//------------------------------// // To Manehattan! // Story: Dawn Of The Silver Sun // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// With a happy 'thud' 'thud' of its wheels, the overnight train to Manehattan was on its way. It was carrying a group of travellers who were very much on edge after the events of earlier. One of them, specifically, was nervously keeping all the others either close, if they were friends, or in his field of view, if he wasn't so sure. "Calm down, Straw," Fortune, sitting on a bench next to him, noticed his fidgeting, "They aren't supposed to hurt you... anymore." "Yea, Strawberry," Leo chimed in, "Anyway, even if they try then we just beat the crap out of them." Straw was happy for the attempted morale boost, but the fact that neither Fortune nor the strange trio looked impressed didn't get his hopes up. The three 'they' the brown satyr was talking about were sitting on the bench on the other side of the table in their private suite. The first one, a rust-colored griffon with white head, was cleaning his sword with gusto and, at least to Straw, didn't look too unfriendly compared to the other two. He caught Straw's gaze, nodded at him, and kept polishing his weapon. The hippogriff wasn't too good at reading griffon expressions, due to the beak and all, but he could swear the griffon smiled. "His name is Walter Grant," Fortune filled Straw's gap in knowledge, "He joined the Silver Sun some two months ago-" The griffon raised three talons. "-okay, three months ago. Ambassador Cromach found him in a bar one evening and offered him a job because, don't ask me how, he managed to understand that Walter used to be a Griffon Legion soldier like him. Walter was working in some warehouse at the time and, when Cromach explained what the Order did, Walter jumped at the opportunity. Soldiers who survive Legion punishment are pretty rare." Straw looked blankly at Fortune and then at Walter. The griffon opened his beak wide. Something was off about it. "The Legion rules aren't too forgiving and they ripped his tongue out. I have no idea what for." "I'm sorry," Straw scratched his chin in embarrassment. Walter just waved it off and returned to working on his blade. The faint feeling of companionship Straw got from Walter disappeared completely when he looked at the second member of the group who had attacked them at the castle grounds mere hours ago. It was a unicorn mare with charcoal black coat and contrasting white mane. She seemed asleep, but- -as soon as Straw looked straight at her, she opened her eyes and, like a mouse meeting a snake, he was presented with a pair of eyes, one black and one bright blue. As intense as her gaze was, Straw felt she didn't care about him at all... as long as he didn't do anything stupid like, for example, breathe too loudly. "A unicorn. eh?" Leo stated, with the self-confidence of a true Canterlotian, what Straw would consider a prelude to suicide by a furious mare, "I guess you're in charge of these-" "I am the captain of what will eventually become the Baker squad," the unicorn mare said firmly and inexplicably looked at Fortune. The satyr sighed when two more pairs of eyes, one belonging to Straw and one to Leo, turned to her as well. "Ehm," she coughed, "Connie here-" "Contradiction," the unicorn mare growled. Straw pondered the possible history between the two. It apparently wasn't too good. "-Contradiction joined the Silver Sun shortly after I did, but she used to have a lot of trouble keeping up with the usual training routine and controling her power, which is why she was prevented from joining the Apple squad." "Apple squad?" Straw asked. "It's just an alphabetical naming griffon soldiers use for easier radio communication. Apple is for A, Baker is for B, Cupcake is for C, and so on," Fortune explained, "Connie here has tremendous telekinetic strength and precision, but it takes a toll on her body and magic." "So, you lead the first Silver Sun squad?" Leo looked impressed for the first time, "That's pretty cool for a halfling. Even if we have no idea what they do or how difficult the training for it was. Ehm... you're not some street cleaners, are you? I mean, I would rather get eaten as a Royal Guard than live as a... normal pony." To the surprise of everyone, Contradiction smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "Fortune LED the first squad-" "Connie..." "-before she ran away and left them to die," without further explanation she looked at Leo, "And you, you overprivileged little shit, can rest safe in the knowledge that the Order of the Silver Sun existed way before your entire family and its members worked closely with princess Celestia. Its role has changed recently, but we still work under indirect oversight of the royal sisters." "What is its role now?" Straw was dying to know more about the ponies who, having attacked him earlier that night, were now tasked with 'guarding' him. "Killing ponies like you," said the last member of the enemy trio, who had until now been silent. There was no enmity or threat in the statement, just a clear, concise explanation. She was a female, and her deep, harmonic voice reminded Straw how easily she had made him, Leo, and Fortune lose control over their bodies before. Straw had seen only one or two changelings during his recruit month and she definitely resembled one. There were differences though. Like all changelings, she didn't have a coat, but rather a chitinous armor all over her body. The natural black plating with dark blue hue contrasted rather drastically with her bright, almost glowing from the inside, blue eyes. What was different from changelings was the fact that she actually had a sandy blonde mane while the normal ones had none. "Like me? Hippogriffs?" Straw gulped. "Nightmare's hosts," she said, "No matter how small Nightmare's presence is in you, it will grow until it takes over, until you're just a shell. I won't let it get to that." "So, you can help me?" Straw took a leap of faith. Too bad he didn't have any left. "In a way... it will be a relief, yes." "Stop scaring him, Three," for the first time, Fortune sounded uncertain, "After all, Blaze did grant him a chance." "For now," Three shrugged, "All Nightmare's hosts slip up eventually." "Oh, like Blaze himself?" Fortune's cheeky question froze the atmosphere of the room. Walter took a sharp breath, Contradiction gasped, and Straw knew immediately that Fortune regretted what she'd said. There were so many questions racing through Straw's head, but none of them was as clear as: "How long will it take before Three rips Fortune's head off?" Three and Fortune stared at one another, the air around them getting colder and more threatening with each passing second. The satyr was the first to give up. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, "I said too much." Suddenly, Straw knew who the voice of authority was, even if the voice was quiet most of the time. With the silence going on, Walter tapped the table several times with his talons and, when everyone looked at him, he made several gestures with his front legs. "Good idea," said Fortune. "Good idea," said Contradiction at the same time and looked hard at the satyr. "How about you translate for us unable to read minds or sign language?" said Leo with light sarcasm. "Ehm," Fortune started dramatically, "Since we've sort of... gone over the introductions, it might be a good course of action to get some rest. I have no doubts Blaze and baron Hoof will want to see us as soon as we get to Manehattan. All in all, tonight was pretty hectic, but there doesn't seem to be anything following us from Canterlot." Walter looked at the padded benches they were sitting on, then at the floor, and finally he started standing up. Three quickly moved and lay down on the floor, leaving enough space for Walter and Contradiction to comfortably stretch on the bench. On the other side of the suite, Fortune did the same. Straw tried to convince himself it was so he could stretch his legs, but deep down he knew what the real reason was - he couldn't leave the suite without either going through the window or alerting at least one of them. An hour of restless breathing later, Straw had to stand back up. Whether it was the events of earlier today or the close presence of possible threats, the desired sleep evaded him. Unwilling to wake everyone up by opening the coupe window, he slid the door open and carefully stepped over Three and Fortune. He had no idea how he 'heard' the impossibly quiet sound of something standing up coming from the coupe, but there it was. Decided not to give Three the satisfaction of looking at her creeping up on him, he just opened a nearby window and took a breath of fresh, night air. "A lot to take in, is it?" Fortune's soft voice relaxed him. "I'm just a leftover who tried to become a Royal Guard," Straw summarized his life until now. It was simple, but the underlying concept of stuff being too much to handle was painfully easy to spot, "How did it come to this? I thought that if I could just break a tavern brawl and spare somepony a bruised muzzle it would be enough. Now a demigod wants to kill me because..." Straw sat down and waved his talons, fear and confusion giving birth to the helpless expression on his face. "Because a god wants you alive," Fortune finished the thought and patted his head, "Look on the bright side - three of your friends didn't die because you crapped your pants and couldn't think of anything other than saving yourself." With fingers running through his mane, Straw only rubbed his muzzle against Fortune's thigh. He just needed to feel some warmth after the unreal events at Canterlot. She looked at him surprisedly, but understood. "Thanks for not shooting me, by the way. You know, back when I went crazy." "I did shoot you. One guy at the Order makes certain kind of ammo, something or other about quicksilver in the alloy, which can temporarily disperse divine power. It's not a great weapon, but it's the best we've got," she shrugged, "If it hits a mortal target by mistake it's not as damaging, but it can still be fatal. Luckily, sir Cromach guessed correctly and my shot pulled you out of your frenzy. Otherwise... you would have met his more serious side. Speaking of frenzy, when did you become Nightmare's host?" "Well, it's a bit stupid," Straw giggled stupidly, "I got the recruitment date wrong and jumped onboard a moving train the day before we met at the tavern. I broke my ribs, but a voice in my head asked me if I wanted to live. I said yes and woke up later, still breathing. The voice didn't really do much more after that..." "I know that part. When I told ambassador Cromach you wanted to join the Royal Guard he said to keep an eye on you and kill you if necessary." "He knew something was wrong with me? How?" "Remember Bucket, the robot?" "Oh yeah, I met him before I met you." "He... can 'sense' various traits of ponies, including divinity." "Wow! How did they make him do that?" "They didn't, he... evolves? He can somehow improve himself like a pony can, maybe more. I heard a story from baron Heavy Hoof about him, Dawn, and Bucket fighting Blaze while Nightmare was controlling him. They lost, of course, but Blaze was able to stop himself, and Bucket understood the signs of divine power after analyzing the fight over and over. He talked to Cromach who, in turn, told me to stay close to you and, well, kill you if Nightmare tried something." "So, he went through what awaits me... supposedly? How can he just attack me like he did then?!" "I... can't say, Straw, I really can't. Blaze doesn't socialize much with anypony. I haven't had a chance to talk to him in person once. Perhaps you'll have a better chance with you going though the same thing. Maybe you could ask sir Cromach or the other Silver Sun members." "Or the batpony who stopped him. Who was she?" "That's commander Darky, princess Luna's bodyguard. Never ask about her full name or she gets either really, REALLY scary or sick. Too bad they wrote it on her statue in Manehattan, sort of spoiled the secret." "Statue?" "There are several statues all around the Silver Sun mansion. I've only found Heavy Hoof's, Cromach's, and Darky's. It is said that whoever finds all of them gets some sort of a treasure," she chuckled, "When I asked ambassador Cromach about it he told me the treasure was a coupon for some sandwiches." "Really..." "Apparently, it really is." "You seem to be close to him." "He... helped me with getting over my failure. I couldn't do anything after it happened. Even getting out of the bed was almost too much. I got beaten up by fresh recruits, the good thing being I could barely feel it. I just-" Straw poked her butt. Sitting on the floor, that was the only place he could reach which would stop her and also wouldn't make her throw him out of the window... maybe. "You saved me," he simply said. "Honestly, I tried to kill you." "That doesn't matter. In the end you saved me." "It sure as hay does matter!" "Not to me." Sighing, Fortune shook her head. "You really are simple. I like that." "I just try to focus on what ISN'T falling to bits around me, not at what is," Straw puckered his lips, pretending to be insulted. There was no arguing with that logic, so Fortune didn't. Instead, she nodded back to the coupe door. "Let's go back. I'm pretty sure Three is hiding somewhere and watching us. If you're still scared I can keep watch. I doubt she would disobey Blaze though." Straw took one last breath of the fresh air, closed the window, and followed Fortune back. Three was nowhere to be seen, making Fortune smile evilly while lying back down. As Straw lay down on the bench, he felt his eyelids grow heavy, and this time he was out like a candle almost instantly. Morning light failed to wake Straw up. However, the handle of a greatsword poking him did the job. "Hurk-?" Straw swallowed a string of drool and blinked in the dark gloom slowly evaporating with the coming of a new day. Contradiction was unceremoniously jabbing him in the ribs while Walter and Leo were slowly waking up as well, although with much more comfort. "Get up, we're here," she stopped pestering him as he gradually regained his senses. In few short moments, the group was walking to the nearest exit. As Straw looked out for the first time, he missed a step and only his wings saved him from falling flat on his face. He didn't notice... at all. The entirety of his mind was overwhelmed with the sights and scents of the metropolis all around. Ignoring everyone else, he flew up and up, unable to process anything other than a loud, multicolored blur. Manehattan. Canterlot might have been big, it might have seemed full of ponies, it might have had class and prestige... but the jungle of skyscrapers, blinking lights, masses of ponies rushing everywhere in thick streams, and the smell of food and sweat was something else. A pegasus carrying a mail bag missed him by a hair, but neither of them minded. Up here, in the height from which ponies looked tiny dolls, there were still buildings towering above him. As Straw turned his head, he spotted a pony looking at him from inside of a tower which looked as if made of pure glass and metal. He couldn't help himself and waved at the onlooker, his grin growing and growing. Then came a terrifying but also invigorating thought - Canterlot was nothing compared to this city. What if there was someplace even bigger, with even more life? Straw wanted to see that. No... he needed to see that. As soon as the new and almost physical desire set in, a shiver passed through his body, originating from his flank. He blinked, the city around him forgotten for a moment, and looked there. The cutie mark of talons reaching for a bright star now sat where for some twenty years was nothing but grey fur. A tap on his shoulder returned him to reality. Walter was hovering next to him and pointing at the group of little ants who had to be Fortune, Leo, Connie, and Three. With a sigh full of joy, relief, and some doubts, Straw descended from cloud nine back on the train platform. "Woooooooooooooooooow..." was all he could say when Leo's raised eyebrow greeted him. "So, what do you think of a REAL city?" Fortune grinned, "Not a little unicorn gated community like Canterlot, is it?" "So big..." Realizing nothing coherent would come from Straw for a while, Contradiction took point and led the group through the streets. She had to backtrack several times as Straw got either caught in the traffic or stopped to look into a shiny store window. Despite having to return for the hippogriff, even the stoic dual-coloured unicorn couldn't stop herself from smiling at Straw's foal-like wonder. Eventually, they made their way to a calmer part of the city where ponies talked in much more hushed tones and where surprisingly high amount of armed forces stood around. Straw didn't recognize the uniforms, leading him to the conclusion that the security forces here had to be private. It made sense. The further they walked, the more nearby houses turned to wide open spaces walled off from the outside world. Through bars of guarded gates the group passed, Straw saw white mansions which would put any Canterlot noble to shame. The mountain city had to rely on tall buildings due to lack of inhabitable space, but here, on the plains, the architects could really let themselves go. His curiosity didn't go unnoticed, and the gate guards looked at him threateningly whenever he leaned his head towards them. In the end they stopped in front of a gate guarded not by scarred veterans, but by a duo of sharp-looking earthponies of about Straw's age. They saluted when Conradiction approached them. Levitating some strange ornament from her saddlebag, the monochromatic unicorn returned the salute, and the guards let them in. "Welcome to the Order headquarters," Fortune said, smiling to herself. Canterlot was nice, but it was a relief to be back in a place she could call home. Frankly, Straw was... disappointed. After the shock from the nature of Manehattan graduating into Canterlot-esque luxury of this part of the city, he'd expected magical lights, fortress walls, elite squads of hunters able to deal with the supernatural... not simply another mansion. Not to say that the mansion wasn't beautiful, white, and pristine, that the wide lawns and gardens weren't emerald green and seemingly breathing. It was just that... the headquarters itself was nothing special... in comparison to the surrounding ones. Perhaps his senses were just overloaded from before, or perhaps it was his knees shaking from who would he eventually have to meet inside. But, he was here and not dead, that was a plus. Possibly a temporary one, but still a plus. As the group walked on the road made of white cobblestone towards the stairs leading up to the mansion itself, Straw couldn't help noticing a familiarity, a sense of deja vu. Turning his head from side to side, it didn't come to him until he heard the clanking of metal from the right. Somepony built this place to resemble Canterlot castle training grounds! Yes, there it was. He was walking on the road, to the left there was a wide, open lawn leading to a garden maze, and to the right there was slightly less kept lawn on which ponies were sparring under the oversight of a tall, black batpony. They stopped under the short stairs leading to the mansion when one of its wooden wings shot open, revealing a white, blue-maned earthpony of almost Cromach's size and a build which would make ancient sculptures cover themselves in shame. What was more impressive, was the fact that said earthpony was levitating about a meter above ground. The mystery of the earthpony mage was solved quite quickly when an alicorn with orange glowing horn ran out of the door, dragging the earthpony behind him. "NO, I'M NOT HAVING A VACATION! THERE'S WAY TOO MUCH TO DO, WE'RE STILL-" the earthpony resisted the telekinetic pull. "The sisters know how much pressure you are under. Princess Luna especially asked if there was something she could do to help and I told her to delay the repaying of the debt," the alicorn continued stubbornly, ignoring the group and walking towards the practicing ponies. "Sir-" Fortune raised her hand. "Sir-" Contradiction started, gritted her teeth, and growled at Fortune. "In a moment," the alicorn said distractedly and left with his immobilized cargo. Rolling her eyes, Contradiction stopped and looked at Straw. "Well, we were supposed to get you here, so... you're Fortune's problem now, I guess. I wouldn't try to run if I were you," without any further ado, she went inside the mansion. Walter coughed, or wheezed, and raised his front leg towards Straw. "Eeerm?" the hippogriff looked at Fortune and uncharacteristically quiet Leo. Seeing no answer, he mirrored the gesture, Walter grabbed his talons, and vigorously shook them. Smiling, or smirking, - Straw still wasn't too sure - Walter made some strange gestures in the air again and left as well. "He said 'good luck'," Fortune explained, "Well, heartwrenching goodbyes aside, let's see what Blaze and baron Hoof were doing." Rushing over to the practicing soldiers, Straw could finally get a good look at the alicorn who had attacked him previous evening. Blaze, was it? He was about as tall as princess Luna and more bronze than orange. His wings were extremely unusual, as if somepony took normal ones, plucked all the feathers out, and in their place put replicas made of thin, orange glass... or ice. Straw shivered at the memory of dodging approaching black icicles. The other 'disfigured' part of him was the left front leg. Straw couldn't describe it accurately, because he'd never seen anything like that before. It was a black amalgamation of hairless, twisted muscle covered in scales which, for some reason, made Straw think of... the observers. The leg/arm ended in a set of talons similar to griffon ones. It's as if somepony tied several observer tentacles into one thread and left the ends loose. Sharply contrasting with the eldritch visage, the feeling Straw got from Blaze was... Blaze looked... grubby. He'd seen princess Celestia from afar several times and he'd walked by princess Luna during night watch once, but Blaze really felt... small, common. Recalling the fury aimed at Straw in the darkness of last night, he decided never to tell Blaze that to his face. "You need a break!" Blaze said firmly, "Shadowstep, mindzap him!" Straw had been too focused on Blaze to notice a strange being who had to be a changeling, but one unlike any other he'd seen before. As she leisurely strolled around the fighting ponies, whose training turned to pretense as soon as the threater started, Straw laid his eyes on a queen-type changeling for the first time. Shadowstep WAS just a little shorter than princess Celestia, if one counted the gnarled, black horn on her head, and her broad build revealed that, no matter how changeling physiology worked, she was a warrior. Her amethyst purple eyes matched the additional plating around her belly and the magic aura forming a point on top of her horn. "Don't you dare!" the levitating earthpony shook his hoof, "CROSS, STOP HER!" The instructor apparently responsible for watching the practicing fighters quickly dashed through them and looked hard at Blaze, then at Shadowstep. He was a purple-maned batpony with dark grey coat and yellow eyes. No, Straw's eyes were seeing one thing, but his head refused to believe it. The batpony looked in his late thirties, but there were no signs of weakness coming with age. Plus, he had no cutie mark. A changeling in disguise then? Of course, pawn. I... had a brief conflict with him before. "Commander, why are you threatening to mind control my coltfriend and, a small and unimportant detail which might be drastically misinterpreted by any newspony, the leader of this entire shindig and an Equestrian baron?" the 'batpony' made a circle with his hoof, encompassing the entire mansion grounds. The changeling queen just shrugged. "Blaze insisted, and it looked more fun than throwing balls of fire at the recruits.-" The batpony and the levitating earthpony looked at her with an expression of utter disbelief while Blaze had hard time keeping himself from grinning. "-Plus, there is literally no possibility of him wanting to hurt your precious lover. So, alicorn, why did you want me to make the baron himself a bit more agreeable?" "He needs a break-" Blaze started. "I'm FINE!" the earthpony raised his voice. "Zap him!" *Bzzt!* A flash of purple light made the earthpony go limp. When Blaze lowered him carefully on the ground, he wobbled unsteadily, trying to keep himself from falling. "Commander!" the batpony facehoofed. "Calm down, Cross," Blaze rolled his eyes, "I just need you to go out with Heavy tonight, opera or something you two enjoy. He's been running himself ragged trying to keep us going through the first year. We still need to find a decent accountant, but while we don't have one it's me and Heavy who have to do it. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't have an unexplainable source of power keeping him going. So, go out and have fun tonight, that's a damn order!" Cross was obviously split between the earthpony called Heavy being forcefully mellowed by mental magic and a day off with his... coltfriend. Blaze levitated a jingling pouch to Cross and said: "Do whatever you want, I'm paying. It's not like I go out anyway... ever." All of a sudden, Cross grinned widely, put Heavy on his back, and rushed towards the main gate. "You should rest as well," said Shadowstep, "Or perhaps remedy your own statement." "Nah," Blaze shrugged, "I'll be going to Canterlot in two weeks and spending time with Crom and Chokey. Until then, I can manage inventory until I drop. We're almost breaking even. If we can get few more recruits or fill in for Manehattan police department we'll finally be able to start repaying the royal loan. By the way, I don't say it often, but... good job. You, Cross, and Antares are keeping this thing going while Crom and Chokey are in Canterlot." "Hey, I've served in the changeling military, I'm used to it. The only positive reinforcement those guys give is - 'You're not dead yet? You must be skilled then! To the front line with you!'. Speaking of the front line, those three have been watching us for a while," Shadowstep pointed at Straw, Leo, and Fortune. Blaze sighed. "Yeah, I thought that if I put it off long enough I would just wake up and my only enemies for tomorrow would be ledgers and the numbers inside," he turned to the trio, "Okay, what did Crom tell you?" "That we can either go here or get eaten by the observers in Canterlot," said Leo when Straw was paralyzed by Blaze's presence and Fortune worked on an explanation of everything. "Why?" "Me and Strawberry here," Leo wrapped a front leg around the hippogriff's neck, "can see them directly. From what I gathered, they don't like it." "Right, rightrightrightright," Blaze scratched his chin where a patch of fur formed a small goatee, "Let's do this quickly for now. Are both of you guards or something? You look trained." "Recruits." "Good. Crom will be coming back from Canterlot tomorrow and then we'll decide what to do with you. Until then, stay within the Order grounds. Fortune,-" "Yes, sir!" "-show them to some unoccupied room and then meet me at Heavy's office. I'm going to need somepony smart to help me with this week's cash flow." And he left for the mansion, just like that. "...what?" Straw stuttered out. "I wouldn't keep him waiting," Shadowstep grinned, "otherwise he might decide you need some persuading as well." Unwilling to be the targets of any more mind control, the trio went to the mansion as well. Once again, Straw was disappointed. The main hall leading from the wooden double door ended in a large, circular room with long staircases on the sides accessing the upper floors. The part which didn't sit right with him was that there were no decorations whatsoever, no luxury items, no ornaments, no paintings, anything, only bare, white walls. "I've never been in a noble's mansion but... is this normal?" "I can assure you it's not," Leo looked around with a mix of curiosity and disgust, "Even our servants in Canterlot had more furniture than these guys. I was expecting a bit more from a supposedly government agency." Fortunately, heh, Fortune came to the rescue as they made their way up the stairs and through long halls with doors on the sides. "From what I heard the original mansion was like that. A year or so ago this place was attacked by somepony and it resulted in destroying the entire building and killing the family living here in a huge explosion. Some time later, baron Heavy Hoof got this place along with his title from the princesses for some important service regarding the failed invasion from Zebrica. I don't know much more. Now the Order serves as a place of training for those wanting to apply for a guard job anywhere in Equestria. You'll find out later that most ponies teaching here are either ex-guards or soldiers. That's the... official purpose of the Order and the way they make money. Colts with wealthy or noble parents are sent here rather than go through a recruit bootcamp. Funnily enough, the training at the castle is much easier than here as they find out while crying for their mommies," she glanced at Leo, who looked surprisingly reflective and focused, "The unofficial purpose is finding those who are willing to stand against... heavy odds. Mostly those who have nothing to lose and nowhere to return." She stopped in front of an unremarkable brown door. "This room should be free. There's a bunk bed inside and some clean clothes if you want to stay warm outside. I know it's not everypony's cup of tea, but the winter in Manehattan, while not as rough as in Canterlot, is still pretty tough." The room was about as personal as the rest of the building, which meant not at all. "Top or bottom?" Straw asked Leo, looking at the beds. "Don't care. Pick whichever you want," the unicorn just mumbled. It was obvious he was deep in though about something, but Straw didn't want to pry. As Straw flapped his wings and landed on the top bed, Leo wordlessly lay down on the bottom one. "You're not going?" Straw asked when Leo didn't show any desire to leave the bed. "No, I'll walk around later. Have fun, halfies! Don't make too much noise and be back home before ten!" he yelled half-heartedly towards the door. Shaking his head, Straw left. "What was that about?" Fortune, standing outside, asked. I'm- "Well..." -gonna- "Leo sort of thinks..." -get- "We're an item... as in... doing stuff together... bed... stuff..." -killed. "Pleasedon'tshootme!" he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable doom. "That's the worst case of projecting I've ever seen," Fortune just mumbled. "Is that a no?" Straw asked weakly. "No, as in 'I am not going to shoot you', or 'no, I am not interested in... bed stuff'?" "Eeeeeeeeerm... which no is less bad?" "Straw, I like you. I like your curiosity, I like your optimism, and I like the way you think about the world. No, I don't like you in THAT way." "Phew!" Straw smiled, immediately noticing Fortune's curious and uncertain expression. "Well, now I'm not sure whether to be relieved or angry." "What? No! I mean... you're awesome. You've got guns, some sort of cool and mysterious past, you can beat a pony senseless, and you know a lot of stuff. It was just a 'phew' of not being under any kind of pressure. I don't really know anything about that sort of stuff. In my orphanage you either studied, got adopted, or worked to keep the place going. I haven't gotten past holding hooves... ever." Covering her mouth, Fortune forcibly stopped a giggle. "Well, I'd be a pretty bad teacher myself, to be honest. Not many ponies are interested in someone like me... mostly because they've never seen anyone like me. It tends to put the nice ones off and attract the creepy ones. Needless to say, I'm not on the market right now. What I need more than anything are friends." "Cool, I'm glad to count myself as one." "I'm not sure you should," she muttered. "Oh come on!" Straw bumped into her, "It can't be because you're a satyr. I'm a half catbird myself." "It's not,-" Fortune massaged her temples, "You know what? Just follow me. I'll show you something important." Following the distressed satyr out of the mansion and behind it to simple, yet surprisingly well-kept gardens, Straw matched her long strides until she stopped in front of a stone slab with carvings on it. They read: Rock Candy Two Rolling Thunder "These guys though of me as a friend. They relied on me to lead them. Cromach relied on me to lead them. Then the bucking Vigil guys killed them and twisted their remains into monsters. I'm the sole reason Cromach had to destroy the abominations made from his own trainees. All because I failed to keep my cool, because I lost my head in the first combat situation we were in... because I persuaded myself I was more important than all of them and devised a plan which would lead to me surviving... only me. THAT is what I did to my closest friends." Standing there, fists shaking, with tears streaming down her cheeks, Fortune stared at the grave as if daring it to contradict her. Begging it to contradict her. "Meh," Straw waved his talons. "WHAT?" "It's too much. I don't care about all that. You're nice to me. You didn't kill me when you could have. You and Cromach are actually the reason Leo is less of a dick than he was before. To me, none of what you said happened. You are just a really nice pony-minotaur girl who might have made a dumb mistake which I don't care about. You're my friend and, if Leo is to be believed, a second potential subject for his future halfling breeding experiment." Shock, disbelief, utter horror, and a bit of anger at the single-mindedness of stallions passed her face, eventually settling on endless gratitude. "Idiot," she mumbled, smiling widely, "You simple idiot." "I'm not simple, I'm just un-edu-maca-ted, as they say!" faked Straw, "Now you, the wise and intelli-gentle lady, can help cure me of my ignorance and tell me everything about Manehattan." Laying on the grass, Fortune pointed at a tall rectangular tower visible over the garden wall and started talking. She'd spent most of her life in Manehattan, from her first nights at the orphanage through working at a cart repair shop and finally to being recruited by a gorgeous, green-eyed, white griffon into the Order. Now she had somepony willing, and wanting, to listen to everything she had to say about the city. It wasn't all nice, Manehattan was still bureaucratic and corrupt, but it lasted into the late hours of the evening. As the night caught Straw back in his room, Leo was already asleep. Straw, once again, found it difficult to follow his example though. He didn't know whether it was his new surroundings or the sword of Damocles hanging over him in the form of Blaze's final decision, but he just couldn't end his day, so he, against his better judgement, decided on a trip around the mansion. During the first few minutes it was obvious that the security here was on par with Canterlot castle, if not much better. Possibly it was because there was only one estate to guard instead of the entire fortress, but the duo of guards passing by looked alert and dangerous. Straw wandered down to the entrance hall and, thinking imitating last night would be useful, opened the mansion door to get some fresh air. As he walked through the estate gardens, he heard rustling from nearby bushes. He couldn't tell if it was because of his Nightmare-heightened senses, but the slow crunching and the occasional whisper of leaves being pushed away didn't escape his attention. Somepony, someone, or something was following him. However, aside from the sound itself, nothing appeared as he walked, ears perked. His steps unconsciously led him around the mansion, and a bright, orange glow coming from the gravestone Fortune had shown him caught his attention. Straw cursed his curiosity, but followed the orange glow towards a veil of living flame. When he got close enough, the veil parted, revealing itself to be Blaze's wings, burning brightly in the darkness of the night. Suddenly, the alicorn didn't look so common, more like a living inferno turning its attention to Straw. His bronze coat flickered with the reflected flames of the wings, and his blue eyes glowed like sapphires. "Ah... you," he said calmly. "Uhhhhh, I didn't mean to interrupt. I just... couldn't sleep." Blaze smiled. "I know the feeling. A lot on your mind, I suppose." "Well, yes... sir," Straw added. Somehow it felt fitting now, "I just wanted to show the other orphans they could make it in the big world if they tried hard enough. And now?" "And now you are the harbinger of doom. Life is strange like that," Blaze snickered, "Trust me on that one." Suddenly, molten anger welled up inside Straw, a rage he couldn't hope to subdue, the raw hatred of somepony seeing their worst nemesis and being helpless to do anything. With dark mist rising from Straw, the Nightmare surfaced. "NO! YOU ARE, YOU FOOL!" Blaze curiously looked at the hippogriff baring his teeth and spitting black acid. "Speak," the alicorn said quietly. "I shall do no such thing, traitor! You will be eradicated-" Sets of black and white chains tore the ground around Straw and bound his legs before he could pounce at Blaze. The hippogriff felt the power inside him wane into manageable amount. As he regained the control of his body, he realized he was shaking and sweating all over. What was worse was the sight that awaited him when he turned his head, seeing that Blaze was looking behind him. A mouth full of white, sharp teeth was slowly closing a hair's length away from his neck. He could feel Three's breath, he could sense her desire to end him right there and then, he whimpered when she moved away and melded back into the night. Breathing heavily, he could only stand there and tremble. "Dreamlings know what Nightmare's plan is better than I do. They don't forgive easily." "D-dreamlings?" "Three and her small hive. They come from a different reality where Nightmare's plan succeeded. I don't have to say more than that the eight," Blaze looked at the grave and corrected himself, "seven of them are the only ones left, do I?" "Just now, you stopped it from controlling me. Can't you help me somehow?" "Possibly. I've never drained somepony of their divine power completely before. I don't know whether I could even do it or whether you'd survive it. It would be a threat to both of us," he shook his head, "We know so little about the deadliest enemy Equus has. We know quicksilver hurts them and their creations, something about the unstable nature of the element makes them lose control. We know alicorns can control limited amounts of their power, and... that's all. We are so small, so weak, so insignificant... and yet," he looked straight into Straw's eyes, as if trying to look at the divine being inside him. His voice turned thoughtful, "we sometimes win. Almost as if... they either aren't as big of a threat as we percieve them to be-" Another unwanted growl escaped Straw's mouth. Blaze only grinned deviously as an answer. "-or things are exactly what they're supposed to be, there is a plan in place to which we're all just pawns. Even the terrifying Nightmare itself." HE KNOWS?! Only shock remained in Straw. He was vaguely in control, but the sheer power of the deity's emotion bubbled through his expression. Raising his disfigured arm, Blaze summoned a ball of darkness bound in chains of golden-red fire. "Speak," said Blaze quietly again. Straw's talons reached for the sphere of energy and Nightmare's voice rang once again from his mouth. "You may have thought you saved the little sparks of life on this rock, but in truth you have only delivered them to a fate worse than their rightful end. Now their sheltered existence will taste perfection, eternity... everything. You did your job perfectly, traitor. Your master must be proud." "Hippogriff!" The sharp tone returned control to Straw, who shyed away from the chained sphere. When Blaze stretched his arm towards him, he bit the bullet and touched it. As if a lock had fallen into place, Straw heard a roar inside his head, but he remained in control. "Huh?" "This should help you stay yourself for now. If it fails... well, you know what will come." "You," Straw whispered. "Exactly. Keep it contained, keep it under control, and moreso... if my suspicion is correct... keep it safe." Hmmm... a dog biting its master. Perhaps the traitor is the key. We will talk later, pawn! The pressure inside Straw's head disappeared completely. "What was that all about? Nightmare seems to think you're important." "Well, I DID stop it multiple times," Blaze grinned, "It sure as hay should show some respect. Now, are you feeling tired yet?" "No, not really, just super confused. I still don't know anything about what's going on." "That makes two of us. But hey, feel free to ask me anything. If it's not a secret then I'll tell you. The only thing waiting for me is an empty bed and a stack of ledgers after all." Since the gravestone was the closest thing, Straw's mind brought forth the first question, and he nodded towards it. "Who were the guys? Fortune just told me they were her unit." "She blames herself for their death. In truth, she should blame me." "How come? She said she left them to die." "Who do you think sent them on their mission?" Blaze bit his lip, "About three months ago, a strange cult called the Vigil appeared in Manehattan. Normally, we wouldn't be in a position to bother with them, but a police unit sent to investigate a warehouse supposedly belonging to them disappeared. Few days later, one of them, a unicorn, returned. He looked heavily tortured and he couldn't sleep despite administered sedatives. He was a normal guy, not a soldier or some patriotic fanatic, but just a stallion who liked the uniform and tried to help. He died of exhaustion after three days. From the wounds, the police suspected the Vigil employed at least one necromancer, and since the Canterlot mages refused to investigate, it fell to us. It took us a month to find their new hideout, mostly because they somehow knew about me, Cromach, and other high-profile Order members. In the end we had to send a group of guys we've been training for half a year. We believed they would be able to face any normal spellcaster. After all, we trained them to fight users of divine power." "Not enough training?" Blaze shook his head. "When Fortune returned, we questioned her as much as we could before she broke down completely. What she told us suggested that the squad encountered a very powerful source of divine power. Crom's recent raid confirmed it," Blaze stared at the grave, "Rock Candy, a minotaur girl whom I met in a Griffon Foreign Legion fortress. She wanted to see more of the world than northern blizzards. Two, Three's... sister, if I use the term loosely, the most powerful dreamling right after their queen herself. She wanted to help me with rooting out anypony willing to serve the Nightmare. Rolling Thunder, sargeant Rising Thunder's daughter. A girl whom I taught basics of combat at the Canterlot castle. All of them joined the Order because of me, because they knew me. Nothing that happened was Fortune's fault. I sent them all to their death. Now, Connie thinks there's going to be a second unit, but I'm not willing to risk it happening again. I can't be everywhere, but since I'm the only pony with enough experience to face divine avatars then I will have to." "You seem to be right in the middle of this whole mess, sir." "Yes, Blazing Light, the idiotic unicorn whose meddling caused the death of his family, some of his friends, and who got turned into a demigod by accident. Now I'm the alicorn of Hope or something, the only shield against more and more aggressive deities, and apparently a pretty good accountant." "Sir," Straw started. He had no idea about the depth of the alicorn's story, but the sheer misery in his voice gave him enough of a clue, "I saw your windows at the castle. I think I recognized some of the ponies with you. All of you are heroes." "We might be, but we're still just ponies... and a griffon. We're tired, we're overwhelmed, and we don't know where the next blow will come from. We can't really trust anypony, we have to keep looking behind us. It's only a matter of time before we break." "Then train others who can help! Don't just write them off as if they were incapable of anything. Don't try to do everything by yourselves! Don't stop Fortune from trying to get back in shape!" "And what if they fail again?" "Then at least they won't have to sit in their room feeling sorry for themselves! They all want to help, to protect! LET THEM!" "Maybe this will help you see," Blaze hung his head low and summoned a flame on the other side of the gravestone. On the bottom, where no casual observer would see it, there was a hoof- handmade carving... one more name. Fortune Straw immediately knew who'd scratched it there, and he had no idea what to say. "All this power," Blaze's wings flared into flames again, "can't help her. All it can do is destroy. All I can do is hope that if I destroy the right enemy then the rest of us will feel better." "Sir..." "I'm sorry," Blaze smiled, "I always get like this when I think too much. Sometimes it's best to just let it go, at least for one night. You might be working under me pretty soon so... just consider it an order." "Yes, sir," Straw knew when not to push it. As he walked back, once again stalked by Three, he heard: "One last thing to do, one more duty to fulfill. Like always."