//------------------------------// // A Living Nightmare // Story: Darkest Shadows // by FireOfTheNorth //------------------------------// Worthless . . . worthless . . . worthless . . . worthless. Like a skipping record, thoughts repeated in the young stallion’s head. You’re no good. Your family hates you. You’re worthless . . . worthless . . . worthless . . . worthless. He stumbled through the moonlit streets of Canterlot, not sure what he was doing or where he was going, just trying to get the thoughts out of his head. Curses erupted from well-dressed ponies as he crashed through a restaurant’s patio. There’s nothing good about you. Your marefriend left you because you’re worthless . . . worthless . . . worthless . . . worthless. “Shut up,” he said weakly. He tried to deny what he was hearing, but failed. Everything was true. Except . . . Your life is a living nightmare. It was if a switch in his head had been flipped, shutting down all thought. Staring blankly ahead, he trotted up to the edge of the bridge he’d found himself on. He watched helplessly as his body moved on its own and threw itself over the edge. Passersby screamed as his body fell, impacting the cobblestones with a sickening crunch. Darkest Shadows Part the Second: A Living Nightmare *** “This the one you’re looking for?” the morgue attendant asked as he slid the body out. “That’s him all right,” Berry said as she compared the body to a picture of the stallion from when he had been living. Gallant Fox: earth pony; male; age 21; employed as a maintenance worker for Hierophant Tower; the only pony who had been in said tower the night of the gargoyle attack – Deceased. Beryl sighed as she closed the file and motioned for the body to be slid back into the cooler. Over a week had passed since she had met Shadowmere, and together they had stopped the gargoyle attacks on Canterlot. The Ministry had successfully restored the street to its previous condition and covered up what had happened, though they were certainly surprised to learn that gargoyles had returned. Beryl had kept Shadowmere’s identity a secret (he was the Black Briar—a wanted fugitive—after all) and had kept the case open, investigating into who had toppled that final gargoyle statue from the roof. “Thanks for your help, Klaus,” Beryl said to the attendant as she left the mortuary. Her investigation had eventually led her to Gallant Fox, who the building’s security spells had detected entering shortly before the gargoyle had fallen and leaving immediately after. There was no doubt that he had been the one responsible for releasing the gargoyle from its prison. Of course, there was no way to get any more information from him. You couldn’t interrogate a pony who’d jumped to his death the night before. Berry emerged from the Canterlot Police Department Morgue into the bright midday light. Important ponies trotted up and down the sidewalks while carriages trundled down the streets. Once her eyes had adjusted, she took off in the opposite direction of the Ministry. She would return later to report the progress on the case, but first she wanted to speak to Shadowmere. With her last lead dead, it looked like the case would have to end unresolved, but she wanted to see if the immortal assassin had any tricks that would let her continue. The orphans were playing in the yard when she arrived at Rosethorn Hall, and she had to walk around their games to reach the front door. A mare Berry hadn’t seen the last time she’d been here opened the door for her and led her down to the basement. Once the caretaker had gone back upstairs, Berry knocked on the rugged wooden door to Shadowmere’s quarters. She was about to knock again when the door slowly swung open on its own. Berry trotted through the dark hallway to the second open door, the first slamming shut behind her. This time when she entered Shadowmere’s rooms, she was careful not to disturb the line of dust in front of the doorway. “You have news,” Shadowmere stated from where he sat in a luxurious armchair, paging through a fragile-looking tome. “Yes, I found the pony who released the gargoyle. Unfortunately-”, Berry said, pausing as Shadowmere made eye contact with her. She would have to get used to seeing those orbs of fire in a pony’s face. “Unfortunately, he’s dead.” “Gallant Fox?” Shadowmere asked. “How did you know?” Beryl asked indignantly. If he had known all along and hadn’t told her, she was going to be very angry. She could have gotten to him before he died and gotten information from him. “Relax,” Shadowmere commanded in an even tone, “I only knew that he jumped to his death last night, until now.” “Oh, all right,” Berry said, feeling foolish, “So, what do we do now?” “Don’t you think this suicide was a little too convenient?” Shadowmere asked, “Just when you were closing in on him, he decides to jump off a bridge. Very suspicious.” “Are you suggesting somepony or something else killed him?” Beryl asked, “Witnesses claim that there was nopony else around when he jumped.” “Maybe not, but you should know that that doesn’t prove anything,” Shadowmere said, “As a mare of the Ministry, didn’t you consider that this could have been a possession?” “Well, a powerful vampire could do it, but if one strong enough to do that showed up in Canterlot, we’d know about it,” Beryl said. “Maybe, maybe not,” Shadowmere said, and he set his book down and stood, “In any case, there are plenty of other creatures more frightful than vampires that could have forced Gallant Fox to do what he did. It could have been a succubus, or a tantibus, or heaven-forbid it could even have been a Draconequus warping his mind.” “How can we tell?” Beryl asked and followed as Shadowmere started to trot toward one of the many doors that led out of his parlor, “And how does it help us if we find out?” “Whatever led Gallant Fox to kill himself probably also forced him to throw the gargoyle from the roof. If we find what’s behind his death, we’ll find what’s behind the gargoyles’ return,” Shadowmere said as he paused to open the door, “I’m going to investigate his apartment tonight. I need you to find out from his family and friends if he was acting unusual before his death.” “I’m on it,” Beryl said. *** “Can I help you?” a middle-aged mare asked as she cracked open the door to her apartment. “Agent Beryl Fields. I have a few questions about your son,” Berry said as she flashed her badge. “What for?” the mare asked suspiciously, closing the door a little, “The police were already here.” “I’m from a separate government organization,” Berry said, “I know it must be hard for you, but I need to ask you some more questions.” “You won’t take no for an answer, will you?” the mare asked, and she opened the door the rest of the way when Berry shook her head, “Come on in.” The apartment was small and sparsely furnished. Boxes were scattered here and there, indicating that Red Fox had moved to this apartment recently. She led Beryl into a living room with a couch, a few chairs, and a record player. Before she sat down, Beryl got a good look at some of the pictures lined up on a shelf. Most of them featured the garnet-coated mare she was visiting with a sky blue pegasus and a younger version of Gallant Fox. “Did you notice Gallant Fox acting strange recently?” Beryl asked as her first question. “Of course I did,” his mother replied angrily, “Do you think perfectly sound judgment led him to kill himself? He was hurting, and I tried to help him, but he just pushed me away. He seemed to think I’d abandoned him, but I’d never do that. Eventually, he just stopped getting in touch with me all together.” “When did you last hear from him?” Berry asked, writing down what Red Fox had said on a small pad. “The police already asked me that,” she answered with suspicion. “Please, for the record,” Berry said, holding up the pad. “It was over a month ago, around the same time his marefriend broke up with him. She tried to get him help too, but he forced her away. When she left, things must have only gotten worse for him. I didn’t hear a single thing from him until the CPD showed up at my door this morning and asked me to identify his body.” Beryl had already interviewed the mare Gallant Fox had been seeing until only recently and his coworkers at Hierophant Tower, and they had all told pretty much the same story. The problem was, none of them really knew what had really been going on in the janitor’s head. “You said he was hurting,” Beryl said, “Do you know why?” “He never talked about it, but it had to have been because of his father,” Red Fox confessed on the verge of tears, “My husband, Gallant Glider, died almost a year ago. We were both hit pretty hard by it, and I was no help to him. His friends helped him through that rough patch, and my friends helped me get by. I thought he was fine until just a couple months ago. I couldn’t help him; it’s my fault he’s dead.” “It’s not your fault; there was nothing you could do,” Beryl tried to comfort the mare as she sobbed, ironically feeling very uncomfortable doing so. “I-I-I should have taken him s-seriously when he told me about the nightmares,” she sniffled on. Nightmares? That was new information and, more importantly, it seemed like something Berry could use to narrow down her search for whatever may have been possessing Gallant Fox. “What did he tell you about his nightmares?” she asked. “What does it matter?” Red Fox sniffed. “I think it could be important,” Beryl answered. “He never really told me exactly what they were about,” Red Fox said, “He just said that he was afraid to sleep because the nightmares would keep coming. I didn’t think much of it until the rest of his personality started changing too.” “What do you mean?” “Well, before he was depressed, he seemed… paranoid, like something was after him.” “Thank you for your time, and my condolences on your loss,” Beryl said as she mulled things over in her head and rose to leave. *** Berry laid her head on her desk. Her search thus far for what had possessed Gallant Fox had been fruitless. The Ministry bestiary couldn’t find any documentation on any creature that fit the circumstances. She had found several monsters that caused nightmares, but none that could also control their victims’ actions. A powerful vampire could conceivably do both, but Red Fox had said that her son was paranoid without naming what he was afraid of. Anypony who was afraid of a vampire would be able to name the source of their fear, of that much Berry was certain. She’d even tried searching for the creatures Shadowmere had mention, but the Bestiary held no information on succubae, tantibae, or Draconequi. The sound of lightning sizzling and a small flash of light caused Berry to look up. A small scroll was sitting on her desk, sealed with a circle of blue wax bearing the symbol of the Ministry. The blue wax meant that the letter had come directly from the Ministry’s director herself, so Beryl quickly tore it open. Agent Beryl Fields, Due to the nature of your ongoing investigations, I request your presence in my office as soon as possible. Director Thistleback “We are the shield that protects Equestria from the things in the darkness; we hold the key to Tartarus and wield the sword that sends them there.” Thistleback’s letter was short and to the point. But that was what one expected from the unicorn who had worked to make the Ministry as efficient and effective as possible. Beryl had no other pressing matters at the moment (and it wouldn’t have mattered if she had), so she left her office and headed out to meet with the Ministry’s director. Reaching the Director’s office required her to first head back to the Ministry’s entrance. As she passed through, she noted with concern that the number of incidents for the month was in the 130’s already. Since the windows of the Director’s office looked out on the entrance, Beryl was able to see it long before she could reach it. To meet with Thistleback, she had to first head down a long hallway, take two flights of stairs up, get magically scanned, and then take a teleporter pad up to her office’s level. Thankfully, the Director wasn’t busy at the moment, and Beryl was let into her office immediately. The room was spotless, but also very empty. The only furniture in the room was a desk, a long table surrounded by chairs, and two filing cabinets containing the files of every current Ministry agent. The white tiles of the floor and the white walls and ceiling gave the room a very sterile feel, as if you had just stepped into an operating room with well-polished wooden furniture. “I see you received my message, Agent Fields,” the Director said without turning around as she stared out the windows of her office down at the Ministry entrance below. Thistleback had a warm golden-brown coat that fit well with her office’s furniture, and a mane and tail the exact same color as everything else in the room. Beryl wondered if maybe she had modeled the office after her own appearance. When she had been recruited as an agent, Thistleback had already been the Director for several years, so she had nothing to compare to. If she had modeled her office after herself, she had matched it to her personality as well. Thistleback had her warm touches, but as a whole she was as cold and ruthless as they came. “Reporting for duty, ma’am,” Beryl said with a salute, “What did you need to speak with me about?” “I have a question for you, Agent Fields,” Thistleback said as she turned and trotted over to her desk before resting her forehooves on its polished surface, “Can a hunter be effective without intimate knowledge of her prey?” “No, ma’am, I don’t believe she can,” Beryl answered. She hoped she wasn’t about to be given the third degree about where she’d learned about gargoyles. She’d made an agreement with Shadowmere, but he was also the Black Briar, whom the Ministry was supposed to arrest on sight, and she was a loyal member of the Ministry. Hopefully, the Director wouldn’t force her to choose between the two. “You did quite well in tracking down those gargoyles even without complete knowledge,” Thistleback said while Berry began to sweat, “It makes me wonder how effective you could have been were you completely informed.” “Ma’am?” Berry asked, a bit confused. “How long have you been an agent here?” the Director said as she dropped to all four hooves and began to trot around behind Berry. “Nine years, ma’am,” Berry replied, and it came as a bit of a shock to her as well. Have I really been an agent that long? “I remember back when you were our rising star. I thought at the time that you’d be head of a branch office by this point,” Thistleback said, reminding Beryl of a past she’d sooner forget, “But your rapid advancement all came to a halt with that incident four years ago. What happened to you?” “I don’t know, ma’am,” Berry said, fighting to keep her face and voice neutral. “Well, whatever happened, it looks like you’ve put it behind you, and you’re on the road to promotion again,” Thistleback said, and Berry let herself relax a bit, “If you’re going to be taking on threats at this new level, you’re going to need access to the Deep Archives.” “The Deep Archives?” Beryl asked curiously as the Director made her way back around to stand behind her desk. “The Deep Archives are where the Ministry keeps all of its classified and retired information, and as such knowledge of their existence is disseminated on a need-to-know basis,” Thistleback explained, “I’m granting you level-3 access for now; that should suffice for your current experience level. To get there, follow the hallway past the offices, and when the corridor turns left, step through the wall to the right. The spell will let you through now.” “Thank you, ma’am,” Berry said, giving a slight bow to her boss. “You’ve earned it, but I’m expecting big things from you now,” Thistleback said, letting a smile tug at the corners of her mouth, “Don’t disappoint me.” *** Berry made use of her new privileges immediately. She’d had no luck in retrieving information on her target through the Ministry’s bestiary, so she’d have to hope that the Deep Archives weren’t as lacking in data. She followed Thistleback’s directions, passing her office door and heading to the end of the hall. Autopsy was off to the left, but she turned and faced the opposite direction, waiting until nopony was watching to step through the wall. What had previously appeared to be solid stone now impeded Beryl’s progress no more than air would have. She felt the slight tingling of magic as she passed through, and found herself in an empty hallway. Following it to the end, she entered a large, circular room empty but for an elevator carriage suspended in the center. Stepping inside, she pulled the lever to “DOWN”, and the carriage began to descend. Inky blackness surrounded her in her descent, all except for the small globe of illumination from the light on the carriage. Using her magic, she shone her own light out into the darkness, and saw that the walls were a fair distance from the suspended carriage and were covered in spell runes and traps designed to kill any trespassers. What exactly was stored in the deep archives that warranted this level of protection? Sadly, Beryl wasn’t likely to find out with only level-3 clearance. The elevator carriage lurched as it passed through a particularly potent magical field before suddenly coming to a halt as it landed. Beryl stepped off and made her way over to the only visible door illuminated by a single light over it. Pushing the door open, she found herself facing a large, empty room with a single desk in front of a heavy vault door. Sitting behind the desk was an elderly griffin, who took his hindpaws off the desk and straightened his glasses as he saw Berry approaching. “Hello, can I help you?” the griffin asked with a prominent accent. “Yes, this is my first time in the Deep Archives, and I’m not sure how things are done down here,” Berry said as she looked around the empty room before focusing on the griffin. “My name is Boris; I’m the caretaker down here,” the griffin said as he extended a claw to shake, “How can I help you, Miss…” “Beryl Fields,” Berry answered as she shook Boris’s claw, “I need to research monsters that can produce nightmares in their victims and also control their actions. The Bestiary wasn’t very helpful.” “Level-3 access, I presume?” Boris asked as he reached inside his uniform and produced a key. “That’s right,” Berry answered as the elderly griffin padded over to the vault door and slid the key into a previously invisible slot. Several runes on the door’s surface became visible as he did so, and he touched them with his claw in sequence. Finally, he turned the wheel in the center, fully unlocking the Deep Archives. Beryl got a good look as he pulled the heavy gate open and she was able to step inside. A column of bookshelves dominated the room, and a gently sloping ramp circled it. From where she was standing, it looked to Beryl like the ramp went on down forever, circling the same massive column of books and scrolls. Along the outer wall were evenly spaced alcoves with desks where one could sit and read from the treasure trove of knowledge down here. “Level-3 access will allow you to look at any records retired because the Ministry considered them out-of-date or no longer needed,” Boris explained, “Those are all stored here in this room, arranged alphabetically by subject. I should warn you that if you attempt to remove any records from this room, the magical shield in the elevator shaft will turn you to ash.” “Thanks,” Berry told Boris, “Is there any way to search the Deep Archives?” “Unless you mean manually, no,” Boris replied with a laugh, “Good luck.” Once he’d left the room and closed the door behind him, Beryl got to work searching through the Deep Archives. It would be tough to search without being able to specify what she needed to find, but it would have to be done. She started with the creatures Shadowmere had mentioned and the Bestiary hadn’t been able to find. Surprisingly, the Deep Archives didn’t have any information on Draconequi either, so she trotted deeper to look into succubae and tantibae. The Deep Archives had plenty of information on succubae, all of it ancient and fragile. Most of it looked to have been retired 800 years earlier after the Ministry confirmed the death of the last living succubus. It wasn’t likely that somehow they’d managed to return, but the gargoyles had been unexpected too, so Beryl looked into the records anyway. It didn’t take long for her to conclude that it was not a succubus they were dealing with. They were known to be able to control their victims, but any dreams they sent would most definitely not be called nightmares. That left tantibae, which Beryl turned to next. Like succubae, there was a lot of information in the Deep Archives on them, but most records were unfortunately incomplete or contradictory, so it took Berry a long time to sift through them and get a clear picture on what a tantibus really was. The more she read, the more promising this lead looked. A tantibus was created when an oneiromancer turned to the dark arts and began to maliciously enter other ponies’ dreams. Upon their death, they would become detached from their body and take the form of a tantibus. The evil creature could then manipulate the dreams of everypony around them. They would send nightmares more and more frequently as they fed off a victim until they were able to invade their waking mind as well, culminating in complete control over another pony’s mind and body. It was entirely possible that a tantibus was responsible for Gallant Fox’s death. Oneiromancy had been illegal in Equestria for hundreds of years, but if somepony had picked it up and gotten involved in the darker side, there could be a new tantibus roaming Canterlot. Tantibae also had trouble existing in the physical realm for long, so they would feed on as many victims as possible before finding a host to inhabit. While in the host’s body, they had to wait for death to release them again with renewed strength. The longer a tantibus inhabited a pony’s body, the stronger they would be when they emerged, so many tantibae went decades without feeding. Because of this, the tantibus Berry was hunting could very well be one that had maintained a low profile for centuries as well. To be sure, she’d have to confer with Shadowmere. *** Beryl had been down in the Deep Archives far longer than she had thought. By the time she emerged from the Ministry, it was already well into the night. She knew that the most sensible course of action would be to return home and meet with Shadowmere in the morning, but what if the tantibus forced another pony to kill themselves before then? From his case file, Berry knew where Gallant Fox’s apartment was, and she headed off toward it, hoping to catch Shadowmere there. “I’ve already been inside,” the deep, gravelly voice came from the shadow behind her as she was about to enter the apartment complex, “What did you learn?” “I think we’re dealing with a tantibus,” Beryl said, turning around to face Shadowmere, “Gallant Fox was having nightmares and he was paranoid something was after him.” “I think you’re right,” the stallion answered, “I detected a tantibus’s magic in the apartment.” “So how do we track it down?” Berry asked expectantly. “We can’t,” Shadowmere answered, disappointing her. “What? There’s nothing we can do to track it down?” Berry asked incredulously. “Not directly, no,” Shadowmere said, looking Berry in the eye through his sunglasses, “There’s obviously somepony working with this tantibus, though. It wouldn’t have used its food source to topple a gargoyle and then killed him off to hide information otherwise. We need to speak to the owner of Hierophant Tower.” “I looked into it already; it’s a dead end,” Berry said, shaking her head, “Hierophant Tower is owned by the Nocte Corporation. It’s run by a board of trustees, and they keep their internal affairs private.” “Through other channels, I’ve managed to secure the name of the pony responsible for the Hierophant Tower Project,” Shadowmere said evenly, so that not even Beryl could see his burning anger that the name of the Draconequus he’d once fought for was now the name of a multinational company, “His name’s Prestige, and he’s in Canterlot right now. I suggest we pay him a visit.” “Wait,” Beryl said as Shadowmere began to march away, his duster flapping out behind him, “Is this Prestige the same pony as the grandson of Purple Prestige, the pegasus who modernized the Equestrian rail system?” “Yes,” Shadowmere answered simply, without stopping, and Berry was forced to gallop up next to him to continue the conversation. “He’s the owner of CMFH Rail-lines,” she said, “What was he doing working with Nocte Corp. to build a skyscraper?” “Now you see why we must speak with him,” Shadowmere harrumphed as he plodded along, “His actions as of late have been most suspicious. It cannot be mere coincidence that he also was in charge of the building the gargoyles came from.” “So, what, you’re just going to break into his mansion and interrogate him?” Beryl asked. “No, we’re going to walk in through the front door and have a friendly chat,” Shadowmere said with a slight smile. *** “Who did you say you were?” the guard posted at the gate to Prestige’s manor asked the duo. “I am the Lord Briarheart,” Shadowmere introduced himself, “Please tell your master that I have an important business matter to discuss with him.” They had stopped back at Rosethorn Hall on their way to the private estate built on Canterlot Mountain high above the city. Shadowmere now looked like a proper Canterlot noble, though his outfit was a few centuries behind. He now appeared very similar to the portrait Beryl had first seen him in, except that he was now wearing a hat along with his suit, waistcoat, and cravat. “What about her?” the guard asked suspiciously, gesturing to Beryl, who was still wearing her Ministry uniform. “She’s with me; a bodyguard,” Shadowmere explained. “Quite,” the elderly stallion harrumphed before opening the gate, “Go on in, but you might be waiting for a while.” Celestia’s sun hadn’t risen yet, but the path to Prestige’s mansion was well illuminated by ornate lampposts. Berry and Shadowmere stood in a small sitting room as they waited for their host. It was still technically night, so Berry wasn’t holding her breath for Prestige to wake up and greet them any time soon. She distracted herself by examining his manor, which was curiously built in a style that was popular across the North Luna Sea but had never become more than a novelty in Equestria. They’d only been standing there a few minutes when Beryl was surprised by the door they’d trotted in through sliding open. A pegasus with a lavender coat and a purple striped mane stepped inside, sliding the door shut again behind him. He was sweating profusely and was wearing one of the suits popular with the Wonderbolts for training with a towel draped around his neck. Prestige flashed a grin as he wiped himself down. “Lord Briarheart, it’s good to finally meet you,” he said as he extended a hoof for Shadowmere to shake, “I won’t lie to you, though. It would have been nice if you’d chosen to visit at a time that didn’t interrupt my morning exercise.” “I apologize for that,” Shadowmere said smoothly, “It’s a pain, getting old.” “Tell me about it,” Prestige laughed, “You’ve managed to keep yourself in fine shape, if I do say so myself. Perhaps you could tell me your secret sometime. Please, sit.” “You’ve invested in my company quite a bit over the years, but you never once came to visit me personally,” Prestige said once the three ponies were comfortably seated on cushions, “To what do I owe this pleasure?” “I keep investing in your company because I keep seeing a profit. My accountant informed me that recently you’ve been involved in quite a… different venture, and I wanted to speak to you personally about it before deciding if I should invest,” Shadowmere said, “I understand that you were involved with the Nocte Corporation in building Hierophant Tower.” “Right, that,” Prestige said, rolling his eyes and giving a wave of his hoof, “I don’t know what possessed me to get involved in construction, but I guess I had to stretch my wings before turning back to managing CMFH.” “I thought that Hierophant Tower was a success,” Shadowmere replied, fishing for more information. “Financially, yes,” Prestige admitted, “But my vision for the building was lost in the construction process. When it was finished, Hierophant Tower wasn’t even close to as beautiful as I’d imagined it. And those gargoyles? Ugh! I’m glad some hooligans stole them.” “The gargoyles weren’t part of your design?” Shadowmere asked after sharing a look with Berry. “Heavens, no,” Prestige said with disgust, “No offense, since you obviously enjoy older styles, but those ugly statues were meant to adorn crumbling castles, not the skyscraper that was supposed to be a symbol of Canterlot moving into the modern age.” “So, whose decision was it to add the gargoyles?” Shadowmere asked. “That would be the architect. She was insistent—even bull-headed—on the point. No matter what I said, she insisted that the gargoyles stay. I think—uh—Shining Light was her name. I don’t know why I chose her over an architect from Canterlot; just a strong feeling, I suppose. She can stay in Hoofington forever, for all I care now.” “Thank you for your time,” Shadowmere said as he rose and gave Berry a nod. “I do have another investment opportunity for you, if you’re interested. If I can buy out Vanhoover-Central, then-” Prestige stopped talking as Beryl’s spell hit him the forehead. He passed out for a moment, and by the time he awoke, Shadowmere and Beryl were gone and he had no memory of his conversation with them. The guard at the gate also forgot having ever seen them as they left Prestige’s property. “We need to get to Hoofington now,” Shadowmere told Berry as they descended Canterlot Mountain. “I’ll file a transit form, but it’ll be a few days before I’m able to leave Canterlot,” Berry replied with a nod. “No, we need to leave right away, while the architect is still alive,” Shadowmere said. “I can’t just take off without warning,” Beryl said indignantly. “Why not?” Shadowmere asked, “You obviously wouldn’t have sought me out tonight if you didn’t think we were short on time.” “I know, but this would require me to deliberately break Ministry rules,” Berry said, “I’ve been breaking rules to work with you, but nothing that would draw attention like this.” “Tell me, is it more important to protect ponies, or to follow these restrictive and senseless rules?” Shadowmere asked with a frown. “I’m sorry,” Beryl said as she trotted away, “I know what’s right, but I just can’t do it.” *** The express train from Manehattan barreled down the tracks to Canterlot precisely on schedule. The locomotive’s engineer sat back and let the engine do its thing. Some of the tracks around Canterlot were hazardous and required complete concentration, but this stretch was perfectly straight and there was no danger. The engineer flipped through his early edition of the Manehattan Times, but looked up every couple minutes to see if they were nearing the last bend before Canterlot. He folded his paper up and tucked it away when he saw the track begin to curve around the mountain in the distance. He checked the boiler and the train’s speed before he looked up and saw a figure ahead. The lavender pegasus had come out of nowhere, flapping onto the tracks before stumbling around. The engineer put on the brakes, but it was too late. *** “Put him away, Klaus,” Berry said, and the morgue attendant slid the mangled body of Prestige back into the cooler. This was terrible. Shadowmere had been right. Prestige had killed himself only a few hours after they’d met with him; how long did Shining Light have left? Even if Shining Light wasn’t the next target, who knew how long it would be until the tantibus killed again? Beryl hurried back to the Ministry as fast as she could. She had worried that this would happen. Prestige had seemed a bit off during their conversation, especially with his talk about making decisions he would never have made in normal circumstances, so Beryl had looked into his recent history after submitting her transit request. In the time leading up to the beginning of Hierophant Tower’s construction, the owner of CMFH Rail-lines had been to several doctors and psychiatrists complaining about recurring nightmares. He had also become more of a recluse than normal, though he acted fine in public. Now, with him committing suicide by jumping in front of his own train, she was sure that Prestige had been another victim of the tantibus. Rushing through security as fast as possible, Beryl went directly to Director Thistleback’s office. Unfortunately, there were ponies waiting to get in this time. She had to wait until everypony finished their business before she was finally let into the office. The pony that greeted her as she entered was not Director Thistleback, but her second-in-command, Deputy Director Siren’s Song. “Director Thistleback is out at the moment; how may I assist you?” the beige unicorn stallion asked. “I submitted a transit request this morning, and I really need for it to be approved today,” Beryl said quickly. “It’s a bit presumptuous to walk into this office and demand something like that, don’t you think?” Siren’s Song said with a frown. “Listen Deputy Director Song, lives could be lost if I don’t get to Hoofington as soon as possible,” Beryl explained, trying to convey the urgency of her request. “I’m afraid the Hoofington team will have to handle it, then. I wish I could help you, but my hooves are tied,” Song said sincerely, “As you know, Director Thistleback has tried to eliminate all loopholes in the Ministry’s bureaucracy.” So that was it, then. There was no way around having to wait for a transit request unless she flat-out disobeyed orders and left for Hoofington herself. Still, she knew now what she had to do. She’d known the answer to Shadowmere’s question that morning, but she’d been too scared to follow through. Protecting the lives of her fellow ponies was more important than following the Ministry’s rules. “Sorry for wasting your time,” Berry said as she rose from her chair and turned her back on the Deputy Director. “If you’re about to do what I think you’re about to do, then I have something to say to you,” Siren’s Song said, and Berry stopped and turned around to face him, “Good luck.” “Excuse me?” Beryl said, a bit confused. “Director Thistleback may have forgotten the purpose of the Ministry, but I haven’t,” the stallion said, “We were created by Celestia to protect ponies, and we were given the authority to do that no matter what stood in our way. As I see it, that includes the Ministry itself if it interferes with our mission.” The Deputy Director gave Berry a smile and a nod, and she returned it before turning and leaving the office with purpose in her stride. *** The next morning, Berry stepped off the train at the Hoofington station. She had booked the last train from Canterlot, and had slept all the way to this town on the frontier. It was liberating, in a way, to be able to do what she knew was right without having to rely on the Ministry to back her up. She still had to be careful; Hoofington wasn’t a large city by any means, but it was large enough to warrant its own Ministry branch office. Berry didn’t know if there would be other agents looking for her, but there was no reason to take chances. She started her search the in the simplest way: by asking around town. Surprisingly, nopony she asked knew anything about Shining Light. Stumped, Berry headed to the town hall in search of records. The city clerk recognized her as a Ministry agent, but not as one from their office, and she had to talk to her awhile about being new in town. When the clerk was done telling her all about Hoofington, she led her to the records, and Berry was able to search for Shining Light. Once again, though, her search proved fruitless. No pony named Shining Light had ever lived in Hoofington. She was beginning to think that Prestige had lied to Shadowmere. She had wasted most of her day by the time she finally found something. Looking through the newspaper records, Beryl found a copy of the Hoofington Bugle with a small article in the back about a “local architect chosen to design a skyscraper in Canterlot.” The article consisted of a small interview with Shining Light, where she talked about her (rather unimpressive) architectural experience and the trials she’d been going through since her husband had fallen into a coma several years earlier. There wasn’t even a picture. It wasn’t much to go off of, but it was all Beryl had. The article said that Shining Light lived out to the west of town, outside the city limits, so that’s where the Ministry agent headed. It was heading towards evening, and the streets of Hoofington were largely deserted, but Berry had no fear. She was an agent of the Ministry, and she had fought and killed plenty of creatures more dangerous than common thugs. As such, she didn’t panic when she was attacked in a dark alleyway, not until she got a good look at her attacker. The mare who’d tried to hit her with a bottle had dark circles around her eyes, but her eyes themselves were milky white, and she stared ahead blindly. Her face looked sad, but also scared and confused at the same time. She stumbled forward drunkenly as she tried to strike Berry again. Berry dodged her attack easily, but backed into a stallion that looked and acted the same way. More of the zombie-esque ponies quickly entered the alleyway. “Get back!” Beryl yelled as she conjured up her magic sword and swung it around. She had no idea what she was fighting, but given the chance that they were still ponies, she altered her magic as they advanced to stun them only. She slashed through them as they rushed her, letting out unearthly wails and moans. She tried to work her way around to the main street as the ponies she dropped got up after only a few seconds of being stunned. “Daybreak, to me!” she heard Shadowmere yell as he galloped into the alley. He swung his otherworldly greatsword around through the crowd, sending bodies of ponies flying. Beryl hesitated only a moment before changing her magical sword back to its deadly state and hacking through the ponies pressing in around her. Together, it took them less than a minute to clear the alleyway. “Daybreak, be gone,” Shadowmere said before turning to Berry, “So you decided to come.” “You were right,” she admitted, “Protecting ponies is more important than following the Ministry’s rules.” “I’m glad to see you here,” Shadowmere said, and Berry thought that he sounded very sincere. “What were those things?” Berry asked, looking at the scattered corpses around them and hoping they weren’t really ponies. “Husks,” Shadowmere answered with contempt, “This is what happens to a pony when a tantibus drains them completely. The body can still move around, but the pony inside is long dead. This is a very bad sign. If the tantibus is turning its victims to husks, it must be getting ready to inhabit a new host. We have to stop it before that happens and it disappears into the crowd of ponies.” “I found where Shining Light is,” Beryl said, “I was on my way there when I was ambushed.” “No doubt that’s why you were ambushed,” Shadowmere said, “Let’s get there before something unfortunate happens to her.” No more husks attacked them as they made their way to Shining Light’s home. The house was built next to a country road outside of Hoofington. It was a simple one-story home, and though it was already starting to get dark, there were no lights shining in the windows. Berry knocked on the door as they reached it. “H-hello?” a mare’s voice came from inside as the she cracked open the door. “Shining Light?” Berry asked, “We need to speak to you.” “What about?” the mare asked quietly, cracking the door open a little more and letting Berry get a good look at her. From the newspaper article, Berry knew that Shining Light was middle-aged, but the pony standing inside the house looked much older. All those extra years she seemed to have accumulated rather recently, though, through stress or terror. She had dark bags around her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept in a while, and her light gray coat and brown mane were a mess. Her eyes were filled with fear and suspicion, and they darted all around as Beryl watched her. “Hierophant Tower,” Berry said, but she didn’t get to explain further as Shining Light slammed the door shut. “Go away!” she shouted from inside the house, “I don’t want anything to do with you!” In the Ministry, Beryl had been trained on how to force open a door, and she was able to easily kick open the one in front of her. It was pitch black inside the house, so she projected some light from her horn. Her hoof knocked against something soft as she entered, and when she looked down she saw the body of a husk lying on the floor with a kitchen knife impaled in its neck. “We’re not here to hurt you,” Beryl tried to reassure Shining Light as she trotted slowly through the dark, “We just want to talk.” She drew her crossbow just in case the architect tried to jump her; she would shoot to wound only. “What is there to talk about?” Shining Light called from somewhere in the house, “I did what you asked; I trusted you. Then you sent my neighbors to kill me! I had nothing to do with what happened to your statues; why did you take my Amber away?” “Statues? Do you mean the gargoyles?” Beryl asked, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. “Yes! I did exactly what you told me to!” Shining Light screamed, “I fought with that business-pegasus until I was blue in the face about it! The gargoyles were completed. That was our deal!” “Listen; whoever you made this deal with, I’m not with them,” Beryl tried to comfort Shining Light, “I’m trying to track them down.” “Why?” the mare responded very suspiciously. “Unless I stop them, they could hurt a lot of ponies,” Beryl said, giving up on finding Shining Light. The house wasn’t that big, but she obviously wasn’t going to be found unless she wanted to be. “Amber,” Shining Light gasped breathlessly. “I think you should tell me everything,” Beryl said, trying to coax information out of the mare. “M-my husband, Amber Rain, has been in a coma for years. I tried everything to get him to wake, but nothing worked,” Shining Light confessed, “I’d almost given up hope until I got a message a year ago from some ponies who said they had a new procedure that could work, but they wanted something in return. They said I would get a call soon asking to work on Hierophant Tower, and I needed to take the job. After that, they sent me a set of detailed diagrams they insisted I include on top of the building; I was so desperate that I didn’t question them. I realize now how shady it was, and now they’ve got Amber and they tried to kill me and…” “Do you know where the ponies who hired you are?” Beryl asked. “No, I never met them, and any time I tried to find them I hit a dead end. I should never have trusted them!” Shining Light said angrily. “Do you know where Amber Rain is?” Shadowmere asked, speaking up for the first time since they’d arrived. “The doctors at Hoofington Memorial said they’d transferred him to Canterlot General this morning, sending him by train,” Shining Light sniffed, “But even if he made it to the hospital, they’ve got him now.” “Don’t worry, Shining,” Beryl said, “We’ll get your husband back.” “R-really?” she asked and showed herself, stepping into Beryl’s light before embracing her, “Oh, thank you!” Shining Light’s body went limp as Shadowmere placed his hooves on either side of her head and murmured an incantation. Scooping her up, her carried her over to a couch and set her down gently. “What was that?” Berry asked. “She’ll sleep now,” he replied, “Probably for the first time in weeks. I’ve already warded the house against attacks, so she’ll be safe. We need to get to Canterlot.” “How?” Berry asked as they left the house, “The next train to Canterlot doesn’t leave until morning.” “We don’t have that long,” Shadowmere said as he trotted around examining the landscape, “The tantibus’s plans are clear to me now.” “Could you enlighten me?” Berry asked as she curiously watched the stallion prance around. “A tantibus can’t choose just any host to enter; it has to be somepony willing or somepony with a tranquil state of mind,” Shadowmere explained as he continued his odd zigzagging, “It’s going to use Amber Rain as its host. Luckily for us, the process of entering a host requires a complex ceremony that should be easy to locate. Unluckily, the ceremony must be completed at exactly midnight, which gives us about forty minutes to get to Canterlot and stop the tantibus.” “So, what are we doing wandering around in the wilderness, then?” “Do they teach you about passages at the Ministry?” Shadowmere asked as he looked over his shoulder. “Only the theory,” Beryl replied, “Ley-lines and the like.” “Ley-lines are bunk,” Shadowmere snorted, “Passages are real, and there’s got to be one around here that leads to Canterlot.” “Found it!” he proclaimed as he tapped his hooves together, and a portal opened up in front of him. The sky grew suddenly overcast, and lighting streaked through the yellow-tinted air as the portal solidified, showing a crude path on the other side. “You’ll want a weapon ready,” Shadowmere said as he looked back at Berry after drawing a rapier from under his duster, “Foul creatures inhabit the space between worlds. Stay close to me and don’t stop moving, whatever you do.” “Got it,” Beryl said as she conjured up her magical sword. “Let’s get to Canterlot,” Shadowmere said as he galloped through the portal. Beryl followed, sticking close to the stallion as they entered a nightmare realm. The portal disappeared behind them as they galloped down the path before them. On either side of the rough trail, lifeless land sloped up, a dead tree leaning away from it here and there. Dark clouds swirled in the sky, and Berry could hear rumblings. Whether it was thunder from the lightning that coursed through the air or the growls of some beast, she didn’t know. A high-pitched squeal came from her right, and she swung her sword around as she turned, slicing the attacking creature in two. Following Shadowmere’s instructions, she didn’t stop running, but she did crane her neck around to get a look at what she’d killed. It was like nothing she’d ever seen, though it vaguely resembled a hairless, six-limbed monkey if its face had been horribly deformed. She shuddered as she faced ahead, keeping a lookout for any more of the creatures. A cloaked and hooded pony with unnaturally long legs appeared on a rise where the path split in two directions. Energy sizzled off the staff it was carrying, and flaming hail began to fall from the sky. Shadowmere pulled spikes from his gauntlets and dipped them in a jar of poison before throwing them at the figure. The hail stopped as the barbs sunk into the creature’s face and its head exploded, the rest of its body turning to mist. The two ponies galloped down the rightmost path and all was quiet for a while, until a herd of the monkey-creatures jumped off the surrounding ridges and converged on Shadowmere. He expertly impaled them, but there were many clawing at him and trying to bite through his clothing. Beryl drew her crossbow to try to shoot them off of him. A wail accompanied the beat of wings as another creature flew overhead. This one had a pony’s body, but gigantic, leathery bat wings extended from its back, and it had a long, scaly tail. Berry ducked low to the ground as it spit fire at her. Swapping the iron bolt in her crossbow for an explosive one, she fired at the beast, striking it directly in the chest. Its entire torso was blown apart, and the portion of the body with wings still attached glided down, passing close over Shadowmere and knocking the rest of the monkey-creatures off. While they tried to make their way out from under the corpse, Beryl finished them off with another explosive shot. The two ponies continued on through the passage, slaying monsters in their wake. Beryl had no idea how Shadowmere knew where he was going, but she had to trust that he was leading them in the right direction. It was a long, perilous path to Canterlot. *** “I’m sorry, but there’s no Amber Rain on the patient list,” the nurse at Canterlot General Hospital told Beryl, “It says here that he was supposed to arrive here today, but the ambulance we sent to pick him up from the train station never returned.” “Thank you for your time,” Berry said as she turned and left. Time was running out. Taking the passage to Canterlot had been quicker than any possible form of transportation other than teleporting (which over such a distance would be impossible for even the most skilled magic-user), but it still ate up time. Shadowmere and Berry had emerged from the passage near Canterlot Castle, so it had taken even more time to gallop over to Canterlot’s primary hospital. They had hoped that the tantibus would be holding the ceremony at the hospital, but it looked like that wasn’t the case. “He’s not here,” Berry told Shadowmere as she exited the hospital and the stallion separated himself from the shadows, “The ambulance they sent out to get him never returned. Do you think it even made it to the train station?” “Probably not; most likely, he was captured at the train station, and the ambulance was destroyed so the medics didn’t question why the pony they were sent to pick up wasn’t there,” Shadowmere said, “We don’t have time to search all of Canterlot for him, though.” “The train Amber Rain came in on, it came to Canterlot from Hoofington,” Berry said, thinking aloud, “Technically, he would be considered cargo, not a passenger, so somepony would have to sign for him. That would mean that whoever took him would be in the Canterlot-Manehattan-Fillydelphia-Hoofington Rail-lines records, right?” “I think you’re right,” Shadowmere said, “Of course, the CMFH Rail-lines office is in Manehattan, but I’m sure Prestige kept his own records here in Canterlot.” “We just have to hope the report was sent to him before he died,” Berry said, looking up the mountain in the direction of Prestige’s estate. *** “I don’t think we’re going to need those records,” Shadowmere said as they stood before the gate to Prestige’s mansion. Past the wall surrounding the aristocrat’s complex, they could see dark clouds swirling over Prestige’s private gardens. The guard who’d been outside that morning was conspicuously absent, and the gate wasn’t locked. It swung open easily as Beryl and Shadowmere charged inside. The courtyard was empty except for an abandoned ambulance carriage, so they headed straight for the path leading up to the gardens. “These should hurt the tantibus while it’s still in its pure form,” Shadowmere said as he passed Berry crossbow bolts of black iron and a few leather-covered grenades, “We’ve got to kill it before it enters Amber Rain.” Beryl nodded and placed one of the bolts in her crossbow in preparation. When they reached the area of the gardens the dark clouds were hovering over, they saw that it was filled with husks. Many of them appeared to be Prestige’s servants, but there was plenty of variety in the others. It looked like this tantibus had chosen victims from all sections of Canterlot. The tantibus itself hovered over the motionless body of Amber Rain, still lying on a gurney from the ambulance. This tantibus had once been a pony, and its appearance was still very much pony-like. Its form glowed with a sickly blue-green light, and its body past the waist turned to mist, but it was still clearly the form of a pony. Just like in the illustrations Beryl had seen in the Deep Archives, the tantibus had a flap of cloth hanging over its eyes and a ring of spiked metal around its forehead. Not wasting a moment, Berry fired her crossbow at the tantibus, but one of the husks jumped in the way, and the bolt glanced off its skull. “It’s a bit rude trying to kill me on my big night, don’t you think?” the tantibus hissed, its mouth only opening slightly. It was communicating primarily by thought, Berry realized. “Interrupting me right before the big finish, too. Poor form.” Several husks were blown apart by green fire as they protected the tantibus from the grenades Shadowmere threw at it. “It’ll be so nice to be in a stallion’s body, again,” the tantibus continued, “Last time, I must admit you forced me to change my plans. It was quite unpleasant for me, you know, to inhabit the body of a mare all the way through her long and wretched life.” “I won’t let you escape this time,” Shadowmere vowed. Berry produced her magical sword to slash through the husks, but paused when she heard Shadowmere’s response. If he’d hunted this tantibus before, why hadn’t he told her? Why hadn’t he tracked down the host and put the tantibus to death the last time? Was Shadowmere ultimately responsible for all the deaths this tantibus had recently inflicted? “I want to know, Shadowmere, did you honestly lose track of me a century ago, or did you stop looking?” the tantibus asked, “I have a feeling it was the latter. You suspected I was in her all along, but you did nothing. Why? Because you couldn’t kill a newborn foal? See what your weakness has led to!” The tantibus gestured to all the husks scattered around the garden. “You’re right,” Shadowmere admitted, “I made the wrong choice back then, but this time I swear I will kill you no matter what happens.” “We will see,” the tantibus said as it turned its head slightly toward Berry. Shadowmere summoned Daybreak as the husks all attacked him and Berry at once. Whatever doubts she had, Berry decided they’d have to wait until after this business was over. She swung her sword around at the advancing husks, decapitating three of them. She kept an eye on the tantibus as she fought the empty ponies, looking for an opportunity to hit it with a shot from her crossbow or one of the grenades Shadowmere had given her. The black stallion swung his greatsword around in wide arcs, carving the husks into pieces. When some tried to take him from behind, he kicked them in their faces with powerful hooves, crushing flesh and bone. With a whispered incantation, fire spread out from his body, incinerating all the nearby husks, but there were more on him in a moment. With her sword, Berry killed the husks closest to her, and cleared those farther away with explosive shots from her crossbow as the tantibus began to wail a chilling incantation. A hole opened in the dark clouds above it, and the moon’s light shone down through it onto the tantibus and Amber Rain. Beryl desperately threw her grenades at the tantibus, but they all missed, exploding harmlessly outside the ring of ceremonial artifacts around Amber Rain’s bed. Shadowmere forced the husks around him back with swings of his greatsword before drawing a complex sign in the air with his hooves. The ground around him opened up and swallowed the husks, pulling them into earth graves. While there was an opening, he grabbed a short lance tipped with black iron from under his duster. The husks grabbed onto him as he tried to throw it, but it still went flying through the air toward the tantibus. A bubble appeared around the tantibus as the lance struck and bounced off harmlessly. “Too late,” the tantibus said, staring at Shadowmere. The tantibus flowed into Amber Rain like water flowing down a drain. Mist swirled around the stallion for a moment, and a blue-green light glowed from his mouth and eyes before he was still again. The husks all collapsed to the ground lifelessly as the tantibus vanished completely. The night was silent but for the bells of Canterlot tolling midnight, until Amber Rain coughed and opened his eyes. “What? What happened? Where am I?” he asked as he sat up. Beryl raised her crossbow to point at the tantibus’s host. “That won’t do any good now,” Shadowmere said wearily as he pushed the crossbow aside, “Only a silver stake to the heart can kill a tantibus when it is within a host.” “Excuse me!” Amber Rain called as he waved at Beryl and Shadowmere, “Can you tell me where I am?” “What does the tantibus think it’s playing at, acting innocent,” Berry said as she loaded a silver bolt into her crossbow. “It’s not an act,” Shadowmere said glumly. “What?” “When a tantibus enters a host, it goes dormant. While its host is alive, it has no power, but when that host dies it emerges stronger than ever,” Shadowmere explained, “Amber Rain is awake and alive. He will live a life without sickness and he’ll die a natural death.” “My wife, Shining Light, did she put you to this?” Amber Rain continued to talk. “So, what the tantibus said about last time you were hunting it…” Berry asked Shadowmere. “That was over a hundred years ago. I tracked the tantibus to Canterlot General Hospital, where it was going to enter another coma patient. It knew I was hunting it, though, so instead it decided to enter somepony else.” Shadowmere explained, “There was a foal who’d been born just days earlier with severe birth defects. Nopony expected her to live long; she was dying while I was there searching for the tantibus. After that night, she had perfect health. The doctors were baffled, but I knew what had happened. But, the tantibus had given a dying infant a chance at a normal life, and I couldn’t take that away. She died a year ago, surrounded by four generations of her descendants, and that’s when this tantibus reentered the world.” “What’s with all this stuff?” Amber Rain asked as he jumped off the gurney and trotted past the relics around him, “Are we celebrating Nightmare Night early this year?” “I made the wrong decision last time,” Shadowmere said with pain, “I’ve got to fix my mistake.” “Shining Light,” Berry said, “What’ll become of her?” “You saw the state we left her in,” Shadowmere said, “She won’t last long once she learns Amber is dead.” “Wait,” Berry called to Shadowmere as he plodded off toward Amber, “This was my case. I’ll end it.” “Are you sure?” the immortal asked as he looked back over his shoulder. “I am,” Berry said solemnly, “The right decision usually isn’t the easiest, but it has to be made.” “So, are you guys going to tell me what’s going on or not?” Amber asked as he descended the path through the garden to where Beryl and Shadowmere were standing. He stopped as a silver bolt from Beryl’s crossbow pierced his heart. He remained upright, terror in his eyes for a moment, before falling to the cold stone. Blood so dark it appeared black seeped out of his mouth and chest as he lay still once again. Beryl turned to talk to Shadowmere, but he had already disappeared into the darkness. *** The Moon Tower had two additional statues once again on this night. The nearby bell tower tolled three times before going silent. The larger of the bat-ponies shifted a bit, stretching his wings before speaking out into the darkness. “You arrived swiftly tonight,” he said. “Much has transpired this night and in the past days,” the second bat-pony answered. “The tantibus is dead then.” It wasn’t really a question. “Killed by an agent of the Ministry, though the Deathwalker was also there,” the answer came, “Prestige is also dead, and Shining Light is of no more use to us.” “Prestige was a necessary loss,” the first bat-pony said, “He had outlived his usefulness, in any case. We have plenty of other pawns more highly placed than him.” “What is to be done about Shining Light?” the other asked. “Let her be; she knows nothing that could lead to us.” “Very good,” the lesser bat-pony answered and paused before speaking again, “I received word that another of our brethren may still be alive. I would like to look into it.” “Is your business here concluded?” the first figure asked. “Yes; when he returns to his lair, the Deathwalker will suspect nothing is amiss.” “Very well then; you have my leave to pursue this lead,” the first bat-pony said, flexing his wings again, “It is our duty to welcome Her children back into the fold, and when She returns, we must all be ready.”