//------------------------------// // Fatal Mistake // Story: The Veins Run Deep // by Thunderblast //------------------------------// Days slowly turned into weeks, and those weeks transformed into months. Four months to be exact. Time flew by from the day Night Shadow begun basic training, to where he was now sparring on the training field with other guards occasionally. The first month of training was the slowest and hardest, it being the time where the guard literally beats ponies into shape. It was slightly easier, being somewhat physically active before enlisting, but it still hurt Night for weeks after the first run. Soon however, he got used to the procedure, and even one pony trying his best to take him down and force him out of the guard. For what reason, Night never knew, and didn't bother with it. During his time in training, he did wind up making a new best friend, perhaps more than his trainer Thunderblast. One sunny and warm September day, Night Shadow sat in his barrack, polishing his trainee armor, which was plain silver all around, which didn't include hoof guards. Out of all of the armor the guard used, silver was the easiest to polish, and that made Night happy to know. He didn't regularly polish armor, but he felt his day off would be the perfect opportunity to, so it could be ready for tomorrow's day of probably more running, or even better, sparring. These days, he didn't know what training he had anymore, knowing he was nearing graduation time. After finishing polishing his armor until his face reflected perfectly off of it, Night set the helmet and main piece in his hooflocker, swapping it for a small hoof-full of bits for lunch, then sliding the hooflocker back under his bed. Moments later, he trotted outside onto the guard barrack grounds, which wasn't as busy as weekdays, it being a Sunday after all. Night glanced around, disappointed when he didn't spot Thunderblast or his new unicorn friend anywhere, but shrugged it off and made his way into town to find somewhere to get some good lunch. In Canterlot, places to eat weren't uncommon at all, though half if not most of the restaurants many considered to be 'rich-pony restaurants' because of how expensive their meals were, but not that money wasn't a problem in the city, especially for Night now. Soon after, he found a hay burger joint smack-dab in the center of town, which to his surprise didn't have a line extending three blocks away, like most restaurants that time of day did. There, he ordered a simple hay burger with a side of salted french fries, then sat down to eat. With the food the guard served at lunch, he eventually had the craving to go out for a change. "Hey Night." Night Shadow glanced up as he took a bite of his hay burger, his eyes meeting those of a dark grey unicorn with a white-grey mohawk mane, with a straight, styled tail matching the style guards use. The unicorn was levitating a slightly greasy white bag of food in a blue aura of magic, emanating from his own horn. "Oh, hey Sharp!" Night spoke with some food in his mouth, swallowing afterwards. "Mind if I join you?" The unicorn smiled. "Of course, of course!" Night smiled back, and the unicorn sat down across the table from Night, then opening his bag and pulling out a small closed box, plus another with an open top with hay fries sticking out. "Ah, so you finally broke free of the mess hall, huh?" The unicorn grinned a bit and opened the box, the pony also had ordered a hay burger. "Yup, I'm glad I did too. These hay burgers are amazing!" Night then took another bite of his hay burger. The unicorn chuckled a bit. "Don't love 'em too much Night, if you eat them every day you'll have to go through basic training all over again," and levitated his burger out of the box and started eating. "Oh, believe me," Night swallowed again. "I don't plan on that." "Speaking of training..." The unicorn took a bite of his burger, then swallowed a couple of moments later. "How's it going?" "Great, never better! Captain Shining Armor is allowing me to spar off duty now." "Oh yeah? How do you like that?" "I love it Sharp," Night smiled again. "Say, tomorrow when I do my sparring match, would you like to be my opponent?" "Well, I don't know. My schedule is a bit iffy for tomorrow." "Aw, come on! I want to see how you fight!" "Eeeeh..." The pony looked at Night, then smiled. "Oh, alright, I guess I could." "Sweet!" Night then finished his burger and fries, then stood up from his chair. "So, see you tomorrow?" "Sure thing bro." Later on at sunset, Night Shadow walked up one of Canter Mountain's numerous paths, most leading to lookout points, others splitting off and going around the mountain to the small, quaint village of Canterville. It was a long way up, but Night didn't mind it one bit. He smiled slightly at the feeling of the almost-warm breeze brushing through his feathers and coat, and through his styled mane. A half an hour later, the young pegasus reached one of the many lookout points, one not known to many. In fact, for all he knew, it wasn't one known to anyone but him and his new unicorn friend. The small grassy plateau high up above the city was the perfect spot to sit down, relax, and watch the sunset or sunrise. It made him feel like he was on top of the world, although there were probably higher peaks elsewhere, on some unnamed or unmapped continent. The spot was perfect, and a bit romantic had he had a partner to come with. The grass was mostly shaded by trees, and there was a small creek streaming through some soft rock, and down a small waterfall, dispersing into nothing. It was more than peaceful. Night slowly laid down in the grass, but keeping his head up as he watched the sun slowly set on the western horizon. From above, he could not only see Canterlot, but the lights of Ponyville, and a few other distant towns as well, and even the cloud metropolis of Cloudsdale high up, a place he wanted to visit sometime. He sighed a bit, wishing he had somepony to go with, but was still okay to be by himself. Some time later, the sun had finally said it's last goodbye, and disappeared behind a distant mountain range, and the sky began to slowly darken with it to welcome the night. Night smiled, then stood up and began making his way down the path and back into Canterlot. Occasionally, he would glance up at the stars as they twinkled high in the sky. Something about the night felt great to him, but he couldn't quite put a hoof on it. After the long walk back, Night entered the edge of town, a part of town he immediately regretted to walk through to get back to the barracks. It was the small run-down sector of town, mainly abandoned shops and a few apartments. Some street lights flickered, some didn't. A few weren't on at all, which caused Night to tense up a bit and to keep an eye out for trouble if it were to come his way. As he walked, his ears perked up to the sound of a second set of hoofsteps. He froze and looked around him, standing under the light of a pole. He soon calmed himself when he didn't spot anypony, and continued on his way, but with a faster pace. He wanted to get home as soon as possible. Moments after, he heard the hoofsteps again. This time, he didn't pause to see where they were coming from, but instead trotted faster. His heart started to race, knowing he was being followed. Instead of following the street, he slid into an alleyway, which he was sure would bring him out onto another street. But to his fate, it was a dead end alley. Of course, he could have flown, but it wasn't what came to his mind. The hoofsteps slowly stopped behind him, and a faint chuckle could be heard from a stallion's voice. "Well well well, what have we here? Are you lost little boy?" Night slowly turned around, trembling softly. "I'm not little, I'm seventeen." "Hmm, you sure look little to me. I know all about you, Night Shadow. I want for you to listen closely." "Wait...w-what? How do you know who I am?" "I'll leave that for later." Out of nowhere, a faint whip of a hoof could be heard, and Night Shadow blacked out the moment the pony's hoof hit his face. He didn't know what to think next, that is, until he woke up. When he did, everything was still dark, and when he went to sit up, Night found his hooves strapped down to a bed as well as his torso. When nothing happened after a few moments, not a light turning on, he automatically assumed he was blindfolded, or he went completely blind from the hit. He groaned a little, having a slight headache. "Ow...h-hello...somepony?" No one was there, or so he thought. He tried to remain calm, but couldn't stop himself from shaking like a leaf in the wind. Moments after, he heard the sound of hooves trotting down some wooden, creaky steps. "Well, are you awake, bat pony?" Night's ear swiveled a bit to the direction of the sound, which he turned his head to. "Who are you...what do you want with me?" "Oh, nothing too important. Just a few little tests here and there, and if you're cooperative, I'll let you go. You hear me?" "Y-yes sir." Night's voice cracked a bit. "Good. Now, first thing, what were you doing walking through Upper-east Canterlot? Looking for trouble, guard?" "Taking a shortcut." "Oh, where from?" "A lookout point...on the mountain." "Hmm, I admire your taste for view." The pony seemed to be moving through what sounded like medical equipment, or a mechanic's tools for torture, not that he could really tell from being blindfolded. "What are you doing...? I can't see." "Well, that's because I have you blindfolded, you silly pony. Just stay still, and everything will be fine." "No, what are you doing? I-I want to know." "Shush." Night didn't say any more for the sake of his life, if it was really in danger at that point. "Now, this will hurt for juuuust a bit." The pony then lowered a syringe filled with a yellow liquid to Night's arm, slowly pressing it in and injecting the liquid. Night Shadow yelped at the pinch of the needle, and even more at the feeling of the liquid squirming into his body, which burned a little. "W-what are you doing? Th-this burns!" "Good. Now stay still or else it will burn even more." The pony pulled the syringe out after the last of the liquid was injected. Night trembled hard, trying not to cry out from the pain he was enduring. Minutes later, the burning sensation was gone, and soon so was the ongoing pinch of the injection site. Night panted and whimpered softly, feeling somewhat paralyzed from the liquid the pony put in him. Afterwards, he found himself to be sleepy. "W-why do I feel tired?" "Shhh...just relax, it'll be okay Nighty." The pony reached a hoof and moved the blindfold up. The pony had magenta eyes, his mane color and coat obscured by his shadow under a light. Before Night could get a good look, he fell back asleep, his head slowly turning to the side as he entered another slumber. The following day, Night Shadow woke up in his bunk back at his barrack, perfectly tucked in. The memory of what happened was fresh on his mind, but slightly blurry. Then, he began to question if it was even real at all, or if it was a dream to start with. He felt no pain where the needle went in, or any burning sensation in his blood. He slowly rose out of bed, his body feeling a bit more sluggish than usual in the morning, and his muscles ached. Night groaned some as he got on all fours, but then feeling no pain as he stood. He looked down at himself, making sure if what happened wasn't a dream, that he wasn't transformed into some other creature. Luckily, he wasn't. But that led to another question, what actually happened? The next thing that came across his mind was... "Shoot, it's Monday!" He dug under his bed, pulling out his hooflocker and twisting the knob combination and pulling out the armor he had tucked away in it. He remembered he would be sparring his friend Sharpblade today. Luckily, it wouldn't be until after lunch, and it was still quite early in the morning. After realizing it was, he trotted over to the track to run a few laps, to get his body into shape for the sparring match, and to loosen up his body for whatever reason it were sluggish. He reached the track, finding two other trainee guards already on it as he ran down the dirt track, passing them twice, but not on the same lap. Ten laps later, Night finally stopped and pulled off to the side to catch his breath. His body felt looser than earlier once he was done. Minutes after stopping, he looked around for a lamp clock the barracks had. He found it and walked up to it. It read eleven forty-three, meaning it was almost lunch, and that he would be sparring with Sharpblade afterwards. Instead of staying at mess hall to eat, Night brought his lunch outside to a picnic table, directly next to the small area where guards did their sparring matches, and where Sharpblade and Night Shadow would spar. Night sat and ate, waiting for Sharp to arrive. Some time after lunch, Sharp arrived, geared up in his armor, which gleamed brightly in the sun. Night had to admit, he was a bit jealous of Sharp's armor and wanted a set of his own, but he knew that would come in time. "Hey Night." Sharp walked up, smiling. "Hey Sharpie!" Night stood up, picking his helmet up off the picnic table and setting it on his head. "You ready to go?" "Sure thing." Sharp smirked, then walked over to the sparring grounds with Night Shadow. The two got into position, and a few other guards gathered around the two. "Oh, and Night?" "Yeah?" "Feel free to use those fangs of yours. They can be great for self defense if you're weaponless." Sharp grinned. Night's pupils shrunk a bit. "How did he know I have fangs?" "Alright. Let's start, shall we?" Night got into an attack position and smirked. "You go first." Sharp continued to smirk, gripping a steel sword in his magic grip. Night followed his order, and lunged at Sharp, gripping his own sword in his hooves. Their swords struck each other, the steel making a screech as the edges slid across each other. Night flew past Sharp, landing a few feet behind him and gritting his teeth a bit. Without hesitation, he lunged back at Sharp, their swords once again striking each other. The other guards continued to watch, with more showing up. Sharp was impressed with how much Night had improved over time, and eventually took matters into his own hooves and lunged at Night. Before he could tackle him down, Night jumped out of the way, allowing Sharp to slide on his stomach where he was once standing. Night then stood over Sharp, grabbing his helmet and pulling it off. He pulled Sharp up by his shoulders, and bit down into Sharp's neck, sinking his fangs in deep. Sharpblade's eyes widened and he yelped a bit, flailing his hooves. "O-ow, hey!" Night pulled back a few seconds later, spitting out some of Sharp's blood he got in his mouth. "Ew, blood!" He dropped Sharp and began rubbing his hooves frantically on his tongue, then spitting some more. Sharp slowly stood, holding his neck. "Damn...you got me. Great job." Sharp smiled, rubbing at the fang wounds. Night spat one last time. "Never again am I doing that. Blech, blood tastes terrible!" The other guards laughed, and the group eventually broke up to do their own thing. Night then walked up to Sharp. "Hey, you okay?" "Yeah, your fangs are sharp." "Heh..." Night simply blushed a little. "Will you be alright?" "Should be." Sharp smiled. "You did good Night. Real good. Can't wait to do it again with you. But for now, I guess I'll see ya later," then picked up his helmet and walked off. "Alrighty, see you Sharp!" Night smiled, then picked up his sword and began walking back to his barrack. "Hmm hmm hmm..." Night hummed to himself as he stepped out of the barrack's shower, drying his mane and coat with a towel. The hot shower eased his muscles and removed the little aches he did still have in them. After drying off, he set the towel in a basket for it to be washed later on, then walked over to his bed. It was still mostly day time, but sunset was already near. As he walked over to his bed, the door to the barrack swung open, and a guard ran inside to Night, panting with shrunk pupils. "Night Shadow...It's..." He panted more. "Sh-Sharp..." "What...?" Night turned to the guard, unsure of what he was trying to tell him. "Give me a sec..." The guard panted more, leaning his head down to catch his breath. After doing so, he raised it again and stared at Night in tears. "Sharp is dead Night!" "W...what?" Night's ears pinned to his head, and his heart sunk. "D-dead...? How?" "W-we don't know...he said he was having chest pains...then he just collapsed on the ground! He's dead Night!" "But...I-I..." Tears built in Night Shadow's eyes, and he soon collapsed onto the floor, breaking down completely. He sobbed into his hooves, his body trembling as he did. The guard knelt down, pulling Night into a tight hug. "I-I'm so sorry Night...He was gone the moment he collapsed..."