//------------------------------// // 60. Manehattan: Princess // Story: Locksmith // by QuartzScale //------------------------------// I meandered my way through town taking care to explore all reaches within my view. It had been that way since the diner. I did notice my entourage following me. The pink unicorn mare and the white unicorn stallion had taken an interest in me for the past two hours. If I hadn't overheard them talk about Luna I would have been worried. “Just gotta wait… “ I muttered under my breath as I finished my fruit dish. Apparently in a world of ponies fruit was always the main dish. “Is… one… Luna’s?” Whispers flocked to my ear which were directly behind me. I made certain not to turn around as I called my waitress over paying for my food and heading out of the diner. “Did he overhear you?” Cadence muttered as she got in close to Shining. “Maybe. We should see why he was here. Luna doesn't send her guards out without reason.” Shining postulated quickly paying for their own meal as the two pursued the thestral. I kept to the ground weaving through the crowds leaving little room between me and my followers. They weren't hard to see whenever I craned my head around to not get hit by traffic. They were actually pretty good about it as well. As much as I trained caution to not give away that I saw them I noticed that they were getting good at keeping up. Shining Armor would use his physique to keep a clear route for them to follow while Cadence would use her height to keep track of me. We never locked eyes when we crossed sights but I think she knew I knew they were following. It got a little hairy as I reached the first intersection and decided I needed to be more proactive with my escape. When the light shifted to allow ponies to walk I trotted along till I reached the first alley. Immediately I hopped into the shadows escaping my royal entourage allowing me some peaceful rest. “Where did he go?” Shining looked through the alley even picking up several of the objects that littered it in case he was hiding within them. “He knew. He knew we were following him. Hm… why does Princess Luna have one of her Night Guards in this city? She won't be awake for another couple hours so we can't ask her just yet.” Cadence frowned as she lit up her horn casting a spell to locate anypony hiding on the rooftops. No one was there. “Can't we just wake her up now?” Shining pointed out. “Yes. But then you're gonna have to deal with her mood when she teleports here and screams at you for ruining her sleep schedule. Banishment doesn't actually allow you to sleep, ya know.” Cadence countered to Shining’s chagrin. “Well… should we continue with our day? Don't want to let it go to waste over a mysterious pony.” Shining chuckled though he quickly stopped when he noticed the look his marefriend was wearing. “I want to know why he was here.” Cadence stated resolute in her demeanor. Ever since Luna had returned she wanted to get more involved with the politics of the world. A Night Guard working his way through Manehattan was screaming at her to investigate. “Yes dear…” Shining rolled his eyes though acquiescing to her wants. As much as he wanted to deny it she was really hot when she was determined. Vinyl had met up with Ditzy in the Canterlot Common Markets within a few minutes of leaving the studio. “Hey! Over here!” Ditzy cried out waving her hooves like a crazy mare. “I'm coming. Hold your apples.” Vinyl grumbled as she joined her at an apple stand. “I'm holding my apples. Now what?” Ditzy asked as she was indeed holding two apples. “Never mind. So what's up Ditzy?” Vinyl started realizing her mistake. Ditzy liked to troll her innocently enough through wordplay… but she wasn't as prepared for it as she wanted to be. “Well aside from the sky nothing really. I just felt we should hang out sometimes. Even with Dinky a mare needs a day to herself right?” Ditzy responded chuckling slightly as Vinyl tried to reassemble some semblance of patience. “Right. Looks like the adoption went well. How's the little Dinkster enjoying life with you?” Vinyl softened her words since she knew this was something she had wanted to do for a long time. “It's great! She called me mom. It fluffed my feathers so much I nearly destroyed my house… again. Her sister is going through her rebellious phase but even she started to consider me mom too.” Ditzy pounced atop Vinyl before dragging her up into the air slightly for a grand hug that would end all other hugs. Unless Pinkie showed up then it would have been a hug off. “I'm… glad… for… you.” Vinyl groaned as she felt her ribs starting to crack before she was unceremoniously dropped to the ground. She almost resembled an accordion at this rate. “What about you? I heard you got a new colt in your life. Sounds exciting~!” Ditzy nearly sang out before Vinyl dragged her down in her telekinetic field keeping her from singing it out. “Now, now let's not go crazy. Yeah I'm seeing somepony but it's also in a herd got that?” Vinyl groused as she dragged Ditzy to a small cafe they sat down at. Luckily, hoof traffic was slow that day so nopony was bothering them. “Oh my. How scandalous? How many ponies are part of it?” Ditzy raised her hoof getting some tea for the two of them. It took Vinyl waiting until the server left to actually respond. “Six…” Vinyl whispered under her breath. “Six! T-that's a whole lot of ponies! Two stallions right?” Ditzy reasoned out. “No… six mares, one stallion.” Vinyl admitted before getting more shocked looks from Ditzy. “Are you crazy!? No stallion can handle that many mares.” Ditzy slowly calmed to a whisper. “Does he have a brother?” “Mare, weren't you seeing somepony already?” Vinyl challenged before it got any further into her choices. “Huh? No I wasn't. I was asked by somepony named Zephyr something but he was really… weird.” Ditzy explained as she drank what was left of her tea. “Oh… well, anyways no he doesn't. But we could always add one more. Nudge nudge wink wink if you get my drift.” Vinyl joked around. “Hm… I'll think about it. I still don't think it's possible for one stallion to take care of that many mares.” Ditzy shook it off. “Why are you trying to add more?” “He's alone right now and we don't like leaving him alone for so long. He has a habit of wandering when on his own.” Vinyl lied, technically. The adventures through the stars had shown that Gray needed to travel. The fact that he was always on the move and sometimes not sleeping unless forced convinced her. “Oh. Well I’ll think about it I guess. You must be the Alpha then huh?” Ditzy assumed as her eyes focused on a muffin tray coming by. “Heh… about that…” Vinyl nervously giggled. “Vinyl…” Ditzy stopped herself from eating her muffin. “Tavi is the Alpha actually. Though trust me I know they'd want to add more. I'm like psychic about this.” Vinyl insured the confused pegasus. “I'm probably gonna need to talk to Octavia then what this is all about. Eventually, I have been busy being a mom lately.” Ditzy gushed slightly about being a mom which Vinyl took as an affirmation that she would want to be part of a herd. It just needed a little planing to pull off. “No Brass, I just need extra tickets for some guests.” Octavia insisted to her fellow musician. “Octavia you know it's hard to get these. And you want two more?” Beauty Brass, an earth pony with arctic blue coat and brown poofed up mane, hissed out as she adjusted her sousaphone. “Yes. I've been asking you for the entirety of practice. I know we had extras since some of our guests cancelled due to prior engagements.” Octavia groused clearly upset by the lack of interest in their craft. “Fine. Just put their names on the guest list and I'll get them ready for later.” Brass rolled her eyes and handed over the list. Octavia quickly signed down Nebula Gray, Vinyl Scratch, Fresh Coat and Sunshower Raindrops. She would have to talk to Spitfire later about setting up for Redheart. Unbeknownst to her Treble Clef had been watching her actions. The same dark blue unicorn stallion with the sharp note cutie mark that had confronted her the day in the cafe. He wanted to erase those names but the look his friend Chorus Break, a unicorn with a silver coat and heliotropic mane smack him on the head. Chorus forced him away and the two left the concert hall. “I see you’re back in good health.” Spitfire answered evenly as her… former coltfriend stood before her. “Spits I- “ Soarin started. “Don’t. Look… we tried and it didn’t work out. Let’s try and be professional otherwise we gotta talk to the manager. You know how that will go.” Spitfire held a hoof up taking a deep breath. “Right…” Soaring answered clearly repentant about how things went. Though he didn’t push it. “I’ll rejoin the ranks then captain.” “On the wings then, Soarin.” Spitfire commanded as Soarin took to the sky joining the other cadets on their rounds. “Everything okay there boss?” Fleetfoot flapped down next to Spitfire spreading a wing over her back. “No… but I’ll get over it.” Spitfire calmly stated as she looked over her clipboard on all the members doing their rounds. “Hey… at least you found some new stallion right?” Fleetfoot tried to point out. Spitfire only stared at her. “I’ll just get back to my rounds then.” Spitfire had agreed with Fleetfoot and while she didn’t want to show it… she was kind of a wreck at this moment. They had had good times… one incident tore them apart. A part of her felt as though she was rushing into things with Gray but it was how she would be able to move on. With a quick stretch she took off and joined the others making certain that they practiced their event paths. Redheart was annoyed. For the past few hours Dr. Stable had been the only ones on call. This left her at the mercy of a bozo who had spent the last few free moments when not doing his job hitting on her. “Doctor… I’m in a relationship already.” Redheart growled out as she checked on another patient. “Blood pressure seems normal. I suggest resting at home and drinking some more cranberry juice.” “Thank you Redheart. Always a peach.” The patient chuckled as he laid back down waiting for his release papers. The two trotted away leaving behind the patient and returning back to their rounds and debate. “Look just give me the chance. You never know, I could sweep you off your hooves away from the herd life. Besides sharing with five other mares? That sounds like you’ll never have the chance to yourself.” Dr. Stable pleaded almost bringing up some valid points. “I said no. I’m happy with what I’m part of. Now stop.” Redheart demanded honestly not caring about the point brought up. She actually enjoyed how relaxed everything was. There was no heavy stress and a place where she belonged that was so special not even the princesses knew of it. “But…” Dr. Stable started. “No buts. Just no.” Redheart cut him off and immediately stomped away. Dr. Stable waited until she was gone and stepped into an empty room snarling at the events. Him sweeping her off her hooves and leading her to a better life was the only thing that was on his mind. It didn’t go as planned and the only thing he saw which bled into his sight was that blasted thestral frenching his mare. She was his. He slowly left the room replacing his mask back on and letting his facade carry him through the rest of his shift until Dr. Horse came in. “So… that’s what is going on mom.” Fresh Coat placed her tea cup down. It was confusing that everypony in town liked tea. She prefered colas and the like but her parents were both old fashioned having both tea and coffee and she didn’t want to be heavily wired for this day in particular. “Oh thank Celestia you found somepony. I was worried when you still were painting and hadn't found an artists to settle with.” Water Color sighed in relief wiping her brow with her nearly paint covered hoof. It was hard to tell what color her coat was at this point though her mane was the same dark ivory as her daughters with the same magenta eyes. “Mom…!” Fresh Coat shouted causing Color to titter at her daughter’s indignation. “Come on sweetie. I was young once. So when can I expect grandchildren?” Color immediately brought up. “Mom! We've barely known each other for two weeks!” Fresh responded knowing that it was more like a month due to all the adventuring. “And that's two weeks too many. I expect another paintbrush whizzing about soon.” Color stated clearly not caring about how much of a blushing stammering mess her daughter was in. Then her father trotted in. “What's this about grandchildren?” Steady Palette glared at nopony in particular. He was a unicorn with an eggshell color coat and dark brown mane. His mark was a paintbrush with a bone shaped handle. “Fresh joined a herd. Finally, right?” Color nonchalantly stated. That made Fresh wince as her father rounded on her. “Is this true Fresh Coat?” Steady asked sounding intimidating. “Uh… yes.” Fresh squeaked out. “Grandchildren. Get on it.” Steady stated so bluntly that Fresh couldn't hold her surprise anymore. “WHAT!?” Fresh screamed as her whole world view tumbled around her. Sunshower returned home just as the sun was setting. The clouds had been especially unruly as they rolled in from the sea. After finishing up it was a brisk flight back to Ponyville which was really uneventful in her eyes. Her adventures had made her more aware of the world at that point. Everything seemed… more mundane. The swirling clouds of Nibel had been… exciting to the point where she flew through the Everfree to get back. It had been exhilarating even when she knew it was dangerous. Sunshower meandered through town before spotting Redheart trotting to Gray’s home. It was bonding time. “Hey Red! How's it going?” Sunshower daintily flapped down putting her hoof around her herd mate. “Huh? Oh… Sunshower, its you. Sorry it's been stressful today.” Redheart groused as the two trotted together. “What? What happened?” Sunshower stopped their trip before Redheart pulled them into Gray’s home using her keyblade to open the door. When the two made it in she locked the door with the keyblade. It's magic made a seal on the door breaking them out of their silent demeanor. “Didn't know it could do that… wait. Red, what's wrong?” Sunshower stopped her inquisitiveness and focused on the problem occurring. “Doctor at the hospital is being pushy. I was this close to kicking him through the roof but I controlled myself. I'm pretty sure at this point I could kick him through the roof.” Redheart harshly sighed releasing all the tension trapped within her. “Really? I didn't know that doctors were that pushy. Couldn't you talk to your PR manager?” Sunshower stated almost as if it was the most obvious notion. “I already talked to Pony Resources. They'll step in if he does it again tomorrow but since nopony else saw him they need to catch him in the act. If they don't I'll take matters into my own hooves.” Redheart glared dangerously out into the twilight skies. “In the meantime since we're here… let's do makeovers!” Sunshower quietly cheered which caused Redheart to cringe. “Really? You're serious?” Redheart deadpanned. “Well… since Gray obviously isn't here and we are let's try it out and have some fun getting to know each other.” Sunshower clapped her hooves together as she flew around the room closing the blinds. All of them were heavy and managed to block out the light. Neither noticed the stallion stalking outside the house. Dr. Stable was going to make Redheart see the truth. He knew he could do it. A dark crystal shone deeply within one of Rarity’s jewel boxes housing the remnants of the Nightmare Soul. It could feel the darkness emanating from somepony somewhere. With the power it had accumulated it reached out over the magical leylines that dotted the world of Equus until it found the hapless stallion wallowing in his own misery envious of another. That other had become her mortal enemy, the traitorous thestral who had besmirched his heritage and attacked his Princess of the Night. A conduit for her powers was all she needed. Carefully attaching to his soul she forced herself deep into his mind corrupting it. Leaving a small shadow to siphon the envious spirit he possessed Nightmare Soul would eventually have enough power for her true plan. She would corrupt an Element of Harmony. I watched from the rooftops as several ponies meandered through the highly lit up town. Night had fallen and I had reached a decent vantage point where I could see the building where the keyhole was located. Hotel Troubadour was what it was called, standing ten stories and packed to the brim with ponies trotting in an out. Unfortunately I also noticed that the two ponies from earlier were part of the crowd. From my memories I knew who Shining Armor and Mi Amore Cadenza, Cadence, and their importance to this world. I really didn't want to have them find me in any capacity. Royalty and Keyblade wielders do not mix well. Atlantica proved that pretty well and the lack of action could cost the entire world. As soon as the alleyway adjacent to the hotel was empty I flapped down wearing my armor keeping to the shadows. I tapped my keyblade against the door and watched it flung open. As I stepped inside I tapped the door again locking it. Leveling my keyblade out I used it as a dowsing rod letting it vibrate in my wings to lead me towards where the lock could be. That was when I smelled it… the darkness seeping in from further below the building. Following the staircase down into the basement of the hotel I found the boiler room and several broken walls. Something had been digging through the walls down leaving behind a giant hole. I decided to follow the largest one keeping quiet as I flapped down the ninety degree angled tunnel. The darkness emanating from the hole was actually palpable making me want to wretch. That was how bad it actually felt to be within this place. I had a long trek ahead of me as the tunnel below wasn’t lit up leaving me to rely on my night vision. I was glad that I was a thestral for all this. Hopefully… it was only heartless down here. “Sir!” An orange pony with blue mane and orange coat called to Shining Armor keeping his voice down. “Yes Flash? I thought I made it clear that we were on break for today.” Shining groaned as Cadence tried to keep him from making a scene. “I didn’t even expect you to be here in the first place. Why are you here?” “Sorry bout that sir. We have had reports of weird creatures with glowing yellow eyes showing up around this hotel. Right now we’ve been evacuating this building carefully until we’ve found what is causing this. We need to get you two out of here now. I have Sergeant Feldspar searching the rooms right now.” Flash Sentry responded. “We’re not going anywhere. If ponies are in trouble I shall stay to make certain things don’t go out of control.” Cadence stated a fire burning in her eyes. “Damn… Okay Cadence and I will start searching the area. Keep evacuating the building and make sure that all the ponies remain a block away.” Shining commanded as he took point as the two began to search through the building. “Captain Armor! We’ve had contacts in the basement!” Sergeant Feldspar called out as several small bipedal creatures make of what looked like ink or shadows crawled out of other shadows stumbling around towards the ponies. “I think not!” Cadence shouted as she let go several magical beams piercing through the monsters. Shining grabbed Feldspar dragging him away from the monsters that appeared as the Princess and her knight fought through the shadows into the basement. As they kept going down they noticed that there were several holes in the ground caused by unknown means. They weren’t very big but their appearance was disturbing. “What are those things?” Cadence whispered as the two made their way around the boilers. “I don’t know but right now… this place is unstable. We need to quarantine this place off. Let’s get out of here Cadence before we lose our footing down here.” Shining explained as Cadence kept looking over some of the holes in the wall. The shadows were weak enough to not be in the way but something was wrong. They were coming from somewhere but she couldn’t see anything down the holes. It was like there was no way up from that far below. Charging up her horn she stopped a few from attacking her Shiny which he appreciated. Something was very wrong. “Cadence! Let’s go!” Shining called out noticed his marefriend wandering too close to the center of the room. “Coming!” Cadence called out… up until she couldn’t feel her hoof touching solid ground. It took a few seconds before she realized… there was nothing underneath her. ‘Is this a comic thing…?’ Cadence thought as she started to fall. Before Shining could catch her in his magic another shadow came up jumping on his back. The second it took to buck it off his back was a second too long as she fell into the darkness back first. As she tried to open her wings in a panic they caught on the sides of the holes scraping them up badly. Cadence fell down into the darkness with damaged wings and the light of her horn. She quickly gathered up her magic ready to catch herself as the ground came closer and closer. With a bright flash she formed a hard light slide that caught her allowing her to skid downwards onto the ground. “Cadence! Cadence! Are you ok!?” Shining Armor almost fell into the hole managing to catch himself. “Sir! The entire building is secure but the monsters are trying to spill out into the streets.” Feldspar came down warning Captain Armor of the dangers. “Cadence fell down into the darkness. We have to get down there. Get Flash down here now!” Armor commanded only to get pulled back by Feldspar. “We can’t sir! Flash was busy keeping the monsters at bay and got injured by these strange balls of darkness with teeth! His wings are shot and the rest of the guards are keeping the monsters at bay!” Feldspar relayed as Shining started to have a conniption. “Cadence!” Shining cried out as Feldspar was forced to grab his captain and drag him out of the basement as more monsters started to fill the basement. ‘Huh… that’s weird.’ I looked down at the ground to the pink pony princess lying on her back in front of me. I had no idea where she came from. When she saw me looking down at her her hooves were crossed in front of her as if covering up something. “W-who are you?” Cadence tried to seem intimidating but with her scraped wings and fizzling horn it wasn’t working. “Let’s just consider me your savior and leave it at that. A better question is who do you think you are?” I changed my voice slightly just to keep it vague in case she did see me out of armor.