Upon the sound of a kettle whistle, a unicorn mare with dark green fur and a soft and flowy silver mane and tail served herself some tea before looking through a window towards a nearby forest with some worry, holding her cup with both hooves. The memory of her friend leaving the cabin with three guards asking for help tracking down a criminal is still fresh in her mind.
Fizzlepop, please be careful out there, The unicorn pleaded silently before taking another sip of her tea.
At the same time, deep in the heart of the forest, a dark purple unicorn with a missing horn and a scar over her right eye scrutinized some broken branches before looking at the foliage in front of her with critical eyes, checking any disturbance in the local flora for more clues. She was wearing a black saddleback and a green scarf for the cold, and behind her were Hurricane, Stellar, and Amber, who waited for her report while checking their surroundings for any sign of movement.
"What can you tell us, Ms. Tempest?" Amber asked, approaching the mare, who walked back to the group.
"You did well in asking for my help; these tracks are old and easy to miss for even a trained eye," Tempest mentioned before looking over her shoulder. "A pony passed through here; due to the damaged foliage, I'd say he was in a hurry." She explained, guiding them through the clues she found, pointing at broken branches, minor disturbances in the snow that were almost covered up, and ending with a big slash in the ground.
"He fell here, where his pursuer pinned him to the ground." She pointed at a cat-like paw imprint. "Judging by the size, I say probably a mountain lion, but here is where things get confusing."
"Why? Walk us through?" Hurricane encouraged the unicorn while looking at the scene in front of them.
"Due to the position and the pressure of the imprint, the lion had the pony pinned down; it would have been an easy kill; there should be a pool of frozen blood and guts here. Instead, it seems like the lion stopped."
She touched the center of the scene. "Not only that, but the center of this spot makes me think that much of the snow here simply melted, and then the lion backed away and sat down as if it was some sort of pet." She moved her hoof to the right of the disturbance, pointing at barely visible paw prints and a large depression suggesting the lion had sat. What was more, there were hoof prints in front of it.
"The pony then stood before the mountain lion, seeming to give it some order, judging by the pattern by the right forehoof print. It's normal when you start moving around your hoof and then put it down in the snow. And then, the lion just ran away in the opposite direction." She pressed her hoof into more paw prints, "Melting the snow as it ran, the pony, meanwhile, ran further north." She finished pointing in said direction.
Tempest then turned to look at the group with a raised eyebrow. "I need you to explain this to me. Are we chasing a pony on fire?"
"Worse, we are after a pony that can manipulate and weaponize anger itself." Amber replied with a sigh, catching Tempest's attention.
"Come again?" She asked for clarification as the two guards inspected the hoofprints and looked ahead, trying to determine the pony's route.
"Some months ago, this stallion invaded the royal castle and attempted regicide on the prince of Canterlot. We managed to subdue him momentarily, but he used this strange new magic on us despite being an earth pony. It blinded us with rage and clouded our common sense, making us go on a rampage," Amber explained, then turned around to face Tempest alongside Stellar.
"We discovered that what he used is a taboo emotional magic that Princess Cadence has recently discovered and is now teaching in the Crystal Empire. In this case, it is the emotion of rage. It manifests as and can copy fire's attributes. It also spreads the same way. According to the report and our research, direct contact is all he needs to make you lose yourself in a rage." Stellar explained.
"And not even an Alicorn can fight it," Hurricane admitted with a sigh and lowered her head. "My sweet Celly is proof of that; only time or another emotional magic can cleanse the effect from its victims." She then looked at the animal footprint. "And for what you are telling us, this confirms my worst fears; this assassin can do more than just make his victims angry; he has somehow discovered a way to control them through their rage."
The two guards nodded and looked at the horizon with concern. " With a power like that is at his disposal." Amber told no one in particular, "If he were to infiltrate the castle again and just touch one of the princesses...he could potentially turn Prince Blueblood into the target of an enraged alicorn."
The mares could only shiver at that mental image before the guards looked at Tempest again. "That is why we are chasing this criminal, Ms. Shadow. Magic like his is far more dangerous than we originally thought. Before, we didn't know what we were facing nor had the tools to fight it, but now that we have the means and studied this pony, we can't let him roam free and hurt more innocents." Amber replied
"Does that answer your question?" Hurricane asked, raising an eyebrow. “We know you have dealt with shady characters in the past, but if this is too much for you, nobody here will blame you if you don't want to go any further."
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," Tempest replied with a smile as she started marching forward. "This only makes me want to help you even more. This is the type of mission I was trained for all my life, and ever since you explained your mission, I have been eager to use my skills to track down and stop the kind of monsters I used to work for." She stopped to look at the flora around her before pointing forward.
"He seems familiar with the terrain; these tracks lead to a cavern with interconnected tunnels and only one exit. If he is gone, I will know; if not, he is there."
"Then that's where we'll go," Amber proclaimed, and the group advanced. Commander Hurricane kept a close watch on the two guards as they marched forward. "Tell me, rookies, do you remember what I told you when we started this mission?" Hurricane asked them both, keeping her gaze forward with a stoic expression.
"We do, commander, and you have nothing to worry about. Whatever happens in there, if that criminal is hiding in that cavern, we will bring him down, and it will be by the book." Amber replied with the same stoic expression.
Hurricane raised an eyebrow at her and Stellar before sighing and nodding, "I hope you manage to remember that when the moment of truth arrives, as I told you, there is no turning back once you cross that line." Hurricane reminded them as a rocky formation came into view before the group. Soon, the four stood just outside a massive cavern with scorch marks everywhere.
Tempest inspected one of the marks on the wall with a critical eye and passed her hoof over it before sighing, "I imagine you know what all of this means, don't you?"
"He brought the enraged animals inside to act as a security system and detail, right?" Amber answered with a hint of dread as she looked at the entrance.
"And it seems to be recent; some of these marks are not only fresh, they are still warm in the stone walls." She pointed to another claw mark on the ceiling, which had melted into the stone around it. "To make matters worse, I recognized them; those are claw marks of an Ursa Major."
The observation surprised the group, who looked back at the vast claw mark in the ceiling before looking ahead. "There is a pack of enraged Ursa Majors inside?" Hurricane asked in a worried tone.
"No, it appears there is only one set of marks here, but that is the only good news; I can see marks of a wolf, yeti, frostbites, and an artilope heading in the same direction," Tempest explained.
"So he got himself a menagerie because having dangerous mind-controlling magic wasn't enough," Hurricane complained with a sigh, landing next to Tempest. "Tell me you have something that can deal with enraged animals, particularly the Ursa Major."
Tempest shook her head at that. "Normally, in this case, the animal is scared, injured, hunting for food or defending its territory, and the way to deal with it is pretty straightforward: stay away, find ways to calm it down, give it what it wants, or scare it. But from what you are telling me, these animals are just lost in a blind fury; nothing I know of will work, and the last thing you want to do is to fight against them, especially the Ursa."
At that moment, Stellar got an idea and took out the arrows Sharp Shooter gave them, showing them to the group. Getting the same idea, Amber looked at the arrows in triumph and picked one up: "The Apathy Arrows! Of course! Stellar, you are a genius!"
"Apathy Arrows?" Tempest repeated, blinking a couple of times.
"It's a new weapon we picked up from the Crystal Empire." Hurricane explained. "The pony that made them is a bit creepy, but he has the green light from Princess Cadence, and I saw them in action. This baby doesn't harm the victim, but as the name implies, it zaps away their emotions and drive, making it difficult for them to even move. They are effectively sleep darts."
Amber returned the arrow to the quiver, and Stellar showed them to Tempest. "We were thinking of using them against the assassin, but it's not our only option, and we have been training to fight against his wrath magic so we can use them on the animals he has there. What do you say, Tempest? Would these be enough to calm down all those beasts?"
Tempest approached the quiver and started counting the arrows before looking at the cave. "I'm not sure it will be enough to knock out the Ursa Major, but your comments about a sleeping dart gives me an idea." Tempest gave them back to Stellar. "I know how to create sleeping darts using the local flora in this place so that we can finish the job. Enraged or not, one hit from one of those darts will put any animal to sleep; five well-placed hits can even put an Ursa to sleep. If the worst comes to pass, we can combine them with your apathy arrows to bring down the Ursa."
"Seems like we need to prepare ourselves and have a clear plan before we move ahead," Hurricane concluded. "It would be bad if a deranged animal gets the jump on us while we deal with that stallion, nor risk exposing our presence and giving that assassin a chance to escape again while we are too busy dealing with his pets. Our best bet is for us to split into two teams, as Commander Hurricane suggested."
"While one team quickly sedates the beasts, the other tries their best to capture the assassin." Hurricane continued, making some doodles in the snow to visualize her idea.
"I see what you mean, and I understand," Tempest nodded. "With my tracking skills, I can help put the beasts to sleep in no time so we can then act as backup for the other team. Besides I'm concerned with the Ursa Major. That is the biggest threat right now."
"Agree, and with my speed and wings, I'm the best option to dodge and shoot amongst all of us," Hurricane added.
"It decided then. Once we are prepared, we will split, and while you two work on the beasts, Stellar and I will face that pony." Amber nodded while Stella handed over a crossbow and the quiver filled with Arrows to Tempest, who received it and nodded in thanks.
The plan was clear, and after briefly backtracking to collect and produce Tempest's sleeping darts, the group ventured inside the cave and put their plan into action.
As Tempest had told them, the inside was composed of tunnels spreading everywhere after reaching an open area. Each entrance was similar, and it would be easy to get lost. Yet, the marks burned into the walls, and low growls in the distance helped the group find their path deeper into the cave system until they eventually came face to face with a massive bear whose fur resembled a constellation-riddled night sky blocking their path.
With Stellar creating an echo and Hurricane acting as bait, the group managed to get the beast's attention and make him follow Commander Hurricane and Tempest. At the same time, the guards rushed forward and kept moving until they reached their goal: the end of the cavern, which opened into a spacious area.
It was the only place in the cave decorated with furniture. A bed and a campfire with smoke exited through a pony-made hole in the wall, and various tables also stood with swords, daggers, arrows, and other weapons neatly organized and spread all over the room. Pictures and newspaper clippings covered every square inch of the room, with the faces of Blueblood having his eyes crossed out. Still, more were of Blueblood, with his head ripped to pieces and a wooden board with other ponies' faces crossed out. A single sentence was written against the wall in bright red letters: "Die Blueblood, Die!"
All in all, the room was beyond creepy and made the guard pair uneasy. Their unease was not helped by the stallion sitting at the far end of the room, showing his back to the two mares and looking straight at the writing on the wall.
"I must say this, I'm beyond surprised right now." As they approached cautiously, the stallion began talking without looking at the two mares. They noticed that he seemed to be armed with a pair of iron gauntlets and a saddlebag, meaning he was aware of their entrance. At that point, rather than trying to escape, he decided to prepare and wait for them.
Despite that, Stellar and Amber kept their guard up. They glared at the pony in front of him as he continued monologuing, "Of all the hits I have pulled before, I would have never imagined it would have been that bastard that turned me into the most wanted pony in Equestria!" The pony exclaimed as a wave of heat was expelled from his body, stopping both mares' advance and making them step back.
Standing up, the pony turned around to face the two mares. "Why? Job or not, why? Can't you see what you have become?! You two are nothing but puppets obeying a rat; Blueblood is nothing but a plague that destroys everything he touches, the kingdom, the princesses...my family." the pony argued as more bursts of heat kept washing out from his body as he rubs his right forehoof over an X-like scar present in his forehead.
"We know your story, Ink Blood!" Amber yelled, standing her ground as she and Stellar summoned their emotional magic and generated blue domes of emotional energy around them, stopping the heat and cleansing the anger that Ink was trying to infect them with. The response had caught the stallion off guard as he looked at her in surprise and stepped back.
"Ink Blood, resident of Canterlot, a descendant of refugees from the Crystal Empire, son of Ink Heart and Willow Feathers...and the self-proclaimed first victim of Blueblood."
"I WAS HIS FIRST VICTIM!" He screamed in fury.
"It was your mother who gave you that scar, Ink!" Stellar fired back, "She had a mental breakdown, assaulted your father, and he died while defending you. The prince had nothing..."
"It was his fault; everything was his fault!" Ink stamped the floor, leaving a scorch mark in the process. "My mom was a saint; she was pure and kind, but the second she was placed in the care of that monster as his personal maid, her mind simply broke; HE broke her; HE made her do this!" He pointed at his scar with more intensity. "That's right, he killed my family, me included! I no longer go by Ink Blood; my name is Red Sun. Don't you ever forget it!"
The two mares remained quiet at the stallion's proclamation, and Amber even sighed, "It true that the prince wasn't exactly easy to deal with, and there were reasons why maids needed to be rotated when tending to him, but what happened to your mother? It wasn't his fault, Ink, for Celestia's sake; he was eight years old at that point!"
Stellar places her hoof on Amber's shoulder and shakes her head. "We are not here to have a discussion. Ink Blood, by the authority of the royal sisters, you are under arrest for attempted regicide, surrender, or we will use force to stop you by any means necessary."
"Regicide?" Ink repeated to himself while rubbing the side of his forehead. "Funny." He started to chuckle briefly. "Last I checked, the bastard was barely considered a prince; at best, he is a jester or worse. I'm doing a public service here by cleaning the scum of Equs, and yet, I'm painted as a monster while a real criminal is viewed as a hero and a victim?! It's almost like a bad joke. And it's so fucking HILARIOUS!"
Exploding in rage, Ink's whole body burst into flame, generating a massive heatwave that sent everything not nailed down flying and burned all the papers to ash in the room. His sheer power began to crack the domes of both mares, who still managed to keep their guard until the firestorm ended, and they ceased their spells to face Ink with stoic expressions: "He took everything from me, EVERYTHING! I will not rest until I return the favor. If you are so eager to play the lap dog of that piece of shit, then I will gladly kill you as well.
Red Sun declared as he started advancing toward the pair, the fire coalescing into his mane and tail as he glowed like a furnace. Finally, he formed a horn in the middle of his scar, made of raw red mana. The two guards remained calm and slowly approached him, activating their own magic of serenity and hope, which focused down and covered their bodies in transparent sheets of blue magic armor. Stellar's magic embellished itself, taking inspiration from her siren roots with a finned mane and tail, while Amber's took the form of a royal guard's war plate guarding even more than the standard armor worn on duty.
Zig-zagging in perfect coordination, the pair of guards closed in on their foe. Amber took the lead, catching the attention of her target before jumping and spinning to launch a kick aimed at his head. Ducking, Red avoided the blow but was left open for Stellar, who appeared in front of him and at a low angle. She then thrust forward, using her horn to try to stab him in the face and chest repeatedly.
It was lightning fast and methodical, giving Red Sun precious little space or time to dodge until one strike pierced the side of his face, carving a straight furrow across his cheek.
In surprise and fear, Red jumped back to give himself space and raised his gauntlet, where a hidden blade snapped forward, only to be blindsided by Amber rushing into his side, blue energy coalescing on her right frontal hoof to hit Red Sun. The stallion had barely enough time to perceive what was happening and put both of his forehooves in front of his head to guard against the punch that sent him flying, denting his gauntlets and shattering the blades and mechanisms to use them.
Appearing behind Red, Stellar took a deep breath before yelling, creating a shock wave that broke most of his armor and a big chunk of the rock floor beneath Red Sun. The stallion keeps his frontal hooves ahead of him to defend himself until he sees Amber jumping in the air and charging her magic to catapult herself at him, forehooves outstretched like an arrow.
Using his magic, Red rolled to the right, sacrificing much of his equipment, which melted into unusable slag due to his own heat. As Amber stood from the crater where she landed, Red finally found what he was searching for. He picked up a curved, long dagger with runes carved in its steel from where it lay with his mouth and rushed at Amber, who recognized the inscriptions and jumped backward before the blade could touch her.
"That dagger," Amber complained as Red used his magic to create a new gauntlet made of fire on his right forehoof, ready to use it. "It's one of Storm King's weapons; he can destroy our magic with that." Amber warned her companion, who nodded in understanding.
"Oh, it can do more than that now." Red Sun mentions. "I modified it and saved it for the Blue Cockroach, but you two will have to do it for now."
"You will have to reach us first." Stellar observed, landing beside her friend. "Let me take the lead." Stellar started walking towards Red, who smirked and covered himself in a misty red aura. The dagger disappeared from view due to the heat as the aura around him spread further, making the room rumble.
Stellar remained calm and increased her own aura, recreating watery waves made of light. The waves stopped a reasonable distance from her, bouncing around the walls as Stellar's light became denser and merged with her unicorn magic, creating a mix of light pink and blue while her eyes shined white.
"To be inside the wide blue ocean." The second she uttered those words, the waves transformed, and everyone was suddenly submerged in the middle of the ocean. Yet Red didn't seem to be surprised. He copied Amber and forced his aura to take shape, giving himself wings of fire along with his fake horn, which now encased the cursed dagger.
In response, Stellar disappeared, and everything turned dark as a giant shark construct made out of pink light rushed toward Red, who dodged it and tried to strike it with his dagger, only for the fish to transform into an octopus that jetted away and grabbed one of his hindlegs and rammed him into the ocean floor. The rest of the tentacles swiftly became blades and tried to run him through, yet Red used his anger to flash boil the water, pushing it back so he could maneuver while disintegrating the construct that held him as he took to the air.
More sharks kept appearing, keeping Red on the defensive as the constructs avoided his weapon. He kept trying to locate Stellar, finally noticing her at the mouth of an underwater cave where her illusions ended.
His momentary distraction from the task nearly cost him as a shark almost tore into him, forcing Red to dispel his wings to dodge its jaws. Falling for a moment, the assassin remade his wings and used them to direct his fall into a controlled dive, blitzing toward Stellar with his dagger ready now held in his right forehoof, only to realize how Amber was rushing beside him, on a construct of her own, taking the form of a giant Roc flying beside him.
"Don't forget about me," Amber remarked, generating a heavy, tangled thicket of whirling sharp edges and spikes that Red was diving straight into.
Panicking, Red created a second set of wings of fire that immediately pulled at the air, allowing him to make a sharp U-turn upwards away from the thicket but exposing him to Stellar, who lept high with her horn fully charged and ready. She then cast forth a school of electric eels that grabbed on and rammed Red to the cave wall, electrocuting him and allowing Amber to safely strip the cursed dagger from his hoof and toss it away.
Not wanting to waste their momentum and allow their foe to recover, Amber charged the horn and bathed Red in a shower of blue light that extinguished his flames long enough for Stellar to get close to Red Sun.
"Now!" Amber yells while maintaining her spell, as her friend restrained Red with a firm hold and moved her snout as close to his ear as possible.
"Fall Unconscious"
Their command was issued, and the guards ended their spells as Red pushed Stellar away and held his head. He staggered forward, his eyes feeling heavy.
"N-o, noooo...." Red kept complaining until the command overtook him, and he passed out in front of the two guards-mares, who let go of a breath they didn't know they were both holding.
Neither of them said a word, glancing at the cursed dagger, then at Red Sun, and then at each other with a matched pair of stoic expressions. Neither of them had to say a word, knowing full well what the other was thinking at the time.