That night the lock was back in place on Revenant’s and Garnet’s house. They moved back in and Revenant Wings decided he would take a few days off until his leg had healed, and that he would eat a small serving of the Vaccinium sammohana with every meal just so nothing caught him unawares.
“How was your trip to Zecora’s?” Garnet Heart asked as they got in bed.
“Eventful,” Revenant Wings replied, adjusting a pillow under his shoulder. “I’m sure something is out there, and it’s keeping tabs on us every time we go near Whitetail.”
Garnet looked worried. “It’s weird,” he said, shivering slightly as he pulled up the covers. “Part of me is sure it wouldn’t with all the attention, but what if it tried attacking our house again?”
“I don’t know if it would,” Revenant Wings said. “Like you said, with all the attention we’re watching it in turn. It wouldn’t come out here if it knew it was being watched.”
“Yeah,” Garnet agreed. “Although... how long has it been since Watchful Eye disappeared?”
“Uh...” Revenant thought about it. “Oh! Tonight’s supposed to be seventy-two hours since he disappeared. ...do you think it’ll come and set him here?”
“Let’s trade watches,” Garnet said. “If nothing else, we can see where he comes out and get aid to him quickly.”
“Alright. Do you want to take first watch or should I?”
“I will.” Garnet smiled. “You rest your shoulder. We’ll probably have more work to do soon.”
Revenant Wings settled himself into the bed and pulled only the sheet over him. The room was warm, but Garnet refused to have the window open in case the creature came towards them. He settled down uneasily and went to sleep.
A short while later, Garnet shook him awake. Revenant rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and saw Garnet sitting on the bed, pointing outside.
Revenant Wings sat up and watched outside where Garnet was pointing. Across the fields towards the Whitetail Woods, a large shadow emerged almost completely shrouding a figure that looked like a pony.
“I think that’s Watchful Eye,” Garnet said.
“Let’s hope,” Revenant Wings replied. “He doesn’t look like he’s moving.”
Two shining golden eyes could be seen scanning the fields. They did not notice Garnet and Revenant hiding with their eyes just above the windowsill and laid the figure in its grasp down on the soft grass. The eyes were the first to recede, followed by the shadow slowly moving off of the figure. After a few minutes the shadow had fully disappeared from the body of the figure.
The two ponies waited a while. They were about to call the guard when they heard a snort and a large sniff and a large brown bear walking on all fours came into view, slowly lumbering in the direction of the figure.
“...that must be Harry,” Garnet said. “I wonder if Fluttershy told him to keep a lookout.”
“If that’s true, we owe Fluttershy quite a bit,” Revenant said.
The brown bear sniffed over the figure for a little bit before sitting down and gently lifting the pony onto its back. It looked around a bit, gave a few more sniffs, and stood up. It adjusted the pony until it was sure it was secure, and walked back in the direction of town, heading towards the hospital.
“Wonder why it didn’t come all the way over?” Revenant asked.
“Wanting to stay hidden, I think,” Garnet said. “It certainly is going about its business rather stealthily. It stayed in the shadows, did what it needed to do, then left.”
“I hope Watchful Eye is okay,” Revenant added as Harry lumbered on by them, holding the unconscious pony over his shoulder.
“I’ll see about getting to the hospital tomorrow and seeing if he has a bite mark and how his cutie mark looks,” Garnet said. “Were you able to get more of those berries or juice from Zecora?”
“No,” Revenant said. “She said she’d deliver them once she had some ready.”
“Distilling process to get rid of the pulp?”
“I don’t know.” Revenant settled back down onto the bed. “You don’t have to worry about me tomorrow. I’ll take my day off and rest. I think I need it.”
Trouble came tomorrow, and even Revenant Wings sitting at home wasn’t hidden from it.
Garnet came home at lunch to report that Watchful Eye’s condition was much the same as Caramel’s had been: his cutie mark was half-faded and he seemed to have a bite mark at the base of the horn.
“He can’t work his camera,” Garnet said. “He can’t even lift it. And when he tries to take a picture with his hooves, the camera’s not steady.”
“He can take pictures with his hooves, can’t he?”
“I’m presuming that’s part of whatever drained his magic; it also took away his proficiency.”
“But he’s not lame like Caramel was. Caramel couldn’t use his legs at all for a while, but Watchful Eye can walk around.”
“Certainly. But they’re keeping him at the hospital since he has trouble manipulating objects by himself. He just also gets to walk around and exercise.”
“But what’s the difference between him and Caramel?”
“Doctor Stable presumes it’s because, as an earth pony, Caramel needed his legs to work. So when his magic was drained, so was his ability to use his legs. Watchful Eye’s isn’t exactly attached to a limb, just a piece of mechanics, so he has trouble manipulating the camera but can walk fine.”
“Can he remember anything?”
“Same thing as Caramel: he remembers the gully over the cliff and he somewhat remembers being surprised by something coming up behind him as he was taking photos. But everything in between is a haze. He’s less combative than Caramel was, though, just sincerely unsure of what happened.”
Revenant Wings sighed. “But why him?”
“By taking away Watchful Eye, whatever it is took away some of our ability to gather evidence. The camera wasn’t broken, but our camera-stallion is.”
“But it’s also the first high-profile victim.” Revenant Wings sighed and absentmindedly stirred the soup he’d made for lunch. “It’s been relatively small positions but serial abductions until now. Watchful Eye, as a guard, marks the first high-profile case.”
“Sure. But right now we can only hope it’s indiscriminate and Watchful Eye is just another pony in the line.”
Revenant Wings nodded.
Garnet Heart stood up to go. “Iron Shield isn’t putting me on night shift anymore,” he said. “Not until this passes. He says it’s better if we stick together.”
Revenant Wings nodded again. He stood up and put a hoof around Garnet. “Be careful out there,” he said sweetly, and nuzzled Garnet.
Garnet nuzzled him happily, a smile on his face, and left the room.
Revenant hoped to have some form of good news, either about his shoulder or about something else, by the time Garnet came home. His shoulder did feel better a little later that afternoon, but he decided to make an appointment by phone for an X-ray to see how it was doing.
But when he saw Zecora trotting towards the house with saddlebags on her back, he thought he might have some good news in the form of the vials. He limped over to the door and opened it with a smile on his face, expecting to receive one in return.
But Zecora was not happy at all. Her face was a frown, her eyes were almost pleading, and she even appeared to be sweating. She was either unnerved or frightened.
“Zecora!” Revenant exclaimed. “What happened?”
“The berries... they’re all gone!” Zecora exclaimed in return. “None were left when I went at dawn!”
Revenant invited Zecora inside and asked if she wanted to sit down as he made a cup of tea. Zecora nodded and shuffled through her bags as Revenant set a kettle up on the stove and began to boil the water for tea.
He went over to Zecora to find her with three vials outside the bag. Two were full, but one was only three-quarters-full.
“That is all I had left in my store,” she said. “I would give you these and go off to get more. But when I to the clearing arrived, the bushes were destroyed to my surprise!”
“Destroyed!?” Revenant exclaimed. “Are they all gone? Like torn up from the root?”
“Nothing so devastating occurred in the clearing,” Zecora said. “Although I admit this is something I’d been fearing. The branches are broke and busted with care; the creature, of our purpose, is now well aware.”
Revenant Wings thought about it for a while. “It kept the bushes up, but busted the berries so we can’t use them anymore...”
Zecora nodded.
“There must be another patch around here somewhere, though,” Revenant said. “I’m sure there’d be more on the species and someone would be conserving them if they were endangered.”
“If they are native to Whitetail, I’m sure that there are. But Whitetail is large and you’d have to go far. These vials are precious, but we have only three; examine the moment and use them wisely.”
Revenant Wings looked them over. “Watchful Eye was taken away. He came back last night and is in much the same position as Caramel.”
Zecora seemed to sense his further thoughts. “It’s not up to me to decide and not to me to choose; though I’m confident when the time comes... you’ll know what to do.”
“You know, I kind of wish you were a little more straightforward with these things.”
Zecora snorted. “You know more than I do at this point in time. Take it with grace and help solve this crime!”
Zecora stayed for tea. She drank quietly but graciously and seemed calmer when she had finished. She saluted Revenant without saying anything and left as quietly as she came.
Revenant walked over to the couch and looked at the three vials. Two were full-doses, but the one filled with less might not even work to fully cure Watchful Eye even though the damage was less than Caramel according to Garnet. It would have to be used in a last-ditch effort.
When Garnet came home, Revenant told him about Zecora’s visit.
“Iron Shield won’t be happy,” he said. “It’s already set him on edge that Watchful Eye is incapacitated and we’re down two guards for now. But if we only have three vials it might not be a good idea to use one right away.”
“And one isn’t even full,” Revenant Wings added. “We can’t even count on fully healing three ponies. One would just be an energy booster if we find ourselves facing it.”
“Let’s hope we don’t anytime soon,” Garnet said warily. He knocked three times on the wood table. “Just in case.”
The next day, Revenant Wings went to the hospital to get his shoulder examined. The X-ray scanned and Doctor Stable took it off to be developed, but he was allowed to go see Watchful Eye if he wanted to.
He took the opportunity and walked over to Watchful Eye’s room. He was sitting and reading a book in his bed, turning the pages with his hooves. He heard Revenant open the door and closed the book as the pegasus entered and walked over to him.
“How... how are you?” Revenant asked.
“I’ve certainly felt better,” Watchful Eye said. “Feels like I have a headache constantly. Not major, like a migraine, but just... ech.”
Revenant Wings nodded.
“How’s your shoulder?”
“I’m hoping to be off the cast today,” Revenant Wings said. “I’ll probably have to stay at home a day or two more, though. I feel bad that I haven’t been much use around the Guard offices.”
“Well, you’re supposed to get more in from Zecora soon, right?”
Revenant Wings didn’t have the heart to tell him.
He was saved by Doctor Stable entering the room.
“Revenant? The scans check out. We can remove the cast.”
Revenant looked back over to Watchful Eye. “Yeah. Soon.” And he walked out of the room before the unicorn could ask him any more questions.
Revenant was taken into a little room and Doctor Stable took up a small electrical saw in the shape of a pizza cutter. He slowly worked down Revenant’s front leg, cutting away the bandages and flexible plaster of the cast. Revenant’s front leg itched all over and he longed to scratch it.
“I’ll give you a prescription for an anti-itch ointment,” Doctor Stable said. “You’ll squeeze a little on your other hoof and rub that leg down with it. Put it on every eight hours for the next couple of days.”
“What about work?”
“I’d stay home for two more days; that is, today and tomorrow. I’ll take care of telling Iron Shield. You go rest up at home.”
Revenant nodded. “How’s... how’s Caramel doing?”
“He seems to be doing okay. But he’s been quiet. He stares out in the direction of Whitetail often, but he never talks about it.”
Revenant Wings ruffled his wing feathers, at a loss of what to say.
“I...” Doctor Stable seemed hesitant. “...I can’t shake the feeling there was something about that day that, if I answered that, I could solve this whole thing.”
“...is something in particular bothering you? I mean, we’ve examined the case up and down and we’re all baffled about it.”
“It... it was something he said. ‘Feed... return... master...’. What is supposed to be fed? Where was he supposed to return? And who is this master he referred to?”
But Revenant himself could offer no answers. He merely filed away the information in the back of his mind and went home to ponder it himself.
He spent the rest of the day on the couch with his hoof elevated and constantly wishing he could put the anti-itch ointment on more than every eight hours; the feel was terrible and he was constantly hoping it would go away sooner than a few days.
The house was quiet while Garnet was at work. No one came by the house and nothing tried bashing the windows in again, but Revenant couldn’t help but feel uneasy. He didn’t admit it to Garnet, but the experience had somewhat shaken him and he did not like the idea of something moving around his house. Moreover, he was afraid of it coming back.
A breeze picked up as a group of pegasi flew overhead. He sat on the couch and drank tea, wondering why it seemed so quiet today. He wished he could be at work, asking around the ponies who had disappeared, but doctor’s orders were to stay at home.
No, not really; the doctor’s suggestion was that he stay home and rest. The doctor’s orders were that he didn’t go into work. Which left Revenant free to do whatever he wanted so long as it wasn’t strenuous.
Revenant put on his guard chest-plate and collected his spear. He made sure no one was paying attention to their house before slipping outside and skirting around the outside towards the back. No one paid attention to their house anymore, as they were more focused on the fact that someone else had been abducted.
The indents in the grass were still there though not as clear as before. Revenant wandered across the plains, following the indents until he came to the edge of the northern Whitetail Woods. The sky was clear and the sun shining bright, but the trees here were thick and only a dappled light shone through the canopy.
And, yes, there it was: a trail, worn from use, keeping the same width as the indentation. Ten inches, ten inches of pressed grass turning into ten inches of a worn dirt path clean of vegetation.
Revenant Wings steeled himself and slipped inside the Whitetail Woods. He walked carefully as he could while trying not to make a sound. Thankfully, pegasi were lighter than other types of ponies and he was easily able to traverse the terrain, flying over rocks and bushes that blocked his path instead of scrambling over them.
He kept walking for some time, the dappled light of the trees beginning to play tricks on him and suspecting that the shadows off the path were other ponies or creatures instead of bushes. He moved slow and wondered how far he could go before it would be noticed he was gone. It was difficult to tell the time of day through the canopy and so hard to tell how long he had been gone.
But suddenly the trail stopped. It wound its way around the trees and out of sight. He looked up and tried following the worn bark coiling around the tree, only to stop when he came to a cliff.
He’d walked all the way from Ponyville to the edge of the mountains. He was at least five miles out over rough terrain.
But something about the search intrigued him. The cliff was much smaller in one place specifically, right above him by about fifteen feet. The walls seemed to stretch up a further twenty or even thirty feet except for a small divot right above where he stood.
And he could hear something, something that sounded like no more than a whisper on the wind.
“...hello?”
The silence that came afterward scared him and made him rather quickly regret his calling out. The whole of the Whitetail Woods seemed to freeze and the only thing that told Revenant time hadn’t stopped entirely was his own breath.
He stood there for a much longer time before he could tell anything was happening. The whisper was back, and suddenly he could make something out in it.
A visitor... willing and unguarded...
Revenant Wings did not like the sound of that. Nor did he like the sound of rustling grass that seemed to be heading in his direction.
Stay where you are... I am coming for you...
The line brought Revenant back to his wits. Damn the doctor’s orders of no strenuous work; he needed to get out of there. Not risking flying and hitting a tree on the way out, Revenant turned tail and ran.
You won’t get away... I have seen you and know who you are...
Revenant didn’t even stop to taunt it, to say he knew what it did. He could hear it closing in behind him and dared not risk even turning around to see where it was. The sound was enough for him to strain his muscles as much as he could. The itch was gone, ignored in paranoia and adrenaline.
And then...
...the sound came from in front of him, too.
Revenant came to a screeching halt, kicking up dust as he slid along the ground. The sound of rustling grass was all around him, coming closer, enclosing him. The path was narrow and he had no way to fly out. He was trapped.