Chapter 6
Vigilante
Pip glanced around the dreamscape, anxiety gripping his mind. Why couldn’t he sense the darkness like Luna had done? What was he doing wrong? Pip could somehow sense the others in the dreamscape… like he was connected to them. He figured that it was because he was the one controlling the magic, but he didn’t know for sure.
It was then that Pip realized Scootaloo and Rumble were no longer in the dreamscape. Where had they gone? Worried about their safety, Pip concentrated and ended the magic keeping them in the dreamscape. Within moments, Pip found himself opening his eyes in the real world.
“What happened?” Equinox groaned as she sat up in her cot. “Why did we all wake up?”
Pip attempted to roll over, but, completely by accident, he rolled onto his injured shoulder and cringed in pain. After a few quick breaths through his teeth, Pip pushed himself up and nodded to everypony in the room. Rumble and Scootaloo were sitting next to the window chatting. Nothing was amiss.
“We’re calling it for today,” Pip said. “Go ahead and get some rest. We’ll try again tomorrow.”
Specter stretched out on his cot and began laughing to himself. “Some dreams are pretty crazy. I totally flew into one where some mare was concerned about her teeth falling out.”
“Yeah, some are definitely crazy,” Marble said as she got off her cot and wandered over to her war hammer. “I was in a dream where a stallion was riding a roller-coaster over the ocean that went so high it entered orbit, and also there were things, ponies and places all exploding without any apparent cause.”
Everypony else in the room frowned. Equinox eventually forced a nervous laugh. “Yeah… that is pretty crazy.”
“Are you sure that wasn’t your dream, Marble?” Scootaloo sarcastically asked. “Cuz that sounds like something you would dream.”
Marble straightened her dark gray mane and shrugged. “I doubt it was mine. I never dream of such things.”
“Hey, if we get to sleep now, we’ll wake up halfway through the night!” Mist suddenly proclaimed. “Everypony in Hollow Shades will still be awake!” She excitedly began flying around the room.
Pip lifted an eyebrow as he rubbed at the injury on his shoulder. “That’s true, but that’s when we’ll be training with Thunder Clash.”
“What?” Mist asked in surprise, practically halting in midair. “But I was hoping to show you all around Hollow Shades! And the fruits! And all the bat ponies!”
“We need to finish our training as well. It’s important.”
Mist slowly landed next to Pip’s cot. “But I thought you said day-pony and bat pony relations were important! How are we going to improve those unless we chat with the locals?”
Pip sighed to himself. There was too much to do in one day. Find and destroy Nightmare Forces, train, make a good impression… all while maintaining the air of leadership and the façade of a pony who knew what he was doing, despite never having done this before… Buck up, Pip, he thought to himself. You can’t let Luna down. You told her you would be her sword. What would she say if she saw you acting this way?
Everypony was silently awaiting Pip’s verdict.
“You’re right, Mist,” he told her. “We do need to make a good impression. We’ll train after and then go back to the dreamscape.”
Mist could barely contain her joy. She tightly wrapped her forelegs around him, causing sharp agony in his shoulder, and muttered something under her breath. Pip didn’t catch what she said before she parted and began happily prancing around the room.
“Oh, I’m going to drink so much cider, you guys,” Specter said with a laugh, kicking his two back hooves up and relaxing. “It’s one of the few things I’ve missed about this place.”
“Good impressions,” Pip repeated. “We need to make good impressions. Don’t overdo anything, got it?”
Specter narrowed his eyes but begrudgingly said nothing.
Rumble slowly climbed back into his cot, which was almost too small for him, and pulled his blankets up. “I’m going to get some sleep, then…”
“You okay, Rumble?” Specter asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
“Yeah… Just need to think about stuff…”
Most everypony got up, stretched, and then curled back up into their cot, ready to finally sleep. Thunder Clash was in another room altogether, as Pip wanted him to stay separate from the dream walking. Unfortunately, Pip wished Thunder Clash was closer to them so that he could ask for advice… However, Thunder Clash wasn’t a unicorn. He didn’t have any magic. How would Thunder Clash know what to do with magic?
Pip just sat on his cot and watched as the others drifted off into sleep. He knew that he should rest as well, but his mind was too troubled. Placing the Fragment of the First Night on the floor next to his cot, Pip decided to just sit quietly and contemplate things until he felt tired. The loss of his night vision was disappointing, but he didn’t want to sleep with it on his body, for fear of having nightmares with the dark and haunting voice.
After a long stretch of time, Pip sighed and attempted to lie back down. “Ah,” Pip sucked in his breath, his shoulder now irritating him more than ever before.
“Are you okay?”
“Equinox?” Pip asked. “I’m fine. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
“I can’t sleep, and you look like you’re in pain.”
“I’m sure it’ll pass,” Pip said with a shrug. All wounds eventually heal, right?
Equinox quietly got off her cot and rummaged through her bag. “The forest around Hollow Shades has some interesting plants. I picked some of these leaves for myself, but you’re more than welcome to have some.”
Pip turned around and glanced to the leaves she had pulled from her bag. They were large, green and perfectly circular, like lily pads. “What are they? What do they do?”
“They numb the skin,” Equinox informed him. “You can place them under your bandages and it shouldn’t hurt as much.” She trotted over and pointed to the bandages over his shoulder. “Is that what’s hurting?”
“Yeah,” Pip muttered, gently touching it and immediately regretting the decision.
“Here. Let me take a look.”
Equinox pulled at the gauze and began removing it. Pip knew he should have changed his bandages yesterday, but he had forgotten, completely absorbed in trying to figure out his powers. Plus, it was hard to undo the gauze himself, so he was grateful for the assistance.
“Eh,” Equinox muttered once the bandages were off. “I guess it’s better than it could be…”
“Is it bad?” Pip asked, slightly concerned. “I didn’t think it would be bad.” It had been a straight puncture wound from Nightmare Moon’s horn, after all.
“It will scar, that’s for sure. Have you not seen it?”
Pip nervously craned his head to look at where his shoulder met his chest. He immediately looked away, startled by what he saw. The wound was a starburst shape from the puncture of the horn, but instead of healing neatly, the flesh looked contorted. Pip slowly turned his attention back to it. He supposed Equinox was right. It could have been worse.
She placed the circular leaves on the scarred area and applied fresh gauze and bandages. “You really should take it easy. Maybe even go back to Canterlot and rest.”
“I can’t,” Pip quickly replied. The image of a tired Luna filled his mind. No, I have to be strong. I have to be.
Equinox lifted an eyebrow. “I guess you are the captain now. Whatever you say goes.”
Pip relaxed, thankful that she wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it. “Thank you, Equinox.”
---
“Wake up, wake up, wake up!”
Pip struggled to move. It was difficult to open his eyes, and once he did, he couldn’t see anything. Reaching down, Pip scooped the chain with the fragment up with his hoof and threw it over his head. Once the Fragment of the First Night was touching his coat, his ability to see through the darkness returned. Everything became clear.
“What’s going on?” Pip asked with a yawn.
“You need to get up if we’re going to adventure around Hollow Shades!” Mist said, hovering above his cot. “You’ve been sleeping forever!”
In a groggy haze, Pip was pulled from his cot and led along. Nopony bothered to suit up in their armor, though Equinox threw on her cloak and Marble carried her maul. Before Pip knew it, he was standing outside the halfway house and admiring Hollow Shades. The fireflies were his favorite thing, but in his sleepy state it was hard to come to a conclusion on why that was.
“And there’s a bat pony hauling some fruits back from the orchards!” Mist excitedly shouted, pointing to a pony in the middle of heavy hauling. His cart was filled to the brim with bushels of apples. “Isn’t this exciting?!”
Scootaloo scoffed. “Really? Some bat pony hauling apples and you ask if we’re excited? My friend Applebloom lived on an apple farm. I’ve seen this stuff, like, a million times before.”
“Did you really expect Mist to know where all the good places to hang were?” Specter asked, pushing Mist to the side and taking over as the guide. “We need to go to the Queen’s Hideaway. Anypony who’s anypony hangs there.”
Thunder Clash, unimpressed and rather gloomy, turned to Specter with a frown. “Do they serve cider?”
“Do they?” Specter laughed. “The best cider in town!”
“Good,” he grunted. “Lead the way.”
“You can’t find happiness at the bottom of a glass,” Marble casually remarked.
“You think I don’t know that? Let me have my temporary relief, girlie,” Thunder Clash groaned.
“You wanna go, right, Scoots?” Specter asked sweetly.
She shrugged and half nodded. “I guess.”
“What about you, Bumble?”
Rumble was staring at the ground in front of his hooves, occasionally stretching his wings and muttering to himself.
“Hey,” Specter practically shouted. “You listening? You coming?”
“Oh? Me? Er, sure,” Rumble replied, though it was obvious he had no idea what he had agreed to.
“You got feathers for brains over there, pegasus? Don’t think too hard. You might molt.”
Rumble sheepishly rubbed at his mane. “S-sorry. I’m just… trying to think of something. I’ll be fine.”
“Follow me to the Queen’s Hideaway!” Specter said, flying ahead of the group.
Pip followed very slowly behind, looking from bat pony to bat pony. The residents of Hollow Shades were keeping their distance, and it was noticeable. Ponies weren’t coming within ten feet of the Star Guard, and most became silent the moment they spotted them.
“You should keep up,” Marble stated, drawing Pip’s attention. Mist, Equinox and Marble had stayed behind to make sure Pip was coming; he laughed to himself, appreciating their concern.
“I’ll be fine,” he informed them. “I’m just trying to get a feel for the place.”
“Do you like it here?” Mist asked, leaning forward, eager to hear the response.
Pip shrugged. “It looks nice… but I have a feeling we aren’t really welcomed here.”
“Oh! I totally know what will make you feel welcomed!” Mist jumped into the air and flew off at high speeds.
“Mist! Wait!” Equinox called out, futilely holding up a hoof.
“Annnnd she’s gone,” Marble quipped.
Equinox sighed and pulled her cloak further over her head. “I wish she wouldn’t do that.”
While the other two were staring off into the distance, Pip continued to look around. Interestingly, he spotted a fountain and park area not far from him. Curious, he trotted over and admired the sculpture. The fountain caught falling water being spouted from a statue of a dragon holding a tablet.
As Pip drew closer to the fountain, the bat ponies that were sitting there moved away with scowls on their faces. Pip nervously waved to them, but his attempt to be friendly was met with a cold response.
Still interested with the statue, Pip examined it. The tablet was a map of Equestria and some lands beyond. That’s odd. Pip squinted at the map and immediately noticed there were several differences from the maps he was used to. For one thing, the Macintosh Hills and Badlands looked like lush forests and grasslands respectively. That’s not right. I remember Macintosh Hills… it was nothing but an ocean of dead grass. When was this map made?
“You really shouldn’t go wandering off by yourself.”
Pip didn’t need to turn around to know that Marble was talking to him. “I just wanted to see this one thing.”
“That’s an odd map,” Marble quickly commented.
“That statue has been here since Hollow Shades was founded,” Equinox informed them. “I remember playing here as a foal.”
“Get outta here, Mud!” The shrill voice of a child rang through the park area.
Pip looked over his shoulder to the other two. They were glancing around, trying to find the source of the yelling.
“We don’t want to play with you!”
“Yeah! Beat it or I’ll give ya a bloody nose!”
Agitated, Pip galloped around to the other side of the fountain, and frowned when he saw a group of bat pony foals arguing not far from the fountain. They had squares drawn in the dirt, no doubt for some sort of game. All the foals were in the squares except for one. A bat pony colt with a muddy brown coat and a similarly colored mane. The foals looked too young to have cutie marks, but old enough to be school-aged.
The mud-colored colt was smaller than the rest, and Pip immediately felt some sort of empathic pain for his plight. When the colt didn’t leave, one of the larger foals jumped on him and began stamping with his hooves, easily overpowering the small foal.
Pip couldn’t help himself. He leapt into action, tossing the larger foal off the little colt. He stood over the injured bat pony and glared at the rest. “What’s your problem? That isn’t a way to treat other ponies!”
“It’s those day-ponies!” one of the foals gasped.
“Let’s get outta here before they arrest us!”
“Yeah, you can keep Onyx!”
The foals took off running. Pip watched them go with a frown. Being picked on when he was younger… it bothered him to this day. “You okay?” he asked the colt as he stepped aside.
“No!” Onyx indignantly barked. “Why did you have to do that?! Now they’re all going to make fun of me!”
“What? Why?”
“Now I look even more pathetic and… and… I want to be the one saving ponies! I don’t want to be the one being saved!” The colt brushed the tears from his eyes and began galloping off into the city.
Pip started to gallop after the colt, but Equinox jumped in the way. “What’re you doing? He’s right! Let him go!”
“What do you mean he’s right?” Pip couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Bat pony foals fight all the time. They would have respected him more if he had gotten up and fought back! You made him look like he needed to be saved.”
Marble shook her head. “We wouldn’t have to worry about committing a social faux pas if we were all dealing with inanimate objects. Sebastian doesn’t judge.”
Pip took a moment to inhale deeply. Ignoring Mable, he turned to Equinox. “So they were just, what? Play fighting?”
“No, they were actually fighting,” she admitted. “All I’m trying to tell you is that you made that colt’s situation worse by intervening.”
“I don’t see how helping somepony could make a situation worse.”
“Well, you just did it. I don’t know what else to say.”
“Maybe you’re wrong,” Pip said flatly. “Maybe he’ll grow to appreciate what I did.”
“Or, and hear me out, maybe he’ll resent you for it.”
Marble suddenly stepped between them and pointed, not even bothering to accompany her motion with words. Pip and Equinox turned to where she was pointing. Just beyond the border of town, near the thick of the trees, were three grown bat pony stallions. One was on the ground, and the other two were kicking him. Fireflies buzzed angrily around the group, as if bothered by the transgression, highlighting the scene for even an earth pony like Marble to see.
“Are they play fighting?” Marble asked.
“No,” Equinox quickly stated. “I’m pretty sure that guy is getting mugged.”
Without waiting for another word, Pip galloped into action. He was suddenly surprised by the lack of pain in his shoulder and silently thanked Equinox for the medical leaves. Marble galloped alongside him. “You aren’t worried this stallion will resent you for helping?” she asked.
“We can think about that later.” Pip couldn’t believe that bat ponies would take it as some sort of offense to be helped. That’s what he was here to do! Help the bat ponies!
Rushing into the fray, Pip jumped onto one of the attackers, and Marble lunged for the other. Pip, having some training in hoof-to-hoof combat, was able to hold his own against the bat pony, but it wasn’t for long. The bat pony suddenly shoved him away with unrivaled strength. As Pip’s back hit the ground, he realized that both the attackers had two cutie marks… one mark of a falcon and the other a pair of weights.
“Day-ponies?!” one of the muggers said in surprise.
“The Star Guard,” the other replied.
Marble hefted her war hammer and got ready to swing. “Surrender,” she said in a calm and cold voice. “Or else.”
The bat ponies jumped back, but laughed. “You can’t take us!”
As if excited that they didn’t surrender, Marble smiled to herself and swung hard with her war hammer. The bat ponies, supernaturally fast, managed to dodge just barely away from her swing. Annoyed, Marble swung again, and they dodged again, but the head of the hammer collided with one of the gigantic trees. The force of her swing smashed off a chunk of the wood, leaving a head-sized bite out of the trunk.
Both bat ponies were shaken by the wake of destruction and immediately leapt into the air. “Fly! They’re stupid earth ponies! They’ll never catch us!” Flapping their wings, they easily flew up into the branches of the trees, far from Pip or Marble’s reach.
Pip looked around for Equinox and spotted her all the way back at the fountain. She hadn’t moved. All she was doing was holding the cloak tightly around her body. Pip was about to call for her when he caught his breath. She could no longer fly. Frustrated, Pip decided to just gallop after the bat ponies regardless of the fact that he couldn’t fly.
He took off into the trees, leaving Marble behind as she helped the injured bat pony to his hooves. Pip wasn’t as fast as Scootaloo, but he did have the advantage of being able to see in the dark. Something the two bat ponies didn’t know…
They flew high into the branches and quietly landed, hoping to hide from Pip and escape. Pip played along, running past them, but stealthily turning around beyond the trunk of a tree and attempting to follow them.
The two muggers quietly laughed to themselves as they slowly flew off, trying to remain hidden in the darkness. Pip kept his eyes on them and followed, avoiding sticks and old leaves. Before Pip could find out where they were going, however, another bat pony suddenly flew out of the darkness and charged them.
Who is that? Pip thought as he watched the bat pony ram into one of the muggers and unceremoniously smash him into the nearest tree trunk. Knocked out cold, the mugger hit a few tree branches on the way down to the ground. The other mugger yelled something, but was attacked mid-sentence.
Like a professional fighter brawling with a prepubescent child, it was a one-sided beat down.
With both muggers unconscious, the lone bat pony took the stolen possessions and flew off toward town. Pip ran after him, trying to get a better look at the bat pony who had just helped him out. As they neared Hollow Shades, Pip finally got a good look. He froze, and the bat pony continued flying, never knowing that Pip had been there.
Pip could hardly believe it. The bat pony had been half wrapped in bandages, and the rest of him was covered in contorted, irregular scars, just like Equinox. She had gotten those scars by using alicorn magic after drinking Celestia’s blood. There was only one other pony with scars like that… the bat pony who had taken the blood of Nightmare Moon.
Phantom Shade.