//------------------------------//
// A new circle. 
// Story: Those who see a different kind of Light 
// by Lazydrill 
//------------------------------//

    
A new circle.



It felt different than Fog expected, walking through the castle of the Princesses. He expected it to be a feeling of joy and amazement. While amazement was one of the feelings he felt, it wasn't in the way of being a good feeling. It was amazement towards the solar guards which were posted on either side of the hall every few meters, how cold their looks were as he passed by them. Not all of them had that, however. Some solar guards felt not like most of them, they felt more welcoming, but most of them felt like the 'Solar Enthusiasts' that were posted by the gate outside.

He couldn't shake those feelings off, it was a feeling he feared. He was uncertain what that one solar guard wanted to do to him should he be in the 'questioning' room. That same uncertain and fearful sense he felt about the most of them. He didn't know what these guards would do to him, were it not for his new found brothers and sisters walking together with him through the hallway. Onyx walked next to him, his muzzle looking forward with unrivaled determination and confidence. The others formed a protective circle around him and Onyx of about ten ponies, all of them wearing close to the same facial expression as Onyx.


"Stay close to me and your brothers and sisters, Fog. We have a history with our solar counterparts. They will try to get you now that you're still new to the family."


Fog didn't hesitate at his words and moved a little closer to Onyx, who gave him a reassuring nod in the short time he took a glance at him. As he moved closer to Onyx, the circle shrunk slightly with him, as if the whole group was adjusting to him, protecting him as much as they could, while still keeping some space between them for reasons he did not fully understood. While he still feared the solar guards as they passed them, the warm and reassuring feeling he got while being surrounded by his new family... it calmed him. It calmed him to the point where he 'knew' that his brothers an sisters would protect him from the solars, and that he didn't need to fear them as much.

Fog closed his eyes and breathed out deeply, trying to calm his nerves a bit. Opening his eyes again, he decided to look around a bit, in the hopes of easing his mind. The walls in this part of the castle were decorated with banners of the two sisters, their rightful cutie mark on the side were the sister of the heavenly body was displayed. It was good to see that the banners inquired equality between the two sisters, even when some, or most, ponies in Equestria were not seeing it like that. In his sightseeing, he noticed that the amount of solar guards that were posted at the sides of the hallway, appeared fewer and fewer in numbers the further they went inward.


"Well... well... Looks like the 'mutants' have a new addition."


Fog looked forward where the mocking voice sounded from. A group of solar guards stood further down the hallway, with probably no intention of moving out of the way. He feared what was about to come, so far the solars letted them pass, but it seemed this group had other plans in mind for them, or him. But what surprised him, his group did not react. They simply kept moving at a steady pace, while Fog was certain that the circle where he was in the middle of shrunk to a much tighter formation.

The solar ponies started their walking towards Fog's group, he could feel the tension rise from his brothers and sisters. Fog felt a gentle push on his right shoulder, halting him in his steps. Glancing to Onyx, he saw that his eyes were narrowed, dangerously even. Onyx shook his head and pushed him a bit back, probably inclining that he should stay back for now. Fog gave an hesitant nod and took a few hoofsteps back, until he was hold in place by two of his group. He looked to the two ponies who held them in his steps, both of them giving him reassuring gazes.

Onyx moved up to the front of the group, taking four of his brothers with him to meet the solars halfway. The remaining four joined the two ponies who were already with Fog and made a protective circle around him. It was odd to Fog to be protected like this, in the streets there was nopony looking out for you. Back there it was either you fight, or you flee. In Fog's situation it was often fleeing, since he didn't know how to defend himself, he would be surely beaten should he choose to fight.


"Don't worry, Fog. Our brothers will handle this."



"She's right, they will handle this with no problem. This is not the first time the solars look for trouble, we've had trouble with this group of solars before. They usually appear when a new family member is adopted."


The mare to his left reassured him with a warm smile, which he wanted to return, but found it difficult to do so due to what the stallion on his right said. They have encountered these ponies before? And these solars do this each time a new member arrives? Fog looked ahead, passed the two ponies who closed the circle around him, and to Onyx and his brothers who were now close to muzzle to muzzle with the solar guards in the middle of the hallway. He was told that they would handle this, but how? From what Fog could see, his brothers were outnumbered with two to one, which made winning this fight, if it would get to that, close to impossible. 


"Let us pass."



"That is too bad, Onyx. You'll need to go through us."



"You never learn, do you Comet? You always try this with your squad, and you always lose."



"This time will be different, we have trained much since the last time. As well that we are with more."



"You do close to no training, so I doubt that would be of use to you. And numbers do not necessarily mean that you've the upper hoof." 



"We'll see about that then, won't we?"



"That depends on you, Comet. You don't have to do this, there is nothing to prove, nor gain by trying to beat us."



"We don't need to prove anything. We just want some fun. Ready yourself... 'mutant'."


Mutant? Why do they call Onyx a mutant? Is that because of his appearance? That would likely be the case. How they looked like... they would be considered to be mutants since they are half pony, half... bat? How did they come to look like this? Now that Fog thought about it, it was odd that they were looking the way they did. But then that feeling came back, the feeling of acceptance, of being wanted by these ponies. No matter how they looked, he felt that these ponies would be the ones he wanted to be around with, no matter how bad the times would get, no matter what they looked like.


"If you truly want to fight... then their is nothing I can do to stop you."



"Stop talking!"


The sudden talk got Fog out of his mind and his eyes swirled to the spot where the two sides would clash. The solar guards took aggressive stances, ready to go at his brothers. But Fog was confused by what he saw, his dark armored brothers didn't take aggressive, nor defensive stances. They stood there, calmness swirling around them. They seemed to be awaiting the solars move before doing anything, but Fog wasn't so sure if that was wise.


"ATTACK!!"


The solar guard named Comet screamed with vigor as he began to run at our pegasus' brothers. From that point, everything seemed to slow down for Fog. His five brothers who were facing the solars directly, their armor began to seep out black smoke trails. The gold armored ponies trotted closer with every passing second, while Onyx and his brothers kept standing where they stood, smoke coming out of their armor with greater intensity.

In an instant that was almost too fast for Fog to see, the outer two of his brothers zipped with high speed into the air, leaving a smoke trail behind them that began to fill the whole hallway where the two groups would clash. Fog's field of vision was almost completely blocked by the thick smoke trails that were now filling the whole hallway.


"Brothers! Now!"


Fog could hear the distinctive voice of Onyx yelling through the smoke. Not long after, the air was filled with grunts and what could be heard as hoof to armor clattering. Fog was trembling at the fear that his brothers would get hurt by the solars who outnumbered them. They seemed to know what they were doing... But they could still get hurt by the others. They had the numbers, and they wanted to fight. Fog was certain that his brothers would get wounded by this fight. He wanted to help. And he was not the only one. He could feel his brothers and sisters around him tensing and wanting to jump in to aid Onyx and the others. But why didn't they? Fog didn't because he knew that he would be of no use, he didn't no how to fight with the smallest bit, let alone fight against guards who have training in that. It would be a lost cause for him.


"Had enough... Comet?"


Fog's ears perked in the direction of the smoke that was beginning to clear up, what he saw when the smoke faded completely, shook him to the core. His brothers... they were unharmed, they didn't show any sings of even being touched. All the golden armored guards were laying on the ground, motionless. Except for one, the one which was leading the charge, the one called Comet. He was in a defensive stance, breathing heavily, while he seemed to also have taken a few hits to odd places around his exposed body.


"Y-you're... Lucky that it is the middle of the n-night... Otherwise it would be different..."



"Night, or day. It wouldn't matter. I ask you again, had enough?"



"NEVER!"


Comet charged with everything he had at Onyx. But Onyx did something Fog had never seen, he sidestepped it with ease, almost like he glided over the floor without the use of his wings, slight dark trails in his wake as he slid to the side. Comet flew passed Onyx, Comet's face indicating that he knew he had made a mistake, and he did. He flew passed Onyx, and in less than a second, Onyx placed his left hind hoof behind him, thrusted his right front hoof forward, his body fully twisting in with his hoof that hit Comet on the exposed side of his neck, just below his jaw joint. As soon as the hoof made contact with the skin, Comet fell to the ground just like his fellow squad mates who were being looked over by the other four that went with Onyx, most likely to see if they were staying down.


"...You never learn... do you? You solars have nothing to gain by doing this. All the hurt you try to inflict on us, all the pestering, mocking... What do you gain from it? Nothing but shame."
 

Onyx sighed and turned to Fog, his four brothers joining him in walking back to the circle, leaving the solars laying peacefully and silently on the ground. Fog was glad his brothers were alright, but he was worried about the ponies that had been taken down. They seemed to be badly hurt, almost as if they were dead. Onyx walked into the circle and stood eye to eye with Fog. The others forming back into the protective circle they started off with.


"Don't worry about them, Fog. They are not dead, just unconscious." 



"B-but how? They look like they are badly injured..."



"Thrust me, they are not. We didn't hurt them badly, we just immobilized them, which only feels incredibly annoying to those who feel it, but that is about it, they'll wake up in a few minutes. I'll explain you more about it when the time comes, but for now, we need to make our way to Princess Luna's tower. We are already enough behind schedule thanks to them."


Onyx brought his right hoof on Fog's left shoulder and gave him a comforting smile. Fog knew Onyx spoke the truth, these guards were not as wounded as they seemed to be. But Fog couldn't help but be slightly worried about them. Did they do this often? Onyx and Comet mentioned that they did. And they always lost... After this short display of what his brothers did, it was clear why they lost, even with the greater numbers. His brothers had been trained in what seemed to be various sorts of PMA. Something Fog never considered of doing since he never wanted to hurt others, not even if it was in defense of himself.

Fog was brought out of his thoughts as he was lightly pushed by two ponies' wings, making him step forward. He took the hint and began to walk again with Onyx at his side. They reached the ponies that had been immobilized, Fog felt a twitch of guilt as they passed by them, without helping them. He could see their torso's expand and contract in gentle motions, proving to Fog that they indeed seemed to be not hurt as badly as he initially thought. He glanced over his shoulder as the group passed the downed solars, seeing that behind them were a few other golden armored guards had appeared and were beginning to tend to their downed members.

The pegasus sighed. He glanced onward again, noticing that now no more solar guards were posted along the sides. This part of the castle seemed to be emptier, and slightly darker as well, but seeing as who they were going to meet, it would be fitting to have it less lit around these parts. But that didn't explain why there were no guards posted, at all.


"...Onyx? Why are there no guards posted around here?"



"There are. Not many, but there are guards stationed here."



"But... I don't see any..."



"That is meant to be."


Fog glanced around again, but he spotted nopony anywhere, except for his circle of brothers and sisters. He looked down to the ground and began to think. There are guards here that are not meant to be seen? I can see the advantage of that, if they are not visible, possible intruders, no matter their numbers, could be taken by surprise and be overwhelmed in quick hits. But that was concerning as well, to get this idea, there must have been an incident that lead to this decision. Fog wasn't sure if he liked his theory behind this safety precaution.

They neared a large double door which had a full white moon carved into the wood. As they reached it, the doors opened by themselves, giving them entrance to what presumably was Princess Luna's part of the castle. They walked through the open doorway and enter into yet another outstretching hallway. When the group was passed the doors, they fell silently shut behind them. It became very dark in the corridor, so dark that Fog had to squint his eyes to look ahead. Out of nowhere, various torches along the side of the hallway ignited on their own with calming blue flames. 

Fog jumped slightly at the sudden appearing of the blue flames, but was calmed quickly by their gentle color. How did these ignite on their own? Do they feel somepony's presence? It is likely magic that ignites them... those torches are probably enchanted to do so. Fog let his eyes wander around the hallway as they passed by various crossings and windows made of lead with ponies depicted on them, like they were telling a story from long ago. Fog couldn't see what the glasses were telling, he didn't have enough time to look at them thoroughly since the group kept going to Princess Luna's tower where he would meet her. He made a note for himself to take another look at these windows when he had more time.


"Fog."



"Huh? Yeah?"


Fog looked at Onyx as he heard him calling. Onyx stood still at a larger door where a telescope looking towards the stars was displayed. This would be the observatory then? But he was going to Princess Luna's tower, no? Or maybe this is her tower? Maybe the decoration on the door meant 'watcher of the night sky'? 


"Princess Luna's tower is beyond this door. You'll need to ascend it until the top, she'll be waiting for you."



"Okay. Won't you all be coming with me?"



"Sorry, brother. We may not ascend the tower yet. We'll join you and the Princess when we are being called. Until then, you'll have to face this alone. Don't worry, we are never far away, may something happen."