The Nyxing Hour

by Nagel Navari

Chapter 15

Midnight acted on reflex. She bent down, scooping up Nightfall so that she was secure on her back. The filly didn’t resist, didn’t even move. She seemed more confused than anything, though she was staring in through the open door too. She could tell something was wrong. Midnight lifted her tail high behind her, sniffing the air. But she could smell nothing nearby—not the usual predators, not other ponies lurking.

If there aren’t any pony smells, who broke into my house?

“What in Celestia’s name…” Sapphire Breeze glanced back at her, concerned. “This isn’t normal, right?”

“No, it isn’t,” Midnight responded, glaring at her. “Someone broke in! Tore the place apart…” She glanced briefly over her shoulder at the filly. “Maybe you should stay out here with Nightfall while I check it out. Could be dangerous.”

Sapphire advanced into the open doorway. “If I thought we were in danger, I’d protect us. Then send you and Nightfall back to Ponyville. But I don’t think we are.”

“The pretty little mare is going to make it safe for me?” she asked, indignant. Midnight spun around again, searching the Everfree with panicked eyes. Even her supply-shed had been torn apart, her cart overturned, and piles of wood scattered everywhere. “What makes you say we’re not in danger?” She moved closer to Sapphire Breeze, standing only feet away as she whispered. “They might still be inside.”

Sapphire glanced over her shoulder, mouthing something under her breath. But Midnight couldn’t catch it. At least she didn’t keep doing it. “I can already tell you nopony is in there.”

“How?” Midnight touched the filly on her back gently with one wing. The little pony didn’t budge—only made a frightened squeaking sound.

“Because it’s obvious,” Sapphire said, “If somepony was setting a trap, they wouldn’t tear your house apart like that. They would be careful, and make it look like nopony was here. That isn’t what this is.” She took another cautious step forward. “This isn’t an ambush… this was somepony desperate. Somepony looking for something. Or someone.”

They both glanced back at Nightfall, at almost the same moment. The filly whimpered pitifully, and seemed to withdraw a little closer to her back. “I don’t need… I don’t need much out of there,” Midnight muttered. “And it can wait. Nothing is worth putting ponies in danger.” There was only one thing Midnight really couldn’t do without, an ancient book she’d received as a gift from somepony close to her. Everything else in there… well, stuff could be replaced.

She leaned back. “Don’t worry, squirt. I’ll protect you.” She lifted her tail a little higher, high enough that the sunlight streaming in through the trees all around them would reflect off the metallic blade.

“I don’t wanna be out here anymore,” Nightfall squeaked, her voice pitiful.

“We aren’t staying.” Midnight retreated a step, spinning around again to make sure that nopony was sneaking up on them. But she couldn’t smell anyone, or hear any sign from the forest that they were being watched. This was Midnight’s home, after all. She knew how to recognize when something was wrong.

But the birds were still singing. As far as she could tell, Sapphire Breeze was right. Whatever ponies had been here were long gone.

I should be furious.

She should be furious, except she wasn’t. All the anger at having her stability stolen from her again had faded into the background, replaced with worry over Nightfall. Maybe Sapphire too, despite what she said about being prepared for this.

I’ll come back here alone, once I know they’re safe. See if I can track down whoever did this. They’d regret messing with Equestria’s only kirin, that was for sure.

“Back to Ponyville,” she said, turning around nice and slow. “We won’t take any chances when Nightfall is with us.”

Sapphire Breeze glanced back into the ruined house more than once, expression dark. “I was hoping to find some evidence of who was behind this. I’m sure they’re gone. The longer we wait…”

Midnight glared at her, harsh enough that she could’ve melted ice. Sapphire stopped protesting.

“We already know who it was,” she muttered, as soon as they were back on the trail towards Ponyville. She kept her tail up, and Nightfall close to her. The filly’s weight was so small it was practically negligible. Her voice was a whisper, but really she thought the child deserved to know this stuff. It might be scary, but it was also part of her life. The danger wouldn’t go away just because she was kept in the dark. “Celestia told me that the Guard wasn’t sure they’d captured all the cultists. Obviously some of them escaped, went looking for…” She trailed off.

“For me,” Nightfall muttered. Her voice was so small, quivering on the edge of terror. “They were looking for me. When I woke up… that’s one of the first things I remember. Running away.”

“Sweet Celestia, it’s a good thing you two weren’t here.”

“Good thing for them,” Midnight muttered. She slashed out at a nearby tree, one that was thin enough for her tail to go through in a single swing. The sharp blade of her tail passed through with minimal resistance, and the whole thing tumbled down across the path. Not that it was terribly well-worn to begin with. Midnight herself was the only one who came out here. Except… “Bucking hell, I’m not the only one out here.”

She broke into a trot—as fast as she dared move with the child on her back. “Zecora… the first friend I made here. If they came for her…”

Sapphire Breeze hurried to keep up with her. She was a fit mare—even a glance could tell Midnight that—but her legs were shorter and she’d obviously never run through a forest before. The Everfree in particular was a treacherous path, with plenty of supernatural hazards that could spell swift death to an unwary pony.

Even now, at the height of her urgency, Midnight didn’t dare leave the path. She might’ve cut straight across if she were alone, but not with these two. I hope you’re alright, Zecora. I hope you can wait a little longer.

“Zecora… that’s the zebra, right? I heard about her in town…”

“Yeah.” Midnight didn’t even glance back over her shoulder. She didn’t keep her blade up as she ran—that was just inviting an accident when she wasn’t alone. It took some amount of effort to make sure the polished metal never came near Sapphire Breeze. “I found her when I was hunting once. She was… out gathering ingredients for a potion or something. She was hoping to help me make contact with Ponyville, said they’d accept me…” And she’d been right. Even if an untimely kidnapping had spoiled Midnight’s first meeting.

She could see the smoke through the trees before they reached the cottage. Midnight broke into a gallop for those last few strides.

Zecora’s hut was built into the trunk of an ancient tree, surrounded by bright lanterns and a small garden of herbs.

Or it had been. The garden had been burned, and the tree itself looked scorched in several places. Whole sections of leaves had been blackened to nothing.

Midnight slowed to a stop, so suddenly that Nightfall was almost flung from her back. She caught her with her wings, preventing a tumble. “Sorry, squirt! Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Nightfall slumped off onto the ground, catching herself. “I think I’d… like to walk on my own for a while.”

Zecora herself was emerging from within, broom in hoof, sweeping out bits of broken glass and shattered pottery. She looked up, apparently relieved. “Midnight Storm, it’s good to see you okay! I feared I wasn’t the only one threatened today.”

“No, I’m fine.” Midnight glanced once over her shoulder to make sure Sapphire Breeze had made it—she was just now emerging from the path, huffing from the effort. “I’ve been rushing all over Equestria the last few days. But I came back to get a few things, and…” She trailed off. “You were attacked?”

Zecora nodded. “Some foolish ponies thought I would be quick to defeat, but I fought them off until they made a retreat.”

“Ponies, plural?” Sapphire Breeze stopped beside Midnight, removing a little pad of paper from her saddlebags and lifting it in her magic. “Could you describe them for me, Miss Zecora? It would help in bringing them to justice.”

Zecora actually laughed. “If it’s a search you want, it’s easily ended. Search the hospital for the fools most broken and dented.”

Despite her protests, Zecora did give their descriptions—albeit in her usual way, requiring a little interpretation to translate into something meaningful. Midnight leaned back, watching as Sapphire sketched out a pair of ponies.

“Their names I didn’t happen to hear, but they mentioned their purpose perfectly clear.” She nodded slightly towards Nightfall. “They were looking for a dark one, I’m quite sure. Maybe a pony who looked like her. Or an Alicorn with a similar color… young filly, do you perhaps have a brother?”

“No,” she squeaked, looking away. She looked like she might be about to say more, but ended up just falling silent.

I need to get her home. This is too much for a child to go through in one day. Many young ponies nearly had a breakdown from the difficulty of their first day of school. Here she was, forcing Nightfall to confront the frightening reality of the danger she was in on her very first day.

“I’m living on Main Street now, Zecora,” Midnight finally said. “I’d offer to stay and help you clean this up, but… Nightfall here really has to get home. She’s got an early day of school tomorrow.” No more true than any other day, but Nightfall glanced back at her anyway, gratitude in her eyes. “Please come by and visit, sometime. It’s the brown and pink building that looks like a shop…”

“They all look like that,” Sapphire Breeze muttered.

“Going to town I often do,” Zecora said. “Next time, I’ll stop by to visit you.” She winked at the end, glancing briefly at Nightfall. The meaning was obvious—she wanted to know why Midnight was traveling with her, but didn’t want to ask about it when Nightfall was around.

Thank you for being so understanding, Zecora. Midnight waved, then nudged Nightfall down a different path. “Back to town, then.”

“Oh, good!” Nightfall broke into a trot almost immediately, needing very little prompting from her. Unfortunately she seemed to be much worse at actually staying on the trail, and she very nearly wandered off in her first few steps. Midnight hurried after her, and soon Sapphire Breeze had joined them.

“I’m sorry, Nightfall…” Midnight muttered, as soon as they were on their way, and she was close enough to prevent the filly from getting herself hurt. “I had no idea… We were just supposed to be visiting my cottage. If I’d known it was dangerous, I wouldn’t have taken you.”

Nightfall looked like she might be on the edge of tears. But she’d been that way for some time.

Midnight leaned forward to scoop her up again, holding the child briefly against her chest. “Hey, sweetie. It’s okay to be scared. Just… even if you are, know that I’ll protect you. And Sapphire Breeze too. It’s not you versus those bad ponies. It’s them versus all of us.”

Nightfall did cry—clinging to her with a fear so desperate Midnight could smell it. Probably other predators could too—they couldn’t stay here long now. But she didn’t rush the child. Little Nightfall would’ve been better off if she’d stuck around after school to play with her friends.

Except I can’t just leave her anywhere alone anymore. The cult is still out there, still looking for her. Would they be able to recognize her wearing that disguise? Maybe they really should move away from here. Then again, if we can stay hidden through their initial searches, they’ll expect us to leave. And the Elements live in Ponyville…

She could worry about that later. For now, it was time to get Nightfall home. I hope you’ll forgive me for today, squirt.

Author's Note:

Written by Starscribe as a reward on Patreon

Comments

[Texus]

Just asking is this it's own story or has this much to do with the other two stories this is inspired from?

I'M just asking because I really liked the original one, but I believe the author made a choice for the story I didn't like, like the way Celestia acted kind of forced towards mignight in her own home and kind of forced a job on her because Celestia wanted it to happen, stuff like that.

[Asolem2]

Sapphire’s horn began to glow faintly, and she advanced slowly towards the open doorway.

... Pretty sure Sapphire was a pegasus a few chapters ago

[Chaotic Ink]

So, Sapphire's a unicorn in this story...
*shrugs* Might be interesting to see what she's like as one

[xbox432]

Heh, I bet the cultist never thought they'd get their flanks whooped by a Zebra shaman. I wonder just how badly Zecora messed them up? Probably pretty badly if she's suggesting Sapphire check the nearest hospital.

[Nagel Navari]

8948036
8948035
Princess Erroria has spoken.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/3/7/264918__safe_pluto_princess+erroria_alicorn_blue+screen+of+death_error_error+message_pony_windows_windows+xp.png

[joeyjumper94]

8948419
used a mirror and i read

Critical System Error!
Princess Erroria got to excited.
we told you not to let her get too overstimulated.

[Nagel Navari]

8972926
8972874
Fixed, thanks.

[Thor447]

Saphire when did you become an alicorn?
pff i'unno
...seems legit