it. He crept silently through the mansions 1st floor hearing laughter in the 2nd and 3rd floor. Shutting the door behind him, he quietly tried to find the stairs, lurking throughout the shadows passing a massive library, and a dining area. He could hear the kitchen from downstairs and walked down the long hallway. He then spotted a chandelier with a fancy staircase leading up to the upper floor in which he took. He could hear the laughter from an outside open window in which the little ponies were playing in the rain and others quickly scampering towards the doors for candy. Something he had never experienced before and to him it was all very strange, Nightmare Night being for little children? “What was Celestia thinking...it’s probably not to scare the citizens of the truth but why hide it?”

With Silver peering outside he didn’t notice a little light purple filly bump into him.

“Ahhhhhh, Daddy there’s a strange monster in our house,” the little filly cried heading down the hallway as her aquamarine streaks in her multicolour purple mane bounced up and down in panic as she sped faster than Silver blinked. Silver rubbed his eyes the peculiar colours getting to him as he looked outside one last time, but the rain covered the window. Already heading for the opposite end of the hallway Silver found another set of stairs and headed upstairs to be greeted by Pegasus butler. Before it could make a sound, Silver rushed forward choking the startled Pegasus but missed catching the silver platter with food as it clattered onto the marble steps. Silver scowled at his stupidity and headed up the stairs to another long corridor with many doors. He concentrated hard as his eagle vision flowed through him but stuttered with a black haze. The many ponies had gathered in a room on the right-hand side of him from where he was but couldn’t get there with the two butlers’ outside and he could hear the little filly's voice from downstairs telling somepony that 'the monster was right here!’ Still as a tree he brought out his air rifle and placed the last sleeping dart and aimed for the furthest away from him. A click and he rushed towards the other butler sliding and hooking his left arm around the neck of the unicorn butler. The eyes rolled back, and the body slumped against the floor. He silently put his head next to the door as he listened for the assassination plot. He was quite lucky as he just realised that the ponies had only started the meeting and where talking about the various locations of guard stationed and where Celestia was at certain times. ‘They awfully know a lot and Celestia didn’t even know that they were tracking her every move from the beginning'

The names were just as weird to him as ever, Blossom Star, Fluffy Cotton but some were still unknown only picking up pieces from conversation. There were at least 10 ponies in that office but one resonated more than the rest. A mare's voice that had originally said “Kill Celestia,” From what he could get from the conversation she was the leader of the scheme. The name Amber Dusk was still not very convincing but ponies where strange as he thought on how to approach the problem, a conundrum of a plot. If he killed the ponies now would the assassination go on? Other questions swarmed his mind such as how they were going to assassinate Celestia, did they hire somepony to kill Celestia with money and relaying the information to the killer now or was the whole group planning to kill Celestia through a very thorough understanding on location and killing by some conventional means like poison or knife. 'So many ways to deal this situation I should just break in and stop this madness whoever is inside!' He brought the sword of Eden out from its sheath, the blade crackling with lightning checking the condition of it making sure it was ready to kill his enemy’s. The blade gleamed after the thorough clean of the dried-up Timberwolf's blood which was basically like sap. Preparing himself for battle he loaded several things, including his pistols, rifle and phantom blades. Something he hadn’t use in a while because he was more of a head on person and fighting where he could see everyone position.

Immediately he kicked the door open and counted 15 ponies with a majority being the higher society class ponies, there rich garb shining in superiority but there was one that stuck out. The eyes of a killer, someone that would do whatever it takes to get the job done and that pony was a problem. A grey coated Pegasus and a red unneat mane, nothing seemed special about the pegasus to Silver, but it was hiding something, the wings tensed not for flight but for something else. They were all seated at a round table with plans laid out, Canterlot's floor plans was one of them and further names of either alliances or enemies. A map was hanged up behind to show the whole of Equestria with marks on certain locations for various things that Silver could not read but he knew it had to be in relation to the names. The ponies had all turned to face him, the majority of the faces where full of confusion, some showed fear and others remained neutral in their expression not knowing what to expect. Already acting out of instinct Silver grabbed the nearest pony being a unicorn and thrust his hidden blade into the cranium as chaos erupted. Silver rolled and grabbed another unicorn strangling it while pulling out his pistol knowing that the race were the most dangerous enemy and shots flew as bullets collided into 5 heads before aiming the last one at the horn of a unicorn. The screams of pain echoed as the horn burst with potential magic the explosion blasted Silver back into the wall. He saw an earth pony charge, but Silver countered too late and fell to the floor, the hit causing the wind knocked out of him and pain flared throughout his chest. Silver fought through the pain and saw the two hooves come crashing down on him. His legs were in position and kicked while turning over knocking the head of the earth pony into a table. The vase toppled of the table onto the head of the pony and with precision Silver threw a knife into the throat of a unicorn charging a spell. A fire had started burning the centre table as the cinders of the plans floated up into the air but the map that was still up on the wall was untouched something that Silver needed encase there were other assassination plots. Silver lunged at one of the lists of names and save it from the scorching fires. However, he had no clue who the names were for as the Earth pony got back up, the smell of burnt parchment filled the air quickly. Angry, the brown pony turned itself and launched its hind legs towards Silver’s face. His hair whooshed with the power of the kick and if he had been a touch slower to duck that would have been the end of him as the kick knocked the hood down revealing his face of alien, a face certainly to be remembered if anypony were left alive to tell the tale. With Silver underneath the hindlegs he struck the barrel of the pony with the hidden blade and threw him across the table. Fear had taken hold of the rest of the ponies alive as they couldn’t move their legs frozen like Discord in stone. They could only see a deathly black shadow kill without remorse. But the Pegasus killer was only studying Silver by the looks of it not afraid at all as the others cowered behind yelling at her to save them.

“I was paid to kill Celestia not protect you, that will cost you extra you know!” the mare killer’s voice said,

Silver meticulously fired a phantom blade at the killer knowing that the pegasus was hiding something, but the wings of the Pegasus closed together covering herself with metallic feathers blocking the incoming projectile. ‘So that’s what she was hiding’ Silver could see two unicorns that were trying to use a spell, their horn glowed in urgency and had to act quick enough to distract the killer otherwise the unicorns would either escape or launch a devastating spell at him. A knife flew into the air towards the killer and then shots fired at the unicorns leaving only 2 pegasus and an earth pony left but a simple distraction wasn’t going to affect the killer as she spiralled around the knife seeing herself in the reflection as she headed towards the newcomer with speed. CRASH! Dazed Silver jaw was bruised heavily as he felt the hard-wooden floor and opened his eyes to find a metal wing sliced downwards aimed at his neck. Silver rolled away and drew the sword of Eden in one motion, the power it held stopped the killer in its place.

“Who are you?” The killer questioned, Silver knew that it was to stall for time as he could feel the fire raging towards the map and the other remaining noble pony attempt to creep up behind him. The shadows created from the fire was what gave them away as the earth pony from behind tried to hold Silver’s arm down. The two remaining pegasus came flew at full speed in such little space towards Silver to punch him at the same time while the killer would come for the finishing blow. However, the sword glowed with power and fired a beam that pierced right through the body causing blood to rain and fell into the fire. The other pegasus was so shocked he didn’t realise the sword was swung in his direction too late to swerve away from the blade noticing the bloody muzzle of the earth pony stumbling backwards. The right joint between the wing and body was ripped to shreds, bone protruded out and death claiming him as he continued straight into the door painting it in blood. Silver spun with momentum and in one final swing decapitated the last earth pony. A loud heavy THUD landed next to Silver and the head rolled towards the killer who scrambled back towards the wall, she was a killer but not meant to be the one killed. But before she could make another move a shadow swept over her and the hidden blade was inside her head silencing her thoughts.

*End Song*

Silver pulled back the blood running from his blade, as he assessed the room now, full of red and a fire raging in the background, leaning down he picked up a broken picture frame. A black and white family photo of a unicorn family of the leader Amber Dusk, purple coated green wavy mane unicorn who must be the husband and the little filly he saw earlier. Silver covered in blood and bruises placed it back on the burning table and collected anything reusable such as the knives. Silver stripped the giant map off the wall and studied it closely looking at details and clues on what the symbols meant but then he saw that one of the unicorns was still alive. Lightning and thunder echoed outside as Silver checked the unicorn and it was the leader Amber Dusk. Her horn a mess, a huge chunk was missing as she tried to stay still and crawl to a secret hatch underneath the blood-stained rug. Silver grabbed and pulled the mare to her hooves asking for answers. Silver could see Amber's face much closer and was scarred with burns, the explosion caused so much pain turning the bright orange yellow coat charred black.

“What do all these marks mean” Silver asked, pointing on to the map the several x’s and the circles,

“I’m not telling anything to you,” Amber Dusk scowled in pain, “My thoughts will either die with me or I escape and come back to kill you,”

“There are many things worse than death,” Silver said, “Are you working with Nightmare Moon”

“Few ponies would remember her name or even invoke it less would dare say her name,” Amber Dusk whispered,

“Firstly, I’m not a pony, secondly you are going to tell me or else I will...”

“Break me, I am as good as dead, you won’t get anything from me,” Amber spat, blood getting on the boots of Silver as if to emphasize the point. Nightmare's seductive whispers started wrapping around him, curls of black tendrils snaking in through his ears making Silver drop Amber.

“What are you going to do to get the answers from her,” Nightmare appeared pointing to Amber Dusk who was trying to crawl away. “If you don't get the information now who knows what happens, I will return and the first thing I do is to come for you…”

“No, I'm not going to torture the answer out of her, that is not the way of the Assassin,” Silver scowled, however Amber perked her head up to see that Silver was talking to himself, a sign of something else.

“She speaks to you doesn’t she, you have the gift,” Amber Dusk gasped, “You are the one that was prophesised to return Nightmare Moon as her rightful place, the ruler of the Equestria,”

“Another prophecy, the first one still doesn’t fully make any sense... I will not be the one to bring Nightmare Moon back,” Silver argued, looking at Amber Dusk who was slowing down in crawling away as her energy was fading.

“Oh, but you are, and you shall witness a birth of a new era with her return,” Amber laughed, coughing up more blood but she felt she was lifted up. Silver held her by the mane, wanting answers but didn't want to give Nightmare the satisfaction of following her commands.

Nightmare stood next to Silver waiting his response as the fire grew stronger, licking the walls and burning the bodies of the dead, the sounds of screams echoed outside yelling fire. “You don't have much time left, decide now, you either don’t gain the information and I return when you least expect it, or you can choose when I return,”

Silver stared at the burning fire as he didn’t even realise, he had released his hidden blade about to strike Amber in the face. He was so close to finishing her life, but he couldn’t, he needed the information he wasn’t ready to face Nightmare yet nor did he think Celestia was ready.

Bringing out his revolver, the words ‘Justice’ shined in the fire as aimed at the hoof and pulled the trigger not looking back. The screech of pain was loud that any pony could have heard it, but the thunder shook the sky clearing out the sound.

“Tell me what these mean!” Silver said in a controlled tone, holding the revolver and was precariously aiming at the other hind hoof shaking. But Amber wasn’t looking, they were shut tight blocking out the pain as she cried. It pained Silver to do this, he felt a knife rip his heart an irony of some sought as he didn’t know if he could continue with his actions of torture.

“The X’s are the followers of her, and the circles are who we’re going to strike next, Celestia’s loyal followers, the paper list you took contains the names of all the next assassination, that’s all I know I swear!” Amber Dusk sobbed as she felt beyond dizzy and pain.

“She’s hiding something else, you better ask…” Nightmare whispered, as she spun around to look at the massive moon in the sky. The humongous surface of the moon was perfect to see as the rain started clearing up, revealing the bright white shadow. Silver glanced at the moon but was confused to see an eye then turning normal. Looking at herself Silver wasn’t sure if there was anything else to ask Amber and decided to end her out of her misery by slitting the throat. The warm blood dribbled onto the gauntlet with Nightmare Moon cackling and as the next lightning strike flashed, she vanished. Silver stood over the dead room and suddenly felt the need to leave the room when suddenly the entrance of the door opened with the little filly that called him ‘Monster’ poked her head through and immediately saw the dead ponies.

She was horrified looking at the strange cloaked creature and found her mother on the floor covered in a pool of blood, making her feel extremely sick. She staggered through the room seeing all her mother’s friends and acquaintances and her stomach decided to hurl all over the floor as she saw a decapitated head of an earth pony. Something real, not a fake one like in Nightmare Night… as she stumbled towards her mother. Starlight Glimmer cried. She held the hoof of her mother even dangerously near the blazing fire, she tried to wake her up as if it was all a bad dream, but she felt coldness at the touch. She turned around to find the strange creature gone away from her as her filly mind overloaded with so many mixed emotions that she laid on top of her mother and passed out. Then came bursting was Firelight, shocked at the carnage of dead ponies, sickened to whoever did this. He was in all honesty frozen in place until he laid eyes on his broken daughter, the damage done to her filly mind would forever haunt her as he lifted his broken daughter outside the mansion with magic covered in his wife blood where he was greeted by several fire fighter ponies trying to contain the fire and unexpectedly Celestia.

Silver stood on the roof and faded into the smoke the instance he saw Celestia, ‘I shouldn’t of come back to Canterlot, if Celestia finds me she will kill me,’Her stormy rainbow mane billowed as a result of her anger, Firelight could see that she had a deep scowl that would frighten anypony but when she saw him her eyes of remorse and guilt lit up. Celestia approached the stallion unicorn, covered in blood and hugging fiercely a cute unconscious filly. She wasn’t here for that as she knew that Silver was at the mansion a few minutes ago looking through the haze of smoke, she had to capture him before something like this happened again. Celestia received the recent news of the fire which got her immediate attention, disappearing in an instant from her cosy bed hoping it wasn’t Silver’s doing. ‘Why must you betray my trust and respect for you Silver?’ She felt guilty for this ordeal as she could see the shock running through the father’s eyes and blood and suddenly tears swelled in her eyes but in an instant wiped them away, it was not the time not yet anyway. She promised that she was going visit the filly after all this as she steeled herself ready to see the damage caused by Silver. The shadowy figure gone in an instant above on the roof as she headed inside the mansion before the evidence burned up. She trotted through the puddles of rain and the burning centre room continued to blaze on as the smell hit her. Carnage was all she smelled as she hurried up the stairs and burst through the door of the place where Silver once was. The horrific scene of blood trailed across the room as she sucked the fire through her horn. The fire could tell her pieces of what happened, it was her way of magic as she listened to the fires. Screams of panic and fear ripped her ear drums, Celestia staggered back hitting into the burnt wooden table holding her ears. Bullets ripping through bone and flesh she shut her eyes in discomfort and took deep breaths. She looked at the state of the dead ponies with decapitation being the first one to cause her stomach to turn upside down. The situation at hoof was all her fault, she knew it that something bad would happen if she left Silver to roam her city

“No more Silver, this ends now!” Celestia promised looking out to the window to see the storm picking up again and the moon covered once more.

Author's Note

And this is the longest chapter I have ever done, I hope you enjoyed it and I will see you in the next chapter (Coming out much sooner than expected)