Chapter 2
“Red Eyed Beast”
Perspective: Private Eye
I awoke to the sight of a red column of light piercing the night sky outside my window. I was sleeping in one of the guest quarters provided for me. I watched as the red column shot into the sky. It was coming from the Everfree Forest. Something was up.
I heard hoof steps outside and slipped my gear on. Slapping my hat on my head, I walked outside and saw a group of Lunar Stallions preparing to leave. Shining Armor was there clad in full battle gear.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Celestia has ordered the night guard to check out the light,” Shining explained. “Hopefully this is just some freak accident or something.”
“I'll come with you,” I volunteered. “You may need me.”
“That’s kind of you, Private,” Shining said firmly, “but it’s the duty of the royal guard to protect the ponies of Equestria. Just stay here for Twili, okay?”
He wasn’t going to back down no matter what I said, so I just nodded, “All right, but if I see anything else suspicious, I’m coming to check it out.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” Shining said, joining the other guards.
I looked out a window towards where the light came from. I know for a fact this magic felt familiar somehow. I’ve felt it before.
The question is, just what kind of sign is it?
________________________________________________________
I was walking the halls of the Night Court. It was practically deserted, even more then usual. All of the Lunar guards were in other parts of the castle, on patrol, or were checking out the light. I knew the little monsters that were the Lunar Stallion recruits wouldn’t attack me a second time, but I had my magic on Blackbird, just in case.
“Get outta here!”
I heard a voice shout and saw Prince Ember being shoved down the stairs leading up to Luna’s tower. The Lunar Stallions were shoving him rather unceremoniously. I don’t think they realized who they were pushing.
“Wait please! I only wanted to apologize!” Prince Ember protested.
“Yeah right!” one of them said. “We saw you peeking in on the Princess.
“Yeah!” another said. “Princess Luna said she doesn’t want to be bothered by nosy princes!”
“But I,” Prince Ember said before being shoved down the stairs one last time by the Lunar Stallions. He fell at my hooves and looked up at me with a sheepish smile. “You were not jesting about them”
I looked up at the Lunar Stallions who stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of me. They remembered me from Nightmare Night when they captured me for trying to speak with Luna. Fortunately, I caught Prince Ember before they offered him up as an offering to their mistress.
I crossed my forelegs in disapproval, “You didn’t have to shove him down the stairs like that.”
Some tried to protest but I kept my parent glare on them, “Luna would be very disappointed if she heard her Lunar Stallions treated somepony like this. You should’ve escorted the Prince back to his room with a warning.”
“But!” one tried to speak up.
“No buts,” I scolded. “Now, you all apologize to Prince Ember for your behavior.” Several of them were ready to protest, but then I said, “Otherwise I will tell Princess Luna just how naughty her stallions have been.”
All twenty four of them drooped their ears and said at once, “We’re sorry.”
“It’s quite all right,” Prince Ember reassured. “I will return to my room now”
The Lunar Stallions went off in various directions. Prince Ember looked at me in admiration, “The way you handled them was quite a sight to behold, Detective.”
I bowed my head and spoke simply, “I have a brother their age. I know how to handle ten year olds.”
“They were all ten?” Prince Ember’s asked, his jaw dropped in shock.
“Yeah, what they lack in years they make up for it in loyalty.”
“I should return to my room then,” Ember walked past me. “Father will not want-“
“Ember?” I heard a voice call.
“Oh no...” Prince Ember’s ears flattened when King Onyx himself entered the hallway. He looked down at his son disapprovingly. I noticed he was flanked by two armored unicorn mares. They wore the same black necklaces the herald did.
“I wake up in the middle of the night and find you trying to sneak into Princess Luna’s room?” He shook his red head. “I expected better of you.”
“Excuse me, Your Highness,” I spoke up. “Prince Ember was just going back to his room, I was to escort him.”
“I admire your attempt to lift blame off my son,” Onyx said, his yellow eyes boring into my face, “but subjects shouldn’t be so bold to speak unless spoken to.”
Touchy…
Prince Ember bowed his head “Do not blame him Father, I am to blame for my own actions”
“Will you excuse us?” Onyx said, his armored guards walking to stand side by side with me. “My Vulkyria will see you back to your quarters.”
“That won’t be necessary, Your Highness,” I said. “I can find my own way back.” I walked away leaving the two armored mares behind. They didn’t budge an inch when I moved, as if they were robots or something.
I rounded the corner and planted myself against the wall. Something else was going on here. I heard Onyx speak first, “Not only do you fail to win Luna’s heart, but you fraternize with commoners, Ember?”
“Forgive me, father,” Ember said apologetically. “Private was just helping me against those Lunar Stallions.”
“You know how I feel about you associating with commoners,” Onyx said coldly. “I’m starting to believe maybe you can’t handle yourself”
“Please Father!” Ember begged “I know what you speak of! Please! I beg of you to reconsider!”
“Your Highness,” I heard a female voice say. “The grey one has not left the area, we sense him.”
Uh oh!
I heard armored hooves coming towards my corner. This wasn’t good! I wished I was anywhere but there right then.
My horn flashed, not its normal grey, but a bright violet. I was suddenly zapped out of the hallway just before the guards could see me.
______________________________________________________
When I came to I found myself in the forelegs of a sleeping Twilight. We were lying on a soft bed together. Her forelegs were wrapped tightly around me as she breathed rhythmically. Did she teleport me here in her sleep? Well, I’m grateful for that, thank you.
She drowsily held me and rubbed her muzzle in my chest, “Preventus, there you are, I’ve been waiting for you.”
I blushed brightly at being in this situation with Twilight, but how did she teleport me here? Was she dreaming about me?
She kissed me softly on the cheek, and murmured, “Stay with me Private, don’t ever leave”
Did she realize that she was holding a real stallion in her bed? I should probably speak up, “Um, Twilight?”
Her violet eyes slowly opened. Then they shot open wide when she saw the position we were in. She leaped out of the embrace, falling off the bed. She pointed at me accusingly, “Private! What are you doing here?”
“You teleported me here!” I exclaimed defensively. “Please Twilight, you gotta believe me!”
Twilight was about to protest, then a faint blush came to her cheeks “Oh, Private, I…”
“Were you dreaming about me?” I asked teasingly.
She nodded, blushing deeper, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I could teleport others in my sleep like that.”
I got off the bed and smiled at her gratefully. “Twilight, thanks for doing so. You really saved my flank with King Onyx.”
She got up and smiled at me, and then she saw the look in my eyes “Private, what’s wrong?”
“The last time I was in a bed with you…” I said awkwardly. She didn’t need to hear the rest to understand.
She walked to me, kissed me on the lips, and looked at me with those beautiful eyes of hers “Private, you’re not under the control of the miasma any more: I’m happy that you’re here with me.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Very,” she nodded firmly, then glanced sideways nervously, “Private, shall we um, just stay together tonight?”
“Sure,” I said, with a smile. I took her hoof and we both walked to the bed, lying down together. Twilight snuggled against me, and I nuzzled her gently.
“Private?” she said, her muzzle buried in my chest.
“What Twilight?” I asked, still nuzzling her head.
“We’ve been dating for a while now,” she pointed out, “and I’ve been thinking…”
This can’t be good, she'd said the phrase! For all you stallions out there, allow me to explain. Whenever a mare says the phrase, “I’ve been thinking,” that’s the time to start worrying. Odds are, whatever comes next cannot be good.
“Thinking what exactly?” I asked, trying not to sound nervous.
“Well, my parents have been asking to meet you,” Twilight replied, with a small smile.
I rest my case.
It’s not that I didn’t want to meet her parents. Twilight and Shining turned out good, how bad could their parents be? Unfortunately, it didn’t make me any less nervous about the prospect.
I was about to give my answer when a column of light shone again. I looked out the window and saw the same red light, from the same spot. I looked over at Twilight, “Shining went there.”
Twilight hopped off the bed and opened the door, “Let’s hurry then, something could’ve happened to him!”
I nodded and we both ran outside.
_____________________________________________________
We managed to borrow a sky chariot from the leftover guards. They were hesitant to allow Twilight leave the palace so late at night. After we explained the situation however, they were happy to give us a lift.
The chariot landed in a small clearing near where I saw the light. I got out and drew Blackbird from inside my trench coat. Twilight followed me, her horn lighting the path ahead. I held up Blackbird in front of me and asked, “Twilight, do you sense anything?”
“Call me crazy,” Twilight replied, looked over at me, “but I think I can sense that same weird magic, only it’s much stronger here”
I closed my eyes, and I saw the red eyes again. This time they almost looked sad though.
“Shining!” Twilight cried, running past me and breaking me out of my trance.
Looking ahead I saw all twelve of the lunar guards that accompanied Shining were unconscious on the ground. I examined one, it looked like he was hit by an aesthetic spell of some sort. The other guards were asleep as well, but they were unharmed.
Twilight ran to find Shining; the alabaster unicorn was covering his side with his hoof. He pushed himself against a tree, his face contorted in pain. His sister ran to his side, asking frantically, “Shining, what happened?”
“Here to save my flank again huh, Twili?” Shining said attempting to smile but grimacing in pain.
“Do you have to joke around when you’re obviously hurt?” Twilight asked worriedly.
I walked to Shining and removed his hoof. Part of his armor was literally burned off, like it was hit by acid or something. The wound was cauterized from whatever burned him but it could get infected. I reached into my pocket and pulled out some medicine for burn cream. Luckily, I kept several kinds of medicines inside my trench coat just in case of emergencies like this.
“Twilight, help me get his armor off,” I commanded
She nodded and we unbuckled Shining’s armor with our magic. I was worried that the metal would infect the wound. The captain winced at the pain but kept on a brave face for Twilight. After removing the armor I applied some medicine to Shining’s burn wound and asked him, “What caused this?”
“We were attacked,” Shining explained, while Twilight held his hoof. “We came around here then we saw this…beast”
“A beast?” Twilight asked nervously.
“When he saw us he tried asking us where Princess Celestia is,” Shining grunted, as I applied more stinging medicine to the burn. “When we wouldn’t tell him, he put all the men to sleep. I managed to power through the spell, however. He shot me with some kind of magic before running into the woods.”
“Whoever did this is going to get a magic blast of his own for hurting you!” Twilight said angrily.
“I’m fine, Twili,” Shining smiled, attempting to reassure her. “I’ve been through worse.”
“Really it isn’t too bad,” I explained, as I wrapped a sterile bandage over the wound. “You’ll probably recover within the week, but your hair might take a while to grow back where the burn was.”
“Eh,” Shining smiled. “Cadence thinks battle scars are sexy, anyway.”
Twilight rolled her eyes but then looked at the other soldiers, “Why would he put the guards to sleep but attack my brother?”
“He missed,” Shining explained. “He got all the others but I managed to dodge the spell in time.”
I walked around the sleeping guards, but then I came across an odd rock. I levitated it to my eyes analyzing it. It was black, and smelled like brimstone. It reminded me of some of the volcanic rocks that Dad would bring back home, whenever my parents vacationed to the private island dad used to own. Dad ended up selling it to pay for their wedding.
I looked back at Shining, “Can you describe the creature at all?”
“He looked like an Alicorn,” Shining said, shifting to find a more comfortable position against the tree, “only he was different. He had wings like a dragon, and his eyes were blood red”
Red eyes, dragon wings? Could it be him?
“Where did he go off to after he attacked you?” I asked.
“He just disappeared,” Shining explained “I didn’t see where he went. He said something about finding Celestia.”
“We can’t let that thing get to Celestia!” Twilight cried, zealously.
“We’d better get back to Canterlot Castle and warn her,” I said, turning to head back to the sky chariot.
That was when I saw him, I heard the rush of wind and looked up, a large Alicorn shaped form was outlined against Luna’s moon. Large dragon like wings flapped in the wind as he flew. He was heading straight back towards Canterlot Castle.
“He was using Shining Armor as bait,” I deduced. “He wanted somepony to find him so that we’d spill the beans on where Celestia is.”
“Go on then!” Shining ordered “I’ll be fine.”
Twilight looked at her brother, “We’ll send help once we stop that thing from getting to Celestia.”
“Be careful, Twili.” Shining said, putting a hoof on his sister’s shoulder.
“I will BBBFF,” she smiled, as we both ran to the sky chariot to follow the mysterious being. He was a good few yards ahead of us as he flew towards the castle. Damn it, that’ll teach me to run my mouth, I guess.
_____________________________________________________
Perspective: Celestia
I walked the gardens under the light of my sister’s moon. Sleep had evaded me on this night. My mind was haunted by dreams of centuries ago. No matter how many years I spent trying to forget all that happened it seems one tiny push can send me right back. I guess that comes with immortality, you have much more time to think about the mistakes you made.
Scree!
I looked up as Philomena circled above me, her fire illuminating the garden somewhat. I smiled and lifted my foreleg for her to rest on it. “Hello there, Philomena, shouldn’t you be asleep by now,” I scolded, gently.
Her chirp of protest reminded me of my hypocrisy.
“I guess you’re right,” I laughed a little. “I just have a lot on my mind right now.”
She tilted her head, her eyes telling me everything.
I sighed, “Look, I know you’re worried about me, but I’m fine really.”
Philomena gave a chorus to the contrary.
“You’re right,” I smiled at my pet. “I miss him too.”
She walked up my arm and nuzzled me affectionately, I nuzzled my faithful pet back, “I’ll be fine, Philomena. This isn’t fifteen hundred years ago when I needed you to go to sleep at night.”
She gave laughter like screeches at the memory, and then flew off my arm and began to sing that old tune.
I shook my head, “Philomena, I haven’t sung that in years.”
She gave me a pleading look; I guess she was feeling nostalgic as well.
I sighed and gave in, “All right, but if you tell Luna about this, I’ll pluck out all your feathers and turn them into a feather duster.”
She just chirped and kept singing that old melody.
I rolled my eyes and sang along
I know you
I’ve walked with you once, upon a dream
I know you, the gleam in your eyes
Is so familiar a gleam
And I know it’s true,
That visions are seldom all they seem…
Did the bushes rustle just now?
Must be one of the critters again, they never could get along with ponies around them. Perhaps I should’ve informed Fluttershy of that before she arrived.
I just closed my eyes and went back to singing:
But if I know you,
I know what you’ll do,
You’ll love me at once
The way you did once,
Upon a dream…
I just sang along to myself for a few minutes, just getting lost in memories of a time long gone. So engrossed was I in my singing I didn’t notice that Philomena had stopped for some reason.
I just kept on singing, not wanting this moment to end.
But if I know you,
I know what you’ll do!
You’ll love me at once!
Just then, I heard a deep bass sing the last line.
The way you did once, upon a dream…
I slowly turned, behind me, smiling at me, was him…
He was my height, maybe a few inches taller. His coat was black as a moonless night and his mane was snowy white. It was long and shaggy; he never would listen to me when I said he needed a mane cut. His large leathery wings were tucked at his side. His forelegs were adorned with white shoes resembling my own. His eyes though, were bright red and slitted like a dragon’s. He took a tentative step towards me.
“Tia, it’s me,” he said, his voice the deep bass tone I remembered. It was gentle and soothing, in my youth I'd loved listening to it.
This, no, no…
“Tia?” he said, raising an eyebrow.
My horn glowed gold and I fired a blast of magic at him. He took the brunt of the blast with a shield spell but he still flew back several feet. He looked up at me and a small smirk came to his face, “I guess I deserve that after getting myself sealed up for fifteen hundred years”
He was even imitating his scoundrel tone?
This impostor had no shame!
My horn glowed as my anger rose, “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know who you work for, but if you think you can imitate Voidera like this, you have made a grave mistake.”
His red eyes blinked and then he shook his head “I am no impostor, Tia! It’s me! Voidera!”
I advanced on him, my horn still aglow, “Prove it then.”
“Um,” he thought for a moment and then pointed at me, “You have an unhealthy lust for cake!”
“Gabby Gums already beat you to that rumor,” I fired at him. I shot another bolt of magic at him. This one hit him in the chest and he fell onto his back. I glared down at him.
He tried again, “You used to sleep with a stuffed seal named Mcfluffy!”
I’ve only told Luna and…
No, it can’t be him!
“Luna could’ve let that slip one night,” I retorted. “If you wish to continue with this charade know that my guards are more than happy to take assassins to the dungeon.”
“I’m no assassin!” This stallion spoke frantically. “What will convince you I am Voidera?”
“Say what you said the night before we agreed to go save Luna!” I demanded. Only the real Voidera would know what he said. It was only the two of us back then. This would prove him truly a cruel impostor.
Then, he closed his eyes and said in the ancient Alicorn language, “Reliqua mea custodiat et non es princeps, sed amice.”
My violet eyes grew wide, “I will guard you the rest of my days, not because you are a princess, but because…”
He finished the last bit, “but because you are my friend.”
Voidera!
It is you…
_____________________________________________________________
Perspective: Private Eye
We landed at the castle gates and hopped out of the carriage. I looked at the guards pulling the sky carriage, “I’ll give you two a recommendation for a promotion once all of this is done.”
They nodded in approval while Twilight and I ran into the castle. I yelled at a nearby guard, “Where’s Princess Celestia?”
“She went out to the gardens,” the guard explained. “Did something happen?”
“Somepony may be trying to hurt her,” Twilight said urgently. “Gather the other guards in case we need them!”
The guard nodded and flew off to warn the other guards. Twilight led the way into the gardens. Her violet eyes were looking around frantically, “How could the guards have missed a giant Alicorn?”
“He might’ve teleported” I pointed out. “We did lose him in the clouds back there.”
“Where could she be?” Twilight asked worriedly, looking at the various trees for some sign of Celestia.
I looked at a nearby bird bath. I noticed some interesting marks on one of the jewels on it. “Twilight, somepony tried to take a bite out of this.”
Twilight looked over at the bird bath; sure enough teeth marks were present on one of the sapphires adorning it. She shook her head, “Spike should know better than to eat so late at night.”
“I don’t think Spike made these,” I said warily. “These marks are too big.”
“Private, look!” She cried, pointing at hoof prints on the ground. “We got our midnight snacker!”
I nodded, Twilight’s tracking spell illuminated the way through the garden. Twice it cut into the bushes, sometimes leaving the ground entirely; this pony was trying to hide somehow. This could be our Alicorn trying to be stealthy?
I ran into Twilight’s flank when she stopped suddenly, “Twilight what-“
Her eyes were wide as dinner plates and her mouth was gaping open. I followed those eyes and my own grey eyes grew huge at what I saw.
We found our Alicorn all right.
He was lying on his back,
Celestia atop him.
They were kissing…