As he and Steel passed by the umpteenth cluster of trees they had seen that day, Black Flag sighed in frustration. It was just so quiet. They hadn't seen another pony during their travels in such a long time, and it was starting to make the unicorn feel kind of wary. The soft wind caressed his mane lovingly as he and his master walked their long and lonely road. There were so many things that he wanted to ask the swordstallion; to talk with him about, but he didn't dare say a peep for fear that Steel was going to strike him again. It was actually kind of surprising that the first hit didn't break any of his bones, though it still felt like he had shattered a few of them. And it wasn't like there was anything he could do about the assault, anyway. He shuddered in fear as the thought of what the Earth pony would do to him if he did try and fight back entered his mind.

While they were making their way down the narrow pathway that led to the two neighboring properties of Glistening Gem and Northern Light, Black Flag began to ponder. What happened to Steel's father to make himthat defensive about the subject? Was he murdered? Gah, he wanted to find out the truth so badly but he didn't even consider prying Steel for information. He sighed again. He missed Red. He was just so much nicer, and far more patient than Steel was. Black Flag didn't complain or whine, however. He just kept these thoughts to himself, knowing that nopony liked to deal with a companion that constantly bitched about how things were so much better where they came from like a bratty foal. And really, the last thing he wanted to do was give Shattering Steel another reason to kick his ass into the next time zone.

"Black Flag, come here. I need you to come see where we'll be stopping for the night," Steel commanded, his voice cold and deep as the ocean floor. Black Flag hurried to the Earth pony's side; atop a hill that overlooked a rolling sea of tall grass sprinkled with a few trees that stood proudly amidst the other plant life, which began to thicken the farther they went on before melting into a forest that loomed on the outskirts, alongside some other objects protruding the seemingly endless grass that Black Flag couldn't identify just yet due to the height he was standing at. He'd need to get a closer look. Steel stretched out a hoof towards a much larger hill that was crowned by the sinking sun and topped with the broken remains of stone-works, possibly from used to be a tower or a small castle. Along the base of the hill was a path that twisted around and around until it reached the top. "There. Those ruins in the distance are what remains of the Tower of the Moon. If we keep moving at a brisk pace and don't stop to eat, we can reach it by nightfall."

` "Looks innocent enough," Black Flag replied with blatant sarcasm. In all honesty, the only way it could radiate evil more obviously was if the hill was surrounded by searing flames and an ominous chant was blaring from the top of the hill. Maybe a cackling laughter and spooky skeletons dancing around the hill couldn't hurt either. "Well, I guess we should start hauling some serious ass then." And with that, he broke into a gallop down the hill, leaving Steel atop the hill shouting something that he didn't quite care enough about to fully hear. All he did hear was something to do with the ground, though he had no clue what.
As he rushed down the hill with the wind in his face and the blades of grass licking at his hooves, Black Flag felt a sense of childlike joy in his rapidly-beating heart. It was a pleasant feeling that reminded him of when he would fool around with Red every now and then. Those were some good times. However, perhaps if he wasn't lost in nostalgic memories he would have seen where he was going and wouldn't have tripped, thus saving himself from falling flat on his face like a complete and total dumbass. Oops.

When he got up from the ground and dusted himself off, Black decided to take a look at the ground behind him to see what he tripped over. He figured it was probably just a rock or a branch, but he was shocked to see a sword's hilt sticking out of the dirt; camouflaged by the tall grass. What the heck was that doing there? When he reached down to take a look and see if he could maybe pull it out, he suddenly heard Steel screaming his name. That didn't sound too good.

"What in the name of Celestia are you doing?" Steel shouted as he made his way down the steep hill. As he approached the unicorn, Black Flag could see that his ocean-blue eyes were now ablaze with seething rage. To Black Flag, it seemed like that was the only emotion he could ever elicit from the mercenary. "Is your head full of nothing but rocks? You do not ever move any of the swords planted in this field, for it is a sacred grave site for all of the soldiers who died here."

"I'm sorry," Black Flag said quickly as he took a few steps backward to stay out of range of the warrior, just in case, when he felt the cold steel of yet another sword push against his back leg. How many of these swords were there planted out here? As he took a good look around him, he saw rows and rows of steel glistening in the late afternoon sunlight. Every few paces and he found yet another one. What kind of blood was shed in this field? He made a mental note that, once they reached the tower, he would ask Steel about that. He seemed to have some knowledge on the subject, after all. And as they passed through this massive graveyard, he was kind of glad that Shattering Steel was by his side. It was a foal-like fear to have, but he was terrified that the bodies of the dead soldiers that seemed to be under every patch of dirt that could be planted under would suddenly spring up from their burial sites and rip him apart limb by limb.

Just as the sun was starting to sink below the horizon and the moon was taking its place in the sky; Nightmare Moon's shadow still cast over its form, the two stallions made it to the top of the hill, and out of curiosity, Black Flag decided to peer over the edge to see what everything looked like from where he stood. From such a tremendous height, the hill that they had descended was completely dwarfed by comparison. Everything looked so small; the blades serving as makeshift tombstones now appearing to glisten like diamonds. It was actually kind of beautiful, despite their morbid purpose. And to think, when they joined the fight, they would either be adding more bodies to such unnerving graves or be buried alongside them.

Turning away from the hill's edge, Black Flag finally got a chance to take a good look at the ruins that would be providing shelter for the night. While the majority of the tower was completely destroyed, with only a collapsed staircase to show that there were one or more upper levels to begin with. Oddly enough, it seemed that the first floor was still totally intact. How very polite of whoever invaded this tower to leave the first floor untouched so that he and Steel would have a place to sleep. Black Flag rested his swords against the closest wall and started to look around. Not like there would be much; it was a small circular room after all.
With the moon as a makeshift light source, the ruins were well-lit enough to see the banners that hung from the wall; having not moved in several years, as evidenced by the thick cloud of dust that shot up into the air when he moved one just a little bit. That was usually a pretty good indicator that it was old as heck. With the dust out of the way, Black Flag could make out the emblem that sat in the center of the banner; a pale white moon eclipsing the sun. He shrugged; at least it fit the name of the tower. Thinking about that, he suddenly remembered his curiosity about the mass grave that they leered above.

"Steel, why are there so many bodies here?" For a moment or two, the eponymous Earth pony didn't say a word. He just stood at the edge of the hill, his cape whipping around his body as he watched the seemingly countless number of swords that marked the field with a mournful gaze.

"After word started to spread out across Equestria about the incident at Pale Moon's Lake, several groups were formed under the belief that the eclipsing moon was a sign of Nightmare Moon's return. Wanting to assist her in her goal to return to Equestria from her lunar prison, they met in this tower and started to formulate plots on how they should do so. And believe it or not, they came pretty damn close to succeeding. Thankfully, some members suddenly got the idea that maybe it wasn't the best idea to summon a tyrannical alicorn that would more than likely kill them all, and they decided to warn the Princess about it. She then led a charge against the cult and their dark magic forces. If it wasn't for Celestia and her soldiers, there's a pretty good chance that we'd be living in a world completely covered by darkness right now. That's why I was so adamant about you moving the swords; it was a sign of respect to those who died in the battle."
"Oh," Black Flag said quietly, feeling rather embarrassed. It wasn't enough that he almost disturbed a soldier's grave, but they were a victim in a battle against true tyranny. He was just so stupid! Why didn't he know about something like this, especially when he wanted to be a mercenary? "I'm so sorry, Steel. I didn't know about the weight of the battle that occurred here."

"It's fine. Now, find a nice piece of cobblestone and get some shut eye," Steel said as he slipped his sword off of his back, which landed on the hard floor with a deafening clang, and laid down beside it. With one quick motion, he pulled his cloak over his body for warmth and Black Flag was a little envious that he hadn't even thought about bringing a cloak or something like that for warmth. It would have been particularly useful at higher altitudes like where they were right now, with how chilly it was up here. He sighed in annoyance but figured he would just have to deal with it for now. With his daily bitchy sigh out of the way, he laid down on the cold cobblestone floor and drifted off to sleep.

While he may have been hoping for a nice long sleep till dawn, things didn't exactly turn out that way. It wasn't the cold that disturbed him, nor the uncomfortable cobblestone flooring that served as his bed for the night. Though, he wouldn't call it pristine sleeping conditions either. No, what stirred him awake was the unmistakable sound of hoofsteps. Something was coming up the hill, and they were approaching fast. And unless Golden Keg had been silently stalking them for several hours just to pull that joke again, he doubted whatever was making the trip was a friendly comrade. And then he realized something: There was more than one...thing coming up to say hello.

"Steel, wake up!" He whispered as he scrambled over to the Earth pony and began to frantically shake him awake. Within seconds, the swrdstallion's cold eyes shot open, and he didn't look very pleased to be woken at such a late hour. Black Flag hurriedly whispered an explanation "Look, I'm sorry I woke you up, but I think we got company." Steel's ears perked; he must have caught the noise as well. Not surprising, considering how close they sounded. The two must have come to the exact same realization because they both darted for their weapons and braced themselves for the oncoming attack. That's when it dawned on Black Flag; this was going to be his first taste of combat, and possibly his last!