Maple Bat

@nx9100 Maple carefully watched Nova from where she was, with him, She was his noble servant. Doing whatever was asked of her in the name of bringing Nightmare moon back. Ever since joining She'd kept her mane back in a warrior's ponytail, the scar she got from her fight with tantabus clearly seen. She wore much lighter armor and not the night guard kind she was used to wearing either... for that would make her too recognizable. She looked to Nova before speaking to Force"The sympathiser said to lay low." Maple told her calmly also assuring that Nova knew as. "It's best we listen to him... At least for now." ------------------------------------------------------------- @WiiGuy2014 Woody took a drink of the tea he'd made. "Well... tomorrow the guard declares her dead... but that's not important. I know she's Alive." Woody took a deep breath and set the cup he was drinking down. " You two have been doing your best... You've kept your eyes open for her and I'm not prepared to ask you to leave ponyville to look for her. I know she'll turn up... When? I have no idea." Woody then added some sugar to his tea and drank it again. "Ahh... Better. "

Shining looked back at the 2 guards... Well? What are you waiting for! Get a Magic inhibitor! And hurry with that. We can keep it down until you get back..." Shining knew that those Inhibitors where there because Maple would bring in changelings they'd use those to keep them from just teleporting out, they'd use them on unicorns too. Punishment, of course, didn't last very long normally ponies where held for about a day then let go... more if it was a really bad offence.

"I like the sound of this... great Cabal. Let's not waste any time. Because like storm said, "Sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get to the blood team leader" It was something like that. Maple noticed the skirmish going on outside. She showed an apparent distaste for it, She wanted to stop it... It was her world now but she couldn't. "So... Where are we heading now?" Maple checked her armor making sure it was still on tightly since she was going to travel a lot. "Well, when I got here in Tartarus it was rather apparent from the start. The place is split. It's suffering because of that. This whole world..." Woody moved a paw out to the horizon. "It's fighting... Killing itself. That said at this point it's very fixable. When I got here Shadows told me there was a lot of opposition to you 4s control on Tartarus and it was too much for each of you to handle apart. Grim was the reason I found one of the opposing forces. That said, you don't have to wait to handle it. I just dealt with the problem myself as you saw. All it takes is you being fed up with something and bam, You've got all the reason to attack your lessers. I mean you four are GODS you shouldn't have to listen to anyone!" Woody grinned at them. I mean Tartarus might not've been as bad as he was leading them to believe but it was something they could work on.

For the weather well I mean I don't think it matters to myself too much. If it effects you @dosey doe Feel free to pick it for yourself. @WiiGuy2014 Yea absolutly! Also, do you particularly like the way Woody is behaving? I've been watching a lot of stranger things and a lot of inspiration came from that.

When Will got to the cottage it was locked, As expected. Woody could be seen moving inside so the wills knew he was in the house. There was only the light of Woody's magic and a candle. Soft singing could be heard too. Woody had felt the Wills approach since he was focusing on a new detection spell hoping to help find Maple. He opened the door for the Wills before they knocked "Ah! Will and Will! It's good to see you two!" Woody's eyes looked like they were searching around, looking behind will and his mane looked more messy than usual. "Come in, Come in." He moved the door aside. Inside the cottage, there was a well-lit wall covered with papers and a lot of them with underlining and red circles. On the wall was mostly cases of missing ponies, strange sighting and stuff of the like. "Don't mind my work as you saw it last time... Nothing new up there today. I'm sad to say... Tea?" At this point it was hard for Woody to convince Ponies he was still sane... He sat on the sofa and poured himself some tea "Officially Maple's still MiA but I think She's somewhere near rainbow falls... That's close to where her last engagement was... I mean it was below canterlot... but it's been long enough for her to make it there."

Maple wasn't flying anymore, more of leaping from tree limb to tree limb, She'd spent a whole year int he forest she knew what she was doing was risky but at least nothing on the ground would be able to halt Maple's progress. Now she had fewer threats but she had to be very careful to not hit any vines or it would only go downhill for her. She had the training, however. "Wow... Equestria's best hunters... Can't even keep up with a pony clad in armor." Maple taunter which one of the hunters shot at her but the shot thud against a tree limb.

Shining Armor looked at Twi, who was struggling to keep her shield up and at Caerson and lastly, to the terrified guards. He made a choice... An arguably bad one but it was a choice he felt he had to make. He summoned a spear of pure magic and drove it into the corpse broke the table and impaled the corpse on the ground, it was still alive... since it didn't have vitals anymore. "There... It can't touch the spear or it'll hurt itself... Problem solved, right?" Twilight had moved her shield down to contain the magic storm "You... Are so Lucky..." Twilight managed to say as she put more energy into the shield. "Can you help with the bubble too?" Shining nodded and added his remaining energy to the shield keeping the spear in place simultaneously.

"D-Did you say resurrected? I... I don't believe it but I'm coming to make sure Twily's ok!" Shining bound after the guard "Lead me to her... and make haste!" Shining was obviously upset by this new development. He was still wearing his armour, even during downtime Twilight was too focused on the shield her horn glowing brought as an indication of such she dropped a bit of it only for half a second and put it back... "Careson... Please... hurry..." Twilight said quietly and desperately

"Well, me and Maple made a vow to each other... That no matter how tough times got we'd never give up on each other. As you know our parents where gone a lot so me and Maple grew up with each other more so than with the whole family. We took great care of each other... We both aren't going to let each other down. It's hard to make me angry but..." Woody used magic and spoke in a deeper more intimidating tone giving the Wills a glare "I best not catch you hurting my sister."

Woody had known his mother, Fluttershy, Was going to head to Saddle Arabia. He figured he'd have one last chat before she left. "Make sure you search for Maple while you're there... I know you have to do diplomatic stuff but she's just... been gone for far too long. I... I know you said she's going to be ok. But... I'm starting to fear the worst for her..." Woody was trying to be strong but it was slipping from him. "I'll... Keep an eye out for her here." With that, Woody waved Fluttershy off and he took to the skies, heading home for now. His father was probably sneaking along with Fluttershy to keep her safe... that or he was much too busy with... whatever he does in canterlot. So the young draconequus was home alone...

"So... This story began on my birthday... I was in Equestria since at that time everyone thought I was wearing my costume early... Well, I'd become something short of a legend around Ponyville... And legends... They bring attention. There was this pony... Proud and aggressive... I'd tell you his name if I knew it... He was clocked in a blood red, hood over him, He came in and-. " Maple was going to continue but Woody interrupted to add something " Let me tell you something... This pony, even looking at him made you feel scared I mean it was like he was a living bad dream." Woody spoke with emotion behind his tone. "It was like I saw myself turning into a statue while looking at him... He asked me if I knew where Maple was. I lied and said I don't know." "Eventually this pony found me in the town... since I was there and he drew this heave crossbow and shot at me. He reloaded in mere seconds to fire another bolt at me... He even drew a sword with magic. So I knew he was a unicorn then... At that time I had no training so I ran back here and got the 2 arrows I still had for "The Guardian" and decided to fight... Well... It uhh..." Maple brushed her mane awkwardly she didn't want to tell more Woody again was able to add in " When I got here after Maple ran... The bow was broken and the string snapped, she was cut in places and the hunter was about to finish her off... I shouted at him for him to not kill her... When I shouted, "STOP!" I had a magic overload and... Well, you won't believe what happened next" Woody's eyes shimmered the bright silver color they took when he froze time. "Long story short the hunter hasn't been seen since the event, I hope he likes the Chaos realm." Woody laughed loudly

What say you, we do something different for this one? Let's say you're friends with Woody and you want to help him find his *ahem* "Lost" Sister. For this, in particular, Woody would be on edge since he just really wants to find Maple... Dead or alive When the wills meet Maple later, But it won't be a very light-hearted meeting. Especially if you're a changeling at that time What'd ya think of that?

Maple waited on the hunters nervously. It wasn't long until they approached her "Aww..." The leader type one was the one who started "Your friend left you... That's one of the many reasons why we hate vampires... they leave each other to save their own flanks. Tell me little bat... Why don't we just end your suffering!" he swung his 'axe' quickly at Maple, she blocked it with her hoof's metal boot at a similar speed. "Haha! YOu'll have to catch me first!" Maple leapt into the tree line and started flying between the branches. "Shoot her down NOW!" The leader-type shouted angered waving his sword. 2 two aimed but didn't shoot at Maple "We... We can't get a clear hit... the branches are in the way, sir. And we're low and ammo..." The leader threw down his sword angered and picked it back up... An eight pony..."Fine, we'll engage her in a clearing... and if she goes too high Everfrees fines will tangle her up for us... Chase that bat now! I want her!" The 3 darted after Maple, leaving speechless and not even seeing him at that.

Zeocra kept meditating thinking of what she needed to then add to the cure... Something strong that would sedate it's adapation... She opened her eyes quickly and grabbed some elderberries out of the cabinet, crushing them and adding some to the cure. It turned an odd color and after a long time frame, it changed back. "Maybe... Just... Maybe." Twilight looked at the guards "What are you doing! One of you... Get Caerson! And my brother, Quickly... Please." Twilight turned to it again studying it carefully. "It's dead...yet speaking... What is going on with this... Virus. This is new-ish..."

Maple was shocked when she got dragged "Hey! I was going to stick to the plan but we can't risk one of those 3 following you. Have some faith in me ok? I should say sorry for not telling you I'd do that in particular. I'll wait until they get close and dart off opposite of you then we'll meet up again once you find the Timberwolves." Maple moved out of his grip. "I'll be cautious... I've never had a reason to but you are my reason now. Go. I'll lure them away as we planned."

Zecora shook her head not taking her eyes off the potion as she watched the color lighten and darken again. "I haven't really been feeling any side effects." She had her rings off and had a towel around her shoulders. "Ok... Maybe some sweating. About the cure... It just keeps changing to adjust the things I add... I think I know now how to beat it after looking through Jack's notes. I need some sort of pure suppressant and something that would dry up water to concentrate it. If I had those things I could probably make more progress... there's something big I feel I'm missing. Perhaps I am missing it... I will require more time" She looked around the room eventually she took out a bamboo looking pole flipping onto it and balancing herself onto it with her head against it. She was meditating on it. "Salt... That could help draw out water. As I said things need to be more concentrated. Could you get some from the kitchens?" Twilight looked up from the book she was reading and saw the smoke. "Yikes! Caerson! Something's happening!" Twilight shouted but Caerson was well out of earshot. She put a small shield around the body making it suppress the smoke and she could condense it to keep the thing down should it come back to life.

Maple's pupils shrank He noticed it! How in Equestria! N-nevermind that.. I guess he deserves the truth. He would keep it secret... But I promised Luna not to tell anypony... I haven't even told Woody the story of that scar... She shook her head "It's... A bit personal... I'm sorry Will. I don't really want to talk about it... Not now. Maybe I could tell you the story of the 'Vampire Hunter' that attacked me the nightmare night I hid here at the castle? It has nothing to do with this scar but was interesting."

Maple, once she first got through the portal immediately looked around trying to gather where she was, that's when her eyes crossed over Storm. Her pupils shrank and she recoiled but avoided screaming, she didn't know who'd hear that aside from the group she assembled itself of course. "W-Wait... That doesn't... Hurt?" Maple gave herself a look over and saw that she was fine. "Oh no... That must mean the portal rejected you few in a way. I'm sorry. L-Let's get this over with alright maybe once we head back it'll undo that damage." Maple pulled out the letter and read over it. "The assassin... I don't really know anything about them. The letter only mentions their existence. Do any of you have an Idea how to find them?" Woody too shared the sentiment the other felt after hearing what salacious said. He, however, was more open about it his face showing disappointment. He looked down but then he decided to look up. "That... Doesn't have to be true. I mean you all can spend quality time like that together... The first thing stopping you is wanting to kill each other... Can I take a moment and truly ask... Why you all have such a... Distaste for one another."

Back in Equestria Zecora had been continuing work on her cure which was in a bottle now, She'd done like Shining armor suggested put something into it that would make the cure more clear if she was getting close to curing it. It was murky but you could see through it if you looked hard enough "Progress..." Zecora said to herself quietly as she added something else to it and mixed it in, She saw it clear up more but then it went back to where it was even growing a bit darker. "And... Gone..." Zecora sighed audibly setting the bottle on the table near her. "It needs something extremely potent... but What?" She felt the cure was missing something key. She just really seemed to not know what that one thing was.

Maple nodded as she drank more of the water. "She's just trying to protect you. I respect that. Yes, I will be ok. Don't worry about me for now. If my capture had played out differently Woody would share my Changeling sentiment but... He always tried telling me it was a changeling who saved me but I never really listened... I want to go out and tell your sister I'm sorry for the way I reacted... It was unprofessional and I'm really sorry..." Maple looked at midnight silently asking if that was a good idea.

The two didn't have to take long. Maple heard a pony approach them a few moments after Speechless reacted HE shouted "There they are! Get them now!" 2 other ponies wearing the same robes that the Duskbreakers used ran up to the first one dressed in the same fasion the other 2 brought out cross bows the middle one drew a weapon of some sort, Like a wooden stake only it was more of an ax with a stake as the head Maple jumped, she hadn't expected them this quickly. "Gah! They're here run!" Maple wanted Speechless to start running first so she'd be the one followed. Maple unclipped her spear pointing it at the hunters. "You go I'll try to hold them back..." Maple was shaking visibly. Speechless couldn't tell if it was real or fake and he didn't necessarily have the time to find out.

Maple sighed, rather dissapointed but she understood the misconception "I do not. in fact, burn in sunlight. I'm only partly a Vampire. It doesn't even make me feel weak. And what happened? Well... the first day, I found this room... The remaining week of that date... I sat and cried here wondering what was wrong with me. After that... Woody showed the first time. I got mad but we talked it out and we came to our agreement. After that... Well, it was a lot of the same. I mostly sat in this room trying to figure out what the buck was wrong with me. That and making my "Food runs". I also shot a lot, timber wolves get back I carried on for about a year before Luna finally convinced me that I have a purpose in this world and when she did. I came back and became the pony you see before you."

"Goodbye friend..." Celestia said with a sigh. "I'm glad he didn't press me for the details I wasn't really sure what to say to him and what not to say... All this info I know... It's just getting to me." The burden of her weight in the world was getting to her in a way... "Sister, It'll be alright. Once we regroup Karthspire can oversee everything and make sure nothing is said that shouldn't be. You don't have to do everything yourself. Even though you believe you've messed up too many times. You're only a pony, you make mistakes and you've been around long enough to make many, it's ok to make them." Luna put a hoof around her sister. "Promise." Evelyn chuckled "I'm sure Festus is a fine kid. He's always been really tough. And no you're not heavy... I'm just worried about you. I want you to walk. To experience, a normal life after all this is over if you make it. Like Luna... or Maple, or Celestia... It's just an effect you have I guess." She chuckled more. "Ready to head back to the others?"

"You don't need to say sorry. This... it isn't your fault. I've heard this all too much." Maple assured Midnight "W-Well I guess that's karma for me being the same way as her. I feel bad for scaring Will and hitting Moonshadow... But. I'm not going hurt any more changelings without the proper reason to. That's that." Maple smiled. She was proud of herself for making that choice, Mostly because it brought her a lot of much-needed inner peace. Woody looked Maple in the eyes "That's great sis, I'm proud of you. You're growing into a very fine mare. Moonshadow will love it!" He hugged Maple and pat her back gently. He knew that Maple was going to be ok.

Woody put his paw up to get the wills attention "I was eleven. Maple was nearing that same age. That's when she ran... I'll never forget when I came home and she wasn't there. It was terrifying! But She let me keep her safe with the little baskets." Woody said to will his face read the fear of her disappearing like she'd just left again. He shook it off and smiled again and he wasn't forcing it. " As for why... I'll be alright with answering that one. As you know, before I became a night guard I was attending School like everypony else. That and Flight school but that wasn't as bad... I'd been getting bullyied about being a bat that went to school during the day..." Maple hit a nearby way gently "I can still hear their mockery in my head some of the things I remember are much clearer than other things... "Why is there a deformed pegasus here." "Shouldn't you go back to stealing blood, bat." The... Last thing I still remember before running is the I was pushed outside and held down by 3 kids. They wanted to see me burn in the sunlight... It's stuff like that that just pushed me over the edge... Once I felt I'd had enough of it... I decided to run away. This is the only place I could think of going where I'd be alone." Maple pat the side she just punched "It was good to me as you can tell."