//------------------------------// // Manehattan // Story: The Star Guard // by Car Cloth //------------------------------// Chapter 12 Manehattan “You leave me no choice,” the jackal Diamond Dog growled. He tapped the gold bracers on his long forearms together, activating whatever hidden magics they had stored within. Electricity arced between them, the white-blue energy crackling as if barely contained. The other dogs began laughing like they were part hyena. “I’ve seen scarier,” Thunder Clash dismissively stated. Pip immediately jumped forward and bucked the lead jackal Diamond Dog, knocking him a few feet backward. “Protect the injured one,” Pip commanded as he stood over the bruised and bloody body. He knew that this might be a situation similar to bat ponies, a situation where the victim didn’t want to be saved, but he doubted it. The Diamond Dog looked like he wanted assistance, and Pip was more than willing to lend a hoof. Marble and Equinox moved up, holding a war hammer and halberd respectively. Random Diamond Dogs leapt at them, but the dogs were clearly amateurs at melee. Equinox hit them away with the flat of her blade and used the hook to trip and disorient them. Marble, on the other hoof, hit one with enough force to knock it out, but held back so that no debilitating damage was done. The lead Diamond Dog jumped back up and waved his forearm in front of him, causing the magical electricity in the bracers to shoot outward. The power knocked Marble and Equinox back, stunning them into a fit of spasms. The Diamond Dogs were now swarming the rest of the guard, trying to fight them three or more versus one. Pip rushed toward the leader, hoping to break one of the bracers from his arm, but the jackal was too fast. He shot another burst of electricity, hitting Pip and sending him to the ground. The instant Pip recovered enough to talk, he shouted, “Scootaloo! The bracers!” Scootaloo jumped from the group attacking her and immediately galloped toward the leader at high speeds. The jackal tried to strike her with the electricity, but she was much too nimble and quick. One moment she was sidestepping the attack, and the next moment she was on top of him, using her claws to cut into his hide. The jackal fell onto his back with Scootaloo on top of him. She slammed her hoof down onto one of the bracers, denting the soft gold metal and somehow disrupting the flow of magic. The electricity stopped. Enraged, the jackal bit down on Scootaloo’s foreleg, puncturing her coat with his sharp teeth. Pip jumped up from the ground and bucked him across the face hard enough to crack bone. “Our divine favor!” one of the Diamond Dogs shouted, pointing to the broken gold bracers. “We must retreat!” The dogs ran on all fours to their large wooden vardo and piled inside. Some of the dogs pulled the heavy vehicle away, though it was obviously a strain for even four of them. The lead jackal kicked Scootaloo off and hobbled to rejoin his compatriots. Scootaloo went to run after them, but Pip held up a hoof. “No! Let them go!” “Wimps!” Scootaloo shouted. “I could’ve taken the whole lot of ya!” “Our master will hear of this!” one the dogs shouted back. “You ponies don’t understand who you are dealing with!” “Oh yeah?” Scootaloo continued to taunt. “Well, you’re messing with the Star Guard! And the Guardian of the Night! Go ahead and tell your master that!” The strange Diamond Dogs didn’t have anything to say after Scootaloo made her proclamation. Their wooden vardo traveled up the nearest hill and then over it, disappearing from sight. “Who were those guys?” Equinox asked, as she got to her hooves. Although she was still religiously wearing her cloak to hide her broken wing, the cloak hadn’t impaired her ability to fight. “Diamond Dogs that look like that hail from Saddle Arabia,” Marble informed her matter-of-factly. “Saddle Arabia?” “The desert nation far to the south.” Pip shook himself off and trotted back to the wounded Diamond Dog. “Are you okay?” he asked. The jackal-looking creature nodded, but remained on the ground. “They’re gone now!” Mist happily said as she landed near him. “T-thank you,” the dog coughed, holding up his pawed hand to get her assistance in standing. Mist cringed away, her pupils constricting into fine lines. Pip was about to just help the dog himself when Mist reluctantly held out her hoof. Despite the blood on the dog’s paw, she helped him up. Pip was impressed. Normally she couldn’t bring herself to do anything if blood was involved. The wounded Diamond Dog before them had a black coat and a gold collar. His right eye was busted and his leg broken, but the dog was holding his own. “I… I’m so sorry,” he muttered to the group. “I don’t know what I could e-ever do to repay you…” “Don’t worry about it,” Rumble said. The dog nervously rubbed at his long forearms. “What’s your name?” Mist asked. “Olim.” Specter stifled a laugh, and Pip glared at him. Now wasn’t the time to be making fun of others' names. “I was just following orders,” Olim suddenly said, as if trying to give an excuse for a horrible action. “I swear… I thought I had no other choice!” Thunder Clash narrowed his eyes. “What now?” “I can’t stay here. Not after… everything…” Olim dropped to all fours and began running off, though it was a pathetic limp with only three functioning legs. “Thank you!” he shouted back over his shoulder. “Thank you so much!” Everypony watched the Diamond Dog go. Specter broke the silence with, “What a weirdo. Glad I’ve never been to Saddle Arabia.” “Marble,” Pip asked, watching Olim disappear into the distant. “You said Saddle Arabia was far to the south?” “That’s right,” she replied with a shrug. “Does it… border the territories controlled by the dragons?” “Yes.” Pip sighed. We might just have to travel through Saddle Arabia, actually. --- The train station in Manehattan was the largest station Pip had ever visited. It was a gigantic building, complete with a large clock and the busts of several famous ponies, though Pip didn’t know their names. There were hundreds of ponies bustling through the station, most of whom didn’t pay much attention to Pip or the other guards. Occasionally, however, they would glance in their direction as if shocked to see them. As Pip and the others trotted toward the exit, it quickly became apparent that none of the other guard companies were stationed here. Manehattan was protected by peace officer. “We’re kinda out of place,” Rumble muttered under his breath as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. Even at night, Manehattan was still as lively as ever. Ponies in taxi carts were racing by, some were walking by hoof, and even carrot dog vendors were still selling their goods. Pip did feel out of place wearing his armor, especially given the many shops around selling frivolous clothing. Thunder Clash gave the city one disinterested glance and sighed. “I hate Manehattan.” Specter, Mist and Equinox, on the hoof, were stunned into silence. They gawked at the skyscrapers and bridges, disbelief written all over their faces. Pip laughed to himself. Hollow Shades was a quaint little hamlet compared to Manehattan. “I rather like Manehattan,” Phantom Shade said. “It’s one of the few day-pony cities with an active night life. The only problem is sleeping… Everything is bright.” “I’ve never been here, but I’ve read all about it,” Marble commented. She immediately turned to the train station and examined the stone craftsmanship. “There are some top-notch stonemasons here.” “Look! Look! There they are!” a pony across the street shouted. In a matter of moments, photographers, journalists and random sightseers were gathered around the Star Guard, all vying for attention. “Can we get a comment?!” “Turn this way for the camera!” “Where will you be staying? How long will you be here?” “Are the Nightmare Forces defeated?! Are we all safe?!” Flashes from cameras lit up the area like a strobe light. Pip had to keep his eyes squinted just to avoid being blinded. Specter, Mist and Phantom Shade backed away, their eyes tightly shut. When a photographer got too close, Specter jumped at him and hissed, baring his fangs. The entire crowd of ponies gasped, but that didn’t stop the cameras… if anything, it only made it worse. “Is he controlled by the Nightmare Forces?!” “Bat ponies on the Star Guard?! Is that Princess Luna’s doing?!” “Is he going to drink our blood?!” “Enough!” Pip shouted, pushing the photographers back and glaring. “We’re extremely busy and we don’t have time for this!” There was a brief moment of silence as the reporters looked at Pip and then each other. “Are you the Captain of the Star Guard?” one of them calmly inquired. “Y-yes,” Pip replied, slightly confused by the question. Wasn’t that well known? “I thought the Captain of the Star Guard was an alicorn prince!” another report angrily commented. “Maybe that’s the Guardian of the Night?” “I thought they were one and the same.” “I guess not. This pony can’t be both of them.” Pip turned to Marble and motioned her forward. Without needing to exchange words, Marble knew what he wanted. She trotted forward and glowered at the reporters. “Our captain said you need to leave us alone. Are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?” “We’re allowed to take pictures!” “At a distance,” Marble said, pointing to a lamppost down the street. The reporters didn’t move. Marble smiled to herself and rotated her neck until there were a few cracks. The reporters brought up their cameras to resume their torrent of pictures, but Marble wasn’t having it. She slammed her hooves down on the sidewalk, shattering the cement slabs beneath her like they were crackers. Startled and confused, the reporters jumped back and began running, taking photographs as they galloped. Marble’s smile widened. Pip had wanted Marble to make them leave, but he hadn’t taken into consideration that she would cause a wicked amount of property damage in the process. Oops. “That was totally amazing,” Specter said to Marble, examining her handiwork. “I thought being partnered with you would be boring… guess I might be wrong.” “Pipsqueak?! Is that you?” a random pony called out. Pip looked up, irritated that they would be accosted so soon after chasing away the last ponies. The mare running toward him had a dull yellow coat, orange mane, and bright purple eyes. Her cutie mark was three ‘Z’s. “It is you!” she exclaimed once she reached the sidewalk. Several Manehattan citizens were watching the guard from afar, but most were too frightened now to approach. Pip lifted an eyebrow. “Do I know you?” The mare blinked. “You don’t recognize me?” She turned to Scootaloo. “You recognize me, right?” Scootaloo, obviously surprised to be brought in on the conversation, shook her head. “No… Should I?” “It’s me! Noi!” Silence. “From elementary school!” Noi said with a nervous laugh. “Cheerilee was our teacher, remember?” Pip and Scootaloo exchanged confused looks. Scootaloo gave him a shrug and he returned it. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember,” Pip admitted. Noi hung her head slightly and kicked her hoof at the ground. “It’s okay… I get that a lot. I was a wallflower when I was younger. Always hanging out in the background, ya know? Wait! Do you guys remember that day I ended up painting on a bunch of cutie marks to fit in? My mom still laughs about that day!” Scootaloo slowly shook her head. “Nope. Are you sure you didn’t live in Bizarro Ponyville?” Abandoning her quest to get them to remember, Noi pointed to a building down the road. “Okay, okay, you guys might not remember me, but I moved here to Manehattan a few years back and now I manage a bed and breakfast! It’s that building right there!” Manehattan had an irregular skyline, with tall buildings right next to short apartment complexes and office buildings. Noi’s bed and breakfast was sandwiched between two warehouse buildings on a road leading straight to the docks. Although the building itself looked very cozy, the warehouse buildings added a seedy element. It was like an island of pleasantness in the middle of a cesspool. “We’re so happy for you?” Scootaloo awkwardly told her. “I would be honored if you stayed at my bed and breakfast! It would really boost our image, and maybe ponies would be willing to give us a chance!” Noi smiled wide, her purple eyes jiggling with giddy joy. Pip looked back at the bed and breakfast. He didn’t really care where they stayed, as a long as they had a safe place for their bodies while they were dream walking. The street the building on was shady-looking… but what was anypony going to do to them, really? Plus, he understood the need to vicariously become cool by offering to host always-cool ponies. He had once given the Cutie Mark Crusaders free lemonade just so they would frequent his lemonade stand. Then again, that didn’t work out so well for him… Pip shrugged. “All right. We’ll stay there, but we can pay. Princess Luna gave me funds for such things.” “That’s great!” Noi gasped. “I’ll run ahead and tell Tropical Spring! She’ll get the rooms ready!” The dull yellow earth pony galloped off toward the bed and breakfast with a restrained giggle. Pip motioned for the others to begin walking that way. Rumble and Specter were carrying a small box with their spare equipment, but the rest were free to wander about. Mist was the only pony to take advantage of this, and immediately flew over to a food cart located on the curb. The top of the food cart had a bright strawberry lit up from within. “You sell strawberries?” Mist asked in a sing-song voice. “Nope,” the stallion behind the stand grunted. “Jus’ snow cones.” Mist titled her head to the side. “Snow cones?” Pip trotted over to Mist’s side and gave her a half smile. “Snow cones are shaved ice in a cup with fruit syrup poured on top.” Her eyes suddenly went wide, even her slit-pupils dilated to near circles. “R-really?” she whispered. “Yeah. Why? Did you want one?” “Yes, please!” “That’ll be two bits,” the stallion said, stomping his hoof on the stand. Geez, that’s expensive for a snow cone. “All right,” Pip capitulated. He pulled two bits from his satchel and tossed them over. The stallion immediately went to work, scoping the ice into the cup and then pouring the red strawberry syrup over it. The ice glistened with the sugary sweetness. Mist was practically drooling. The instant she got her hooves on it, she sank her teeth in and began sucking away. Within moments, all the syrup had been drained away, like Mist was some sort of syrup vampire. Left with just the shaved ice in a cup, she frowned. Mist tossed the cup into the nearby trashcan and then turned her attention to the syrup bottle. “I want that,” she said, pointing to the bottle. The stallion glared. “Ya can’t have it.” “Why not?” she pouted. “Cuz I needs that for my business.” “What if I pay you for it?” The stallion shrugged. “I guess you can have it then.” Mist pulled her own money from her belt and poured it out onto the stand. She had thirty-three bits. “Is that enough?” “Well… I could make more snow cones than-” She continued to pout. Pip shook his head. There was no way the syrup was worth that much. How hungry was she? “We’re heading to bed and breakfast, Mist. I’m sure they have food there.” “Fine,” the stallion said. “Take it.” He nudged the syrup bottle over to her with his nose. Mist practically squealed in delight as she took it. Before Pip could ask if she wanted ice, Mist sank her fangs into the side of the bottle and began drinking the syrup through the puncture holes. Pip and the other stallion watched in impressed awe as she slurped down the contents of the bottle. “Bat ponies only do that to bottles, right?” the stallion asked Pip under his breath. “Not to… necks?” “No, of course not,” Pip said with a forced laugh. Once Mist had gotten everything should could from the small holes, she pried open the bottle with her fangs and began licking the inside. The stallion was now visibly nervous. “A-are you sure, bub?” “All right, Mist. I think we should be meeting up with the others by now. Let’s go.” He trotted away from the stallion and waved, hoping that he wasn’t too weirded out. Mist followed behind Pip, now noticeably happier. The bed and breakfast that Noi worked at was two stories tall and painted in bright colors. The others had already gone inside by the time Pip reached the front steps. Outside the building, everything smelled like fish and grime. Inside the building was a completely different matter. Everything smelled like a fresh flower field. Pip was pleasantly surprised. Noi was waiting for him behind the counter. She pushed over a piece of paper. “I gave you two rooms. One for the mares and one for the stallions. They’re big rooms! We’ve had six ponies stay in them before! Breakfast is an hour past dawn!” Pip didn’t think he would be having breakfast very often. They needed to switch their schedule around so that they could dream walk during the evening. For the past month they had been dream walking during the day, when the bat ponies were sleeping, but other ponies weren’t that way. “Thank you,” he muttered, glancing at the room numbers. “I think I’m going to go catch some sleep.” “It’s almost dawn,” Noi said in confusion. “You’re going to sleep now?” “Yeah. Thank you again, though.” Pip trotted off and yawned. Mist followed behind, fidgeting as if she were riding a sugar high. I wonder what kind of ponies and nightmares we’ll see in Manehattan… --- Honk-honk! Hey! Watch it! Honk-honk! Screeeeecch! Crash! Pip slowly opened his eyes. The sounds of Manehattan were almost unbearable. He desperately wanted to sleep, but even with his bad hearing, the city was just too loud. Pip slowly sat up in his bed and rubbed at his eyes. With the windows covered, the room was practically pitch black. Pip groped around the darkness for his silver chain and fragment. The moment he had it around his neck, the room became perfectly visible. Like Noi had said, it was a large room. There were three beds, two couches, and one cot. All the other stallions were sleeping, except for Phantom Shade. The older bat pony was sitting on the end of his bed, staring at the floor. Pip rolled off his bed and stretched. Maybe I will get breakfast… if it’s still being served. It’s probably just a little after noon… “Are you hungry?” Pip whispered to Phantom Shade. The bat pony didn’t answer. “I’m going down to get some breakfast. You can join me if you want.” Pip trotted out of the room. To his surprise, Phantom Shade exited the room as well. It was day, which meant bat ponies wouldn’t be able to go outside without being blinded, but artificial lights inside weren’t too bad. Phantom Shade was squinting just to see, and he stayed close to Pip. As Pip rounded the corner, he slammed into another pony. “Oh! I’m so sorry!” he said, rubbing at his shoulder. It suddenly hurt more than it had in weeks… The mare in front of him snorted in disgust. “Eh! I can’t believe I’m staying in a B&B with a pinto pony in it!” Pip would have recognized that voice anywhere. Diamond Tiara. She rubbed at her pale magenta coat and swished her mane. The years had been kind to her, to say the least. She was lean, tall… everything a model would need to be to make it in Manehattan. Pip hadn’t paid much attention to her successes, but everypony in Ponyville knew of them. Her father made sure of that. “Hey! Are you listening to me?!” Diamond Tiara huffed. “I said get out of the way!” “Sorry,” Pip said again, stepping to the side. Phantom Shade also stepped aside, but Diamond Tiara took an interest in him. “Oh! You must be one of the Star Guard!” Her tone and attitude had completely reversed. “I came all the way to this scruffy little B&B just to meet you!” Phantom Shade bowed his head. “It’s an honor to meet a pony of your caliber.” Pip held back a laugh. Was that Phantom Shade being nice? He almost sounded like a gentlecolt there! “What are you still doing here?” Diamond Tiara said to Pip, lifting an eyebrow in irritation. “The way you stand around and do nothing makes me think your mother was a cow! You have the spots to prove it.” Flabbergasted, Pip just stared down at her. She… doesn’t recognize me. “R-right,” he stammered. “I was just about to get breakfast. Sorry about that.” He turned away and left Phantom Shade to deal with her. Once he was out into the lobby, Pip saw that there was a crowd of ponies there, all facing a unicorn stallion on a small box. It was hard to get through the room, considering how tightly packed everypony was, but Pip began to cross regardless. Are all these ponies here because they heard the Star Guard was staying here? This place was practically empty when we arrived! “Don’t you see?!” the unicorn stallion shouted to the crowd. “Don’t you see the connections?” Pip stopped halfway through the room and listened to the stallion. What was he talking about? “When did all this nightmare stuff become a problem? For over a thousand years we had no nightmare problem! Now we’re in danger of just becoming nightmares at any moment! I’ll tell you when… the instant Princess Luna came back! She brought this darkness with her!” The ponies in the crowd began nodding. Pip shook his head. The nightmares had existed long before Luna… “If Princess Luna had just stayed banished to the moon, we wouldn’t be having these problems! I say we petition Princess Celestia to send her back! Isn’t it Princess Luna’s duty to protect us? Wouldn’t this protect us? Wouldn’t staying on the moon be better for us all?!” The crowd began cheering for the unicorn’s words. Pip tried to disagree, but his voice was drowned out by all the ponies that thought this was a good idea. It wasn’t Luna’s fault! She didn’t have control over what powers she had! It wasn’t fair to ask Luna to sacrifice everything for something she couldn’t control! Pip caught his breath. It’s not fair… Just thinking those words made him think back to his conversation with the oblivion. It had said that inequality was the source of all evil… The chanting crowd of ponies and the unicorn trying to convince them sounded just like what the darkness had been talking about. They wanted to condemn Luna for things outside of her control. “We don’t need to meet the Star Guard to know they haven’t finished their mission! If the Nightmare Forces were defeated, don’t you think the princesses would have said something! I say we take our cause to Canterlot! We can speak to the princesses there! No pony should have to live in fear! No pony should worry they will become a nightmare at any moment!” Pip was no longer hungry. He backed out of the room, pushing the other ponies aside until he made it back to the hallway. Phantom Shade was waiting there, listening to the unicorn. Pip glanced around. Diamond Tiara was nowhere to be seen. “Aren’t we getting breakfast?” Phantom Shade asked, his gold eyes watching as the crowd of ponies began funneling out of the building. “I’m not hungry. You can go.” “Tsk. You upset that all those ponies aren’t worshipping the ground Princess Luna walks on?” Pip glared. “They just don’t know what they’re talking about! Princess Luna is amazing and she doesn’t deserve to be trapped on the moon!” “I agree,” Phantom Shade said with a nod. “Really?” “Of course,” the bat pony hissed. “Don’t you remember me telling you as much? She’s practically the only reason bat ponies even have a job outside Hollow Shades. I would never wish anything ill upon her.” “Oh,” Pip said with a smile. “Right. That’s good.” “But that unicorn did make an interesting point. Has there ever been more than one nightmare creature at a time? A Nightmare Moon and a Nightmare something or other?” Pip thought back and shrugged. “I don’t think so.” Phantom Shade half smiled and took a step closer to Pip. In a dark tone he whispered, “Then I think I have a solution to our problem that doesn’t involve tediously searching through dreams.” “You do?” Pip asked, lowering his voice to a whisper as well, though he didn’t know why they were whispering. “Listen,” Phantom Shade stressed. “We get a random pony, place him in a trap, make him sleep, convince the Nightmare Forces to take him, and, before the Nightmare Forces can do anything, spring the trap. With the nightmare contained, we can banish it to the moon and save ourselves the hassle.” Pip snorted in disgust. “You sound just as bad as that unicorn. That isn’t fair.” “Life isn’t fair,” Phantom Shade hissed. “Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the greater good!” No! Pip turned away. The darkness can’t be right! I won’t let it be right! We don’t need to do this! “It isn’t right,” Pip firmly stated. “Who would we even use to trap the Nightmare Forces? We could never ask that of somepony! We could never force that upon somepony!” Phantom Shade walked around to face him. “You aren’t thinking about this the right way. We use an unwanted pony. A thief. A sick orphan. A criminal locked away in Tartarus, I don’t care! Somepony that nopony will miss!” “Maybe a smaller than average earth pony? A runt?” Pip asked. “Yes, exactly.” “Or, and hear me out now,” Pip said sarcastically. “What about… a bat pony? Nopony likes them anyway! I’m sure if we left it to a vote, they would be the one picked!” Phantom Shade slowly narrowed his eyes into a glare. “Do you see how this isn’t right?” Pip snapped. He could feel himself getting angry. He resisted the urge to just shove Phantom Shade out of his face, but it was tempting. “Nopony can decide! It’s completely unfair and I refuse to entertain the thought! There has to be another way, Phantom Shade. We’ll find it, no matter what it takes.” “You know,” Phantom Shade began, “being captain of such an important guard means you’ll have to make the tough decision. What’s more important? One pony or every living being? The choice is obvious, if you ask me.” Pip glared back. “As your captain, I’ve made my decision. We won’t be sacrificing anypony or anything to the Nightmare Forces. Not now, not ever.” “Sir, yes sir,” Phantom Shade sarcastically replied as he turned away from Pip and flew into the lobby. Pip didn’t go after him. He knew that that plan was terrible. Plus… they didn’t know for sure that the Nightmare Forces could only have one at a time… Now that Pip thought about it, during the fight with Nightmare Moon, she had offered to give him a place by her side, making him Nightmare Star. No. It’s a terrible plan, and I never want to prove the darkness correct. Our differences will be our strength. Pip looked around. Celestia wanted them to be here, for some reason. Whatever it was, he was going to find it. Then he was going to travel to the land of dragons.