//------------------------------//
// Ambience 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

The soldier turned slightly, and quirked an eyebrow questioningly. "What do you mean?" he asked to the guard.
"My life," the guard said. "You could take it for yourself. Make it your own. It's not much, but it would be a place to start." He looked out at the ruins a while longer, as the other unicorn looked at him. "We're both unicorns, so it's not a problem there. You've even got military training already."
"But what about all the ponies you know?" asked the soldier. "What about your friends? What about your family?" He leaned a little closer. "I can't take those away from you. I can't be you for them, either. They're yours."
"Friends?" The guard looked up at the sky, and quietly exhaled. "I don't have friends. At best I have colleagues, and none who care enough to notice the difference. The only family I have is my mother, and she's not all there anymore, she won't know better either." He eyed the soldier to his side. "It's not much to start with, but it is a starting point. You can build something new from it."
"And what about you?" asked the soldier, confused but curious.
"Free," the guard replied, turning to look at the other. "To go wherever, to do whatever. I'm tired of this life, but maybe you can make something out of what was a dead end for me. I'll travel around. Maybe I'll even make something new of myself. We both get something we want out of this."
The soldier hesitated, looking at the guard's expression. He seemed dead serious, yet completely calm. Either he'd gone insane, or he'd thought about his words long enough to be certain of them. "You'd really do it, for me?"
"For both of us, as I said," the guard replied. "You are a chance I never thought I'd get. If you want to, go ahead. Take my name, take my life, let me be the ghost. A little magic at most is all it'll take for the looks. Just make sure you visit your mother, every once in a while."
The soldier stared in silence at the guard's unwavering eyes. Seconds, then minutes, both quietly thinking without looking away. Finally, the soldier nodded.
The guard leaned in close, and whispered his name in the unicorn's ear. "Ask around, you'll get all the details." The other leaned forward to do the same, but a hoof gently placed on his mouth stopped him. "Don't," the unicorn said. "Let me go without one. Let it die here today."
The unicorn nodded again, and drew back. The other smiled at him, then quietly stood. He looked around, felt the wind blow against his coat, picked a direction away from the heart of the Empire and began to walk.
Not too far away, atop what was left of a building, a pile of rubble taller than some others around, two others followed the conversation, and watched the ghost wander away as the guard was left there. "You're letting them do it?" Celestia asked.
"What harm is there?" asked Twilight back to her.