Monstrous horizons

The walk to the barracks was quiet as we made our way through the hallways. Nothing to be said as the Prince took us there himself and as he opened the door I had to hold in a chuckle, it would seem that despite most likely spending his sentence out in a dungeon Nox was expecting some form of luxurious bedding. But for the rest of us? It was just what we expected some cots to sleep on with the bare minimum of comforts.

Standing at the door the Prince waves us in “come on in, now I know that these might not be the most comfortable lodgings you've ever had but feel free to customize it as much as you'd like.”

As we all walk in the Prince closes the door behind us, silently i walk to the bed at the very back and sit down, pulling out my axe and a sharpening stone, I get to work. I get about forty seconds into my weapon maintenance before I hear a heavy thump on the bed across from me glancing up I see the heifer smirking down at me.

“They call ya the bounty hunter right?” I grunt in affirmation “then that means y'all've fought some crazy critters right?” another grunt “so alls ah’m askin is…” she leans in close enough for me to smell her breath “what the nastiest critter ya’ve beat?”

Looking up at her while i think about it “depends on if I did good work or not, but its a roll of the dice on zebra or deer.”

she doesn't look impressed “zebra? Deer? You're telling me that's the toughest? Not a bugbear? Not no wendigo?”

Shaking my head “no creatures putting a bounty on any of those but respect that when cornered even a worm may turn, if you surprise a zebra then they're easer then most earth ponies. But if they have a staff or their potions? Good luck fighting an opponent as good as them in melee while not being able to breath, those potions of theirs are nasty work, I'd know. As for the deer? Impossible to ambush and always travel in pairs, what do you do when the very grass you trot on or the trees you walk under are used against you?”

A look of understanding begins to dawn on her “so how do ya do it?”

Grinning i tell her “deer are one with the woods they live in, or so they say, but i can say for sure that they panic pretty badly when the forest is burning. All that magic they have and it burns like dry grass.”

Putting my axe way and pulling out my caltrops I ask “so what's the strongest thing you've fought?” as I begin to look for and straighten out or sharpen the spikes.

laughing she slaps her thigh “why that would ave to be my old bull. Bastard could knock out thirdy of those flyin cats and ask for seconds. Didn't win though, he knocked me through the wall, floor, by Tartarus even the roof!” she laughs even louder “took a whole week of sweatin it out before I could fight again, but trust you me next time Ill beat him black and blue.” she leans back into the cot. It creaks with her weight as she grabs the pillow and puts it under her horns

Reaching for another caltrop i hear a squeak as the thing I pull towards me is a rat. The plump little creature looks humorous in my magic as I hear a “I'd like that back if you'd kindly.” looking over to the yellow Pegasus I see him smiling at me, he appears to be herding a swarm of rats to make his cot for him, I even see more pillows then the rest of us have, how? Were the rats bringing stuff in for him?
Levitating the rat over to him he says something that surprises me “so you nabbed Golden Circlet a few days ago?”

With a grunt I ask “what's it too you?” grabbing the little thing in his feathers and letting it crawl up the limb and to the other one to then jump off onto the bed to get to work “nothing much but I liked good ole Bleeding and I was a bit disappointed in her for what she did. But in the end my rats ate well so no harm no foul”

Pausing my work “ate well?” he nods “yup they wont find the mare now, Who do you think gets rid of bodies in this city?” he grins and spreads his wings wide “I'm the rat king, I know just about everything in this city and everyone. No creature can do something without me finding out, but I didn't know you were in the city until after the whole Golden Circlet thing” he pauses “normally it bothers me something fierce when somepony gets one past me, but my rats said you've done right by them so Ill let it pass.” he never stops grinning at me.

A question comes to me when he's done “you speak to rats?” he nods “yes I do, it takes a special pony to speak to them, and a special mind to understand them.”

“‘special’ .. right” I nod, looking over at the other two ponies in our group I see them whispering to each other about something before movement in the corner of my eye catches my attention. Vermine had curled up in a makeshift nest with his rats. Glancing back I see the talk they were having is over.

I finish sharpening and straightening my caltrops and put them away, getting onto my cot I lean against the wall with a pillow between my back and the wall, crossing my hooves I relax.

“You gonna sleep in your armor?” I hear Breaker ask. With a grunt I wave her question away and continue to get comfortable. After a few minutes I finally fall asleep.

THE NEXT DAY

Interesting fact about me, I don't dream, never have. I close my eyes and when they open, its the next day. So when I open my eyes and see a rat on my chest chewing on my helmet I calmly grab it and throw it directly at Vermine, catching him right in the snout. With a shout he and his mischief practically scurry out of the nest and onto the floor.

Getting off my cot I look myself over and find no damage was made to my equipment. Vermine glares at me as he gets up, his rats already grooming his mane back to its normal state. “I’d ask you to not do that again hunter, for your health.”

“Keep your pets on your side of the room and it won’t.” I grab my bag and pull out my medical supplies, courtesy of Toruk I now have ten zebra grade regeneration tonics, bandages, and stitching tools but the most important one I have is a self made cure all I called healing bounty. Though I'm not an equal to Toruk this is my own concoction I created with his supervision. Made with Concordia root as a base it can cure the body of poisons, paralytics, and toxins by reverting it to its harmonious state before it was afflicted. A simple sip can provide the benefit and as such I only make the one bottle at the time and keep it in a iron flask.

Hearing hoof steps coming up to me I hear a soft melodic voice ask “you’re in contact with a zebra alchemist?” I look up at the unicorn mare “yes, what's it to you?” her hollow eyes bore into me “I'm currently looking for a zebra alchemist to purchase some potions like the ones you have here.”

With a nod I tell her “yes there are a few in the under markets if you look for them, you might have some luck if you leave tonight.”

Without another word she walks away. The door to our barracks opens revealing Blueblood “I've come to make you aware of what you will be doing.” every creature focuses on him “there’s been whispers about a Nightmare cult growing in the neighagra falls region, northeast of our location. The good ponies of hollow shades have reported foals going missing and the local ponice force has been unable to deal with the problem.” I pull out a scroll and begin writing what I know of the Nightmare cultists.

Blood drinking freaks, they practice unnerving shadow magic and blood magic to great effect, almost all are Pegasus ponies but all have some sort of mutations primarily in their eyes , ears, and teeth

I've had to fight them before but those cat-like eyes and fangs have proven to give them an advantage in the dark and in melee combat, although its been rare I've been contracted to execute a odd lone cultist that got sloppy.

Though they have very beastial tendencies the whole cult practices combat as religiously as their tall tail goddess. In the times I've put the axe to them they wield their magics with frighting efficiency and quite frankly I would rather not take on an fully established cult, but with a team it just might be doable. But the most important and deciding factor of this mission is- “the pay for this task will be four hundred thousand bits” I'm salivating “split between all of you” I am no longer salivating “which will turn out to be eighty thousand for all of you, I am having a carriage prepared for the six of us to head out in the next few hours.”

Wait wait wait, the six of us? “So the pony prince is comin’ along? What if y’all chip a hoof?” Mountain laughs while I speak up “your highness are you sure its wise to travel to exterminate a cult alongside us? Should the hunt grow dire your protection may come into question and I’d prefer to get paid.”

The prince smiles at that “I will be coming with you to ensure satisfactory results” now he smirks “after all if you five couldn't ensure my safety while on this excursion, would you be worth the bits I'm paying you?”

gritting my teeth I nod my head “understood your highness, I will ensure your survival myself, my services will be worth every coin.”

“Good, now, our informants have discovered the most likely place the cultists would lurk in would be a large cave system directly behind the famous water fall”

Nox speaks up “now I know the rumors about the nightmare cult and the superstitions but be honest, did your spies actually find anything or did they just guess that the blood drinkers just like to hide in caves?”

He pulls at his little blue bowtie “of course not! The royal spy master would never stoop to such idiotic conclusions.” he floats a paper to each of us, grabbing one I see that it contains information pertaining to our new mission.

Though the others don't appear to read it I do, and the information on it isn't much different from what I had already know but what does catch my eye is this excerpt about the missing foals alongside a mention of advanced shadow magic.

There are 4 missing little ones between six and seven years old, two fillies and two colts, but all of them are unicorns. Taken from their homes in the middle of the night yesterday the foals would most likely still be alive and kicking but for how long I wouldn't know.

The prince clears his throat “in light of recent information we will not be leaving tomorrow but instead today and while the elimination of the cult is a high priority the safety of those foals is paramount” he turns around and begins to walk outside “prepare yourselves immediately we leave very soon” he looks over his shoulder “any questions?”

Instead of a question Mountain says “if’n those varmints are stealin’ pony calf's then they ain't nothing we gotta be scared of. Weak trash takin’ weaker ponies, ah say line em up and knock em down.”

The Prince nods his head “ I hope you're right for everyponies sake.” he closes the door behind him and every creature begins to get ready.

Mountain Breaker simply puts on her leathers and her iron fly mask.

Vermine puts on a raggedy black jacket that is littered with both holes and pockets he puts on three saddle bags one on each side and one on his stomach though he wears no actual armor.

Flesh Mender also wears a set of saddle bags. Her armor is some kind of wood I'm unfamiliar with mixed with some kind of robe.

Nox Mortalis wears his robes and nothing more and other then me is the only one to use a weapon. Its a brutal and heavy looking hammer made of what looks like real pony bones.

I'm wearing my normal armor and my standard equipment alongside my healing equipment. My axe is sharp and my caltrops maintained although I do plan on upgrading my hook rope with royal grade materials.

After about two hours the prince returns with a massive carriage, its rather plain looking for a royal ride if I do say so myself. With a dark brown color it looks rather old and has no windows to see out of. The wheels are a lighter brown and have Bluebloods cutie mark in the center.

Opening the door he waves us in “please, please come on in we must begin our journey.”

I'm the last one to get in and once I'm in I see that the inside is far superior with luxurious seating and velvet pillows, there is a small chest at the side wall and the floor has a soft carpet that Vermines rats are already making themselves comfortable on.

Quite frankly this compartment is practically a room in the royal castle, clearly Blueblood did not spare any expense on the interior. I could live comfortable in this carriage if the need came down to it.

Avoiding the rats on the floor I sit in the only available spot which happens to be right next to the Prince himself who looks on perturbed at the rats making themselves at home on the probably expensive rug. As we finish settling in the ride begins and so does our journey to the Hollow Shades.

About six minutes of silence are all we get before Breaker starts up conversation. “So ah wanna know spooky stallion, what's the biggest dead thing ya brought back to life, was it a dragon? Or maybe one of those things that broke the gryphons? Come on ah really wanna know.”

With every creature listening in, from the Prince to even my ear turning to the conversation, with a sigh Nox says “It was a ursa minor” my eyes widen, an ursa minor! I was under the impression that they were mostly cosmic energy give material form. Yet if he could raise it then that implies they can in fact die.

Though he looks Ill the Prince asks “but aren't ursa magical creatures? How could you bring it back?”

Nox shrugs “I used its energy to augment my own, and to give it a physical body I utilized the corpses of its prey and my old standing forces, though I sacrificed my quantity of warriors I gained a superb quality minion.”

With an appreciative hum I ask “can you still summon that beast?” with a shake of his head he looks at me “Celestia destroyed it during my capture alongside my elite undead. I am currently left with one minion” he hefts his hammer “this is the last minion I have”

Even Breaker looks confused “yall mean your hammer is alive?” she reaches out too hoof at it before the skull on the end clacks its teeth at her causing her to pull it back with a yelp “who was it?”

He gives a nostalgic smile “don't you worry about it, its nobody you know” I snort at that while Breaker gives a belly laugh and the prince asks “when did you find the time and the” he gags “corpse, to make… that?”

“The material is made out of a physically manifested soul, she makes herself.” Nox says “even if I am unable to summon my minions she will always manifest.”

Vermine speaks up “you say it'll manifest even without your magic? Does that mean its capable of acting on its own?” Nox nods his head “yes as you've just seen she is fully capable of autonomous movement and can react on her own.”

Breaker points a hoof to Flesh Mender “alright I wanna know what you've fought Mender. Don't hold out on us, ya must've fought something nasty to be here for a pardon.” the mare in question looked at her hoof dispassionately “I'm a mare of medicine, I don't make it a habit to ‘fight’ anything, Ill primarily be there to put you back together should you receive a traumatic and or fatal amount of damage.”

The Prince clears his throat "Miss Mender here is very well versed in healing magic and while I question her ethics we have come to an agreement, trust her to keep you all alive and well while you fight.”

With a snort I make sure my healing supplies are well in hoof. Far be it from me to ignore the pony who pays me but under no circumstances will I allow a medic who was detained by the royal guard to cast any healing magic on me. The only exception being if I'm dying on the floor.

With a frown from Breaker Flesh Mender pulls out a book and flips to a certain page before showing it to Breaker who when looking at it flinches before leaning in and muttering “ya even got it down to the udders?” she clears her throat “ahlright ah believe ya when ya say ya know what needs to be done to fix us up.”

I think I can guess what was on those pages, after that everyone goes silent for a few hours. With me writing up a plan of attack for the cave, Mountain Breaker using some sort of spring to workout her hooves, Vermine was playing with and feeding his rats, while Nox seemed to lean against his hammer and whisper to it and Flesh Mender would periodically take a sip of a glass of water she had procured at some point.

It was as I finished writing my strategy for us when I noticed the prince was a hairs breath from leaning on me so he could see what I was writing, shifting a little away from him I tilt the scroll so he can read it “I would like to know what you know about the cult.” glancing at him “I've fought cultist before although it was always stragglers, I've hunted them down in their caves and most have the same layout, from what I've gathered the caves layouts are drawn from over a thousand years of tradition and have never changed, that's one of the two things you can trust about the nightmare cults.” Blueblood seems to hesitate before he asks “and what of the other thing?” I close up the scroll “that there's always more.”

The prince seems to think over something for a while before “good hunter I find myself overcome with curiosity, what do you think the cult will do with the foals? You are familiar with the way they operate correct?” there's no question “the foals will either be used as some sort of blood sacrifice or perhaps as a bargaining chip but that is doubtful.”

Bluebloods eyes sharpen “and you're sure of this?” shaking my head I say “I cant be sure as I've never interrupted or faced a proper cult before but I've seen enough bones and blood script to have an accurate idea.”

Blueblood seems to sink into his own thoughts at that. Now the rest of the ride was passed by in silence and after a few more hours we finally arrive at Hollow shades.

Finally making a complete stop I quickly see my way out and onto the fresh dirt and air. It was about three hours in before the smell of sweaty cow became nauseating in a enclosed space with no windows.

Looking ahead I see that we are at the edge of the village and that ponies are pointing in our direction and talking. With the sounds of hooves hitting the dirt and a dramatic gasp the Prince clamors out of carriage with a small chest clutched in his magic. “I’m having widows installed when we get back, bounty hunter please remind me of that.”

As the others begin walking out I see vermine's rats swarm into the woods “they should help find anything that might be worth looking into.” vermine says as he walks past me.

As the group heads further into the village there is no shortage of whispering and hoof pointing as we continue our walk. After around ten minutes of walking we make it to what I assume is the mayors office. It was as we were about to walk in the Prince says “please feel free to familiarize yourselves with the layout of the village while I speak to the mayor. Make sure to meet back up with the carriage by sundown.”

Before I can respond Breaker lets out a cheer and runs off to… somewhere, with the others splitting off to tend to there own desires while I just stand there for a minute then I decide to go find something to drink and eat, so here's hoping they have a bar.

After asking a random mare I find my way to the only bar in this place. Its a small hole in the wall squeezed between two houses, it looks like a homely looking place with some rose bushes out front and a swinging double door. Walking in the smells of salt and liquor alongside roasting vegetables hits me in the face. Making my way to the barkeep I pull a hundred bits from my bag as i walk up to the counter “how much for a bottle of darkshine?” she looks at me in surprise before saying “it’s forty bits for the whole bottle sir.” I pass her the gold coins and grab the bottle while she passes me a shot glass.

Waving the mare away I pour some of the drink into the glass and before I can lift my helm and drink I hear the door slam open and a mares exhausted voice rings out “you! I've heard about your kind!” she gasps as she hobbles her way over to me “y-you hunt ponies for coin right?” I nod “t-then please I-I need you to find my colt!” she pulls out a picture of what I assume is her and her family.

Taking a good look at the photo I see the unicorn mare herself sans the sunken eyes. She has bright pink fur with a purple mane and tail, the stallion is a tall well built earth pony with dark brown fur and a golden mane, while the colt was a unicorn with a dark rosy brown coat and a muddy brown mane and tail.

Looking up from the photo I see her tear filled pink eyes boring into mine through the holes in my helm “please, please save him” she pulls out a small bag of bits “here it’s all the bits I own please save him please bring my baby tea leaf back to me unharmed.”

Taking the bag I see its a measly five hundred bits. Floating the bag back to her I see the hope in her eyes start to die before I grab the photo “payment is done after services are rendered, if I find him Ill bring him here.” in an instant I have my hooves full of sobbing mare.

POV Blueblood

Sitting down with the mayor, a old blue-green Pegasus stallion with a yellow mane and tail, his cutie mark was a leger with an unreadable script, “ I appreciate your timely arrival my prince, please if you would entertain me I would like to be enlightened of your strategy in saving those foals.”

With a sigh I tell him “I've hired a tracking specialist and a scout to assist in the search of the missing foals and while I'm not currently privy to the information they've collected, I plan to reconvene with them later today” nodding his head he asks “I understand please save them as soon as possible, here this is what we've been able to find out before you and your entourage arrived.”

Sliding a scroll my way I pick it up, inside is information on the movements of the cult and although its not much more then what we already knew there still was more. Such as the fact that these cultists have been collecting cosmic artifacts that have a connection with the stars and moon. Looking up from the scroll I see the mayor tapping the desk “thank you for this good mayor I'm sure that this will be of immense help for our tracker.” getting up from the chair I begin to make my way out.

Now as I head back to the carriage I wonder, what exactly would they want such artifacts for? Even if they have unicorns in the cult they wouldn't be able to utilize cosmic magic for anything. Except… my face pales THE FOALS! That has to be what they took them for, perhaps some sort of ritual, but the question remains what exactly do they plan to do? I would admit that the inner machinations of such cults does illude me and as such Ill simply rely on the hired tracker and scout to know what to do.

Vermine is an interesting stallion. Although the spy master could dig up very little of his past, what we were able to learn about his most recent activity indicates a level of intel gathering that would rival the spies employed by the crown. While one of his apparent specialties are corpse disposal the information network he's cultivated with his rats in Canterlot alone is impressive. His psychological evaluation suggests he has a habit of spying on everypony in the city, in fact if I can recall Shining Armors report he was already prepared to leave when he arrived to collect him. He also seems to find entertainment in allowing his mischief free reign at anytime. Something of note is his protectiveness of the rat swarm. What had even caught our attention to him in the first place was the first hoof accounts of his assault of a local exterminator in the lower district of Canterlot. He was also the one to get the missive to the bounty hunter in the first place.

Speaking of the stallion, he is perhaps the second most dangerous pony in the group behind Nox, although we could only trace his trail from the crystal mountains, tales of his work spread throughout the underground. Apart from having a habit of shattering unicorn horns and using an axe as his primary weapon the stallion is an unknown variable, renowned as much as he can be for his efficiency and his brutality this stallion is perhaps the only professional out of the five ponies in our group, and after catching the end of his battle with the Captain and stopping him before he could shatter the stallions horn i cant help but agree that his willingness to inflict permanent harm on his opponents will have to be reeled in. his mental evaluation suggests a psychopathic and sadistic personality and from the history that could be discovered he should have more then enough bits to comfortably retire so his continued work in this field suggests another reason for him to continue. But as long as the bits keep coming in he should listen to orders.

The sight of the carriage breaks me out of my musings and sitting down outside the door is the heifer Mountain Breaker. She has apparently procured herself a veritable feast of fruits and vegetables, pastas and clearly no shortage of what looks like gryphon mead.

My arrival gets her attention “ey Princy!” princy? “come sit down and have a bite, the food in Equestria is better then anything the birdcats have.” walking up to her as she stuffs her face in a most uncouth manner, I can see sauce of various types dripping off her chin, she looks up at me for a second and picks something up and shoves it in my muzzle “try this here little bread thing, ah haven't had something like this before” taking a step back I hold it in my magic and take a better look at it. Its a warm, buttery loaf with a crispy exterior, the bread is infused with the rich aroma of roasted garlic and seasoned with fragrant herbs, Its garlic bread, she's stuffing her face with garlic bread.

Floating the bread back to her I ask “where did you get all this?” she stops eating for a moment and looks back at me and gives me a simple “ah paid for it” I look back at the village before I feel a rough wet hoof poke me in the side “yall should eat something little Prince, ah know it ain't some fancy little leaf on a plate but ya wont be much help if your hungry.”

“Thank you for your concern but I'm not quite a fan of garlic bread and I assure you I will eat at a later time.” she stops eating completely and looks me in the eye “ya should eat little Prince.”

POV Void Spark

Taking my drink and easing the mare off of me as she pours out an endless stream of ‘thank you’s and tears I head back to the carriage to see the cow absolutely feasting on a horde of food while the Prince solemnly eats what looks like a piece of bread. Spotting me, Breaker waves me over and with her mouth full of food she speaks “bounty hunter come, sit, have something to eat.” walking up to the pair I see fruits and vegetables alongside what looks like spaghetti. Taking a seat near the pair i grab a fried carrot and lift up an empty mug she has off the floor and fill it with the darkshine, lifting my helm to let my muzzle free I take a bite and wash it down.

In the corner of my eye I see the Prince staring at me “do you eat like that all the time?” with a shake of my head I say “not if I'm alone.” we eat in silence and wait as the others file in one after the other over time.

Once we are all seated in the carriage after the meal Vermine picks up a rat and places it on his shoulder “my rats found the cave that the cultist are using” he looks at Blueblood “your intel was correct they are behind the water fall and from what I could gather the cave network isn't too extensive but I wasn't willing to risk my mischiefs safety to go deeper.”

He looks like he's about to say something before my Tapping him on the withers interrupts him “your highness with your permission i can scout ahead and identify our targets weapons and possible traps they may have set up.” putting his hoof to his chin he hums and says “granted, but be back before too long as I plan for us to leave for the cult after midnight.” Vermine pulls out the map and points to the Falls “follow this path to the cave and hide your scent, the rats say the cultist have a well developed sense of smell.”

Getting up and nodding my head to the rest of the group I make my way out of the carriage and into the woods. Casting invisibility on myself I also use a sanitation spell to rid myself of any smells the blood drinkers might pick up on.

It takes an hour of travel before I stand at the entrance of the cave, a few hooves in I can see some form of script written in blood, ‘the stars will aid in her escape’. While I am unable to read it, the very sight of it leaves a itching behind my eyes. Tearing my eyes away from it I make my way further in and after a few minutes I finally see the first cultist.

With ragged blue fur and a black mane and tail the Pegasus stallion stands at attention with a rusty halberd, his golden slitted eyes stare forward at the the entrance behind me, looking at his muzzle his breathing looks normal so I assume my scent is indistinguishable to the smell of wet rock.

Walking past him I find more hallways and more script on the walls. It takes about two hours but I'm able to find a small standing force of ponies walking around and patrolling the corridors. But I'm not able to find any traps on the ground or on high, the biggest issue I find an absolute mountain of an earth pony mare. With bulging muscles and large sharp looking fangs she would be one Tartarus of an opponent, her navy blue fur and purple mane and tail blend in amazingly with the dark. Her weapon is a large three headed flail, I shudder at the idea of getting hit by both it and her.

With a total of eight Pegasi and three unicorns and the huge ass earth pony mare we are going to have to deal with a total of twelve ponies, to be honest I had expected more from cultists who were willing to steal foals in the night.

Heading out of the cave I can't help but wonder, what has emboldened a small group such as this to do something so overt that it catches the crowns attention. It doesn't take me long to realize I'm missing something from this equation, if I had more time I would scout past the mare but I don't want to chance it and have the others barge in and lock me in the back of the cave.

Making my way back from the caves and finally getting to the carriage I knock on the door and see one of Vermine's rats hanging off the roof before it opens. Seeing the rest of the group lounging around I tell them about what I found. “The big one ya saw at the end do ya think she can actually fight?” Breaker asks, shaking my head I say “I don't really know but despite their clumsy fighting style they are decent in a fight just be ready to dodge.”

Getting up from the plush seat the Prince bids us to follow him “alright, its time to begin this operation” he turns his head to look at us “we have no need for prisoners, save the foals and wipe out this sub-equine filth.”

Making our way into the forest I cast the sanitation spell to wipe away our scents and an hour later were at the cave. With me, Breaker and Nox in front and Blueblood, Flesh Mender and Vermine in the back. Its as we walk the path to get to the waterfall that the first issue crops up, skulking our way past the water I catch a flash of widening golden eyes before a much bigger flash of brown fur reveals Breaker slamming the pony at the entrance hard enough to shake what feels like the whole cave.

Getting a better look at what happened as she pulls back I see that her headbutt had pierced the stallion through the chest with her horns. He didn't even have a chance to scream. Shaking the corpse off her head she looks back at us and grins before waving us over “got’em nice and quite like.”

Looking at the dead stallion I notice this isn't the same pony as before. He has an ocean blue colt with a shaved mane and yellow tail, his cutie mark is a wolf howling at the moon. Feeling a presence behind me I look and see that Nox is walking to the body. Stepping back I see his eyes turn green with a purple smoke coming from them before he launches a spell at the body.

As soon as the spell hits I see the corpse begin twitching for a moment before it rises, the ponies eyes are glowing bright green and his mouth is hanging open. “Where are the missing foals and what were your intentions with them?” Nox commands. Its mouth closes and opens again and while it looks like its speaking there’s no sound. After a minute or too Nox closes his eyes and the body falls to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

Opening his now back to normal different colored eyes he says “the foals are being kept past the large mare where the bounty hunter stopped his investigation. And there's some form of ritual being prepared.” the Prince speaks up as he lights a torch “alright were going in make sure you all are ready because were not leaving without those foals.”