//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Danger in the Shadows // Story: Harmony and Courage: Running Parallel // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Chapter 8: Danger in the Shadows ------------- For Azure Courage, it had been the most tedious waiting period of his lifetime. The past three days had been the dullest days he'd had since coming to Ponyville. All he had to do in the hospital was to literally lie in wait until the doctors discharged him. The food there wasn't exactly top-rate, which the colt supposed was standard for all hospitals. Of course, one of the nurses was kind enough to inform him why they were detaining him for so long even though the checkup only added a few cuts and bruises to his medical record. As his luck would have it, Twilight Sparkle had kindly informed the doctors, and the nurse had so politely quoted: "to keep him detained until you're sure he's completely healed this time". Which, given that all he had to do was wait for his cast to come off and most of his cuts to heal up, was still three days more than he would have liked to stay. Yet, Azure found he couldn't particularly find fault with her approach this time, and thus resolved to not go by the library, instead going straight home. The cyan colt had found it only moderately odd that despite the time of day, none of his friends were out and about. Even Rainbow Dash didn't seem to be up to her usual tricks on this particular afternoon. All signs pointed to one thing, but the pony didn't really want to think it'd be going there. Yet, as he neared his abode, that feeling diminished. "Alright," he thought, trotting casually up to the door as he opened it with his magic. He stepped over the threshold. The very instant the sound of the door closing entered his ears, light flooded his eyes, and he jumped around, a combative reflex that would probably never leave him... "Surprise!!" ...no matter how many Pinkie Pie parties he'd attend in his lifetime. This time, there was a gigantic banner that read "Welcome Home, Azie", notably with Pinkie's personal name for him written down upon it. The crowd in his home was far less than it was during his welcome party, only containing the six ponies, Spike, and a handful of other ponies he'd seen around town. "You know, I really should have seen this coming..." Azure commented, brushing off a spare streamer with the hoof he'd had in a cast for ten days. "So, Twilight, was this why you wanted me detained?" "No..." Twilight said in response. "Knowing you, you might have hurt yourself more before the three days were up." "Thought that was your reason," answered the cyan unicorn as he strode over to the refreshments, ready to commence the party in earnest. "Though I have to ask how you always seem to get into my house to set this up, Pinkie...I'm not even home this time and you manage to get in..." "You left the door unlocked in your rush!" Pinkie's tone and features suggested she'd briefly become serious over the matter. Azure spaced out, trying to remember if he had locked his door after Virid forced Crimson and Rainbow to race. He most certainly forgot. "Oh..." "Don't worry about it, though!" The pink party pony immediately switched back to being her usual cheery self, "We made sure to keep your house closed off while I planned this!" The cyan colt nodded his head. "Ah, thanks." "Hey, now," Rainbow said, interrupting the conversation. "I thought this was a party!" ------------- It had been a good two hours since the blue pegasus mare had gotten the party officially started. While nowhere near as festive as Azure's welcome party or Twilight's, it was clear Pinkie paid very close attention to what she was doing when she threw these parties. It was impressive how a seemingly unfocused pony could be so meticulous. That pony was a phenomenon. If the colt didn't know any better, he'd almost say she had some form of magic of her own. Though, there was one thing that was sort of off about one of the partygoers. As he glanced to his left, he could see Fluttershy trying her hardest to remain relatively out of sight, even with the much smaller crowd accounted for. But that wasn't what was weird; he'd known from the start that she was very meek and tried to live in seclusion. No, what was off about her today was the fact that she looked awful. Her eyes looked bagged, and she was slightly dishelveled, almost like she hadn't slept a lot recently. What's up with Fluttershy? thought the cyan colt to himself. She couldn't have been that worried about me that she'd lose sleep over me...right? Azure quietly poured himself punch, keeping one eye on the sleepy-eyed mare. Her eyes began fluttering shut, and she began to wobble. He took a sip, prepared to rush over and stop her from falling flat on her face should she completely lose her balance. Thankfully, the yellow pegasus was able to halt herself from dozing off on the spot with a shake of her head, but it was clear she was desperately trying to stay awake. Gosh, she's barely able to stay awake... the pony thought to himself, taking a large drink of the punch. Definitely been losing sleep recently, but over what? Deciding he wasn't going to find out just standing around and watching her wobble, he decided to finish the cup of punch he was drinking, and walk over to the sleepy mare, to see if she'd tell him what's wrong. Before he could finish making his way over to her, Rainbow flew over to Fluttershy first. "Hey, Fluttershy, what's with you?" Rainbow asked. "You look like you haven't slept in days." Fluttershy formulated a reply, but Celestia help him, Azure couldn't hear her. The rainbow-maned pegasus's brow furrowed, apparently unable to hear her clearly over the din. She landed on the ground next to Fluttershy, the side opposite of where the cyan colt was standing in relation to the meek mare. Azure grumbled, trying to be subtle about approaching them so he could better tune into their conversation. "C'mon, Fluttershy, you're gonna have to speak up just a little so I can hear you," The blue mare had ironically lowered her own volume so as not to potentially embarass her friend. "You can tell me..." "Well," Even at the dangerously close proximity Azure had to be just to pick up on this, Fluttershy's words were a hassle to make out. "It's just...there have been these strange noises at night, and sometimes, I feel like somepony's watching me. I-I lie awake all n-night, Rainbow." "How long has this been going on?" Dash asked, a dangerous tone in her voice. "A c-couple of nights," responded Fluttershy, sounding almost terrified by the tone were it not for the deep yawn she released after that clause. "The night after Azure's cousins left..." "Why didn't you tell somepony?" asked the much tougher mare. "I...I didn't want to worry anypony," Azure almost loudly put his head down on the table from how that sounded, but was able to keep his composure. You live close to the Everfree Forest, the cyan colt thought to himself. Were it not for your ability to handle even large and dangerous animals, I'd be worried about you. All the same...something's fishy... "C'mon, we're friends, remember?" responded Rainbow Dash. There was a flat tone to her voice, one that indicated that there really wouldn't be any other way. "I'll sleep over tonight and keep watch for you, okay?" "Oh...um, if you want to..." Not that Fluttershy was capable of refusing with force in the first place. She gave another yawn. As Azure tried to return his focus to the party while shifting away from the mares so they wouldn't know he was eavesdropping, his mind began to wander as he pondered what was going on. If Fluttershy's worried about the wildlife, this might be a job for me... thought the cyan colt to himself. Overall, I'm one-for-three on the Protector business...If this is as bad as it sounds, it's time for some redemption. The party was still going on, and Azure Courage gave a small nod. For now, he would enjoy this party. However, once the others were gone, he would go to Fluttershy's cottage and investigate these strange disturbances... ------------- The party carried on well into the night hours. By the time it was over, it was nearly midnight. Spike and Twilight were the first to leave, though the dragon did groggily voice his objections even as he was yawning. Applejack was next, saying she had stuff to get back to on the farm in the morning and couldn't be up much later. Rarity objected to the idea of staying past midnight, citing her need for beauty sleep. Other partygoers left one-by-one. Pinkie was the very last pony to leave after helping Azure clean up his home. "Alright, finally," mumbled the colt to himself. "Now then, it's time to go over to Fluttershy's and see if there's any disturbances. It's basically midnight, and I'm wide awake. Let's do this..." He'd packed very few things into his bag, but what was there was essential to the night. Admittedly, he was a bit nervous. The whole reason Rainbow had gone over there in the first place was to make sure Fluttershy could sleep. Azure knew he'd feel out of place, especially if there wasn't anything to the meek mare's fears. With his mind made up, the cyan colt left his home, making doubly sure to lock his door before heading for Fluttershy's place. As he left the general vicinity of Ponyville, the unicorn felt a chill rake up his spine as the weather changed from manual to automatic. The moon was blocked out by the clouds, darkening the path to the cottage further. Fluttershy's scared of her own shadow, or at least more than likely... he thought to himself. How is she able to stand being so far from the others? Even with all the animals to keep her company, I mean... He didn't notice how different the forest looked at night until now. He lowered the volume of his steps and crouched down slightly as he trotted along, attempting to stay out of sight of whatever was out there. So far so good, he thought to himself. Just about there... His ear twitched as he heard noise among the trees, close by. He grit his teeth and slowed down a little more, getting even closer to the ground to try and avoid being seen until he was at the meek mare's abode. Looks like I'm not alone out here... The path seemed to get even darker now. A glance to the moon revealed that it had been almost completely blocked out now. However, he could see enough to discern Fluttershy's cottage, just up ahead. He got off the ground, but continued to slowly walk towards the structure. The lights were off, indicating it was probably already quiet there, but Azure couldn't leave it at that. If I take a peek inside, maybe Dash'll still be awake... He finally managed to get close to the house, but before he could pick into the window, he heard a faint grumbling. As he turned to the source, a dark shape suddenly bullcharged him, knocking him straight out of his bags. In a moment, he felt two blunt objects which felt like hooves pressing against his chest. It was so dark he couldn't see the identity of his adversary, but even so, he had been attacked first. He raised his forehooves abruptly, tossing his assailiant off of him. He managed to roll onto his hooves, unable to see the horn on his forehead let alone anything else. The shape charged him, and Azure counter-charged, only to once again be sent into a rolling frenzy. This time, the colt was on guard and had pinned his assailant to the ground at the base of a large tree. He cocked his forehoof back, preparing for another hoof-punch. The moon's light suddenly lit up the scenery, the clouds no longer obscuring the light source. "A-Az...?" Azure looked down, and his jaw almost hit the ground when he'd realized what he'd almost done. "R-Rainbow...?" he asked. For a moment, neither one spoke. "Rarity was right..." responded Dash to the new position with a rather crooked grin. "You are rough..." The cyan colt flinched and blushed from the comment, especially considering that he was pinning her to the ground. Quickly, he backed away from her, allowing her back to her feet. "W-why did you attack me?" he asked, trying his hardest to shake off the rather awkward comment. "Thought you were the thing scaring Fluttershy at night..." she responded. "What were you doing here?" "I was going to peek into her window--" He halted, but Dash's face told him that he had in fact chosen the wrong words. "Not like that!" Azure defended at a much louder volume than he intended to. Rainbow managed to get over to him in record time to jam her hoof into his mouth to quiet him down. "Keep it down," she whispered. "You have no idea how long it took to get Fluttershy to sleep!" She glanced towards the house for a few seconds longer, then, seeing that there was no sign of movement or otherwise, sighed in response. "So how'd you know about her problem, then?" "I overheard you two at the party," Azure didn't even bother asking how she didn't notice him moving towards them so that he could hear the problem better. "I was worried about Fluttershy too." The look Rainbow Dash gave him was almost comparable to Virid's, just without the jerk undertones to it. She playfully nudged him. "Awww..." she started. "You're just a big softie, aren't you..." Azure flinched again. "Maybe..." he said, trying to hold himself from blushing. "Anyway, I came over here because I thought I could help out, see what's been bothering Fluttershy at night." "A team up, huh?" Rainbow looked like she was honestly considering it. "Alright..." The blue pegasus pony quickly flew her way over to a window, and nodded, flying back to Azure. "She's still asleep," she confirmed. "Alright, you stay down here, I'll go into the air..." "Not really sure how it could have worked any other way..." ------------- Rainbow Dash and Azure Courage split up the responsibility of watching out for whatever it was that was scaring Fluttershy awake. The minutes turned to hours as they continued their stakeout, forgoing their own sleep schedules for the night. As the two had to fight off sleepiness, both realized something important. They never asked what time the disturbances started... ------------- "Alright, two days of careful observation on the Element of Kindness. It is true, she is the farthest from the town..." The voice was but a whisper in the wind, coming from a hooded figure not too far off from the ponies. The body type was definitely that of a pony, four legs with hooves coming out of the cloak that covered its body. A dark blue horn protruded from the cloak, same with the end of a messy, unkempt, almost black tail. "I understand, Master, but she is not alone on this night. ... Yes, the Element of Loyalty is also present on this night. There is one other that just joined up. Are you sure there are only six Bearers?" The voice was distinctly masculine, the kind that would send chills down your spine if its owner ever snuck up behind you and held you at knifepoint. "And all of them are mares? ... Understood. He should be no threat to us..." A navy hoof reached up for the hood of the cloak, and the figure quit crouching down, straightening up to his full height. "Commencing Operation Flood..." His hood fell back as he lowered his forehoof, revealing a black mohawk for a mane. His horn began to glow a blue-black sort of color as he began setting whatever plan this "Operation Flood" was into motion... ------------- Azure rubbed at his face, trying to fight off sleep for the fifth time that night. "C'mon, stay awake," he grumbled, standing on his four feet again. "Hope Fluttershy's getting better sleep tonight with Dash and me on the case..." He began to pace back to the cottage to begin his rounds again, all the while wondering if the event was going to happen while he and Rainbow were here, or next night. Just as he was starting to doubt that whatever was scaring his meek friend in the night would show, he heard a small, slight noise, like a twig breaking. He whipped his head in the direction of the noise, and saw two yellow glowing orbs in the night. At the very first glance, they appeared to be cat eyes, but when the eyes continued to glow, Azure realized this was not the case at all. The eyes appeared to be no more than maybe six inches off the ground, and they appeared to be studying him intently. "So, it was just you making all this noise and scaring my friend?" he asked aloud, staring toward the twin pools of gold. The cyan unicorn continued to hold his ground, now wide awake from the stimulus. "Az? Find somethin'?" This was Rainbow Dash, landing next to him. "Oh, just a little critter?" She sounded amused, to say the least. "That's what made all these noises?" She began to take steps forward, all confidence. "C'mon, let's take this thing back to Fluttershy so she can see there's nothing to be afraid of..." "Sounds simple enough..." Azure said, taking smaller steps forward. The glow of the eyes brightened, and a weird sort of noise, like a distorted cricket's cry, could be heard. The glowing made Azure feel uneasy, particularly when the glow appeared to change colors for a few moments. In those short moments, he could have sworn he'd saw the eyes change a dark blue sort of color. "Dash! Back off!" "Wha--oh!" Rainbow's remark came when the eyes began to multiply in number. Two became four. Four became eight. Eight became sixteen, and after that, Azure lost count. It looked like there were hundreds of eyes, all uttering that same distorted cricket's cry. The first guess the colt had was "overgrown crickets", but something about that assessment didn't seem right. Azure cast a look back to Fluttershy's cabin, to discover that the light in her room was on, and he could just vaguely make out the shape of a terrified, yellow pegasus. "So these were the things keeping her up all night..." Azure said. His horn provided a little light as he lit it up via focusing his magic. "Dash, I hope you know how to fight." "Heh," Her wings opened as she looked back to him with a tired, yet cocky grin. She balanced almost perfectly on her back legs using her extra appendages as leverage. "Just try not to slow me down..." The area grew dark again as the moon light was blocked by a passing cloud. The only light that Azure could see was the cyan glow of his own horn. As little as the light was, it was refreshing to at least see the area around him a bit better. "Try not to hurt them too much," Rainbow said, "You know how Fluttershy feels about animals..." Darn it, completely forgot about that... thought the pony to himself. Most of my spells might not do me a lot here... ------------- The horde of what could only be described as eyes charged. Here, Rainbow and Azure could see that these things at least had some shapes. Rainbow immediately took wing, but kept close to the ground to see if she could assist Azure any. Had Azure not been that physical of a unicorn, playing defensively would have been a bigger issue. Thankfully, he was able to move a bit with a little help from the gravity spell. He reduced his weight, allowing him to jump higher and farther, as well as make good use of the forestry. Yet, they didn't seem to be following him, at least, not as much as he'd wanted. They were also chasing Rainbow around, but it seemed like they seemed to be targeting her. Neither one could think much of it, both preoccupied with keeping them away from the cottage where Fluttershy lived. Azure launched off another tree, but slipped on the landing and almost fell flat on his face from the effort. He quickly pumped life back into his horn in time to jump to his four feet, facing the creatures accosting him, and putting up a barrier using his spell. He couldn't make out their features any better with a transparent cyan shield in front of him. "Az! You alright?" Rainbow asked as she rushed past him, chased by the creatures. He could just make out their shapes. "Ugh! These things are relentless!" "Tell me about it!" the stallion countered, as the creatures against him began to slam into his shield, causing cracks to appear in the surface of his magical barrier. "Sucks when I can't even attack them!" The blue mare had evidently had enough of trying to stay close to the ground, and began to gain altitude. However, both ponies involved in the skirmish were equally surprised to see the vague shapes the creatures had alter. The ones chasing Dash either turned around and went for Azure or, in a display of frightening ability, grew wings from their back areas and began flying up towards the pegasus. "What the heck are these things?!" yelled Rainbow, leading the ones still chasing her on a mad dash around the night skies. Meanwhile, Azure's shield began to show stress fractures, and with an extra burst of magic, he was able to repair it. However, the reinforcement made his restored shield almost worthless in half the time it took the first time. "They're everywhere...!" grunted the colt, his horn glowing like a calm flame and his eyes just starting to glow. "I've had just about enough of this!" This was loud enough for Dash to hear. "Az, we can't hurt them!" she yelled. Fluttershy said nothing to contradict this, so Azure was forced to hold his ground. He was still in a bad spot, considering there had to be at least fifty of them chipping away at his defenses. "Speak for yourself, these things clearly aren't looking for a friend!" His shield shattered, and Azure was forced to use the teleportation spell as the creatures of the night began growing close, their strange, glowing eyes doing little to help their bad image as they all rushed the spot he had just occupied. By some luck, his spell didn't backfire as it usually did when he tried using it in a pinch, but he was still not in the best of spots, given he had warped himself not too far from Fluttershy herself. Thankfully, he was still at least a good distance from the front door of the cottage. Rainbow continued being chased around, leading them through the clouds in front of the moon, but any attempt she did to try and shake them either flat-out failed, or actually attracted more wing-growing creatures to the chase. She flew next to Azure, getting up on her hind legs, gritting her teeth in annoyance. "This sucks..." she observed. "There's too many of 'em!" "I noticed..." Azure said, his horn still flaring like his anger was. Once again, he wasn't doing a very good job of what he was appointed to do. And the fact he couldn't actually attack like he could a chimera was only irritating him further. Plus, all Azure had to go on were vague shapes, and the creepy glowing eyes. This all changed however when the moon emerged once more from the clouds. The bright glow shone upon the creatures for the time. Fluttershy gave a noise that vaguely sounded like a bleat crossed over with a loud gasp. Rainbow gave a sharp grunt, and Azure made a similar noise. The three ponies were faced with creatures that they all doubted Twilight could identify. They appeared to have short, stubby pony legs connected to an insectoid body. The eyes had no visible pupils, though the glow was diminished by the moon's light. What made them even more freaky was that they had irregular fur patterns, almost like an outline of the grooves in their insectoid body. Their bodies were black, but with the moonlight now hitting them, they could see clearly dark blue patches of what resembled fur in these grooves. "What kind of monsters are these things?!" Azure yelled, not knowing what they were, and at the same time feeling bad about underplaying Fluttershy's fear. Dash held similar feelings about said terror, but said nothing. "Those...those aren't animals at all..." This was Fluttershy, recovering from her shock. Her statement was almost like a bell to Dash and Azure's ears. "You hear that, Az?" asked the pegasus. "Sure did..." the unicorn responded, lowering down somewhat and allowing himself to drop his restraints. As one of the creatures tried to rush him, Azure decided to shoot a blast in its direction, which worked a little too well. The magical laser hit the insectoid ghoul square in the chest, piercing straight through its throax, eliciting a sharp, almost cat-like howl of pain. "I think you just overdid it!" Dash yelled, hoof-punching away two of the creatures that had flown away. However, she had still held back. Azure eyed the obviously dead if not fatally injured creature while executing similar manuevers to Rainbow. However, he saw something that made him question what exactly these things were. The monster he'd blasted suddenly burst apart, like some kind of smoke bomb, a mix of dark blue and black smoke emanating from the vanished corpse. "Are these things even real?" Azure asked aloud, trying to keep his guard up. He used a momentary shield to deflect a claw attack, which looked strangely magical. But these things clearly had no horns. "Rainbow, don't hold back!" "What?" she asked, turning to him, almost catching an attack to the stomach area had she not hopped back so now she was more or less back-to-back with Azure. "I don't think these things are real..." Rainbow said nothing, oddly flying away, leaving Azure to hop backwards off-balance on his hind legs. However, the creatures followed her once more. However, she turned around once she got enough height, and extended her forehooves outward, catching seven or eight in her dive and using their bodies as a cushion for the impact. The ghouls, upon impact, all exploded in a puff of black smoke. "They're not even alive!" concluded Dash. "Fluttershy, you might wanna look away...we're about to make a mess..." "O-okay..." Fluttershy stuttered, shutting the door to her cottage, and warily watched as her friends threw down with whatever those creatures were. Azure began to demonstrate more of his agility, using magic to enhance his performance just a little so he could get a leg up on his adversaries. Two approached him in a perfect manner for him to crush their heads in with a back-kick at full power. He quickly whirled around, his horn alight with magical fury. "Get out of here!" he commanded, as though the creatures would actually listen, firing off several lasers, most of which actually hit their intended targets. The others merely whizzed off into the horizon. Rainbow once more took up a ground-bound bipedal martial arts pose, again using her wings as leverage. Her posture was far better than that of the wingless Azure, and it showed when she was not only able to attack with her forelegs as though they were human arms, but able to throw one-legged kicks using her wings to keep her balance. Not that the other one involved in the battle could pay attention to such skill anyway. He was far too busy with the ground-bound ones. The ones with wings that were coming after him were blasted out of the sky by laser bolts, turned into puffs of smoke. "Hey, Az!" If Rainbow was sleepy, her tone did not suggest it at all. "How many you got so far?" "This isn't a contest, Rainbow!" responded Azure, "And even if it were, I would have lost count!" Too distracted from the mare's comment, the colt found one of the little monsters on his face. If he'd been attacked, it didn't register right away. The creature, dumb as it was, speared itself on Azure's horn, and caused itself to burst into smoke. However, the attack fueled Azure's anger, and his eyes began to glow slightly again. "Alright, enough is enough!" he declared, firing off another volley of laser shots, hitting his designated targets. The numbers of the minions were dwindling fast now that Azure and Rainbow were no longer holding back. ------------- Far away from the three ponies, the same colt was galloping away, heading through the Everfree Forest, farther away from Ponyville than a pony living there would dare to go. "Master, Operation Flood has failed. ... Yes, I know, but that unicorn that was there, and the Loyalty Element both are surprisingly capable. They're defeating the Shadow Ghouls! ... I'm already making my way back to base. ... Yes, of course. I am always at your disposal..." The navy blue unicorn, seemingly talking to himself, made his way through the forest, moving further and further away from the crime scene. ------------- Azure Courage could not stop panting. It had taken a ridiculously long time to settle the attack, and he was winded, even with the fact he had backup. Rainbow Dash, in a rare sign of showing fatigue, was also notably drained, panting from the effort. "That took long enough..." Rainbow said, sounding annoyed. "Hey, Az, you alright?" "Yeah, I'm fine..." Azure tried to blink, but he felt a sharp pain right next to his right eye. He turned to Dash, a bit concerned. "Hey...do I have...something on my face?" "You should probably get that cut of yours...checked..." she responded, yawning deeply. He could see the bags under her eyes as she passed him. "And here I was hoping to not get injured the second I got out of the hospital..." Azure grumbled groggily, laying down. "Twilight's never gonna let me hear the end of this..." "I hear ya..." Dash wasn't in the mood to be playful, evidently. She was far too tired. As Azure passed out from the need to sleep overpowering his every nerve, one last thought occurred to him. I protected Fluttershy and...well, I guess Dash, from those things, but what were they? They aren't natural, obviously, so who...sent them...? ------------- Fluttershy cheered, but for her, the cheering was mostly internal. Her friends were for the most part, safe. She didn't see any glowing eyes outside, and from the looks of things, the coast was clear. She'd opened the door, but what she saw was something she didn't quite expect. Rainbow and Azure were asleep right next to each other, probably almost touching while facing opposite sides. She gave a sigh. She wasn't known for her strength, but she had to do something, especially since the colt had suffered yet another injury to add to his growing medical record. Mustering up every ounce of strength she could find, she'd managed to move the two sleeping ponies indoors. They didn't even stir once when they were moved, though Azure briefly grumbled something when he was being touched for the first time. Now they were on opposite sides of her couch, each one taking up the arm rests as a pillow of sorts. Neither seemed to mind the change, both more or less snuggling up to the fabric. After making sure Rainbow had no further injuries, she turned her attention to the cut near Azure's eye, just below it. It wasn't too deep, so Fluttershy knew she could do something for it. When she tried to apply the disinfectant, Azure gave a sharp grumble in his sleep, and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like "Mom" in the process. A couple more dabs and more sharp grunts from the colt later, Fluttershy applied a bandage to the cut, knowing it would heal with a little time. The yellow pegasus suddenly felt something she hadn't the past two nights. Security. A freedom from fear. Her friends had chased off those ghouls on her behalf. She fetched a blanket for the two, and draped it over them, taking care not to wake them. With a sleepy yawn, Fluttershy headed back for her bed, turning off the lights as she went. "Thank you..." she whispered, looking back to them one last time before going back to bed herself. The mare went back into a restful, well-deserved sleep, knowing she at least did as much as she could in such a situation. All the same, a small feeling welled up in her, but it was soon suppressed by her good nature. ------------- It wasn't until about ten o'clock the next morning that Azure managed to wake. He woke to something other than cold dirt. As he rubbed at his eyes, he realized there was a pad, a bandage there that wasn't there before, where he'd gotten injured the night before. He did remember fighting a lot of ghoulish inscets and passing out from the effort. He looked, and realized he was on a couch, under a rather soft blanket. Wow, even for a couch, this is very comfortable... the cyan colt noted to himself, not sure whether or not it was because he hadn't slept for half the night or if the couch was really that soft. It was no bed, but it certainly could have fooled him. He rose, and saw, curled up at the other end of the couch, Rainbow Dash. She didn't appear to have any signs of first aid applied to her. Did Fluttershy move us...? he thought to himself, recalling passing out on the dirt right next to her somewhat clearly. He still felt a little sore from the previous night's fight, but otherwise felt perfectly fine with getting out from under the blanket. Azure debated on who to check on first, but he'd figured that of the two pegasi mares, Fluttershy was a far lighter sleeper. So he decided to check on her later. Sure enough, when he trotted over to the side of the couch Rainbow had completely crashed out on, she at least appeared to be out cold. At the very least, she was still snoring when he looked at her. The cyan colt decided to check on the real reason why he'd done all that he had in the first place. He only felt slightly sleepy, but that was slowly wearing off as he trotted about the cottage. A door opened, and a well-rested Fluttershy stepped out, a comparatively smaller yawn coming from her mouth as she did so. She no longer had the bags under her eyes. Of course, she retained all of her other usual traits as well, for when she first saw Azure up and about, her first reaction was to gasp in surprise and back up a few steps. However, she quickly calmed down when she realized who it was. "Oh, um, good morning, Azure," the meek mare stuttered. "Good morning, Fluttershy," the colt continued. "Sleep any better tonight?" "Um, y-yes, thanks to you and Rainbow," Fluttershy responded. "Are you still sore?" "Not really," Azure responded. He was glad that Fluttershy and Dash were both safe, but he was troubled by what had just happened. Those creatures weren't even natural. When they were defeated, they turned into smoke... "Oh, um, is Rainbow still asleep?" asked the shy pony again. "When I looked, she was..." responded Azure. "Anyway, I have some things I need to check up on before I go back to work. I've been off for ten days now and I'm sure the boss won't be too happy with me." And neither will Twilight... "Oh, um, okay," said Fluttershy, seeming concerned. "Oh! Um...t-thank you for staying..." "It's no problem, really," Azure responded. I'd have done it even if I wasn't asked... "G-good bye..." "Yeah, see you around..." The cyan colt said, taking his leave. He trotted past a still dozing Rainbow Dash and left Fluttershy's cottage, taking his belongings with him. After taking a few looks around to make sure nothing else was going to come rushing out of the trees, the unicorn male began making a beeline for the library. He knew Twilight would find out about what happened, but for the life of him, Azure couldn't see a way around it. ------------- The cyan colt galloped through town, already dreading Twilight's response to his bandaged cheek. As he moved about, saddlebag slapping his side as he went, he could hear the ponies talking about what they saw last night. "Hey, did you see the light show in the Everfree Forest last night?" "No, but I could hear all the sounds. Sounds like some ponies were doing something strenuous, I'm sure." "Wonder what it could have been..." Azure grit his teeth and kept moving, trying to block out the chatter. Jeez, looks like we weren't the only ones up all night... he thought to himself. I can only hope Twilight didn't see it... He knew full well she was going to chew him out again for being injured, just like when the Ursa Minor came to town, when he'd attempted and failed to show Trixie who was boss. With a sigh, Azure knocked on the door to the library, wondering why it had room enough for somepony to live in it. To his relief, it was Spike who answered the door. "Oh, it's you, Azure," He immediately took notice of the bandage on his cheek. "Jeez, what is it with you and getting yourself hurt?" "It was unavoidable," Azure quickly defended. "I'll bet..." Spike responded. "Why are you here? You know how Twilight gets when you get hurt..." No one would know better than you... Azure thought to himself, immediately suppressing an urge to cop an attitude. "There's something I need to look up." Before the small dragon could properly make use of his confusion on the matter, Twilight's voice could be heard. "Who is it, Spike?" she asked, sounding like she was getting close. Azure began to turn away so that Twilight wouldn't immediately see the new bandage he sported when she took Spike's place at the door. "It's your coltfriend," responded the purple reptile snarkily. If Azure had taken a drink, he would have sprayed it from his mouth in response. Thankfully, the unicorn had enough control over his composure to not lose it over a simple childish comment like that. "Spike, how many times have I told you to stop saying that?" Spike disappeared from sight with this comment. Twilight sounded annoyed, which was a red flag for Azure, but he couldn't turn back now. He could only turn his head and hope that Twilight wouldn't see the bandage. Soon, the purple mare replaced Spike's position, and appearing not to notice the fight that Azure wasn't maintaining eye contact for once, asked, "Oh, Azure, what brings you here?" "I...actually, I came here to look up something." --------------- Twilight blinked. For a moment, she wasn't sure if she heard Azure correctly. "What?" she asked, completely caught-off guard by the statement. "I said I came here to look up something," Azure responded. The purple mare's mouth nearly hit the floor at the comment, but she shook it off. "O-okay, what is it? Maybe I'll be able to find it..." The mare stopped. "Come on in, then..." Azure fidgeted abruptly, and moved his saddlebag to the side of his head facing away from her. "Okay, I'm coming..." He sounded nervous, more so than he usually would be given the situation. He bumbled his way in, keeping that one side of his face hidden using his bag as a cover. Twilight couldn't see why he was, unless Spike's comment-- "Azure, you don't need to be so...shy..." She commented. Even commenting that the cyan colt was acting shy was awkward. "Is this about what Spike said?" "N-no..." Azure stuttered. "I just...came here to look up something...specific...It's hard to describe, mind if I take a look around?" Twilight continued to study Azure, but seeing as how he wasn't here to attempt to start an argument with his usual stubborn antics, ultimately decided against prying into whatever it was he was being so skittish about. "Um, okay, I guess it's alright..." The fact that Azure was looking for a book was surprising in itself, but Twilight wasn't about to question it. If it was a secret hobby of his that he didn't want getting out, who was she to pry about it? The cyan colt nodded, and made tracks quickly for the reference guide section... ---------- Azure Courage could not believe he'd managed to hide his injury from Twilight that long. Either she was that confused that he actually wanted a book, or she didn't feel up to questioning it today. As for Spike, he was surprised the baby dragon didn't do anything to prevent his showing. Then again, he probably found the sight of somepony who stood up to a chimera and tried to stand up to an Ursa Minor while injured appear skittish to be absolutely hysterical, given his age. I don't know why I'm looking here... The cyan colt thought to himself as he scanned the books, making sure to occasionally raise his slightly filled saddlebag if he felt he was about to pass into Twilight's line of sight with his injured side. This is a public library in a quiet town...I can't imagine this library having something on what I'm looking for... He passed into the third aisle of reference guides, and began furiously scanning the shelves, book-by-book. All the while, he began to wonder if he looked anything like Twilight usually did when she was looking for a book. Thankfully, he didn't have to chase that thought long. He saw a book spine that looked...promising. Summons: The Guide to the Creatures...? Azure thought to himself. Worth a shot... He quickly reached out to it with his magic, dislodging it from between two other books. He quickly flipped it open telekinetically, stopping only briefly on the pages that had pictures. Azure was just about to give up when he saw a very detailed sketch that looked similar to the creatures that he and Dash had fought the preceding night. "Yes!" he quietly cheered to himself, beginning to read the entry. ------ Name of Summon: Shadow Ghoul Type of magic: Dark Description: This creature is spawned from an alternate dimension. These creatures appear to be amalgamations of insects and ponies rolled together. They can grow wings and have an innate magic ability, including the ability to slash with claws made of pure magical energy. Though their strength is painfully low, they can easily overwhelm you with numbers. Of note is their glowing eyes. They seem to change from yellow to a different color when commanded. ------- Azure felt his heart stop for a few seconds, from the sheer weight of the realization that reading the entry put on him. This was a summon? This easily accessible? More importantly, since they had to be called from another dimension... No...this would mean somepony...or something, is summoning them... "Azure, what are you looking at?" Twilight asked, apparently happy to see he'd found a book all on his own. Immediately, the cyan colt slammed the book shut as he turned to her, forgetting an important detail in the process as he moved it to his opposite side. As soon as she saw the injury that he'd worked so hard to hide, she gasped, and she immediately became angered and worried again, but her face mostly displayed anger. "You got hurt again, didn't you?" The cyan colt wanted to argue the point, but decided against it. He didn't want to worry her any more than the cut already had. "You were out fighting, weren't you?" She asked, trotting over to him. "I knew you couldn't go long without getting yourself injured! Why do you insist on putting yourself in physical danger?!" Making up for lost time, Twilight? he thought to himself, trying to bite his tongue and not focus on the fact she was berating him on something she didn't even know half of. "It was just an accident, I swear," Azure fought to keep a straight face as he blatantly lied about what had just happened on the previous night. He moved the book into his saddlebag, but Twilight noticed. "What are you doing?" she asked, sounding awfully suspicious. The unicorn colt swallowed. "Oh, just borrowing a book from the local library, that's all," He didn't care if he sounded like he was mocking her in saying this reply. "I'll be sure to have it back before you know it!" Azure Courage quickly beat it out of there before Twilight or Spike could stop him, making rapidly for his home. Work could wait just a little longer... --------- Twilight Sparkle watched in outraged disbelief as the very colt that attempted standing up to an Ursa Minor despite having a sprain ran from the library. She stood in the doorway, watching him gallop at full speed away. "What is his problem...?" she asked. Her eye twitched. "I have to find out..." --------- The unicorn colt proceeded to run home. Because he was so used to the topography of Ponyville, Azure didn't need to worry about direction as he sped towards his home. It didn't take him long to cross, the extra book in his bag and all, though sometimes it would slap his ribs and cause him to wince a little. How does Twilight carry books around anyway? Even as talented as she is, she can't possibly levitate them everywhere she goes... the cyan colt thought to himself. The bag slapped him in the side again, causing him to scowl in irritation. How does a pony live with this?! Azure managed to get to his door and unlock it. Somehow, in all the chaos of last night, he hadn't bent the key when he'd dropped his bag after Rainbow Dash tackled him. He needed to see what else he had a chance of being up against, if the opposition was summoning such fiendish creatures. "Hey, Az!" This was an all-too familiar voice, given that he'd spent quite a bit of time in its company just the preceding night. The male pony gritted his teeth in annoyance. That's right, I can't keep something like this from all of them given how close I am... Azure thought to himself. He turned to see the mare who shared his fur color descending from a nearby cloud, fighting for composure. He was just able to pull himself together from the latest unexpected intrusion when she'd landed right next to him, notably on her four feet. "Oh, hello, Dash," It was taking a lot of effort not to inform her that she was starting to grind his gears by hanging out near his house when a crisis was about to occur. First his cousins, and now this latest incident. "Why'd you stop by?" "Never got to thank ya for the help last night," She shifted into the same martial arts pose from last night, wings open to provide herself leverage. She proceeded to shadow box with the air. "Me and you, we whooped those things good!" Azure felt his eyes pop out of his skull; of course, if either one of them would be in the mood to boast about it, it would be her. He waved her down with a forehoof. "Keep it down on that, would you?" he asked. "Don't want anypony else listening in. You kinda need to know about what we faced too, anyway..." He reached into his saddlebag, while Rainbow studied him with a curious look. "I got a book from the library today..." The look Rainbow gave him was nothing short of confused. "You...went to the library?" "Why does everypony have that reaction?!" he thought aloud. "I'm not an avid reader, but even I know when to hit the books...and I found our..." he coughed awkwardly. "...little friends, in this book I just borrowed..." Before Rainbow could recover from her shock and issue a remark on the subject, he produced the Summons book he'd just "checked out". "Here it is," he said, turning to the picture he'd found of it and turning to show the mare before him. "Look familiar?" Rainbow squinted, and couldn't quite contain a gasp when she saw the insectoid beast from the night before. Her eyes trembled in a way Azure didn't expect to see right away, and for a few moments, he was honestly afraid of what would happen. "These things can only be called here from where they come from...?!" she finally said as she finshed reading the entry. Her face became twisted in fury, and she looked like she was ready to punch out somepony. "Who would want to hurt Fluttershy?!" Azure tried to formulate an answer, but he never got time to. "What?!" This was a familiar voice. The unicorn and pegasus both turned to look, just in time to see a highly unamused Twilight Sparkle step out from behind a nearby tree. "I should have guessed something was up from way you were acting!" Manure on a shovel... Azure thought to himself, turning to face Twilight. "What?" Dash turned to Azure, and laid into him next. "You mean you didn't at least tell Twilight what happened?" "She was already pretty upset about the cut..." the colt responded. "Didn't want to worry her further..." "You're starting to sound like Fluttershy," Rainbow pointed out. Azure immediately realized exactly what his error in judgment was. Well, aside from the fact he already just figured out there really wouldn't have been a point in trying to keep it a secret for long. He was trying to keep something that could be a sign of a much bigger problem under wraps. "But it was a lot bigger problem than we expected..." "Yeah..." the cyan colt sighed. He supposed it wouldn't be too hard to keep his role a secret from them. However, this would probably get the others tensed up. The fact that somepony could be so low as to target Fluttershy had curdled Dash's rage and had brought Twilight to the point of stalking Azure all the way home just to figure out the problem. "Alright then, Rainbow, Twilight, you two should come in. There's a lot to talk about, after all..." ---------------- "...And that's what happened last night at Fluttershy's." Azure finished. The last twenty minutes had been Rainbow and Azure taking turns telling their account of the events the preceding night had brought about. Twilight Sparkle was utterly stunned. She'd thought that the cyan unicorn was just being his usual reckless self, but there was more to it than that. Somepony was summoning creatures for the sole purpose of hurting her friends? "I-I don't believe it..." Twilight responded. "But why? Why would somepony target Fluttershy?" "I don't know!" Rainbow sounded completely outraged. "She's never done a thing to others! Why would they send those ugly things after her?" Azure remained silent, clearly troubled by what had happened. That stalli--colt, colt, was truly something else. No matter how much he got hurt, he'd always be ready to jump right back into violence at the drop of a hat. His determination to help the others out... "Man!" The blue mare continued. "If I ever find the pony who called those things, I swear I'll...!" "Dash, I don't think we can do anything about it..." Azure finally started talking. "Whoever summoned those things either lives around here, or is long gone by now." Twilight felt compelled to speak again, but she didn't know what to say to the colt's statement. "What--what makes you so sure?" she asked. "For one thing, he or she didn't come at us directly," Azure said. "They instead opted to flood the area surrounding the cottage with those Shadow Ghouls...If Fluttershy hadn't identified those as not animals..." "Wait, you actually went five minutes without attacking something?" Twilight questioned, honestly surprised. "And that's a surprise because...?" Then the cyan colt went back to being that stubborn, sarcastic unicorn she so often clashed with. Twilight prepared to retort, but Rainbow cut in. "Whoa, whoa, easy there, you two," she said, landing between them. "There's plenty of time for you to have your...quarrels... later. Right now, we've gotta figure out what to do about those monsters..." Twilight didn't like the way she put emphasis on the word "quarrels", especially since she had a very smug grin when she said it. However, Azure was quick to pick up on this. "Yeah, it's not like we can afford to play nice with such a pony willing to summon those things..." The colt raised a hoof subconsciously to his face. Twilight really couldn't argue with him there; she was merely surprised that he didn't attack the ghouls straight away. "In any case," said the studious pony. "Shouldn't we warn the town about something like this? This is something important..." "Actually," Azure said, sporting a serious look on his face. "that's the last thing we should do..." Twilight glared at Azure, not even bothering to demand an explanation. The look alone should have produced one, and a quick look at Rainbow confirmed that she too wanted to know what was going on in that head of his. "If everypony were to know at once, there would be panic among the citizens. With panic comes chaos, and the town only becomes an even easier target." The unicorn colt responded. Twilight couldn't think of a response straight away. Azure was never one to fool around in situations like this, though most of the time his actual response to the situation was, in her opinion, incorrect. "Shouldn't I at least tell Princess Celestia about it?" The purple mare asked. "This is something she should know...I mean, we got attacked by a summoning spell..." "If you feel you have to, do it, but the less that know about it the better. I don't think telling her now is the best move to take. As for anypony else, I need you two to promise me to keep quiet about this as well. We don't know anything else about what happened, nor do we know who could have sent those after us." The cyan colt continued. He was showing a sense of logic and reason that seemed almost alien to him. Had he not shown this side right before the Ursa Minor attack, Twilight wouldn't have believed he had it in him now. It was rare for him to be correct on something. Still...can something like this be kept secret from friends? "Alright, for now, I'll keep it to myself," Twilight responded. "But if this happens again, I'm going to inform Princess Celestia of exactly what happened." "I think that'd be best if this happened again," Azure's response came. "What about you, Dash? Gonna keep this under wraps?" Rainbow looked honestly unsure if doing it was the right move. She gave a sigh. "I can't say I like this idea, keeping this whole thing a secret, but if Twilight's going to, I'll do this." Rainbow started. "I'll go see if Fluttershy can keep this secret too." "Alright then," Azure said, seeming relieved to hear that. "But we need to keep an eye out. Dash, you can handle the air. You can fly fast enough..." Twilight wasn't sure if she was imagining the briefest, faintest shade of pink on the pegasus's cheeks or not at the comment, but she didn't get time. "I'll keep down here and look along the ground." "What about me?" Twilight asked, feeling left-out all of a sudden. Azure turned to her directly. "You're the spell expert...and given how the book that gave me the answers I was looking for existed in the library..." He motioned to the summoning guide he'd earlier borrowed from the library. "Think you can find a spell that'll help take care of those things faster if they show up again?" "I'm sure I can find something if I get enough time..." "Alright, I guess that clears that up..." Azure said, getting up. "Now, I really need to get going. Told my boss I'd be in today at some point, and I've already been out of work ten days as it is..." ------- As the three ponies left Azure Courage's home for their respective destinations, an ominous feeling crept up on each of them. Who would want to call such vile creatures from a different dimension for the purpose of causing harm to other ponies? Why was Fluttershy targeted? There were so many questions in their heads, but none of them could find an answer...