Tourmaline paused and waited, but after hearing nothing for a while, he peaked around the corner and spotted a unicorn with glasses reading a book. He was so into it, that for a moment Tourmaline believed he could’ve slipped by without getting caught. But he knew better. He was way too relaxed to be a watch, so there had to be something amiss.
Taking out one of his quarrels, Tourmaline carefully unscrewed the magically charged tip and replaced the bolt into his quiver. The magical elements stored were slowly and carefully emptied onto the floor. Several small blackish sphere-like marbles rolled out, each one no bigger than a grain of rice. He took one of these balls and crushed it in his hoof before tossing it into the kitchen. The tiny piece faded out of a solid state before it hit the ground, a trail of smoke producing a contrail of its short-lived trip.
Lines of light appeared where the smoke appeared and vanished as the smoke drifted off into the ether. Tourmaline noted that there were several crisscrossing patterns unevenly arranged across the room, much like spiderwebs. Despite the impressive display, it was evident that it was a simple detection spell, and judging from the way the unicorn was reading, he was doing it absentmindedly. If Tourmaline stepped on the line, he would be breaking the spell, which would alert the unicorn. If he avoided them, he could pass. If he could avoid them.
The another thought came to Tourmaline. How was the unicorn using this spell if his mind was on the book? He recalled his lessons at the unicorn specialist training and remembered how each of them had to go through a series of rigorous tests to find their elemental affinity. His was earth, to be able to control aspects of the ground, and the perfect element for him. Perhaps that was why his offensive combat ability was so weak, it was because his defense coupled with his brain combined were strong. He proved that in the Crucible, he had led a team to near victory against overwhelming odds. Of course, it helped that he had a reliable team something that he currently lacked. He needed to put his brain to use and figure out a way through.
Thinking back to the mountains of books he read, the grueling drills and theory lessons he had to take, the various manipulative spells he had to memorise, and the demonstrations of other unicorns, he just could not puzzle this one out. He thought hard about how these web-like threads were created, what could be their elemental makeup. All he knew was that, because they were invisible, Fire was out of the question, which didn’t help very much. Dismissing one element solved practically nothing.
The lights along the floor faded as the smoke vanished. He needed to know more before continuing. One slip could spell disaster for him and the filly. He watched the unicorn reading the book intently, looking for any hints or clues, but when it was apparent that the unicorn was too engrossed in what he was reading, Tourmaline thought about throwing more pieces of smoke around the floor. He could carefully step over them and get to the other side.
He was about to do so when the unicorn turned the page.
Taking out another piece of the smoke-quarrel, Tourmaline crushed the magically imbued portion of it before gently lobbing it into the kitchen. It made a long arc through the air, trailing a faint powdery substance behind it. He took note of crisscrossing lines everywhere in the smoke’s wake. He would have been detected immediately if he had walked through that.
Tourmaline waited and memorised as many of the random lines as he could before they faded out of sight. Once the unicorn turned the page Tourmaline promptly tossed another piece of the smoke-quarrel into the room. As predicted, the lines had indeed changed. That made sense.
Most Guards were taught to use unconscious spells as a last-ditch, failsafe counter in case they were driven into a corner and needed a way to get out, or if they were surprised and needed to react instantly. Every unicorn found their own special spell and practiced it again and again and again. Beyond exhaustion, beyond all sense, to the point where it became ingrained into each one of them as second nature. However, there were those who, no matter how hard they trained, could not learn to cast spells like that. Instead, they were trained to cast spells continuously. This was not preferred as continuous spells tended to be weaker and more draining on the caster, but just because a spell was weaker in terms of raw power, didn’t mean it was weaker in use.
A well thought out spell will always trump an overpowered one.
One of the first and very painful lesson a unicorn learns, and one of the main reasons why Tourmaline was here and not behind some desk pushing quills.
Again the page was turned and again Tourmaline tossed another smoke piece making the lines visible again. As each new page of the book was introduced, the patterns of the floor changed. Unconscious spells still needed a trigger of some sort. Most were something mundane. Listening to music, drawing, playing a game -- like solitaire, or reading. As long as these activities were done with an activation sequence that is unique to every unicorn, a spell can be cast and sustained as long as the one casting it doesn’t grow weak or tired.
Tourmaline narrowed his eyes and sat back down. These were no ordinary unicorns. To be able to control a spell that complex took years of training, and he hadn’t even puzzled out what the elemental source was. Perhaps more clues were required before making any headway, but he didn’t have the luxury of time. Already puzzling it out this far took too long; almost five whole minutes had gone by.
Taking his binoculars, Tourmaline zoomed into the book’s title. At once he recognised it. He had indeed read the Celestia-awful drivel and, judging from the size of the pages, the unicorn reading it was considerably into the contents. Supposing he starting the spell at the beginning of the book, and at the rate he had completed the last couple pages, he was reading at around two and a half hours. Normal.
Perhaps he was over thinking things. Perhaps all he needed to do was fire a projectile, a quarrel, or a regular bolt at the unicorn. He wouldn’t be able to react in time to stop or dodge it. But was it right? Could he justify shooting the unicorn down like that?
No. A filly’s life was on the line. He had to act quickly.
Lowering the crossbow from his shoulder, he was about to take a bolt out when he saw something glistening in the reflection of one of the kitchen’s stoves. Seeing it glisten, he instantly knew what the primary element was. Water. Of course, it made sense. Water that had been cooled to a solid using Air that helped made the ‘threads’ incredibly thin. The reason why he could see them with the smoke was because the Air cooled the water enough to change the composition of the smoke, which made it thicker and therefore visible.
But how long did it take for the unicorn to cool these ‘threads’? Did he have time to actually dwell on it? No. He had no time. He needed to do something and quick. But then again, with such a gigantic room, was it possible to remember or memorize every nook and cranny?
Tourmaline decided to take a chance. He waited and just as the unicorn was about to turn the page, he silently slipped into the room and moved towards the door that led into the cellar. He moved as quickly as he could, keeping out of sight as the unicorn turned the page with his hoof. As he set it straight in front of him, Tourmaline froze.
He felt the cold ends of the threads against his body as they rapidly cooled to form those tendrils and he dared not breathe. Without blinking or moving, Tourmaline waited.
Nothing.
His guess had been right. The unicorn could not memorize his entire surroundings and had allowed Tourmaline to be part of the ‘furniture’, so to speak. He was part of the kitchen, so long as he did not move or breathe too deeply.
Again the book turned to close, and Tourmaline waited for the feeling to dissipate, which it did. He rushed forwards trying to get to his destination as quick as he could before the next spell was cast. It was a bad place to get caught. Not here. He could easily be spotted. He took too large steps before the book returned to its position and Tourmaline felt the cold tips press against his body again.
“No, no, no!” Tourmaline shouted in his mind. “Not now!”
He was stranded in a bad place and in a bad position. In his rush, Tourmaline miscalculated and was not only stuck in the middle of a wide open area, but with both his right-rear and left-front hooves in mid-air. If the unicorn turned slightly to his left, Tourmaline would have been spotted. If he moved a single one of his limbs, he would be spotted. Sweat began forming around his brow as the unicorn returned to his reading.
Tourmaline held his breath. He couldn’t allow himself to breathe and already his body was shaking from his balancing act. He just had to wait for the unicorn to turn the page. Just wait. Just… wait… a little… longer…
A feeling of ice ran down his space as Tourmaline saw the unicorn turn towards him, a large sadistic grin on his face. A loaded crossbow was aimed right at him. “Nice try. But my ice-webs are very sensitive. I must admit that I didn’t feel you until you were inside the room, but your nostrils and heartbeat gave you away. Did you actually think that I’d let you get past me? The only pony that can get past me is a dead one!”
A knot formed in his gut. Was this it? Was this the end?
“Good-bye, Guard.”
The unicorn lifted his hoof and a loud snap was heard, followed by… nothing.
Opening his eyes, Tourmaline saw the unicorn fall backwards over the counter, his body crashing to the ground followed by a loud bell-like ringing echoed from downstairs. All that sneaking, all that contemplation, all that awareness and problem solving was for nothing -- the unicorn already had a backup plan. All that wariness about the magic in the kitchen made him forget to take into consideration what he was casting outside it. One of those ice web tendrils must have been holding a dead-colt switch.
Tourmaline whipped his head around to catch a indigo armored stallion, his silver plume streaking behind him.
“Come on!” Tower shouted as he rushed past limping on three legs, an empty crossbow on his back. “We don’t have time! The others are on their way. We have a filly to save!”
As stunned as he was, Tourmaline didn’t argue. This stallion just saved his life, and for that he’d be forever grateful to the Night Guard.
Together, they charged down the stairs towards the cellar at the other end of the kitchen. The large entrance was filthy, as if they were excavating down there. Tourmaline ignited his horn bathing the cramped corridor in a brownish hue. In front of them they were met with a large steel door.
Without the slightest hint of hesitation, Tower rushed forward and placed three quarrels on the door’s hinges while Tourmaline automatically cast wind spells around each magical bolt to force the explosion in one direction. Three ‘pops’ echoed dully blowing the hinges out sending shrapnel all over the place. Without the wind spells cast by Tourmaline, things might have gone sour. The large door dropped down on itself with a loud clang before tipping over and slamming into the floor with a clamour that would have woken the dead and crushing the remaining steps under its colossal weight.
Tower pulled the shield from his side and held it in front of him. He was inside the room first disappearing into a pit of deep blackness. Not even Tourmaline’s magic could put a dent in it.
There were a series of shouts followed by loud explosions and flashes. Tourmaline picked up a large stone that was lying nearby from the floor and hurtled it into the room. An exploding quarrel whizzed over his head in response exploding behind him. The sudden fighting inside the room blinked into life and Tourmaline could make out Tower to the left of what appeared to be a small table in the middle of the room. Using that as a gauge, he picked up some more stones and pelted them with all his might towards where Tower wasn’t.
Fighting in the dark was a skill especially developed for the Night Guard. Some called them the toughest of the Royal Guard, taking on the denizens of the night when the most dangerous creatures were awake and while their princess slept. Due to this, the Night Guard had a lot of autonomy, which led to some questionable decisions in the long scheme of things. Sometimes their methods seemed unethical to the rest of the Royal Guard. Indeed, the Night Guard were the protectors of Equestria while she slept, guarding her from the darkness she feared. But in the darkness, sometimes it was hard to tell who really stood in the light. Still, they accepted the dark as part of their arsenal. It was an extension of them.
It also led them to be the most feared of the Royal Guard.
But the Border Guard fought in the dark as well. It was not as if they had a choice in the matter. If you drew night guarding duty along the border, you better be sure that you can fight in the dark because it gets pretty dark in the dense jungles of Zebrica, the frozen wastelands of the distant north, or the endless expanses of water. Perhaps ‘they’ had labeled the Night Guard incorrectly. After all, the red plume was what really made enemies turn and flee, not the silver.
Tourmaline charged into the room, rolled to a stop and let out a powerful blast of light that blinked in an instant. The flash stunned the ponies, some of whom shouted in pain. He wished he could have warned Tower, but he needed to establish himself in the room and he had surmised this was the best way to do it.
As the light vanished, Tourmaline could hear the wails of the injured and the death knells of those that were unlucky not to have the light merely blind them. They sounded as if there were at least six of them.
Something flew past his ear, and Tourmaline ducked and placed his shield over his head. Perhaps jumping into the middle of the room wasn’t the most intelligent of things to do. But what was done was done. There was a shout, then a bright light from behind him as a blast from an explosive quarrel lit up the room. With the light behind him, Tourmaline quickly lifted his shield and spotted about three ponies, several of whom were running away from them.
Listening carefully, Tourmaline heard the hoof falls grow dimmer and he was about to charge after them when he felt a hoof press against his shoulder from behind. Out of reflex, he gave a little yelp..
“Don’t do that!” Tourmaline admonished.
“Apologies. It looks they’ve fled deeper into the cellar. That area isn’t in any of the maps. Judging from the entrance and the debris in here, I’d venture to guess it was recently dug out.”
Tourmaline looked around. “The filly?”
“Over here,” Tower replied pointing to a small alcove where the shape of a bed could be made out from the darkness. “You’re lucky she’s on that side of the room. If she had been over there, then your rocks would have… harmed her.”
Tourmaline gulped. He hadn’t thought of that. He hadn’t expected her to be so… easy to reach. Still, there was something amiss.
“Can I light up the room?” Tourmaline asked.
“Yes. You’ll have the guard the room for a moment while my eyes adjust to the light.”
Tourmaline let his horn glow before finding a lamp on the table. He lit it with a little fire spell and turned the nozzle to let it flare up. At once the room was bathed in a warm yellow light. He was not skilled with fire, but he had trained himself to do at least this much.
Rushing over to the alcove, Tourmaline pulled back a filthy curtain and took a step back at what he saw. A little bit of bile rose up in the back of his mouth, but he forced it down. What he saw in from of him made made him sick to the core. Still, he put aside his feelings and reached for the filly’s neck and checked for a pulse.
“Is she alive?” Tower asked.
Tourmaline struggled to find a pulse. It was strange. It beat, then stopped, then started. Perhaps he had not placed his hoof right? Was he shaking? Was he losing his place on the vein? No, not possible. He bent down and placed his head on her chest. “Yes. Alive, but... very weak. I am not sure what’s going on. Her heart keeps… pausing.” He looked up at the medical equipment on a carved out shelf on the other side of the filly.
“Is there anything there we can use?” Tower asked.
Searching, Tourmaline wracked his brain trying to remember the limited medical training he had. He was not a medic, but he had some first aid and some other knowledge he picked up. The books in the libraries at the camp were amazing, plus he had access to the Palace’s endless reference materials -- save for the forbidden and closed off sections. He knew with his skillset his primary position would always be at the rear.
And yet here he was at the front of it all. It was strange where life would take you.
“Yes. A few here can help,” Tourmaline replied and checked them. Amazingly, they were all powered on. A precariously balanced power strip connected to a manna generator at the other end of the kitchen with its exhaust up the extractor fan of the stove. He plugged them in. “Why is her heart beating like that? That isn’t normal.”
“Maybe a genetic disease?” Tower asked. “I’ve heard that this family has had its share of family issues in that department.”
“Could be. I don’t know. It’s not as if there is a medical file on her-”
As if on cue, lights suddenly came alive from the direction of the kitchen. Both Tower and Tourmaline threw themselves into defensive positions behind their shields with one pointing his crossbow up past the collapsed iron door and the other further down the cellar to where the others had fled.
“Surrender yourselves!” A voice demanded from above them. “We have this place surrounded.”
“Who goes there?” Tourmaline shouted.
“Guard.”
Tower and Tourmaline shared a look before Tourmaline stated, “Prompt them for the password.”
“What climbs the plains of our fears?”
“The tears of our young,” came a reply.
That voice sounded familiar to Tourmaline. “Okay. Lower your crossbows.”
“We’re coming down,” a voice said with no hint of hesitation. Another voice from the previous who had spoken.
“Slowly!” Tourmaline replied after a second. “And keep your hooves where I can see them!”
Sure enough, a group of about a dozen Guards entered. They did not have any weapons raised and went straight to the freshly dug entrance to assess the situation. What surprised Tourmaline was the medley of armor they all wore. Some Border, some Day and Night, and even a couple Solar Guards entered, their armor far more ornate than the others.
Solar Guards? Here? Celestia’s special hoof-picked elite Royal Guards. None of them had a rank lower than lieutenant.
Tourmaline walked over to one of the Solar Guards and lowered into a bow and saluted formally. “Reporting, sir.”
The Solar Guard looked at Tourmaline and smiled, “Not in charge here. He is,” the stallion said pointing to another group of Guards coming down the stairs.
Tourmaline walked over and saluted one of them. A pony that wasn’t in any uniform whatsoever. Still, judging from his scars and demeanor, this was a pony used to combat. “Reporting, sir.”
“What?” the pony replied in a strange accent. “‘Oo, me?” He laughed good naturedly. “Nah, not me, mate. I’m not in ‘er majesty’s service, oh, ‘eaven’s no. Lack dis’pline. I’m not in charge ‘ere. ‘E is.”
Tourmaline followed the pony’s head gesture and saw another stallion descending the steps. Perhaps the last stallion he had expected to see.
“S-S-Semper…?”
“You found the girl?” came the cold, monotone voice.
Tourmaline shook off his shock. This was no time for that. “Yes! She’s over there. I can’t treat her because I don’t have her records.”
“There is no need,” came the cold, monotone response once again.
“No need?” Tourmaline immediately pushed away his first shock for this new one. “What do you mean ‘no need’?”
“There is no need,” Semper repeated simply.
“Wait. You… you knew there was going to be a filly here?”
“Yes.”
“Why, in Celestia’s name, did you not inform us?”
“Because,” came the hard voice that seemed get even heavier, if that was possible. His voice had an edge to it that made Tourmaline instinctively take a step back making him bump into the makeshift cot the filly was lying on. “There was a leak in the palace. If it was known what we were looking for, then it was probably unlikely we would ever find her.”
“What do you mean? What are you saying?”
“She is beyond our help. Even before she came here.”
That was when Tourmaline noticed the entourage that had come with Semper. A group of ponies in uniforms he had never seen before were already making their way around the room towards the cellar entrance. Every single one of them wore those strange masks. He knew who they were right away, not because he had seen them, but because he had heard about them.
“You made us watch over this mansion because you were waiting for her?” Tourmaline stated, now it was his blood that began to boil.
“This was one of many hideouts watched,” Semper replied while bending low and looking for something in the medley of medical equipment. He seemed to see something in particular and reached for it and pulled it out.
Even a very non-medically trained Guard like himself knew what it was. Tourmaline reached for it and pulled it out of Semper’s hooves and looked at it, his eyes narrowing in contemplation. He looked at the filly, saw that her side closest to the wall was riddled with tubes that reached over to a what looked to be a holder. He walked over to the end of the bed and saw the bag half-full dangling carelessly over the edge.
“They were extracting her blood.” Tourmaline looked to Semper for confirmation. It was not a question, he was stating fact.
The blue stallion nodded anyway.
“Why?” Even as Tourmaline asked that question, he could feel the room suddenly grow silent. Only Tower remained as confused as he was. The rest of them knew, and that annoyed Tourmaline more than anything else right at that moment. “Tell me! I can still help her! I can still-”
“I wish, from my heart, that you could. I wish so, so hard. But… you can’t. No pony can help her now,” a very gentle voice whispered from the shadows of the entrance as yet another group entered. Two Day Guards flanked a third in long green robes with a hood covering her head.
She walked over to where Tourmaline and Semper stood and removed the covering from her head and stared pitifully into the filly’s sleeping face. Tourmaline looked at her. The mane looked faded, as if it were going grey from age, yet the pony’s body and build betrayed that. She wasn’t that much older than most of them there in that room. She looked so tired. And hungry. Not the hungry for food, but for something… more.
“What do you mean she is beyond our help?” Demanded Tower.
“She’s… she was…”
Semper placed a hoof on her shoulder. “You have done enough. You and the Elites have gotten us this far. She is the last. After her, there is no more. This place will be the end of it. Let me handle it from here.”
The mare nodded. Large tears began to fall from her face. “You’ll make it quick?”
There was a short pause before Semper answered. “I will.”
The mare rushed and wrapped her hooves around Semper’s neck. “I’m… I’m so sorry… that you have to take this burden. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault…”
“No. It is not.” Semper made a motion to another pony. A Day Guard who quietly whispered something into the mare’s ears, and both wandered back up the stairs towards the kitchen.
Semper waited until the mare was out of sight before he spoke again. “Status?”
Tourmaline turned around to see another Night Guard bending over the bed. Tower was standing next to her as she inserted a syringe into the closest arm and extracted a tiny amount of blood. She then took out a piece of paper and dropped on solitary drop onto it. The paper turned from a deep red to a bright orange, then green, then faded away to a dull gray.
The mare looked at Semper. “It is her. Without a doubt.”
“And the extraction?” Semper asked.
“Judging by the concentration in the blood? They took too much. Probably why she’s here. They were keeping her alive here through these devices,” she gestured to the medical equipment on the shelf. “I think they were about to restart their extraction before they arrived,” the mare said pointing at Tourmaline and Tower, “because all of the devices have been disconnected.”
“What is going on?” Tourmaline demanded, this time towards the entire group.
“I’d like to know as well,” Tower stated. “I have no idea what is going.”
In fact, most of the other Guards were also demanding some answers. Only the strange masked ponies did not. Were they even Guards?
The Night Guard sitting by the filly looked at Tourmaline and Tower. “Is it okay, sir?”
“It is. The rest of you are with me. We end this tonight.” Semper withdrew his shield and headed towards the passageway entrance. He stopped and unclamped his spear. “This is personal. I will understand if the Guard does not wish to follow myself and the Watu.”
The Solar Guards both walked forwards. “The Solar Guard does not turn tail on an enemy. You best remember that, Border Guard. Ever.”
Semper made a gesture with his head to the Watu, who fired a salvo of bolts into the entrance. A series of explosions ignited the corridor and the stream of Guards and Watus surged into the gap. Semper at their head, flanked by two of Celestia’s personally chosen.
Tourmaline shuddered. A part of him wanted to charge with Semper into the fray, just like before when he fought at his side during the Crucible. That zealous desire to follow him into, but right now he needed answers. He needed a reason to fight these so-called ‘enemies’. There were too many unanswered questions, and he didn’t like being left in the dark.