Psycho
Chapter Twenty One
Among the crowd of humans and ponies, a single mystery stood in a shroud of darkness. Luna spotted the anomaly as soon as they entered the courtyard. She thought she would simply pass off these new humans like she had Krieg, but this one stood out in a curious way. The princess of the night recognized him as a stalker of the night, and was mesmerized by his aura. The shadows themselves seemed to coalesce around him, even in the broad daylight. She eyed him for a mere moment, until his blank face shot a gaze straight for the alicorn on her balcony. Before Luna could snap her face away, less she be caught staring, she swore she saw his face glow with strange symbols.
Princess Luna retreated into her private quarters, awaiting her sister's call to meet the new comers. In the back of her mind however, she could not erase the strange figure among them. He seemed so... familiar to her yet so different. She paced around her room, battling thoughts of how to approach the humans. She decided against using her Royal Canterlot voice, and decided rather to remain silent until spoken to or provoked. Her thoughts were interrupted with a sudden knocking on her door, she was so deep in thought that the shock knocked her into a nearby table. The resulting crash caused the guard to rush in with concern.
"Your highness! Are you hurt!?" The guard frantically asked.
"No... not physically anyways..." Luna muttered as she picked herself up. "What is it? Am I needed in the court room?"
"Uh- Yes! Princes Celestia stated that your presence is required for our guests."
"Of course... I shall be right down."
The guard saluted before exiting the room, leaving Luna alone to her thoughts. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't get the one human off her mind. Perhaps it was the black armor he wore that attracted her attention, whatever the reason it mattered not now. Luna took a deep breath as she charged her horn and disappeared into thin air.
Krieg stepped into the courtroom, followed by Twilight and the other ponies. The eight vault hunters soon entered behind them. Krieg took a moment to sigh in relief that the only problem they encountered was with Blueblood, he was mostly worried as to how the ponyfolk would of reacted to the new humans. They seemed comfortable enough around them, especially with the display involving Blueblood. He was more surprised that he maintained control during the whole incident. Although most everypony would have applauded him for sure, he still seeked to gain control completly.
The other vault hunters scanned the courtroom, some looking for defensive positions and other admiring the beauty and architecture. Gaige was the only one not paying attention as she was studying the guard ponies intensely, occasionally giggling as her funny faces forced a slight smirk. Both Sirens were admiring the stained glass windows, Maya seemed greatly interested in the one depicting two steeds surrounding a strange dragon like creature.
One vault hunter in particular seemed distracted, which was surprising to anyone who would have noticed. Zer0 stood in the back of the group, gazing around the ceiling. He felt a presence coming, his killer instinct alerting him of something big. He watched silently as everyone in the room, save for Krieg and the ponies, jumped at the sudden appearance of the dark coated steed. She gazed across the group, then met her eyes with Zer0's faceplate.
"Greeting's young ponies, and not so young visitors. My sister should be arriving at any moment, so please, make yourselves comfortable until she arives" The dark coated steed stated plainly, Zer0 still felt her gaze heavily upon him.
"Oh. My. Gosh... A REAL ALICORN!? Someone pinch me... I've died and gone to pony heaven..." Gaige shouted as she weakly fell to the floor. "Do you guys know what they can even do!? I would kill to implement that kinda juice into my tech! KILL I SAY!"
"Oh... ummm, thank you?" The Alicorn stated with a questionable grin.
The mysterious ninja faded back away from the crowd of his friends, hoping to approach the steed. Nobody seemed to notice him making an approach thanks to Gaige's little outburst, even the Alicorn who had been eyeing him fiercely seemed to lose track of him. He at last approached the front of the courtroom, to which the Alicorn seemed shocked that he managed to get as close as he did.
"Halt human, I sense you would have words with me?" The Alicorn spoke.
"By what name are you called, goddess of the night? Zer0 spoke.
"You recognize my authority, yet you are new to this world. You may call me Princess Luna" Luna spoke in a soft yet regal tone.
"You're the dreamwalker,
Invading my mind and soul.
Concealing my path.
I am Zer0."
"Well met Zer0, and this is true. You must have been the strange being I visited the last few nights. I apologize for intruding, I simply grew curious of the shrouded mind that walked on our land." Luna spoke, and was about to speak again when Zer0 surprised her. He pulled out his sword, and softly thrust the tip on the ground. To which he knelt before the moon goddess and spoke for himself.
"Grant me your blessing,
That I may remain silent.
Even in chaos."
"I- I shall grant you your blessing Zer0, although I have no proof of it's power." At this, the assassin stepped back with a nod and returned to his corner of the room. Luna was correct in assuming him to be unique. The event was short lived however, as shortly after Zer0 stepped back Celestia trotted through the main doors.
"I appologize for my tardiness, an urgent matter has just surfaced. Prepare yourself everypony... The Crystal Empire is under attack."
Carapace felt horrible for the young mare as he watched from across the street. He heard every word spoken, and was certain that it was the very same guard Caine killed outside the city. The very same guard that he was imitating. His mind told him to leave, before he was recognized. His heart however urged him to comfort the mare, he waited for the guard to leave before stepping across the street towards the weeping mare. As he closed the distance, he could hear her sorrowful weeping. The inside of his chest began to burn with emotion, with sorrow and guilt for the crystal pony. He finally made it to her side, and placed a hoof on her shoulder as she looked up into his eyes. They two of them stared at each other for only a second, but it was enough for Carapace to see the pain inside her.
"I'm sorry to hear about your brother milady" Carapace finally uttered.
"He... he was all *sob* all I had..." The mare sulked more.
"I..." Carapace wanted to say he knew how it felt, but the words simply would not leave his mouth.
"I'm... I'm sorry... Thank you kind sir... But I am... fine now... I think..." The mare tried to convince Carapace, but he remained un-convinced.
"You should go inside and get some rest, I'm sure it will make you feel better."
"Yeah... *sniff* I should... Again, thank you..."
"Don't worry about it, you have enough on your plate..." Carapace muttered as he turned to leave.
"Do... do you want to... stay for a bit?" The mare asked, surprising the changeling.
"Uh... Yeah, I suppose I could."
Carapace followed the mare into her home and found a couch to sit in quickly. The mare was still sniffling as she fell on the couch with Carapace. He felt a little uncomfortable as she lay there, slowly creeping into his lap and wrapping her forelegs into his left foreleg. She buried her face into the coat, manipulated by his magic to feel just as real as it looked. The mare began to shed her tears into his leg, Carapace shifted around and pulled her into his lap. He pressed her face to his chest as he ran his hoof down the nape of her neck. Surprised at her willingness to get so close to a stranger. The next words out of her mouth shot a cold spike down his spine.
"You feel like him... So... warm and... familiar..."
Carapace began to sweat at the statement, not sure if she was growing suspicious or just talking. He decided over reacting would have been a bad idea, so he went with it a while longer. After the stress of the moment, he even began to feel a warmth inside of himself. He sat there with the mare in his arms, and a sudden realization came to mind. He was growing in power, he could feel it in his body. The mare let out a soft snore as she lay asleep in his lap. The changeling panicked in his mind, if he was growing in power... She must have been harboring deep feelings for him, whether it was for her brother or not he was not aware.
The changeling knew that he needed to leave, less the mare get too attached to the likeness of her brother. He softly picked her up thanks to his new found strength and set her down on the couch by herself. He then turned away to leave when...
"Wait... don't... go... Cole... please..." The mare muttered in half sleep.
Carapace figured Cole to be her brother, which brought relief to him thinking she was showing feelings for her brother and not him. But now he had to make her comfortable enough to go back to full sleep so he could leave. The changeling swallowed a large gulp and stepped towards the mare, leaning his head in to her face.
"Cole love's you very much, never forget that." Carapace whispered into her ear, but before he could pull away, the mare leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you... Friend... I hope to see you... Again..." The mare drifted off to sleep, leaving Carapace dumbstruck.