//------------------------------//
// Chapter 18 
// Story: Veil of the City 
// by BlueyWaifu 
//------------------------------//

As per usual, the front desk was completely void of business, aside from Klaven idly waiting for Restel to come back with his two things. Klaven was a patient changeling, but it was taking a little longer than he would expect for somepony to trot up eight stories worth of stairs, find his stuff, then trot all eight stories back down...

Maybe Klaven was impatient, just this once. Either that, or the angst of Restel potentially walking in on Faltic and Cyril was getting to him. He had never done so in the past, but he could now understand the allure of chewing on the tip of a quill, as weird as it still was.

This was a pivotal moment for Faltic, as he was finally going to reveal himself to Cyril, and show who he is. The final turning point, the climax to these many days worth of collaborative effort, the culmination of-

Snap.

Klaven gnawed so hard on the quill that it snapped in half. He tossed it aside into a trash bin, joining a few other broken quills. Without looking, Klaven reached for another one, only to feel that there was nothing there. Looking over, realization struck.

Have I chewed through every quill we have?

Klaven looked around, scanning the desk for any other quill, then opened a drawer, finding one inside. He breathed a sigh of relief as he took it from the drawer, sticking it in the cup.

I will not chew that one.

With nothing now, the sounds of idly tapping hooves reached Klaven's ears. It was his own hooves, drumming a mindless beat against the counter top. He didn't even recall doing it.

Thankfully, he was saved from his own boredom as the soft sound of hooves coming down the stairs caught his ears. Picking his head up and looking over unfortunately revealed that it wasn't Restel. Rather, some blue earth pony with a navy blue mane to match, glasses and a purple and yellow scarf. Alongside him was some light pink unicorn with… three colors in her mane: pink, yellow, and purple

Absolutely not Restel. Pfft… Am I really so impatient that I’m taking in every detail of everypony who trots through here?

The pair were holding hooves as they trotted across the lobby towards the door, and Klaven put on his best fake smile as they passed. Once the pair had left, Klaven's face dropped back to neutral as he sighed, lowering his expectations.

Restel was taking a minute.

Right when Klaven's worries had started to grow, the same sound of hooves coming down the stairs sounded, and they were moving fast. Looking in that direction, Klaven's worries assuaged as he saw a green-coated gray-maned earth pony coming down the steps. Along with him came a book and a quill.

The disguised Restel swiftly made his way to the front counter, opposite to where Klaven stood, and set down the belongings.

"You're moving pretty fast. I guess you had to sneak by?" Klaven asked. Immediately after, some hints of regret hit Klaven as he saw that Restel's face was red, and he was rubbing his eye.

Restel's voice was unsteady. "No, no they saw me. Look, I'm going home. Home home."

Klaven looked perplexed for a moment, still unaware of what had happened. "Going... home? What for? Are you alright?" Klaven quickly asked.

Restel sighed heavily and shook his head. "Don't worry about me. Just know I'm going home, and F-" Restel stumbled over his words for a moment. "Faltic... can tell you what happened."

With that, Restel turned hoof and quickly made his way to the door. 

"Wh-" Klaven's many words that vied to come out got caught in his throat. His mouth moved, but no sound came out.

He was at a loss for words. All of the ones he could think of were getting stuck trying to come out. The disguised Restel exited through the door, and was gone a moment later.

Klaven silently looked around the room, hoping to maybe find a familiar face around. So many questions were piling on top of one another as the seconds ticked by.

See Faltic.

Klaven turned all the way around, hesitantly trotting for the back rooms where he knew Candy would be.

It didn't take long to find her sitting on a chair, her back legs kicked up on a table in front of her with a newspaper unfurled in front of her face. The pink unicorn perked up upon seeing a disguised Klaven come in, and turned away from the paper.

"Hey, uh, Candy. If it's cool with you, I'm going to take a quick break. Sorry it's so sudden." Klaven's curiosity was dragging him to hurry along so he could go see Faltic, but his typical self felt sheepish for randomly taking a break.

Thankfully, Candy seemed understanding. "Oh, that's fine. It's dead this time of day, there shouldn't be any trouble."

Klaven nodded, smiling in return. "Great, thank you. I'll be back in a bit." Swiftly, Klaven left, returning to the counter in the lobby, then for the stairs.

It was the strangest thing. Restel is always a cheerful changeling, which piqued Klaven's curiosity since never had he ever seen Restel in such a state making such a drastic move. Questions that begged to be answered kept taking turns at the forefront of Klaven's mind as he went up flight after flight of stairs.

Eighth floor.

One short trip down the hall later, Klaven found himself at the door to his room. His curiosity pushed him to quickly go for his keycard to get in and-

I forgot my card downstairs!

Klaven hung his head in defeat and sighed, internally kicking himself. With the mental self-depreciation out of the way, Klaven picked his head back up and knocked. His curiosity (and legs) could not survive another sixteen story trek.

His hoof tapped idly on the floor as he waited for the door to open.

It hadn't yet, which was surprising. Klaven looked down the hallway. Nopony there.

It was taking a minute for the door to open, if Faltic had even heard him knocking. As rude as it might seem to him, Klaven thought he might have to knock again.

Just as Klaven was beginning to raise his hoof to knock again, the door opened slowly, and stopped just cracked as they usually do it, just so nopony walking by could spot an undisguised changeling inside. Klaven stopped the door with his hoof, and proceeded forward, slithering past the door and shutting it behind him.

"Faltic?" Klaven called out as he entered. There was no response. Rather, Klaven saw Faltic silently laying on the bed, staring at some flower across from him. Immediately, Klaven spotted the rough state Faltic was in, as his face was stained with tears.

With a quick swirl of fire, Klaven dropped his disguise, reverting back into his original changeling form. "What's, uh, going on, Faltic?" Klaven timidly asked, pressing the matter.

Faltic sighed in response, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it."

Klaven stepped in further, taking a seat on the other bed, facing Faltic. "I'm a bit worried about it. Restel just left, and said he was going home."

Faltic was silent for a moment, exhaling a long breath of air from his mouth. Faltic brought both of his hooves up to his head, covering it as if to hide. "It was all my fault."

Klaven's ear twitched. "It was… what?"

Faltic peeked from the coverage of his hooves, looking in Klaven's direction. "It's my fault."

"What is? Do you... want to tell me?" Klaven asked, hesitating from not wanting to sound rude about it.

Again, Faltic sighed, lowering his head back down into his hooves.

He has a right to know. Faltic thought.

Looking back up, Faltic drew a large breath, loudly exhaling before speaking. "I'd do anything." Faltic meekly said before continuing. "Truthfully, Restel wasn't supposed to be here scouting, nor involved in the Canterlot invasion. I manipulated the notices, got him involved, tore him away from home and kin, all just so I could have him here with me."

Now it was Klaven's turn to be silent. Consoling other ponies had never been a skill he possessed quite strongly. "You tampered with those to get him here?" Klaven asked. To his knowledge, that was an extreme measure, mostly due to the consequences that could follow if a changeling was found doing such.

Faltic nodded slowly. A wayward sniffle caught Faltic's snout before he continued. "Yeah. I just... didn't want to be alone. Cyril knew though, and she broke it to Restel. I'm just so, so sorry." Faltic turned his head back to the potted flower.

Klaven took notice of this, as his curiosity got the better of him. "Did things work out with you and Cyril when you showed yourself?" Klaven immediately held a hoof to his mouth, worried he'd said something too off-subject, and intrusive. Thankfully, Faltic didn't seem to mind.

"I don't even know. I never did reveal myself until Restel showed up, which then I pretty much had to. And then... yeah. I mean, she wasn't totally how I thought she would be, as in she didn't fully hate my guts," Faltic explained.

"That's good, at least," Klaven said, hoping to bring some optimism into the mix. That was quickly shot down when he noticed Faltic giving him a side-eye that caused his ears to pin to the back of his head. Faltic continued the conversation for him. "I would do whatever I could to mend things. I didn't intend for it to turn out this way. I just wanted a chance with Cyril, I wanted my friend here with me, I didn't want to be alone."

Klaven looked away, holding a hoof to his chin briefly before rubbing his face. "If it helps, I'm still here, if there's anything I can do." Klaven looked back at Faltic just in time to see another side-eye, this one bringing less intimidation. Faltic looked away right afterwards.

"As if there's anything that can be done. I've betrayed every ounce of trust Restel could have with me. If you stick around, I might find some damn thing to do to you." Faltic was sounding annoyed, and Klaven picked up on it, being too cautious to press the matter further.

Therefore, Klaven opted to be silent, also partially due to him not knowing what to say. So, why say anything on the subject? Klaven figured he had the bulk of the story, and didn't want to potentially agitate Faltic any further. "Well, uh, I should be getting back to work. Not too much longer left of my shift. I'll be here, okay?"

Faltic weakly exhaled a sigh. "Okay."

Slowly, Klaven dropped down from the bed to all fours, making his way to the door. Taking one last look back at Faltic showed that he hadn't moved at all. Faltic was still lying on the bed, head under his hooves, staring at that flower.

Klaven flashed a green flame over his body, and returned as his garnet unicorn, black-maned self before exiting the room.

Thankfully he had sat down for a moment, as eight more flights of stairs awaited him.

The one thing Klaven could only make inferences about was that flower. It was the one Faltic had gotten from the campgrounds, and it was a wonder how it was still alive. Why was it on the bed, and why was he staring at it so much?


*****


Night time. The usual familiar darkness enveloped the room. The only light was that of Luna's moon trickling in and revealing the faint silhouettes of objects. Klaven had opted to sleep in Restel's bed for the night, since the room was there, so Faltic was alone in the other bed.

And, of course, Faltic was having issues falling asleep. It was the second time Faltic woke up from his sleep, unable to stay unconscious until morning. Rolling over, Faltic now faced Restel's bed that Klaven was fast asleep on. Though, all he could see was the rough outline of a lump on the bed. It was different, knowing that lump wasn't Restel. On the nightstand was a small bag of unfinished veggie straws Klaven had brought up from after work.

Faltic reached for one, quietly plucking one from the bag and popping it in his mouth. Rolling over to his back, Faltic covered his forehead with his hooves, quietly chewing on the snack.

Faltic opened his eyes, the holes in his legs offering him a small peek around the room. It was oddly bright in the room for night time, Faltic thought. Luna's moon must be perfectly positioned to spill in all of the natural moonlight possible. Strange, as he thought the curtains were closed before he went to sleep. Klaven must have woken up at some point and made it back to sleep during one of Faltic's short sleeping periods.

Hate myself.

I know.

Faltic's mind continued belittling himself until the power of sleep overtook him once more.


*****


Sunlight poured in. With the curtain being open, as soon as the room got bright, Faltic woke up. However, Faltic opted not to move for a long while, deciding to stay dead weight on the bed.

Today was a complete mystery to Faltic.

Finally opening his eyes, and keeping them open, he rolled to his side, facing Restel's bed and noticing that the same lump was still there from last night. Either Klaven was sleeping in from no work, or he was about to be late.

"Hey, you work today?" Faltic sluggishly asked, the impact of waking up still bogging him down.

There was no response. Propping himself up on his elbow, Faltic stared down the lump on the other bed, speaking with a little more volume. "Klaven, you're still asleep?"

Nothing. Faltic didn't even see any movement. Sighing, Faltic yanked the blankets off of him, and set all fours on the floor. After a stretch, Faltic made his way to the bed, nudging Klaven's body.

"I didn't know you slept like a rock." Faltic was starting to sound annoyed again, especially since he still had no response. The blankets were the next move, and Faltic made light work of tossing the blankets off of Klaven.

Only to find it wasn't Klaven he was talking to. It was just a jumbled pack of pillows mimicking a body.

"What th-'' Faltic froze in confusion for a moment, staring at the lump of pillows he'd been talking to. Turning around to look around the room, Faltic called out. "Klaven?"

Silence.

He wouldn't be at work already, would he?

Even then, why would he leave this here?

The curtain.

Faltic trotted swiftly over to the window, examining it. Faltic knew for sure the curtains were closed before bed last night, Klaven had to have opened them.

Then, Faltic spotted the issue: the locks weren't locked. The window is always locked at night. If it was unlocked, it was opened, so...

Klaven left in the night, leaving a decoy behind for Faltic.

With the epiphany hitting him, Faltic hit his forehead against the glass softly, and repeatedly. Now everypony was gone, even Klaven, after what he had said yesterday.

It was probably for the better. Faltic did say Klaven should leave after all, less he found a way to take him away from something too.

The last pony that could possibly be near was Cyril. Though, Faltic put all thoughts of seeing her away, as she made it transparently clear that she was not involved anymore, and going there would make her hate him more.

Faltic was truly alone now.