Midnight Spice had mostly slept since she returned to the base a week ago. While not a Wonderbolt at all and having known them for no less than a few hours, Soarin had taken the time out of his day to make sure she was still breathing. From simply popping into her room to even offering the nurses help tending to the wound or other menial tasks the nurses and doctors could have easily accomplished themselves, his presence was felt even when she had slept.
It was a curious thing to Midnight Spice. Why a pony as esteemed and as distinguished as he would waste his time helping to tend to a former sharpshooter with only one eye now. He sat beside her, recounting...something. As astonishing as it was to be in his presence, Midnight found it hard to completely focus on him or whatever it was he spoke of. He motioned and gestured with his hooves, but Midnight was too consumed with her own thoughts to keep track of the wonderbolt.
She looked around, her eye still adjusting to being her only source of vision. She had grown tired of the pale alabaster walls glowing a dim blue thanks to the lamp sitting beside her. Most times when she was alone it was off, making a considerable difference as she soon discovered. Darkness would sweep over the room, which was frightening at times, but in an odd way, it made her feel slightly more comfortable. A small stand was set up besides her bed, blocked off by the thin spindly IV stand. She hated the constant beeps more than anything else.
Balloons and a few flowers rested on the stand, both items allegedly given to Spice by Sour Marmalade and a makeshift ‘get well’ card, courtesy of Cherry Pop leaned against the glass vase. If there was anything that had ceased the pain, even if only for a moment, it was knowing that ponies she had known for only a month’s time had cared enough to send best wishes. She still wished they had visited as much as Soarin had, but she understood how military life was. Everypony had a duty to fulfill.
“How’s the eye?” Soarin asked. Midnight scanned his face, the wrinkles and heaviness in his eyes. She had lost track of time, waking up whenever the doctors needed her to or whenever her body felt as though it had had enough rest.
“It hurts terribly,” Midnight admitted. “I wish for it to leave.”
Soarin nodded, feigning agreement. “I can’t imagine. The other Bolts were pretty worried. It’s like our fireteam is the only one that’s suffered real casualties. Commander seems to feel real confident with us out on the field. At least you’re still with us.”
Midnight thought through the mission for the short moments she was awake earlier in the week. She agreed to fight invaders not other ponies. She had slaughtered enough ponies in her lifetime. Enough to drive a mare mad with grief and remorse. How many of them had families? How many of them had just found themselves in that life just by chance or out of necessity? It hurt to think about for too long, but Midnight Spice was unable to suppress the thoughts.
The pain that came with thinking those dreadful thoughts always lingered, but no amount of pain could match the one lingering in her right eye. Or more accurately, where it used to be. The patch of bloodied bandages on her eye was a grim reminder of her follies. Joining The Initiative had been a mistake. Even if it meant finding her daughter, Midnight Spice was well aware of the chances of actually finding her little filly.
“Any news?” Midnight asked.
“Nothing you haven’t heard already,” Soarin answered. “Whole base is talking about the whole Vigil thing.”
Midnight hummed in acknowledgement. She was impartial with the commander’s decision on the matter. There was a chance that the Vigils were, in fact, innocent, as so many ponies had claimed. While she agreed to an extent, Midnight Spice was injured in the field by ponies bearing the same cutie marks as Solemn. She would be lying to herself if she said she would not have done the same. Like a mare who had suffered through years of abuse, Midnight Spice would have shut herself away from those who had wished her harm, even if all it would take was a little suspicion.
Violence against one another was once something many ponies thought to be a thing of legend. As the world advanced and the power of harmony seemed to wane, things had seemed to change for the worse. Midnight had taken notice of it when ponies around Prance were suffering break-ins, thievery, griffon pickpockets and the like. They played roles in influencing her into joining the Equestrian Coast Guard. She had done her duties, dispatching of pirates, defending the cities and nurturing a relationship with her daughter. As a reward, she was stripped of her child and left without a proper home.
Spice could not help but to think of Solemn Vigil in a similar manner. Aegis had spoken highly of her during their training regimens and the two even had the pleasure of meeting, although for a brief moment. Solemn had done nothing more than show her proper technique of wrapping bandages and applying the right amount of sedatives to ponies in need, yet her reward? Condemnation, alongside her mother.
“I should hope she is okay,” Midnight Spice said aloud. “After all, it was not she who had flared her horn.”
“Pardon?”
“Solemn Vigil,” Midnight Spice answered. “It is unfair to think of a pony so… négatif. I pray she find solace wherever she is.”
Soarin exhaled. “You’re better than most ponies down here.”
“She has done...absolument rien pour moi. No wrong doings. Perhaps she is innocent, I do not know. She does scare me. I want to trust her, but can I really? She bears the mark of the enemy, but is nothing but kind. I know not how to feel about her.”
Soarin was quiet for a moment. “I fluctuate sometimes. I want to say she deserves better, but until we know for sure that she can be trusted, then I say keep her down in the sublevels. We’ve been in enough trouble already. I’d say let her mom go though. That’s just...wrong.”
“I would like to give her a chance.” Midnight mused. “There is enough distrust and malice in the world and I wish not to add any more to it.”
Soarin smiled softly. “You’re a good pony. I wouldn’t even begin to know how to feel if I were in your shoes. I’m a bit on edge on the whole situation. You seem to be coping well enough though.”
“Un petit peu,” Spice spoke. “I contemplate transfer to Sécurité du Siège. There is a sense of calm here and at least I will not have to bloody my hooves.”
Soarin stared at her with concern. “During the operation, when you locked up...why? I understand that killing isn’t really easy, especially when it comes to other ponies. When Celestia diverted The Wonderbolts to a more militaristic direction, I was scared of having to deal with pirates and the like.”
“C'est plus compliqué. When I was in the Coast Guard and stationed outside of my home city, griffons had always posed a problem. Prance is a small country in comparison to empires the likes of Equestria or The Griffon’s. It does not help our case that we are nestled within The Griffon Empire, bordering The Unknown Waters, but what did help was Equestria as our allies. Foes typically were pirates, each hoping to rob trade vessels and possibly hold the innocents on board for...rançon. My partners and I dispatched the fiends when ordered.
“Many moons ago, a small town required quarantine. A small group seized zebra refugees and threatened to kill them. My partners had snuck in through the sewers. The hospital the hostages were held granted them entry through the back. I sat in the trees and kept my rifle close, scanning windows. The squad moved and took care of the terrorists with ease. I had spotted a griffon with his back to the window, shouting when my friends entered. His family must have followed him. A grown girl and a small boy, shouting, doing no good in trying to diffuse the hostilities. The zebra cried, yet remained mostly silent. It was when the griffon raised a claw to kill her that she made a sound.
“The shot boomed loud. I killed him and saved the zebra. I should have felt good, no? I did not. I had wished to shoot the griffon’s arm and nothing more. I...I must have slipped. The bullet tore into his throat. A family lost a father. A husband. The zebra thanked the heavens profusely leaping towards my friends, but the boy. His mother, looked towards me with such hatred. Both called me...us... Tueur. Un monstre. A monster. While they did not see me directly, I knew it was me they had spoken so illy of.”
Soarin was quiet again.
“I left the Coast Guard the following week. My daughter vanished shortly after. Nopony seemed to know anything about her disappearance. I left my home, searching. Killing became a chore thereafter. I gave help whenever it was needed, regardless of want. I thought beyond the faces I had snuffed out. Families mourning the loss of someone I had killed. It tore away and ate at me. The hamlet of Fishhook is where I stopped and decided to focus more on the search for my daughter.”
“I’m sorry.” Soarin said simply. “About your daughter. That must not have been easy. I don’t blame you if you go through with your transfer.”
Midnight Spice nodded gently and rested her head on her pillow. It hugged her gently. She despised remembrance. She lay in silence, thinking as Soarin tried to brighten her mood.
***
"Lifting shadows
off a dream once broken
She can turn a drop of water
Into an ocean..."
Sweetie Belle’s soothing voice enraptured most ponies in the lounge. Cherry listened intently as the piano followed, a humble and moving melody working in serene accordance with her angelic voice.
Eva placed her cup down violently, interrupting the relaxation Cherry had began to feel. The clinking of beads and charms lining her necklace was oddly calming to him, especially amongst the boisterous roars and guffaws of wingless griffons surrounding his table. A myriad of topics were raised and only a hoof-ful of them remained on the table for more than thirty seconds before somepony or griffon said her name. The news spread like wildfire, as it should have, but it put a strange feeling in Cherry’s stomach. For once, it was not the drinks of the lounge which had bothered him.
Cherry and his compatriots sat in their own secluded corner of the lounge, save for several workers and soldiers who were able to tolerate the group. They crowded a row of four tables together and spoke among each other.
“Can’t believe we’ve got a traitor in the ranks already.” Lorin commented, a green-tipped feathered griffon spoke.
“Mare got what was comin’ to ‘er.” Otto remarked. “Sidin’ with the enemy like that.”
Cherry shifted uncomfortably beside Eva. Solemn would not really ally herself with the enemy would she? She was not that kind of pony. She was too soft to do anything like spying on The Initiative. Or would that be exactly what she would want everyone to think.
“That’s not fair,” Marmalade countered. “A cutie mark doesn’t make the pony. She’s done more for us so far than you have.”
“Really now?” Otto raised a brow, turning in his seat. “What’s she done that I ain’t?”
“Last time I checked,” Cherry cut in. “She was actually a part of an operation. How’s guarding the shitters treating you?”
Otto released a growl. “Will you so readily defend a traitor? That Royal Guard in the training ground been screwin’ with yer head?”
Cherry scowled.
The griffon beside Marmalade released a chuckle, gruff and wheezy. Cherry had only met her friend, Keller, on one occasion during Aegis’s strict and arduous training and team-building exercises. Cherry learned just how fearsome the griffon species was, having the bandages wrapped around his hoof and patches on his belly to prove it.
Keller turned in his seat, a monstrous beast of a griffon hardly able to keep himself in the rickety wooden chair. Cherry felt himself shrink under the all seeing glare of his beady dead eyes, sheltered under the shadow of his hardened brow. His long beak was home to many cracks, missing a portion along the left upper maw, allowing the group of mercenaries a peek at his slender and spotted tongue slithering about inside the his jaw. His talons gripped the edge of the old seat, digging into the lacquered wood, dusty and jagged, yet razor sharp. His body bore marks, stories of bloody conflicts etched underneath his dark and fading brown feathers.
For a moment, even Marmalade’s expression shifted to that of worry as his chair creaked and Cherry’s mercenary band fell quiet. His steely gaze scans through the group with something more akin to cat-like curiosity than a glare of annoyance. Cherry let himself relax, remembering that bloodthirsty killing machine Keller and normal Keller were two sides of the same coin. Currently, it was normal Keller who was casting an inquisitive glance towards them.
“Would you so readily condemn a girl to a fate of solitude alongside her own mother?” He asked. His voice was thick and coarse, yet gentle enough to betray his hardened exterior. It caught Cherry off guard. Rs were rolled just about every time they were pronounced and Hs were thick with phlegm. Keller pointed a talon towards Oliver, a stout griffon two seats away from Cherry. “You. Have you a mind of your own? What do you believe?”
“I believe you’ve been hanging around ponies too much old man.” Oliver remarked, scratching a talon against the glass of his cup. He cleared his throat and swallowed hard. “They’ve softened you up. If we were in Griffonstone, she’d have been exiled or sentenced to death, as is her rightful punishment.”
The old bird’s thick brow cast a darkness over his eyes. “Hmph. A boy with no mind of his own I see. You there,” Keller’s talon shifted to Cherry. “You think she’s innocent?”
Cherry remained quiet. He had given much thought on Solemn’s situation, although he had never formed an actual opinion on the matter. Granted how little he knew her and how little she liked him, he should want her gone and away like that, right? Locked in a room with her mother and nothing less or nothing more? No trial, all suspicion?
The more Cherry thought about it, the worse it sounded. He had not known her well, but what little he did know did not seem to add up with what every cynic believed. She was sweet and he would be lying to himself if he said she was not at least a fair bit attractive. Unicorns without a type of Canterlot-leveled pomposity was always a welcome sight to most ponies outside of the capital city. Regardless of her appearance, she seemed too...meek and timid to do any of the things Commander Sparkle accused her of.
It seemed unfair in all regards.
“Well, come on boy, are you daft?” Keller cawed.
“No.” Eva answered for him, ripping a chunk of meat off the t-bone. “Cherry has a mind of his own, he just hardly uses it. Probably the hardest I’ve seen him think for a while.”
The group of griffons laughed and chuckled. Cherry tapped against the rim of his seat impatiently, waiting for them to subside. When they did, he cast them a glower.
“I think somepony is angry now!”
“Look at ‘im! Think he’s hankerin’ t’fight one ‘o us!”
Cherry grit his teeth.
“Enough.” Eva ordered. She stood from her seat, the beads of her necklace clinking and clattering together in an unnatural rhythm. “We’ve had enough fun for tonight.”
The griffons and earth ponies nodded and chuckled in agreement. One by one they rose and one by one they had followed Eva, casting mocking glares and threatening growls towards Cherry. If it were any indication, Cherry was sure to have some fun when he retired to the barracks when he was finished in the lounge. Marmalade stared at them, disgust and apparent distaste in her eyes. She stood from her seat.
“Why do you even hang out with those assholes?” Marmalade slid a chair out and sat across from Cherry. Keller did the same, sitting beside the young adventurer. “Most times, you don’t even agree with them and you’re always left alone at the end of the day. Why put up with that?”
“They’re my friends.” Cherry answered, sipping from his cup. “Everypony gets into disagreements.”
“True,” Keller responded. “But friends only disagree to the point of wantin’ to hurt one another when one o’ them ain’t truly a friend.”
Cherry remained quiet, looking at the other seats. Would things be so different had he taken to being with his own fireteam now? He was sure no matter where he would go, ponies, griffons, deer and changelings alike would have granted him the same treatment. Rime would have easily berated him and chastised him, no matter what his stance on Solemn’s situation would have been. She’d find a reason to give him flak, that was what ponies like her did to ponies like him.
Aegis was the leader, cool, and level headed most of the time and more often than not, kept others from giving Cherry too much of a hard time. Swift Step was a run of the mill Canterlot pegasus, minus the snobbish attitude. Bright smile and one hell of a body. Lone was...well, he was often by himself or in the library whenever the time allowed for it. One probably would not have to wonder why he was even called Lone Shadow. He stayed true to his namesake. As far as Cherry knew, of all the ponies to have an actual problem with him was Rime.
He made attempts to improve their relationship, hoping that bringing her coffee in the morning or taking over her duties would do something. Instead, she kept giving him that deadpanned glare and Cherry often times felt his blood boil. Not in the sense that he was angry, but his body would literally heat up. He held his beliefs to himself, but Rime was supernatural. Unicorns may have possessed an innate ability to use magic, but some ponies outside of the species came dangerously close.
“I don’t know,” Cherry admitted. “They’re the first group that really took me in after I came to Griffonstone. Eva’s the only one who really keeps them from going too far. Didn’t really see a reason to leave them then, especially because the coin was good. Now, I’m having second thoughts.”
Keller huffed. Or laughed, Cherry could not quite tell what it was. “Good coin is all it takes, eh? Who am I to judge. Was a pirate for a time after all, and that coin was good.”
“Then some no name mare comes along with promises of vast treasure.” Marmalade said with a smile. “Bet you’re not regretting listening to me now, are ya?”
Keller huffed again, his craggy beak shifting. “Not at all, my friend! After all, raiding ancient tombs surely keeps an old bird on his toes.”
Marmalade gave a short chuckle and brought her attention back to Cherry. “Look, point is, you don’t have to surround yourself with those idiots. I’d say if it weren’t for you already being in a squad, Aegis or the Commander herself would place us three along with that one freaky stag lady and Spice. Wouldn’t we be so much better than those featherbrains?”
“Spice is in the infirmary.” Cherry answered.
“Besides the point.” Marmalade rolled her eyes. “Look, alls I’m sayin’ is you don’t have to put up with that shit. Real friends are the only ones that matter.”
***
It had been a rough few days for Rime. First Solemn and her mother were 'detained' for possibly being connected to a paramilitary shadow organization. Then there was the scene Rime caused trying to protect them from being hauled off and failing at it. And last but definitely not least, the message she sent straight to Commander Twilight stating her refusal to fight as protest to the so-called 'Vigil Dilemma' which could be construed as conduct unbecoming at the very least if not outright insubordination and possible grounds to have Rime thrown out of the Initiative for it.
All in all, things could be worse, Rime thought as she made her way to the barracks' mess hall, her stride noticeably slower considering how recent events weighed on her. She passed the food counters as well as the tables and their occupants and took a seat at an empty table along the back wall, preferring the comfort of solitude for the time being. Rime laid her head on the table using her forelegs as a pillow. She let out a huff at the unfairness of the situation. The Vigil family was basically in jail, no trial or anything, just on the suspicion of being connected to those outlaws. Oh, how Rime wanted to kick in the Commander's door and demand the Vigils' release or maybe find Shining Armor and throttle him as a way to vent her frustrations, but she pushed those thoughts back down. Getting mad now wouldn't help the Vigil family.
Thinking on the subject of families, Rime's thoughts turned back to her own. She remembered her mother, Ice Breaker, the latest in continuing the family tradition of mares serving in the various divisions of the Guard. It still hurt Rime to think of how her mother died in the line of duty, setting off the avalanche that buried an entire diamond dog slaver gang and their base in an effort to cover her squad's getaway with the abductees. It was heartbreaking to learn they never could find her mother's body for the funeral, yet she was also proud that her mother served with such conviction and dedication, that one day she herself could live up to such a standard. And still, some part of her truly believed that her mother survived thanks to her family's affinity for the cold.
And of course there was her father, Evergreen Frost. Rime was grateful to still have him in her life. During her younger days, he sometimes took her to his job at the lumber mill on the Vibrant River outside of Manehattan for the day when her mother had to run extra shifts for the Guard. Rime's larger size was useful when she helped him move the trees to the river, though that was to be expected with two powerful earth ponies having an even more powerful daughter. Those were long, tiring days but so very memorable, especially when her dad and his co-workers started to sing. There was one song that was their favorite, but it was so long since she last heard it. How did it go again? Rime closed her eyes and put all of her thought into remembering.
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Sing, my brothers
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Sing, my brothers
Yo, heave ho
When the waves meet daybreak's shine
Bend your shoulders to the line
Wild is the river
Flowing forever
Sing, my brothers
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
All my brothers
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Row, my brothers
Yo, heave ho
When the midday sun is high
Fight to leave our woes behind
Deep is the river
Flowing forever
Row, my brothers
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Sing, my brothers
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Heave, my brothers
Yo, heave ho
When the night her wings have spread
On the deep we make our bed
Silent the river
Flowing forever
Sing, my brothers
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Sing, my brothers
Yo, heave ho
Yo, heave ho
Yo... heave... ho
It felt so good to remember. She still had it. Rime let herself a small smile. However, her revelry was broken by the sound of clapping. She tentatively lifted her head to look around and saw the occupants of the mess hall looking at her, giving her a round of applause. Rime's eyes went wide and her face red; was she so absorbed in her thoughts that she actually sang it out loud? Judging from the looks on their faces. her impromptu audience -fireteam members among them- seemed to enjoy the little performance. Rime, however, simply facehoofed in embarrassment and decided to quickly beat a retreat back to her quarters in the barracks. Maybe she gave the base something else to talk about besides the Vigils now.