Prey and a Lamb

by Lambs Prey

20.1 When Life gives you Lemons

There isn't anything miserable in life that can't be made worse by being forced to wait for it. Like the donkey with a rotting limb that knows the bone saw is coming, but until then, can only helplessly stew in fear.

Life does not move to your time scale. One minute will always be exactly one minute long, no matter how hard you stare at the clock.

Tonight, Prey would fight his stalker, but until then, all he could do was wait in terrible anticipation.

The mess hall at dinner was busy. They'd missed the bustle yesterday, what with only returning to Canterlot around midnight. But now they turned up just at the right time, half way though the forty five minutes set aside for meals, to enjoy the experience along with everybody else.

Gloom poked halfheartedly at his dumpling stew with the spoon, reluctant to eat even one of the stodgy balls of dough. '-a slice of mango certainly wouldn't go amiss right now-' He thought.

Crimson had eaten most of his, but to Prey, he still looked a touch hungry. Prey, as usual, had devoured his own with abandon and hadn't left a scrap. After double and triple checking for poison of course.

"Kid, ImeanPrey, pass the pepper would you?"

Prey stopped watching his surroundings suspiciously to turn to Gloom, "Pepper? Where?" He asked, looking around for a bowl of pepper corns.

"Right there, at the end of the table. The pepper shaker. Pass it down."

Prey looked, seeing a wooden cylinder, "That's pepper?"

"Yes, that." Gloom said, gesturing impatiently. Prey had seen Guard's using these on other tables to season their food, but hadn't realised it was pepper. He'd assumed they were simply using more common spices, such as rosemary or thyme. In his old village, they'd almost never had pepper, and even then it was in peppercorn form, not ground granules or in a shaker.

'Pepper is widely available. That might be useful. Good for blinding powders and masking your scent.' Prey thought, shuffling along the bench to place the shaker just within hoof's reach of Gloom before moving back.

"Thanks. Maybe now this'll taste of something." Gloom muttered, referring to his stew.

"They are noisy tonight." Crimson said, watching the Royal Guard's, who did seem more upbeat and boisterous than than yesterday. 

'Don't you go complaining to me about it being too noisy,' Prey thought, 'You're not developing a headache from being constantly bombarded with all their trivial little thoughts.'

"Yes, something good must've happened. Perhaps they rescued Rocky Bed?" Gloom suggested, looking over at the Royal Guard tables too. '-by Luna, I pray that's the case-'

"Wouldn't we have been told if Rocky Bed had been rescued sir?" Crimson asked.

"Probably-," '-maybe-', "-And we're not on duty during meal times," Gloom reminded Crimson absentmindedly, pursing his lips as he considered the noisy golden armoured Guards, "Why don't you go over and ask?" He suggested.

Crimson's wings stiffened, "That is... I am not sure if that is a good idea sir."

Gloom wasn't pleased or displeased by Crimson's reluctance. The Sargent was, for the most part, on a stand-offish neutral footing with his day time counterparts. They'd made problems for him on a number of occasions, but he didn't want to hold a grudge. "It would be good to make friends in the Royal Guard." Gloom said, or rather suggested.

Crimson looked at the Royal Guards, who were chatting at their own tables, then back to the surrounding tables on this side of the room. The few thestral Night Guard's sat quietly in small groups, backs straight. The divide was clear.

'Thestral's are a prideful people.' Prey noted, not for the first time.

"Heya'." A cheerful voice called. Approaching their table on long legs was Topaz Honey, flanked by a pair of friends. Topaz seemed to be the kind of pony who called lots of others friend, and actively went out of her way to lay claim to more of them.

"You had a good day?" Topaz asked, sliding onto their bench without a second thought. Her two friends, a unicorn and another Earth pony, also offering their own greetings as they copied Topaz's actions.

"It was productive. Not necessarily pleasant." Gloom replied, pushing aside his bowl.

"Don't worry, it was still probably better 'n my day by the sound of it," The second Earth pony offered, "Name's Smokey, by the by." She added, offering a polite grin and a touch of the helmet.

"Sargent Gloom. Just Gloom while not on duty." Gloom returned.

"Crimson." Crimson said simply.

"Prize. One day I'm going to get made a knight." The unicorn said, joining in on the round of introductions.

"That was a joke by the way." He added, "Because a knight get's the title 'sir', and my dad named me Prize. Sir-Prize. Surprise. Get it?" Prize gave a weak chuckle when neither Gloom or Crimson smiled. Already he looked like he was having second thoughts about coming over here with Honey Topaz.

"Ah. That was a joke. My apologies. I'll laugh next time." Crimson said calmly. 

While Prize didn't laugh, looking a bit offended instead, Smokey and Topaz did, "Heh ha, good to see you do have a sense of humour. It's so dry I doubt these bats would be able to suck much of a meal out of you even if they tried, heh?" Topaz Honey chuckled.

Crimson blinked blankly in response, just prompting another laugh from the two of them.

Gloom wasn't amused by the vampire joke, but smiled politely anyway, because although distasteful and rude, they hadn't meant anything by it, "We do prefer in when ponies use our proper name, thestrals. 'Bat' or 'batpony' is just plain inaccurate. Although we do share a taste for fruit." Gloom told them lightly.

However, when his polite simile showcased his set of fangs, it did nothing tone down Topaz or Smokey's amusement. Or Prize's unease. It evidently didn't occur to either of the two mares that laughing at a thestrals teeth was also rude, or that an annoyed thestral might just use them. A number of the surroundings thestrals were now secretly watching the conversation happening at the ISND's table.

"So where's your little darling gotten to tonight?" Topaz asked, looking round.

"Pardon?"

"Your lamb, the cutie. Where's he gotten to? He isn't hiding from me, is he?" She asked in amusement.

Gloom looked over at Prey's seat, which was empty, and then at the surrounding tables which showed no sign of the lamb, "Huh. I suppose he must be."

"I don't think he would like to be called that either. His name is Prey." Crimson put in.

"Prey? That's not a very nice name." Smokey commented with a frown.

"I didn't name him." Gloom shrugged.

"Well that's good to hear." Prize stated, then balked as he realised he'd been caught eyeing Gloom's fangs as he said that, the tips of which could just be seen when the thestral spoke.

"I mean, I thought he belonged to you or something, and that you had to bring him to work or whatever." Prize hastily said, making excuses.

"Prey is his own sheep, or lamb. Don't let him fool you, he's a full member of the ISND." Gloom warned.

"Sure sure." Topaz agreed pleasantly, still looking under the table, no doubt searching for Prey to use as a cuddle pillow. Evidently, none of them took Gloom's words seriously. And why should they have? Prey was obviously a child.

"So, this is the first time I've actually had a chance to talk with a thestral member of the Night Guard. I mean, your command is separate to the Royal Guard command, maybe you could explain the differences a bit more?" Smokey enquired.

She looked at Gloom's helmet when she spoke to him, avoiding the sight of his slit eyes or teeth, but being a lot more tactful about it than Prize. If Gloom noticed, he didn't comment, and Prey's hiding place was out of range of their thoughts, so he couldn't tell if Gloom had.

"We have some time," Gloom said checking the clock, "I can answer a few questions. Nothing personal or confidential though." He added firmly.

"What is it that has you so happy?" Crimson asked.

"Eh?" Smokey paused in her retelling of a fillyhood school experience. Somehow, Gloom had hardly started speaking before the mare had shifted the conversation, seemingly without even realising it, to her own interests. Gloom had just let her ramble on, probably thinking it was better to pretend to listen than have to do the talking himself.

"What you mean?" She asked.

"The Royal Guards, they are happy about something." Crimson elaborated.

"We are-?"

"Oh! That would be Captain Shining Armour's speech I bet. It was a very good one, quite inspiring." Topaz answered, grabbing hold of the conversation.

"A speech." Gloom repeated.

"Yeah," Topaz agreed happily, leaning forwards, "You know, the weekly Guard assembly? The Captain spoke some words. It was good."

Prey somehow doubted Nighthawk would ever give a speech. Only orders.

"It was good," Agreed Smokey, without any hint of sarcasm. It just seemed to be the pony way. To be cheerful and give out compliments. "He also let us in on the news that we're shortly going to be having greenies soon." She added with a grin.

"Greenies. What are those?" Crimson asked.

"She mean's new recruits." Gloom supplied.

"Yeah, and do you know what that means?" Topaz asked with a glint in her eye, "That mean's hazing induction!"

"I am kind of looking forward to getting my own back from when it was my hazing." Prize, who'd mostly been quiet, put in. "My barracks floor could use a good scrub." He added with a laugh.

"Is this where you throw confetti in their face?" Crimson asked slowly.

"That's only the beginning. We wait until they go to bed and then jump out and start the real induction. It's a time honoured tradition. Oh, you never got the second half did you?" Topaz said to Crimson, "Sorry about that, but you're in the Night Guard so you don't get to do the Royal Guard one." She apologised blithely, not even realising the divide between the two Guard units she'd just acknowledged, just accepting that was the way things were supposed to be.

"Do you Night Guard's have your own induction?" Smokey asked them.

 "Something like that." Gloom allowed.

"Oh? What is it? Shine the officers armour? Put a frog in the Lieutenants desk? Eat a whole chilli? Do a tap dance?"

"No. A one on one spar in the cage at night. Full armour." Gloom said bluntly.

"Oh.. That's... Er, great." Smokey offered weakly. Prize mirrored her concerned look.

"Does Captain Nighthawk know ponies are going to the training room to do that?" Topaz asked.

"Of course. The Night Guard's only been re-instituted recently. The Captain said we need to start it off right and let everypony know what they're really in for." Gloom answered calmly, daring them to disapprove.

Crimson half opened his mouth to say he never got to partake in any such induction, before seeming to remember that he was on probation and not allowed to hold a weapon yet. "Don't worry Crimson, you'll get to have your turn in the cage later." Gloom assured him, noticing the pegasus's motion.

"Thank you sir."

"What, 'thank you for getting me beaten up'?" Prize muttered in amazement to Topaz.

Gloom looked up at the clock again and stood, Crimson immediately following suit, "Pardon me, but we've got to get back to work."

Crimson gave them both a grave nod, "Thank you for the company, and have a good night."

"No problem, any time," Topaz laughed with a farewell wave of her large hoof, "Make sure to grab your lamb's tail next time before he runs off. I want to say hello to him. Bye bye." She called.

Smokey also waved a hoof, although Prize didn't, just looking a tad relieved now that he thought he was unobserved.

Gloom didn't offer a response, choosing instead to lead them for the mess hall doors via a round about route through the tables, '-don't quite see eye to eye, but in their defence, they mean well-', He thought, thinking over their meeting just now.

"Try and spot Prey will you." He said out loud.

Crimson half closed his eyes and tilted his muzzle back, ears turning about. He stopped after only a few seconds, looking down and to his side, "Here he is sir."

Gloom's ears went up as he glanced around. And there was Prey less than two yards away, coming out from behind a table leg, "Don't wander off, remember?" Gloom said, repeating what he'd warned Prey of at Seed Apple's farm. Although in the Palace, in the middle of the mess hall, surrounded by both Royal and Night Guards, Gloom wasn't actually concerned.

"What are we doing now? Back to sort out the office or to the bunk room?" Prey asked, his stomach twisting.

"No, now we are going to be doing what every Night Guard has to do. Guard shift, which means standing guard." Gloom said as they exited the mess hall.

"Does than not seem like a poor use of the ISND time? We are supposed to be independent and working on solving cases." Prey said.

"Every Guard has to pull shift at some point, and although Captain Nighthawk has been keeping us off the rota because of how busy we are with the job Princess Luna gave us, the Night Guard is still heavily understaffed. We're just going to have to fill in for a few hours. Once again, things will improve once we finally get some new recruits." Gloom said, but without much hope in his tone of that happening any time soon.

"There are new recruits coming in soon. Like Topaz told us. Will some of them be assigned to the Night Guard sir?" Crimson asked, as Gloom lead them through the lower palace corridors, passing by tall arched windows which showed it was late evening outside.

"Unfortunately no," Gloom sighed through his nose, "The Royal Guard and the Night Guard are separate military units. You sign up to the one you want, the recruits don't get reassigned. Princess Celestia gave Princess Luna her support to set up the Night Guard again, but that does mean we operate separately."

Prey saw where this was going. "And so far, it's only been almost exclusively thestrals taking up Princess Luna's offer when she extended the metaphorical hoof, right? Everyone else is reluctant to serve under the reformed Nightmare Moon." He guessed.

"Do not speak about Princess Luna like that," Gloom hissed, glancing around to make sure they hadn't been overheard. The corridor was currently empty.

Prey raised a hoof, backing off a step, "I'm just saying what they're thinking. I'm correct though, aren't I?"

Prey knew he was right, and they both knew it too, so they had no grounds to protest.

Crimson made that flick with his wing, "The Night Guard needs more recruits. But no new ponies will sign up. Only those from the clans want to serve. But few are able to leave the clans to come and serve on such short notice." Crimson said, summing up Captain Nighthawk's dilemma.

He looked to Gloom, "But what about those Royal Guards who Princess Celestia assigned to the Night Guard when it was set up? Are they not part Night Guard too now sir?"

Gloom checked again to make sure they were still unobserved, "No, I'm afraid not. While some of them might hopefully decide to transfer and stay on, it was originally just an emergency transfer to get the Night Guard up and running. They were told they could return to normal duty once enough recruits were found to fill their posts. The Captain indicated that they're getting a bit impatient." Gloom admitted with a grimace.

"So, brewing internal strife to go along with lack of new recruits to make up for it." Prey commented.

"That could be taken as slander against the Guard in the wrong context," Gloom warned. He hadn't been having a very good day with Prey, '-what with getting himself left behind and then stealing-'

"But, unfortunately, you're right again," Gloom conceded, "Don't go spreading that information around though. Clear?" He ordered.

"Yes sir."

"Yes. Sir."

Guard shift involved doing what the majority of Night Guards probably spent their job doing when not marching in a circle. Standing around, looking dangerous, and doing nothing.

They'd relieved a couple of Night Guard's (neither of them thestrals, so reassigned Royal Guards and not volunteers Prey now knew) standing guard outside what was apparently the second entrance in from the Palace Gardens. Because one wasn't enough apparently.

There'd been a minor slip up from Gloom when they arrived to take the Guard's place, because apparently switching shifts also meant passing over the spears to the next set of guards. Meaning them.

The problem wasn't Prey, who the other two Night Guards didn't more than look twice at before dismissing, because it wasn't like Prey could have wielded a spear anyway, even if there had been a third spear. The problem was Crimson, who wasn't supposed to be allowed a weapon again yet. Gloom glanced at Crimson, who was patiently waiting for the Sargent's decision and permission. Gloom decided, '-that order's not relevant to this instance anyway-' and nodded for Crimson to take the spear from the impatient Earth pony.

This did however serve as an explanation for the general lack of weaponry Prey had noticed among the Guards. Weaponry was for those standing at their posts, but not for general carry.

Prey stood at the side of the corridor, in the shadow the ornate window sill cast, and out of the way and sight of anyone who might've been looking in. He caught Gloom's eye and half cocked one droopy ear. 'Well? What am I supposed to do?' He silently conveyed.

Gloom looked at the little lamb, then at the spear he was holding, then to the door they were guarding. It was a ridiculous notion that Prey could be guarding anything. If any enemies suddenly decided to invade the palace through this random door, his best chance of contributing was the intruders laughing themselves silly long enough for Crimson or Gloom to run them through with their borrowed spears.

Gloom shrugged expressively, 'Just wait around until our shifts over.' Seemed to be the reply.

Prey was fine with that, he still had whatever was coming tonight to worry about.

Prey was patient.

He'd spent fifty seven years being patient.

So it wasn't any hardship to sit there waiting in silence while Gloom and Crimson stood guard over their door. For four hours.

A grand total of six ponies came past in that time, all of them servants or maids, none of which had any interest in the the entrance into the gardens. Surprise surprise.

Not a word was spoken between the three of them as the last of the sun light faded and moon light replaced it through the window. An hour in, a pair of gilded lanterns at the end of the corridor had been lit by a maid, but no additional illumination was provided at their post.

Well, it wasn't unexpected. Gloom could see in the dark, and Crimson's eye sight seemed just as good despite lacking the cat pupils, so it wasn't actually an issue. Recruiting more thestrals would probably cut down on the palaces monthly candle expenditure. (Why didn't they use enchanted crystal lights?)

Once again and certainly not for the last time, Prey wished he had such superior night vision like they did.

The biggest problem with posting sentries and look outs was boredom, and the hardest to rectify. It was because ninety nine percent of the time, nothing happened. Just hour after endless hour of boredom, all in the same environment, with no mental stimulation, just watching.

There was almost nothing you could do about it either, because that's what a look out's job entailed; sheer boredom while waiting for a sign of danger that never came, hour after hour, shift after shift, day after day, and if you did miss that one, tiny detail, that shift in the bushes just that one time, well then you were dead.

It was a thankless, tedious, and mentally draining job.

Prey wasn't a normal person though, he had ways of still maintaining awareness of his surroundings while letting his mind wander onto other topics. So he made himself comfortable, closed his eyes, and slipped into meditation to wait, relying on his ears to alert him if anything came along.

The four hours passed slowly.

More stars appeared in the slice of dark night sky they could see through the window.

When a pair of Night Guards came to relieve them, this time a mix between the two recruited types, a thestral and an earth pony. They exchanged the spears, and Gloom paused to exchange a few words with the other thestral, but the regular pony Guard took his post and ignored them, irritation running through his mind at; '-pulling night shift again-'

"Prey?" Crimson called to the still form of the small sheep, almost undetectable as a lump in the shadows under the window sill. The earth pony jumped when the lump's big blue eyes popped open.

Prey stood, stretching his legs while Gloom finished up his hushed conversation.

'This is it. My stalker is coming tonight. No more time to plan.' Prey let out a long, slow breath, and was proud when it didn't catch.

But he was still afraid.

"So what have you learned today Prey?" Gloom asked, drawing the lambs attention as the thestral began to remove and stow his armour in the hoof locker.

They were back to the bunk room. Crimson stood waiting patiently, probably so he could start his martial arts training kata once they were done with their nightly talk.

"What couldn't be achieved with law and order the first time around can be accomplished if you just use a show of force. Sir. Like at Seed Apples farm." Prey added, answering with the first unimportant observation that came to mind. He was sitting quietly on the floor, double checking the invisible flare rune trap.

Gloom and Crimson picked over that for a moment.

"Okaaay, I guess that counts as learning something new for the day. Not quite what I had in mind. I will point out that both times we confronted him, we were acting under the law, and not just because 'Might Makes Right'. Having to force entry into Turf Apple's farm wasn't pleasant for him or his family, but he broke the law. If you're worrying about that, well... Don't I guess." Gloom sighed. "Alright Crimson, what about you?"

'Don't worry, I wasn't.' Prey thought, looking to Crimson to hear what pearls of wisdom he came up with today.

"So far, our work has only been with Earth ponies. Pebble Mill, Seed Apple, Turf Apple, Tulip Bed, Rocky Bed. All Earth ponies. I suppose... that Earth ponies cause us the most trouble." Crimson decided.

Both Gloom and Prey looked to Crimson in tandem, and then both laughed, "Ha! That's one way of looking at our work so far. You know I hadn't thought about it like that, but I don't think that's actually the case, Crimson." Gloom chuckled.

"That just mean that pegasi and unicorns are better at using their talents to hide their crimes." Prey commented, stifling his giggles.

"No Crimson, I doubt this case of affairs is going to last long." Gloom told him.

Crimson's ears actually twitched in embarrassment, "Sir, I think I explained myself poorly. I wasn't being racist. What I was trying to say was, when do you think we will come up against unicorns and pegasi in the course of our duties?"

Gloom stowed the last of his armour away and shut the locker, "Well, it'll happen eventually. Earth ponies only make up one third of the population after all. Let's be glad we haven't had to go on any aerial chases or magical confrontations yet." Gloom shrugged. Prey shivered.

"Anyway," He continued, "Perhaps Lady Luck is smiling. We're still setting up and getting into the swing of things in the ISND. This is a good chance to learn and grow as a team."

'-when some of us aren't out thieving-'

Gloom stopped talking and started trying to snag something caught in his mane. He flicked an ear in distaste when he finally managed to pull out a dirty leaf, '-seriously, how did that even get under my helmet?-'

"And maybe if Lady Luck continues to smile, we might even get the chance for a shower before having to gallop off to some fresh riot or disaster tomorrow." Gloom said, regarding the leaf.

"That would be good sir." Crimson agreed, looking over himself, especially at the dishevelled state of his wings. A shiver of disgust passed through the feathers.

Prey could feel the unpleasant griminess that had worked its way under his wool from tramping through all that long grass, "I would not complain either." He agreed. None of them were very clean, and their sheets certainly weren't going to benefit tonight.

"Nice not to have to fight to get a kid to take a bath." Gloom commented jokingly at Prey's words. Prey didn't deign to respond.

"And what did you learn today sir?" Crimson asked.

"Oh," Gloom scratched as he thought at the fur around his jagged chest scar, now unhindered by his chest plate, "Let's go with, hmm... That I really need to get us a Regulations hoof book so you two can learn it. We can put it on the shelf in the office. And we still need to find a name for that office." Gloom added.

That hadn't really counted as 'learning-something-new-for-the-day', but Prey wasn't going to protest. There was only one thing further that he wanted to know, "Pebble Mill, Turf Apple, and all those others from the cells. What is the decision on what is going to be done with them?" He asked.

Gloom picked up the alarm clock to wind it, the brass mechanisms making a whirring sound as he answered.

"Captain Nighthawk is going to pass off Pebble Mill to the court, they'll sentence him. Jail time followed by community service I'd wager." Gloom snorted, propping up the alarm clock and sitting back on the bunk, "Seed Apple, he's the most likely to get off easy. Just a warning and a hefty fine. The other ponies from the cells too. But as for Turf Apple," Gloom sucked in air over his fangs, "He's facing extended jail time."

"And when this foalnapper is caught?" Crimson asked flatly, "What will be done with the pony who stole Tulip Bed's memories and her son?"

"As to the mind mage's punishment," Gloom shrugged with a grim smile, "Only the Princesses know."

The room was black.

The only sound the faint 'tick tick tick' of the alarm clock in the dark.

Gloom had lain down and gone to sleep not long after they'd finished talking with the usual, "Night watch over you", only taking a few minutes to write a quick letter and stuff it in an envelope before hoof.

Crimson hadn't gone straight to sleep, instead first exerted himself by running through his training exercises, honing his movements while still being weighed down by his armour. Finally he'd removed it, returning to his normal deep red colouring and succumbing to sleep.

And now it was just Prey, alone in his bed, wide awake in the dark and eyes fixed on the door for the first crack of light, ears strained for any hint of sound. Because he knew someone was coming, and they were coming and with only one target in mind.

Him.

The kidnapper was coming for him tonight.

The fear hadn't slipped his mind, no not once all day. It was always there, always poking and prodding away with its cold clammy hooves. There was no getting out of this.

When he'd been eating breakfast, he hadn't forgotten.

When sitting in the interrogation room with Pebble Mill, he hadn't forgotten.

Nor later on the train, or when he'd argued with Gloom. Not when examining the false Wolf Woods, hiding from Topaz Honey, or even on the mindless guard duty shift, he still hadn't forgotten.

How could he forget? Someone intelligent, cunning, capable of kidnapping Rocky Bed, meticulously suppressing his mother's memories, tracked down the exact bunk Prey was sleeping in the whole Palace, and then placed a message there, all without even leaving a trace.

Prey wouldn't be able to rely on his mind abilities to give him any sort of edge. His opponent was also a fellow mind leech.

If Prey didn't go into this encounter ready to put his life on the line, he was going to get killed. He was alone in this fight, just like he'd always been. Just him against whomever his adversary was.

Tick-tick-tick went the small alarm clock.

Prey was patient.

Tick-tick-tick.

But waiting in fear of dying is no easy thing. Lesser sheep than Prey had broken before under the fear, nor was he immune. But still Prey remained patient.

Tick-tick-tick

Fifteen minutes crawled agonisingly into twenty... Twenty to thirty... Thirty to forty...

Tick-tick-tic... The alarm clock stopped.

Prey felt something change in the air, and a sharp tingle in the runes on his hooves. 'Magic', it warned.

Everything in the room had gone silent, all noise in the darkness blanketed out.

Prey caught the door handle slowly turning down, and the door was pushed silently open. Someone had snuffed the lights outside the bunk room, plunging the corridor into gloom only a shade brighter than it was in here. Enough to see the outline of the cloaked unicorn that stood in the door, silvery magic glowing along its sharp horn.

A long time ago, cuddled against their mothers wool, the lambs Fleece and Gossamer had learnt about the different races of ponies called pegasi and unicorns, and how they differed from the Earth ponies in the village.

Typically, it had been started by a question from Gossamer.

"Moma, what's the 'horn head' Old Mother Cupboard was talking about?" The runt had asked with big eyes.

So their mother had told them about a city, "Something over a hundred times the size of our village", Over the mountains, a world away to a little lamb, where the golden ruler sat on her afar off throne, and decided how she wanted their lands to be run. And her chosen people were ponies called 'unicorns', who could use something called 'magic'.

At the time, Gossamer had been a child, never knowing to question why that was the way things had to be. He couldn't comprehend the concepts of this strange 'Magic' his mother told them about, so far removed from his everyday life. But he gravely accepted her words in his childlike way as she smiled and Fleece fell asleep next to him.

He hadn't understood what magic was then, and it would be years before he saw it, and learned to fear it.

But he knew now.

Prey saw the sheen of pale violet eyes beneath the hood, as the tall unicorn stepped into the shrouded room, and unknowingly right into the middle of the runic trap laid out on the floor.

Prey's mouth was dry, his heart thumping, and his stomach twisting. He licked his lips, and his hoof on the bed post tensed, "I think," Prey said in a quiet voice, "That's quite far enough."

The cloaked unicorn froze in place, and then without any prelude and completely unexpectedly, knelt on the floor. "We mean no harm and come in peace, master Prey." The unicorn spoke.

'Huh?' That gave Prey pause.

The voice had been a mares, but so completely flat and blank it rivalled Crimson's usual tone of address. In his head, a number of possible parallel outcomes immediately started up of how this situation could develop. Prey didn't have time to see them all through to the end, the situation was fluid. Prey seized upon the most promising looking one and committed to it.

"If you're no threat, then release your magic." Prey ordered, taking on the instigator role.

"We are using my magic to maintain the silencing field and help keep those two asleep. Would you like us to stop regardless?" The unicorn asked calmly. The was no challenge in her flat voice, just an enquiry about how Prey wanted to proceed.

The purpose of the unicorn's magic Prey had already more or less deduced, because he could no longer hear the alarm clock's 'tick' or even Gloom breathing.

"No. You may maintain the spell." Prey slowly permitted. Show that he was the one in control.

Prey didn't give away his ace by threatening the hooded unicorn to, 'Not try anything funny or I'll activate this rune under my hoof and burn you to death'. If he decided to do that, he didn't wanted her to have any warning.

"I got your little tulip petal message. Explain why." He ordered, suspicions not dulled in the least.

"We are going to remove our hood. Is that okay?" The mare asked for permission.

"You may." Prey allowed.

Slowly, the unicorn reached up and lowered her hood.

Prey's eyes narrowed fractionally, "Night Watcher."

The Nightmare Moon cultist, who'd masquerading as a stallion mind mage, and had been responsible for the crimes which had prompted the Solar Guard to fetch him from Dreverton.

"Or do you go by your real name now, Lemon Pink?" Prey didn't state the obvious and say, 'You're supposed to be dead.'

"This one is currently nameless. Would you like to assign us a name?" The mare asked.

Now that the hood was gone, Prey could properly see the light pink fur of the mare's face, her mane a three tone yellow, black and white. Also visible were her violet eyes, faintly lit by the silvery light her sharp horn cast. The eyes were not like Prey remembered Night Watcher's at all. Now they were cold, blank, empty. They looked like his own unmasked.

"Lemon Pink will do fine for now. Are you here for revenge?" Prey asked, cutting straight to the chase.

"No, we are here to serve you in any way we can." Lemon Pink answered calmly.

Prey held her eyes, not a mote of emotion on his face. Lifeless blue met empty violet as Prey judged her. His mind skipped ahead, pieces slotting into place. But he wouldn't jump to assumptions, he would work this through, step by step.

"You're going to tell me that I created you, right? In here, I mean." Prey stated, tapping his free hoof to his forehead. He was keeping his mind closed, not willing to risk the unicorn getting anything by trying to listen in on her thoughts.

"Yes, you made this one." Lemon Pink affirmed, nodding down at herself.

"So, you're saying that when I beat you on the roof top in Vanhoover, I didn't kill you. Instead, after your mind was eaten, I gave your empty body orders and instructions." Prey said, progressing his way through to the next logical conclusion.

"Yes. When Night Watcher was eaten, there were still scraps of her mind left. You used them and pieces of your own memory to create this one." She said.

Prey nodded slowly, never breaking eye contact. Normally, Prey avoided prolonged eye contact, choosing instead to glance around or act distracted, and whenever he did meet someone's eyes, he always made sure to put false emotion into them. Happy, confused, sad, amused, curious, and other normal emotions. Right now they held nothing.

A normal person couldn't have met Prey's eyes just then.

Yet Lemon Pink didn't look away. Another metal check box ticked in Prey's head, "You are an amalgamation of me and Lemon Pink, correct?" Prey clarified.

"Partly. This one does not posses a full mind like you do. It is made of pieces. This one is neither a copy of your mind, nor Night Watcher's mind, but we are still lesser than you are." The unicorn now called Lemon Pink confirmed dissipationetly.

Prey coldly considered the individual before him for a minute longer, "In my cell, long ago, there was a code phrase I decided upon for if an occurrence like this of duplicate minds ever happened." Prey said.

Lemon Pink nodded in understanding of what Prey was asking, "Sand glass of time, running through the hangmares twine." She recited, word for word.

That was the correct code, but Prey still wasn't satisfied, "All these empty decisions you've helped me break..." He started.

"Just leaves on the mill pond." Lemon Pink finished, bowing her head, correctly completing this second short pass phrase.

She continued on, "We are here to help you escape, but first we must prove we are completely trustworthy to you. It would be best if you examined our mind to check for yourself that our memories are true."

Prey considered for a long moment, feeling the presence of the trigger rune under his hoof. Just one twitch, and the unicorn would be dead. Or at the very least, swiftly dying. But this was a golden opportunity, a completely unexpected windfall that could change so much, if it were true. And it was distinctly looking like it might be.

Lemon Pink had recited all the phrases correctly, and along with her subservient attitude, the likelihood of this being a trap had dropped to less than five percent. But Prey never trusted anyone. There was still the faint possibility that Lemon Pink recognised the rune trap she stood in, and was only faking it to get Prey to let her up and out of the circle she was still kneeling in.

Lemon Pink waited patiently while Prey thought. The only way for him to be sure beyond all doubt was to do as the unicorn suggested and look in her mind. Then he would know the truth of the matter unequivocally. 'I beat her once, I can do it again if it comes down to that. But this opportunity is too good to pass up.'

Prey sighed, and took his hoof off the bed post. "Maintain the silencing and sleep spell. I'm coming over." Prey ordered.

"It shall be done." Lemon Pink agreed flatly.

Prey walked over and stopped in front of the kneeling unicorn, meaning her lowered horn was now directly at his eye level. Prey refused to acknowledge how much the silvery glow of magic around the unusually sharp piece of bone unnerved him.

Prey lifted his hoof to the poll of Lemon Pink's forehead, "Ready?" He asked, and then dived in before she could reply.

In a rush, Prey was in.

There had been no mental walls in place to keep him out, another point in favour of the truthfulness of Lemon Pink's claim.

Twisting and squirming like a snake through Lemon Pink's memories, he dug in his mental hooks to establish a hoof hold. Prey was not being gentle or subtle, but that had never been one of the skills in his repertoire. Prey didn't know how to be gentle, his mind was too different to establish smooth link.

Too many twisted things warping how his mind 'felt' when it came into contact with a normal persons.

Prey could feel his body standing in the bunk room, the floor boards under him, the soft fur on Lemon Pink's forehead beneath his small hoof. But at the same time, he was also in both his outer mindscape, and Lemon Pink's inner mindscape. Ashen grey wasteland met a similarly coloured stone courtyard.

'Show me.' Prey mentally ordered.

A rush of foreign memories appeared before him in a swirl. With brutal efficiency, Prey skimmed the memories, lashing out with a harpoon of thought to spear and drag up any that looked important. He could feel the mental shudder that went through Lemon Pink's mindscape, the courtyard warping briefly at the pain. However the unicorn offered no resistance, just let Prey proceed unopposed as he began a vivisection of her memories.

'-who am I? What is going on? Why is it happening?-'

Me, this, it, us, did not know the answer to any of those questions. There was a roof under our hooves, stars in the night sky, a ledge plunging away into darkness, and a manacled lamb lying near our hooves.

'-Me. That's me. No, not us, but also not not us-'

A surge of experiences and emotions appeared, building up pressure as MeThisUsWe tried to deal with what was happening, struggling against the mind splitting pain as it built. These memories beating down on us didn't belong to us, yet they did.

'-that lamb is our enemy!-' Part of our mind shouted, but it was just a small part, a tiny scrap left over from the 'old us', and already it's demands to destroy the lamb in front of us were fading. In its place, instructions written in bone and stone formed, creating the very core of our new existence.

'Retreat for now.'
'Go into hiding and lay low.'
'You are no longer Night Watcher.'
'You no longer worship Nightmare Moon.'
'You must find a way to help and or rescue me.'
'Do whatever is necessary, but do not get caught.'
'So not draw undue attention to yourself.'
'You are loyal only to me.'
'You will never betray me.'
'You are a part of me.'
'You belong to me.'

The mounting pain finally overflowed and turned into a numbing fire, which burned through our damaged mind as new knowledge replaced the emptiness.

We saw the lamb's life, '-Prey, once Gossamer-' and we experienced it, lived it, became it. And yet, not entirely. We understood, and knew why we must do as we had been told, but we did not become Prey.

Walk a mile in someone else's hooves, and you understand them. Walk a life time in their hooves, and you become them. But this did not occur with us.

The pieces of integrated Night Watcher, '-once Lemon Pink-', changed who were were on a fundamental basis, no matter how slight the change. We were not a copy of Prey, our mind was unique. Similar, but still unique.

'-I am me-' And I, us, we, knew our goal.

We knew who the master was and who the servant was. Who'd created who, and which belonged to which.

'-that is fine. We will serve. There is no further reason required. It is why we have been created-' We thought in understanding, as our mind finally stabilised into something resembling normal coherency.

'-because how could we not save our better selves?-'

Prey let the hooked memory sink, like letting a fish off the line. It seemed he had indeed created this person now known as Lemon Pink. 'Why do I not remember making her though?'

Prey delved back in for answers.

He found a copy of the memory stored neatly away, implanted and just waiting to be found in Lemon Pink's thoughts;

'To the future me. Captain Valour may not buy my comatose act once you is gone. If he finds someone skilled to force their way into my mind while I pretend to be in a coma, I can't risk them finding this memory. I'm paranoid, but whatever. However, if we ever meet again, I will not believe that I created you if you do not have this memory. Remember, sand glass of time, running through the hangmares twine.'

And with that, the Prey in Lemon Pink's memories on the roof ordered the newly recreated unicorn to cast a inertia shield spell, forcibly calling up the memories he'd supplied for the casting sequence. Prey had read a number of stolen magical texts, thus how he knew the spell matrix required. Even if he didn't have a horn himself, to beat your enemy you must know your enemy.

In this case however, that pilfered knowledgeable would be useful in another way. Since Lemon Pink was a unicorn, she did have the magical means in the horn department, and now possessed the crafting theory too, implanted directly into her head.

The shield spell had been weak, and burned Lemon Pink's magical circuits with the unfamiliar flow of magic she'd never used before.

But it had been enough to survive the jump off the roof to the river far below before the Solar Guard arrived, leaving Prey behind. Looking at the memory, Prey saw that the shield had barely held, and that Lemon Pink had almost drowned anyway, nearly ending his new pawn's life then and there.

As it was, the forced casting of the unpractised spell had left Lemon Pink magically depleted for days afterwards. He'd been right to not try and jump with her. The chains he'd been wearing would've surely dragged him down to his death in the fast flowing river. The tracking spells within the manacles would have made attempting to flee pointless anyway.

Nor could Lemon Pink have handled teleporting them both out. She didn't have the knowledge, power, or reserves to teleport herself, let alone him too. Still didn't actually. That power shortage was something Prey was going to see about getting corrected. That's what dark magic and potions were for after all.

'Corrected with my servant.' Prey realised. Lemon Pink belonged to him. He could issue any order he wanted, and she would have to follow through. Possibilities and scenarios began forming in the back of Prey's mind as he continued with his examination.

'What did you do after surviving the fall and recovering?' Prey asked Lemon Pink across their linked mindscape. As he'd already seen proof that he'd created Lemon Pink, Prey was confident in questioning her directly and letting her bring up the relevant memories, rather than digging them out himself.

'We recovered our magic in a small motel room. Once recovered to a acceptable degree, we wiped the landlord's memory and left. We searched for news of what had happened that night to try and locate you, but there were no reports with the local guard, and the Solar Guard had already left Vanhoover by then. We deduced they'd returned to Canterlot and followed as swiftly as possible. Once here, we decided to mind control a member of the Royal Guard, one Red Kent, a clerk.'

A memory of a red and gold pegasus stallion with a close cropped mane appeared before Prey's mental minds eye.

'We had him search the records. There were no reports in the general files. However, when we had him break into the restricted files one night, we found the Solar Guard reports. We had him alter them, removing your name and saying the recruited prisoner had been returned to Dreverton. We also placed a false paper trail for a common lamb thief in the general reports section. We are sorry but it was the best we could do.'

Well, in conjunction with the memory erasing runes left on the desk, that certainly explained why the Night Guard had no idea who he really was or where he'd come from.

'It's fine. What do you have this Red Kent doing now?' Prey asked.

'Nothing. We had to cut our connection with him. We are not... Strong in magic anymore. A number of Lemon Pink's original memories were lost. It was growing harder to control his mind without erasing it entirely. We could not risk exposing ourselves like that, or else we could not rescue you master. We decided it best to remove his memories of our encounter and let him go.'

'We were making alternate plans to break into prison and recover you. We needed access to the clerical department in the Palace, so we found another Royal Guard to infiltrate for us. But when we entered his mind to give him his instructions, we found this:'

A memory that Lemon Pink had extracted from the Royal Guard in question, a green unicorn this time, floated up.

Prey saw through the Guard's eyes as he sat in a familiar mess hall. The stallion's point of view shifted as he happened to glance up and see a dark dark red pegasus he didn't recognise following in one of those weird bat ponies. '-whatever-'

His attention was just turning back to his squad mate, Gale, when he spotted a small white sheep '-she's called an ewe right?-' trail in behind their hooves. Both the lamb and the strange pegasus had matching gold bands on their fore legs.

'-what in Celestia's name is a foal doing in here?-' He thought in annoyance.

"Hey Gale, get a load of these horseapples. The bat ponies brought a foal to work-"

The memory cut off there. It wasn't like there was anything further that could've been learnt from it, the important information had already been displayed.

'We investigated. Found out you had been stolen by the Night Guard into a new secret division by Princess Luna.'

In Lemon Pink's thoughts there was none of the expected fear like Prey felt at the mention of the alicorn's name. The unicorn mare had so far appeared blank, a slightly stale copy, detached and unemotional about anything.

However, when the mare thought of Princess Luna, something finally emerged.

A touch of awe and gladness that the stories had lied and that the Princess of the Night still lived. No doubt, an effect caused by the left over remnants of the original Lemon Pink that'd been used to create this new one.

Prey didn't like hearing that.

Lemon Pink continued; 'We knew that rescuing you would now be even more difficult. We weighed the odds. Our best chance of success was to meet face to face to confirm our existence to you master. We are sorry for the convoluted message method used, but we did not want to risk your handlers picking up on the message as well.' Lemon Pink apologised.

'Understandable.' Prey mentally returned, even if her logic in using Rocky Bed had been convoluted and impractical at best, and wholly inefficient at worst.

Prey supposed the effort was better than nothing. He would've preferred to be rescued or contacted sooner, but Lemon Pink was here now. Better late than never. He could easily put together the remaining pieces of the puzzle from here.

'You kidnapped Rocky Bed and tampered with Tulip Bed's memories to gain the attention of the ISND, specifically to get us sent out so I would find the message of the sheep doll.' Prey didn't say it as a question, simply stating the facts.

'Correct master.'

'You tried to contact me that night when I returned to my bed, just as your message had hinted. You must've found the bunk room's location from a Royal Guard's mind too. But when you got here, we were late. If you'd stayed, you would've be caught. You left another message in my bed, and returned again tonight.'

'Correct master.' Lemon Pink repeated again.

Prey's mental state was closed off, the burnt out landscape of his mind giving nothing away as he regarded the play of events that this unicorn, the one he'd created, had put into motion.

She, it, was his creation, no doubt about that, and it could be useful. However, its methods and choices when left to think for itself hadn't been quite as optimal as what he would've chosen. It was smart, able to think for itself, but it wasn't him.

Prey did not see Lemon Pink as a 'real' person. It was a person, yes, but not in the same way as him or Crimson or Gloom.

It was a greyed out copy of himself, a drone. He'd seen Lemon Pink's memories. She clearly thought of herself as an individual, albeit one with a joint personality, but she was more or less just a construct of implanted memories. And she'd risked exposure on a number of occasions already.

'I have a test for you.' Prey stated, and then opened up his mindscape to reveal all the cold observations he'd just made about her.

Prey carefully observed Lemon Pink's reaction to his assertion that she was not a real person. How his creation reacted would determine its fate.

Lemon Pink's consciousness wilted, the stars in the sky of her mindscape sky dimmed as she heard Prey's thoughts, but she did not protest. 'You are correct master. We are not a person, we are just made of memories. We understand. Whatever you decide, we will follow your decision.' She thought submissively.

Prey carefully watched Lemon Pink's mind, paying careful attention to the subtle changes underneath the surface to determine the deeper thoughts and feelings that Lemon Pink may not even have been aware of herself.

He came to the conclusion that he'd hoped for, 'That wasn't a lie. My creation meant every word. She will follow all my orders. She knew that I may have decided to erase her mind and start again, yet she didn't protest or try and defend herself.' Prey thought to himself, his musings once again hidden.

'You pass,' Prey broadcast, letting Lemon Pink hear his decision, 'Your existence will continue. You provide too many potential opportunities to erase you right now, and despite your mistakes, you are completely loyal.'

'Thank you master.'

'What is your current situation?' Prey asked, abruptly switching the topic of his interest.

And just like that, Prey moved on as if he hadn't just been threatening to kill Lemon Pink.

There was no apology, not even any explanation for why Prey felt it could've been necessary. If the situation had been reversed, and it'd been Lemon Pink judging whether to erased him or not, his hate and fear would've lead swiftly to attempts at revenge and escape.

But Prey didn't consider any of those possibilities, because there could be no such reaction from Lemon Pink. She was his creation. As well might've a wolf cub risen up against its sire. Or Gossamer even thinking of betraying his mother.

Lemon Pink gave a mental summary of her situation, 'Staying in the Lower Canterlot district. We are masquerading as a new maid in the Palace, hired three days ago. That is how we gained entry to this bunk room so easily. We are using our old identification papers, of the previous Lemon Pink. We currently have no contact with anyone. We've done nothing to draw the attention of local officials. Bypassing the Guard and smuggling you out of the city will pose no challenge, master.'

That was more or less what Prey had expected, however...

'I can no longer escape. There have been some unfortunate changes.' Prey informed her. He quickly shared the memories of him studying the golden shackles that Luna had enchanted, and how they made escape currently impossible.

'Understood master.' Lemon Pink said, grasping the situation immediately.

There was currently no possibility of escape, at least not without further study and finding a way around the alicorn magic currently sitting on Prey's forelegs. Lemon Pink understood that she couldn't do anything at present to further that goal either, meaning she would wait for further instructions from Prey on how he would like her to proceed.

'Give me your memories of what you have learnt about Canterlot so far, and all your observations and interactions with the Guard.' Prey instructed.

'Understood master.'

Lemon Pink made a copy of the requested memories and gave it to Prey. The casual exchange of memories and mental self manipulation was a feat that would have been impossible to almost anyone else. What Prey and Lemon Pink had just done with their own minds the equivalent of lying on a gurney and performing invasive, large scale and unassisted surgery on oneself.

Prey gave the packet of memories a cursory investigation, then assimilated them into his mind and stored them away for later study, much like placing a book on a shelf. In the mean time, he formed and gave back a copy of his own memories of what had transpired since that dark roof top in Vanhoover. Within it, Prey also included a set of additional protocols for Lemon Pink to follow from now on.

Now that they were both up to speed, giving Lemon Pink her orders came next. It felt strange, to be the one giving instead of receiving orders. But before that, there were a few things left to confirm with her.

'Are there any people left who personally know the old Lemon Pink? Family, relatives, lovers, children?' Prey asked, going down the check list.

'From the memories we have left, none that we can remember. Orphaned at age eleven. Never knew our father. Our mother had cousins in Maneland, but they were never introduced or came to claim Lemon Pink after her mothers death, master.' Lemon Pink supplied without feeling.

'For future reference, call me Prey.' Prey instructed. The reason why was self evident. Even though they were sharing thoughts and not vocal words, if the time came where they were ever unknowingly observed and Lemon Pink was caught calling Prey 'master', some awkward questions would be raised.

'Understood, Prey.'

'Good. Next, are there any cultists that knew Night Watcher knew who we might utilise? Or who might instead give away your identity?' Prey asked.

'None knew Lemon Pink outside of her Night Watcher disguise, and all of them were captured by the Royal Guard in the raid at Rich Almond's mansion regardless. We alone escaped.' Lemon Pink replied, the feeling of her thoughts once again completely calm and emotionless as she succinctly informed Prey of the failure of her cult and life's work.

'Refer to yourself as 'I' and 'me' from now on,' Prey ordered, 'And what happened to all the gold and magical heirlooms stolen from the mansions? Are those an asset we still available?'

'I am afraid not Prey.' Lemon Pink answered, changing her tone of address to comply with his orders, 'The captured cultists divulged the location of the hidden caches under questioning. By the time I'd recovered and returned to try and retrieve one, the Solar Guards had already reclaimed it all.'

'Shame, a large sum of bits could've been useful.' Prey mused blandly.

Although personally, he didn't actually had any experience with possessing large sums of money. On the farm, they'd always been poor, and when surviving in the Deeper Green, what use was gold? Could you eat it or make a fire with it on a cold night?

However, Prey was sure that he could've found some use for it. Prey didn't care about the money itself, but between the choice of having a resource or not having one, well, more was always better than less.

Looking back at through the memories he'd received, Prey could also see that at the time, Lemon Pink hadn't kept any of the stolen treasure for herself. The majority of the stolen treasure was supposed to be the cultists gift to Nightmare Moon on her triumphant return, and only kept a smaller portion for themselves.

Instead of even retaining that little amount, Lemon Pink had distributed her share among her fellow cultists, at the time saying; "My service to the Night Mistress is all the reward I need."

It was unfortunate that her zealous fervour had gotten in the way of her siphoning away bits from under the cultists noses, as another pony might've done when splitting such exorbitant profits. Prey himself disdained greed and wealth, but it might have been useful in bribing a Guard or something. And what did he care if the gold had belonged to someone else first? They were nobles who's families had made their fortunes slaving off the backs of others, like the Earth pony land lords from his village. From Gossamer's village, he corrected himself.

'No matter,' Prey decided with the mental equivalent of a shrug. If the hoard was gone then it was gone. For now, he'd learned everything Lemon Pink had to offer. As her plan to help him escape was no longer viable, there was not much else that could be done here.

'For now,' Prey instructed, 'Maintain your cover as a maid within the Palace. Continue to observe and keep an eye open for opportunities. I have given you instructions regarding getting in contact with me in an emergency. If possible, start gathering resources of any kind, but I am mainly interested in information. Other than that, report in once a week. Contact is a risk, so keep it to a minimum. You have your instructions for that as well?' Prey asked, referring to the memories he'd given her.

'Yes, Prey.' Lemon Pink answered.

'Good. You understand them?'

'Yes, Prey.'

'Then you know what comes next, don't you?' He asked.

Lemon Pink did know, his intentions for what would happen after their mind meeting was included amongst the memories and instructions he'd given her. The night sky in Lemon Pink's mindscape swirled in unease at what was to come, but she did not protest.

'Yes Prey.' She again repeated, her response just what Prey had expected.

It was the only response she could give.

With a jerk, Prey disentangled their mindscapes and pulled back. A disorientating rush, and then he opened his eyes and was back and fully cognisant in his own body. Prey blinked and lowered his hoof from the kneeling Lemon Pink's forehead, the silvery glow from her horn still casting dim light in a pool around them. Behind him, Crimson and Gloom slept on oblivious.

In real time, their exchange of memories and thoughts had taken as little as two minutes.

Lemon Pink also opened her eyes, a bit slower on the recovery than Prey. "I am ready." She stated.

Prey nodded to her slightly curved horn, "How long?" He asked, referring to how much longer would she be able to maintain the dual casting. Using his voice felt slow and clumsy as he readjusted to actually speaking instead of being able to communicate at the speed of thought.

Lemon Pink didn't need to ask what Prey was asking about, their thoughts were so similar, "I can maintain this level of magic for at least another twenty minutes. I will be able to hold out through the next part." She also said, providing the answer to what Prey wanted to know next without having to be asked.

"Good, because this is going to hurt. Don't loose focus on the casting." Prey ordered unfeelingly. The pain to come wasn't going to be happening to him.

"What way does your mane usually fall?" Prey asked.

"As it is now, on the right hoof side." Lemon Pink answered.

"That's where we'll place it then. It'll keep it mostly hidden." Prey said, stepping around to the correct side. Lemon Pink shifted where she still knelt to be on Prey's level, and brushed her long wispy mane up and off her neck.

Prey breathed deeply, centering his mind. Again he raised his hoof, lightly resting its tip against the patch of exposed neck. Underneath his opposite hoof, the runic trap he'd originally created as a way to kill Lemon Pink would now serve as a power source for what he intended.

He counted down calmly, feeling her neck muscles tense in anticipation, "Three, two, one, zero."

His hoof tingled unpleasantly and a cold feeling built at the fore front of his mind as he poured his will into creating the rune, lightly tracing out its shape.

As his hoof passed over Lemon Pink's neck, the skin parted as soundlessly and easily as water, red quickly rising to the surface to fill the pattern his tracing left behind. Lemon Pink's muscles quivered and a pained sound escaped her lips, but she held her position and kept casting her magic.

The rune looked something like a jagged figure of eight combined with a couple of triangles. The carved channel of the wound was only shallow, and the blood didn't fall. Instead, it seemed to blacken and turn shiny, almost like oil as it sunk back into the cut. Prey finished and withdrew his hoof. His leg trembled when he returned it to the floor, there was a chill in his bones and he felt worn out. The flare trap he'd spent hours preparing the previous night was also spent, the runes used up and the power gone.

A long sigh of relief hissed from between Lemon Pink's teeth, and there was sweat on her forehead. Prey knew how badly that must've hurt. Placing a rune into a living creature was not an easy or pleasant experience, he'd experienced the same with the runes on his own hooves.

It hurt far worse than any simple cut or branding. It burned into your essence.

Actually, a branding was quite an apt term, for that is how the rune now looked. Like an old burn scar, although missing the smell of sizzling flesh as Prey critically examined it. This rune was a back up plan. Now Prey knew he would never have to worry about Lemon Pink ever betraying him, although he knew she would never do so of her own volition. She solely existed to serve him, but now he was sure.

"Finished," Prey said, his tongue feeling heavy, "You have your instructions. Follow them and report back if you manage to find any of that information I want. Don't drop the spell until you've closed the door."

He didn't need to tell her to check the corridor before leaving. She would already know that.

"Understood Prey." Lemon Pink answered letting her white and black mane drop back down to cover the rune. Her breath was coming much easier now, the pain from the rune having already passed. Now it was just the mundane pain of a bad burn. So still extremely painful. She didn't protest at what Prey had done, just as he did not offer an apology.

Lemon Pink stood and flipped her hood back up, letting the deep cowl of the cloak cover her face, then paused.

"What should be done with the foal?" She asked.

"Rocky Bed? He is still alive and in the city?" Prey asked with mild surprise. He'd assumed that the kidnapped foal had just been a means to an end and hadn't been kept around.

"Sedated and hidden, his memories already erased. No one will find him by chance. Should I dispose of him?" Lemon Pink enquired.

Prey tilted his head contemplatively, "Hmm..." He mused.

What was one foal's life worth? Life wasn't fair, and the strong stepped on the weak if they couldn't defend themselves, that was the way of nature. He felt no guilt for Rocky Bed nor his mothers current condition. Gossamer would've been consumed by it, but he was no longer Gossamer.

But if Rocky Bed was worthless to him, did he really need to dispose of the foal?

"Tie him up and dump him in a refuse pile somewhere. Someone will find him in the morning. You know how to not leave any traces." Prey said. That should get the Guard to calm down, and take some pressure off of the ISND for not having found the foal themselves.

"Understood Prey." Lemon Pink said, before cracking open the door and looking both ways. She stepped out a moment later and was gone. A few seconds after that, the faint pressure in Prey's sensitive ears disappeared as the spell of silence and deep sleep also vanished.

Prey took a moment to stand in the darkened barracks room and appreciate what'd just happened. This could change everything. The existence of Lemon Pink presented so many future opportunities, so many chances at potential escape, so much safety.

That was the essence of it. The existence of his creation, Lemon Pink, (which he hadn't even known about until just now), provided a measure of safety he'd never had before. Prey never felt safe. Never.

Never.

Never ever never.

Prey was small, vulnerable, weak. Everyone and everything was larger and more inherently dangerous than he was.

Prey felt like he was on guard every moment of his life.

It was exhausting.

He could never trust or rely on anyone but himself. If Prey was in danger and he couldn't save himself, he would die. It was as simple and as brutal as that.

He hadn't felt safe for over sixty two years, not since before the resistance. Whenever Prey did anything, it was either because he had no choice in the matter, or to protect himself, and only himself. And recently, what with being press ganged by the princess of the night, trying not to get discovered as a mind leech, being within a hundred miles of the Sun Wolf and surrounded by unicorns, Prey had not been feeling very safe.

Lemon Pink provided a measure of that safety that he had so been lacking. She was a buffer, someone, or rather something, who could do his dangerous work for him. If she was caught, he would not be the one tortured and killed by Celestia. 'For once in my entire life, fate is smiling on my twisted little heart.' He thought.

Prey realised he was grinning. He frowned, 'What is this? Why am I just standing here?'

His frown deepened, 'And what is this unfamiliar feeling?'

Prey didn't like it. He didn't know what it was, and it made him nervous, like he shouldn't be feeling this way, 'Are my instincts trying to warn me of something?' He looked around, studying the shadows of every nook and cranny of the room. Slowly, Prey began backing up towards his bed, ears twitching this way and that.

Prey was half way back to the bunk before he recognised that the unfamiliar, tentative feeling was called hope

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