• Published 8th Oct 2012
  • 5,489 Views, 112 Comments

No Light - Vargras



A simple mistake leads to a guard learning much more than he ever wanted.

  • ...
10
 112
 5,489

Act 1 | Chapter 4: The Shady Trough

"Have a look around, Ferous. I'll be upstairs if you need me."

So this was to be home — the outside had been unassuming enough, and the inside wasn't much different. The first floor consisted of little more than a wobbly-looking desk and two or three rows of books, all of which sat neatly arranged upon the makeshift shelves. It honestly wasn't much of a library at all, but Ferous quickly reminded himself of the predicament down here. It was highly likely that this was all they even had, and though it paled in comparison to one of Canterlot's libraries, it was still theirs.

That was what mattered to the opliptera, wasn't it? Regardless of their situation, everything down here was theirs. Everything had been reused, repurposed, and what might have simply been tossed aside as trash on the surface was instead mended and put to use once more. It gave him something else to think about: The Night Guard weren't just efficient because of their work — they were efficient because their very way of life demanded it.

The pegasus briefly browsed the shelves—not surprisingly, almost all of them were history books—and soon made his way for the stairs to the second floor. Thankfully, going up stairs seemed to use a completely different group of muscles than going down them, and Ferous seemed to make his way up with little trouble, aside from the rather cramped staircase. As he reached the landing at the top, he quickly surveyed his surroundings. The second floor was little more than two rooms separated by a single wall, and upon spotting a nearby bed, it was rather obvious as to where he would be sleeping.

Something else caught his eye, however. Close to the bed was a desk, and upon it lay several pages, with quills and an inkwell nearby. With his curiosity quickly getting the better of him once more, Ferous strode over and leaned toward the desk, reading over some of the pages. Many of them had been written upon time and time again, and countless edits and corrections covered several of the pages — it seemed as if whatever this was, it was a work in progress. It was difficult to find pages that were clean enough for him to read, but after shuffling through them a bit, he managed to gather enough of them together for him to look over.

She was beautiful in the moonlight. Her coat came alive under what the opliptera called the Grace of Luna; where in the sun she was dull and always seemed uncomfortable, under the moon, her mane shone and her coat glowed. To see her in the light of the moon, as he always did during their nightly meetings, was stunning — she was beautiful beyond belief, and though he had told her such a thing time and time again, he still felt it worth saying.

But now was not the time for words, something she made evident as she leaned up to silence him with a kiss. The night was their time, a time in which the two of them could be away from the prying eyes of those who would no doubt disapprove of their relationship. Forbidden as it may have been, they loved one another, as true as any other. Quietly, and with a faint laugh here and there, the two made their way through the gardens, if only to find a spot where they could truly be alone. They eventually found a clearing, and in the middle, a fountain — such a place would do nicely.

She tossed him a teasing glance and lead him along, her tail dancing back and forth, as if to beckon him along. He hardly needed to be given incentive, and instead, followed her along, eyes affixed upon her toned haunches. It was then that she promptly turned about, pulling him on top of herself as the two of them fell to the ground. They both quickly found themselves consumed by the throes of passion, their lust wholly unbridled as they

"Ferous?"

The pegasus let out a yelp and quickly backed away from the desk, his face red — and not just because he had been caught. "Y-yes, Noctis?"

She narrowed her eyes at him from her spot within the doorway. "What were you doing just now?"

"I uh... s-settling in, of course."

"Uh huh." Her eyes shifted from him to the desk, and then to the papers upon it. A faint grimace flashed across her face, if only for the briefest of moments, and then she sighed. "You were reading my rough drafts, weren't you?"

"I-I... wait." Ferous blinked, then tilted his head, staring at her. "You wrote that?"

"Aye." The opliptera nodded, walking towards the desk and calmly rearranging the papers. "Curious — what did you think of it?"

He seemed taken aback at first. "Well, it... seemed awfully smutty."

"'tis the point. It wouldn't be a romance novel if it weren't."

"...you write smut?"

Noctis sighed once more, lowering her head and tossing a glare in his direction. "Yes, Ferous, I do. It helps me vent."

"Oh. Sorry, I just... wasn't expecting it or anything."

"Hmph." She shoved the pages to one side, her attention focused upon tidying up the quills. "So did you like it or not?"

He thought back to what he had just read moments before, and though he hadn't been given enough time to read far enough along for it, he had read enough to assume quite a few things, and it was certainly enough to make him blush once more. "It was... good. Yeah."

"Good? How so?"

"Well uh... you know..."

"I'm afraid I don't, Ferous. What was good about it?" Noctis took a step towards him, looking up and grinning rather widely — him being flustered was rather amusing to her, it would seem. "Or is your tongue tied?"

"It was um..." He swallowed hard, frantically glancing about as he searched for an answer. "...very descriptive?"

"Yes, yes, but did you find it erotic?"

The pegasus stared at her dumbfounded, unable to believe that the ever-serious Noctis was asking him if something she wrote was erotic. It seemed rather appropriate, then, that he would also be unable to answer.

She took note of his reaction, however, snickering as she gave his side a prod. "Goddess, it's as if you've never been with a pony. So easily flustered!"

Ferous huffed, his face still quite red. "I have been, just... this is different!"

"I bet it is." The opliptera laughed once more and returned her attention to cleaning up her desk, though she stopped upon finding an unopened letter buried in the midst of her own work. "And what's this?"

He leaned over, eager for a look. "What's what?"

"A letter, bearing Lady Luna's seal — and the wax is still warm." With her own fangs acting as makeshift letter openers, Noctis hastily tore it open and began to read the contents aloud. "Sergeant Noctis — Captain Procella, displeased as she may be, as informed me of your latest acquisition. Per my orders, and once again causing Captain Procella displeasure, you are given leave for the evening so that you may properly introduce our newest recruit to his new home. Despite your captain's very vocal protests, I'm quite eager to hear the story behind this latest joining. Have him ready for introductions tomorrow. Signed, Princess Luna."

"Your captain's probably pissed."

Noctis rolled her eyes. "She's always pissed. It matters little."

"So what now?"

"Well, I now have leave for the night, as well as orders to properly introduce you to Old Canterlot."

Ferous seemed to study her, his eyes squinting. "You're planning something."

"That I am. Tell me, Ferous... how do you feel about bars?"


In a society as strict and religious as that of the opliptera's, one didn't really expect a bar within city limits, and despite having that very same mindset, Ferous now found himself standing outside the entrance to one. It was ramshackle at best, and painfully evident that the original sign had long since been painted over numerous times — regardless of what this building used to be, it had since been repurposed to see to the needs of a people. The sign itself bore no special markings, aside from a name.

"The Shady Trough?"

"A bit of a dive, but..." Noctis let slip a soft laugh and glanced towards the door. "Only place in the city that sells alcohol. Rather popular with a great many ponies as a result."

"Can't be that much of a dump."

"You'd be surprised. If we're lucky, they'll still be selling shroom stouts at half price."

The pegasus blinked, brow raised. "Okay, I gotta ask... shroom stout?"

"Oh. Well." She cleared her throat and gave a quick nod. "We don't get enough light down here to grow a lot of crops, so we often have to improvise — you've no doubt seen it with the buildings and such. Before our exile, we managed to devise a way to make beer based off the mushrooms that grow down here, and those are rather plentiful."

"So... shroom stouts."

"Shroom stouts."

Ferous sighed. "Lead on."

"Perfect! I'm sure you'll grow to love this place, in due time." Without further ado, the opliptera promptly turned towards the door and made her way inside, her companion in tow. The entry way immediately gave way to a sharp right, which in turn lead down a staircase (much to Ferous' chagrin), and at last opened into another area — a very big area. It may have been naught but a cellar, but it was a large one, and currently held well over a hundred ponies. Dotting the room were numerous tables, nearly every seat filled by an opliptera with a mug close by. Magical torches, similar to the ones he had seen earlier, lined the room, as well as several banners bearing the insignias of the Royal Sisters. Despite being extremely crowded, it still somehow gave the sense of being cozy — perhaps it was due to being situated in a basement.

The clamor of so many ponies certainly made things louder than the pegasus would've liked, and he found himself speaking up if only so Noctis could hear him. "Little busy, isn't it?"

"This is normal!"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah! Hold on, I think I see a few other Vigil members — stay close!"

Stay close, she said. It was certainly amusing, given how packed the place was, and he found himself struggling to squeeze through the crowd at times. He repeatedly apologized each time, but it hardly seemed necessary — simply seeing him was often enough to cause others to give him space, and though he would've hated that at any other point, it was more than welcome right now. By the time he had managed to catch up to Noctis, she had stopped at a table that currently seated three ponies, all of them still in their armor. From the looks of things, they were in the middle of a card game and had put a stop to it once he and Noctis had arrived.

"Ah, good. There you are."

The lone opliptera mare at the table narrowed a single purple eye at him, the other hidden behind a patch. She huffed, taking a quick drink of whatever was in her mug before brushing a bit of blonde hair away from her face — a curious color combination for an opliptera. "This the guy Procella was bitchin' about?"

"Aye. Ferous, this is Lieutenant Acuta. Acuta, this is Neophyte Ferous."

"Hmph." Another quick drink, and her tone became noticeably more sarcastic. "Cute lookin' guy. Let's see if you actually manage to hold onto this one this time."

Such a remark quickly drew a growl from Noctis, who slammed a hoof upon the table. "I thought we agreed that you weren't to talk about that in public."

"Ain't exactly a secret that you're shit at relationships, Noctis. You're good at your job, but that's about it."

A second opliptera, a stallion, quickly spoke up. His own mane was about as black as Noctis', though the orange eyes certainly set him apart from her. "That's enough, Acuta. You shouldn't be talking about that, especially in front of recruits."

Noctis huffed and gestured towards the latest participant. "That's Corporal Asclepius, medical officer for the Vigil."

"Simply calling me 'doc' will suffice, Neophyte Ferous. As inaccurate as it may be, most of the others within the Vigil do it anyways." Asclepius gave a smile, though it didn't really seem to do much other than counteract Acuta's own scowl. He took a quick drink of his own beer before gesturing to his right and towards a rather brutish looking pegasus. "Sergeant Corvus. Quiet guy. Usually doesn't talk unless it's needed."

The pegasus in question was certainly large in comparison to other stallions, and both a black mane and brown coat made him stand out quite a bit compared to the other ponies within the bar, though certainly not as badly as Ferous stood out. Curiously enough, Corvus' eyes were closed, and it looked like he was thinking — with how loud the bar was, it was any wonder he could do anything of the sort.

"He's trying to work out his chances. Let it never be said that Corvus was a dumb stallion."

From the other side of the table, Acuta laughed. "He can think all he wants. Isn't gonna change how bad his hand is!"

"Maybe if somepony other than you were dealing, that wouldn't be an issue."

"You trying to say I'm a bad dealer, doc?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Acuta. So bad, in fact, that you'll lose the next hand — which you dealt."

"Is that a bet?"

"Ten bits says you lose."

"Fine! Lookin' forward to buying myself another drink with your money!"

With the game newly rekindled, Noctis let out a groan and quickly placed a wing around Ferous, shepherding him towards a more quiet area of the bar. In the midst of all this chaos, she had somehow managed to spot a counter in the corner with several open stools, and a bartender currently cleaning a few mugs. It was a welcome sight, even for him, and as they broke into the clearing surrounding it, Noctis sighed. "Sorry, I just... I was hoping that would've gone better than it did, but—"

"It's fine, Noctis."

"No, it's not fine! I was hoping to give you a good introduction to some of the other ponies that you'll be working with, and instead, I get Acuta being a bitch."

"Noctis." It was Ferous' turn to place a wing around her, and in doing so, he gave her a gentle nudge towards the bar. "Don't worry about it. Let's just have some drinks, yeah?"

"Fine." The opliptera huffed once more and trotted towards the bar, taking a seat upon one of the vacant stools, with Ferous close behind. As soon as they sat down, the bartender had already wordlessly slid them two glass mugs, both of which were filled with a glowing blue liquid. Rather than question it, Noctis instead grabbed hold of it and promptly took a drink, tossing him a glance afterwards. "What?"

"...it's glowing."

"All the mushrooms down here glow. So does the booze. Best get used to it."

"Er, right." He would hold off on tasting it for the time being — his attention was currently more focused on his visibly irritated companion. "So um... about what Acuta said back there."

"As much as I'd love to simply tell you not to ask, I know how you are, and I also know you're not going to stop wondering until I tell you, so..." Noctis sighed and set her mug down, giving it a poke as she leaned upon the bar. "Let's just say that I'm not particularly lucky at love, and we'll leave it at that."

"Oh. If it makes you feel any better, I'm sort of the same way."

She slowly glanced up towards him, a brow raised. "...really?"

"I uh... I was a bit of a stud in my younger years, but nothing really permanent."

"You're still pretty young, you know. I think calling yourself a stud might be a bit much, however."

Ferous smirked. "Yeah, well... had quite a few girls tell me I was cute, but none of 'em ever stuck around all that long. Sorta gave up on it shortly before I joined up with the Royal Guard."

"You're a good-looking guy, Ferous. You were told that for a reason." The opliptera paused, but upon realizing the potential implications of what she just said, quickly spoke up once more. "You gonna try that beer yet? Wanna see what you think."

Ferous was still just the slightest bit surprised by the compliment, though he soon regained his senses. "I uh... y-yeah. Sure."

He paused and stared at the mug before him once more, chewing on his lip — all he was really doing at this point was biding his time, something that both of them knew quite well. At the very least, he knew it was safe to drink, something made evident by the fact that the entire bar was drinking it. That still didn't really change the fact that it was glowing, something that made him—and likely any other pony who hadn't seen it before—incredibly wary. There was no way to get out of it now, though, something made sure of by the scrutinizing eye of Noctis. The pegasus grabbed the mug, paused and uttered what he was sure would be his last words, and then took a drink.

The results were rather tame compared to what he had imagined would happen. Instead of being some of the most pungent and potent beer he had ever encountered, it instead tasted watery and sweet — if anypony above ground had dared to call it alcoholic, they would likely be laughed at.

"Well?" Noctis was leaning forward a bit on her stool, a grin upon her face. "How is it?"

"It's uh..." Ferous cleared his throat, glancing around briefly — tempted as he may have been to tell her how he really felt, he had to quickly remind himself that the beer wasn't like this for lack of effort, but because this was simply all they had. With that in mind, he forced a smile and raised his mug once more. "Better than I thought it'd be!"

"Ah, good! I had a feeling you'd enjoy it!" Her face brightened somewhat, and as it did, she was quick to raise her own mug and place it against his. "Here's to your future within the Vigil. May your strikes be true, your hooves steady, your wings swift, and your head firmly atop your shoulders at the end of the day, else you'll have no way to drink."

Dark as it may have been, something about the wish amused him, causing the pegasus to grin widely. "I'll drink to that. Bottoms up?"

"Aye." The words had scarcely left her mouth, and already, Noctis was busy gulping down her mug. A bit leaked out here and there, the glowing blue beer dripping down her muzzle and neck, and she gave her mouth a quick wipe with her foreleg after slamming the mug down. "Ahh goddess, I needed that. Barkeep, another for me!"

Another mug of beer was wordlessly pushed forward once more, and Ferous had barely even gone through half of his by the time Noctis had reached her second. He stared at the empty mug in front of her, due partially to both confusion and awe, and he raised a brow as he eyed her. "You... never really struck me as the drinking sort."

She turned towards him and giggled, surprising him once more — weak as the beer may have been, it seemed as if Noctis was already tipsy from it. Either she was a lightweight, or the opliptera as a whole had a very low alcohol tolerance. "Ferous, I'm but a simple mare with simple needs! Warm food, a bed, a roof over my head, and beer — s'all I need. And you'd best finish your beer before it gets warm!"

Ferous had never really been keen on being rushed through his booze, and decided to make a point of it. Rather than give her the chance to object, the pegasus promptly downed what was left of his mug, as well as the entirety of Noctis' second mug, placing both empty glasses in front of her as he finished. A quick wipe of the muzzle and a belch later, and he was staring and grinning at her. "Fast enough for ya?"

Rather than elicit a reaction from just her, however, he had drawn the attention of a few others as well — several dozen pairs of eyes were locked upon him, many of them quietly whispering and murmuring about him. Noctis simply stared at him blankly, her mouth hanging open, and she slowly began to lean towards him. "...goddess, did... did you just have two back to back?"

"...er, yeah? Why?"

"Nopony's ever had two... at least, not so quickly like that."

He simply shrugged. "It's... really not that strong."

She placed a hoof upon his shoulder, narrowing her eyes. "Betcha can't do it again."

At this, the crowd began to murmur and speak amongst themselves once more — if two was something worth talking about, four was apparently nigh impossible. Still, he didn't think much of it. "Alright."

The bartender had taken notice by now, and appeared hesitant to even serve them. However, with several ponies now loudly cheering, the opliptera relented and poured four more mugs, placing two in front of Ferous and the other two in front of Noctis. She had already taken hold of one mug, her face flushed as she gave him a grin. "Ready?"

"Aye."

"Go!" Noctis was quick off the line once more, hastily gulping down her first mug and slamming it onto the counter as she finished, though doing so had seemingly left her winded. She paused and briefly glanced over towards her companion, who was only half-finished with his first mug, and quickly grabbed her second beer, downing it as fast as she could. It seemed to be one too many, however, and no sooner had she finished it than she was already upon the floor.

Ferous had seen it, of course, and with a sigh, he quickly downed one beer and the other, setting both upon the counter before attending to his friend. Getting her onto his back was a tricky affair, given that she was now squirming in the midst of her drunken stupor, but he managed easily enough after using his wings. With Noctis slung over his back, the pegasus stood up once more and turned towards the bartender. "Could uh... we get our tabs, please?"

The bartender simply shook his head in return, seemingly in awe of Ferous' apparent feat of drinking. "S'on the house."

"Oh. Well, thank you." He had already turned towards the exit, and was rather surprised to see that the crowd had already made a path for him. He wasn't one to complain, of course, and quickly began to trot for the door — the sooner he could put Noctis to bed, the better. Out of the corner of his eye, he could almost spot the trio from earlier, but such a thing was the least of his worries, and it only took a few minutes more before the two of them were once again on the streets of Old Canterlot.

Night had fallen while they had been in the bar, something made evident by the appearance of the moon through the hole in the cave's ceiling, though it certainly hadn't felt like it — time was a tricky thing down here, after all. They drew their fair share of glances as they made their way through the city, of course, which was fully expected when one saw a member of the Night Guard slung over the back of another pony. Still, Noctis' own drunken ramblings were managing to drive quite a few ponies away from them, something that Ferous was silently thankful for.

They had taken a turn down a quiet street, and the pegasus found himself slightly unnerved by the lack of noise — no matter where you went in Canterlot, one could always her ponies talking or moving about. Down here? There was nothing. Unless there were other ponies sharing a street with you, things were eerily silent, and Ferous was already throwing around several nervous glances as he tried to retrace his steps towards Noctis' home.

The opliptera was too busy poking his side to really give directions, and she lifted her head somewhat, her eyes half-lidded as she stared at him. "Yer... yer not..."

He threw a glance over his shoulder, briefly eying her. "Hm?"

"Yer not... gonna leave... right? 'Cause... wut Acuta said n' all." Noctis huffed, slumping once more. "...'bout guys leavin' me n' stuff."

"Oh..." Ferous hesitated in his answer, briefly unsure of how to word it. "Well, um... I don't really plan on leaving just yet or anything. You're a good friend, Noctis."

"Good. S'good." She hiccuped and squirmed a bit before settling down once more, her voice taking on a more somber tone. "S'not fun bein' alone..."

His expression darkened somewhat as he turned down another street, his eyes locked forward. "No. No it's not."

The sight of the library's sign within the distance at least told him that he had remembered his directions correctly, and he quickened his pace, eager to have the day done with — he certainly deserved a break after everything that had happened. The door's lock took a bit of trial-and-error on his part, as well as a fair bit of shoving and cursing, but it eventually opened up. The stairs, given that he could barely squeeze up them himself and was now carrying another pony upon his back, proved to be a bigger pain than he would care to admit, but that eventually proved to be a success after a great deal of pushing and tugging.

He made his way towards what he assumed to be Noctis' room and pushed the door open. The inside was rather sparse, featuring few things of note other than a bed and cabinet — it seemed she truly was a mare of simple needs. With his companion still draped over his back, he carefully turned back the blankets and rolled her into bed, dragging them back over her once more after he made sure that she was actually in the bed rather than hanging off the side. It would've ended there if it weren't for one thing.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

It was a thing of innocence, done mostly as a sign of thanks than as a true display of affection, but Ferous couldn't help but blush upon receiving it. Noctis, drunk as she may have been, simply gave him a smile in return and shut her eyes. "G'night Ferous, n'... thanks."

He may have been briefly taken aback, but ultimately decided against saying anything more — it wasn't as if she would remember it the next day anyways. Ferous quietly excused himself from the room and shut the door behind himself, and it wasn't much longer before he was laying upon the guest bed and reading himself for some much-needed sleep. He had been through an awful lot in just one day, more than what some ponies go through in a lifetime, and yet as he began to doze off, Ferous was sure of one thing.

He certainly didn't envy the hangover she would have the next day.