//------------------------------// // Captain Nightwing Part: 1 // Story: Child of the Dark // by Ocean Heart //------------------------------// Victorious Assault took the narrow and empty hallways, passing staterooms and luxurious guestrooms to find one of his few friends at Castle Twilight. Rounding a corner to the left and spotting grey fur under gold armor, rushing forward and clasping the fellow marine on the back. Dragging him down the hall to avoid eavesdroppers. "Thank Celestia I can still trust you. I need your help." Guardian Light rolled his eyes, the marine was tall by normal standards; not much for him under the armor but his magic was extraordinarily powerful for a guardsman. Victorious looked over his shoulder and spoke in a hushed tone. "I need your help to get the C.O. down here." "And why would I do that, better question. Why would you do that?" Guardian was used to the gunnys strange way of thinking, to him everything that didnt earn his trust was suspect to mutiny. Not that it was this extreme twenty-four seven, nor was it making him this jumpy. The two turned a sharp corner left and stopped at a moonlit window. "Are you questioning your superior, Staff Sergeant? Guardian bit his tongue.... "Not at all, I just need more information before I put in the paperwork to the yeoman." "Protection of the crown. That's all you need to know." That got the Staff Sergeant's attention, if there was a threat on the princess or the prince it was mandatory that the commanding officer know so he can order the best course of action. "Gunny, if you're serious I need more or else Charlie Oscar comes down on my flank." Victorious grabbed the guards chest plate and yanked him close enough to see the bloodshot in his eyes, glaring up at Guardian Light with impatience and annoyance. Guardian had to restrain himself from swinging a left hook... "Listen to me, I have proof of a Kilo Sigma. Captain needs to be here now!" Guardian had to pause to let that sink in... "Kilo Sigma....that's impossible and you know it." "Then why do we have the protocol signed by Princess Celestia?!" "Kilo Sigma is dead, we performed the autopsy and burned the body till there was nothing left but ash and dust." Victorious threw the guard back, Guardian stumbling to stay upright and surprised at the stallions strength. Taking a breath to resolve himself and stall for a better argument. "Look, why not tell the security officer? Why skip the chain?" "Because HMCS is covering it up, he's made a personal relationship that has compromised his integrity. If anything like this pops up on normal channels he'll stop it." Guardian Light glared down at the marine, having another moment where he wished he was an officer so he could light a fire under Victorious's flank...thats when an idea hit him... "Alright, you know what? Fine, I'll sign the papers and send it up to the X.O. and she can take it from there." Victorious grinned, nodding in approval, his plan set in motion easier than he thought. The fire in the Staff Sergeants eyes made him think it would take a bit of forceful convincing to get the guard to cooperate. "Good, once this is done I'll be sure to recommend you for Gunny next advancement cycle." Guardian laughed on the inside... "Roger that..." Not bothering to wait, Guardian Light turned around and resumed his patrol. Smiling happily to himself as his own plot unfolds... "Oh i'll make gunny alright, a new position should open up when you get a size twelve hoof up your flank for bumping chain for a ridiculous suspicion. Maybe they'll take a rocker or both rockers and a chevron or two off your uniform if they don't kick you out..." Guardian Light was a little proud of himself, he would sign the papers as Victorious Assault and chew out the lowest yeoman until they put the paperwork in. No trace would lead back to him other than a subjected Staff Sergeant abused by another guard just because he had rank over him. "This is going to be a hellfire for the record books from Captain..." _ _ Two days later Captain Nightwing, average height for the night guard and high scores on his physical and work evaluations. Clean service record save a spot of hazing he was involved in when he was just an ensign. The commander in charge of his Mast was kind enough to give him a second chance and Nightwing vowed not to waste it. Stepping out of the stateroom with his dark armor on, bat wings hugging against his body and slightly graying mane hanging to the side, he swept it back and chided himself for forgetting about getting a haircut. "That's a rookie mistake, capt." he said to himself. He walked out into the quarterdeck of the office, going through the daily motions of telling everypony to stand at ease when he walked in and out of spaces until he sat down at his desk, closing the door and turning on the coffee maker, sighing when the machine sputters for a moment before turning back off, smoke rising from the back. "Today is just going to be that kinda day..." A knock at his door forced him to turn around, seeing the tell tale bright red mane of his personal yeoman. Nightwing smiled slightly and sat down at the desk. "Enter." The door opened, the tall mare clad in gold armor walked in with a bit of a worried look. Of course that didn't stop him from giving her a sly grin, he loved teasing her about their relationship; every so often she would argue with him about the ethics of a officer dating an enlisted, especially the commanding officer but he always dismissed the arguments. The smooth grin made her redden slightly, she whispered to him... "I'm gonna smack that grin off your face so hard your head will still be spinning when they slam us with fraternization..." Nightwing laughed, he loved her fiery nature; poking the bear was just a game for him of how far can he go without actually getting knocked out. Of course she couldn't help but smile after the blatant threat and that just encouraged him. "You know its funny...and relax, eight more months and we're golden." "Oh you say that now...eight more months you might be a dirty old stallion once that unifom comes off." "Come on, you know im not that old." "You're just lucky I like mature stallions..." He had to hold in his laugh, there was only so much a door could keep from traveling to the ears outside... "Now who's teasing?" She rolled her eyes, holding up a file for him, he took it and opened it up on the desk, frowning when it was stamped 'urgent' and had Top Secret on the cover sheet. "...Princess Twilight in danger....Kilo..wait.." He flipped through more papers, heart sinking as he read... "YN1, tell Master Chief that I'm stepping out today, i'm leaving Commander Shield in charge until I return." The mare looked more worried, grabbing the file and following him out the door and into the elevator just as it closed. Nightwing wasn't in the mood for jokes or flirting anymore... "I know what you're going to say, not you or anypony else can follow me, the file said that there was corruption spreading in the castle and if I brought a force it might backfire." YN1 looked more worried by the second, looking down at the ground and pushing for the floor just above the ground floor to avoid suspicion. Nightwing flipped the small switch above the buttons and the elevator stopped and the lights cut off. "It's bad...if what that file said is true then Kilo Sigma is back. I want you to stay here no matter what happens. We have eight months before the wedding can finally happen...I don't plan on losing you before then, Radiance." "It's just Radiant Quill..." They stood there, both of them silent and Nightwing a bit afraid for the first time in a long time. Radiant flicked the switch again and soon enough she stepped out onto the second floor, looking back just as the door closed... "Come back soon, sir..." He nodded, the door shutting with a bang and a soft whirl sent him to the ground floor, walking out as soon as the door opened and he grabbed his helmet off the stand waiting by the exit. Not even bothering to look over at the watchstander before hitting the door and walking into sunlight and on his way to Castle Twilight... _ _ "Alright Dusk, now just try to keep in mind your heartrate, keep calm, now look at my arm; envision the charts and find the vein..." Sentinel Heart was sitting in front of Dusty, the colt was holding a small needle in the air shrouded in grey magic; a drop of sweat rolled off his forehead. "Alright, now just drop it slowly since its your first time and let it got just under an inch then push the plunger," The needle dropped in Sentinel's arm painfully slow, he winced when it went slightly past the normal injection length. The clear fluid emptied from the needle and Sentinel saw a little blood drip past the needle. It was close but Dusty needed practice. Dusty removed the needle and let Sentinel wipe the blood off, letting his fur cover over it again. "And that was your first immunization. Something that is very minor but it teaches attention to detail; you give somepony the wrong injection and what ever the reaction is now comes down to you. Everyday lives could be placed in your hooves in the smallest way. You did good, Dusk." Dusty smiled, the needle floating down to the table in the med room; bright lights and sterile white tables lined the small sickbay. Only three tables for patients were needed but the room was filled with more than enough to take care of the Castle, only another corpsman sat at the front desk watching the two. Sentinel stood up and shook his arm out to get the feeling back, Dusty watched the red spot on his arm grow.. "You okay then?" Sentinel nodded, Dusty followed closely as he guided the conversation down the hall. "So, whats the procedure for laceration?" "Deep or shallow?" Sentinel resisted smiling... "Deep, patient has a laceration on the side of the neck and it just missed the juggler, bleeding is profuse and wont clot." "Examine for risk of infection while preparing antibiotics depending on what caused injury, apply pain medication to calm patient and reduce chance for shock...If..if its on the neck but missed the juggler then it's already above the heart so no need to elevate...Put pressure on the wound with a dressing and focus on repairing as much as you can without risking the patients life!" Sentinel Heart walked into the west wing, nodding as Dusty spoke; his understanding was on point but he was missing a few more steps, though the difference between them was Dusty could use magic to heal while Sentinel was limited. The guard brought Dusty to the throne room, Dusty looked at the glass again and was more solid this time when he looked at the stain glass depiction of King Sombra. "Good, the Princess taught you well." "And you taught me a lot!" "Now I just wanted to bring you here to talk to you for just a second, after that I need to get back to paperwork." Dusty took his attention back to Sentinel, the tall stallion avoiding eye contact strangely... "Now, I think that you should take the rest of the day studying your talent; But I want you to know that if you think something comes up and you feel overwhelmed...don't hesitate to tell me or your mother." Dusty nodded, the door behind the throne opening up and Spike was holding a pile of books; Dusty lit up with excitement when the books were dropped in front of him. "Twilight thought i'd be a good idea you do this like an adult, she wants you to earn this step by step so you can master it." Spike said, wiping his brow and leaning on the stack of thick books. Dusty was slack jawed at the idea of the task... "But..But if mom wants me to do this on my own how can I learn the cool stuff not in books?!" Sentinel sighed, thinking back to an old quote: Teach a child a new language and the first thing they learn is the curse words...this idea was still true if Dusty wanted to start with the flashy and dangerous spells... "It sounds like you just want to take the easy way, but all this is up to you; nopony is forcing you to read the books so you want to run out there and blow up the castle..." Dusty smiled brightly,about to agree until he stopped and let the suggestion sink in... "Good point..." Sentinel nodded approvingly and started heading for the door, Dusty trying to think of where to even start. Spike pulled the top book off and tossed it next to the pile, working down so all would be easily visible and accessible; leaving HMCS to return to his duty, the rest of the day would be fatigued sniffles thanks to the flu shot but thankfully the worst the sickbay ever had to deal with was a migraine or physical training injuries like pulled muscles or sprained joints. With no PT until next monday he didnt think he would even get anything more than a papercut until then. Walking the corridors and working his way to the sickbay until he felt his chest tighten, stopping the guard in his tracks. You think you can redeem yourself through him...? Sentinel shut his eyes to the pain throbbing in his head, purple smoke emitted from his eyes... I can see into your heart...he is not your son. The guard shook his head in defiance, wanting to shout at the voice but his throat felt a vice grip stopping any hope of calling for help. He's better off alone...he doesn't need you to raise his hopes just to fail like you've done in the past... The voice kept echoing 'Failure' in his head; he tasted acid in his mouth from his suffering stomach. The pain was getting to the point where he felt like a blackout was closing in; he managed to open one eye, bloodshot and purely toxic green..he managed to see the comforting sight of the foyer in the distance, the colors calling on his memories and soon the voice faded; leaving his eyes to return to normal and any sign of damage vanishing like it never existed... Sentinel rubbed his head, wondering just why Celestia saw fit to bestow him a migraine like the power of the sun burning his head from the inside. For some reason he thought back...far back... "He's so much like him..." Walking down the hallways he was lost in memories...failing to notice the Night Guard passing though the foyer when he crossed back into the east wing... Sentinel thought ll the way back to the sickbay and when he sat down again on the desk in the back, taking out a bottle of aspirins and popping two back. All that he could think of was how close he was getting to the prince... "I'll take a few days off from lessons...I don't need him to get attached or something stupid..." Because I'd just disappoint him..