//------------------------------//
// Act II, Chapter 5: A New Beginning 
// Story: Of Starships and Golden Armors 
// by Devona 
//------------------------------//

Sounds of wind drowned out Cloud Haze's echoing hoofsteps as the former guard wandered down the empty streets of Canterlot covered by the darkness of the night. Thoughts of getting back to the barracks entered and escaped his head, rapidly discarded, and then reconsidered, over and over again, only deepening the unicorn's sense of cluelessness. What should he do, now that all is gone? Go back home? What home? To family? And admit to having wasted everything for that stupid post in the EUP? Eh, no mater, it's not like they'd cheer at his sight anyway.

And so, Cloud Haze wandered aimlessly on the streets of Canterlot, as the window lights got extinguished one after another, replaced in their duty by the many lampposts lit up manually by magical currents. The chilly, whistling breeze made the unicorn shiver once every often, but he didn't care anymore, marching forward mechanically, keeping his head down. Eventually, Cloud Haze's hoofs brought him, subconsciously or not, to the one place where lights were still far from off - the Cloudy Goblet Inn, the only place that never sleeps. In Canterlot, at least.

Noone noticed when Cloud Haze opened the big door, letting the cold breeze in. It was nothing strange though - the unicorn's aura, all grey, didn't really stand out all that much, but more importantly, while Canterlot streets did not attract at this time of day, the Cloudy Goblet was everything but empty, the ponies' booming chatter drowning out any and all sounds from the outside. In fact, the customer mob was so expansive that it took Cloud Haze at least five minutes to even get to the counter, but it was worth it. At last, almost automatically, Cloud Haze's mind felt lighter, emptier. He couldn't quite explain why, but it was exactly what he had needed.

There, he sat, somehow relieved, still left to his own thoughts. All around, to his right and left, ponies talked, cheered, laughed, ocassionally bumping both into Cloud Haze and each other, but the unicorn didn't mind. This feeling, this atmosphere was the best possible depiction of the beauty of Cloudy Goblet. The loneliness that had so suddenly fallen upon him was instantly no more, allowing to drain out the rocking depression and simply think straight - about what was to come, but also what had been.

What was it back in the Everfree? A pitch-black being, almost like a windigo, but even more incorporeal, gloomy, akin to a ghost or spirit. Form weird, undefined, but also stable and unchanged, as if made of flesh and blood, like everypony else.
And the contraption next to it, clearly mechanical, and yet somehow able to cast magical rays, seemingly unassisted. What was it? Was it the creature's, or not? And what was this wave, blue like the sky, that it fired upon the guards? What spell was it?
And why, for Celestia's sake, were they not allowed to engage the monster? Why were they in the Everfree in the first place, then?

"And what might I do for you, my dear friend?" a cheerful voice from behind the counter brought Cloud Haze out of his thoughts. Startled, the unicorn lifted his head up from his hooves, and shaking it, looked at the new pony. Sure enough, it was the bartender, a white pegasus mare with a big, unwavering smile, which persisted despite more and more idle seconds passing by. Reorganizing his thoughts, Cloud Haze decided he probably shouldn't make her wait forever.

"Uhh... I don't know, give me something... something..."

"Nice? Strong?"

"Yeah, both," answered the unicorn, waving his hoof. It really didn't matter for him.

"Sure that. Just like everypony. 'Drink first, think later'; it's kinda a principle here, you know?"

Yeah, I wonder why, Cloud Haze rolled his eyes, while the bartender continued her ramble, flying higher and higher by the impossibly tall shelves, pulling out bottle after bottle.

"I can tell you at least a dozen names that live by that at any time, no kidding! Can't say I condemn them, to be sure," the mare finally landed, a big, green bottle in her muzzle. "Thinking about it, I don't think I've ever seen you in here? We've got quite the clientele, but not many new ponies these days," she sad, putting it down. "Unless it's only a one-time visit, these do happen! Say, how will it be in your case?"

"Hm? Oh, no, no, I probably will... keep coming, that is... from now on... And you did see me, just... quite some time ago," Cloud Haze tried to force a chuckle, but pretty amusingly only managed to let out a miserable huff.

"'Quite some time'? What happened, then? How could you abandon this lovely place?" 

"Nothing, I just... an adventure with the EUP... nothing more to it," mumbled Cloud Haze, trying to dismiss the bartender. The thought of once again having to deal with social difficulties didn't sit well with him, but he now had all the time in the world, and at this moment, he just wanted to be left to his own thoughts.

The mare however had another idea. "Oh, the Guard, then? I certainly do not see many of you in here," the bartender flew a few feet in the air, turning to some unseen pony in the distance. "Hey, Shudder, you heard that? A Royal in our place!" chuckling, she immediately dropped down again, the previous show more for Cloud Haze than anypony else. "Don't they only accept white-coated, thought? Oh, my granny always said you have those fancy masking spells! You know, those that make you all look the same and everything! How does it feel?" the mare continued, doing quite an amusing dance in an improvised attempt to imitate a 'guard'.

Cloud Haze sighed loudly. "There is no spell, why would there be? I don't get why all you ponies think we are all akin. We aren't at all!" the unicorn rised his voice slightly, irritated by the unending rambling, and on a rather personal topic at that. "No way any of us would ever mistake me for another, or vice versa!"

"Really? Doesn't seem like it, but sure, I guess," the mare carried on, ignoring the signs Cloud Haze's been giving her. "Also, oh! Kinda curious, forgive. What makes a good reason to leave the Guard? You don't seem old enough for retirement," the mare paused for a second, finally putting his drink on the counter. "Because, hey, I know at least a few ponies who would-"

"You wanna know!?" exclaimed Cloud Haze, straightening up. This was getting ridiculous. "Maybe, I don't know, getting fired for being the only pony actually following orders and not cowardly enough to run from the Celestia-damn alien!"

And with that, the room fell silent. No chatter reached Cloud Haze's ears, as he realised his words had drowned everything out just like the wind was doing in the open. 

And so, Cloud Haze stood, with clenched teeth, petrified. For some reason he couldn't explain, anger traversed him like it shouldn't have - wounds from the 'talk' with his former superiors still far from closed. 

Over time, the sole faint tune passing through the now-still air faded as well, as a quiet, insignificant chuckle rised somewhere in the back. But it was only a vanguard, like the first star at night, or the first raindrop moistening the bushes during a thunderstorm. It rocked through the hall, and on the way, others joined in, and others, and others, until at last, a few clear words reached Cloud Haze's right ear.

"Ay, did the alien at least show you how flat Equis is?"

And that was enough. As if on cue, those so far trying to remain quiet joined in as booming, unending laughter rocked the room, almost lifting clouds of ash from the less-than-sterile floor. And Cloud Haze remained, frozen and petrified, even expression still unchanged.

Great. This was just incredible. Purely incredible! A truly marvellous new beginning.

The bartender turned her head, covering her mouth with a hoof, unsuccessfully trying to stifle the chuckles. Cloud Haze's eye began to twitch, and his teeth were clenched almost to the point of shattering. His face burned red, as the unicorn remained in the tensed up posture. He was done. All that effort, and right at the very beginning he gets this. Nopony even for a single moment dared to assume he might've been joking, or saying it figuratively, or something. No - granted, he hadn't been, not completely at least, for he knew not the being's nature, but that wasn't the point. Just pure mockery without second thoughts - and, obviously, not a tinge of belief. Why would there be, though? 

But more importantly, why would he ever do what he did? It should've been obvious nopony in a place like that would be bright enough to seriously talk about what had happened to.

The bartender, at last calmed down, finally broke through the roaring laughs, trying to, somehow, get to Cloud Haze. "Yes, I think I know why they... retired you. Now, it may be better if-," as soon as she raised her head, the pegasus trailed off. Where just a second ago stood the military unicorn, now there was nothing, the small gap in an instant filled by the swirling crowd. The drink too was now gone, as Cloud Haze squeezed through the living mass in his search for a quieter place.







Cloud Haze marched through the rough sea of ponies, pushed by one, then another, and the first one again, and a third. The onslaught of customers seemed even more expansive than before, even though Cloud Haze couldn't tell the reason. He could barely see where he was going, let alone move more freely, so instead he just opted to go with the current while trying to make it to the inn's rim, where he figured there would be more space, but the whole undertaking proved much more demanding than he had assumed. Over time, the initial laughter faded, but the noise did not, Cloud Haze's humiliation serving as a trigger for more heated conversations. Ponies had already mostly forgotten about him, yes, but instead they turned to themselves, exchanging words with equal, if not higher energy than they had mocking the unicorn. As Cloud Haze passed through the thinning crowd, a pony or two made some smug remarks, but that was about it.

Eventually, with force unwitnessed since the fall of Discord, Cloud Haze fell out of the raging, living ocean and discovered he had reached the inn's wall. From there, it would be a trivial way out - straight in either direction, and you reach the corner. Easy.

Well, it was not easy, though it was eas-ier. Pushing his way through the ponies still proved to be a challenge, but after a mere minute Cloud Haze could already walk normally, without constantly having to forcefully remove others out of his way. Another moment, and nopony was left, as the unicorn finally set hoof near the hall's corner - obscure, not that well preserved corner, though at least it was decently lit. Here, Cloud Haze could tell that little had changed since he last visited this place - literally, as some places definitely required renovation. A green wallpaper with an undefined, uniform pattern adorned everything around, cut off in the middle by a wooden bar, which, like a fence, marked a border - in this case between a wall of green and dark brown panels. Right in the very corner a single, lonely table stood, quite curiously abandoned by everypony, as if cursed. Not caring a single bit, Cloud Haze took a sit, setting his colorful drink down, as he allowed himself to cast a small smile at the incredible accomplishment of only spilling about a fifth of the glass. 

At least they didn't get used to that mockery. Maybe they'll forget...?

In an effort to, more formally that is, begin the process of casting his worries away, Cloud Haze took a sip, preparing himself for quite a treat...

...and immediately sput everything out, eyes wide open. The bartender did not lie when she said it'd be strong. Too bad Cloud Haze forgot to mention he wanted the thing drinkable.

Pushing the half-full glass aside, Cloud Haze once again leaned against his own hooves, and gazing forward into some unseen abyss, descended into the realm of contemplation - something he had very much wished to avoid. 

What now? Where does he go once he leaves this place? Once he makes his way through the sea of ponies, as that was truly all that was left to do? There were rooms in the Cloudy Goblet, but Cloud Haze couldn't stay there forever - unless he finds a job, that is. A stable job. And what could that possibly be?

When contemplating like that, the former guard failed to notice another unicorn, with an orange coat and mane black as the night, clumsily squeeze through the mob, then briefly fall over after leaving it, before finally, slowly sneaking up to Cloud Haze, not sure whether to approach him or not. The truth however was that hadn't the guard been completely submerged in his own thoughts, there would be no chance the suspicious stranger would ever escape his attetion. Now, though, submerged he was, and so it was only when the new pony joined him at table that Cloud Haze finally turned his head - and only that, as after a short nod, he immediately returned his sight to the immaterial space it focused on earlier.

The stranger bit his lower lip, looking to the side, troubled, but it wasn't long before he changed his strategy, beginning to mess with the wooden table instead. The lack of goal in that undertaking however was so blatantly obvious that the unicorn himself must've realised it would get him nowhere, and, after a deep breath, jetted forward.

"Wasittruewhatyousaid?" he quickly asked, both shouting and whispering at the same time, a feat only actors could achieve. Excitement and curiosity won out.

Cloud Haze however, although initially taken aback, was not amused. Closing his eyes, he sighed. "Oh, so here we go again? I'm fed up with this already." The former guard already began to leave, standing up and evaluating the best way to bypass the stormy mass, when the stranger called out once again.

"Wait! I want to talk about the alien!"

"Oh, I'm sure you do."

"N-no, not like that! I'm being serious!"

Cloud Haze turned his head. "And you mean...?"

"I mean, I want to know if you meant it. What you said."

"What for?"

The stranger bit his lip once again, visibly troubled. After playing with his hooves for a few seconds, he returned his answer. "I... we... may have had indirect experience... with, well... some things..."

Cloud Haze returned to the table once again. "'We'?"

"It's complicated..." the stranger smiled sheepishly.

Cloud Haze took a deep sigh. "Listen... I don't know who you are, nor do you know me. Why do you bother? What is it all about?" He leaned forward slightly, turning his head sideways every so often in an instinctive effort to conceal the conversation. "Alright, just... are you being serious right now? What the hay do you mean?"

Now it was the stranger's time to sigh, calming his obvious nerves. "It's... complicated. But I... I... alright, I promise you I'm being serious, okay? We... just, did you mean what you said? Please, be truthful."

For a while, Cloud Haze remained petrified in his leaning form. Was it true? Or was this another, especially cruel attempt at mockery? For that Cloud Haze had no desire, even though at this point it was little more than annoying rambling for him. However, soon a bright idea shone in the unicorn's mind.

"Say... have you ever been to Ponyville?" He asked, somewhat out of place.

"Ponyville?" the stranger replied, a confused frown on his face.

"A town. Down the mountain, by the Everfree."

"Oh, yeah! But no, sorry. I only passed through."

"Well, that's too bad, because I need you to Pinkie Promise me you're being serious." Cloud Haze suddenly said, confusing the stranger even more. It was a good while before he returned his answer.

"Pin-what?"

"Pinkie Promise. A promise you cannot break, under which you cannot lie - simple as that. There is one pretty craze mare in Ponyville who thought it up... I was stationed there for some time, hence why... just, don't ask," the former guard finally finished, shaking his head in request. 

"Uhh... okay? I... I Pinkie Promise you I'm being serious. Now, were you being truthful?" the stranger stuttered, the matter still mostly escaping his comprehension.

"It's not like that. You need to-"

"Listen!" the stranger cut Cloud Haze off. "I swear I'm being serious, okay? I'm not gonna make fun of you, nor am I gonna mock you! I'm practically cheering inside that we're even talking in the first place! But before I say more, I really need to know if you meant what you... said. I need to know!" he almost shouted, leaning forward even more and nearly touching Cloud Haze with his muzzle. Taken aback, the former guard withdrew his head, before fully registering what the pony had just said.

"I..." he began hesitantly. "I saw... there was something, I don't know if it was an alien or not... a weird being, maybe an alien, maybe a spirit, and some magic-casting machinery... which looked advanced. Very advanced. That's what I witnessed, so... you can say I meant it," Cloud Haze finally finished. After the start, words just kind of began to flow by themselves, whether because of the simple, internal need to spit it all out or the smoldering hope that maybe, just maybe, somepony was actually believing. There was somepony. Just maybe. "What does that have to do with anything, thought?"

The stranger just smiled slowly, exposing his teeth. "You meant it. You saw it," he said, laughing. "When? When was it? When was it?"

"Uhh, just yesterday. Calm down," replied Cloud Haze, tilting his head in confusion.

"And here we thought these things had stopped! But of course they didn't! They couldn't. They can't. It seems the urge to come here is just too great!" the pony exclaimed between deep laughs emanating with both joy and disbelief. Once he calmed down, the unicorn continued. "Come, you were not wrong. Machinery casting spells? Not something of Equusian origin. Follow me." 

"Wait, what? What do you mean?" Cloud Haze shouted after the already leaving stranger. Did he mean the creature was truly an alien? Cloud Haze just spat out the first thing that came to mind, and what, it was suddenly true? How is that possible? And most importantly, how does this new guy know so much about... all of that? "Who even are you?" Cloud Haze asked, unable to resist the urge.

The stranger briefly halted his trot, just short of once again descending into the swirling mob, and faced the former guard. "Come, and you'll know, sooner than you think. As for me? You can call me Bright Flower. Now come, you will not regret it," with that, the pony turned around once again, before disappearing inside the crowd.

Cloud Haze, however, remained - but only for a short while. Whether it was an impulse making him act, or the desire, the glimmering hope of finding company, or maybe even just simple curiosity, Cloud Haze soon disappeared from the Inn's dusty corner, his bleak silhouette hellbent on following Bright Flower, the half-full glass of liquor dancing happily on the left-behind table.