I swung in my hammock, letting the last couple of hours pass simply in my new camp. I could probably try and be productive for the last few hours of darkness, but I wasn't feeling it. I wanted to rest, Roseluck was feeling good enough to walk the outskirts of the forest now, and I had left a few fae gifts out and about for her, my camp was well-stocked, and I had all the time in the world. My abilities had also made my little camp much more secure. After the fight with the manticore, I had been busy. The translucency of my orb wasn't a one-time deal. It was see-through, at least for me. Judging from the disturbed reaction of the few things I had tested it on, it was still just as black and dark for everything else. Which meant my camp had several hidey-holes now. My hammock lay suspended in darkness, with other key items like my bag, and a few strategic areas equally coated. At night it was unnoticeable, and in the daytime, it was just a cloud of darkness.
I looked below my hammock, at the small river flowing beneath me. It was peacefully flowing under me, providing easy water and the soft sound of flowing water to keep my calm and happy. The soft bubbling nature of the sound put me in a lyrical tint. I began humming a soft simple tune before my voice broke out. "Between the here, between the now,"
I began singing the tune I remembered from a lifetime ago, letting the time pass slowly as my hammock swayed in the breeze. I enjoyed the peace, and as the song ended in Gaelic which I still regret never learning my peace was ruined. A new voice piping up from the woods. "Form up everyone, she's this way!"
I sighed as I kicked the tree in front of my hammock, letting it swing lazily as I peeked over the edge. I watched as a retinue of shiny ponies walked in, their skin gleaming like shined gems, with armor matching their light blue bodies. They were advancing slowly under me, lances drawn and pointed around them like a pony porcupine. A lance pointing in every direction, making them nigh-unassailable. I smiled as the went below me. They weren't pointing any up. Not that I was planning to jump down any time soon. I began forming darkness under me, making a large square. As they reached a stop I nudged it down, watching nightfall from my perch on high.
The blanket of night descended before neatly falling over each guard. Their armor and spears blackened and dulled by the darkness. They began shuffling, and one by one they grew more and more agitated. Finally one spoke up. "Princep! I can't see!"
I smiled as each one began to realize their current predicament, their spear flailing as they looked in every direction. I watched with an amused smirk as they began to jitter and jer, before finally throwing them a line. "You know, it is considered to be very ill-formed to wave weapons about in someone else's home. Why a living creature might take the highest exception to such a thing." I tapped my hands on my legs, letting them stew on that as they began to calm. "Luckily for you, I am nothing if not a good hostess. If you apologize I will return your sight." I began crawling to the tree over my hammock, ready to jump down. "Either that or you die in darkness, I don't care a whit either way."
A softer voice sighed from behind them, making me pause on my branch before descending. Looking into the woods, I could see another pair of ponies watching. One was in full golden armor, ornamented to the point of gaudiness. He held a sword in a magical grip, looking around with raised eyebrows. Despite the unease their current situation should have inspired, he was calmly watching. Maybe he was slightly off-put, but he wasn't showing it. The one that truly captured my attention was the female beside him, mostly due to one little fact. She was another fucking royal. She had both wings and a horn, an alicorn as Roseluck had taught me. Which meant she was inherently royal. And I had just fucked with her guards. Luckily it seemed she was the one who sighed, as she walked up and raised her head. "I told you all these guards wouldn't help with anything Shiny. It's mostly safe here anyway."
She walked up to the area directly under me, looking over the area. "Lady Night, I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. I have come to speak to you as my fellow princesses have done." She looked over her guards for a moment. "I'm sorry if my guards offended you, we came with a gift if that would help with some goodwill."
I paused, once again at a crossroads. I could always play up the act, demanding more for their perceived slight, but that might damage my own standing. Especially considering how light Princess Twilight got off. Normally pressing for more would be the obvious choice, but I was stuck here for the whole ride, and being perceived as kinder than need it can give someone a veritable ton of bonuses that being a dick would close the door to. I decided to be nice, and hope it would end with a larger profit later. I jumped from the branch, breaking through my shield of black like so much water, landing on the ground with a smile. "But of course princess. And lo and behold you even introduced yourself. One kind turn deserves another I say, and so I shall."
I gave her a bow, flashing a grin with teeth as I did. "I am Lady Neberius, spirit of the night, patron saint of tricksters, and sister of the sun." I rose and began walking to her guards. "And your apology is easily accepted, allow me to fix what I have done." I pushed aside a spear easily, the guards beginning to stand down as I made my way to them. With a wave of my hand, the darkness was removed from the first pony. I looked him in the eyes. crouching down. "Leave my camp, for waving your weapons about I banish you from my home." I moved to the next one and paused. "If you wish you may wait until I finish fixing your friends first. But when all is healed I don't want to see a single pony from this group in my clearing."
He didn't respond, but the armored unicorn who looked closest to normal walked up. "Make a perimeter, keep the guard out of her clearing. I want this clearing safe." He nodded at me. "We'll be safe with her."
My persona wouldn't let that stand. I laughed, wiping the darkness from another guard. "Safe? With me? Little pony, that is the very definition of foolishness. I am the night, and the night is never safe." I moved to the next guard. "If you mean you are safe from me, then you are probably correct. But the sun is still sleeping, and the moon is still in the sky. Safety can only be found behind sturdy walls and all alone right now, and there is neither to be found in the dark confines of these woods."
The guards seemed unnerved as I removed their shadowy shackles at this, but each still left. Leaving me alone in a clearing with a princess and what I assumed was her head guard. I looked over them for a moment before Cadenza cleared her throat. "Ms. Neberius, would you mind if we got some light?"
I looked around, realizing that I didn't have a campfire. With my newfound dark vision, I only took the time to light a fire when I was cooking, and since I had already had my dinner I had put out the fire. I nodded, before remembering they probably could just barely see me. "Of course, forgive me my breach in manners. I had already begun retiring for the morning, and a fire is hardly safe to leave on its own while I sleep."
The male's horn lit up, and I closed my eyes as the light invaded my bastion of black, making me temporarily blind. I blinked away the light, letting my eyes adjust. I heard a deeper voice speak, mentally pairing it with the guard I hadn't kicked out. "Sorry about that, guess I should introduce myself too. I'm Prince Shining Armor, head of the Crystal Guard."
I let my eyes finish adjusting before nodding to him. "Of course, I'm sure you'll forgive me skipping a second introduction." I sat down in the dirt, sprawling my legs in a less than dignified way. "Sorry to say all the official court-like stuff is more my brother's thing. I am much less proper as long as all parties remain polite." I smiled, letting my canines rest on my lips to give them some emphasis. "I much prefer the simpler side of life. The hunt, the chase, and the finish are all much more fun than talking."
While Shining Armor flinched Cadenza simply nodded, looking at me in some strange expression. I couldn't really understand it, but I didn't like it. She began pursing her lips as if planning out our conversation in advance. After a moment she spoke. "I can understand that. I find myself missing my own simple farm life. Running a palace can be such a bore." She trotted up to me, a wide smile on her face. "But we all do things we don't like sometimes I guess."
I nodded. "Even the free find themselves chained to the mundane. Never do the great escape boredom, and always do the bored find adventure they never wanted." I think that was from Tolkien, though I probably butchered it. But I could butcher a separate line that fit too. "Take me for example. Long ago, longer now than it seems, in a place you might have seen in your dreams, I slept. And deep in my sleep, I dreamed a dream." I waved my hands about, sending darkness out in tendrils. "And then the dream came for me, and what you see is what I became. A life I never wanted and powers I barely understood." I smiled as I vaguely described my actual past before fully laying down, looking to the forest roof. "But knowing that I doubt I'd change it. Living life on the edge is the best way to live, by my own hand or none."
Cadenza sat beside me. "I can easily respect that, but I came here for something besides simply greeting you. My aunt wanted to send you a small gift. She decided after what you did for Roseluck you deserved something special, and she doubted she could get you to Canterlot for a reward so..." My eyes widened as her horn began to glow, and a large bag appeared in front of me. A zipper began unzipping, and my face split in a wide smile. Cadenza noticed this and smiled in turn. "I assume these clothes are to your liking Lady Neberius?"
I held up the first shirt, solid black and made of sturdy material. I nodded st her, my grin never fading. "Please, princess. My friends call me Nebby."