//------------------------------// // Captured // Story: The Star Guard // by Car Cloth //------------------------------// Chapter 13 Captured “You day ponies are way more innovative than I gave you credit for.” “I suppose.” “You suppose? Do you see this building?” Specter motioned to one of many skyscrapers. In the dreamscape, the skyscraper was a dull gray and white, constantly evaporating into sand at every point, yet somehow never dwindling. Marble glanced at the skyscraper and shrugged. “It’s impressive, I guess. It just doesn’t excite me.” Specter marveled at the building for a moment longer before flying to catch up to Marble. He thought the earth pony was crazy. Who builds buildings that large? Why would they even do that? It wasn’t like Equestria was lacking space… “Look, here’s a dream.” Marble motioned to a bubble of light and immediately began walking in its direction. Specter followed behind her, dreading the thought of working with somepony else for this. Despite the fact that he wanted to have a competition to determine the best of them, he had actually been the worst member of the team from his own internal count. Once the light faded, Specter saw that they were now standing in a dream theater. The seating was empty, but there was a long line of stallions and mares waiting in the aisles between the benches. The stage of the theater had a single red chaise longue with a beautiful mare resting on it. The mare had a pale magenta coat, purple and white mane, and gorgeous blue eyes. Her slender and elegant frame made Specter’s heart tick just a little faster. “Wow. Not bad for an earth pony, am I right?” he nudged Marble. Marble gave the mare one look and shrugged. “I guess. Though, what does a diamond tiara cutie mark actually do? How would one gain a talent from that?” Specter hadn’t even noticed the mark, despite taking stock of how toned her flank was. “I dunno. Does it matter? With legs like that, who needs a special talent?” “Next!” the mare on stage shouted. One of the stallions waiting in line happily jumped onto the stage and bowed before her. “Diamond Tiara! It would be an honor to be your friend!” “Too tall,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “I need somepony my height or shorter. I don’t want anypony taller than me, making me look short by comparison.” The stallion hung his head and slowly trotted off the stage with a frown. “Next!” Diamond Tiara shouted. This time a mare jumped onto the stage. She had an orange coat and green mane with three blue circles as a cutie mark. “I’ve always wanted to be your friend, Di! Always! Please give me a chance! I think we can do amazing things together!” Diamond Tiara looked over the mare with a sneer. “I can’t have a friend that looks like a walking, talking carrot. Get out of here. As a matter of fact, anypony that has a brightly colored coat is hereby dismissed!” “Ahhh…” groaned half the ponies waiting in line. They all hung their heads and began trotting out. “She’s got a real winning personality,” Marble sarcastically remarked. Specter took a seat on a nearby bench. “She can judge me any day.” “It’s only a dream,” Marble said with a shrug. “You could get in line and try out.” “Not a bad idea,” he said, rubbing his chin. “Next!” Diamond Tiara shouted. Specter didn’t wait in line. He used his dream magic to vanish the next pony and took their place. He flew onto the stage and landed next to the lounging earth pony. “I bet you’ve never seen a bat pony before,” he said as suavely as he could, brushing back his light gray mane. Diamond Tiara reeled back in disgust. “Aah! What kind of hideous monster are you?! Gross! You’re definitely disqualified! I can’t be seen with such an ugly friend! Never!” Specter turned away, hurt by her outburst. It only took him a minute to compose himself, and he turned back with a sarcastic laugh. “Oh, like you’re so much better? Why don’t we fight it out right here, huh? What’re you going to bring? Earth magic? Pfft. Please. I got fangs, lady. And I’m silent.” He flew around her and smiled, though deep inside he knew he couldn’t change how he looked. “Fighting? Ew! And I don’t need earth magic when I have the most powerful magic of all,” Diamond Tiara said with a pompous laugh. “What magic is that?” Marble asked from the audience, obviously curious. “Money,” Diamond Tiara quickly responded. “And lots of it.” “You’re also rich?” Specter balked. Some ponies just have all the luck… “My father was named Filthy Rich for a reason,” she said, fluffing her curly mane. Specter and Marble both began laughing. Diamond Tiara glared from one to the other. “What’s so funny? Why are you laughing?” “Did they call him Filth for short?” Specter said between laughs, practically falling over. “At least he wasn’t named Stinkin’ Rich or something equally as absurd!” Marble said, slamming her hoof on the bench in front of her. Diamond Tiara crossed her forelegs over her chest. “Stinkin’ Rich was my great-grandfather’s name.” Another round of laughter, this time twice as loud, emanated from Specter and Marble. Diamond Tiara just waited for them to finish, an ever-growing frown on her face. Marble was the first to stop laughing. She wiped away a tear and sat back on her bench. “All right. The joke is no longer funny.” “Really?” Specter asked. “Not even imagining her great-grandfather being called Stink as a foal? That doesn’t make you laugh?” He snorted and rolled as he continued to laugh. “Nope,” Marble said in a dull tone. “No longer funny. Let’s get this over with.” Specter quieted himself and sighed. He still thought it was funny. “Both of you can just show yourselves out!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Neither of you are worthy of being my friend!” Rolling off the edge of the stage, Specter flew over to Marble. “Let’s ditch this crazy mare and go into somepony else’s dream. She doesn’t look like she has problems to me.” “She clearly has a deep seated insecurity and need to be liked,” Marble casually commented. Although she had spoken in a light tone, Diamond Tiara jumped off her chaise longue and snorted. “I do not have any sort of problems! How dare you say otherwise!” A bone chilling breeze washed through the theater. Specter glanced around. They were alone now. No lines. No other ponies. The whole place felt like a ghost town. Normally the nightmares were over-the-top frightening, but this felt more… sad. “Everypony wants to be my friend!” Diamond Tiara continued to shout and stomp her hooves. “I’m perfect! Perfect, you hear me?! I have money, looks, connections! What else is there?!” Her voice echoed through the empty theater, lingering longer than any echo ever should. Specter and Marble didn’t reply. The silence that followed the echoes was haunting. Specter opened his mouth, but Marble held up a hoof and pointed to the stage. Diamond Tiara’s lip quavered as her eyes searched the deserted theater. As the dream stretched on, the wood and fabric of the theater began to rot, everything aging decades within a matter of moments. As the wood warped it cracked, punctuating the silence with an eerie crackle. The theater, now old and decrepit, was nothing more than gray fabric, dust and twisted wood. Diamond Tiara took a hesitant step back. “Everypony wants to be my friend!” she tried to shout, but her voice cracked. “I’m p-perfect…” Cold. Dead. Silence. Diamond Tiara snapped her attention to Specter. “R-right?” “Didn’t you call me a hideous monster?” Specter asked. “I think I’m over you.” “What about you?” Diamond Tiara shifted her attention to Marble, tears in her eyes. Marble straightened her long gray mane. “I don’t pick my friends based on pity.” It was obvious that Marble’s words had stung Diamond Tiara. She turned away, hiding her face. The chill of the haunting breeze became even colder, verging on freezing. Frost began coating the benches and stage. “If this keeps up we’ll find the Nightmare Forces for sure,” Marble commented, watching the ice as it began to cover everything. “Really?” Specter skeptically asked. “This is what’s going to get the Nightmare Forces to show? Who cares if you don’t have any friends? You’re born alone and you die alone. It’s just a thing, no need to get hung up on it.” Diamond Tiara slowly turned back to him, her face stained with tears. “You aren’t bothered by… being alone?” “Of course not!” Specter said with a shrug. “Your only true companions in life are your shadow and silence. Everything else will eventually leave and never come back.” Specter knew that sounded cold, but it was the truth. He had learned it long ago… “But… nothing feels the same without Silver Spoon." Diamond Tiara hung her head. “I don’t understand why she left! I thought I was perfect!” Specter flew up and around Diamond Tiara. “Forget about her! That’s what I would do. Ponies that snub me were probably not worth my time anyway.” Marble, grounded in the audience area, shook her head and frowned. “What?” Specter snapped. “You got something to say?” “Are you forgetting Scootaloo?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “I haven’t seen you give up on her.” “Yeah, but she’s the perfect example of what I’m talking about!” Specter blurted out. “I keep trying to make something happen between us and all she can see is Rumble because he’s a bird pony just like she is! I should take my own advice and ignore her and Rumble! They don’t want me around! And it’s the same with everypony!” Diamond Tiara wiped away the last of her tears and nodded. “You’re right. Other ponies aren’t worth my time.” The theater started to twist back into shape, but the warmth never returned. It was a cold, empty theater. Beautiful… but hollow. “I don’t need anypony,” Diamond Tiara definitively stated. “You two can go.” “Wait,” Marble held up a hoof. “We’re with the Star Guard! We need to get rid of the-” “Don’t worry, I’ll give you a favorable review,” Diamond Tiara said with a loud groan. “You’ve been very helpful, yadda, yadda. You’re dismissed.” “But we haven’t-” “I said,” Diamond Tiara emphasized the words and glared, “you’re dismissed!” Marble let out a breath of exasperation. She turned around with a swish of her tail and flounced from the dream. Specter flew after her, yawning as he went. Once they were past the edge of the dream, he glanced at Marble and shrugged. “Favorable review? Does she think we’re some sort of dream burlesque dancers or something? Oh well. Which dream next?” “That. Was. Awful.” Marble turned her glare on him. “You have some issues you need to get out of your system. No wonder you’re not helping many ponies.” “What? It’s not like we saw any Nightmare Forces in that dream! She’ll be fine.” “We’ll need to return to it, and sometime soon.” Marble trotted through the dreamscape with her eyes now turned to the colorless ground. “We need to think of a way to draw the Nightmare Forces out. Maybe we pretend to be her old friend…” Specter placed his hooves behind his head and floated next to her. “It’s not like she has any friends anymore. If nopony even cares about her, maybe we should help some other pony first.” “We don’t decide who we help based on popularity.” “All right… You think of some way to help her. I’ll think of something else.” Without warning, Marble bucked the bat pony and slammed him to the ground. Despite being in the dreamscape, Specter could feel the power behind the blow. He felt winded, and when he looked up, Marble was standing over him, pinning his body to the ground. “You are going to help me solve this,” she said, narrowing her eyes. For a moment Specter was stunned. Wow. I didn’t realize she was so tough. “Hey. You know what just occurred to me?” Marble, obviously confused, raised an eyebrow. “Your coat. It’s gray. And your mane… it’s dark gray. Day-ponies usually have bright colors… but bat ponies are the ones with dull colors. Like gray. And black. You ever think you were part bat pony?” She face-hoofed. “I’m being serious!” Specter said. “Just wonderin’.” “Are you even paying attention?” “Yeah, yeah. I’ll help you help that other pony. Whatever you say. You’re the leader of our team.” “Team?” Marble asked, releasing Specter. “It’s just us two.” “Whatever you say, Team Captain,” he joked. “And you need to talk to Rumble and Scootaloo.” “Eh,” he dismissively waved away her suggestion. “I’ll just go on ignoring it. That way I don’t have to deal with things.” Marble got back on top of him and glared. “Okay, okay!” he capitulated, shoving her off and flying up into the dusty sky. “I’ll talk to them at some point! Jeez, you’re a crazy mare sometimes!” “You sound just like Scootaloo.” “Oh! You know what else you need? A nickname.” “Marble is already a nickname. My full name is-” “No. I mean a cool nickname.” Marble rolled her eyes as they trotted to the next available dream. --- Rumble flexed his wings while he walked. He knew he wasn’t actually stretching, since this was a dream, but he needed something to do while he walked in silence. Rumble glanced over at his partner. At first he'd thought having a teammate would be nice. After all, he was always somewhat nervous when fighting the Nightmare Forces alone. What if something went wrong? “So, uh, Equinox,” he began, hoping she would say something. She didn’t. “You and I… don’t talk much,” he lamely added. Still, she said nothing. Oh ponyfeathers… Scootaloo is always so talkative. Same with Specter, now that I think about it… Why can’t Equinox be as easy to engage? In the dream world, Equinox looked exactly as she did when she'd first joined the Night Guard. No scars. Wings perfect. Her eyes, however, looked angry. Rumble took a deep breath and held it. Should he mention her change of appearance? “So, uh, look! A dream!” He pointed to a small bubble of light he'd almost missed. It was tucked away in the dreamscape, almost like it was hiding. Equinox turned in the direction Rumble had pointed. The surprise on her face told Rumble that she had missed it as well. They both trotted across the light threshold and into the dream itself. Rumble felt odd in this dream. It was alien and different in a way he wasn’t used to. When he blinked back the light he realized the dream itself was set inside a slimy tunnel. A dark, disgusting, soft and porous tunnel… Green ooze stuck to his hooves and he quickly kicked it away. Equinox took the air and he followed suit. The tunnel was black, green and blue. A deep, but distant, buzzing was all Rumble could hear as he and Equinox flew further into the dream. “I hope they don’t find me.” The voice Rumble heard was in his head, not something spoken. He wildly glanced around, confused by the talking in his mind. “They’ll kill me if I’m found…” Rumble shook his head. He didn’t like this. “Equinox,” he said aloud. “Do you hear that? Er, I don’t know if hearing is the right word…” “I hear it,” she snapped. “Just leave this to me.” “But,” Rumble nervously glanced around the tunnel, “we’re supposed to be a team.” He didn’t like the look of this dream. Not one little bit. Everything about it felt like a trap waiting to be sprung, or that the environment itself was out to get them. “I can handle it on my own. Why don’t you just head to the next dream and I’ll catch up with you?” She swished her tail and quickly flew deeper into the tunnel. “They’re coming… Leave me alone!” “Wait!” Rumble called out. He flew up ahead of her and got in her way. “I don’t think we should split up! Pip thinks that-” Equinox slammed him with her hooves, nearly knocking him out of the air. “Can’t you take a hint, pegasus?! I want to be left alone! I can do it! I don’t need any help, okay?!” Rumble rubbed at the area on his chest where she had hit him and frowned. “I’m so hungry… so scared… now they’ve come to kill me…” Rumble decided to try and reason with Equinox. “I don’t want to disobey Pip. Thunder Clash always says we need to operate as one and follow directions. So, if they say we should work in a team-” With another powerful shove, Equinox sent him into the porous wall of the tunnel. Rumble could feel the odd black and green slime as it coated his coat and feathers. Disgusted, he pushed away from the wall and kicked Equinox away. “What’s gotten into you?!” Rumble huffed, tense and ready to fight. Angrier than Rumble had ever seen her, Equinox growled and flew back at him. She rammed her body against his, crushing him against the wall of the tunnel. Pieces of the tunnel broke away like a crumbling organic cookie. Ooze splashed across both of them. Confused and frustrated, Rumble flipped their positions, slamming Equinox against the wall. Using her dream magic, Equinox created a halberd, much to Rumble’s surprise. Not to be outdone, he created a spear and leapt away from her. “So much hate… so much violence… There can be no doubt as to their intentions…” Rumble ignored the voice in his head in order to better defend against Equinox. She pushed off the wall, flying at him at high speeds. He blocked, but her skill was greater. She turned the halberd, using the hook of it to rip the spear from his hooves. Wait a minute, he thought. This is a dream! He held up a hoof and gale force winds poured forth, screaming through the tunnel and sending Equinox into a tailspin. Realizing what he realized, Equinox grit her teeth and summon dream chains that exploded from the walls of the tunnel. They wrapped around Rumble’s limbs and pulled him down. “Equinox!” Rumble hissed. “What are you even doing?!” Taking deep, frustrated breaths, Equinox lowered her weapon. “I just want to be left alone! All right?! Maybe I want to prove to the others I can do this!” “Prove to who?” Rumble asked, pulling at the chains. “Pip didn’t do this because he thought you needed a partner! He did it for everyone! Even he got a partner!” She hesitated for a moment, obviously swayed by his logic. “They won’t take me without a fight! They won’t!” Rumble hadn’t even noticed how much the dream had shifted since they entered. It was already creepy, but now all the blue accents had become red, the tunnel was pulsating, like it was alive, and the ooze… it was acidic. Before the horror of the situation fully sank in, Rumble felt a terrible burning on his back and wings. He flailed about, trying to get the ooze off, but the chains made it difficult. He tried to vanish them away, but he couldn’t. The walls of the “tunnel” trembled and Rumble couldn’t help but feel like something was coming. “Equinox!” he called out, a nervous panic coming over him. She flew to him and began cutting away at the chains. They broke away easily, practically dissolving, but it felt the same on Rumble’s back. It burned! Every inch of his back and wings burned! Rumble could see that Equinox’s body was also being consumed by the acidic ooze. She fought through the pain and urged him to get up. The longer they took, the more certain Rumble was that ooze was gushing through the tunnel. “I wish my queen were here… or my brothers and sisters… Why must I be alone when I die? Why must I be alone…?” “We’re here to help you!” Rumble called out, though he thought himself silly. The voice was in his mind. Where was the pony who was dreaming? What sort of dream was this? Rumble had never dreamt of something so surreal and alien! Equinox tried to push him toward the edge of the dream. “We should leave!” Agony spread throughout his body. Rumble struggled to move, though Equinox didn’t look as hampered. He could feel his feathers melting from his wings! “I can’t,” Rumble breathed. “It hurts too much!” She offered her shoulder to help him. The quivering of the “tunnel” beneath his hooves made him queasy, and the fear of slowly being corroded away to nothingness made it hard to think straight. “Don’t give up on me, Rumble!” Equinox said, pulling him to the edge of the dream. Rumble glanced over his shoulder. A creature of green and black ooze, in the shape of a giant deformed pony, sloshed through the tunnel, charging their way. Whatever it touched, it left holes of smoking disintegration. Was this a nightmare creature or was it just the dreamer frightened of Rumble and Equinox? The ooze pony leapt at them, but Rumble wasn’t going to allow it to win. He pushed Equinox away, further toward the edge of the dream, just before it collided with him. The intense flash of pain, followed by the feeling of wasting away to his bones, was the worst moment of his life, despite the fact that it was all a dream. And then there was nothing. --- “Oh, bravo! What an excellent piece!” The stomping of excited ponies filled the arena. Pip wasn’t entirely sure what he was watching. When he had first entered the dream, he'd thought they were going to be helping some sort of athlete, but that definitely wasn’t the case. In the middle of the playing field was a group of ponies dressed in fashionable clothing. They were taking turns showing off their dresses, suits and accessories. Even though the stadium seating wasn’t designed for fashion shows in mind, some ponies being too far away to see anything, they still cheered as though they could. Pip knew some ponies liked fashion, but this was ridiculous. “Who do you think is dreaming this dream?” he asked, scanning the audience. There were hundreds of ponies in attendance. “That one,” Phantom Shade said, pointing to a mare in the field. She was older than all the models, with a dark gray coat and light pink mane. “How do you know?” Pip asked, leaning on the railing that separated the audience from the playing field. “I can feel it.” Pip squinted at the mare. The models turned to her and smiled whenever they were done. “Prim Hemline! The fashion show is a success! Everypony is excited about fashion now!” The older mare held her head up high and nodded. “Yes. As it should be!” She walked around the models with a restrained smile. She lifted her forelegs high off the ground as she walked, a sign of high etiquette, though it was rarely used anymore. “She seems happy,” Pip said. “We should come back to her dreams later. The ponies at risk are the ones that are unhappy in life. We should deal with them first.” “Or we can simply change her dream and draw out the Nightmare Forces,” Phantom Shade coldly replied. “It’s obvious she thinks these petty material objects are important. I say we alter the dream so that everypony thinks they’re worthless. Or perhaps the clothing could come to life and eat the models. The former would be more convincing, but the latter would be more amusing.” Pip slowly turned his head toward the bat pony. “Are you serious? We aren’t here to start nightmares… we’re here to defeat them.” “We’re here to defeat the Nightmare Forces, not make sure everypony gets a good night sleep,” Phantom Shade said with a roll of his eyes. “Giving her a nightmare isn’t the end of the world. She’ll live.” “It doesn’t feel right. I know that defeating the Nightmare Forces is important, but that doesn’t justify us doing whatever we want to get them.” Phantom Shade clenched his teeth. “Listen, I can understand why you wouldn’t want to use a pony to trap the Nightmare Forces, but giving a pony a nightmare is inconsequential! They won’t even know it’s us! She’ll just think she’s dreaming!” Pip was about to respond when he suddenly felt a pain shoot through him. He sucked in his breath and nearly doubled over. The magic from the Fragment of the First Night tied him to the others. He could feel a piece slipping away… It was Rumble. Pip kept his eyes shut, silently cursing at himself. He thought having partners would eliminate moments like this! First Scootaloo was in trouble and now Rumble?! What was going on? “What is it?” Phantom Shade asked. “I don’t sense any nightmares.” “Something is wrong with Rumble… He’s slipping away…” “What? The pegasus? Where is he?” Before Pip could answer, everything felt oddly distant and ethereal. He gave Phantom Shade a confused look at the dream quickly melted away, disappearing into a cloud of nothingness. Alone, Pip flailed about, trying to regain his connection with the dreamscape. He quickly opened his eyes in the waking world and took deep breaths. He was on a boat. Tied to the main mast with heavy rope. The creaking of the wooden planks against the waves the only noises. Shocked, Pip saw the lights of Manehattan slowly becoming smaller and smaller as the boat sailed away from port. Water splashed up from the side, the smell of sea salt filling the air. It was dark and Pip could hardly see anything. The fragment! he thought, stricken with panic. What’s going on?!