//------------------------------// // Another Day, Another Pawness // Story: Beyond My Grave: Nightlight // by AnnEldest //------------------------------// "Spike come on, it's time to get up." Spike moaned and turned over falling off the bed. He grunted as he pulled the blanket over him. Discord was hovering over him trying to wake him. "Come on Spiky, what are we doing at Fluttershy's cottage. Spike wake up!" Discord shook Spike lifting him off the ground a bit. "Leave me alone," Spike grunted. "What happened last night?" Spike turned over onto his stomach."We had guys night remember?" "Ya I remember that, but what happened after that." "I don't know Discord I guess we all went home right? That's what you do right?" Discord realized that the little dragon seemed to be as lost as he was. It was clear that Spike wasn't aware of the situation. "Well if we went home, then why were you laying half off of Fluttershy's bed?" "I don't know, cause I went home I guess." Spike laid there still oblivious to the point Discord was trying to make. Then after his brain had fully processed the information Spike's eyes popped wide open."Wait what? I'm on Fluttershy's bed?" Spike looked around to see that he was laying on the floor next to his friend's bed. He turned his body to sit up and leaned against the wall. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at Discord. "What ti…" a crash of thunder interrupted him. He sprung up from the wall and looked out the window. "Dang looks like Rainbow Dash really brew up a storm this time. Must be that time again." Spike looked over to Discord who was now crossed armed tapping his foot. "What?" "I'm still waiting for an explanation. I can't seem to recall anything last night." Spike walked and sat down on the bed." Ya me neither. I remember starting guys night with Ogars and Ogliarets and that's about it. It's all blank after that." Discord continued to fly around the room as he tried to put the pieces together. He pulled out a photo album made out of balloons and paper that had pictures of the memories of the night before. "I have no idea how I slept so long with this storm going on. Usually Twilight has to prepare for these since I never can sleep through them." "Ya, well looks like the heavy sleeping is a result of last night. Besides, you seemed to still be pretty jumpy when I woke you up." Spike chuckled a little."That's just because I was having a wacky dream and I could hear the thunder and your voice, so it was all so weird." "That's what woke me up too." "The thunder?" "No. I was having a weird dream too I guess." Spike stretched as he got off the bed. "Was it one of your important dreams?" Discord laughed at spikes remark. Surely he wasn't getting into another ghostly issue already. "No, it was just really random. It was about a cat." The sun was high in the sky as it scorched the crisp cool night air away. The creatures below stayed under roofs or umbrellas to shade themselves. Wagons were pulled by merchants looking to get an easy buck. Stands and signs lined the streets. A mouse couldn't have walked alone without someone trying to sell it something. Shira walked along trying her best to avoid all attention. The large diversity of creatures made it so that she didn't stand out from the crowd. She hid her face with extra caution. The hood over her kept the item concealed from any wandering eyes. She walked with her head down; she didn't look up to see where she was going. Her ears twitched as they look in every sound trying to be her eyes. She picked up on every sound and conversation that was happening. None of the sounds around her brought any panic; even the sounds of creatures fighting did not affect her. She looked out into the long desolate desert. The ocean of sand and heat went far beyond the horizon. She sighed as she realized that her trip was about to get ruff. She swallowed before she began to walk off into the desert. She had to keep pushing forward no matter how hard it was. "Shut your mouth," whispered the large gray cat. "These things hunt by sound. We don't want to take them head-on; it's best to let them sleep." The cat marched forward with several cats following him. They all had shiny silver armor; The tint of the darkness was the only thing that concealed them. They walked differently and strategically had not made a sound. The sound of water droplets and steady breath fill the atmosphere. Their eyes could expertly pierce the veil of Darkness allowing them to see their enemy. Little capsules made of Flesh hung from the ceiling with blood dripping from them. They silently crept past them as not to disturb them. They carried small metal weapons. The weapons are far more advanced than any known by most creatures. They shot small pieces of metal that could Pierce even the strongest of enemies. The only flaw was the limited amounts of ammunition they could carry. Their armor was loaded with clips from head to toe. Their weapons had little lasers that told them where they were aiming. They aimed away from the capsules and forwards the ground. Once in a while, one of them would aim forwards with a scrap or bang. They made no sound and used hand signals to communicate with one another. They came to a large door made completely out of metal. The door had little lights on it that shined red. Two of the cats walked forward a lead against the door. They held their breath as not make a sound. They listened carefully for any sounds that weren't naturally supposed to be there. They both could hear the sound of wheezing. Something that had a tough breath was by the door. They looked back at the team and nodded their heads. The team walked forward and one of them slowly opened the door. The room was mostly dark; only illuminated by pulsing lights. The lights belonged to creatures that were curled up into a ball. Their skin was transparent making them nearly invisible to the naked eye. The cats focused on their dim glowing hearts that revealed their location. One of the cats walked forward; trailing deeper into the room. He surveyed their surroundings keeping track of every creature he could see. He turned back towards the group and held up his arm. He moved it in special rhythms that any normal creature would have found nonsensical. The other cats nodded in understanding and continued to silently march forward. "What the heck happened last night?" The little dragon asked." I can't remember a thing." Discord rubbed his head as he tried to soothe the approaching headache. "It was guy's night remember? Big Mac decided to get a little wild with a few drinks." Spike froze as the memories started the flow back to him. He did remember the start of guys night and he did remember Big Mac getting them a few "light drinks." Discord took a few sips of a drink but at like baby levels. Not enough alcohol isn't gonna make you go crazy. At least Discord thought that. They all knew that they probably had a great time last night; a time that they could not remember. Of course, it couldn't have come from the light alcohol drinks they started with. They would have had to drink something far stronger. "You see I might have added something a bit more strength to it," Discord chuckled. "You what!" Discord had just spoken prematurely. He didn't fully remember what he did until he said it. He wanted then to let loose and have an actual guys night for once. After all, they have been through together, he heavily justified it. "I just wanted us to have a good time alright. It's been a while since we just relaxed, you know." Discord looked over at the angry little dragon. "Look I didn't know it was going to be this bad okay. I'm sorry alright." The ocean of Darkness was only pierced By the Light sounds of droplets hitting the ground. The squad moved in unison perfectly silent. They had finally made it past all whores of sleeping demons but the mission was far from complete. Now they were in the large far more open room but still just as dark. A lingering odor made breathing near impossible for the cats. One of them brought out a map. He studied it doing his best to recall everything he could. He then looked around seeing whether the place was on the map and how things corresponding. He looked back down at the map to a large circle area this was their destination. But they were far off from where they needed to be and they how long travel so they continued quietly. As they open another door, two of the creatures stood standing silently in the dark. Their breath was hard and long and could be heard by all of them. Its shoulders violently moved up and down as its lungs kept up with stress. The creatures did not stand like them. They walked on 4 legs sometimes but mostly these creatures stood only on two and sometimes 6. Their limbs varied from only one to as much as 10. Their figures were slammed and bony with not much detail on the outer skin. The two that stood in their path and now fighting the soldiers at least not on their own. One of the cats could easily take out one of them on their own and even more. However, the creatures had strength in large numbers that far exceeded the squads. If one of the creatures or to wake up then it risks alerting the rest of them. While the cats had a good chance of winning all-out bloodbath they prefer to keep it safe and tight only using violence as a last resort. This would be a time for violence. The tall gray cat moved up closer to the creature he looked around to see how many were there but it seemed to only go to. Being that close to the creature is started to twitch as his footsteps became almost loud enough for it to hear. He stopped and turned to the squad signaling for one of them to follow him. One of the cats who had a special pink tint to their room walked up beside him slowly. The cat was a bit smaller than the rest of them at least on four legs. She wasn't as large as the rest of the cats but for this particular mission that was a good thing. Cuz like footsteps made no sound in the Darkness and the creature never even knew she was there. She slowly walked away up towards the second one until she was nearly face-to-face was it. Its eyes were closed but she could still see them through with transparent eyelids. To turn back to the large gray cat who gave her a slow nod. He lifted three fingers and slowly drop them down when none of his fingers remained he pulled out his sword from his back and the pink cats followed his actions. With a Swift Silent strike, both cats swung down hard straight on the head of the creatures. They dropped instantly letting out a small instant shriek. The sound of their bodies hitting the ground was the only sound that echoed. The gray cat looked around to see if their presence had been known. Silence was his only response. Both cats nodded at each other acknowledging their success. The cats took note for the rest of the squad and they continued into the darkness ready to place the demons of the night.