Previously on 'Leviathan Rising': A mysterious mare, known only as 'The Mistress' dispatches her most loyal warriors to bring her the Six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Splitting up in three teams of three, the Sisters of Shadow successfully kidnapped the Mane Six and are now on their way back to their base of operations. The question now is, how will Equestria's heroines get out of this?

Location: Deep within the Everfree Forest

Three hours after kidnapping the Mane Six

By now night has fallen upon the land of Equestria, and the Sisters of Shadow were ever so glad that Luna wasn't watching over the land through the Moon. Otherwise she would've seen the three suspicious looking, finely decorated carriages converging in a single-file line on the one path that cuts through the most feared forest in all of Equestria.

No words have been spoken among the ninja ponies - not even a greeting - so as to not arouse any suspicion or alarm from their respective captives. After a while, they finally made it to a clearing, where they stopped. This was their que to wake up their passengers.

By now all of the Bearers have fallen asleep: Twilight's head was leaning on the carriage's covered window, Rainbow Dash's head was leaning all the way back, Applejack's head was lobbing down with her hat partially obscuring her eyes, Pinkie Pie's head somehow ended up on Applejack's lap, and Fluttershy's head was lying on Rarity's left shoulder, with the fashionista's head leaning on top of Fluttershy's.

The Sisters of Shadow woke up each pony, giving them a few seconds to wake up properly and remember where they are. Once that was done and some glares were thrown to their captors for good measure, the Mane Six were forced to stand up and walk out of the vehicles.

They were helped, off course, and once they saw each other, relief washed over them that they were all alright. They tried to talk to each other, but since they were all still gagged, all that came out were muffled sounds. Twilight wanted to try and talk to them via telepathy, but her being shoved by one of the Sisters wasn't helping her in her concentration.

Soon all the captive ponies were made to sit down on a long log that was in the middle of the clearing, although Rarity gave some muffled protests regarding this, but eventually she relented.

Once all six mares were seated, the 'Midnight Twins' - Midnight Blue and Midnight Star - stepped in front of them, and Blue was the one to speak first:

"Good evening, Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. It is my greatest pleasure and honor to welcome you all to our humble and temporary abode. Now, before I proceed with what I must say, I assume you all must have questions that you wish to ask, yes?"

And with that all six pony girls started asking their respective questions/inquiries/complaints, but since they were all still gagged, all they accomplished was to produce muffled noises together. At this, Midnight Star raised her hand and the Mane Six fell silent at this gesture.

"We will ungag you six in a moment, however we humbly ask you to not voice any profanities you may have for us, as that would simply be a waste of time. Also, we ask that you only ask one at a time."

The girls were silent for a moment, before they all faintly heard Twilight's voice within their minds.

"Listen everypony, I know this will be difficult, considering our current predicament, but right now we have no choice, but to listen to them and do as they say. At least for now. Okay?"

The rest of her friends looked at Twilight with uncertainty, but knew that right now she was right. So after a moment, they nodded their heads at Twilight in agreement, who in turn looked at Midnight Blue and -

"Urrghhh this is so stupid!"-Darkness said in her snarky tone, which caused the Mane Six to look curiously in her direction, while Rarity glared at said pony, and Fluttershy whimpered upon hearing her voice-"Why in the Abyss are you all acting all buddy-buddy with them? We've kidnapped them! Hello! We're not SUPPOSED to be friendly with them!"

While the rest of the Sisters directed a venomous glare at the snarky pony - with Red Fist even clenching her fists and holding herself back from beating Darkness senseless - the Midnight Twins simply looked in her direction with unamused looks, before Blue spoke:

"Oh? And what, praytell, do you mean by that, Darkness?"

"Uhm, isn't it obvious, oh fearless leader?"-Darkness asked rhetorically-"WE are the bad guys. WE are up to no good. That means that WE don't do 'friends' or even-"

"Alright, let me stop you right there Darkness."-Beast Tamer interjected-"The fact that we're being civil towards our captives doesn't mean anything, except for that fact that we don't want to behave like...depraved wretches."

"Oh yeah? Well guess what genius?"-Darkness spoke again-"We are still the bad guys, whether you want to admit it or not. So we might as well be 'depraved wretches' while we're at it."

"Yeah, you would know all about that..."-Shadow Wing muttered, as she was busy scratching runes on the ground around the captive Mane Six since the whole conversation began. However, Darkness heard what the red-eyed ninja pony said and directed a spiteful glare towards her.

"What did you just say, freak?"

"You've got ears that work, Darkness. So, you tell me."-Shadow Wing retorted, not even bothering to look up from her work.

"Oh, you are so dead for that comment you fang-faced little-"

"Darkness! That's enough!"-Midnight Star shouted, before speaking normally-"If our way of conduct does not please you, then go and wait inside one of the carriages."

"What the Hell?! Now YOU'RE benching me?!"-Darkness shouted-"YOU don't get to tell ME what to do! NONE of you do! Just who the Hell do you think you are?!"

The answer she received was a strangling pressure surrounding her body, as Midnight Blue's horn glowed with magic energy, forcing the spiteful pony on her knees as the caster spoke:

"WE happen to be the leaders of this mission. Our duty is to issue plans and yours is to execute them and follow our orders to the letter. The Mistress appointed the two of us for this and your constant pissing and moaning is none of our concern. So do all of us a favor, and go into one of the carriages and shut the hell up. Oh, and one more thing,"-Midnight Blue said, upon which she used her magic to lift Darkness up to her eyelevel, before speaking again-"If you ever speak to my sister that way ever again, I will pull all of your bones out through your mouth until your nothing but a twitching puddle of meat, got it?"

Darkness quickly nodded her head, if only just to get the unicorn to stop using her magic on her. Satisfied with this response, Midnight Blue let go of her, to which Darkness glared at her and then walked away. Once the spiteful pony was gone and as soon as the carriage door slammed shut, Midnight Blue fell to her knees and started coughing relentlessly, even.

"Sister!"-Midnight Star shouted in concern as she was the first to run to her ailing sister's side, with the others following suite. Once the unicorn stopped coughing, she noticed blood on her hand and felt that her mask had now become wet as well, which meant that it was also covered in blood-"You shouldn't have pushed yourself like that. Especially not for my sake."

"Hey, I made you a promise, didn't I?"-Midnight Blue asked, though her voice was slightly hoarsed-"I said I wasn't going to let anyone push us around. And that goes double for Darkness."

Midnight Blue then proceeded to cough again and this time the blood that came out could be better seen.

"By the Abyss, once again you're such a mess."-Toxic Touch said, as she pulled out a syringe and a vial full of glowing purple liquid from one of her many belt pouches. She then filled the syringe with the liquid before proceeding to injecting it into Midnight Blue's left arm, to which the pony groaned in discomfort.-"As a leader, you need to take better care of yourself."

"R-right, thanks Toxic Touch."-Midnight Blue spoke her gratitude.

Mist Walker then approached Midnight Blue and said-"Here, let me take your mask and clean it up. It's so messy and covered in blood now."

Midnight Blue chuckled at this, before taking her mask off and handing it over to her sister.

"Here, and sorry for always inconveniencing you Mist. All of you."-the unicorn said, addressing all of her sisters at the end.

"Hey, no need for any apologies, leader gal."-Beast Tamer said.

"Yes, we know of your condition."-Shadow Wing added-"But if you need someone to lean on for support, then just say so."

"Yeah big sis!"-Whimsy Wisp added enthusiastically-"We're your sisters after all. We're all here for each other, including you."

"Yeah, and if you need help with anything or just someone to keep you on your feet, then just say so."-Red Fist added.

Midnight Blue was surprised by all of these supportive words by her sisters, but then smiled, feeling lucky to have such supportive ponies around her.

Mist Walker was meanwhile using her magic to separate the blood from her sister's mask, only for Toxic Touch to interject:

"I call dibs on the blood."

At this all Sisters of Shadow looked towards their teammate with wide eyes, while Midnight Blue had an unamused look on her face while simply saying-"Please don't. I don't want to know what you'd do with my blood."

Before Toxic Touch could say anything, Mist Walker tossed the blood glob aside and handed the mask back to its rightful owner, while Toxic Touch was busy scraping up the dirt the blood soaked into to try and get it back. Weirdo.

Midnight Blue then proceeded to put her mask back on and while she did that she addressed her sisters-"We've kept them waiting long enough. Go and untie them."

The ninja ponies, sans Toxic Touch, all nodded and went over to the Mane Six.

This entire time the Element Bearers were sitting patiently and watching the exchange going on between the Sisters of Shadow with varying levels of curiosity. Rainbow Dash and Applejack didn't like the Sisters of Shadow right from the jump, and believed them to be villains, but when this 'Darkness' pony started talking and acting like some spoiled rich pony, their hatred was then directed to that particular pony and grew tenfold. But when the other Sisters started glaring and practically ganging up on her, the two tomboys were left surprised by such actions. And when Midnight Blue started coughing violently and hacking up blood, the two strong ponies started feeling a slight tinge of pity and listened intently at how supportive the Sisters were for one another. Rarity for her part felt nothing but distain towards Darkness, especially after how she hit Fluttershy. Which is why the fashionista smirked behind her gag when that ruffian was put in her place. Fluttershy too was relieved that Darkness was taught a lesson. However, the now-engaged ponies couldn't help but look sadly towards Midnight Blue as she was clearly sick. Even Pinkie Pie, who simply looked curiously at the whole exchange only to look sadly at the sick ninja pony. Twilight herself was surprised by how divided yet also unified this group of ponies are. There's clearly some bad blood between them and Darkness, yet for the most part, their relationship with each other is the same as Mane Six's when they first became friends.

The six friends were then brought out of their thoughts when the Sisters of Shadow approached them and began untying them. They were actually surprised by this and did nothing while this was happening, even though Rainbow Dash and Applejack really wanted to spring into action. Especially since Whimsy Wisp was the one untying the amazon pony, who looked very uncomfortable. After five minutes of silence the Mane Six were now massaging their wrists, arms and legs - considering the fact that they've been tied up for most of the day - and only their gags were left. The Sisters of Shadow simply backed away from the Mane Six and the pony girls thought that they should take their gags off themselves, but before they could do that, Shadow Wing slammed both of her hand on the ground and the runes surrounding the six girls started glowing a deep purple. Then a transparent dome of purple magic energy formed around the area the six ponies were at.

Quickly yanking their gags off, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were the first to get up and run to the barrier and started punching and kicking it, but none of what they were doing did anything. The others, after undoing their gags, also got up from their log and looked at the barrier with worry, although Twilight had more of a look of curiosity then anything.

"These...these are magic runes..."-the Princess of Friendship said as she looked at said runes on the ground-"But how can this be? I read that the use of magic runes was lost after the prehistoric ages when unicorns learned how to harness magic by themselves."

"Lost? Not at all, Your Majesty."-Midnight Blue said as she approached the group-"Forgotten by fools who write such nonsense, but we can assure you, magic runes still exist and can be used by those with the potential to read them. Shadow Wing over here, is one such individual."

In response, Shadow Wing placed her fists on her hips and puffed out her chest in pride as she said-"Well, not my fault I'm a master and the rest of you idiots just suck at it."

At this, the Sisters of Shadow looked unamused, with Red Fist being the one to speak-"You do realize that wasn't funny at all, right?"

AT this, the red-eyed ninja pony's head drooped as she grumbled-"I thought it was pretty funny."

*SMASH*

Rainbow Dash punched the barrier again and said-"Who in the hoof cares about any of that?! Why is there a magic bubble trapping us in the first place?!"

"P-please c-calm down Lady Rainbow Dash."-Mist Walker gently said

"Indeed. Getting angry and agitated will not do you or anypony any good."-Midnight Star added-"This force field is simply a precaution measure. It is both meant to keep you six in place...as well as keep you safe."

"Uh...wh-what do you mean k-keep us s-safe?"-Fluttershy nervously asked, not liking the sound of this.

"Well, right now we may be beside a road meant for travelling caravans and carriages,"-Beast Tamer started-"However, we are still next to the Everfree Forest. And around here, the beasts tend to be bigger and more ferocious then the ones near Ponyville."

"Oh, for pony's sake. Look, Ah doubt that there's anything out there that we couldn't-"

*ROAR*

Applejack's words stopped coming out of her mouth upon hearing a distant, but very menacing roar coming from deep within the forest. It was so loud in fact, that birds even flew out of the trees upon hearing it, while Fluttershy held onto Rarity for protection and Pinkie Pie jumped into Applejack's strong arms.

"See what I mean?"-Beast Tamer said, with a very small amount of smugness.

"W-well, Ah've been wrong before."-Applejack said, as she held Pinkie close.

"I'm afraid she's right, girls."-Twilight interjected-"This part of the Everfree Forest is documented to be filled with dangerous creatures. Rogue dragons most of all. If this really is where we will be staying for the night, then we need to conceal ourselves with-"

"No need to worry, Your Highness."-Shadow Wing interjected-"I've already placed some invisibility runes around our campsite. That means that nothing, not even a dragon, will be able to sense where we are."

That last bit actually impressed the Mane Six, and also brought a bit of relief.

Rainbow Dash didn't like any of this though. Being kidnapped made these ponies the bad guys, but them putting up a 'stealth force field' around the campsite, as well as a regular forcefield just to protect them, would make them look like the good guys, which she didn't like at all. But then, something came to mind, which she immediately voiced as she knocked on the magic bubble.

"Hey! This whole thing is nice and all, but what happens when your little 'stealth field' doesn't work? I doubt this bubble would be strong enough to resist a dragon."

Rainbow's words did ring true, however:

"Not to worry, Lady Rainbow Dash."-Midnight Blue spoke up next-"This force field is strong enough to withstand a combined magic blast from all four Alicorn Princesses."

"Yup."-Shadow Wing said monotonously-"I tested it myself on Whimsy Wisp once."

"Oh yeah! I remember that."-Whimsy said joyfully...only to then swiftly kick Shadow Wing in the behind-"AND I STILL HATE YOU FOR IT!"

While the Mane Six, sans Rainbow, were impressed by the durability of such a spell, Applejack was busy picturing Whimsy Wisp get flattened into a literal pancake by a dragon, whilst in a magic bubble. While the scene in itself was quite funny, a small part of the farm pony couldn't help but feel sorry the little mare, but she immediately tuned such thoughts out.

Now knowing full well that none of them are going anywhere, especially with their innate magic being suppressed by the sealing artifacts, the Mane Six sat back down, however Twilight remained standing in place and once she locked eyes with Midnight Blue, she decided to ask a nagging question:

"Alright, well you've officially kidnapped us and you've taken us away from Ponyville. So, can you tell us why you are doing all of this now?"

At this, every sister of shadow fell deathly silent. Even Whimsy Wisp, the Sisters' very own Pinkie Pie, fell eerily silent for some reason. This slightly unnerved the Mane Six and Twilight in particular was worried that she might've said something she probably shouldn't have. After a moment, it was Midnight Star who spoke up first, although she addressed her twin in whisper:

"Perhaps we could tell them enough to not worry them?"

"I was just thinking that."-Midnight Blue responded-"However, half answers will only encourage them to demand more."

"Yes, I know that, but still..."

"Uhm, excuse me?"-Twilight interjected-"Listen, if this is something you're not supposed to talk about, then it's fine. I'd just like to know if me and my friends are really helping you with something good, or if we're just being dooped into doing something bad."

"What? No, of course not, Your Majesty."-Midnight Blue immediately responded-"Nopony among us is dooping you or your friends."

"Yeah. We've already made it clear that you six are our idols."-Shadow Wing added-"So why the heck would we even WANT to trick you in any way?"

"Weeeeeeeellll...."-Pinkie Pie said-"Unless you guys are a group of super obsessive stalkers, who like to kidnap their favorite ponies and keep them for themselves in their houses' basements and do naughty things to them, like - Mmmppffhh mmmhhhpppfff mmmmpppfffmmmfff..."

Pinkie's words quickly became muffled noises, upon Rainbow Dash covering her mouth with her hand and hugging her in place.

"Okay, okay Pinkie, you've made your point, now shut up."-Rainbow instructed her pink girlfriend, who soon stopped...and then proceeded to nuzzle into Rainbow's hand and moan sensually, to which the cyan speedster blushed and let go-"Jeez Pinkie. Not in front of these creeps."

"Awww..."-Pinkie bemoaned in disappointment.

"Look, the point is,"-Applejack said, deciding to get the discussion back on track-"If ya'll wanna keep yer reason' a secret, fine. But at least tell us what our role in all of this is, or if it's good or bad."

Hearing this, the sisters looked at each other for a moment and -

"Well that depends. Does changing the world for the better count as a good thing?"-Toxic Touch suddenly said as she approached the group, her gloved hands and lower pants now covered in dirt.

"Toxic!"-Red Fist hissed through her teeth while glaring at her potion-making sister, who was quick to respond.

"What? It's not like I told them EVERYTHING."

The Mane Six were surprised by the ninja pony's words. They, Twilight in particular, suspected that the powers of the Elements of Harmony would be needed for something big, but this was a bit of a shock. But the shock soon morphed into suspicion for most of the Mane Six, considering the way that sentence was worded.

"Changing the world could be either or, since the world can be changed in a good way...or a very negative way."-Twilight said, narrowing her eyes and hoping for something more then just one vague answer after another.

However, Toxic Touch then pointed towards the princess and said-"And that right there is why I like you and your pretty little brain, Your Highness. Always so analytical. That's so hot."

"Wh-what?!"-Twilight exclaimed with a strong blush on her entire face upon hearing Toxic Touch's words, while her friends simply looked oddly between her and the ninja pony...except for Pinkie, who was giggling.

Seeing that now they don't have too much of a choice, Midnight Blue spoke up next, being sure to measure her next words carefully.

"We wish to change the world for the better, so that it wouldn't reject those who have nothing."-the Mane Six's eyes widened at that statement and Midnight Blue continued-"I hope you will forgive me for speaking out of line, but the six of you have no clue as to what the world truly is like. Neither you, nor princesses."

"Indeed."-Midnight Star spoke up next-"You must think that this is a peaceful world that you live in, where nothing bad could ever happen to anypony, but you are wrong."

"Uh, what?"-Rainbow Dash asked suddenly-"Dude, if you guys know who we are, then you should know how much bad guy ass we've been kicking."

"As unorthodox as Rainbow has put it, she is right though."-Rarity added-"We already know that there is evil in this world. Why, we defeated a number of all powerful villains over the years. Villains that, if left unchecked would've caused trouble for everypony across these lands."

"Mhm."-Fluttershy meekly added.

"That's right."-Twilight also added-"And it's exactly because of such individuals that we use the power of the Elements of Harmony to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria and make it a better place."

There was a bit a bit of silence for a moment, before Midnight Blue started slowly laughing, but it wasn't out of amusement or because she was impressed by what the girls said. This was more of a laughter out of bitterness, like what was just said had no meaning to her or her sisters.

A moment later, before the Mane Six could voice their confusions, Midnight Blue shook her head and said-"And this only further reinforces what I have already said. That none of you know anything about how this damned world works."

The unicorn's tone was no longer as monotonous as before and she no longer spoke with respect towards them, as evidenced by how she narrowed her eyes at them, along with the other Sisters of Shadow.

"While we're not going to argue about what you six have done in defeating the likes of Nightmare Moon, Discord and Tirek,"-Shadow Wing continued in the same manner as Midnight Blue-"Those are not what we were talking about."

"Threats like those are always easy to fix, since the solution is, like you've said use the Elements of Harmony and the magic of friendship."-Toxic Touch said-"That's how super villains are taken care of...but what about other ponies? Those that are far crueler then even the changeling queen herself?"

Now the Mane Six were more confused then ever. Why were they talking about other ponies like they've done something wrong?"

"Uh, what are you talking about?"-Rainbow Dash asked skeptically-"And why the hey would you say that ponies are worst then super villains?"

"Yes. Ponies are always kind to one another and they always help each other."-Fluttershy added with some courage-"Not like the villains that we fought. They're all just big meanies."

"Uh, duhhhh."-Pinkie Pie added with a smile-"I mean, if ponies weren't nice, then we wouldn't have - PARTIES!"-the pink pony emphasized by jumping up and spreading confetti everywhere.

However, this only seemed to make the Sisters of Shadow angrier as their eyes further narrowed and some have even clenched their fists.

"Just because the ponies of Ponyville are nice towards you, doesn't mean that the rest of pony society is the same."-Midnight Blue said, gaining the six girls' attention and unconciously activating a bit of her magic. She found this out when she started coughing violently again, making her twin put a supporting hand on her back.

"That's right."-Red Fist spoke up next-"The society that we currently live in is vile and cruel. Anypony within Ponyville, including you lot, would be chewed up and spat out by it."

"You see, each of us sisters are in fact nothing but outcasts who have been rejected by pony society."-Midnight Star continued-"We have all been cast into the wayside, because ponies have decided that we do not belong among them."

"Wh-but that ain't true..."-Applejack said, although she's shocked to hear such a thing-"Ah mean, sure there are some bad apples, like the Flim Flam brothers, but-"

"Ponies are mean and cruel."-Whimsy Wisp spoke up next, her voice sounding frighteningly lifeless-"They take from you everything and trample all over you. They don't care, they just want to see you suffer."

"Their stupidity and closemindedness is what makes them act like animals."-Toxic Touch added.

"And no matter what you do and how much kindness you'd give them, they'll still find a fucking excuse to push you down and hurt you."-Beast Tamer added, becoming more and more angry, along with the others.

By this point the Mane Six were starting to become scared by this shift in the Sisters' demeanor and were worried that they may have inadvertently crossed a line they shouldn't have.

*cough**cough*

Midnight Blue's coughing snapped the ninja ponies back to reality, as the pony was now sitting on a nearby rock. With her sisters now calmed down, she decided to get back to the point of this discussion.

"The point is, we need your help and the power of the Elements of Harmony to turn this wretched pony society into a better society. One in which ponies like us would no longer be cast aside and would be accepted by all."

"Nopony can deny the success the Elements have brought upon this land through the six of you."-Midnight Star continued-"However, using this power on just a handful of super villains just isn't enough. The power of Harmony must be used on all of Equestria, so as to cure it from this corrupted society."

Once everything was said, the whole campsite became dead silent. The Sisters of Shadow remained silent, because they had nothing more to say and wanted to calm themselves down after almost succumbing to their own hatred. The Mane Six however, were a different story.

While the girls could just say that these ponies were lying and making stuff up just to trick them, like how Discord tried to do, but looking at the expressions and listening to their tones indicated that they might be telling the truth. In which case, could the Sisters truly be right about them being ignorant of how the world really works?

"Applejack...please tell me they were just lying about what they were saying about ponies...please..."-Fluttershy all but begged her friend tell her that their kidnappers were wrong.

"Ah'm...Ah'm truly sorry Fluttershy..."-Applejack said with dread-"...but...they're tellin' the truth..."

Shock was now present on Fluttershy's face, as she burried her face into her hands, tears threatening to leak out. Rarity saw this and moved to hold the pegasus close. Then, another pegasus slammed her fist into the barrier and spoke:

"This is bullshit! Are we really going to believe these creeps about what they said about ponies?! I mean, sure there are some jerks every now and again, but that doesn't mean the EVERYPONY is evil and cruel."

"Does it?"-Pinkie suddenly said-"Rainbow, I came from a family who farmed rocks for a living and a family who didn't even know how to smile before I got my Cutie Mark. My family ended up that way, because our home village kicked my parents out for...I don't remember for what anymore, but I know that it was a stupid reason."

This shocked and surprised the rest of the Mane Six, since they never heard their fellow herd member talk about this. They all just thought that Pinkie's family lived out in the sticks, simply because it's a geologically fertile land.

"Pinkie, what are you talking about?"-Rainbow asked skeptically again-"What the hey brought this up? You've never mentioned this before-"

"Because I don't like talking about it, okay?"-Pinkie suddenly said-"I just hate being reminded about how mean ponies can be when they want to be..."

By now the pink pony's eyes were becoming wet and her mane and tail were starting to deflate. Seeing this, Applejack decided to comfort her, by gently hugging her.

Twilight meanwhile, was silently contemplating the ninja ponies' words. It would be so easy to deny such accusations, but she slowly started to remember that there were indeed cruel and unkind ponies in the world. When she was still living in Canterlot, she remembered sometimes seeing noble ponies being arrogant and petty, especially towards ponies of the working classes. Or how ponies would often walk past families of beggars, who were desperately begging for some coin. Sometimes such ponies would be treated even worse by noble ponies, and would end up either beaten to death or taken to be servants for others.

At the time, Twilight herself didn't pay too much mind to such things, due to her studious nature and after moving to Ponyville, she all but forgot about this dark side of ponykind. And now that this reminder was flung directly into her face, she's starting to seriously question why she would be named a princess of friendship, if she can forget something this important.

Seeing that this whole thing has impacted her friends in one way or another, Rainbow sighed in frustration that her friends are actually taking such words to heart.

"Oh come on you guys. Why are you even believing in any of this nonsense?"-Rainbow Dash questioned-"I mean, yeah okay I can believe that a couple of them had a run in with some jerk or two, but there's no way that what they just said is true."

"But they are right about one thing Rainbow, that we really don't know how the world really works."-Twilight said-"I mean think about it, we never suspect anypony of being evil, because we are used to the friendly and welcoming atmosphere of Ponyville. But just because we have it well and easy, doesn't mean that the same applies to everypony else. I mean, some of the nobilities in Canterlot could be exceptionally petty and cruel when they really want to be. And the Sisters of Shadow are also right about another thing: we've only ever used the Elements of Harmony against super villains, but we've never once considered to use them to spread the magic of friendship to other ponies in Equestria."

Once Twilight was done Rainbow Dash hung her head in defeat, knowing that she has no counter arguments for what her girlfriend just said. Rainbow may be stubborn as hell, but not even she could deny something as serious as this.

Now there was nothing but silence within the magic dome and the campsite as both kidnappers and kidnapees fell into a very uncomfortable silence, with one side calming itself down, while the other was processing what they've just heard.

Some time later, everypony within the camp soon fell into the gentle embrace of sleep, as the wee hours of the night continued to tick by. All the internal stress everypony was experiencing pretty much exhausted them all, however not all were like that.

Out of all the ponies of the Mane Six, the one who was the most restless was surprisingly enough Fluttershy. This wasn't because she was forced to sleep outside, since she was perfectly fine with being around nature and all, no, this was because of the earlier discussion between her friends and the Sisters of Shadow. She was still a bit in disbelief over what was told, but more over, she was worried about her friends and how all of this was affecting them. They seemed to have been handling things well at first, with a few obvious exceptions, but after what the Sisters have said all of her friends' demeanors have changed as well, which worried the shy pegasus greatly.

She didn't want to see her friends worried or sad, and she was worried that perhaps being with the Sisters of Shadow will only further make her friends worried and depressed. That is not even to mention the plans that these girls may have for them. So with that in mind, Fluttershy decided to do perhaps the boldest thing in her entire life: escape.

Now she was obviously not planning on abandoning her friends, far from it. She was planning on sneak out of the camp and find a way to contact the princesses. This was obviously a bit of a longshot, especially since she was planning on using the dark cover of the Everfree Forest itself to get away undetected...all by herself...with none of her friends to keep her safe...Yeah, this plan might in fact be a little too bold, especially considering what Twilight just said about this part of the great forest. Although she was planning on sticking as close as she could to the edge of the forest and was also hoping that the darkness of both the night and the forest would hide her from any...unfriendly creatures...especially dragons.

So with that in mind, the angelic pegasus gently got up so as to not wake up any of her friends, or her captors, who have all fallen asleep just outside of their gilded cage. Once she got to the edge of the cage that was facing the forest, Fluttershy took a small rock and began working on scratching out one of the runes. She wasn't sure if this was even going to work, but to her absolute surprise, after just scratching out a part of one of the runes, she created an opening in the barrier, not a large one, but just small enough for her to fit through.

And fit through she did, after carefully crawling out, she then stood up and was about to go, but not before taking one last look at her sleeping girlfriends.

"Don't worry girls. I'll come back, with the princesses right behind me. Just stay strong and wait for me."-Fluttershy said, before she quietly flew into the forest.

No matter which part of it was, the Everfree Forest always looks dark and scary. And for Fluttershy this wasn't a good thing. Every little noise and movement made her jump in fright, and this was becoming so often now, that she was afraid that she'll get a heart attack.

But she couldn't allow herself to be distracted by anything, not even fear...if that was possible. Her friends were depending on her.

She wasn't even sure for how long she'd been walking for or where she even was. She'd hoped to see some lights by now from a traveling caravan or some cottage in the middle of nowhere, but with nothing by darkness and wildlife as far as the eye can see, Fluttershy was beginning to suspect that she probably overestimated the success of her plan.

"Ooohhh, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all."-Fluttershy muttered to herself, to try and keep herself calm-"Oh, but I can't turn back now. If I do, then those ponies could hurt me for running away. But I hope they wont hurt my friends though-"

*SNAP*

The sound wood being crushed was heard, along with a low bellowing sound that sounded far too close for comfort for the angelic pegasus.

"Eep! What was that?"-Fluttershy asked, now looking around with fright-"M-maybe it was a-a s-squirrel? Yeah. A nice, friendly little - MMPPFF!"

Fluttershy couldn't finish her thought, since something suddenly grabbed her mouth from behind and pulled her into the shadows behind some bushes and trees.

The poor girl started to panic and tried to scream, but her attacker held her tightly enough, so she tried to wrench the hand away, but her attacker was also strong it seems. The stranger then placed their index finger in front of their snout, quietly telling Fluttershy to be quiet. Afraid of what might happen if she refused, Fluttershy quickly nodded. The figure then looked passed the bushes and the captive pegasus girl tried to do it as best as she could, but she soon came to regret that decision.

Passed the foliage was a type of chimeric beast Fluttershy had never seen before. Its torso was large and scaly, its back being covered by an equally large turtle shell that had three rows of spikes going down its length. It had six legs, each of them resembling the powerful legs of a bear, complete with claws. It had a long, prehensile tail that ended in a sharp spike and finally its head was that of a male lion with a pair of saber teeth coming out of its mouth.

The beast was sniffing the air and unfortunately its nose was now pointing towards the two hidden ponies. Fluttershy's eyes shrunk in silent panic and was about to wriggle again to try and escape, until her captor did something rather clever. They took a large rook and threw it far to the side. The crashing sound was enticing enough for the chimeric beast to turn to that direction and charge towards it, leaving a trail of trampled vegetation.

With the threat now gone, the mysterious pony finally let Fluttershy go, who immediately got up and took in some much needed air. Turns out her attacker was covering, not just her mouth, but her nose too, which both prevented her from producing any sounds, but also kept her from breathing.

"I'm sorry, but while I'm grateful for you saving me from that...thing,"-Fluttershy told the pony, who was also getting up-"I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't hold me like that next time, please. N-no offence but, you were smothering me just now."

"Alright, I'll make sure to remember that next time, Lady Fluttershy."-Beast Tamer said, revieling herself to be the mysterious attacker/rescuer.

Fluttershy felt like her blood froze upon seeing Beast Tamer, even though she didn't know her name. She did recognize her though as being one of the Sisters of Shadow and was afraid of what will she do to her, now that she found her outside of her cage and away from the campsite. Thinking quickly, Fluttershy took to the air quickly, however-

"If you're thinking about running away again, Lady Fluttershy, then I'd advise against that."-Beast Tamer suddenly said, making the pegasus girl stop in her tracks and looking back to her captor-"Trust me, that Tarasque is nothing compared to what else is out there. And believe me, it's not safe even in the tree line, or past it."

The angelic pegasus hovered in the air as she listened. That monster from earlier looked menacing enough, but to be reminded that there are worst things in this forest was just as bad. Fluttershy wanted to help her friends escape badly, but her desire to help would be useless if some monster comes around and kills her. However, there's no way she wouldn't be punished for her attempted escape, but maybe she could try to convince them to not punish her so severely.

With that in mind, Fluttershy descended back to the ground, but kept her head lowered and her eyes fixated to the ground as she approached Beast Tamer and said-"I-I'm so sorry, I-"

"C'mon, let's get going."

Beast Tamer's sudden interruption surprised Fluttershy, and also worried her. As if sensing this, Beast Tamer stopped after a few paces, turned back and spoke-"Look, if you're worried about being in trouble, you're not. The rest of my sisters don't know what you did and if you come back quietly with me, I won't say a word about this."

Now this surprised Fluttershy more than before. She was absolutely certain that she will be punished for her escape attempt, especially after seeing how their attitudes shifted from respectful to hateful earlier. But hearing that, not only did she manage to succesfully sneak away from her kidnappers, minus one, but also that said kidnappers won't punish her for this was quite shocking.

Not wanting to wait here for too long, Beast Tamer decided to start walking, with Fluttershy quickly following behind. Even though she was grateful that Beast Tamer won't tell on her, she reflexively asked:

"S-so, y-you really won't tell the others that I escaped?"

"Of course not."-Beast Tamer casually said-"Given the circumstances, we kinda expected this to happen. I'm just surprised that it was you who did it Lady Fluttershy - n-no offence!"

"Oh, uh, none taken."-Fluttershy responded-"B-but a-aren't you supposed to p-punish me for this though? Especially after earlier..."

Beast Tamer stopped and looked back towards the pegasus girl with a raised eyebrow before speaking:

"Really? You're still worried about that? Although to be honest, I guess we're the ones at fault, since we let our emotions get the better of us then. Look Lady Fluttershy, we're not angry at you, or your friends. That was just a bit of an 'anger episode' I guess you could say. It happens every once in a while, but it's not yours or your friends' fault. And besides, even if I did report your escape to my sisters, they wouldn't punish you either. But I've decided that I won't tell them, out of respect for your bravery. So this'll be our little secret, okay?"

Beast Tamer winked at the end and continued walking along. While Fluttershy blushed as the winking, she did feel a great deal of relief wash over her, upon hearing Beast Tamer's words. In truth, Fluttershy didn't really see the Sisters of Shadow as being complete villains, just ponies who were desperate for some help from their, apparent, role-models. Flutterhsy once again blushed at that thought, but smiled softly none the less.

Fluttershy was about to follow after the tall Earth Pony, until she felt something sticky latch onto the small of her back. This surprised her, but she was then suddenly yanked upwards, forcing her to 'eep' loudly. Upon hearing this, Beast Tamer turned around, only to see no trace of Fluttershy at all.

"Lady Fluttershy? Lady Fluttershy! Huh?"-Beast Tamer called out, but then noticed a few leaves falling down from the treeline above her. Narrowing her eyes, she did something unexpected: she pulled down her mask, revealing a sharp fang poking out of the right side of her mouth and her face being covered in slightly matted brown fur. She then did something else surprising, by sniffing the air like a dog. She did this a few more times, until her eyes widened as she managed to pick up Fluttershy's sent.

She then wordlessly sprinted into the direction, keeping her nose on the trail. The ninja pony ran for what felt like five minutes, ducking and weaving through the dense forest, until eventually she made it to a small clearing, where she saw a very large spider with a yellow and black stripped body on an even larger spiderweb nestled between to trees.

But what got the ninja pony's attention the most was the angelic pegasus who is now cocooned in strong webbing and who now stuck on the web. Fluttershy's entire body, from hooves to neck was covered in webbing, with a few empty spots here and there, through which her hands could poke out. While her head wasn't entirely covered in webbing, some webbing did go over her mouth and nose, with there being a whole for her to breath through. Her eyes were also covered, but she didn't need vision to know how much trouble she was in. But this helped in not seeing Beast Tamer's face.

Said ninja pony was slowly approaching the scene, hoping to catch the arachnid by surprise. As she was reaching behind her for something, a voice was suddenly heard-"Don't take another step, intruder."

The voice was female and raspy, and froze both ponies present. While Fluttershy didn't know who spoke, Beast Tamer did, as she straightened her posture and addressed the owner of the voice:

"So, you're an Arachnomorph. A type of giant spider that can talk ponish and is also smart...kinda."

Fluttershy softly gasped upon hearing Beast Tamer's voice, and was glad as well as she turned to the direction she heard the voice come from. But she wasn't the only one. The owner of the voice, which was the giant spider, also turned to face the ninja pony.

"So, you know what I am, do you?"-the Arachnomorph said, though it sounded arrogant.

"Well, I have studied animals since I was a filly, so yeah, I do."-Beast Tamer said, not intimidated at all by the arachnid-"And I also happen to know how to squash you, so if you don't let Lady Fluttershy go, I'll prove it."

The Arachnomorph simply laughed condecendely upon hearing this and then spoke-"Oh? And why would you want to take this delicious food away from me? Are you its friend? Perhaps...its lover?"

"...Maybe I am. Would that be enough to convince you to let her go?"-Beast Tamer said, her hand discretely reaching behind her back.

Fluttershy gasped softly once again and blushed beneath her tight gag, while the giant spider laughed once again.

"No, it won't. You see, food is so hard to come by in these parts, especially with all the competition being around here. Plus I do happen to enjoy the taste of pony flesh, and this one looks so plump and delectable. I'd rather die then let such an exquisite catch slip away from me."

Beast Tamer smirked at this and said-"Hmpf. Glad to hear it. Guess that means, I can kill ya without any regrets."

"What?"-the Arachnomorph asked, and her response was Beast Tamer pulling out a tri-bladed boomerang with the symbol of her sorority in the middle and throwing it at the monster.

The giant spider tried to jump away, but it wasn't quick enough, as evidenced by the boomerang cleanly slicing through three of its left legs and the webbing. While the spider shrieked in pain, yellow blood gushing out of its open wounds, Fluttershy fell off her trapping, eliciting a muffled yell.

After pulling her mask back into place, Beast Tamer rushed forward and caught Fluttershy in her arms, the pegasus yelping in surprise. The Arachnomorph was about to attack the ninja...only for the bladed boomerang to slice through its body as it flew back from where it was thrown.

The boomerang embeded itself in a tree, the Arachnomorph fell limp onto the ground and Beast Tamer calmly went to retrieve her weapon, while carrying Fluttershy like a princess. While said pegasus wasn't sure she wanted to know what had happened, judging from all the sounds she heard, thought it might be best if she didn't know.

Once she got to the tree where her weapon was embeded, Beast Tamer gently lowered Fluttershy's hooves and after making sure she was stable, the ninja pony pulled her weapon out and gently cut a line up the middle of Fluttershy's body. Once she reached her head, Beast Tamer gently cut the pegasus girl's gag and blindfold.

As soon as she was free Fluttershy looked around and saw what had happened, gasping upon seeing the corpse of the giant spider that had captured her.

"I know how much you care about all things living, Lady Fluttershy."-Beast Tamer said, after putting away her weapon-"But in this case I had no choice but to do what needed to be done. In this place, it's always kill or be killed and I'd rather have died myself then allow somepony like yourself be killed. I know that you'll hate me for this, but I'm fine with it, as long as - OOF!"

The ninja pony was taken by surprise when Fluttershy suddenly collided with her and wrapped her soft and delicate arms around her neck. Beast Tamer could even hear the girl quietly sobbing into her shoulder and through her hiccups Fluttershy managed to speak:

"Thank you so much for saving me. G-granted I don't like what you did to that spider and I should hate you...b-but I-I can't help but be grateful for what you've done for me..."

It took her a moment, but Beast Tamer realized what Fluttershy was talking about, and after gently - and awkwardly - wrapping her own arms around the pegasus, she said-"Maybe that's because you're now engaged to Lady Rarity."-Fluttershy gasped in surprise upon hearing this and looked at her captor with wide and teary eyes, and Beast Tamer continued-"Red Fist and Mist Walker told us, congratulations by the way. This might be new to you Lady Fluttershy, but the reason you're glad right now, is because now you have a chance yo go through with your marriage. This might sound cruel to you, but there's nothing cruel about wanting to live to see the ones you love the most. Trust me...I know."

Fluttershy listened intently, and realized that she was right. The whole time she was gagged, blindfolded and cocooned and waiting for that monster spider to eat her, her mind kept bringing up images of her friends. The ones who eventually became her girlfriends and with whom she formed a herd with. And most of all, she kept thinking about the one mare she was engaged to, of how beautiful she was and how beautiful her smile was. And how that smile would be replaced by tears if Fluttershy were to die. The pegasus girl didn't want the fashionista to go through that sort of trauma, which explains why she was relieved to hear Beast Tamer's voice just before she was eaten, and why she was even more relieved when she fell into Beast Tamer's strong, protective arms and even seeing the Arachnomorph dead, instead of her.

Such thoughts were indeed foreign to her, but right now Fluttershy was just glad that she was alive, and went back to hugging her savior.

"Th-thank you *hic* thank you so much..."

"...No problem, Lady Fluttershy."-Beast Tamer said-"...We should get back to camp. You need to rest and I don't want the others to wake up to seeing the two of us missing."

Fluttershy's eyes widened at that and realized that if her friends also found out, then they would probably jump to some...steamy conclusions, which she doesn't want to think about.

Beast Tamer then suggested-"Here, let me help you."

"O-oh no thank you. I-I think I can - EEP!"-Fluttershy tried to argue, but she was suddenly scooped up in Beast Tamer's arms and carried back like a princess.

To say that the angelic pegasus was nervous was an understatement, as she felt like her entire face was on fire as she was now carried like a princess by this big, strong and heroic ninja pony...who also kidnapped her...and her friends...and is also surprisingly attractive...did Fluttershy always have an attraction to mysterious, masked kidnappers?

Shaking her head to get rid of such thoughts, Fluttershy decided to ask her savior something, if only just to distract herself from her own questionable thoughts:

"I-I'm sorry, b-but I n-never c-caught - I mean, got y-your name..."

Chuckling at her nervousness - only to hide her own inner gushing of how cute the girl in her arms was - the ninjas pony answered coolly-"Name's Beast Tamer. Right now, that's all you need to know, Lady Fluttershy."

"Beast Tamer..."-Fluttershy parroted that name to commit it to memory, before speaking again-"...B-by the way, earlier, with the Arachnomorph, i-it asked if you l-loved me a-and you said...m-maybe...d-does that mean that...y-you r-really l-l-love m-me?..."

By this point Fluttershy was a stuttering mess and with her hidden but blushing face Beast Tamer had no idea how to respond to that. Luckily though, the light of the camp fire was just ahead and beyond the bushes, so the ninja pony silently went through.

Once they reached the campsite, Beast Tamer gently set Fluttershy down and quietly said-"Alright, now go back inside the force field and afterwards I'll close it back up. And remember, I won't tell anypony if you won't."

Beast Tamer once again winked at the end, which only served to make Fluttershy blush, but she was able to speak up nonetheless-"R-right, okay...g-goodnight, M-Ms. Beast Tamer..."

The ninja pony was surprised for a moment by how Fluttershy addressed her, but then smiled softly behind her mask. She also made sure to keep her thoughts clean as she watched Fluttershy crawl back through the hole in the force field...with her luscious behind on display...

'NO! No, bad Beast Tamer! Don't think like that! She already engaged to one pony and will be to four others eventually!'-Beast Tamer admonished herself, but managed to wake herself up from her inner musings once Fluttershy entered. She then managed to repair the symbol that was scratched out - luckily it wasn't completely erased, which meant an easy fix - and after exchanging one last glance with the angelic pony, she went back to the sport she was sleeping in.

Once there, Beast Tamer was about to fall asleep once more...only for an annoying voice to wake her up:

"My, how sweet. A pony villain rescuing a delicate little damsel in distress who had the gaul to sneak out into the big scary Everfree Forest."-Darkness snidely said, leaning out of one of the windows of the carriage she was sleeping in-"And what was that you just said? 'I won't tell anypony if you won't'? And now you're keeping secrets from the rest of us? My, my, I wonder how the others will think, once they heard of this little escaped of yours. And I wonder how severely that little yellow whore will be punished if somepony were to tell-"

"Hey Darkness,"-Beast Tamer interrupted and before the spiteful pony could erupt into another one of her hissy fits, she continued-"I just saw a Tarasque while I was there, and it was pretty close to the campsite. I honestly wouldn't mind using some fresh meat to make it go away...especially if said meat happens to be a whiny little bitch like you."

Darkness wanted to counter what she just heard, but knew that if she did, Beast Tamer would most likely go through with her threat, and as shocking and degrading as it sounds, Darkness wouldn't be able to stop her fellow ninja pony from going doing it. After all, nopony would want to mess with a pony, who could german suplex a full-grown Cragadile without breaking a sweat.

So with a huff and a growl, Darkness went back inside, while Beast Tamer smirked in victory and went back to sleep.

Author's Note

A/N: Alright so, first off all, I would personally like to thank all those who spared some of their time to at least give this story a try. I know this isn't exactly something ubber-fantastic to read, but to be honest, I'm just writing this out of fun.

I'd also like to thank kingGrog for taking the time to write at least one comment for this story. And it's a supportive one too, so that really makes me happy. Also, I find it interesting how the like/dislike ratio on this story is so well balanced. 2 likes and 2 dislikes, not gonna lie, it's a pretty funny coincidence.

Anyway, I'm busy with other things as well, both in terms of writing and real world issues, so don't expect the updates to be frequent, especially since I like writing long chapters.

As a final note, to those who are at least a little bit curious, the Tarasque is a mythical chimeric creature from french folklore, from the region of Provence. And as for the giant spider, I kinda took the name 'Arachnomorph' from the 'Witcher' games, just to make it more interesting.

At any rate, I hope those of you who are reading this story, continue to like it, and I'll see you in the next upload.

Sziasztok!