“So, once we finished cleaning up the mess, Albrecht turned around and slipped in the water!” Heather finished with a laugh, though it turned into a hiss as she put a paw on her stomach. “Jeez, this little guy’s kicking hard.” She rubbed the bump irritably, which had swelled out as she passed the seventh month of the pregnancy.
“Must take after his mother,” Eclipse said with a bemused snort. “Glad to see your cravings finally swung back to normal. You should have seen the look on Garlic’s face when I passed along your last... request.”
Heather chuckled as she grabbed the last of the oranges from the cart. She peeled it idly as she leaned back. “Hey, I’m still pretty sure hydra meat would taste good… Maybe with enough barbeque sauce?”
Eclipse snorted. “Trust me when I say it wouldn’t. I’ve heard of barbeque sauce, but I somehow doubt it’s ability to cover the stench.”
Heather shrugged. “Plenty of things smell bad but taste great.” She kicked her legs idly, staring at the thick-woven shoes on her feet. “Barely two weeks in and I’m already sick of these shoes.”
“I’m not,” Eclipse said with a snort. “I still have ringing in my ears from the last time you tried to walk on marble.”
“Oh come on, how was I supposed to know my paws would be that sensitive?” Heather complained as she tossed the last of the orange peel into the garbage can. Her ear flicked as she contemplated the question that had burned in her head ever since she’d become friends with the pegasus. “Hey Eclipse, I figure you know what I’m going to ask, but-”
Eclipse sighed. “And my answer remains the same, Heather. It’s not something we talk about with outsiders.”
Heather growled irritably. “And you and I have spent the past four months just hanging out every night, taking me on strolls when there’s no one on the streets, so I don’t get bored or wander off? Surely you can tell me something? Don’t you trust me?”
“I do, and you know better than to ask that question,” Eclipse replied, her tone reproachful. She stifled a yawn as she glanced out the window, where a thin line of red could be seen on the horizon. “Look, it’s getting pretty close to sunrise, and I need to get some sleep. I’ll see you at sundown. Try to stay out of trouble, okay? And don’t forget your medicine!”
“See you tomorrow.” Heather waved dismissively as Eclipse trotted out the door. She flopped backwards onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, her eyes heavy even as her baby kicked a few more times. She reached over to the end table, where a pair of pills sat next to a glass of water. With a sigh she popped them in her mouth and took a swig, her lip curling back. “Definitely looking forward to not needing those anymore.” Relaxing back onto the bed, she was soon fast asleep, snoring like a train engine.
Outside the room, Eclipse shook her head. “I swear, it’s amazing that she can even sleep through that racket.” She turned to face the two guards, her eyes hard. “I’m leaving her in your care for the day, keep an eye on her. You have active command, Dawn.”
Dawn Breeze saluted. “Yes ma’am.”
“Excellent, don’t let me down, First Lieutenant.” Eclipse turned and trotted down the hallway, finally allowing herself another yawn as she rounded the corner.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Dawn replied as she settled into her position. She glanced over at her compatriot, “Hey, are you feeling alright, Guiding? You look a little tense.”
Guiding Light shook his head and faked a yawn. “Yeah, just a little slow to wake up this morning.”
Dawn nodded. “Well, at least we got an easy assignment today.”
Guiding stared ahead, his eyes distant. “Yeah.”
Dawn thought about pressing him on it, but she decided that he just needed his space and returned to staring at the opposite wall.
Heather sat up and stretched, feeling her shoulders pop as she rotated her arms back. She raised an arm to block the sunlight streaming into the room as she checked the sun. “Well, guess that means I’m not sleeping today.” She glanced down at her stomach as her legs tingled. “What do you say we go out for a little walk? Just down a couple side streets, get some fresh air?” She smiled as she heaved herself off the bed, wincing a little as she made contact with the floor. The shoes had gone a long way in suppressing her stonesense, but her feet had gotten so sensitive that she could still feel it, like pins and needles on her pads.
With a muted growl of dismissal, she padded across the room to the door. She pushed the door open and leaned toward the unicorn guard standing there. “Hey, I was wondering, think I could go get some time outside?”
The unicorn initially seemed dismissive, but then something seemed to click and he nodded. “I’ll go get clearance, Dawn. You wait here.” He turned and trotted down the hallway without another word.
Heather glanced at Dawn. “Is it something I said?”
“No, he’s been that way for a while now.” The pegasus’ tone softened a little. “His brother, Firefly Dreams, was stationed as security chief for a Bureau stateside. There was an anti-Conversion demonstration, and like you’d expect, things got heated. Before anypony had a chance to establish order, someone pulled a gun.” She shook her head as Heather winced. “Oh no, nobody got killed; but he panicked and threw up the strongest shield he could. The bullet simply ricocheted. But that much magic put a lot of people in the hospital from thaumatic exposure. The investigation cleared him of any wrongdoing, but he took it personally and resigned, hasn’t spoken to anypony about it since. Too bad too, he was a good Guard.”
Heather glanced back down the hall, a small whine escaping her throat. “Is there anything I could say?”
“Honestly, not likely. Just let him be,” Dawn Breeze remarked. “He’ll work through it on his own.”
Guiding rounded the corner, and once he was sure nopony was watching, he ducked into a storage room. Closing the door, he reached under his armor and withdrew a small mirror. He concentrated, letting his magic run across the surface, then into the glass. “Is anypony there?” he whispered, and smiled as a faint voice replied. “Yes, I have an opening. I’ll bring her to Solar Avenue. Be ready.”
Digger growled irritably as he pushed forward, his claws scraping the dirt aside. He hated going to the surface this close to the giant pony city. But the massive deposit of gemstones underneath the mountain was simply too good to pass up, and they’d taken up residence there. However, there were some things a proper Diamond Dog needed, and those things only came from above ground.
Finally, he felt his paws break free into the open air, and soon forced his head above ground. He took a few deep sniffs to make sure he was safe, then pulled himself free. He shook himself vigorously, clumps of dirt and a cloud of dust flying everywhere. Sneezing to clear the dirt from his nostrils, he glanced toward the gleaming white spires and shook his head dismissively.
“Ponies soft, they need walls and roofs.” He turned, a much more interesting trail catching his nose. There were berries nearby, and he still had his work to do. Maybe he could get back before Scruff ate all the aquamarine.
He carefully picked his way along the edge of the path, pausing every time he caught scent of a pegasus. He was confident that he’d be able to escape one if spotted, but Shale had been very clear. The ponies would not hesitate to hunt them down if they discovered them, and so they had to remain hidden. Digger hated that, but the claw marks carved into his side from the last challenge he had issued were a painful reminder of confronting the bigger dog. So for now he would bide his time and follow orders.
The scent of a thick clump of berry bushes caught his nose, and soon he was huddled on his knees before them. He hurriedly stuffed the plump fruits into his satchel, drool forming at the corners of his mouth at the thought of the reward Shale would give him.
Heather had to admit, the summertime air was doing wonders to improve her mood. And even better, only a few tourists were giving her strange looks. “So, how long have you been in the Guard, Dawn?”
“Hmmm?” She tilted her head. “Well, I joined up when I was eighteen. My parents both worked in the Cloudsdale Weather Factory, but I got bored with that really fast. The Guard recruiters came by and I decided that I would give it a try. Haven’t looked back since.”
“Do you ever miss it?”
“Well, there are times that I wonder what it might have been like, but no. I’m good at what I do, and I have a chance to make a difference in ponies, and people’s, lives.” She shot a grin at Heather. “Plus, lets me get out there and see the world, or have the world show up to see me.”
Guiding Light was silent as the two laughed, the unicorn glancing about as they approached the next intersection.
“Hey, Guiding?” Heather spoke up as they turned the corner. “I heard about what happened to your brother, and just wanted to say I’m sorry.”
Guiding flicked his ears, but was otherwise unresponsive.
“Well, can’t say I didn’t try,” Heather muttered as she glanced at Dawn, who shrugged in reply.
As they walked down the street, Heather started to feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Glancing around, she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but the sensation wouldn’t leave her. She looked around, her fingers starting to curl reflexively.
“Something wrong, Heather?” Dawn asked, though from the way her wings fluttered, she was starting to feel it too. Then it hit her: The street was decidedly emptier than the ones they had been on before. She shot a look up, where three grim-faced pegasi could be seen herding others away. She snapped her wings out and tensed her hindlegs. “Guiding, send up a signal, we might have—”
She never saw it coming, as the pale green bolt of energy struck her square in the back of the head. She collapsed to the ground in a clatter of armor, while Heather turned around incredulously.
“I’m sorry Dawn, but this is how it has to be.” He turned to face Heather as the other pegasi landed in the street. More ponies trotted out of the alleys to surround her in a loose arc. “Heather, I wish that it hadn’t come to this, but what you’re doing is wrong.”
Heather took a few steps back, her tail brushing against the wall. “What in the world are you talking about, Guiding?”
The unicorn opened his mouth to respond, when an older unicorn trotted forward with an angry snort. “We know everything, you cur. The thing you carry in your belly will be the doom of Equestria, and we will not allow it to pollute our country.”
Guiding stamped his hooves and pushed the older stallion back. “Hearthstone, stop. I know you’re angry, but we have to be better than this.” He turned back to Heather. “Look, just surrender peacefully, and you will not be harmed. You have my word.”
Heather was silent, her left paw flexing while her right settled over her abdomen. Her nose twitched as she caught his scent on the air. It stung with the odor of a lie, and she shook her head, lip curling back slightly.
“Heather, don’t do this. You’re outnumbered. I don’t want to hurt you.” Guiding urged as he took a step forward.
She took a breath, looking at the ponies surrounding her, before she made up her mind. She might not be able to escape, but she wasn’t going to go quietly. She lowered her head, seemingly in submission, and took a breath as Guiding’s magic faded.
“Thank you, Heather, I know you might not understand, but—”
Guiding was caught completely by surprise as Heather threw her head back, chest puffing out before she howled. His ears folded back on instinct, though too late to save his hearing. Reacting quickly, he recharged his stun spell and struck her in the chest; the howl fading as she slumped to the ground. He could make out confused shouts and felt Hearthstone shoulder him roughly.
“Move it, Guiding! The guard will be here any moment!” He turned, lifting Heather’s body. “Give me a hoof here!”
Guiding flicked his ears as his hearing returned and lent his magic to Hearthstone’s. “Damnit, Heather, you should have just come quietly,” he muttered as they hurried down the street.
On the mountainside, Digger’s ears stood upright, frozen stiff as he looked toward the city. The sound was off slightly, but that was definitely a female crying out for help. He felt a smile growing as he wondered how Granite would reward him for bringing a female to the pack.
He turned about and began to dig, the berries forgotten. If he could just find a way into the city, he was sure he could find her— he stopped abruptly as Shale’s threat against entering the city tore through his thoughts. Their pack didn’t have an agreement with the ponies to harvest from the caverns, after all. The last pack who had tried to poach gems had learned well the hazard of drawing attention, and Granite had no desire to repeat their mistake.
He grumbled as he tried to think of a way to defy Shale without being caught; and grinned as an idea began to form. Shale had forbidden the pack to be seen entering the city, but the other day the pack had accidentally dug through one of the ponies’ drain pipes. After making sure it wouldn’t flood their tunnels, they’d made sure to find all the others. But there was one trait all the pipes shared.
They all led up.
Eclipse’s eyes snapped open as the howl reverberated through her window. As she bolted awkwardly to her hooves, she shot a glance toward her heavy curtains. “Luna curse it, she went outside. I told them, make it orders she stays inside, but no, nopony listens to me.” She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she hurried toward her armor. “If she’s gotten herself hurt I’m going to make sure she’s okay, then hurt her again.”
She practically threw the plates on, and closed her eyes as the enchantment washed over her. After a moment to adjust her wings, she trotted out into the hallway, other Nightguard doing the same.
“Is it Heather?” Starstruck asked quietly. At Eclipse’s nod he snorted. “Figures. I’ll inform Celestia; you get out there and find her. You have authority over any Dayguard in the vicinity.”
Eclipse saluted and took to the air, darting through one of the windows at the end of the hall. As she spiraled down toward the city, she spotted half a dozen Dayguard pegasi coming her way.
“Ma’am, what’s going on here?” the pegasus in front shouted as he slowed to a hover.
“Sorry, that’s classified, orders from the top.” Eclipse replied as she dug out a small scrollcase and tossed it to him. “I need your unit to follow me, we’re going to get this situation under control.”
The pegasus opened the scroll and read it, his eyes narrowed. To his credit, he only blinked once and then nodded sharply. “Of course ma’am, what are our orders?” Eclipse gave thanks for having a veteran be in charge. At least they knew the drill.
“Have we identified the location?”
“Yes ma’am, down on Solar Avenue. We have unicorns and earth ponies enroute, but they’ll be another few minutes.”
“Okay. Set up a perimeter, and let me know once the unicorns arrive,” Eclipse didn’t even wait for the reply as she banked into a steep dive. As she flew over the city, she could see fleeing ponies crowding into buildings or just galloping away from the street in question. “Well, I’ll give it to her, she knows how to liven things up.” Her hooves scraped the last rooftop as she entered the street, eyes alert.
The street was empty, Dawn Breeze’s body set against the wall. Eclipse trotted forward, careful to not disturb any potential evidence. However, she didn’t find anything too telling aside from the tingle of recent spellcasting. “Damnit Heather, where are you?”
Her ear flicked as Dawn groaned, and she moved to assist her fellow guard. “Take it easy there, you’re safe.”
Dawn’s eyes snapped open and she tried to sit up. “Guiding! Heather! What happened?” Her eyes didn’t seem to want to focus and she sagged back.
“Don’t worry, we’re going to find out,” Eclipse said as a squad rounded the corner. She waved them over as Dawn’s eyes started to close. The unicorns began to fuss over her while she surveyed the street again. There wasn’t much to show what had happened after Dawn had been attacked, but a section of sidewalk caught her eye. The usual detritus that a city would accumulate was gone, either blown or dragged away.
Eclipse scowled as she trotted closer, picking out something against the white stone of the shop. A few brown hairs waved, caught on the corners, and she turned toward one of the unicorns. “Do any of you know tracking spells?”
“No, ma’am, sorry ma’am,” the squad leader said. “We’ve got another squad coming soon—”
Eclipse’s hoof cut him off as she spun toward the closest alley, her ears pointed forward. She prowled forward, all of her senses focused with lethal precision.
“What is it, ma’am?” the squad leader asked.
Eclipse didn’t reply, only waving a wing for silence as an ear twitched. Then she heard it again: a faint scraping of metal. She hissed under her breath and leapt forward, bounding into the alley with her wings spread, ready for a fight.
Nothing but some boxes and garbage greeted her, though her nose wrinkled at the smell coming from a drainage grate. She trotted over and peered down, though couldn’t see more than a few feet inside. “Hmm…”
“What did you see?” the squad leader asked again.
“Nothing… how long until the trackers get here?”
“Any moment, ma’am.”
“Good,” Eclipse said quietly as she turned away. “I hope I’m just imagining things, but I feel like we’re not the only ones interested in what happened here…”
Down in the pipe, Digger clung to the wall, arms and legs locked stiff. It’d taken all of his willpower not to mark when the nightmarish bat-pony mare had appeared, but the darkness had helped him. He knew the female’s scent now, and would lead the pack to her.