The Night Guard, and the Royal Guard.
There were some ponies who questioned the naming of the Night Guard on its creation. If it was called the 'Night' Guard, shouldn't that make the Royal Guard actually the 'Day' Guard instead?
The name could be a bit misleading, but ultimately, it was an unimportant difference.
A much more prevalent, and certainly more relevant difference you could hold up as an example, was the operational procedure time each took when they decided to do something.
When Nighthawk ordered the ISND to carry out the investigation for spies and traitors inside the Royal Guard, they started immediately and it only took them three days. While this was partially because of the names of some traitorous Guards Prey already had from Garrow's pillaged memories, there'd still only been the three of them working on the task.
On the other hoof, the Royal Guard were bringing in independent Royal inspectors to carry out their retaliatory investigation. It would take a full week before those ponies were even available, and once here, the inspection was scheduled to take a further two whole weeks.
Three days versus two weeks.
The Night Guard was a quarter of the size of the Royal Guard. How under the moon was it going to take two whole weeks? It was one unspoken insult after another, implying there could be so much wrong with the Night Guard that it required a full two weeks worth of investigation.
Prey bet the actual reason was because these independent Royal Inspectors charged by the hour, and intended to drag the job out for as long as possible.
To nobody's surprise, tensions between the Night and Royal Guard were at an all time high, and tolerance was at an all time low.
Nighthawk was not happy. The Night Guard was not happy. Over on their side of the line, the Royal Guard were the mirror image. If the Princesses cared, they weren't bothering to step in. Likely they found amusement in watching their devoted, almost worshipful oath bound Guards pitted against each other. Like some sort of game, or test.
Gloom, (because of all the recent events the ISND had taken part in), had become a more closely included member of the Night Guard's inner command structure. He was ordered to come to a lot more of the meetings, which thankfully Nighthawk had little patience for and thus always kept brief.
That wasn't to say Gloom was summoned to all the important meetings, far from it, there were plenty the ISND didn't attend. Still, he was required to go to a fair number of them. And where Gloom went, Prey and Crimson were bound to follow.
Even though Gloom had very little to contribute in these meetings, (being the least experienced and acutely aware of it), he was still included. It was the curse of competence. Prove yourself capable once, and forever after more will be expected of you. The upside was it did mean the three of them were well informed of the approaching inspection. And it was surprising, because apparently, Shining Armour was not too keen on the upcoming inspection of the Night Guard either.
Prey would've expected the exact opposite from the Royal Guard captain. Shining Armour's motives however were far from selfless. What he really objected to wasn't the biased inspections the lords and nobles were demanding, but rather the political factions interfering in 'Guard Business'.
"We could've put this all behind us. Now instead leaving us to do our jobs, those penpushers are purposefully rocking the boat. Celestia knows we've already got enough work what with the upcoming Gala."
---
Prey spat on all of them, (metaphorically), with their political infighting and posturing and backbiting. It was only a taste of what went on in the courts of the nobles and politicians, but Prey would've loved nothing more than to watch all of Canterlot burn.
'Wait, no, what about Crimson? I'd have to get him out first. Have Lemon kidnap him and get him out beforehoof?'
"It is ready?" Lemon Pink asked.
With a blink, Prey refocused himself on the bathroom. He shook his head vigorously, ears flapping. "Yes, the arrays are ready." He answered. His mind had been wandering.
To be completely honest, he'd actually been distracting himself because he wasn't looking forwards to what they were about to do.
The two of them stood in the Palace toilets, or rather one of the ones closest to the bunk room. Gloom and Crimson were asleep, or Prey hoped they were. He needed to work uninterrupted, and this was the best place available.
So Lemon had hung an 'Out of Order' sign on the door, using her magic to turn the tumblers in the lock to 'locked'. Hopefully that would be enough. The toilets had been checked for magic, and it was clean. Figuratively. Who'd want to go so far as to enchant a bathroom anyway?
Weirdly, the spotless, white tiled bathroom provided an excellent place to work. Although the atmosphere really didn't fit, not for the kind of thing he and Lemon Pink were about to do.
One would expect candles and shadows, blood circles and hooded robes.
That was stupid. A robe would just get in your way. And it was bright morning outside, he didn't need candles. Why would you try to do something complicated and delicate with poor lighting? Unless maybe you could see in the dark. Which Prey couldn't. Perhaps that might be something he could look into improving in the future?
He was just delaying once again.
Prey had been preparing himself for this since he'd stolen the two veropede eggs from that incompetent shop keeper. Time to actually go through with it.
Mentioning the Underground Market, Lemon Pink had been busy down there these last few days while Prey had unwillingly been equally busy, here involved in Guard politics.
Prey had set aside a good portion of the recovered gold from Garrow specifically for Lemon to spend on looking for overlooked magical artifacts. Whether that be through bribes, obtaining information, hiring a thief, or just straight up buying the object in question.
That wasn't to say she'd managed to locate anything of real value.
So far, he'd merely been able to obtain, through proxy, a lumpy stone which was always seven and a half degrees hotter than the surrounding temperature, a strange glass prism which filtered light into component parts which so far were completely random each time, a sewing needle which'd been hinted to have come from the great witch Selenia but was really just plain iron, (a big disappointment), and an old, yellowed, paperback journal which Lemon had judged might contain some obscure magical knowledge. It didn't.
Perhaps mildly interesting as paperweights, but otherwise utterly useless to Prey.
If anything, it was indicative of the level of magical artifacts and secrets passing through Canterlot's Underground Market. Meaning; utterly laughable and not serious in the least. For goodness sake, ponies down there thought trafficking in bones hundreds of years old that had been snuck out from archaeological digs was bad.
Prey took a deep breath and nodded to Lemon Pink, "Alright. Let's begin stage one."
From under his wool, Prey pulled out two small pieces of wood, about the length of his hoof, and placed them on the bathroom floor tiles. You couldn't see it with your naked eye, but each section of wood was crawling with identical runes.
Each piece represented about ten hours of work. Prey'd had to secretly stay up late every night, (or rather early every morning), when Gloom and Crimson were asleep this past week and a half to make these. Prey made sure the two array bearing pieces of wood were a good distance apart. Satisfied they were aligned, he closed his eyes and started drawing more runes out in a wide circle around him and Lemon.
It was slow work, and as always, mentally draining. Prey's strength slowly leaked out of his limbs as he carefully poured it into the lesser runes. Patience was the key. Prey kept methodically going. Lemon didn't move or try to help, she would just get in the way. For as of yet unascertained reasons, Prey was far more competent with runes despite Lemon having a copy of all his memories.
Prey wasn't building any complicated runic arrays here, that wasn't needed, just a few basic ones to act as set up for what they were about to do.
---
It only took Prey about half an hour to finish. Lemon and him were left in the middle of the circle, each with one of the pieces of wood in front of them.
"That's stage one completed," Prey said, shaking out his hoof, "Stage two, begin."
Lemon Pink didn't need to be prompted. She'd already removed her maids uniform and folded it neatly by the sink, but not before taking out five small glass vials from the uniform's pockets. Two were filled with a mucky green sludge, and the other three with a yellow liquid. Now, Lemon Pink levitated the two green ones over, taking one for herself and giving the other to Prey.
Prey flicked open the top and with a grimace. Holding his nose, he drank it all down in one gulp. It tasted exactly how it looked. Like sour mud.
Lemon Pink had done the same in drinking hers, and now they stood silently looking at each other, feeling very introspective in the silent bathroom as they waited for the effects of the poison to show.
Thorn Root poison. It numbed your entire body. The more concentrated the dose, the more potent the effects. Prey did not want to feel what they were about to do. This poison was made from the Thorn Root they'd bought off that illicit underground market, as were the other three vials of yellow antidote. Three because you always make a spare antidote.
Veropede eggs were an interesting and scary thing. It was very rare to ever encounter a veropede, rarer to survive said encounter, and even rarer to find not one, but two eggs unplanted.
Veropedes themselves were also very interesting creatures. They either hatched their young live and squirming, or they instead planted the eggs. It seemed to vary on a number of environmental factors such as season and availability of territory. An interesting, but ultimately irrelevant side note, was that both the male and the female could lay hatches, because nature said so.
Planting an egg did not refer to anything so nice as burying it in the soil. An adult veropede would instead catch a live animal, like a boar or cougar, and implant the eggs into the unfortunate creature, much like some species of wasps. After about two weeks of absorbing blood and energy from the host animal, the eggs would hatch, and eat their way out. Utterly revolting.
An unpleasant tingling coldness spread through Prey, starting from his lips and seeping outwards at an uneven rate. It was a very unnerving sensation, to have random bits of your body loosing sensation. Like slowly dying.
"The effects have started. You?" Prey asked, slurring slightly.
"Yes, I am experiencing the effects too." Lemon nodded in agreement, her head bobbing about on her neck.
"Enough to not feel anything?" Prey asked.
"Yes, Prey."
"Alright, we'll do you first." Prey said. It was getting a little hard to stand up. Not being able to feel your legs really threw your sense of balance for a loop.
Lemon's horn lit up silver, and she levitated one of their two veropede eggs above her piece of wood. The veined egg looked dull and unresponsive, like a stone, yet inside a monster embryo slept, just waiting for a food source.
"Ready." Lemon said, voice steady.
Prey activated the runic circle around them, and the array glowed for a fraction of a moment. Lemon Pink's piece of wood abruptly jerked, and the egg Lemon Pink held was snatched from the air by an invisible force and flew to the wood. Invisible, the runes from the wood began to crawl off and onto the veropede egg, the wood smoking and curling as the runes shifted medium.
As the last of the runes finished migrating, the length of wood was left as little more than a crumbled piece of charcoal.
"Don't touch the egg, use your magic only. It will bond with the first flesh it touches." Prey warned unnecessarily. Lemon already knew all this but he felt compelled to speak the reminder again.
Lemon used her aura to float the now rune covered egg up. She didn't hesitate or brace herself. Rather anticlimactically, she pressed the vein covered egg to her side, just below her ribs where there was a body cavity.
It vanished, sinking through Lemon's flesh like a pebble into a pond. If it wasn't for the Thorn Root, she would've been doubled over on the tiles, crying in pain.
Prey blinked at Lemon, and she blinked back.
"Feel anything?"
"No. Were there any complications?" Lemon Pink questioned, looking down at her side.
"None. The runes wouldn't have bonded the egg if there were. Good. By the time the Thorn Root wears off, the other runes will have started up. A success." Prey slurred.
It may have seemed like Prey was murdering Lemon Pink, but of course he wasn't.
He was hardly going to feed his loyal tool to the veropedes now was he? For one thing, Prey would never waste a good tool like that, and second, he was going to be taking the second egg for himself. So double never.
The eggs needed a host to absorb nutrient from before they could hatch, however the veropede's would stay dormant until he or Lemon Pink decided otherwise. The runic arrays he'd built on the wood, (then transferred to the eggs), would ensure that. Among other things.
If Prey'd really wanted a sacrifice to hatch the two eggs with, he could've easily gotten Lemon Pink to kidnap some random pony. Not that he would have.
No, Prey had other plans for these two eggs aside from a simple hatching. Veropede's were special. So what would happen if he hatched one that'd combined runes and blood magic from the egg stage? As he'd said, Prey had plans.
No use putting it off any further. "My turn then."
Everything has a price, and this was one which had to be paid in blood.
Lemon Pink obliged him by levitating the last egg over to his piece of wood. Once again, he activated the rune circle and watched the egg snatched out of Lemon's aura and the slat of wood begin to blacken.
Prey knew some blood magic. Only some. A tiny piece really. Any initiate into the forbidden art would know more than him, but what he did know was the principle upon which all blood magic was founded.
What comes from you, belongs to you.
The essence of blood magic was sacrifice, giving up your own blood, for the ability to control power.
The two eggs would be infused with their blood. One for him, one for Lemon Pink. A veropede was a monster. They weren't something that could be tamed. But Prey wasn't planning to tame them, but control them instead.
Lemon Pink floated the egg up once again, bringing it around to his side. There she paused for his order, the wrinkled orb hovering an inch from his fur. Prey shuddered, but didn't hesitate.
"Do it." He said, not looking. If he turned his head, he'd probably over balance.
His whole body was numb and he wouldn't feel it. Later, the runes would deaden any discomfort once the Thorn Root wore off, but that didn't mean he wanted to look.
There was the sudden sensation of... Actually Prey didn't know how to describe it. Like he'd just ingested a chunk of ice was about the closest he could come up with. But there was no pain, and that was all that really mattered. Prey hated pain.
"And that's stage three done. Stage four, the antidotes." Prey ordered, putting aside the thought that he'd stuck a parasite in his gut. If he wasn't one-hundred and ten percent sure of his runic work, he wouldn't have taken the risk. The blood magic prize however would be worth it. He hoped.
Prey clumsily plucked the vial of antidote from the air, and after a few tries, got the top off. If anything, it tasted even worse than the Thorn Root had.
'The cure is indeed often worse than the sickness.' Prey noted. That seemed really funny for some reason, and he snickered. "The same could be said for life, really."
Side by side, Prey and Lemon Pink sat in the spent runic circle, waiting for the effects of the poison to wear off. With the mirrors at their backs, they each stared straight ahead in the locked bathroom, thinking, scheming, planning.
This whole thing with the veropede eggs had merely been a side note on The List, an amendment made to take advantage of an unplanned opportunity. There were other, larger, plans in motion, sand trickling down in the hourglass as they slowly counted down towards completion. Lemon Pink had done most of the leg work, but the closer each plan came to completion, the more Prey's own input would be required.
"Prey," Lemon Pink said, catching his attention, "I want to again raise the potential of investing a portion of the gold into promising businesses which could turn over a net profit."
Prey half turned his head to regard his tool. He'd already made a decision on this topic, hadn't he? So why was Lemon raising it again?
"I place little value on such an outcome. It's just money. Investing with stolen money could come back to haunt me, and I won't risk having anything expose me, no matter how unlikely. And a return on investment takes a long time to come to fruition. If and when I do manage to flee Luna, it'll all be gold down the drain anyway." He said, this time going into a full explanation to make sure Lemon understood.
While they were both from the same mind, that didn't mean they always thought the same way.
"Forgive me Prey, but I still estimate it could be of worth. If there is a business doing research which aligns with our interests, would you consider investing then?" Lemon Pink asked.
Prey turned his head all the way, risking the mirrors, to look at Lemon. She had questioned him, on something he had just made clear he did not think held any value. Which meant she strongly felt that investing was something worthwhile to Prey's interests, otherwise she would not persist like this. He wasn't angry.
"I still do not see the potential outweighing the time and risk cost..." Prey said.
Lemon Pink bowed her head, finally submitting to his decision. "Yes, Prey."
"...However, if you still estimate otherwise and can find somewhere to invest that meets those criteria, I give you permission to look into it and report back." Prey finally added. He didn't need to add 'and keep any such inquires discreet', that went without saying.
"Yes, Prey. Thank you."
"What are you thanking me for?"
"Yes, Prey."
------
"Something bothering you Prey?"
Prey stopped morbidly poking at the small lump on his side, "It's nothing." He answered Gloom dismissively.
It was the truth. The runes on the egg were preventing him from feeling anything. It was a shame he couldn't do the same for the whip scars the next time he awoke with cramp. Unfortunately, those were a physical part of him, not a foreign object under the skin, thus a completely different runic situation.
Not to mention, carving runes into yourself was absolute agony.
"We're here, sir." Crimson said.
"Just Gloom. We're off duty. Ah, we are here."
"That's what Crimson just said."
"Pardon?"
"Never mind. You were distracted."
"I said, we're here, sir."
"And now you're not listening either Crimson. He said to just call him Gloom out here in Canterlot. We don't want anyone-"
"Anypony." Gloom broke in.
"-anyone knowing we're Night Guards. Again. Dusk Pony amulet secret, and all that."
"I know that. I mean, I know we're incognito off duty. I merely slipped."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to be a pain by constantly reminding you." Prey apologised.
Gloom squinted at his two subordinates as they turned off the busy street, '-what's up with those two?-'
But Gloom didn't comment, deciding it wasn't, '-anything important. Hopefully.-'
So he commented on something else instead, "Enjoy your ride up there, eh Prey?"
"You're the one who offered." Prey retorted, for once able to look down on Gloom from atop the cart the disguised thestral was pulling.
"Well as Crimson said, we're here now, so time to hop off." Gloom huffed, unhitching the cart strap and loosely tying it around the post outside the store.
"Right. Time to go shopping. Furniture shopping." Gloom said as they looked up at the two storey furniture department store, advertisement signs outside loudly boasting of its wares. That was why they had borrowed the cart, to carry back bulky purchases.
They stood there for a full minute, not making any move to go inside.
"Furniture shopping sounds awful." Crimson bluntly stated.
"I agree with Crimson." Prey immediately echoed.
"You'd agree with Crimson if he said he wanted to go ballroom dancing at the upcoming Gala. It's not that bad, I mean, look at us three. We're in Canterlot, off duty, we're furniture shopping for you two's very own flats. How normal are we, am I right?" Gloom grinned, spreading his hooves wide. He was putting far too much effort in.
"Normality?" Prey asked, somehow making the word sound contemptible, "We should be happy to fall in line and copy the Canterlot pastimes? What's next, learning to enjoy playing croquet?"
"You're right, this furniture shopping does sound awful." Gloom admitted.
"I would prefer to just sleep in a plain cloud bed. Rather than buying one, I mean." Crimson put in.
"Regardless of all that," Gloom pressed on, "You two need to get your flats outfitted. Which unfortunately means we've got to perform a necessary evil." He pointed at the busy store with distaste, "Shopping."
"Furniture shopping." Prey corrected.
"Furniture shopping." Gloom agreed.
"Just any shopping full stop." Crimson said.
---
But who should they bump into while perusing the isles? None other than Taffy Hopes and Future Spark.
The three of them were methodically, and with grim patience, working their way through bed frames looking for one of Prey's size, having shaken off the annoying shop assistant long ago, when the sound of familiar voices came to them from down the isle.
"-Yes that one's quite lovely, but it doesn't go with the yellow, y'know? The curtains would match nicely, don't you think? Or how about this one? Or this one? This one? This?"
"I haven't even seen your curtains Taffy...But I'm sure that whatever you say is best will be perfect!" The second voice hastily added.
"Is that Taffy Hopes?" Gloom asked, instinctively ducking. '-wait, why am I hiding? I'm off duty-'
"It certainly sounds like Taffy Hopes." Crimson agreed, leaning past Gloom to have a look.
"That is Taffy Hopes." Prey observed.
"Who is the other unicorn? He looks..."
"Familiar? Yes, that's Future Spark. It turned out they're cousins, remember?"
Crimson's brows grew faintly traced, "He was that unicorn who made us the second rate tracker and marker, wasn't he?"
Prey was going to answer Crimson 'yes', but he was interrupted before he got the chance to speak.
"Yoohoo, Crimson. Over here, it's me Taffy. Fancy seeing you here!"
Any chance of avoiding the unicorn duo was lost as Taffy trotted over, smiling in delight at spying someone she knew. As per Canterlot citizenship rules, both wore articles of clothing; Taffy a neck wrap, and Future a multi-pocketed coat. Prey wondered if Taffy greeted everyone outside of work this way. It seemed likely for her. Future Spark was just dragged along for the ride.
Seeing as there would be no happy escape, Crimson blankly greeted the mare, "Taffy Hopes, ma'am."
"Please, just Taffy. It's much nicer to not be on duty. Speaking of not being on duty, I almost didn't recognise you without your uniform. Good thing I saw you without it that first day, eh? Perhaps you should change your name to Greyish when you're on duty." Taffy chatted away happily.
"That's-"
"Oh, by the way. This here's my cousin. He's called Future Spark. He's like, a crazy scientist." Taffy joked, gesturing to Future.
"We've met before." Crimson said.
"You have?"
"We have?" Future Spark echoed.
"Oh, is that you Prey?" Taffy interrupted before Crimson got a chance to explain, "I didn't see you behind the trolley. It's nice to see you too. How're you doing this lovely afternoon?"
'Curses.'
Prey backed up a step, "I'm fine." He answered neutrally.
"Are you two are both out here on your day off together? Cool. It's great that you look after Prey all the time Crimson. Oh, by the way, Future Spark, this here's Prey. He's actually a part of the Night Guard. The ISND. I mentioned them once, remember?"
Future Spark started to nod thoughtfully, "Actually yes, I do remember a Night Guard meeting where a lamb was present. No idea what it was about. I just got randomly called in out of-"
"So what'cha ya' two doing here? Well, shopping, obviously. But what are you looking for? Perhaps we can help." Taffy enthused.
Next to her, Future Spark froze on hearing the possibility that he'd be stuck in this store for any longer than he already was, "Err..."
He went completely ignored as Taffy chattered away unimpeded.
"What are the chances of meeting out of work? Who's your friend? Hi, I'm Taffy. Gosh, it's weird seeing you two without Gloom around. Nice to meet you, you look a lot like Gloom actually." Taffy laughed, offering her hoof to the disguised Gloom who'd been trying to slink away.
There was an awkward frozen pause as Prey and Crimson both glanced sideways at Gloom, chest scar covered by the scarf and thestral heritage hidden under the illusion of the Dusk Pony amulet he was using.
'-and this is exactly what I was trying to avoid-', Gloom thought, smile just as frozen as the moment.
Taffy was looking curiously back and forth between Gloom and Crimson as her hoof remained hanging unshaken. "Is something the matter?"
"This is, I mean..." Crimson tried to think up an excuse, but as always, he was very bad at lying. Prey was hesitating on offering one himself, because although it would help Crimson with what he wanted, it would mean speaking up in front of Taffy. The choice was then taken out of his hooves.
"Wait, is your name-Are you actually Sargent Gloom?" Taffy asked, squinting. He eyes widened, "You are Gloom! Wait, no, not possible. Gloom's like, all batty with batty bat wings, and you're like, all pegasusy with pegasus bird wings."
Gloom was caught. What choice did he have but to admit it? "Yes it's me Taffy, but keep it down-"
"Say whaaa-? How come you're not a thestral anymore?"
"Of course I'm still a thestral. Nopony can just change species you know."
"But your wings and eyes, your teeth even. Where'd they go?" Taffy asked in curiosity.
Gloom glanced around quickly to see who might be listening, "Nowhere. You just can't see them."
"Huh?"
"It's nothing you need to worry about." Gloom tried to dismiss.
"Nu-uh, what's going on Gloom? How are you going around looking like a normal pony?"
'Normal pony? So thestrals aren't normal then are they? Showing you real colours now.' Prey silently mocked.
"It's an illusion!" Future Spark suddenly exclaimed, eyes lighting up with realisation, "You've got some sort of illusionary based enchantment on you, don't you?"
"This is all an illusion?" Taffy asked, waving a hoof in front of Gloom's face.
"Well not him obviously, there's still got to be a pony base under there for the illusion to be applied to or else the spell matrix for the enchantment-"
"And that's enough crazy scientist out of you thanks, I got my answer." Taffy stuck her hoof over Future Spark's mouth, then turning back to Gloom, "What gives?" She asked.
'-are the thestrals getting that much bullying that they're trying to hide as pegasi?-'
Gloom looked helplessly to Prey and Crimson for assistance, but they could only shake their heads. Gloom suppressed a groan of frustration. The Dusk Pony amulets weren't a clan secret, not anymore, but they were supposed to be a Night Guard secret.
"Yes it's just an illusion. You can see what it does plainly enough. It's designed for thestrals to remain undetected in the crowd."
"You're working? Wait, are you undercover right now?" Taffy asked in a hushed voice.
"Not...really."
"So you're not undercover at the moment and I'm not blowing your mission?" Taffy checked.
"Nnno." Gloom was forced to confirmed.
"Then why are you walking around disguised as a pegasus? That's not right."
"That's not-" Gloom broke off as a pony came down the isle. They stood silently until the pony had passed. "And why not?" Gloom demanded.
"Ponies shouldn't be walking around with illusions on. I mean, then anypony you pass on the street might not be who they're supposed to be." Taffy exclaimed.
"Statistically, that's an unlikely occurrence," Future Spark put in, "Illusions usually have some flaw which make them impractical-"
"Thank you Spark, that's very interesting," Taffy said, obviously not listening, "You shouldn't be wearing that enchantment." She told Gloom.
"Why?" It was Crimson who spoke, meeting Taffy's eyes flatly, "Why should we not? All we get is fear and derision if we don't."
"Well that's just all the more reason not to wear it." Taffy declared.
She got confused looks from all of them in response. Taffy huffed, tossing her frizzy mane, "Isn't it obvious? Racism is a stupid waste of time. Nopony should be made to feel ashamed of being any kind of pony, so why go around hiding what you are?"
'Says the magically superior unicorn.'
"Why, you should just march right in through every door exactly as you are and not care about what anypony else thinks! If everypony does that, then eventually it will become normal and nopony will be racist anymore." Taffy declared.
'Yes, key word being 'nopony'. Not a pony? Then in that case, get stuffed.' Prey thought venomously, glaring unnoticed at Taffy. She was talking about something which she obviously had no idea.
Gloom and Crimson were stuck for words. Taffy made her bold declaration with confidence, but not much else. Her unbiased sentiment was nice, but didn't impact the reality of the clans situation. Thestrals were not liked or trusted. It was all very well to speak of not needing a disguise, but that was all it was. Talk.
A small smile went across Gloom's face.
'-however it's nice to know Taffy isn't racist and never was-', He thought. He glanced at Future Spark, who was nodding along merrily to Taffy's words; '-oh, and this guy too by the looks of it-'
"So go on, undo the illusion for us," Taffy encouraged, "Or do you need a unicorn for that?"
Gloom's hoof twitched towards the Dusk Pony amulet, but he didn't remove it, "No can do Taffy. Sorry, but this is a secret, and I'm going to have to ask you to keep it."
"But nopony should be ashamed-"
"I am from clan Cilldara, I am most certainly not ashamed of my heritage, and I never will be." Gloom cut Taffy Hopes off rather hotly. Future Spark kept on nodding agreeably away, until he realised they were no longer agreeing and stopped nodding.
Taffy sighed, "Oh alright, but only since it's you Gloom." She harrumph'd.
Gloom frowned at her choice of words, "So you're aren't going to go around and trying to expose other thestrals, right?" He double checked.
"Hmm, I probably could..." Taffy mused, tapping her chin.
"Taffy this isn't some big joke-" Gloom warned.
"...But how would I even spot them? Well, aside from going up to every pegasus with yellow eyes and yelling, 'Are you a thestral!?' really loudly. Although that might be funny in the right circumstances. I think I'll do that at Mistletoe's party tonight."
Gloom was once again at a loss for words as to what to say in response to Taffy's logic. "That's... Something I guess. Taffy, can you please swear to not reveal go around telling this to everypony."
"I hardly think this is as big of a deal as you are making it out to be, Gloom. Stop being gloomy."
"While this isn't a matter of life and death, it isn't a small deal either." Gloom said, not letting himself get irritated.
"Oh alright fine, why not?" Taffy said, unexpectedly flipping in her approach. While Taffy might not seem like a good person to keep a secret, she was a liaisons officer. She dealt with confidential information on a daily basis, so her word did mean something.
"Thank you." Gloom nodded to her seriously. Then they all looked to Future Spark.
"What? Is there something on my muzzle?" Future Spark asked, going cross-eyed.
"Nope, don't worry, no hot-choc mustache this time." Taffy grinned.
"Ah. Then why-?"
"He wants you to swear too, doofus." Taffy said, elbowing him.
"Is that so?" Future Spark blinked, "Well alright then. *Ehem* Sargent Gloom, let me offer my word that the aforementioned and discussed secret shall not come to light to the general public by my involvement." He said. Then he paused and reconsidered, "Not intentionally anyway. One never should speak of one hundred percent certainties. Unless you're answering the question, 'Are you asleep?' And even then, there's sleep walkers-"
"I'm sure Gloom's very grateful Sparky," Taffy interrupted him before he could get too far off tangent, "Isn't that right?"
"We are indeed." Gloom agreed.
"Most welcome of course." Future Spark beamed, then he leaned forwards eagerly, "But I really must ask you, how is the illusion based? Is it a refraction matrix? Or perhaps a perception charm? And how do you balance out the light reflections-"
Taffy elbowed him again, cutting off his discourse before it could get too deep into spell crafting theory and matrix mathematics. Gloom and Crimson's blank looks said they wouldn't have followed any of it anyway.
'-well, to be fair, I don't understand any of it either and I'm his cousin-', Taffy thought.
"Oh, *Eherm* Do excuse me." Future Spark coughed again.
"Are illusions your field of study?" Crimson asked, with what might have conceivably been a hint of distaste. Probably because Crimson saw illusions as a form of lie. A narrow minded view, but since it was Crimson, Prey made a note to avoid mentioning illusions favourably if at all possible in the future.
"Ha ha! Oh no no, nopony majors in illusions. It's a, 'fake science', with, 'no real substance'. Get it? But as a side subject on concept work only, illusionary spell work is very interesting. Fascinating really, but there's no real cause to study it. Or grants." He added.
"Grants? What are those?" Crimson asked.
"What, grants?"
"Yes, that is what I asked."
"It's when study bodies give you money to research a certain subject with. Sometimes mages or even magi post private grants themselves if you go and work on researching for them. It's great fun, but they can be so stingy. Bleh." Future Spark said making a face.
Prey gathered his courage and spoke up to ask a question of the unicorn stallion, "Don't you work for the Guard? You must be really busy if you're doing grant work too." He said innocently.
"Oh hello there little filly. Why yes, I do get to do both." Future Spark said agreeably. "I work part time in the Palace three days a week, and I get to do my own stuff during the rest of the time. It's Perfect. No wait, almost perfect. There's not enough coffee breaks and they've only got the bad stuff." He started to ramble again, but Prey had gotten his answer.
"Sooooooo," Taffy drew the word out like it was some big joke only she got, "Whatcha' you three doing here? You're not furniture shopping, are you?"
Crimson checked around the isle again in case something had changed in the last ten minutes he wasn't aware of. "This is a furniture store, isn't it?"
"You actually are furniture shopping!" Taffy exclaimed, "Don't you have anything better to do?"
"You're shopping here too." Gloom pointed out.
"First, I'm a mare so I'm excused. Second, I'm not actually 'shopping', I'm 'browsing'." Taffy accentuated the difference.
"...I don't follow."
"I'm not looking to buy. I'm looking for ideas to think about buying. That's why I brought Sparky along, to bounce ideas off, see?" She said, smiling broadly and patting Future Spark on the shoulder.
"Err, yes, that is why you asked me to come along I was lead to believe." Future Spark said, that grimace smile back. '-please Celestia let somepony save me. Or let spontaneous combustion occur across all these curtains in a glorious distraction-'
"As dull as it is, yes, furniture shopping," Gloom confirmed, "Or rather, Crimson and Prey are furniture shopping."
He stepped aside and exposed the two of them fully to Taffy's attention. Prey gave Gloom a dirty look. 'Traitor.'
Taffy's smile slowly morphed into glee, "You finally got a flat Crimson? Oh well done! Don't worry, I'll help you pick out everything you need, just leave it to the design master."
The though that she would get to direct someone else's shopping seemed to send Taffy Hopes into rising fits of excitement. And she completely missed the point about Crimson and Prey getting a flat each, rather than one joint flat total.
"I do not think we quite need help. We are only here for a bed and table each-" Crimson began.
"Nonsense," Taffy scoffed, "Everypony needs a keen mare's eye when they go shopping. It's basically the law."
"Really there's no need-"
"I won't hear of it. Come on, let's get started. Right, first things first, we need to head back to the start of the store and begin again."
And so it was that four unwilling participants were dragged off behind the very willing fifth, all because the four didn't have the heart to say no. Well, three of them didn't. One of them just didn't have a heart but was too intimidated to say anything.
------
"Just a few more stairs...There." Gloom grunted, letting the last crate drop to the balcony floor. "Whew."
Crimson, who'd been carrying the other end, glanced at Prey, who was sitting atop the rest of the already delivered crates, "No comment from you please."
Prey quirked an eyebrow. Crimson wouldn't tell Prey not to comment, unless he was actually expecting his words to illicit a comment. 'Is Crimson trying to make a joke? Or perhaps just conversation?'
If so, the pegasus was going about it in an odd way. So in fairness, not really that odd for him. Well if Crimson was trying, Prey had better respond.
"Comment on what? The fact you ended up getting the bed Taffy told you to in the end? Or were you referring to how it was the biggest and heaviest? Or did you mean not gloat about how I got to just sit up here all the while you two carried everything?" He asked with a big, innocent smile.
However when Gloom and Crimson both winced, he immediately realised what he's done and wiped the smile off, "Sorry." He hastily apologised.
'Zoma'Grika, I slipped up again.'
"No, it is not an issue. I mean, it shouldn't have to... Never mind." Crimson tried to dismiss it like it didn't really bother him. He was a really bad actor though.
"What's the problem? Go ahead and smile when you want to smile. There's no problem here." Gloom lied, trying not to let the carefree mood which'd been present all afternoon fade.
It didn't work, the reminder had been enough for everyone to think back, just for a moment, to the blood and rats. Prey just smiling should not have formed the tenuous connection, but it had and the conversation still withered and died.
It was little things which stuck in someone's head, Prey knew that better than anyone. Little actions which would forever after be associated with something vile in the past.
An oak leaf splattered in blood. A certain shade of blue mane from a dead pony. A certain smile. Those sorts of things.
It was unfortunate, and stupid, and silly, and oh so aggravatingly frustrating to experience.
'-Luna damn it, what a waste-', Gloom thought, in a flash of temper making to kick the crate. At the last second however he stopped and shook it off. "Whatever Prey, it's not something...Forget it. Let's just get this stuff inside."
Gloom had the right idea. The solution was simple. Do something else until the dark moment passed and normal everyday moments replaced it. Crimson flexed his legs, "I am ready to lift again whenever you are sir-I mean, Gloom."
"Good, Prey, get the door open would you?" Gloom said, bending down to get his shoulder under the crate lip again.
"Crimson, the landlord gave you the keys to both flats. Toss the ring over, would you?" Prey said.
"One moment. Alright found them. Catch."
*jingle-jangle-kirsh*
"Thanks. Just let me get something to wedge the door open with." Prey called back, disappearing inside.
"With what? We've got no furniture or anything inside, remember?"
"Give me a moment, I'll find something to use."
"Hurry up then Prey. This is heavy in case your forgot." Gloom called. "Oh wait that's right! You didn't have to carry it did you?"
In the end Prey just used his ribbon to tie the hall door open by the handle, and between the three of them, Prey directing while Gloom and Crimson carried, they manoeuvred the crate down the narrow hall and into Crimson's empty flat.
And so they passed the unpleasant moment by, and let life wash the memory back out to sea.
---
Prey surveyed his almost empty flat. Crimson's own was no better. On Taffy's recommendation, (orders really), they'd each bought a bed frame, and a mattress. Annnnnd that was it.
Taffy had been nowhere near satisfied with their meager purchases. "What about a sofa? And the coffee table? A bedside table, chest of draws, wardrobe, floor cushions, chairs, curtains, glow lamps, lamp shades? What about all that?" She'd demanded.
Gloom had managed to intervene by pointedly reminding her that Prey and Crimson were just starting out, and could not afford any of what Taffy was suggesting.
Blushing in embarrassment, Taffy had quickly changed the topic of money. Not that any of the ISND felt any shame talking about money, but it was a good excuse. Neither of them had any intention of getting what Taffy had insisted was 'The Bare Minimum'. What she'd spoken of was of all useless bric-a-brac.
But even then and with their minimalistic purchases, it'd all added up. Gloom and Crimson had to take turns when pulling the cart back here.
They'd come back to drop off the mattresses and beds, and gotten rid of the packaging. Putting the bed frames together was a problem for the future ISND. If they were to assemble the flat pack right now, by the time they were finished their free day would be over, (especially since they didn't have any tools).
So after all that effort, Prey and Crimson still weren't able to move in yet.
Prey stood in the small living room of what was to be his flat, looking around.
Prey examined the blank ceiling. This was to be his flat. His. As in, he was supposed to treat this like his own home from now on. Or when they were allowed to move in, at any rate.
The rooms were currently spacious with emptiness, and had that strange feeling you get when looking at a half finished building. It wasn't completed, but you knew what it should be.
There was no cutlery in the kitchen. Prey decided a couple of bowls and a pot would be plenty. There wasn't any food in the pantry, but that could be fixed. A couple of floor cushions could replace the unnecessary idea of chairs and sofas perhaps, those were nice. Maybe a towel and blanket too, why not go all the way? The plants and herbs he'd bought could go on the single window sill. Everything missing in the flat was only that, missing.
Prey let his gaze fall to his hooves. He tested the floor boards under his hoof, thinking about what kind of runes the ash wood would hold.
'This is supposed to be my home?' Prey thought.
His lips drew up into a snarl. 'Home? Home?? This is not a home. It's an insult to what the memory of home! It's disgusting. Canterlot, ponies, privilege, riches. This will never be a home. I will make it into a fortress with protective runes, yes, I will build escape routes and sleep here, yes, but it will never ever be my home.'
He spun around and left his flat. Crimson and Gloom were only across the corridor, pulling off the last of the packaging from Crimson's bed frame, which was proving not to be as simple as it sounded. Only three hooves separated Prey's front door from what was to be Crimson's.
'At least that's one good thing,' Prey was forced to admit, 'I'll be able to easily keep an eye on Crimson.'
So what if Crimson still hadn't worn Prey's gift yet? Even if Crimson didn't appreciate his gift, it didn't matter. He still owed Crimson.
Perhaps he could go lend a hoof in Crimson's flat? There was no reason to linger in this one after all.
---
And then Gloom just had to go and make everything worse on their way back.
It was like the Sargent had some sixth sense for saying things at the wrong time, some greater cosmic force directing his ill timing, more so than even Crimson. All Prey wanted as they walked back was to be left alone to mentally compose a note for Lemon Pink, and figure out a way to get Crimson to use the jade stone mane ring. But not so.
"Outfitting mine and Prey's flats seemed... Sort of pointless today, sir."
"What you mean?"
"Well sir, I mean, we aren't even going to be moving into the flats until next week."
"Your flats, not 'the' flats. But yeah, I get what you mean. But at least now they're ready to go when you two actually do move in. Isn't that right, Prey?"
"You mean wasting our time today rather than next week with, forgive me, furniture shopping?" Prey groused.
"Ha. Close enough. I won't mind moving back into my own flat too." Gloom mused. '-I miss my own cloud bed back at the caves. This new one is rubbish-'
"Speaking of which, Prey, have you written home recently?" Gloom asked.
Prey's mouth twitched, and he had to stay quiet for a moment. Of course Gloom would raise this right now, why wouldn't he?
"...No, I can't say that I have."
"C'mon Prey, that's not fair on your family. I know it's hard, but you need to try and keep in contact, okay?" Gloom encouraged.
Prey bit the inside of his cheek, "Yes, I probably should do that." He agreed evenly.
"But are you going to do that?" Gloom pressed, not satisfied, "It's not fair on your mother to not write home. I know if I didn't write, my mother would definitely throw a fit in worry."
Prey tasted blood, "It's as you say. I'll do that. Just as soon as I get a free moment."
'A free moment from these shackles, from Luna, from Canterlot, from all of you.'
Now in an utterly foul mood, Prey followed behind Gloom as he led them back towards the Guard Compound entrance.
---I---