“So you guys did all that even though the Night Mare hasn’t given you any magic?”
Nosey deliberately played up the awestruck tone in her voice, but it wasn’t completely fake. The fact that those kids had stood up to Silhouette and the other members of the Royal Guard the way that they had was impressive. Or at least, she thought so; the fact that the parents of two of their group had been so upset by what their children had done was still hard for her to swallow. She could understand being afraid for them or wishing that it hadn’t come to that, but the complete lack of recognition as to how those five foals had saved Lex and Aria and potentially quite a few other ponies struck her as completely unfair.
“That’s right!” nodded Fruit Crunch, looking pleased at the praise. “There’s no way the dumb old Royal Guards could be tougher than the Night Mare’s Knights! Even without magic, that was a piece of cake!”
“Tougher and smarter,” chimed in Fiddlesticks. “If it hadn’t been for Feathercap, we wouldn’t have been able to pull that off.”
The colt in question turned beet red, but his smile betrayed how he really felt. “I didn’t really do anything,” he mumbled, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I just helped out a little bit. You two did a lot more important stuff than me, you and Cleansweep and Straightlace…”
The mood soured a bit at the mention of their absent friends, and Nosey felt her heart ache as all three foals looked down, saddened. They don’t deserve this, not after everything they did. They should have ponies lifting them into the air and shouting hip-hip-hooray. But the assembled crowd of ponies had made no move to embrace the foals after the princesses had called Silhouette and the other guards off, and Nosey knew that they wouldn’t. It wasn’t just because the eight remaining members of the Royal Guard were still right there, waiting for the princesses to return, either (though she was sure that didn’t help).
Rather, Nosey knew that they were all intimidated. It was written all over their faces, in the way they kept glancing at where the princesses had gone before looking back at Lex, still gesturing and chanting. Everypony looked uncertain, and more than a few were trading whispers and nervous looks. They think there’s going to be a fight, she was sure. They know that Lex is going to be furious about what happened, and they don’t want to get caught in the middle. It made the fact that those foals had jumped in when they did even more impressive, in her estimation.
“I bet Lex will want to reward you,” she said suddenly.
All three looked up at that, eyes widening. “Wait, really?!” gaped Fruit Crunch, his surprise already giving way to obvious joy at the thought.
“What sort of reward?” Fiddlesticks looked slightly nervous, but there was definitely interest there.
“Do you…” Feathercap gulped, but mustered up his courage. “Do you think he’d-”
“Miss Nosey.”
The familiar voice of Silhouette made a shudder run down Nosey’s spine, and she spun in place, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses at the sight of the earth stallion who had caused her and her friends so much trouble. “What do you want?” she spat.
She wasn’t the only one to be unpleasantly surprised. Feathercap gave a rather high-pitched shriek, tripping over his own legs in a panic and going tumbling. Fiddlesticks yanked Tiddlywinks off her back and into her forelegs – body tense and preparing to run – so quickly that the baby stirred at the motion, beginning to cry at the rude awakening. Fruit Crunch ran forward, putting himself in front of Nosey as he glared at Silhouette. “You didn’t get enough before?!” he growled, standing on his hind legs and putting his fore-hooves up in a fighting stance. “C’mon! I’ll knock you straight back to Canterlot!”
Silhouette didn’t respond immediately, instead giving the three children a cold glare. The guards that had been waiting nearby started to head toward him, but stopped as Silhouette held out a hoof. “Stay where you are,” he ordered, before turning his attention back to Nosey. “The Mother of the Night wishes to speak with you.”
Nosey frowned, pausing as she digested that. Belatedly, it occurred to her that Silhouette wasn’t wearing the purple armor that he’d had on earlier. Now he was completely unclad, giving her a good look at how his coat was utterly black while his mane and tail were pure white. His irises were the same, she realized, matching the blackness of his pupils and contrasting sharply against the whites of his eyes. Even his cutie mark was as stark as the rest of him, showing a featureless white silhouette of a pony.
He was completely black and white. Just like how he saw the world.
Suddenly feeling intimidated, Nosey licked her lips. “Princess Luna wants to see me?”
“Yes,” answered Silhouette simply, before turning around to lead the way. “Follow me.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you!” Fruit Crunch had returned to all fours, but looked no less aggressive for it. Pawing at the ground, he looked ready to charge at any second. “And if you try to take her, you’re going to have to go through me first!”
“Th-th-through u-us,” stuttered Feathercap, his face pale as he moved up alongside Fruit Crunch.
“I…” Fiddlesticks looked stricken, glancing between her friends and Tiddlywinks, whose crying wasn’t quieting no matter how much she rocked him.
Turning back around, Silhouette let out a slow breath as he looked at the two colts between himself and Nosey. For a moment he stood completely still, and Nosey had the impression that he wasn’t entirely sure what to do. A moment later he raised his eyes to her, and she felt her skin crawl as she saw his gaze travel over her body, coming to rest on her flank. “You’re a newsmare, aren’t you?” he asked after a moment.
“Huh?” For a moment she had no idea what he was talking about. My cutie mark, she realized a second later. He was looking at my cutie mark. “Yeah…so?”
“So, the goddess wishes for you to tell her the news of what’s happened here.”
His voice was almost bored, as if he were reading the words off a script, but Nosey could hear the underlying tension in them. He’s trying to be diplomatic, she decided. He’d rather force me to come along, but he can’t for some reason. Was this related to why he wasn’t wearing his armor anymore?
A lifetime of honing her reporter’s instincts kicked in then, leading her to ask a probing question. “And if I don’t want to come with you, will you use your position as a Royal Guardspony to force me?” His face didn’t change, but she saw anger flash in his eyes, and knew she’d been right. After several seconds passed with him not answering, she pressed forward. “You’re not a member of the Guard anymore, are you? That’s why you’re not wearing your armor.”
The other guards gasped at that, their eyes widening. Feathercap’s fear was momentarily swallowed by amazement, and even Fiddlesticks couldn’t help but gape, though she kept rocking her brother in a futile attempt to calm his wailing. But it was Fruit Crunch who recovered first, his features changing into a vicious smirk. “Well well well,” he drawled. “So Luna kicked you outta the Guard, huh? Was she mad that you got your flanked kicked by a couple of foals?”
If looks could have killed, the stony expression on Silhouette’s face would have been deadlier than all of the disasters that had hit Vanhoover combined. “You will refer to the Mother of the Night by either her royal or her divine titles,” he hissed through clenched teeth.
“Or you’ll do what?” sneered Fruit Crunch, having sensed that he’d hit a nerve. “Ask me a second time? I-”
He stopped as Nosey put a hoof on his side, looking back at her questioningly. Giving him a quick shake of the head to let him know he should stop antagonizing the older earth stallion, she looked back at Silhouette. “Alright. I’ll go with you.”
“Are you kidding me?!” blurted Fruit Crunch.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea!” added Fiddlesticks, having to raise her voice to be heard over Tiddlywinks’ crying.
“No, it’ll be fine.” Nosey kept her eyes locked on Silhouette as she spoke, silently daring him to disagree with her even as she spoke to the foals. “The fact that Princess Luna kicked him out of the Royal Guard proves that she’s not happy with how he acted before. That’s why he’s not using threats or spells to try and make me come along now: because he knows it would make her even angrier with him. That means it’s safe for me to go with him now. He won’t want to upset his goddess more than he already has.”
Silhouette’s eyes were full of malice, but when he spoke next his voice was kept carefully polite. “If you’ll please follow me.”
He turned to lead the way again, and this time Nosey moved to follow him, only for Fruit Crunch to again interpose himself between her and Silhouette. “I’m going with you,” he announced. “I don’t trust that guy, so I’m tagging along to watch your back.”
“You dare invite yourself into the goddess’s presence?” This time Silhouette’s voice wasn’t able to fully contain his growing anger, and Nosey flinched, not wanting to provoke another attack. Now when there was still a chance that something could disrupt Lex’s spell.
Wanting to prevent that from happening, but also not wanting to upset those children that were braver than the adults quietly watching the exchange from afar, Nosey thought fast. “I need you to stay here, Fruit Crunch.”
“You do?” he asked skeptically. “Why?”
Leaning down, Nosey lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Because right now, you’re the only one who can make sure nothing else interferes with what Lex is doing.” She pointedly glanced at Lex as she said it, not missing how his eyes were locked on them as he continued to gesture and chant.
Turning her eyes back to Fruit Crunch, she could see her remark was having its intended effect, the colt drawing himself up with pride. “I…guess I am, aren’t I?” He was trying not to smile, and doing a bad job of it, but Nosey made sure to keep her expression solemn as she nodded.
“I could go,” offered Fiddlesticks, having been close enough to overhear what was being said. “Just as soon as I get Tiddlywinks calmed down…”
“He’s probably hungry,” offered Nosey. “Go get him something from that food that Lex set aside for emergencies and see if that helps.”
Knowing she was being dismissed, and that it was because the older mare wanted her to put her brother first, Fiddlesticks gave Nosey a grateful look. “Are you sure?” When Nosey nodded back, Fiddlesticks mouthed “thank you” at her before turning and trotting away.
Two down, one to go, noted Nosey as she turned toward Feathercap. “I want you to stay h-”
“I’m going with you,” announced Feathercap bluntly. The statement might have been more convincing if he wasn’t shaking like a leaf, glancing back at where Silhouette was giving them an impatient look.
Nosey shook her head. “You don’t need to do that.”
“Y-yes I do,” gulped the colt. “I’m a member of the Night Mare’s Knight, and we…” He faltered for a moment, before mustering up his courage. “And we help ponies when they’re in danger.”
“But I’m not going to be in danger,” explained Nosey. “Silhouette won’t do anything now, and I’m not afraid of meeting with Princess Luna. So you see, it’s okay for you to stay here.”
“I…” For a moment, Feathercap looked like he wanted to let out a sigh of relief. But a pained look crossed his face, and he swallowed nervously before shaking his head. “No. It’s too dangerous.”
Surprised at the fearful-looking colt’s unexpected stubbornness, Nosey tried to think of an idea that would make him change his mind. While she didn’t particularly mind the thought of him accompanying her, the last thing she wanted was anything that could set Silhouette off. And having someone who worshiped a different goddess of the night than Luna was just asking for trouble. “Feathercap-”
“I’m going too.” Feathercap’s announcement was directed not at her, but at Silhouette. Despite the fact that he looked like he was going to faint at any moment, Feathercap nevertheless met the older pony’s eyes. “I’m going too, and if you don’t like it, then that’s…then that’s…too bad?” His strength petered out halfway through, and the statement came out as a question rather than a declaration.
It was likely because of that lack of strength, rather than in spite of it, that Silhouette didn’t object. “Have it your way. Now hurry up.”
“Good work, Feather!” cheered Fruit Crunch. “Remember, you’re one of the Night Mare’s Knights, and we kicked that guy’s butt before, so we can do it again!”
Giving the other colt a nervous smile, Feathercap looked up at Nosey. “Um, Miss Nosey? Before we go, can I have part of my reward now?”
Nosey blinked at that, needing a second to remember what he was talking about. “Lex is a little busy right now. Just wait a little bit and I’ll make sure he recognizes what you and your friends did, okay?” She glanced back at Silhouette, who was again giving them a look of impatience. “We should get going.”
But Feathercap shook his head, face registering embarrassment. “It’s not from Lex. It’s…from you…”
He muttered the last part so quietly she barely heard him. “From me?” She knew they needed to hurry, but her curiosity was piqued. “What is it?”
Feathercap’s lips moved, but she couldn’t hear anything. “What was that?” Again, he mouthed words but couldn’t actually bring himself to speak them, causing her to lean her head down. “One more time?”
Gulping, he tried again, managing to put the barest whisper into his words. It was enough, and Nosey felt the corners of her lips turning up as she heard what he wanted. “Alright, that seems fair. Are you ready?”
Swallowing nervously, Feathercap nodded, eyes directed firmly at the ground.
Leaning in, Nosey granted his wish, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for saving me.” She paused for a moment to enjoy the sight of the little guy turning as red as a tomato, a grin so wide that it nearly reached his ears spreading across his face. “Now, let’s go.” She started forward, suddenly feeling much better about things, even with the unamused look Silhouette was giving her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Feathercap rushing to keep up with her.
Those foals deserved something nice for what they’d done, and right now Feathercap’s nervous pace had transformed into a strut, the little guy looking like he suddenly felt ten feet tall.