Light in the Shadows

Chapters

Old Habits
Poison and Escape
Plans and Bones
True Contact
Questions
Business as Usual
Fluttershy
Blue Onto Green
The Warlock
Another Chance?
Exposure

Old Habits

“I’ve been stuck in this forest for days, just how big is this cursed place” I wondered, “I think I been here for like 4 days... good thing I know how to cook, sure it took me a thousand years to get the hang of it, but I been used to working with poisons for so long, anyone can mess up and put some in their food right?” After that thought I then spot a clearing, “Yes! Finally, took long enough...and there is a town as an added bonus.” Though didn’t see any humanoids at that moment, “heck I would take a Horde town after all that”. All I could see is a bunch of horses, it was hard to tell from where I was, to see if anything was going on but it seems as they were more than mere horses. “This is going to be a long day, or night apparently” now that I actually got a good look at the sky. I decided to climb the tree to try sleep through the rest of the night as I find more joy sneaking around in plain daylight, “I’ve been doing this stuff for a long time but it still strikes me odd as how clueless things are when it comes to watching their backs”.

“Accel we need you to infiltrate these ruins and disarm the traps” said the male human

“I know I am good at what I do, yet you always send me on the most deadly missions possible” I answered as I knew they only want to get rid of me but in doing something that would benefit them if I succeed.

“Your skill is the very reason we are sending you on this mission, and this is a direct order so you can’t refuse anyway”.

“And you forget that I’m not a part of your squad nor the army so I don’t have to follow your orders, and before you try, I never was a part of the army I always have worked under my own sets of rules, I simply help the Alliance out and my fellow people when they are in deep need”.

“Fine, fine how much will it cost me to get your help” he said with a scowl.

“The usual price, but upfront and you pay for my armor repairs when I get back.”

“Upfront?” then he begins raising his voice, “HOW CAN I TRUST YOU NOT JUST TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN OFF?”

“On my honor I’ll not, and if that isn’t good enough” I pull out a dagger, “hold on to this and it’ll give me a motive to come back, that good enough for you?”

“That’ll work but, I still don’t trust you to pull through”.

“ouch....that hurt... a lot, why did I sleep in that tree again?” I wondered rubbing my head. “Well I better find some food, and that town be perfect place, or maybe that apple tree field” my stomach growled, “yeah, no one would mind me taking a few apples there would they?”

I started to sprint down to the farm, right after I jump the fence I went into a roll and surrounded myself with the shadows, making me completely invisible to most without proper training to see the effect. “Ah nothing like a good sprint”.

“Anypony there?” said a voice.

“Dang it...why do I keep doing that” I thought in frustration.

“Guess it was nothin’” the voice said.

“Well guess I’m in the clear...err wait it said ‘anypony’, is that what those things are?” I wondered, “and I guess that means they can talk, well its not the strangest thing I seen”.

I then climbed into the nearest apple tree, and plucked an apple. “that...that is the best apple I ever tasted”. I was about to take another bite but, the tree suddenly started shaking, and I fell out.

“That’s the 2nd time I fell on my head today!” I said rubbing my head

“What you doing eating my apples?” the voice said

“Well I was hungry and I haven't had anything to eat for a few days and... wait why should I explain myself?” I answered while I finally got a good look at the pony. It was orange with a yellow mane and a farmer hat.

“YOU’RE THE ONE EATING MY APPLES!” the orange pony yelled “YOU should be explaining yourself, and what are you?”

“well, errr...umm, bye” I said in return

Before I gave it a chance to respond I flipped my dagger around and whacked it on the head with the blunt end, effectively knocking it out without drawing blood. “well I better get into town before anything else happens”. I pocketed a few apples before wrapped myself back into the shadows and then I went along on my sprint into town.

“why this is interesting none of them even have any armor on, I guess this place isn't attacked often, or at least maybe there isn't some blood thirsty group killing for the sake of killing” I concluded, “there is clearly something amidst here with this pink puff I see popping up out of nowhere every 2 minutes”.

Before I was able to continue monologue to myself, I managed to avoid running into some purple pony with a horn that clearly wasn't watching where it was going, as it was reading a book, “well I guess considering none of them could see me, well I hope, I shouldn't bother faulting that purple one but well, I been needing something to read so...” I opened the saddlebag that it had and took out a random book, and I left a few gold coins where it formerly sat. As I closed the bag, the purple pony turned its head to where I was “it can’t see me, I almost never fail at this kind of stuff” I thought to myself.

“W..w..what are you?” the purple pony said

“Hmm it sounded female, well I got a problem now that it CAN see me or at least the distortion in the air”, I then spoke “well I was just checking a book out ma’am and now that I have, I must get going” without giving her a chance to respond, I stepped fully within the shadows and appeared on the rooftop. “Ah how I love shadowsteping, and I’m not making the mistake of talking out loud this time”.

Looking around from the roofs I found a rather simple path to get back to the forest, for me at least. I started sprinting across the rooftops jumping to the next when a gap comes up. “Well that was more roof then I thought” thinking out loud, I then face-palm “dang it, I did it again”.

“I heard something from the roof twilight” a voice said

“why, why can’t I brake that habit” I thought as I frantically look around for where the voice came from, then I spotted it “great…they can have wings, and well I’ll just call this one rainbow for, well its rainbow mane”. Before I could continue to run across the roofs the purple pony appeared right in front of me of what I assume was Twilight.

“You can come out now” Twilight said looking directly at me.

“Well I guess I got no choice eh?” I said as I dropped the shadow that shield me, “I just hate it when things can see though that, but it makes it clear you can use magic and well attuned with it”

“Return the book you stole!” said Rainbow

“Well let me think about it, hmmm no”

“Why did you steal it?’ asked Twilight

“Well let me see, being stuck in a forest for 4 or 5 days, to only find I am in some place I never seen, I wanted to see what kind of books would be here and now if you excuse me, I must be going” right as I finished the sentence I threw a smoke bomb down at Twilight’s feet. Then I started running wrapping the shadows around me once again, but before I was able to jump to the next roof I failed to notice the puddle of water before it was too late. “Just great, this is going to be the 3rd time I landed on my hea…”

Author's Note

Well there you have it, the first chapter. Feel free to comment, long as its not insulting me, my writing or anyone else. I don't mind some tips and possible corrections.

Poison and Escape

“Well those traps were harder to get by then I thought, sure they paid me to disarm them but, I want to see what’s down here first”. I look around the ruins and it was nothing like I ever seen before. “I been to many corners of the world, sneaked though deadly forts but, I've never seen or heard of anything of this”. As I continue to look around, it became clear that this place been untouched for 500 years at least. “There isn't even any spiders here, and I find them everywhere, maybe this is a Titan ruin, though the markings do not look anything like the ones I been in”.

“You are trespassing” a voice said out of nowhere

“Be careful of what you say, the last person that said that to me ended up paralyzed for 3 weeks” I responded, as I finished my line I threw a smoke bomb at the ground, then pulled out 10 shurikens and threw them around me. I waited, expecting something crying out in pain but, it never came. “What? This just can’t be, unless… it is above me”. I slowly look up and saw the spider that was missing, “well I doubt that is what talked to me but, that is one of the biggest spider I ever seen, heck its bigger than the average drake I ride at times”.

The behemoth spider then suddenly starts to make its way to the floor from where it sat. Once it got to the floor all of its eyes locked onto me. “So that’s how you want to play it”, I then double checked to see if my blades were freshly coated in poison, “yeah that’ll work, now, let’s see what happens when heavens fall upon you”.

As if on cue the spider swiped two of its legs at me, I easily step out of the range of the legs. I then stabbed one of the legs the spider used to attack me, giving my blade a twist, therefore opening the wound so the poison would sink in deeper. Before I could move back, it bit into my leg, injecting its own poison into me.

“Eye for an eye, but I don’t play fair” I said to the behemoth spider.

I pull out my special shuriken, one that many come it fear, “well now let’s see how you handle Life’s Inevitability”. After I threw the blade making a perfect throw into one of the spider’s eyes, I start to move for the hallway.

“That spider’s poison seems to have some sort of movement impairing effect on me, but doesn't seem lethal. Unfortunately for that spider, mine IS lethal”. I then look behind me to see that the spider is struggling to follow me.

When it finally dies after about 2 or 3 minutes of me struggling to stay away from the behemoth spider, while the poison was slowly killing it along with the green goo like blood seeping though the ruptured eye. I finally took in a deep breath, “just how the heck did it get that big, it was clear to me that nothing have came down this way in centuries”. I then decided to take a rest to let the poisons ware off.

I woke with a throbbing headache, “why does my head hurt so much… oh wait, that’s right I landed on it 3 times”. Once I managed to open my eyes, I notice I wasn't in some cell or chained up somewhere as I almost always ended up being after get caught. Instead, I was in what appears to be a barn far as I could tell lying in some hay. I looked around, without actually moving, I notice the orange pony that I knocked out before looking at me with some hint of anger. “Good thing this mask makes it near impossible to tell whether I’m awake or not” I thought, “these things must either be powerful, or stupid for the fact I’m unchained. Yet unfortunately for me they were wise enough to move my daggers across the room yet, not hiding them”.

The orange pony then spoke “Are you awake?”

“Well there isn’t really any point not talking therefore not getting answers of
where I am”, I answered “Yes I’m awake”.

“What are you?” the orange pony replied.
“So the casual questions, I see now by not chaining me up they are trying to lead me into a false sense of safety, then they’ll try and get information out of me”, I decided to make a little game out of this “Well of what I can assume, I’m something you never heard of”.

“Why did you steal my apples?”

“I was hungry” I replied.

“How you even eat them, far as I can tell you don’t even have a mouth” the orange pony replied back.

I started to chuckle “that just doesn't happen, mistaking my mask for my actual face”.

“What’s so funny?” the pony responded with an annoyed tone.

“Well the fact that you actually think my mask is my face, I don’t think I ever had that happen before”, I then got to my feet, “well I think it’s time for me to get going”.

“Hold on a minute, twilight said not to let you go anywhere”, the pony said taking a step towards me, "an' I'm not about to let you go either".

“All I’ll say to that is, you cannot prevent the unseen, you can only prepare for it”.

“What that suppose to m…”

I before I gave the pony a chance to finish what it was going to say, I gave a hard kick into its side.

“YOU’RE NOT GETTING PAST ME AGAIN!” the orange pony yelled.

“Well clearly that didn’t work, but this should distract em long enough”. I scooped up some dirt and threw it in to the pony’s eyes, and it responded with a pained yell. I then run to the other side of the room picking up my daggers, and then headed for the door. Before I was able to open the doors, the doors started glowing purple and started to open themselves.

“Just my luck, it’s that Twilight person” I said thinking out loud.

“What did you do to Applejack?” Twilight asked in anger.

Ignoring the question, I started to sprint out of the barn only to find myself unable to move.

“Why do you keep on running?” said twilight with anger clearly building up even more.

“Telekinesis … that’s rare, and to answer your friend’s question I’m a night elf”, once again completely ignoring twilight’s question. “Now since it’s clear to me you’re just not going to let me go, I’ll just nullify your magic’s hold on me”.

“You can’t even move” she responded

Deciding now it was the right time to get the heck away, I called upon the shadows to rip the grips of twilight’s magic off me, “you under estimate me, I been at this far too long to let this petty trick get me”.

“H...how you do that?” twilight asked

“The shadows hold no secrets, but most cannot understand them” soon as I finished talking I stepped into the shadows taking me to the nearby forest edge.

“Best to leave them in question, but this leaves me with a problem”, giving a deep sigh, “I need answers, but I can’t get into the town like that with that Twilight being able to see me in stealth”. As I walk deeper into the forest trying to consider possible options, then it hit me “well if I can’t get into town by sneaking in, maybe I can get in by blending in with them”. The idea was perfect just now the matter is in how I am going to blend in.

Author's Note

And there is another chapter for you, if you have any possible corrections that I might have missed, feel free to tell me without being rude about it.

Plans and Bones

The plan is perfect but, the mater is how the heck am I going to fool them. “It’s not like I can just turn into one of them, or… no, I abandoned that way of life a long time ago.”

“Where are you coward?” said a voice.

“Just my luck, why don’t they just give up, I clearly showed them they can’t stop me” I thought as I started to back deeper into the forest.

“Rainbow Dash, he must be deep in there by now” said Twilight

“Why it have to be her, just curse it”

“Fine but, we shouldn’t let that no good thief get away…” answered Rainbow Dash

I waited in silence for what I think been 8 minutes, just to be sure they left. “I guess I got no choice, since I got no other effective possibilities, I must transform myself into one of them. Strange how of all the druidic powers I failed at, I was able get some sort of transformation down, but it been so long since I tried and this is a form I doubt anyone tried before”.

My stomach started to growl, “I made the right choice in taking a few apples with me” I said as I pulled out the pair of apples, I notice that one of them was crushed, "that must be why my side hurts, must’ve landed on it”.

“Now that that is taken care of, I now need to think of the possible downsides to transforming if I can do it at all. Well, I wouldn’t have thumbs clearly hindering my ability to do much of anything in the ways of bladed combat. I also would need to make myself new armor, though that wouldn’t be a problem as I always carry leather and thread around, I always have question how these bags hold much more than they should”. With the general problems dealt away I decided on taking the risk, “heck I could change back if I need to”.

“Now I must try”, I then removed my armor and set my gear aside. “How did I go about this? It had been a long time”.

“Let the edge of nature come, let it flow to you as the shadows do” a strange voice answered.

I let myself ease, and then I slowly transformed. “Thank you”, a smile crept up onto my face “Cenarius, even though I turned my back on the ways of the druids, I still will thank you”.

“Now, I really need to get used to walking on all fours”. After about an hour of falling on my face every other step, I think I finally got the hang of it. “Well I now know that I can walk, maybe run. I must figure out how I am going to fight like this if I need to”. I reached out to grab one of my daggers as of instinct and picked it up. I stared at my hoof for what seem like an hour, then thought “how the heck did I pick that up with a hoof, you know what, I don't care... I’m just happy I can somehow do that. Now I need to make some armor just, what in what form I should make it, since clearly based off of my current one isn't going to cut it”.

“I guess I can base it off of some of my favorite sets of armor, well there is; Netherblade, Bonescythe, Vengeful Gladiator, Opportunist’s Battlegear, and Conqueror’s Terrorblade”. I examined the materials I had to work with, I had plenty of leather, some rare gems along with some other strange stuff I that I had no clue how I obtained them. “Well I’m not going to use the Vengeful gladiator unless I plan on giving them a heart attack upon sight, Netherblade contains some rare stuff that I just don’t have, so that’s scratch 2. Bonescythe is simple looking but, it also contains really rare materials I just can’t risk using right now. Opportunist’s Battlegear is simple, yet practical, its base design is good for those who are new to this kind of stuff and don’t want to be all that flashy. Conqueror’s Terrorblade tends to put some fear into those who lay eyes upon it and along with the mask might just drive them off”. I check once more on my supplies. “Well since I’m not going to be using a mask and I want to put some fear into their heads to keep unwanted questions away, Conqueror’s Terrorblade will be the best option to go with”. I start to get to work on cutting away the parts of leather I need to start making the armor.

(humanoid version)

“Again, I have no clue how I am able to hold anything at all, but I somehow did it.” I stand back to look at my handiwork. “Perfect, and with the left over leather I was able to convert my bags into saddle bags, added some spots on my armor to conceal my weapons and an easy way to access my poisons.” I start sliding into the armor. Starting with the main body armor first, then adding the bracers, and finally the extra gear such as a necklace, and trinkets. “Well that fits much better than I thought it would for a first try, and I guess I should get some sleep as arriving in the middle of the night would be very suspicious”.

“Well with that spider out of the way and its poison finally worn off, I should get moving again”.

I start to move back into the room with the dead spider and took a look around, but I saw nothing and moved to the next. I walked into a cold and dark room, once my eyes fully adjusted, my past questions were answered, but new ones came. “Well, that’s a lot of bones, almost exceeds… no, that’s never going to happen, that just can’t happen. Now the question is where the heck did these bones come from” I quickly glanced up “nope, no giant spider”. I looked around, seeing nothing but stone walls and bones all over the floor.
“Well I guess I can move on now, wait… did… I see that bone move?” I crept slowly across the bones to where I thought I saw one move, before I was able to reach it, the bone started to float. “Well I’m in trouble, the last time that happened, a giant bone dragon formed up”. Just as I thought, bones started to swirl around the first bone to rise but, more bones started to group separately, once it stopped swirling around, a creature was formed. “Is this some cruel joke...? Bone wolves, two things that I dislike fighting, wolves’, cause they easily get through my stealth. Bones, being immune to poisons, and hard to take on with slashing and stab based weapons. Just…what the heck”.

The Bone wolves, four in all, all started to run towards me and I doing what I do best in spots like this, I chose to run. I moved fastest I could; but I quickly realized that the wolves will catch up to me eventually. “Well if I can’t stab them, maybe I can break them apart with the very material they are made of, after all there are plenty of bones to go around”.

Scooping up a sizeable bone I turned around, then I tumbled beneath the wolf that clawed at where I just was. I took a whack at the wolf’s leg and the leg shattered.

“Gwarrrah”

I jumped back to my feet and attempted to run again but, one of the other wolves slammed into me sending me tumbling into the wall.

“Dang that hurt” I took a deep sigh, “I didn’t want to do this but, DIE IN FIRE!” I yelled as I pulled out a goblin land mine, armed it and tossed it towards the center of the group.

“awwwoh?” the wolves stopped for a moment looking at the mine. The mine exploded, sending shreds of shattered bones everywhere.

“Wow, I didn’t think they would fall for that” I said in astonishment, “I better get rid of the one with the broken leg”. I walked towards the wolf and raised the bone I held and slammed it down on its head, shattering it completely.

I start to look around for possible rooms, but I saw none. “There got to be something, it can’t just be a deathtrap”. Before I could go on my rant on where the next room could be, I found it. By falling into a pitfall trap.

True Contact

“Well, that was a good sleep” I stood up with a little difficulty, “this isn’t going to be a easy day”.

I start to walk to the forest edge hoping I woke at the right time. “Looks like its the middle of the day, perfect”. I looked around to see if anyone was nearby, I saw nothing but, the trail I took to get to the apple farm. “I have two ways to go about this, sneaking past the farm, or just walk by and hope my disguise work”. The answer was clear, I knew I need to test this out.

As I traveled along the road I noticed how peaceful the place was, and how vulnerable they are. “No guards, no sign of guards anywhere, either it really is that peaceful here or they are idiots”.

When I finally neared the farm I saw the orange pony who I remembered being called Applejack, and clearly spotted me “act casual... just act casual, whatever a talking horse race defines casual is”.

“Who are you?” asked Applejack.

“I’m uhh... Accel of the Nightfall” I answered, restraining from face...hoofing myself, “curse it, I used my real name and one of my titles”.

“Thats a strange name. Why do you have armor on?” Applejack said while eyeing my shoulderpads.

“To protect me from possible attacks, I’m not used to areas this peaceful” I replied. “I should move on into town, I got business to deal with”.

“Have you seen a strange biped around?” she said suddenly.

“No I have not, but good luck finding it” I replied. Without listening further I continue down the path to the town.

“Well its clear that my armor is indeed strange here, with me repeatedly getting uneasy looks”. Looking around for some location that would be fitting for information, I spotted the strange pink thing popping up again randomly as of yesterday. “What the heck is that?” I wondered, “do these ponies even...”

“Hi I’m Pinkie Pie, what's your name” The pink pony said while standing on me.

“GET OFF ME!” I yelled at Pinkie Pie while shoving her off.

“I got to throw you a welcome to Ponyville party, bye” Pinkie Pie said while running down the street at impossible speed.

“uhhh....what...?” I said to no one in particular.

“I wouldn’t try to figure her out” a familiar voice said from behind me.

“Oh this is just WONDERFUL...”, I carefully turned around “Yep...Twilight... why am I cursed like this”.

“Oh, I don’t think I ever seen you before. I’m Twilight Sparkle, what’s your name?” Twilight asked.

“I’m... Accel”.

“What is that you’re wearing?” Twilight asked while pointing at my armor.

“Its just something I made, I based it off of something I seen 2 or 3 years ago” I answered

“So you design clothes?” said Twilight

“Yes and no. I sometimes design things but, I primarily just repeatedly use old designs”. I answered, “I’m answering too many questions”.

“What brings you to Ponyville?”

“I’m a traveler, I don’t like to hold myself to one place” I replied, “cause most the time they run me outta town or something”.

“So you're not going to be here long then?” she asked

“Oh, I might be here longer than you think” I then drop my voice, “you know where I can find some information?”

“Well you could come to the library, I can show you the way” Twilight answered

“Library will work, though it's not how I normally do things, I prefer more hidden areas...” I thought, “that’ll work”.

“Where you from?” Twilight asked as she started to walk down the street.

“Far away, its not important” I answered while following along

“What’s your special talent?”

“Special talent?” I replied back.

“You know what you're best at, your cutie mark. With your clothes it makes it impossible for me to see it”.

“Uhhh...” I managed to answer, “so thats why most of these things have marks on their flanks and I really need to get information before I make another slip”. I simply added “not important”.

“So are you some blank flank?” said a voice from above.

Looking up to see who said that, I saw Rainbow Dash, “and I can slice you into tiny pieces without breaking a sweat” I responded without actually talking.

“Rainbow Dash don’t be rude. He just arrived, maybe Accel is just nervus” Twilight said directly to Rainbow Dash.

“Also to add, you know nothing about me, or what I can do” I added, “I have acquired several titles, though I’m not going to even bother mentioning them as you wouldn’t understand them”.

“Well I’m one of the fastest flyers in Equestria” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.

“I don’t care, it takes a lot more than speed to do the things I do” I answered with a blank face.

“Just what is it that you do?” Rainbow Dash questioned.

“None of your business” I answered, “I might just kill her in her sleep, but that would bring up too many worries and questions”. Before I was able to notice, I ran face first into a door, at the base of a tree with windows.

“Are you alright Accel?” Twilight asked.

“I’m fine, that kind of stuff seems to be happening a lot to me lately” I answered while rubbing my head, “oh how many head injuries am I going to subtain before I get out of here...”

“Well, this is my home” said Twilight

“I thought we were going to a library” I said with a frustrated tone, “she lives in a tree...well I lived on a tree at one point so I can’t judge there”.

“It is also a library, more of a personal library but, everypony checks out a book here at some points” Twilight answered

Once Twilight opened, I stepped in and notice the whole place was dark, “Is it normally this dark?” I asked.

The room suddenly lit up, blinding me. With instincts, I take out one of my daggers and got into a defensive position(well the best I could guess for a pony). I heard several gasps, and once the blindness worn off I saw a sign that read ‘Welcome to Ponyville, even though your clothes scare us party!’ I quickly put away my dagger. “Umm I didn’t ask for a party” I said as an attempt to drive a different thought other than my dagger into their minds.

“Its a surprise party silly” Pinkie Pie said answering my statement.

After that line the tension in the room started to ease and the party guests started to talk among themselves. I give a deep sigh, “that could’ve gone worse”.
“Why do you carry a weapon around?” Twilight asked as the party seem to be normal to her.
“Protection, and lets leave it at that” I answered.
“From what?” Twilight questioned.
“The unexpected, I can’t stop it from coming but I can prepare for it” I answered back, “and can you please get them out of here, the last party that I been to that actually ended without much problems was around 14 years ago”.
“Oh, well this one should go fine, Pinky throws the best parties” twilight answered with a hint of sadness in her voice.
“Don’t worry about me, I have no remorse about that. I never really did get along with many I meet” I said, “I need to be really careful about time periods, since I can only assume their lifespan is similar to humans, whereas Night Elves were essentially immortal to aging until that battle...”. I walked over to a chair, avoiding any pony I could and sat down.

“You believe in humans too? Everypony thinks they are only a myth but, I think their real” said a mint green pony that walked over and sat in a chair next to me, "its clear to me, you sit just like one".

“Don’t ask me how, but I know they exist” I said in a whisper to the mint green pony. “Way to mess up your cover even more Accel...”

“YOU DO? Can you say that to my roommate Bon-Bon?” the mint green pony asked me excitedly.

Before I could answer, I saw Pinkie Pie take out a cannon seemingly out of nowhere and it was pointing at my head, whether meant to be or not. “Well once more my head has been hit upon in some way, me and my luck”. Just as I predicted whatever was in that cannon, all hurdled at my head.

Author's Note

As with the other chapters, feel free to note any mistakes in a neutral or positive way, and don't insult anyone or I WILL delete the comment.

Questions

“That fall could’ve killed me, how the heck was anyone supposed to get down here safely, or out of here at all?”. I stood up and took a look around in the room I fell in. On one side there was nothing but a gray, stone wall. At the other end of the room I could see what appears to be a door frame with two statues that appears to be horses with wings and a horn flanking the frame.

“THATS IT?” I yelled, “I risked my life for a door frame and a pair of statues?”

“There better be more than that...maybe that frame have something in it” I said while walking towards the frame. As I got closer the frame suddenly started to light up, and a portal appeared inside. “Well at least I don’t have to try and climb out of this deathtrap, looks like some forest on the other side of the portal, maybe its in northern Kalimdor” I thought. I then stepped into the portal without noticing, just how different the forest was until I was already through.

“I DIDN’T DO IT” I yelled upon awakening before actually looking around.

“Didn’t do what?” Twilight asked.

“Uhhh...its just something I got in a habit of saying upon waking for some reason, and umm what you do with my armor?” I asked

“The doctor took it off” answered Twilight.

Before I responded I took a look around the room, I saw 5 other ponies, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash being some of them, but there were two that I haven’t seen before. One of them is white with a purple mane, and the other is light yellow with a pink mane. “Are all these ponies random colors...”. I turned back to look at twilight “why are you all here? I understand a few of you, but I see no point for most”.

“We just wanted to make sure you were alright, anything wrong with that?” said twilight.

“Hey Accel what’s this?” Pinkie Pie asked while holding a vial with green liquid.

“How the heck she find that, I hid that away in my armor, and thats one of the most deadliest poisons I carry”. Putting my voice as calm as I could “just put that back where you found it, and whatever you do don’t open it or touch anything else you found in my armor, or my bags. Just please tell me you left my things alone”.

“I don’t think anypony other than Pinkie would touched it, what’s so valuable about that ugly old thing?” asked the white pony.

“Well first of all its not old, and some of the gems and other materials I put into making it, took me a long time to acquire. It is also very useful in my line of work, not too heavy, while still giving me the protection I need” I answered.

“I thought you said you craft things” Twilight responded.

“I do, but I make things for myself and sometimes sell things if I am in need of the money. Now can you please just stop asking me questions about my stuff.”

“How you get your cutie mark?” Rainbow Dash Blurted out”

I look back to my flank, and I recognized the symbol anywhere, it was the universal icon that rogues used.

“It’s apart of my life’s work, I’m not explaining”.

“Most ponies would be proud to explain how they got their cutie mark, why aren’t you?” Twilight questioned.

“I never said I wasn’t proud of what I do, I enjoy my work, but many get the wrong idea. Enough of your pondering questions, I had enough, I’m not going to tell you any more” I said in annoyance.

With them giving protest I stood up, and walked over to my things. I opened one of the bags and took a red vial out.

“What’s that?” Twilight asked.

“Doesn’t concern you” I said before I dranked the liquid.

“Is the green stuff for drinking too?” Pinkie ask excitedly.

“No, I only use it for very special cases. I don’t use it often, and for good reasons ” I answered giving a hard stare at Pinkie.

“So you make potions too?” Applejack asked.

“Rarely, its not where my skills lie. Though there are some ends of the job that either requires it or really helpful. Besides didn’t I just tell you ponies to stop asking me questions?” I asked while strapping on my armor.

“The doctor said you shouldn’t be even walking around, let alone leave” said Twilight.

“I think I know a bit more about my limitations then some doctor. I lived on my own with next to no help for a long time. I push myself to my limits often and successfully all the time, you have no idea how foreign hospitals are to me” I replied.

“You shouldn’t be leaving yet, you took quite a blow” Twilight said with concern.

“I had worse, and faced worse. I’ll be fine”

“If you insist on leaving, then would you come with me?” asked Twilight

“Long as you stop asking me personal questions, except I’m not staying here either way” I answered.

“Alright Accel, I try not to ask you personal questions” Twilight replied back.

I followed twilight out of the building, finding that the doctors didn’t seem to even question Twilight. While we walked down the street, I took out my favorite dagger and examined it for any tampering.

“You seem like you don’t trust anypony” Twilight stated.

“Most I encountered don’t trust me, I gotten some to trust me. Others absolutely hate me, and a few as it seems, would gladly help me” I replied.

“Why wouldn’t, wait that be a personal question” Twilight said stopping herself.

“You do seem to hold to your words, that I can respect” I said as we finally approach Twilight’s house. “Well go ahead and open it up”.

Twilight opens up the door and we stepped inside, now that there isn’t any random party in the middle of the room I got a better look around “Well thats a lot books for someo-pony to have as a personal collection” I stated.

“Well they help a lot when I study magic” said Twilight.

“I once studied magic a little but, I had a stronger calling for something else” I said.

“Since earth ponies can’t use magic, I can see that” added Twilight

“The ones with the horns are the only ones that can use magic? Thats interesting” I thought while pulling out my dagger. “Now take a look at this and tell me what you see”.
“I see writing on it but, I’ve never seen that language. What is it?” Twilight asked.

“I didn’t think you’d be able to read it, not many can, it’s ancient” I answered

“Why would you use something that is ancient as a weapon?” Twilight questioned.

“Because that is what it’s meant to be, not to be sitting away in some locked case. I understand there are some things that should be but, it’s power shouldn't be locked away”.
“Can you read it?” She asked.

“I know several languages, so yes I can read it. Now I’ll start by stating the name of the dagger. It’s called Heaven’s Fall, Kryss of a Thousand Lies” I stated.

“With a name like that it sounds evil, why would you even hold something like that?” Twilight asked.

“I’m not done translating, that's just the name. The rest of it goes like this: A lying tongue hates those it crushes, but a flattering mouth works ruin” I said.

“That still sounds evil, but you don’t seem evil” Twilight said with an edge.

“I’m not evil, I can’t say I’m good either though. Most weapons cannot be evil or good only the user determines that” I replied.

“Most?!?” she added.

“Yes there are some that are inherently evil or good. The only evil weapon I can remember of right now is shattered, don’t worry of it” I answered.

“You tell me not to worry about things, and not to bother with others. Just what is it that you are fine to talk casually about?” Twilight asked.

“There are things that just should be left in the past, others that are information only for ones who knows how to handle such knowledge. I can only assume you can not handle such information” I answered.

“I’m one of the elements of harmony, the element of magic” Twilight replied with pride.

“If you’re trying to impress me, it’s not working. I seen many with great powers but, in the end whatever they do, the final outcome will remain, either it be delayed or not” I said while narrowing my eyes.

“I’m not trying to impress you, I’m just trying to give reasons that I can handle it” twilight said.

Before I could get another line, I heard a knock on the door. Looking out of the small window of the door from where I stood, I could only see a golden glow. “What is that Twilight?”

“That must be Princess Celestia” Twilight answered.

“W...w....WHAT” was all I could muster to say.

Business as Usual

“Why would a Princess be visiting a small town like this?” I asked.

“I’m her student” Twilight responded, while opening the door.

“Hello Twilight, I’m here to see if you were able to make any contact with that biped you found a day ago. Oh, who are you?” Celestia asked me.

“Once again no guards, except this one seems to be powerful, so I’ll just assume thats the reason.” I simply straighten up and replied “I am Accel, I am just here to possibly find some information”

“And what information is that?” Celestia questioned.

“I owe you no answers, therefore I will not give one” I answered back with a blank stare.

“Accel, show her some respect, she is royalty.” Twilight said

“Royalty or not, you can’t just judge on where or what something comes from, you have to earn what you have achieved” I replied.

“You speak with deep wisdom, may I ask, where have you learned this? most ponies just bow down to me on sight” Celestia asked

“I learned this myself. Most skills I know, I learned on my own” I said.

“You must have been through many struggles” Celestia replied eyeing my armor. “Few ponies wear clothes, let alone armor”.

“Celestia, Accel refuses to really explain anything in depth. He’ll not even explain how he got his cutie mark, only say that its apart of his work” Twilight said towards Celestia.

“Do you mind me asking what do you do Accel?” Celestia asked looking at me.

“My work is not for you to know. I’ll say this, it is not for those who cannot handle repeatedly dangerous situations” I answered.

“How dangerous?” Twilight asked.

“In general cases, potentially fatal” I answered.

“You talk quite casually about this, where most ponies I know would be horrified, why aren’t you” Celestia questioned.

“What is life without risk, without struggle. This is one reason I tend to dislike royalty, most being born into this life, basically no struggle, handed power. I know the ones who is really in charge of anything tend to be alright, or deemed to corruption. There are some that have obtained my respect, but many I hate” I answered.

“I understand your concerns, but I still ask, don’t you think you might be taking too much of a risk?” Celesia asked

“That's enough questions, just get on with the real reason why you’re here. I’m not one to go blabbing around critical information” I said.

“Alright Accel, now Twilight have you been able to learn anything about the biped before he ran away?” Celestia asked.

“All I learned that it can disappear completely, somehow teleport, and can somehow nullify magic” Twilight answered “It also mention said he was something called a Night Elf”.

“I have not heard of a Night Elf, but for what he did, those types of powers have been forgotten and abandoned since these lands entered a time of peace a thousand years ago” Celestia replied, “Accel have you heard of a Night Elf?”.

“Why would I know more than one who be alive more than a thousand years?” I responded, “Because I’m over six thousand, but that's for me to know and you not to find out”.

“I can see that you are unwilling to add any comments, I’d press more but I got duties to attend to” Celestia said as she teleports out.

“Well that seemed pointless” I said to Twilight

“How was it pointless?” Twilight asked

“Nothing was solved, nothing was planned. I do understand knowledge is valuable, but this case it didn’t serve” I answered.

The door suddenly opened and a purple and green scaled biped with a tail walked inside, it was about two feet tall. “Who are you?” it asked me.

“Rather what are you” I asked the creature.

“I’m Spike, a dragon” Spike responded.

“Definitely different than the ones I know of, still seems young like a whelping” I thought, “Well I guess I see no reasons to stick around here, you might see me around town, maybe not”

“W...wait, there is some strange black and gray thing flying out there, it isn’t very big but its spewing out some sort of gas” Spike warned me.

“I’ll be fine, besides you can’t stop me from going out there anyway” I replied back to Spike.

I opened the door and stepped out looking around the empty street. “That description fits almost perfectly with him”. As I continue to look around I spotted a tan colored filly with a red mane huddled against the wall, “are you alright?” I asked.

“Is it ggg...gone?” the filly asked keeping her hoofs over her eyes.

“To be honest, I haven't even seen it” I answered patting the filly.

The filly slowly lowered her hooves from her eyes only to quickly to move them back with a quick ‘eep’.

“My armor might be somewhat scary but, I have no intentions of harming you” I said trying to keep my voice as calm as I could.

“Nnn...no its behind you” the filly said with fear in her voice.

I turned around to look at what was scaring the residents. I saw a small little dragon whelping of what I know of back on Azeroth, it was black and gray as Spike said and about a foot tall, I immediately smile. “Daisho, you just can’t keep away from my adventures can you?” I said while hugging him. Daisho responded with a happy roar.

“You know what that is?” the filly asked me with wide eyes.

“Yes, yes I do. This little guy is my companion. I told him to stay behind, but he’ll never stay away” I answered.

“What is it?” the filly asked.

“Before I answer that, who are you?” I counter questioned.

“My name is Apple Bloom, and umm...who are you?” Apple Bloom replied

“Hmm maybe I should use one of my titles here, no reason not to” I thought, “I’m Accel the Wakener”.

As the filly was about to respond a loud roar came in the distance. “Sounds like trouble, I should go stealth”. I glanced over to Apple Bloom “I shouldn't leave her defenseless, its just isn't in me to do that”. I raised my voice a little “Apple Bloom, you should go find shelter, it is no longer safe”. I then turn to Daisho “don’t get into any trouble, I hate to return without you”.

Apple Bloom started to go down the street, while Daisho flew up to the rooftops. Then the beast makes it’s appearance, I recognized it’s form quickly “a manticore I thought they were extinct, not here apparently”. I pulled both of my daggers out, and quickly applied crippling and mind numbing poisons to them. “You’ll never even get a hit on me, if you run you might even live”.

The manticore rushed at me, but I easily sidestep the charge and held out the blade of Heaven’s Fall to cut along the beat’s side as it passed. “Fighting with primal rage is not effective, the power may be strong, yet you’ll miss plenty” I said to the beast.

Before giving it any time to recover I shadowstep behind it and drove both of my daggers into it’s back right leg, one dagger from the outside and the other from the inside. The beast tried to retaliate by swinging its tail at me but I jumped out of the way in time.

“You could have ran after my first attack but, you now sealed your fate” I said to the manticore. The beast roared with pain, I ran around to its side, dodging every attack it tries to make. “Don’t worry, I’ll end your suffering quickly” I said to the beast while infusing my daggers with pure shadow. “I hope you don’t fear total darkness” I stated as I drove both of my daggers into the manticore’s neck. The beast stopped moving completely.

“You...you killed it” a soft voice said from behind me.

I turned around and saw the tan colored mare with a pink mane, “in the end all dies. This one brought it upon itself by attacking me”.

The mare’s eyes grew harsh, “HOW DARE YOU”.

Fluttershy

I looked at the mare, “now if that stare is supposed to do something, I can tell you its not working”.

“Why did you kill it” the tan mare asked with her voice dropping.

“Why? why did I kill it? first of all it tried to kill me first. Secondly, if I didn’t stop that manticore it was a good chance it’ll harm or kill a pony” I responded.

“You didn’t have to kill it” she said with her voice fairly quiet.

“What you expect me to do, let it crush and kill me?” I asked the mare

“N..no” the mare stumbled out.

“Your response is flawed, you need to look at the possible outcomes as well. If it truly wanted to survive, it would of stopped attacking me and run off, but it chose to fight instead of flee” I said looking down onto the mare. “You seem to have yet to learn there are cases where something must die, I learned this long ago. Possibly too early some might say, but the past is sealed”

“You could've let it go when it was injured, but you just went for the kill like some sort of monster” the mare replied with her voice growing harsh again.

“Monster? You think I’m a monster? HA, that's a new one. I been called many things: pickpocket, thief, spy, murderer and outcast” I take in a deep breath, “you’ll never understand, you just can’t possibly“.

“You...you murder?” the tan mare said with great fear in her voice.

“There we go, just as it always happens, soon as one learns of what others have called me, its the same deal all over again” I said, “I guess I’ll have to add this place to the list of areas I should never come back to again”. I started to walk down the street.

“Wait, hold on” the mare called out to me, “maybe if you explain your side of the story, I might understand some more. Although I still don’t agree to killing”

I turned around “I would tell you some of my story, but I can guarantee you its longer then you have been alive. So I will not, for I don’t even know your name, I just don’t know if I can trust you”

“My name is Fluttershy, and why don’t you trust me?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well can assume you mean no harm but, after a lifetime of prejudice against me, along with other reasons, I just am unable to trust anypony when I barely know them” I answered

“I’m willing to listen”

“Fine I’ll answer SOME questions”

“ummm before we talk any more can we...go somewhere else” Fluttershy said while eyeing the corpse of the Manticore.

“I understand, but before we leave, I’d like you to meet a companion of mine. Fluttershy do me a favor and don’t be scared. Daisho come down here”

A happy roar came out from the roofs, and Daisho made his appearance. He flew down and landed on my back.

“It’s, it’s” Fluttershy eye’s widened, “ADORABLE!”

“Yes, I know Daisho is loveable” I replied “good thing she doesn’t know he’s from a estentally corrupted dragon flight, but like me, he isn’t like the others of his kind”. “Since I have no real home, I can only assume yours is the only private place to talk".

“Oh, umm I guess that will be alright, I’ll lead the way then” Fluttershy said.

Fluttershy started walking down the street, and I followed along. As we near the edge of town in silence, I started thinking “Just how much can I really say, I clearly cannot reveal that I’m not truly a pony”.

“Umm Accel?” Fluttershy spoke, interrupting my chain of thought.

“What?” I replied.

“You mentioned that your story be longer than I have been alive, just how old are you?” Fluttershy asked

“I stopped keeping close attention to my own age quite a bit ago, how long I been around no longer matters to most” I answered

“so you don’t even know how old you are?” Fluttershy said with shock

“Correct, I do not know. My sense on how long ago things were, in the case of long terms, is rather poor” I said. “I know a rough estimate, but my age shouldn’t be of concern to you”.

Fluttershy stopped suddenly and turned towards me, “stop assuming I don’t care, I do care”.

“Why do you? I am a complete stranger to you. You even considered me as a monster” I replied

“I was wrong to judge you without even knowing the kind of life you been through” Fluttershy said with sadness.

“You are different. How much further is this place of yours?”

“It’s right over there” Fluttershy said while pointing her hoof towards a small little house.

“You live awfully close to that forest, don’t you think thats a bit risky for one such as you?”

“My special talent is communicating with animals, I like to get to know any I meet” Fluttershy responded.

“I better not tell her that I work with leather without her asking first or this could get ugly” I thought. “Well what do you want to know about me? I’ll choose whether to answer or not”
“Umm... okay. Do you... kill... often?” Fluttershy asked hesitantly.

“That would be a yes, the thing is, when you're being hunted down to be killed or captured all the time that’s going to happen” I responded “though, I am very good at hiding, and I prefer to do so, but things are just not that simple”.

“Www...what would be hunting you down?” then her eyes widen “are they evil?”

“Most the time yes, or at least to a degree” I said, “you never know. In recent years, things have really gone crazy”.

“With Nightmare Moon, Discord, and that Changeling invasion... I have to agree”

“Umm...yeah... that was crazy” I replied as we arrived at Fluttershy’s house.

“You sound like you never heard of them” Fluttershy said as she opened the door and stepped in.

“I have, I have I just forgot for a moment” I responded defensively, “Oh how I love using half-truths”.

I stepped inside Fluttershy’s house and took a good look around. The room was very simple with a coach, a table and some chairs set around the room. I then notably spotted a rabbit hopping inside the room.

“What is that rabbit?” I asked

“Thats Angel” Fluttershy responded, “what is Daisho anyway?”

“He is a Dragon, apart of a dragon flight that been corrupted. I do not know what caused this corruption. Basicly it left him in the form you see now but, his mind remains untainted unlike most of the others” I replied, “honestly he is lucky, and I am lucky for that”

Daisho flew off my back and went over to follow Angel around. It was clear the rabbit did not like that and tried to push him away.

“Let him have his fun, I trained him so he doesn’t harm anything that doesn’t deserve it” I said.

“What I really wonder is, how did you make your weapons change color like that?”

“Huh?...oh you’re talking about this ability called shadow blades, it doesn’t really matter of what weapon I use, it maters on the user. In general, when its correctly used, it attacks with shadow. Don’t ask me how shadow can hurt, it’s too hard to explain” I said, “I’ll let you ask a few more questions before I leave”

“But you just arrived”

“I know that, but its nearing dusk and I like to sleep outside”

“Then umm, how you get your cutie mark?”

“There it was again, what in the world does cutie mark mean...all I can assume is they relate to what they are good at, and mine is the universal rogue icon...” I thought, “By being a rogue, a master of stealth and trickery. I’m giving you one last question”

“Umm I know I just met you but...”Fluttershy quickly became impossible to understand.

“No. I am not interested in a relationship”

“Not that I was just wondering if you wanted to come to Canterlot tomorrow with me and my friends”

“Good thing I have good hearing...and this would be perfect to get somewhere else with potential guides” I thought, “Alright I’ll come, but wouldn’t your friends mind?”

“No no, they’ll be fine with it”

“If you say so” I said while walking out the door, “Bye, and Daisho, come here”

Once the door was shut, I shadowstep to the roof of Fluttershy’s house and waited for Daisho to fly up. “Alright, you can go out and hunt for a bird or something, but don’t harm anything that seems like it belongs to one of these ponies got it?”

Daisho makes a small roar, and I took that as a simple yes.

“And leave some for me, I’d like something to eat in the morning”

Blue Onto Green

“I can’t believe they let me come. I’m still a stranger, why are they so trusting” I thought.

“Accel, are you alright? you haven’t said a word since we got on” Fluttershy asked, who happens to be sitting across from me.

“I just worry about Daisho, I don’t like leaving him with strangers”

“Spike will take good care of him” Twilight said from across the aisle.

“Lookie its Canterlot” Pinkie’s voice appeared from nowhere.

“Impressive, though you should’ve seen Silvermoon back before the first Scourge invasion” I said, then suddenly face hoofed. “Sure, and tell them about the second invasion of the Burning Legion...oh boy they would be doomed if that happened here”.

“What's the Scourge?” Applejack asked.

“Think of the worse thing you ever seen, then multiply it thousands of times” I responded.

“How can something be that bad?” Twilight asked.

“Don’t even...” I stood up, and harden my voice, “It is one of the worse things to come along in ten thousand years, I know what I’m talking about, I’ve fought it”.

“You spoke of it as another invasion came along”

“There was a second, and it still exist, but luckily it is being kept dormant as much it can be”. I sighed, “stop worrying about that horrid thing, we’re here anyway”.

“Why haven’t we heard about such a thing if its so dangerous?” Twilight asked me with concern.

“To keep mass panic from happening, so I suggest you to keep this to yourself” I walked towards the door then turned around, “I’m going to explore a bit, you might not see me again”, I gave a casual salute and ran out the door.

After running for 5 minutes straight, I finally decided to actually look around. The buildings were fit for the rich, and I see many ponies warring formal looking cloths. “Looks like I found myself in one of them filthy rich cities, should've guess by the name”.

“Hey you” a voice came from a nearby alley.

I walked to the alley and saw a hooded figure, “If this some sad attempt to mug me, I’d recommend you not to try or you’ll be the one being mugged”.

The hooded figure chucked a little, “not only looking like it, you have an attitude to back it up”. The figure motioned me closer, “I got a potential job you might be interested in”.

"Why I've finally found somepony that isn’t all law following, other then breaking the natural...ah forget it”. Walking closer, I lowered my voice “it depends on restrictions and reasons behind it”.

“First I ask you something, are you handy at getting past tight security?”

“From that line I can already have some guess what this might involve: spying, thievery, kidnapping, or perhaps assassination”

“I’ve met others who can guess my intentions quickly but confidence lacking, when I tell them where and who”

“Long as the location is actually possible to get in and out of, my restrictions fall into the reasons why. I don’t go against high priority targets for the sake of it, nor do I kidnap”.

“I can take care of getting in for you, but thou must succeed and escape, for I cannot save you then without risking my position”

“Just spit out the target, and the intel I need”

“I want you to kill Prince Blueblood, for he does nothing other than insult my people and think anypony that isn’t royalty as dirt”

“Now that is quite a target, and your wording really makes me wonder, are you royalty as well?”

“I will not lie to you, but this will be the greater good”

“Sounds like corruption to me”

“I can tell you have a connection to the shadows, I have not seen a connection in a pony for a long time.”

“I only met one other that even seems to know of this, though she claims that they all have slowly disappeared a thousand years ago. How bout this, I’ll do the deed but, you have to tell me who you are, after I escape”.

“The fact that I am royalty, and you only ask for who I am as a reward and nothing else, is not what I expected”

“I don’t do this for the money, I do it for the thrill” I responded, “now cut to the chase, what time?”

“Now would be best. I will teleport you inside of his room, so I recommend you to be ready. The patrols should be less during the day”

“Aww dang, I like a bigger challenge”

“One last thing, do whatever necessary to escape but no killing or I WILL get you imprisoned”

“Eh, I try to avoid killing anything innocent anyhow” I replied while pulling out a mask that completed my armor, “good thing I had the foresight to make this”.

“Prepare yourself” the hooded figure said as a bright light suddenly flashed before my eyes.

“What sort of filthy ape are you?” a voice came from behind me.

“Looks like I can’t hold form under teleportation, good thing my armor changed with the rest of me”, I turned around and saw a white Stallion than gave a little chuckle. “Oh, I’m no ape, I am your end”.

“GUA...”

I kicked him in the face, “I don’t need you to be doing that, there only needs to be one death here”

“That's what guards are for, to throw their pathetic life away in protecting royalty”

"and there is a good reason why you are pathetic"

"Your the one who is Pathetic, to resort to such a low act as this, there are reasons why you people belong in the dirt and Filth"

"A lowly act for a for a spoiled and rotten royal, I will enjoy this"

"No, I am the one who will enjoy seeing you in shackles"

“How do you want me to do this, the painful way or the more painful way?”

“How bout GUA...”

I kicked him in the face once more, “I was wondering if you could die with some honor, my answer is clear now”.

“I’ll double what they are paying you!” Blueblood desperately

“I don’t believe you can double zero” I punched Blueblood in the stomach “this is for justice”

“I done nothing wrong”

“Maybe nothing against the law, but doing nothing but bring harm to all around you, that calls for some sort of action. The only thing I’ll regret is not being able to do this sooner”

“GUAR...”

I punched him the gut, then brought my dagger up into his jaw. Blueblood fell to the floor bleeding, “Looks like you bleed red, how bout we see you bleed green”. I quickly applied my most lethal poison to my double pronged dagger ‘Crux of the Apocalypse’ then drove it into Blueblood’s neck. Then the door suddenly opened.

“Prince Blueblood, are you all.....” The guard noticed me, “YOU! Put down your weapons NOW”

“Really?” I face-palmed, “that's all you got?”

“Surrender yourself now or I will take action”

“Let me think about it”

I slashed at the guard’s legs, making a deep cut in his leg. Jumping over the guard I ran out into the hallway.

“Stop..Ahhhaugh” The guard cried out.

Continuing my run, I wrapped the shadows around me. The hallway was long, with tall glass windows, and little guards. Of what guards I did see, clearly did not noticed me.

“Soon this place will be on high alert, need to find an exit soon”.

As on cue I spotted an opening to the outside, but I also saw Celestia near it. Hoping that the princess could not see me, I ran as fast I could, passing her and out the opening. Well that is what I tried before she somehow ripped me out of stealth and held me in place with her magic.

“What are you doing here?” Celestia asked me.

Without bothering to give an answer, I forced her magic off of me, and gave a polite kick to the head. The kick didn’t knock her out as I wanted, but it did daze her, giving me the time to get out the door and a good head start.

A few screams and punches later, I finally got to the train station. Noticing that the train was starting to leave, I gave the last bit of energy I had to make a leap to the end of the train.

“Phew, didn’t think I’d make it this time” I said while pulling off my mask.

“I think I heard something back here” said Rainbow Dash’s voice from behind the door.

“Nuts, need to risk transforming, even with the last of my energy depleted”. I focused onto transforming back, managing to get my armor to convert with me just in time.

The door opened with Rainbow Dash behind it, “you look like you been running”

“I” taking in a deep breath “was, almost... missed train”

The Warlock

A few days after the assassination of Blueblood, all of the ponies around me been more tense but some seem somewhat happy that he is now dead. Still the royal that sent me to do the deed have not hold the other end of the deal. So I took my time reading the books at Twilight’s tree, and answering very vaguely on what Daisho can do.

“So can he breathe fire or not?” Twilight asked me.

“Yes, he create flame” I answered “two different types”.

“Two different kinds of flames? what are they?”

“This will be my last answer for the night, green flames and purple. The green can heal, while the purple burn and restricts healing”.

“How is that even possible?”

“I don’t know, but that's enough information”

“You still never answer my questions with much detail” Twilight responded in frustration.

“There are still things you should not know until it actually comes” I said while opening the door, making sure Daisho wouldn’t slide off my back while he sleeps.

Stepping outside, it was clear I been there longer than I wanted as it was several hours into the night. Continuing down the path towards the forest where I have set up camp slightly deeper inside. I kept down the path while keeping an eye out for any danger.

“Must be getting paranoid” I muttered

“You are indeed very tense” a voice came from above me

I looked up and saw a dark blue alicorn coming down to land next to me, “what you want with me?”

“I am Princess Luna, and I am holding my end of our deal”

“I wondering if I had to go hunt you down or not”

“I do not break my word unless is required. May I see the blade that killed him?’

“No”

“What reasons do you have to deny?”

“It wasn’t easy for me to get a hold of them, one of them I dang near died to get it. Then again, I think that was the case for most of my weapons”

“I’m not going to take them away from you, or do you rather... show me your true form?”

“Wait ,what?”

“I saw you transform right as you teleported, you do not need to hide from me”

“Not like your much of a threat to me, considering you ponies with the horns rely on magic a bit too much”

“I am the princess of the night, my powers are greater at this time. I can still put you in for the other crimes you have committed”

“I don’t think you want to go down this road, just ask me a thousand questions that I will answer vaguely or not at all” I said while lowering Daisho to the ground.

“Just answer this question with your full hon...”

“No” I said interrupting Luna as I saw something in the forest near us move.

“So you are just going to lie to me?”

I dropped my voice to a whisper, “get down and stay down”

“Why?”

Without putting in another word I shoved Luna aside, and threw one of my shurikens at the figure, then ran towards it.

Suddenly, a small green fireball came out near where I saw the figure and hit my front left leg, knocking me off balance and tripping.

“There are only a few things that can use fire like that, good guess being an imp”. I stood up, while my leg still partly in flames, I continued my run at the last spot I saw the figure.

More green fireballs started to come from the forest, but unlike the first, I was on guard, so I was able to dodge them left and right. Running around the nearest tree, I was hit by a small purple ball of energy, knocking me down.

“How in the world are you able to throw that shuriken, you don’t have hands” said a thick voice.

Moving my head to see what talked, I saw a short but hardy biped, with a long red beard and purple wings sprouted out of his back. Quickly as I saw him, the wings vanished.

“Unless my eye is failing me again, I have to say this is a welcomed surprise” I thought, “hold it, I thought you were something else”.

“I never seen something such as you, are you some sort of twisted horse?” the figure said.

I chuckled a little “no, I’m not one of them at all Krelas. I’m lucky I pulled this off at all”

Krelas’ eyes widen with realization, “I blew your cover didn’t I?”

“Not really, I lost part of it already, I don’t know how much is still intact”

“How you pull that disguise off, it seems so real...”

“Remember how I told you I once tried becoming a druid? well this is as much I could do”

“What was that thing you were talking to?”

As I was going to answer, Luna yelled “YOU TWO COME HERE”.

“Guess we better get out there before she wakes up the whole town, and try to keep any of that warlock thing hidden. I don’t think they know much at all about demons” I said to krelas.

“Ey, guess we better not keep the lady waiting”

Walking out of the forest with Krelas in tow, I noticed that Luna had some dirt on her from when I pushed her aside, “before you say anything, a little dirt doesn’t hurt anyone”.

“I don’t care about the dirt, its just that I don’t want you to go killing each other, especially when this one's intentions are unknown” Luna replied.

“you don’t have to worry about us killing each other lady, we already tried killing each other several times, never could succeed” Krelas said.

“You know each other?”

“We do, although we been rivals longer” I responded, “and um, how did you get here?”

“Most likely the same way you have, though we might have more coming along this time” Krelas said.

“So they are finally starting to try and take control of those ruins, and they sent you to scout out what was behind the portal?”

“Got it on the mark. They are saying you betrayed them”

“What is going on here? What ruins and what portal?” Luna asked with irritation.

“I really don’t know what created it, just that it ends with a portal that opens into the forest out there. Although I don’t think its two way”

“Hey Accel, I don’t know your relations with this, umm...”

“Pony” Luna said

“Umm yes, but I think we need to talk about what I seen in those ruins, or more so on the energy I felt”.

“Krelas, as much as I don’t like sharing information that can be critical, I think Luna here can keep a secret” I replied

“Alright if you say so. Back when I was in those ruins, especially near the end, I notice a faint hint of demonic energies. Very weak, but there”

“How long ago you think think was the last time anything step in there?”

“Hard to tell, but I don’t think it was some crazed warlock”

“I really hope they don’t have some connection...or all is lost here”

“There is plenty of magical energy here, maybe not”

“Don’t you remember... our home is the only place they failed to destroy, we have hardly anything left to defend ourselves now, not from them”

“What are you two talking about?” Luna asked

I turned to face Luna, “A massive and destructive force. Something that desires nothing but undoing life, The Burning Legion”

Author's Note

As I have said in past chapters, feel free to leave any comments, just don't be rude about it.

I also like to thank Krelas, whom I play with in World of Warcraft for inspiring me on some of the ideas I have put into this chapter.

Another Chance?

Luna’s eyes widen “That is coming here?!”

“Hold on, don’t get your nerves up” I held up my hooves, “it’ll come, I can’t say when. Think of this, it wouldn’t matter if you knew or not”

“How did your world stop it?” Luna asked.

“First time, we blew up the strongest source of magical energy we had. That was over ten-thousand years ago” I responded “forget about them until the time comes”

“Umm there is a pony over there” Krelas said pointing at a white pony with a purple mane.

I locked my eyes with the pony and realized it was one of Twilight’s friends, “I better corner her or knock her out before she gets away”. I stepped back and enveloped myself with the shadows.

The White pony gasped, and turned around as to make a run, but I shadowsteped to block her. She clearly did not see me and bumped into my invisible from.

“I cannot let you leave” I said while making myself visible again.

“Wha...how you do that?” the mare asked me.

“None of your business as you being here is not, but now that you are here, I need to do something about this”

“Leave Rarity alone” Luna said walking up to us.

“You know this one?”

“Please let me go, I will not tell anypony” Rarity said.

“Too risky, what you think Krelas?”
“Ey, don’t bring me into this” Krelas responded while holding his hand up.
“Fine, I will silence her best way I know how” I said while grabbing my double pronged blade.

“NO” Luna yelled.

“Well what you think I should do?” I asked lowering my blade slightly.

“Let her go, if she promises not to talk”

“I promise!” Rarity almost yelled.

“You expect me go to off of words? You ponies are too trusting, far too trusting” I said.

“You live off of lies and deceit, I can not expect you to understand trust” Luna responded.

“Oh you think I live off of other’s misery?” I said while letting my form change to my true form, this earning a gasp from Rarity. “I may be a rogue, but I’m not evil. I am not good either, for what I do. You are right, I am used to lies, to deceit, for it is what keeps me alive. I have few allies, and those few hardly trust me, how can I trust them in return?”

“Lady, please be easy on the poor lad” Krelas said. “As I hope you can tell, he have horrible trust issues. It took him three years until he started to talk deeper feelings to me. He doesn’t exactly have much to show him where trust helps”

“He have to trust Rarity or he will have to deal with me” Luna said.

“Fine, I’ll let her go, but by Elune’s light I’ll not give you a chance to even blink if you betray me”

“I will not allow you to harm her even if she speaks out”

“Then what is keeping her from speaking? if the fear of death is not it, is it pride?”

“I’ll make it so that her work will never be seen again in Canterlot”

I chuckled a bit “oh, I see threat to lose part of ones life work, that is motivation alright” I sheath my weapon, and let Rarity run off. “If someone came up to me and said I would never be a rogue again, I’d laugh in their face and possibly stab them on the spot”

“So it is clear you’re not going to change your ways, but if you are going to blend in better, you got to stop using that armor”

“Stop using my armor? Not a blasted chance, besides my mark would bring about even more useless questions. Also to top that off I would no longer be able to properly conceal my weapons”

“What is thy cutie mark?”

Krelas suddenly burst out laughing “thats what those things on your flanks are called?” his laughter died down, “another thing to add, what am I supposed to do?”

“Well if I have to say anything on that, I would want you to go back to that forest and keep the Alliance from coming here, and thus Hellscream” I put my hand on Krelas’ shoulders, “we both know what would happen if he discovers this place”.

“So I’m going to go stop em from coming here even though I have no clue how to get back?”

“Correct, you understand portal magic more than I ever would, so I know you can do it”

“And if I can’t convince them?”

“Then we better hope something comes along and forces them to work together, although something like that would have to be deadly considering, the two sides functions on kill on sight and destroy their bases. Quite disappointing, there is a few races apart of the Horde that I’ve once been able to travel in peace with”

“Stop talking about your ridiculous lifespan, I get it, you been around a long time”

“I asked you a question rogue, what is thy cutie mark?” Luna asked me again.

“So we are on a profession basis now? Ah, who cares what you call me, I don’t”. I turned to Krelas “this is your cue, try and stop em from coming. Send an imp if you need backup”. Krelas simply nodded to me and ran off back into the forest.

“Stop ignoring my questions” Luna said with irritation.

“You want me to slap you? I’ll let you know that I’m an experienced diplomat”

“I highly doubt anypony would trust you to negotiate with other nations”

“They throw me into messes that is expected to go downhill anyway, expect me to get killed. My mere presence sometimes is enough to scare whatever I am dealing with, or drive them into a blood filled rage to rip my head off. Now that I think of it, I am really bad at peaceful negotiations.”

“You get in trouble a lot don’t you?”

“Mainly because of my life style choices, more or less”

“Will you steal from the ponies here?”

“Will I? I make no promises, considering I already had. Also to consider the fact that my other and more honest side of work wouldn’t exactly sit well here, I be bored to death”

“You could try and make friends”

“Friends? What good will that bring me?”

“Isn’t Krelas your friend?”

“Uhhh...sort of. We have what some might call...a mutual understanding. We both been accused of things we did not do, for simply on our choices in our paths. The both of us sometimes do some work together, team up if you wish to say”

“From what I heard, you two began as rivals, known each other for a bit, do things together, admit it or not, your friends”

“I...ummm, no...we’re just partners”

“Call it whatever you want, but you need to try to make some friends if you’re going to stay here.”

“So you’re going to let a known assassin, thief, and trespasser stay? That is the most outrageous and idiocy move I seen since... actually nevermind, I seen worse...”

“I am giving you a chance to have something you clearly don’t back in your world, and besides, your pony form is not a known criminal”

“Rarity knows”

“She will not say anything”

“I still say you put too much trust in this, but then again I don’t know your pass relations”

“Those matters aside, what of this Alliance you speak of?”

“Oh that? I have several ties with them, the Alliance itself I believe is fine, but this is not the time for them to be discovering a new and strange land, for there is already one they are trying to keep from the grips of the Horde, it will only bring more problems”

“So you're having your friend-”

“Partner”

“Partner, go back and keeping them from discovering this place?”

“Exactly, both sides is not really evil at all, just that their hate for each other is the problem. The pandarians are right, it is a ‘race’ war”

“You stand by the Alliance?”

“Well my people in general, I can’t say I am going full charge for them, but it’s a better choice above the way the Horde is currently being runned”

“I see, well I have duties to attend to. I do hope you heed my advice” Luna then vanished with a flash of light from her horn, leaving me alone to my thoughts.

“Make friends...why do I need friends, last time I really went and considered that...I nearly got my left eye ripped out” I looked over at the still sleeping Dashio “if it wasn’t for him coming along, I would’ve been dead.”

I focused my energy and transformed back in my pony form and then I picked up Dashio and set him on my back. “Having friends never helped me for long, they always get used against their will, to strike out against me, sure the one who do this I kill, but most of the time my friend die in the process or never want to see me again” I sighed “Krelas has yet to experience that, but it will happen, it always happens.”

Exposure

I woke up to find Dashio scratching my face “I’m up, I am up, you don’t have to do that anymore”

“Should I really care about what Luna said? It clearly would ease tension a little if I don’t use my armor, but I would be sacrificing my protection, and the ability to easily conceal my weapons. Considering the fact that this land is normally quite peaceful and I still would be carrying my saddle bags…leaving me use to my other more utility tools, and ‘Blade of Life’s Inevitability’ is small enough to fit”. I sighed, “I hope I am making the right choice” I said out loud while starting to peel off my armor, revealing my dark crimson fur.

I looked over to Daisho to find him eating a bird, “Daisho, you stay here and watch over my things, you know how valuable those daggers are”. The little dragon replied with a small roar and then continued on his meal.

Walking to the river near the town, I continued to feel uneasy about not using my armor. As usual I saw nothing out of the ordinary green grass and the cobblestone pathway into the town. Arriving to the river I took a look at my reflection for the first time in my pony form without armor. My eyes were amber colored as usual, but not very bright as they once been when I was younger “guess all those years of living in the shadows does that”. Retaining my hair color from my normal form, my mane is white.

“Hi mister, are you new to town?” a voice came from behind me.

I turned around, and saw the same filly I helped from the manticore many days back “Depends on your definition of new, Apple Bloom”

“Oh its you! I hardly could tell without your clothes” The filly said “oh and umm, thank you for saving me”

“I don’t let the young ones, such as you, get harmed; you got a right to live”

“How you get your cutie mark? I’ve never seen anything like it” Apple Bloom said eying my flank.

“I’m not going to answer that and before you even ask why, I’ll tell you I’m not answering that either”

“Why not?”

“What did I just tell you?”

“That you wouldn’t tell me why...” Apple Bloom said with sad eyes.

“I hate it when them children makes those faces at me, but it is best for her not to even have a hint of what a Rogue is” I thought. I stood up and turned back to Apple Bloom “I’m going to move on now”

“Can I come with you?”

“I’m going to regret this”. “You may, but only if you don’t have anywhere to be”

“I ummm... got to help meh sister on the farm”

“Then you better go help her” I said, “well at least I will not have any pestering questions from a filly”.

I nodded to the filly and then walked into town. Right away I noticed that fewer eyes were peering on me compared to when I had my armor on, but there was still glancing at me as I was a complete stranger. I heard whispers of them wondering what my cutie mark was, but clearly none of them summoned the courage to ask me.

I looked up to the sky and noticed a cloud was following me “how the heck...that can’t be possible, but here it is and...it’s darkening...”. A lightning bolt shot out of the cloud and struck me “GAH, what the heck is wrong with that cloud”. I looked back up to the sky, but only to find that the cloud moved on “is nature itself trying to kill me now?”

“Are you okay?” a mint green pony asked while walking up to me.

“I’ll be fine, not the first time I been hit by lightning” I replied.

“Do I know you? It feels like I talked to you before...oh, you're the guy who also believe humans exists”

“I don’t believe it, I know it, but those matters aside, you have any idea what is wrong with that cloud?”
“You KNOW HUMANS EXIST? How, where?!”
“Way to mess up your cover with your correcting...honestly, my cover is falling apart by the day” I thought, “well I couldn’t take you to them if I tried, so umm...good luck with that”. I turn around to walk away, only to run into the green pony.
“Can you tell me more about them? What are they like? I got so many questions!”
“First of all, I don’t know your name; second, if we are going to have a decent conversation at all, this is not the place”
“My name is-”
“There you are Lyra” a pony with a pink and blue mane walked up to us, “and who are you?”

“Rather, who are you?” I countered questioned.

“Bon-bon, wait...your Accel aren't you?”

“Wow these names are almost more idiotic than the crazy people in Goldshire”. I stepped back a little, “I see that you heard of me”

“Hard not to, you're the strangest pony in town and from what I heard, you have a creature no pony have seen before with you at times. Also, according to Lrya, you believe in humans”

“What’s wrong with believing in something that no...pony or hardly no ponies thinks exist?” Looking out of the corner of my eye I saw Rarity and a few others going into Twilight’s tree “I better get in there soon as I can”

“Because they do not exist, and never had”

“Ok, humans are not real at all” I said while pushing as much sarcasm in my voice as I could, “I need to go now”. I started to walk into the nearby alley.

“Maybe we can talk later” I heard lyra say as I entered the alley.

Making sure there was no pony watching me, I entered my stealth mode and then sneaked my way to the tree. Trying the door, I noticed it was locked “If that doesn’t scream secret meeting of some sort... I don’t know what is”. Pulling out my lockpick, I easily picked the lock and squeezed my way in, being careful not to open the door widely.

After shutting the door softly as I could I saw six ponies in the room, five of them best known as Twilight’s friends: Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and of course Twilight herself is there. It quickly became clear to me that they did not notice the disturbance I caused as they did not comment or react to the door moving.

“Why did you call us here Applejack?” Twilight spoke.

“Well several of meh apples been disappearing, not enough to clearly notice either” Applejack responded.

“Those apples of yours been very helpful for keeping me from going hungry, I don’t want to risk having to eat in town...although I look the part, I’m still an omnivore and I’m quite sure I can’t stomach the wheat without it being bread of some sort”

“I bet it was that Accel creep” Rainbow Dash blurted out.

“I don’t think so, he have not really shown any real attitude for stealing, or much opinion at all, maybe it was that biped” Twilight responded. “What do you think Fluttershy?”

“I..I don’t know, he seemed to feel like he is misunderstood” Fluttershy said.

“Who? You mean Accel?” Rainbow Dash asked, and Fluttershy nodded.
“You mean he actually told you things that actually have detail?” Twilight asked with shock, Fluttershy nodded again.

“Well this isn’t good, but I can’t intervene without making it much worse. This is bad” I thought.

“Well, when with this Fluttershy?” Applejack asked.

“When that Manticore attacked...” Fluttershy answered.

“You mean the one that ended up dead with only a few cuts?”

“Yes”

“Did you see what happened?” Applejack said, and Fluttershy nodded.

“What happened?” Applejack asked

“He.....he...killed it”

“He may look like he can run, but there is no way he could take on a manticore” Rainbow Dash said.

“Watch me fight some dragons and then try saying that again” I thought.

“We can try and ask him how and why he did that later, but what did you meant by he feels as he is misunderstood” Twilight said with concern.

“He says many call him things, and prejudge him and that he is being hunted down all the time” Fluttershy responded.

“Sounds like a criminal if you ask me” Applejack said.

“Rogues typically start like criminals, but many evolve from simple and petty thievery” I added in thoughts.

“Did he say anything on what his cutie mark is?” Twilight questioned

“He only said that he was a rogue” Fluttershy answered.

“Well I never heard of a rogue; sounds disgraceful if you ask me” Rarity commented.

“Oh and I would love to slap you too” I thought to myself.

“Wait what’s that?” Pinkie Pie said pointing to a small, leather bound book on the floor.

“Oh crap....how did I drop my journal. True, I don’t write in it very often, but that’s plenty enough information to learn about my recent encounters”

“That must be Accel’s” Twilight said while levitating the book to her. “He must have dropped it; we should return it to him”

“You better not read it in the process”

“What kind of book is it Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight opened the book to the first page and read out loud “If you’re reading this and I am still alive, put this down where you found it or return it to me. Otherwise I must have finally met the grave”. She quickly closed the book after reading those lines, “it must be a private journal. From what I read, he doesn’t want any pony to read what he wrote”

Suddenly the left half of my vision began to blur and I felt a warm liquid near my left eye “No, not now, that cut haven’t opened up at all for nearly a year. Daisho, I need you now”

I turned around and slowly slipped out of the door, but not without some drops of blood hitting the floor first.
“Gah, forget covering my tracks, getting this old wound stabilized is more important, curse you Anetheron, and...no...I shall not even think of his name” I thought while sprinting through town still in stealth.

Reaching the forest edge, I dropped my stealth and then I yelled: “Daisho I need you now!”

Author's Note

I do plan on going back and modifying and reviving the other chapters soon. The actual story will not change at all, but I plan on setting the events back sometime before the wedding episode.