//------------------------------// // Chapter One - The frozen heart // Story: Fairlight - The Frozen Heart // by Bluespectre //------------------------------// THE FROZEN HEART CHAPTER ONE The emptiness within They’d lied to me. All of them. Every last stinking one of them. Friends? I spat bitterly on the ground and bared my teeth as another wave of anger seared through my veins, reminding me of its presence. And it was always present. Always... I gave myself a shake and snorted the moisture from my nostrils. Once, not that long ago, I’d tried my best to push the worst of the memories aside, to try and move on, but it had been a losing battle. I’d been shot, beaten, tortured, and then left for dead. Left to burn alive next to the body of my beloved wife Meadow, the mother of my unborn foal who had been brutally raped and murdered before my very eyes whilst I’d lain there helpless in a pool of my own blood. How the hell could I simply forget all of that? And why should I? They had taken everything from me and left me a broken, empty shell. Death meant nothing. Life too, meant nothing. I was alone. Alone in a world where I simply didn’t belong any more. I could still see the faces of the murderers as clearly as though they were standing in front of me now. They’d killed us both; my beloved literally, and myself… Well, they should have finished what they’d started. Water dripped constantly from the leaking rusty pipes overhead providing a background note that beat in time to my heart. The heart I had prayed so hard would stop some day, but the damned thing went on regardless of my desires. Thump, thump, thump. Inexorable. Unerring. It beat in time with the ticking of the old railway clock on the wall. I’d found it thrown away in a pile of rubbish behind the new Manehattan railway station. Dumped, because it had a cracked glass cover. The clock still worked though, and with a little care and attention I’d repaired it, even with my limited skills. In some warped way it was like a metaphor for my life - thrown away, discarded because of a flaw. A flaw that nopony had made the effort to see past, let alone help repair. Gods forbid they actually made an effort to help a pony who actually needed help, real help, instead of some of that superficial ‘feel good’ bollocks! Ha! No… No, like the clock it was all so much easier just to throw it away and get a new one, wasn’t it. I wonder who my replacement was? A fresh faced, chirpy thing who had no idea what the hell they were in for. Gods help them. In the background the second hand clicked away the seconds, each one taking me nearer the time death would claim me. Seconds nearer the time I would claim them. They would all pay for what they had done. They were up there, walking… talking… doing all the things that ponies do. Or more accurately, what sick buckers like they do. Still, not for much longer though. They were already dead and just didn’t realise it yet, but they would. And soon, oh so soon… they would. Shadows played along the damp brick walls, flickering in the old oil lantern’s warm light. Warm… I had given up on trying to keep ‘warm’. I’d been down here that long now that the damp and cold didn’t bother me in the slightest. The sewers were perpetually dank, wet and mouldering places by their very nature, so I could hardly complain about my choice of accomodation. I didn’t even notice the smell any more. It was difficult, but not impossible to keep a fire going of course, although I only used one now for practical applications and even then only sparingly. As much as I used to love lying in front of a log fire, the sensation of the sun on my fur and sleeping beneath the shade of a tree on a hot day, such things had become no more than a faded memory to me now. For some reason I simply couldn’t feel warmth any more, only… cold. A cold as bitter as the chill wind on the mountain side. I’d felt its touch in the Withers, but now the cold was everything. It encompassed everything. I had tried so hard to control it, to gain mastery over its grip on my soul. But here in Equestria, away from the emptiness of the black desert, the power hungered, lusting for nourishment. Regular food kept my physical body working of course, but the cold demanded sustenance of another sort - goddesses help me - the very life energy of living creatures. ‘Goddesses help me’? Ha! Yeah, they’d helped me all right, tried to help me by ridding themselves of their ‘problem’. Soon I would show them just how wrong they were to underestimate me. Sooner or later they would regret their honey words of deceit and lies. My stone hissed as it passed along the hardened steel edge. A few different grades and a little oil to help smooth the flow made all the difference. I finished with a dry cloth and admired the final result of my labour. I was satisfied. It was quite an interesting piece, the wood dark and well seasoned. I’d found it almost by chance, propped up in the corner of a collapsing barn on the edge of an apple orchard. The blade had been rusted to nothing, crumbling away at the slightest touch, but I was skilled enough with metal work to forge a new one for myself. With the magic from my… ‘other’ self, I had little need for a forge, although I’d still found it easier to make use of the one on the abandoned farm. Initially I’d been concerned about being discovered there, however the farm was so far from anywhere, there was little chance of that happening. Still, it didn’t hurt to be cautious, and so I had only worked at night after repairing the doors and windows to block any escaping light and reduce the sound. The wickedly curved blade was not quite a mirror finish, for that I would have needed much finer stones than I had managed to find so far, but for this work it was more than enough. The one I’d had in the Withers was designed for combat, yet its maker had still taken the time to add surprisingly delicate engraving to the haft. I’d tried to replicate some of this myself with varying degrees of success and, I had to admit, I was quite pleased with the result. The mechanism which flicked the blade out and locked it into place was particularly impressive, and I nodded in approval as it did so now. The swish and click were a harbinger of what was to come, and I gave the scythe a test swing, listening to the way it cut the air in twain. I twirled round, my cloak billowing out behind me and swung again, the curved blade snarling through the air once more. Satisfied, I closed me eyes and let my heart settle itself back to a steady beat. It was time to go. As I walked off down the tunnel I locked the blade back into place and strapped it to my pack, the magic glowing from my horn lighting the darkness of the damp glistening walls. Behind me, the faint sound of a candle falling on the ground made me smile to myself. I’d done my job well. ******************** Traffic in the down town quarter was quieter at this time of the morning, but the city, as they say, never truly sleeps. It was certainly true of Manehattan. Nothing had changed. The hustle and bustle, the noise, the smells – they were still the same wretched by-products of life in the busy metropolis as they had been the first day I’d arrived here all those years ago. Once, it had really bothered me, keeping me up all hours of the day and night, especially when I was working shifts. I suppose it was only natural coming from a small country town like I had, but now I barely noticed it at all. It was just… there, fading into the background like a clock ticking away in the hallway at night. Another advantage of living in such a place was that nopony noticed one more stallion wrapped up against the heavy rain, walking the darkened streets and alleys. Here in the city of individuals, each wrapped up in their own self-centred little world, Manehattan was just as lonely as it ever had been. I’d passed 121st street and headed for the park, the large globe lights still visible even in this weather. Meadow and I had always loved this place. On a warm summer’s evening it was a cooling and relatively peaceful sanctuary in the chaos of life that was a major city. Tonight, however, it could have been on a different world. A young filly rushed past me, water splashing from her hooves as she dashed up the street to escape the rain. She was around the age my daughter would have been now had she lived, but that was a thought for another day. Today, I had to focus my mind, my will, in another direction. Water poured off my rain cloak in rivulets, its cold touch not even registering in my consciousness any more. When your insides were colder than ice, temperature ceased to be a concern. They say love warms the heart, but fail to mention what happens when everything you’ve ever known and loved lies as ashes at your hooves. My heart had died along with my hopes and dreams, buried with my wife and child. I no longer knew if I would ever see them again - not even in the next world. The herd would not take me and I had no idea how, or even if I would be able to rid myself of this monstrous spirit within me. Goddesses knew… But even that I doubted. In the darkness between the street lamps I waited. I closed my eyes and listened for the tell-tale rattle of a carriage clattering over the cobbles as it turned the corner on its way to drop off its cargo. The cabby pulled up several yards away and waited for his passenger to alight. “Thanks friend.” “No, thank you sir!” the cabby replied happily. His fare must have been a big tipper to elicit a cheerful response on such a rain soaked evening. Funny how times change around here. Still, the more they change, the more they stay the same, as the old quote goes. He stopped several feet away but hadn’t seen me in the heavy downpour. Taking a cigarette from his pocket, he rummaged in his pockets for a light. I obliged. The small flame flickered in front of his surprised face as I stepped from the shadows, “Here, let me get that for you… friend”. Jumping Jack’s eyes widened in shock but he didn’t back up even a single step. He was still as cool as ever. “Yeah… Thanks buddy,” he replied, drawing on the cigarette. His eyes never left mine. He cautiously reached a hoof toward a pocket and I put mine out to stop him. “That won’t be necessary J.J,” I said calmly. “I’m just after some info, that’s all.” “Celestia almighty!” he gasped aloud. “I thought you were supposed to be… that is… everypony says you’re...” He cleared his throat and tried to regain some composure. “Goddesses, Fairlight, how are you still alive? The watch said you were dead - burnt to death in a fire along with your… Oh, hey, I’m sorry buddy. I really am.” I nodded. “Yeah, death’s not all its cracked up to be, J.J. Bunch of arseholes in fancy armour and sand. Lots and lots of sand.” Jumping Jack’s face was a picture. I almost wished I could have taken one of him right then. He was one hell of a cool customer, that was for sure, and for a stallion who’d just seen a pony come back from the dead I was quite impressed at how the regular old Jumping Jack reappeared just like always. Like nothing had ever happened. Gods, how I envied him that. “Waddaya want then, Cap’? You like, undercover now or something?” he asked blowing smoke into the night air. “Yeah, something like that,” I said calmly. “I need to know where I can meet a couple of... ‘old acquaintances’. With your connections it should be simple enough.” Jack scratched his ear, adjusting his hat. “Sure thing, Cap’. Anything for an old pal. Who we lookin’ for then?” I moved closer to him. “Old pal, eh? Okay...” I took a breath and let it out slowly. “The first one’s a big red coated meat-head called Melon Patch. The other’s a piss yellow skinny rat who goes by the name of Gates.” J.J spat out his cigarette in alarm. “Are you bucking kidding me?” he choked. “Do you know who those two are?” My expression never changed. “Yeah, I know who they are. Only too well.” Jack baulked. “No way, Cap’! I know I said I’d do anything for an old pal, but these guys? There’s no bucking way! If those two, either of them, found out I’d told you, I’d-” “End up like Meadow?” I finished for him, cocking my head to one side. Jumping Jack froze, the cold light of realisation shining in his eyes. “Goddesses… Meadow? You mean, those two...?” He swallowed. “Oh no…” I nodded. “Meadow was pregnant, J.J. They killed my wife and my unborn foal. They tortured her, before they raped her. Do you know what that was like for her? Do you know what it was like to see them doing that to my wife?!” I hadn’t realised I’d grabbed J.J’s coat until I was almost nose to nose with him. His eyes went wide as dinner plates. “By Luna’s tits!” Jack blurted. “What the buck happened to your eyes?!” Letting him go I stepped back, pulling the hood back down over my face. I’d forgotten how frightening my ‘new appearance’ was to some ponies. I’d have to do something about it, or I’d stand out a mile in the crowd. I took a deep breath and tried again. “Where are they J.J?” The informant took out another cigarette and, once more, I magicked up a flame for him. After a few seconds he produced a hip flask and downed its contents in one pull. The frightened stallion was shivering with the cold and, most probably, a healthy dose of nerves. Speaking of which I needed to be aware that most ponies still felt the cold. I almost wished I could too. Jack watched me for a moment and seemed to gather himself, rebuilding the wall of confidence that defined him so well. “Come on, Cap’,” he said suddenly. “There’s a covered street vendor down near the park entrance who’s a pal of mine. Hot food, drinks, and its out of this god-damned rain too.” The street vendor’s cart was easily spotted even in this gloom. Magical lights had been strung up around the wooden cart which glowed every colour of the rainbow, reflecting invitingly off the puddles and canopy. Wreathed in steam and seemingly oblivious to the torrential rain, was an oriental stallion with a black spotted white coat; an unusual colouring I hadn’t seen very often. He was, as J.J stated, a friendly sort who quickly dished up some wheat noodles and spiced soup with practised ease. Under the canopy, out of ear shot from the vendor, J.J slurped his noodles, steam rising from them while the rain hammered down around us. “Melon Patch.” J.J kept his voice low, not even looking up from his meal. “He’s known as ‘Mel’ in the underworld. Nasty bastard. I’ve heard bad things about that guy: rape, murder, extortion. And that’s the least of it. Word on the street is that he’s the guy who’s sent in when the boss wants something taking care of. Permanently.” He took a sip of his beer. “He’s is an enforcer for the Harpies.” “Velvet Cream’s gang?” I asked. J.J nodded. “The very same. Gates, the other one you mentioned? He works for them too.” It was all slotting into place now. I knew of the Harpies from my days in the Watch, but they’d never been considered much more than low level thugs. “What are they into?” I asked. J.J shrugged. “Usual guff: Racketeering, prostitution, smuggling, drugs, that sort of thing.” Drugs? It wasn’t exactly a new problem in the city, but it had become a lo more prevalent in recent years. “Let me guess,” I suggested. “Ryetalin?” “Yeah,” Jumping Jack agreed with wipe of his muzzzle, “and a new one too. Pushers call it ‘Breeze’. It’s inhaled straight up the old hooter. Users call it ‘shooting the breeze’. Nasty stuff, Cap’, nasty stuff.” This ‘Breeze’ was new on me. I’d have to look into that at some point, but it was of secondary concern to me right now. “What are they smuggling?” Jack paused and scratched his nose, giving me a sidelong look. “Look, Cap’, there’s some things I can’t-” “Guns,” I cut in. “They’re bringing in guns, J.J, I know. I’ve seen them in action first hoof. You may have heard about what went down at the wharf?” “Yeah”, Jack replied quietly, “I heard. Sorry, Cap’, it’s just… I’m frightened of these guys, yeah? I don’t mind admitting it, they scare the living shit out of me. If they knew I was talking to you about them then...” He shook his mane and breathed in heavily, “Okay. Okay, right, this is for Meadow, yeah?” Jack glanced over his shoulder at the vendor who was busy cooking chopping spring onions with his back to us. “Listen; the red one, Mel, he works the doors at the Strawberry Cream nightclub on 22nd. That is, of course, when he’s not doing ‘extra curricular activities’, if you get my drift.” I nodded, taking one of Jack’s cigarettes. “And Gates?” “He works down at the tourist office on Liberty Island.” I nearly choked. “You got to be kidding me!” Jack shook his head. “Nah, it’s all a front. They bring in barges there at night to load or unload their shit.” “Do the watch know about this?” I asked him directly. “Some, yeah.” He spat on the ground. “The commissioner’s been concentrating the watch’s activities in, er… ‘other directions.’” It was all becoming clearer now. “J.J...” I turned to look him in the eye. “What’s the commissioner’s angle in all this?” He winced, but carried on. “She’s up to her fetlocks in it. Word is that she’s the one behind the smuggling, but some think she’s just getting back hoofers from somepony higher up the food chain. Couldn’t say for sure, y’know? But whatever’s going on, she sure has taken a liking to the high life.” I grimaced, “And all the while Manehattan’s going to hell in a hoof basket.” “Yeah,” Jack spoke quietly. “It ain’t good for nopony, Cap’, and that’s for sure”. I turned to go. “J.J, I can’t pay you, you know. You’ll have to put this one on the slate.” He chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry about it.” The strange stallion raised an eyebrow, “Hey, Cap’, you know your boys and girls will want to know you’re still kicking, right? You, um… want to stay, y’know, a shadow?” I cringed as images of burning red eyes flashed through my mind, my heart leaping into my throat. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my flaring nerves. “Yes,” I replied quietly. “So far as anypony is concerned, you included, I’m just a… shadow. A nopony. You didn’t see me, you didn’t speak to me. J.J, Captain Fairlight died in that fire with his wife.” “Dude, I don’t know what shit you went through, but there’s a lot of love out there for you, yeah?” J.J looked me right in the eyes. “Don’t forget that. Ponies shouldn’t be alone.” I’d hear that once from some other pony. It seemed like a lifetime ago now. I suppose in some ways it was. Another me. Another world... I patted Jumping Jack on the shoulder, “See you J.J. Take it easy out there.” He nodded, drawing on his cigarette and watched me as I walked off into the dark, rain soaked night. ********************* “Captain Fairlight?” My eyes felt like they were full of sand, and goddesses, did they hurt... The bright light was like staring into the sun directly and my throat was so dry my tongue had stuck to roof of my mouth. I tried to speak, but only a painfully croaking noise emanated from what was left of my vocal chords. “Wa… water… water.” It was, admittedly, pretty pathetic, but it was all I could manage. “Of course, Captain. Here, please…” The male’s voice sounded friendly enough and he reached forward to help me sit up whilst holding a glass to my parched lips. The water hitting my mouth was like liquid life: pure, cool, and I gulped it down greedily. “More,” I gasped. Another glass duly arrived and that too was downed in quick succession. Another voice, female this time, travelled from across the room. “That’s enough. He’s going to take some time to come round. We can’t rush things.” Hoof steps announced the arrival at my bedside of the owner of the voice. “I’m going to sit you up now, Captain,” she said. “Do you understand?” I nodded as she added, “Good. Now, once you’re sat up I’m going to put some drops in your eyes to freshen them up, yes?” I nodded again. The two of them slid their forelegs behind me and helped me up into a more comfortable sitting position. I was quite surprised by how much more alert I was beginning to feel, my nerves seemingly coming back under my control. Sensations of touch, taste, warmth, cold – one by one they were all stirring from their slumber. The female tilted my head back and I felt her try to pry my eyes open a little whilst wiping them gently with a moistened cloth. They were gunged up with something crusty and horribly, but I could feel it crumbling under her ministrations. Carefully, she dribbled some fluid into the corners. “There you go,” she said softly. “that should-” Light and colour flooded into my eyes momentarily blinding me, but suddenly, I could see again. The first thing I saw was a brown coated female nurse, staring at me with her eyes wide and mouth hanging open. She half held the eye dropper in her hoof which I reached out and took from her before she dropped it. My movement broke whatever spell she was under and she let out the most ear-splitting scream I’d ever heard - even worse than a thestral shouting in your head. Well, almost. “My goddess…” The male in the room was still there, gawping at me with wide wide eyes like the nurse’s. At least he didn’t run screaming from the room. “Goddess? No… Not quite,” I replied dryly. “I’d prefer it if you just called me Fairlight. That is my name after all.” I took the glass of water from the bedside table and downed the rest of it before plopping some more of the deliciously cool drops into my eyes. The cream coloured male shook his burgundy mane and fought to regain control of his faculties, “I…. you… your…” he stammered. I tutted, swinging my hind legs off the bed. Great Luna’s buttocks they were stiff! I flexed them several times, rubbing them to get some circulation going. Bloody hell, what had happened to me? I stretched out gingerly, but not feeling any pain other than a general stiffness, I decided I’d try my luck and get out of bed. I spotted the mirror, a full length one across the room and walked over to it. Suddenly there was a loud metallic crash as the cream male backed up into the medical trolley, sending him and its contents spilling into the corner. I glanced at him and rolled my eyes. He was still staring at me with his mouth flapping open like a broken letterbox. “You keep doing that and you’ll stick like it,” I quipped, dodging past him to look at the mirror. Well, here goes nothing… I’d heard of ponies having a ‘double take’ but hadn’t really understood what they meant until now. What looked back at me… well… what can I say? I had to imagine that it actually was me. I mean, it’s not like somepony was on the other side ‘mirroring’ my movements, right? And that being the case then I was left with the only possible conclusion I could reach - that the pony looking back at me with - Great Celestia, no wonder they were scared - Those eyes! My eyes! That thing was me?! I still had the trademark grey coat, marked and scarred from various injuries. There were a few bald patches here and there where fur had either been burnt or been cut away along with a criss cross of stitches that made me look like a badly made quilt. My ears were still attached, which seemed to be working okay despite the odd nick or two. A quick muzzle check - all teeth present and in good order. Mane was a bit singed but still that nice black and white pattern. But as for my eyes... Now there was the sticking point. Hadn’t they been brown before? I felt sick to my stomach. For whatever reason, somehow, they were almost glowing a fluorescent ice blue. I’d never seen their like before on a pony. Sure, I’d seen blue eyes, but nothing like this! It was like… It was like looking into the void. And this one really was staring back at me. In a daze, I looked back at my flank, expecting my cutie mark to still be missing as it had been in the Wither World. What I saw was even more unexpected. There was one! Only… it wasn’t mine, or at least it wasn’t the one I used to have. This was a simple white flash, like lightning or something. What it meant I had no idea. I mean, what was my special talent now? Weather control? ‘Zapping’ magic? Hang on… magic? My horn! I turned back to the mirror and saw… damn, the bloody thing was still broken. It sparked slightly when I tried it out. Levitating small objects seemed to work somewhat but hurt like hell when I tried lifting a packet of bandages from the tray atop the trolley. I’d come back to that later; once I’d found out what had happened, what they’d done to me and… Hang on… Shadow! Where was she? Gripped with a sudden desperation I turned too quickly and skittered on the polished floor, sending the prone medical pony into conniptions. Thankfully I managed to catch hold of the bed before I broke my neck on the tiled floor. Who the hell designed this place?! Also hospital gowns are apparently designed to be a pain to remove too, and this one was no different. I managed to virtually strangle myself with the bloody thing in my attempts to get if off and run to the door all at the same time. The doctor entering the room as I barrelled into him, was not impressed. “What in Equestria are you playing at, stallion?! Get back into bed!” he roared. I picked myself up, throwing the gown over the shocked fellow’s head and took off down the corridor, looking into the various rooms in my desperate search for Shadow. They were all empty. One after the other, just empty lifeless rooms. This whole place felt abandoned, deserted, almost like I was intruding into a museum after closing time. Rooms exhausted, I charged towards the end of the corridor where I immediate spotted a large set of double doors of solid wood with heavy iron fittings. I tried pushing. Nothing. Bucking them. Nothing! What about magic? Yes! If I- Ow! Damn it, the bloody thing still wouldn’t budge and now I felt like somepony had stuck a red hot poker in the top of my head. I reached down inside, trying to tease out the strength within me. If I could freeze this door into ice or blast it to matchwood, then... But there was nothing there. Not even a trace. I had one more option - head back and take the second corridor. Maybe Shadow was there! My heart set, I charged off once more before I was picked up off my hooves and sent sliding along the floor to crash unceremoniously into a drinks dispenser. Rather typical of my luck, my horn smacked right into the thing making me see stars sending little pinpricks of blue light sparking in my vision while I pulled myself shakily back to my hooves. That’s when I saw the huge orange unicorn in front of me. “I knew you would be trouble,” was all he said. I stood there for a moment dumbfounded, my head still a confused mess of warring emotions and shock. The transition from the Wither World to the mortal world had not been kind to me mentally or, by the looks of things, physically either. I barely noticed the two ponies in black suits appear out of a side room sporting sunglasses and TED’s. Even in my muddled state of mind I noted how much neater their communications headsets looked compared to our old watch issued devices. These looked familiar too… One of them spoke into their TED while the other whispered in the ear of the big orange pony who nodded and then addressed me. “The Mistress wishes to see you. Pick yourself up and come with us.” Trying to clear my head, I nodded wearily. It didn’t seem like I exactly had much of a choice in the matter anyway, and so I followed them warily, the big guy leading and the other two behind blocking any chance of escape. Not that I had any idea where to go in any case. To my surprise, we arrived at the large double doors that had foiled my attempts to open earlier. Apparently the orange pony knew something I didn’t, and produced a glowing silver rod from his coat pocket. He pointed it at the door and a faint beam of white light shone out causing the door to click and swing open on silent hinges. I marvelled at the device. It must have been some kind of magically tuned key - very impressive indeed. Some high end magic was going on here and I was pleasantly surprised to find that my panic to find Shadow had lessened somewhat, replaced in part by curiosity. These characters would know where she was and I would stand more chance of getting to her if I played nice. For now at least. Beyond the double doors was a spacious office where a log fire was burning merrily in a large stone hearth. A set of tall bay windows let in the baleful light from the moon and stars, whilst magically powered lanterns adding their equally pale glow to the serene, if rather ominous setting. Before the window, standing tall on the thick purple carpet, was a black robed pony wearing a veil. All that was visible were the glittering silver shod hooves. I stood patiently waiting for something to happen, and feeling oddly naked somehow. Not a nice feeling for a creature covered in fur, but I was surprisingly conscious of the fact I was only one there not wearing clothes. I presumed the elegantly robed mare was this ‘Mistress’ Warlock had spoken of. Whoever she was, she spoke in a loud commanding tone, “We thank thee, Warlock. Thou may leave us now.” The orange stallion bowed low, “As you command, my mistress”. He then began to back out of the room whispering under his breath, “I warn you stallion; if you try anything, I’ll kill you where you stand. Remember that.” I ignored him. I wasn’t intimidated by this character; I’d been threatened by bigger and meaner things than he could ever dream of. But I’d play along, play their game, and then I’d get the hell out of there. This place just didn’t seem right to me. “Thou art well, Watch Captain Fairlight?” the voice boomed. Goddesses, it was like being inside a hurricane! What was it with ponies bellowing at me lately? “Please, Mistress, forgive me,” I tried diplomatically. “I am still a little unwell. If it pleases you, would it be possible to speak a little quieter?” She turned and faced me, her veil wafting as she breathed in and out. It was rather disconcerting being looked at from someone sequestered behind black cloth - I couldn’t even see their eyes. Not being able to see a ponies expression was unusual to say the least, and I can honestly say I didn’t like it at all. Ignoring my concerns, she walked around me several times muttering to herself and occasionally prodding me with those silver shod hooves. She was a unicorn, that was obvious, but there were also the bulges on her sides beneath the robe that twitched occasionally. The room was a little dark but I caught a passing glimpse of a delicate midnight coloured leg as she walked back to the window, facing me. “Captain Fairlight” she said in, thankfully, a more normal volume. “We need thy help. Equestria needs thy help. Will thou come to her… our aid?” This was all very formal sounding and I was floundering like a fish out of water. I decided I had to take a grip of the conversation and try to steer it back to what I wanted to talk about. “Mistress, forgive me, I find it hard to converse with somepony whom I cannot see, for only in your eyes can I determine the truth of things. I beg you, please remove your veil so that we may have nothing standing between us.” She snorted, the veil lifting slightly and providing me with another glimpse of the midnight pony beneath. “We would not have thou knowest our true identity Captain,” she announced. “Thy honeyed words will avail thee naught and thy sight must, and will, remain averted.” I grinned, then bowed low, “Very well, your majesty. I thank you for your wisdom and assistance in my recovery.” The mare reared momentarily in shock, stomping a hoof angrily. “How…? How did thou knowest it was us? This is not acceptable at all!” “Your majesty,” I began, “when I joined the Equestrian Watch, I gave an oath to protect and serve both the citizens and princesses of our great country. Your majesty has my utmost respect and gratitude. I beg you not to have any fear that I would divulge your identity.” The robed figure laughed quietly, lifting a hoof to her mouth and then, in a glow of magic from her horn, lifted the robe and veil away to reveal the beautiful figure of the princess of the night. “May we ask, Captain,” she chuckled, “how did you know it was us?” I smiled, “Forgive me your majesty, it wasn’t hard. The silver shoes, the colouring of your coat and the way you speak. There is only one who I know of that meets such a description.” Luna smiled and waved me to a chair. “Our coat?” she asked loftily. I settled into the comfortable settee and nodded to her, “I saw your leg.” She smiled cheekily. “Eyeing thy princess’s leg subject? An offence that could land thee in the dungeon we’d wager!” I laughed, “It would be worth it, your majesty. Your beauty is worthy of legend.” Luna’s eyes opened wide, “Why Captain, whatever can thou mean?!” She covered her mouth with her forehooves in mock indignation and laughed, her sides shaking her robes all the more. I smiled and waited until she was ready to continue. Eventually the moment passed and the princess levitated a bowl of cherries over to me along with a pitcher of water. “Here, thou wilst need these,” she said politely. “We believe thou art well acquainted with them?” Luna asked me raising an eyebrow. The cherries were red with a silvery crystalline structure. The last time I had seen these was when I was with… “Shadow...” “Pardon?” The princess replied. I came back to myself with a start and bobbed my head respectfully. “Forgive me princess, can you tell me where I can find my partner, the Lady Shadow?” Luna sat there watching me quietly before taking a mouthful of what I presumed was wine. “We know of this ‘Lady Shadow’, Captain. She is a thestral is she not?” I nodded. “Yes, your majesty. We travelled together in the Wither World. She was to follow me through the portal from the white city to Equestria. Star Beard was to help her, and I thought she would be here. I beg you, I must find her.” Luna shook out her flowing mane. Dear gods, it was like nothing I had ever seen! The pictures in the books were like nothing compared to the reality of what was before me now. Stars, comets, planets, all glinting and alive, flowing in her mane and tail like a window into the infinity of the universe. “My dear Captain,” she said gently, “if we knew where thy friend was, we would have her here with thee now. We regret that we cannot do more for thee in this matter, however we will tell you this: Star Beard, the self styled ‘apprentice’ of Star Swirl the Bearded, is quite the accomplished thestral mage. If anypony can send your Lady Shadow to thee, it would be him. Of that, we are certain. Remember this though: time is different between here and the Wither World, even we cannot predict its passing. What seems like a day here may be a year there, or even more. I hung my head as I felt my heart sink. A year? Goddesses, what had I done? I should have stayed there with her. I had abandoned my mate in a world of darkness and danger where- Luna held a hoof up forestalling me. “Do not despair, Captain. Have faith that thou wilt be together again and it shall be so. There are powers in the world which even Celestia and us cannot change. Destiny is a powerful force and one that is not so easily changed, yet the power of a single heart can move the universe. Maybe... even the gods themselves.” The world? Destiny? My head was spinning. Great goddesses, this was a nightmare. I just wanted to find Shadow and try to get some semblance of a normal life back. From what Luna was saying though, she didn’t know what had happened to Shadow and I had no way I knew of to contact her either. Luna seemed to have read my mind and lay a comforting hoof on my shoulder. “Captain, we assure thee, we will do our best to try and find thy friend. There are… ‘channels’ we can go through that thou could not. We will do our best for thee, and as your princess, we promise thee this.” I took a mouthful of the water, “Thank you, Princess Luna. This means more to me than I could say.” She smiled at me and motioned towards the berries. Nodding my thanks I took one and savoured its sweet taste. It was just as delicious as I remembered from the ones Star Beard had given me – a little tart, with a slight background feeling of ‘something’ running down my spine. Luna nodded approvingly as she watched me eat, and readjusted herself in the chair. “Your majesty,” I said after wiping a stray drop from my muzzle. “This is all very confusing for me. I don’t know where to start, I have so many questions I’d like to ask but-” “We understand, Captain,” Luna said smiling. “We know what it was like when we… I… came back. So much had changed…” The princess trailed off, her eyes distant, lost in another world and another time. She blinked, “Captain, mine ponies found thee too late to save thy wife. We are sorry, there was nothing we could do. Alas, she was already with the eternal herd. The cabin was nought but a burnt out ruin when we arrived. Thou on the other hoof...” She paused, taking a drink of wine and sat down on her haunches, letting out a sigh before continuing. “Thou were alive. Barely. My ponies pulled thee out of the wreckage and brought thee here before the watch arrived. Thou hast been in our facility ever since, whilst we tried to rejoin thy soul to thy body.” “Rejoin my soul?” I asked in surprise. I knew Meadow had said that I was still ‘tied’ to the mortal world, and Star Beard had said I couldn’t exist in both. Was this what she meant? Luna nodded. “Yes, an old friend helped us to find thee in the Wither World, and find thee we did. We only have limited influence there, Captain. It is not as it once was. The universe is not as it once was. Thou dost understand, yes?” I shook my head. This was confusing me to no end! “I’m sorry princess,” I said defeatedly. “I’m still a little surprised by what’s happened. I thought I was dead, then it turns out I wasn’t ‘really’ dead after all, and now I’m back and… changed somehow. My eyes, my cutie mark - It’s all so much, so fast.” Luna smiled kindly to me, those large aquamarine eyes melting my worries away. “The Wither World was a place no pony was ever meant to return from. It has left its mark upon thee, Captain. Thy cutie mark is the mark of that place. We have not seen its like in a long, long time. Now, listen well, this is important…” Luna’s face was suddenly grave. “Thou must never allow anypony to see that mark outside of our facility. It is unlikely anypony alive now will recognise it, but still, precautions must be made.” I looked back at my flank. It didn’t look like much to be honest, just a simple white lightning bolt. I’m sure many ponies had ones similar, perhaps the even Wonder Bolts? Wouldn’t get much flying done without wings though! Ah, hang on… I did have wings didn’t I? Dear gods, had all of that really happened? It all felt like a dream, and not a very good one either. Luna’s horn glowed, the wine bottle floating over to refill her glass before she continued, “Thy wife, Meadow, is a truly remarkable pony, Captain. Her spirit is extraordinarily strong. Stronger than many we have met since we came home, and we know she will be overjoyed to know thou hast returned to us safely.” “Is there some way I can speak to her?” I asked, a lump coming to my throat. “I’d like her to know I’m back safely at least.” Luna shook her head. “It is not that easy, Captain. We fear that contacting the herd is frowned upon and we have stretched things as it is to help thee this far. We will try to speak to her for thee, however we cannot promise a favourable response to our enquiries. We are sorry.” “I... I see…” I didn’t see at all, and that large pit in my minds eye seemed to be opening up, ready to swallow me whole once more. Luna raised her hoof and smiled gently. “Captain, forgive us, we are tired from our ‘exertions’, so we will cut to the chase. When we were approached by, let us say a ‘mutual acquaintance’. We discovered that thou hadst some unique abilities which we feel may be of use to us in the coming months. Thou hast investigative experience from thy service with the watch?” I nodded, “Yes, your majesty”. “Good. Now Captain, from thy experience in the Wither World, thou may understand better than most that Equestria, the Wither World and the land of the Eternal Herd are all parts of a whole. They form the order of things - a type of ‘balance’ if thou will. Those who die in our world pass through the veil to the Eternal Herd. The veil acts as a ‘sieve’ of sorts, filtering out any potentially damaging emotions, thoughts, feelings and so forth, from the soul of the departed before they are allowed to enter the herd. In ages passed, wars and suffering in our world, the mortal plain, created a surge of negative emotions and energy that simply could not pass through the veil and so overflowed into the Wither World, giving birth to creatures which had minds and emotions of their own.” I nodded, “Thestrals.” “And others,” she sighed. “Eventually it lead to war between the mortal world and the Wither World. The Eternal Herd remained neutral. As usual.” I noted the emphasis she put on ‘as usual’. I suspected she’d met other members of the eternal herd like the one I had - Aethel, the pompous clerk for example, or that tosser Thalio. “The war… it was… terrible. A horror beyond imagining.” Luna’s looked past me, her gaze drawn to the flickering fire that reflected eerily in her large eyes. “Towns, even whole cities were turned to ash, the skies black with smoke and the stench of the dead. The herd ultimately intervened to ensure the balance between the worlds was restored. To this end, my sister, Celestia, was charged with keeping order and balance. This was over one thousand years ago, Captain, and peace has been maintained ever since.” “Until now,” I interjected. “Until now,” Luna confirmed nodding. I popped another of the crystal cherries into my mouth, noting that Luna watched me very closely when I did so. It was a bit disconcerting and I felt myself blush a little. Considering I’d been poisoned not so long ago by somepony I trusted, and, it had to be said, with all best intentions. Still, I was surprised to find myself so trusting to accept food items from anypony, royalty or not. “Captain,” Luna said rising from the chair and shaking her mane, “Thou art aware of the smuggling of weapons, the… ‘drugs’ and ‘other’ things. Ponies are dying, killing each other over bits, over power and control. The balance that has been maintained for so long is once again being lost. We have tried to combat this but our people are not warriors. They cannot stand against the unbridled greed and hate of those seeking to exploit our world. Before long the balance could tip too far, the armies rebuilt. The second great war could be upon us, and this time... this time we do not know if we could…” Luna was breathing hard, her chest heaving. “Princess?” I asked in concern. She had a frightened, far away look. An innocence which made me want to rush to her side to protect her, to shelter her from any harm. Being in Luna’s presence was, quite literally, intoxicating. I checked and… yes, it was just water I was drinking. She shook herself and lifted a hoof. “Captain, I need thee to… fix things. We will give thee carte blanch to do what must be done. Thou wilst have the best equipment and magics that Equestria can offer. However, there are certain conditions.” “Very well, your majesty,” I nodded. Luna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “Nopony must know of thy mission, other that those thou wilt meet here at this facility. Warlock will introduce thee to them later. Furthermore, the agency cannot be trusted, Captain.” I sat up in shock, “The agency? But their ponies are here! I had two of them walk me here with the orange one.” Luna walked to the large wooden desk and poured herself another drink “Captain, the agency is run by Celestia. Some of the agency ponies loyalties are, however, to us. We work together mostly, however our sister’s values and viewpoints are, how should we say, ‘different’ to mine on occasion. She thinks that every pony can be changed by the power of friendship and love. This is true to a degree, but we are seeing more and more non-equestrian ponies entering our land through the trans-dimensional portals. They look like us, they sound like us, but be assured, Captain, they are not ponies. They rape, steal and kill without any hesitation. Be assured, Equestria is being invaded. The enemy is amongst us, and I need somepony who can match them. We… that is, I need you Captain.” I was amazed. I knew a little about these ‘non-equestrian’ ponies, or whatever the hell they were, but I’d no idea that things were this bad. And what was that about a second war with the Wither World? Invasions, drugs, guns - great goddesses, surely this was an exaggeration? Yet when I looked into Luna’s aquamarine eyes, I knew she was telling the truth. I finished the last of the berries and stood before my princess. I bowed low, taking her hoof and planted a kiss upon it. “Your majesty, I pledge to you that I will give my all to protect you, our people, and Equestria.” When I stood… Wait, was that a blush? It was! Luna took a quick mouthful of wine, “We…I thank you, Captain. I wish we had more ponies like you and I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours. As I said, in return for your service I will do all I can to return your ‘friend’ to you.” The royal ‘we’ had disappeared at last, thank goodness! It was really difficult to keep up with the conversation with Luna as it was without trying to work out who ‘we’ were talking about all the time. “Thank you, your majesty,” I said bowing once more. And then a rogue thought suddenly popped into my head. “Princess?” She looked at me expectantly as I asked, “I don’t know if you are aware, but there is a reason why I couldn’t enter the herd and was trapped in the Withers. There is-” “Yes, Captain,” she said suddenly, catching me off guard. “You have the spirit of the wendigo within you. I am aware of this and it is something that you must keep hidden as much as possible, like your cutie mark.” Luna’s wings spread out with a snap, her voice booming across the room. Eyes glowing as white as the centre of the sun, the room darkened around the princess as she spoke, “The creature within you must be controlled, Captain. Its power is terrible. Its wrath, legendary. Channel its power with your will. Dominate its spirit with your own. Once they were a terrible sight to behold upon the battlefield. Warriors threw down their spears and fled before them, mares were made widows and towns turned to frozen blocks of ice. Songs were sung of their deeds, and all trembled before their wrath! Bring their ancient might down to crush our enemies, Fairlight, ONCE AND FOR ALL!” Luna’s voice echoed around the room and I felt a tingling up my spine and horn. This was the true princess of the night: exotic, terrifying, beautiful, ruthless, yet also exquisitely feminine. I could imagine warriors joyfully throwing themselves on the spears of their enemies for a mere glimpse of her smile. My heart answered her call. I would protect her, protect Equestria, and I would have Shadow returned to me. It was all going to work out the way it should. Luna and I talked for a while longer until, with a yawn, she excused herself from the room. I reached over and helped myself to the last of the berries, thinking that I maybe should have asked where she’d got them. I doubted they were from the local grocers, so they must be cultivated nearby. I made a mental note to ask about them later. Interestingly the princess had been particularly interested in the interplay between the two tribes I had encountered in the Wither World: the tribe of the Beyond and that of the Purple Sands. I’d asked her about the wendigo ‘spirit’, or whatever the hell it was, and Luna had explained that the one that had taken up residence within me had most likely been attracted to me due to the trauma of the attack on myself and Meadow. Whilst in a state of near death, the ‘spirit of the wendigo’ as she called it, had kept my physical body alive. If she knew why it had done this, she wasn’t saying. Suffice to say she wanted to tap into the wendigo’s power, its ruthlessness, and to put out the fire beginning to take hold in Equestria. Something reminded me of a song about an old mare who swallowed a fly, but I kept my own council in this regard in case it gave Luna any ideas about bringing in something to eliminate me too. Still, I could understand her concerns. Under Celestia’s rule, ponies had enjoyed a thousand years of peace and prosperity. The downside to this however, was that as a rule we were hopelessly susceptible to anything that threatened us. Sure, a lot of ponies had magic abilities or physical strength to help them fend off the odd attack by wild predators, but these were normally contained in areas ponies seldom travelled. The spirit within me was apparently born of me - a corruption that regular ponies should not have experienced in this day and age. Personally I viewed the thing as both a blessing and a curse. Without it I would have been able to cross with my family to the eternal herd, but on the other hoof I would never have met Shadow and the incredible world of the thestrals either. Nor, of course, would I be stood here speaking to the princess and being given the opportunity to help protect ponies as I had done in the watch. ‘Honour’, ‘Loyalty’, and ‘Duty’ - the three words hammered into me by my father had been part of the motto of the watch. I missed my old career, and my friends too. Meadow was right, a pony was not meant to be alone, any yet here I was. Again. But not for long I hoped. The door behind me opened and the ever cheerful orange stallion stalked in. “Follow me,” he rumbled. The miserable sod walked out and like a well behaved little terrier, and I followed close behind. He was a big fellow, scarred and weather beaten. Warlock was not a unicorn I’d like to meet on a dark night…unarmed. We headed back to the medical room where the doctor was waiting with an exasperated look on his face. “Ah! The wanderer returns!” he squawked sarcastically. “Going to let me examine you, or are you going to run out of the room after trashing the place again?” I stood there with my mouth hanging open like an idiot before giving the doctor a sidelong glance and hopping obediently up onto the bed for him to check my chest. Sarcastic sod that he was, I don’t suppose he’d considered that it was his own staff who’d gone running and screaming in terror because I had ‘frightening’ blue eyes which had caused all the commotion in the first place. Still, I wasn’t going to argue with the guy, he had a lot of sharp metal instruments next to him and had most likely saved my life too. Don’t be ungrateful now, Fairlight! Warlock stood quietly watching from the doorway while the doctor commenced poking and prodding me without a care for where he was examining. “Fascinating,” he muttered, checking my pulse and temperature. “Quite remarkable in fact. Hmm.” Warlock rumbled to the doctor in his deep gravelly voice, “What’s the story with those eyes, Doc? Anything we can do about them?” The medical pony held one of my eyes open and peered at it with a painfully bright light, “Well... Hmm no. There’s nothing wrong with his eyes. Strictly speaking it’s just the pigmentation that’s changed. There’s a significant magic field running through him which, together with the trauma to his head, appears to have created this unusual effect. The glowing is a particularly fascinating phenomenon. I’d like to run some more tests when I get a chance.” The doctor took some pictures with a tripod mounted camera before continuing, “In answer to your question, agent Warlock, I believe the issue glasses will do just fine. If we tried to magically interfere with them, I have honestly no idea what would happen.” He examined my broken horn, tapping it with a metal instrument of some kind. “Nasty. Could take a long time to heal judging by the direction of the crack line. Possibly never depending upon how deep the damage goes.” He measured the broken stump, muttering to himself under his breath. It was a frightening revelation, and I could feel my spirits sink as my heart rate increased alarmingly. I may never have my horn back? I simply couldn’t imagine it - a unicorn without a horn. Great goddesses, what in Equestria was I going to do? “What did you specialise in, Captain ?” the Doctor asked while filling in a clipboard. “Levitation, spell casting… what?” “Basic levitation and manipulation, plus some limited fire making,” I replied. He fished a box of matches out from his top pocket. “Try and take a match out for me if you would,” he said watching my horn intently. Well, here goes. I carefully channelled my senses to release the magic, relieved to see the familiar deep blue glow as it enveloped the little cardboard box. The pain was still there, just on the edge of discomfort and making me a little cautious so as to not allow too much magic to rush out at once. Carefully, slowly, I felt the box, feeling its shape and dimensions. A slight push and the box opened, another small trickle and gently, oh so gently, one of the matches floated out to hover before the doctor’s nodding head. “Good. Now, light it,” he said seriously. Dropping the box, I concentrated on holding the match in place and exciting the air around it, creating heat, friction and- “Ow! Damn it…” I cursed as a bolt of white hot pain lanced down through my horn into my brain. Celestia’s tits that hurt like hell! “Never mind, Captain,” the doctor said making a note on his clipboard. “Your magic is still flowing which is an excellent sign. You’ve probably lost some strength in your levitation but that’s only to be expected. Pyrotechnical abilities often suffer as they put the most strain on your horn, but keep practising though, it will help with the recovery.” Well, at least that was some weight off my mind. Not much, but I’d take whatever hope I could. Warlock unfortunately didn’t seem particularly impressed as he shook his mane. “What about the cutie mark?” he growled. “He stands out like a sore hoof with that… ‘thing’ on his arse.” I was really starting to take a dislike to this pony, and I certainly didn’t like being talked about when I was only a couple of feet away. The doctor glanced at Warlock, all the while checking my body over. “I’m not performing surgery to remove it, if that’s what you’re thinking,” the doctor replied calmly. “I’m sure the agency budget can stretch to a raincoat or cloak, Agent Warlock. There’s always alteration magic as an option too, of course.” Warlock harrumphed. “The Mistress wants him ready for field assignment as soon as possible, so we don’t have time to be buggering about with damned parlour tricks. He’ll just have to do as he is.” Oh lucky me, I wasn’t exactly enamoured about working with this prick either! “Hey, Lucky, how’s our patient doing?” The chirpy voice from the doorway was followed by a piebald stallion who pushed past Warlock to gawp at me, his bright green eyes staring right at mine. Fantastic, more testosterone in the room. I wonder whatever happened to that nurse? Oh yeah, the running from the room thing. I sighed. “Crikey! Look at his eyes! Proper freak you out, they, eh? Some spooky juju you got going on there, mate.” The newcomer had a peculiar accent, and not one I was familiar. His colouring too was not that common in Manehattan, but at least he seemed… friendly? Or was that just weird? I blinked self consciously before replying, “Name’s Fairlight. Former watch captain. Former corpse.” The piebald stallion grabbed my hoof and shook it vigorously, “Agent Wist at your service buddy. Must say, yer looking pretty good for a dead guy. Feeling better then, yeah?” I smiled, still a little unsure about this guy. There was something a little ‘off’ about him that I couldn’t quite put my hoof on. “I’m feeling a lot better thanks, Agent Wist,” I said pleasantly. He patted me on the shoulder, “Just ‘Wist’ when we’re alone, Captain. You know, just the two of us, lights down low, soft music playing on the gramophone, maybe a few chocolates…” Wist drew out the last syllable and burst out laughing at the look on my face. “Oh, captain my captain! I’m sorry, new guys have to get a bit of a hazing, you know? Anyways, come on, we’ve gotta get you sorted out.” Wist helped pull me off the bed, nodding to the doctor, “You okay if I pinch yer patient, Doc?” The doctor sighed, placing his stethoscope back on the medical trolley and waved us off. “Good-o!” Wist chirped and guided me past the silent Warlock. I’ll bet he was just the sort of pony you’d want your daughter to come home with too. I swear, if Sparrow ever came home with somepony like that, I wouldn’t care how big he was, I’d probably kick him in the nuts and then run for all I was worth. Well, maybe not, but the thought of bucking the miserable git right in the bollocks was sheer gold. Wist must have noticed the expression on my face and sniggered, “Don’t mind old orange boy, bud. Miserable sod at the best of times, but handy in a scrap.” The piebald male chattered away until we came to another room with a suited pony behind a desk. “This the new guy?” he asked. “Yeah, Flail, he’s the mistress’s new pet project. Give him the works will ya?” Wist beamed expressively in overly excited manner. No doubt used to this wacky behaviour, the pale cream mare, Flail, walked over and looked me up and down, taking measurements and ticking off boxes on a clipboard. Before you knew it I was suited in the regulation black: black shoes, black coat, black sunglasses. “Oh yeah!” Wist said clopping his forehooves together. “Lookin’ sa-wish!” I wasn’t sure if that was a complement or not, but I had to admit, against my grey coat it did look pretty damned good. Better still, it covered the weird cutie mark too. The natty shades would help me conceal the glowing blue eyes up nicely and the white shirt with the black tie looked sharp as a pin. Nice! Much better than my old watch coat, but… I still kind of missed it. “Okay…” said Wist examining me carefully, “Let’s get you some gear next, ‘kay?” I don’t think it was a question. The odd fellow took me into a storage room with banks of lockers and shelves. Black was apparently the go-to colour choice for agency ponies and, sure enough, everything in here had that shiny beetles wings sheen to it. “Let’s see now…” Wist muttered to himself, “Here you go! One TED, one shocker, bzzzzt! And one rewriter. Used these before?” I looked at the TED. It seemed almost identical to the one recovered from the dead pony at the warehouse - the ‘non-equestrian’ pony. But still, whether from this world or somewhere else it fit comfortably into my ear, and the thin flexible wire kept it in place along with a small microphone attachment. It would take a little getting used to of course, but not overly much. The other two items were more unusual though. The first of which was a small black box with a button that would be too small for hoof manipulation, so I guessed was intended for unicorns. Could be an issue with my busted up horn, but I’d be- “Whoa! Careful with that, tiger!” Wist laughed as he took the box from me. “This thing is for dealing with ponies who won’t behave themselves. Here…” He levitated it from me with a flourish and pressed the button. Suddenly an intense blue-white spark of energy jumped across the small metal prongs that projected from the casing. “Jam that into somepony and, fifty thousand volts of fun later, it’s lights out.” Yeah, I could imagine the ‘fun’ you could have using one of those things on some poor unsuspecting pony. I suddenly got the previous ‘bzzzzt’ reference now too. “Magical?” I asked curiously. “Nah,” Wist replied in a disinterested tone. “A kinda hybrid of human and equestrian tech. You’ll see more of it eventually, you mark my words.” I nearly dropped the thing as he tossed it back to me, “Human? Tech?” I asked, intrigued. The piebald stallion shrugged. “Yeah, never actually seen one myself. Apparently they look like us when they arrive. Come through them portals flogging their shite to any mug who’ll use it.” Wist scratched behind his ear, “Ah, probably shouldn’t have told you that yet. Here, just a tick…” He took the black rod from me, held it up to my face, removed my sunglasses, and there was a brief bright flash of light. “OW! Bloody hell fire!” I shouted, “What the buck was that for?! Goddesses, Wist, you nearly blinded me!” Wist checked his device and looked me in the eyes. “What do you remember?” “Remember? Remember what?” I asked, irritably. My blasted eyes felt like somepony had thrown lemon juice in them. Wist sighed, “Do you remember how the shocker works?” “You jam it into some poor sod and press the button,” I grumbled. “You just told me that.” “What makes it work?” he asked, closely watching my reaction. “How the bloody hell should I know?” I snapped. “You said it’s some hybrid tech or something. Human and-” I never got to finish as Wist flashed another bright light in my eyes. “For Celestia’s sake, Wist, will you pack that it in?” I yelled. “It’s like needles in my bloody eyes!” I swiped the black rod from him and put it in my pocket before he had the chance to use it again. He eyed me curiously, almost like he hadn’t seen me before and shook his head slowly. “Never seen that before,” he said in a dismissive tone of voice. “Must be those funny eyes of yours. Best keep the shades on there, Chief.” “What is that thing?” I asked him, rubbing my eyes to try and get rid of the blue spots. “Memory rewriter,” Wist replied casually. “Variable settings: minutes, hours, even days. One flash and ponies forget you were there. Cracking bit of kit that too. Don’t forget that most ponies are still blissfully ignorant of what’s going on just around the corner, and we want to keep it that way. The princesses want to keep it that way. You don’t tell anypony about the humans, the portals, the agency - nothing. You do, and you’re next to be sent for re-education… or worse.” Wists demeanor had changed completely. The flippant, joking young unicorn was replaced with a hard, cold agency pony. “Oh, nearly forgot to give you this.” He held out a leather wallet which I flipped open to reveal a small badge with a silver sunburst, the same as Celestia’s cutie mark if memory served. A white metal plaque underneath was inscribed with a name on it too. “Agent Nox,” I read out loud. “Who’s that?” Wist gave me a sardonic smile. “Why, that’s you, me old mucker. Can’t have a dead pony wandering about town can we? Ponies would piss themselves.” He chuckled and trotted out of the room. In a state of befuddlement I followed. Bloody hell, when had my life become so incurably peculiar? Surely I’d had to have lead a normal life at some point in the past, right? Yeah, right... Only the goddesses knew what I was in store for next, and whatever it was would probably make all of this madness seem like a foals game knowing my luck. I sighed and resignedly trotted after the agency pony. Down the corridor and into another new room, a long one set up with stalls and a caged off area at one end. It was spotlessly clean and the lights reflected brightly from the highly polished white floor and walls. Wist trotted up to the cage and spoke to a pony who appeared behind it, a disinterested look on her face. “New guy, Wist?” she asked around a pen she held in her mouth. “Yup,” Wist smiled scratching his ear nonchalantly. “Sort him out with a PDW please, Snap.” The violet earth pony behind the cage produced a cold black metal device and a box of orange gemstones. The thing looked oddly familiar, but I couldn’t quite place my hoof on it. “That’s yours now, Chief,” Wist chirped. “Just remember not to shoot the wrong guys, okay?” Shoot? I nodded, “You’re going to have to explain this to me, Wist. It’s some kind of weapon isn’t it?” Now I remembered what had been niggling at the back of my mind - it was those damned tube things the smugglers had used to mow down my ponies at the warehouse. This looked like one of them, or at least vaguely. I felt sick even lifting the device up in my magic. “Sure thing, Chief.” The agency pony took the device and placed it on a table between the walls of one of the stalls, flicking a nearby switch with a hoof. A long row of lights hummed and flickered into life, the life size picture of a changeling illuminated at the far end. I’d used similar during basic training with the watch, but nothing nearly as fancy as this and something told me that I wasn’t going to be using a crossbow here somehow. Wist pulled a catch on the device, the ‘PDW’ I think he called it, and popped in one of the orange crystals. With a flick of his foreleg the thing snapped shut and he floated it over to me grinning. “Used to something a little more agricultural I bet.” I took the PDW and pointed it towards the target. “Line up the two little posts on the top and pull the lever,” Wist instructed. “Even with your knackered levitation skills, it should be straight forward.” He was right, it was kindergarten level object manipulation. Despite odd twinges of pain from my broken horn, I could still manage it. I squeezed the lever and a brilliant green streak of magical energy lanced out of the end of the weapon and blew a glowing hole through the target. I marvelled at the thing: the power, the weight, the ease of use of such lethal burning death housed in such a small device. It was terrifying. Wist laughed out loud, clopping his forehooves together. “Top job, buddy!” he laughed. “Well impressive that. Tell you what, let’s see if it was skill or just luck, eh? You’ve got another four shots before you need to change the crystal too. Keep going!” I kept shooting at the target, each blast founding its mark with lethal accuracy. It was insanely simple to use and quite, quite deadly. My surprise and excitement was short lived however when the reality of these things getting into the wrong hooves hit me like a bucket of ice water. “Wist,” I said quietly, “what the hell are we doing with these things? The mistress wants us to stop weapons coming into Equestria and we’re developing our own? What if these get into the hooves of the very ponies, or ‘humans’ we’re trying to stop?” Wist shook his head, a dark look crossing his face “These are magically coded for only ponies to use. Humans couldn’t operate them, even if they do look like us. They’re also limited issue - one per agency member. The crystals are specially grown here for agency members too. If somepony happened to get hold of one they’d need the crystals to make it work, and each one has a magical trace on it so we can find it if it’s ever ‘lost’. Clever, eh?” Clever indeed, but even so, “I don’t like it, Wist,” I said honestly. “We would have to use these on another living being, and it just seems so easy to use. Too easy. You just point, press the button, and pow – one dead pony. Great goddesses, are we starting a war here or something?” “Starting?” Wist replied. He looked away shaking his mane, “You may not have noticed it yet, Agent Nox, but we already are at war. Most ponies just don’t even realise it.”