Chapter Three

A lone figure dashed through the forest, panting heavily as it made its way through the trees. The eerie moonlight filtered through the trees and created pools of light; if one saw the figure as it ran through one of these pools, they would see only a cobalt blue streak. Upon closer inspection, one would also notice a sheath tied to the figure's right side by a dingy white cloth.

They're here, the figure thought, jumping over a fallen tree. I can feel them.

The figure halted at a towering rock wall and looked up, the moonlight illuminating its deep green eyes. After scanning the rocky obstacle, it crouched then jumped. It landed on a lose rock; just as it began to fall from the wall, the figure jumped again, landing on another rock that was set higher than the previous one. It continued to nimbly hop from rock to rock and eventually reached a level area. Taking a quick look around, it located a line of wooden stakes stuck into the ground. The line weaved through the mountains, marking the safest route.

They must be stopped before they hurt more innocents, the figure thought as it took off, following the trail that ascended up the mountain.

"Mmmmm! This is delicious!" Windshield exclaimed after swallowing another mouthful of Nettie's special soup. "All of the flavors seem to just explode in my mouth! How do you do it, ma'am?"

The soot black earth pony laughed a bit then said, "Now dat's a secret I'll nevah tell."

Ironside sipped some more of the broth, nodding in response to a statement by Cobalt, who was once again going on about the ill-fated incident with the carriage; Shadow and Night Shade were conversing about the pretty mares that they had left behind in the previous town with Silent Swing and Silverblade quietly listening.

Princess Luna was sitting between Windshield and Cobalt. The alicorn simply starred into her bowl of soup. Windshield could tell by her expression that whatever was on her mind was troubling her.

"Princess?"

"Hm?" Luna looked up at the young white pegasus. "What is it, Windshield?"

"Is something the matter?" he asked. "You haven't touched your soup and you look like something's troubling you."

"Oh..." The midnight blue alicorn looked back into her soup. "I've felt something…before we left."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Windshield was curious. "What was it that you felt?"

"Something powerful…and evil…" said Luna hesitantly.

All of the Guard ponies stopped their conversations and listened.

The captain was the first to reply. "Hmm. Something powerful and evil, you say?"

Luna nodded. "Something stronger than either Discord or Nightmare Moon. I've been wondering about what it could be."

Silverblade yawned a little. "Pardon me. Maybe you're just tired, princess. I bet that by sunrise you'll feel a whole lot better."

I guess I am a bit tired, Luna thought. Maybe some sleep would be the best remedy for this problem.

Shadow got up and walked over to a window. He took a quick note of the surrounding area: several Shang-Xiao guard ponies were on nocturnal patrol, and the four guard towers around the mountain village were occupied by plenty of well-armed guards. A bright full moon spilled an eerie light upon the whole scene.

The Lunar Guard pegasus gave a quick nod to Silverblade, indicating that the village was secured. He stepped from the window and yawned. "Man, I'm beat. I'll turn in for the night. Goodnight, everypony. Sleep tight."

As he walked up the stairs, Ironside turned to the captain. "I'll stand guard by the princess' room door," he said, "just in case some idiot tries something stupid."

"They'll probably never get the chance to," Silverblade replied. "Windshield and Silent Swing will stay downstairs with me on first watch."

Rainbow Dash flopped onto her bed. "Whew! I'm totally stuffed! That food was good!"

Twilight Sparkle laughed. "These Shang-Xiao ponies sure do have some unique food."

"And these beds are so comfy!" the blue pegasus exclaimed. "It feels like I'm sleeping on my cloud back home."

The purple unicorn walked over to her own bed next to Rainbow Dash's. She climbed in and laid on her back. Boy, today sure was busy, she thought as she stared up at the ceiling. I wonder how the others are faring right now.

A sudden feeling caused a chill run down Twilight's spine and made her twitch. She sat up and looked to her right out the window. Some guards were on patrol and a few lit lanterns were hanging on wooden pools throughout the village. An ominous full moon illuminated the scenery.

The odd feeling that caused that chill seemed to be emanating from beyond Graystone Village. It felt like it was coming from something so far away, but so close at the same time.

And it was evil. Very evil...

"Hellooo! Earth to Twilight! You in?"

Twilight Sparkle came back to reality and looked over at the blue pegasus who was now at the side of her bed. "Hm? What's wrong?"

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "You kinda zoned out on me. Something on your mind?" She moved her face closer to Twilight's, a wide grin on her face. "Thinking about that special stallion? Hmm?"

Twilight Sparkle's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "W-what are you talking about?" she asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, Twi," replied Rainbow Dash. "You've got yourself a-"

"No I don't!" Twilight exclaimed. Her entire face started to turn red from embarrassment.

"Oh really now? That's not what Digger told me. He said that you and him were...what was it? Going out together?"

"Oh shut up! Me and Digger are not together!"

Rainbow Dash giggled. "Oh yeah, that's right. You and Caramel are dating."

Twilight rolled her eyes. She hated when Rainbow Dash messed with her like that. "Whatever. I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Twi. Don't go having any naughty dreams now, okay?"

"Shut. Up."

Big Macintosh was examining an old suit of armor on display in the living room of the mansion when Mayor Graystone walked in.

"It's a bit late," said the gray earth pony. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Sorry, mister," the big stallion replied. "I was admirin' this here suit of armor. Mighty fine work I say."

Graystone looked at the suit of armor. The crimson red layered scales were outlined by yellow details, the helmet had the same color and details and on top of it rested a once golden crescent moon decoration, now old and tarnished. To the armor's side was a stand where an ancient serrated katana rested on the top rung and its black and yellow scabbard rested on the lower rung.

"It is an excellent work of art," Graystone said with a nod.

"Eyup."

"My great grandfather wore this armor back when the Shang-Xiao empire didn't even exist," the gray pony stated. "Instead, there were seven separate kingdoms. They constantly fought each other in a series of bloody conflicts, each trying to conquer the other, but they never succeeded for the battles would always end in a stalemate.

"Then, one day, my great grandfather, a rogue warrior from the southernmost kingdom, rose to power and in five long, difficult years, he united the seven kingdoms under one name: the Shang-Xiao Empire." Graystone looked up at the armor, now resting on a mannequin. "This is the exact same armor and sword that he used almost ninety-seven years ago."

Big Macintosh nodded. "My pa used t' be a soldier once," he said. "Fought for ten years, got tired of it, settled down, an' bought a farm. Named it Sweet Apple Acres after my ma's nickname."

"Oh, I do love the apples that your family grows there! They are so delicious!"

"Why thank you, mister." After admiring the armor for another minute, the large stallion turned and headed for his room. "I should get some sleep now. Got an early mornin' t'morrow. Goodnight, n' thanks for the stay."

"You're quite welcome, Big Macintosh."

Big Macintosh walked out of the room, leaving Mayor Graystone to admire his great grandfather's armor.

Fire. Death. Destruction.

Luna glanced around her. A huge conflagration had swallowed all of the village as multiple ponies screamed in horror and pain as their lives were taken from them. The village had been attacked by bandits and was now beginning to burn to the ground.

The alicorn looked ahead of her. On the ground were the bodies of Ironside, Night Shade, Cobalt, and Silent Swing. To her sides stood Shadow and Windshield, their eyes fixed ahead of them and widened with pure terror. Luna followed their gaze and laid her eyes upon three silhouettes. One was a pony – a pegasus – with shining armor that reflected the eerie glow of the flames. The other, a griffin with scars on his face and old, worn battle armor.

It was the figure between them that caused Luna to panic. It was still nothing but a dark shape, so Luna was unable to see any details, but she noticed the creature's immense size, its enormous bat-like wings, the long, flowing tail, the two curved horns on it's head...

And those eyes!

The eyes of the beast glowed an evil yellow and one could clearly see the black slit of the pupil. Those eyes were from the pits of Hell itself!

It walked slowly towards her, breathing heavily, its evil gaze fixed upon the princess of night. Several Shang-Xiao soldiers stormed past Luna to attack the beast, drawing their swords and yelling their battle cries.

But the beast was ready.

One by one, it brutally killed the soldiers using some sort of energy that it generated, the same energy that Luna felt before!

It was through with the soldiers in a heartbeat: almost a score and a half of the brave troops were slaughtered before they even got close to the demon. It slowly walked up to Luna and glared into her eyes, seemingly burning holes in her soul.

She could make out some details now: The beast was red, blood red. Its horns were black and shiny as opals, and a wicked smile was painted on its face.

"Subete ga nenshō shimasu," it spoke as it raised its serrated hoof to strike the alicorn that it towered over.

She understood exactly what the creature said – "All will burn."

The beast brought its hoof down upon Luna's face.

Luna's eyes shot open as she quickly sat up in her bed. The alicorn was breathing heavily as a cold sweat drenched her body.

That nightmare, she thought. I felt that feeling again. But...it's so much stronger now, like it's...close by...very close by.

She glanced around her darkened room. Being the goddess of the night, she could identify the objects in her room, even in the dark. A tall wooden wardrobe stood near the small vanity with its small mirror. To her right was a small bedside table with an unlit candle and a small analog clock that read "1:03 AM." Then she noticed the window, which allowed some light to seep into the room.

The light was very odd, however. Instead of the usual white light caused by the moon's glow, there was an eerie reddish and yellowish light that illuminated some of the room.

Luna's heart raced as she began to assume that the worst had happened. Suddenly, her room door burst open to reveal Ironside. Upon closer inspection, the alicorn realized that he was panicking slightly.

"M' lady!" said he. Urgency was all over his voice. "We have to move! Now!"

Luna did not think twice; her fears were already confirmed: Yamimoto Village was under attack.

She sprang from her bed and darted to the door. Just as soon as she exited the room a large boulder came crashing through the wall with the window and crushed the bed that Luna was lying in only moments before.

"Downstairs, Princess," the veteran guard pony ordered. "We're getting out of here."

"The village-" Luna started to say.

"The Shang-Xiao Guard is already on it," Ironside interrupted. "Right now, our biggest concern is your safety."

The two rounded a corner and came upon the stairwell. On the ground floor stood the rest of the escorts and Mama Neddie.

"There they are!" Windshield cried. "C'mon! We've gotta get outta here!"

Luna and Ironside raced down the stairs. As they reached the bottom, Luna noticed that the lobby was a complete mess: Furniture was overturned or broken, dishes were smashed, some of the decorations were horribly destroyed, and several bodies of earth ponies were strewn all over the place.

"What the hell?" she asked.

"Rebels, ma'am," Silverblade answered. "They raided the village and stormed the inn. We've managed to take this lot down, but there are still plenty more of them attacking the village. We've gotta get you out of here."

The group ran out of the inn and into the cool night air, which had grown warm from the fires that were destroying some of the houses. Several bodies of rebels and Shang-Xiao guards littered the ground.

"Damn," swore Shadow. "It's worse than I assumed!"

A Shang-Xiao guard pony ran up to the group. Silverblade quickly stopped him and inquired about the attack.

"The bandits have attacked the village from all sides, sir," he replied. A small river of blood ran down the left side of his face. "They even went as far as to climb up the mountain side to get us. We're trying to contain the situation, but the fires are making it a lot more difficult."

"Well, what are we waitin' for?" Cobalt asked. "Let's go kick some-"

"No," Night Shade interrupted. "Our priority is to protect Princess Luna."

"But-"

"We can handle it," the soldier replied. "Trust me. Reinforcements are on the way. I just hope that they get here fast enough. Anyways, head to the northern gate. You should meet some soldiers along the way. They'll escort you out of the village." He looked over to Neddie. "Ma'am, I have to escort you to the shelters."

"Okay," the gray mare replied. She walked over to the soldier then looked back at the princess and her escorts. "Don't worry 'bout ol' Neddie. I'll be fine, seen?"

Luna nodded. "Okay. Be safe." She turned to her guards and said, "Alright, troops. Let's move!"

To be continued...