//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Waking Up // Story: The Tales Of A Night Stalker // by Don Pedro von Poltergeis //------------------------------// Winter awoke to a strange sight through blurry eyes and unable to move. To her right, she could see a disheveled, dirty-yellow mare snuggling with her with as much love that Spitfire gave her. Her wing was draped over her, protecting her from the cold air that was just right in the strange room with sleeping bodies snoozing around them. She cracked a soft, but weak smile and nuzzled closer to the mare beside her. From the sigh of content that came from the mare, Winter knew that she must have woken Daring up as she left a gentle kiss on her head and curled even tighter around her little body. "No wonder why my little Hawk Moon cares so much about you, Winter," Daring whispered lovingly into her ears. "you are so talented, so smart, so skilled. I bet she saw potential in you when you first met, but your sour attitude must have clashed with hers with a passion." Winter cracked a soft smile, remembering how she used to fight every, single, day with her mother during the first few months before she was sent off to private school. "Y-Yeah, we fought," she whispered back with a light chuckled. "Oh!" Daring gasped in pure shock. "Did I wake up up, Rose?" Winter slowly moved her sore head away from Daring's soft barrel, knowing that it was her soreness from the fight yesterday that woke her up periodically throughout the night, preventing her from dreaming and shook her head. "No, you didn't." Daring let out a breath of relief and smiled at her warmly and planted a soft kiss on her cheek and was even happier that she leaned into it with a slight flutter of her stiff wings. "Well—" she paused to pull out a pocket watch from her destroyed shirt and checked the time for a quick second. "—It's six in the morning, and I doubt I can fall back asleep in this creepy place. So, want to talk for a bit?" she asked. Winter gave her a simple nod in return, wanting to have some private time with the mare that she thought she lost. "Are you alright? Did Alta torture you?" Winter asked first with immense worry in her voice as she looked up at the mare with fear in her eyes. Daring smiled back, rubbing her ear with her wing and shook her head. "No, Rose. She was more focused on you than me... and it wasn't the first time I was possessed and frankly. I should have seen it coming," she chuckled warmly. The worry that Winter had washed away. She was thankful that Daring was alright, that she didn't have to bring home a broken mare and expect someone to fix her from the torment that never happened. She leaned back in, tears falling from her eyes in pure joy that the pain that she was forced to inflict on her, didn't leave her scarred and shattered. She couldn't think of how Spitfire would react to the mare that she vowed to bring home, in a sobbing, trembling mess, but that was a lie. She did know how Spitfire would react. Spitfire would be absolutely devastated to see her mother as terrified as she was back at the mansion. Winter could see Spitfire, at Darings side in the hospital, crying and begging for her to return to the real world. "Are you alright kiddo?" Daring asked with worry, taking Winter out of her train of thought. She shook her head and gave her a soft smile while struggling to stand up, but I couldn't move an inch. "Yeah, I'm just thinking about how mom would react if I brought you home, broken and terrified," I replied with a mix of fear and anguish if such a thing were to happen. "Trust me kiddo. I have the same thoughts some days too, but it's best not to focus on them so much," Daring cooed while helping Winter up with her muzzle, only to have the filly fall back down from trembling hooves. "Yeah, got to think on the positive more," Winter grunted, realizing that she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. "And...Fuck..." she groaned, also realizing that she didn't have enough energy to get the key so that they could leave the temple. “You okay, kiddo?” Daring asked, pulling the filly out from her train of thought. She shook her head and gave the worried mare a reassuring smile, telling her that everything should be okay now that she doesn't have to worry about the pain of hurting her mother. “Yeah, but we should get the key before everyone wakes up. It should be in the Oculory,” Winter replied. "Fine. I'll help you up." Winter rolled her eyes as Daring got out of the floating bed and did a quick stretch, arching her back for a second before grabbing her by the scruff of her neck and gently placed her on her back. Winter frowned for being treated like a little puppy but didn't complain. She felt Daring Do adjust her with her wings for a quick second before tip-toed her way out of the room, filled with sleeping, tired bodies. Just as Winter and Daring left the room, they hear a voice call from behind, wondering where they were going. "Master? Where are you going?" asked Snowball, fully awake and out of her bedroll that was rolled out in the master bedchamber of Alta. "We are just going to get the key, Snow, and how is Alta by the way?" Winter asked, causing her horse to groan in annoyance as she turned around to meet the pure white, walking cloud with mismatched eyes. "She is...Passive, to say the least. She has stopped talking about murder and has started to study the magic that binds us," Snowball replied as they walked out of the room. "That does not sound good," Daring commented. Telling Winter that she wasn't too happy that they couldn't just talk together alone and without company. "I had the same thought, however, she gave up after she realized that it was too advanced to tackle without information that she does not have. So now, she is planning on trying to offer Master Rose with deals for her freedom." Winter let out a chuckle as they entered the main hall and turned towards the throne room. The sound of clip-clopping of their hooves echoed in the decorated chamber that followed the same Roman, Celtic mixture of architecture that made up the entire temple. "Well, tell her that if she is a good girl. I might give her, her own 'Artificial Body,' to use, and if you haven't told her already, Snow. They last for an eternity." "She say's that she might consider if the Worshipers of Celestia are killed," Snowball acknowledged. "Did you tell her that I rule an entire country that is currently at war with the Crystal Empire with Equestria using the fight to try and call for a cease-fire in order to stage another assassination attempt for my head?" Winter asked bluntly. "And that the ponies and the deer in the room are on my side not, Celestia's?" "WHAT?!" Daring shouted in pure shock as she stopped in front of the door to the throne room. "That can't be true!" "..." "She has retracted her wish to murder the others, but now wants revenge for Celestia cursing her people with the Plagas monster that consumed her body." "The Plagas monster is dead, but she can't have her revenge on Celestia herself, however. She can—If her powers are limited—Act as a Valkyrie within my Black Knights and be one of my personal guards. I just hope she can get along with an Eldrich Void Knight and the Angel of War, Azrael, herself," Winter smiled in response. "WHAT?!" Daring gasped again with even more volume. "You can't be serious!? She's a Demon!" "I thought you have some trust in me?" Winter inquired back. "I do, but in my line of work, you can't trust anyone. It took a rainbowed-maned mare to at least trust family. How can you trust her? She tried to make you her host!" Winter nodded in response, knowing that what she had in mind was risky. Having a demon with a wicked affinity for lightning magic and winglets that act as a unicorn's horn would cause a major problem if they had to fight again, but if she can bring Alta to her side. She could use the knowledge of lost, Pegasi arts, that she held within to her advantage. Plus, having all three ethereal factions: Void, Dark, and Light on her side, fighting for her. Celestia and all those that support her won't be able to believe in the lies that the Alicorn of the Sun, anymore. Winter let out a sigh and nuzzled Daring's mane. "Trust me, I know what I am doing." "Argh," Daring hissed as she walked into the throne room with Snowball quickly following behind. "I trust you, but don't you dare hurt, Spits with this choice." "If all goes according to plan, no one will be hurt anymore," Winter replied through a whisper, earning herself a sigh of defeat from the older mare. "Master?" Snowball asked again as they walked through the thin layer of water towards the door leading to the Oculory. "Go ahead." "Alta has considered the offer, but on one condition." "Continue," Winter said as they entered the hall towards the Oculory. "She wants...a dress." Winter, Daring, and Snowball returned with the sapphire ocarina to the master bedchamber in relative silence. The mood was a mixture of disdain for the demon trapped within Snowball by Daring, the annoyance of not being able to move with trouble being able to breathe by Winter and the curiosity from the Flesh Golem looking around the halls in awe as Alta told her the majesty of the artists that made her palace. "There you guys are!" Stephen exclaimed as they walked back into the room to find that all of their stuff was packed and that everyone was ready to move. "You, see Red. They were just going to scout ahead for anything out of the ordinary. Right?" Daring paused for a second in the door, slightly miffed that her stuff was touched, but before she could say anything about it, the filly on her back spoke up. "Yeah, they way is clear and we have a straight route back to the bridge. It's only a ten-minute walk from here," Winter interrupted. "Oh! And don't worry about me. I'm just suffering from extreme stiffness that's preventing me from moving on my own, so I'll be out of commission for the rest of the way. Sorry." "Don't worry about that, Princess. You've done enough," Redbeard chimed in. "We're just sorry we couldn't be useful as much as we could. Stephen here may not look it, but he is quite the scholar, even though he doesn't sound like it most of the time. And I? Well, my eye for detail hasn't been all that good in this place. Too much magic in the air makes it hard to see sometimes." "It's alright, but being able to see nothing but magic sucks even more," Winter smiled at the old stallion. He let out a throaty chuckle and left the room with Stephen with Nova, who gave a curt nod to the Empress on Darings back. "So, what now?" Spooks asked with a cheeky smile as her forked tongue stuck out to tastes the air. "Well, now that everyone is up. We'll head back to the fort and take a ship back to Arcadia. From there, we separate with me taking Evelyn to the castle to see what I can do to help the deer people," Winter replied, causing the Doe in the room to freeze in place. Daring and Spooks took instant notice of this while everyone else left to join the others, leaving them alone with the petrified Doe. "Something the matter, Evelyn?" Spooks asked with a raised brow. "W-What makes you think I'll go willingly to Arcadia?" Evelyn gulped as she reached for her spear. "Because, if you don't then how are we going to help the Deer people with their Princess running away from their aid?" Winter said bluntly, causing the Doe's jaw to hang open. "Thought so. Now come along and if you behave. You will get a guest room in the castle and not the dungeon." Evelyn bit her lip, her ears flattened as she couldn't think of a way to counter that statement, knowing that if she ran away, the Empress would use that as a symbol to her people that they had no one to follow other than the Empress, herself, "Fine, I'll go with you. Only because I don't want my people being used," she said reluctantly before she left out the room with a huff. "Women," all three of them said in unison. As a group, they all walked down the main hall with the same thought in mind: Get the fuck out of there. Daring walked at a brisk pace close to Snowball with Winter nestled comfortably on her back. She could tell that she was sleeping soundly and comfortably from the steady, heavy breathing escaping her lips. Daring cracked a smile at the little filly before they were stopped at a large door that opened on its own, revealing the first room that they entered, clean like there was nothing there in the first place. "Damn, talk about going the long way, huh?" A.T chimed as the sun from outside shone into the room from the door that was slightly ajar at the other end. "Yeah, let's just hope that the guards outside are still there," Evelyn added. Daring sighed as she followed along, knowing that Alta killed them all and threw them into the vicious ocean below when she cleaned her temple from intruders. She could only hope that the filly on her back knows what she was doing with the demon trapped within the Flesh Golem that trailed close beside her. "Man, it's good to be outside again," Spooks chirped as the sun warmed her scales as they left the temple, and the first thing they all saw was how clean the bridge was as well as the tower, both looked like they were repaired as if the battle on them never happened in the first place. "Damn, let's hope the ship is still there. I don't want to swim my way back," Night Heart chortled to everyone's agreement as they picked up their pace down the bridge. Daring frowned as they walked into the courtyard to the fort and found that no one was there, but there was a pile of armor in the far corner of the yard next to a tree. Adjust to the pile was the ship, untouched and ready to fly. Snowball and the others ran ahead, wanting to head back to the mainland as soon as possible while Evelyn started in horror that everyone she came with was most likely dead. Daring pressed up against her side and guided her to the ship just as Winter stirred awake on her back, letting out a cute yawn as she looked around, wondering where she was now as Daring boarded the small ship with Evelyn having a hard time looking away from the pile of armor. "Hey kiddo, we're on the ship, but the Doe is in shock right now," Daring said, causing the Doe to acknowledge her statement. "That's good, just don't drop me," Winter replied, just as Evelyn let out a sigh and went straight for the crew quarters not wanting to watch herself leave behind all the armor of her fallen comrades that she promised to bring back to their families. Daring let out a quiet sigh as the ship lifted into the air and began the trip home. With Winter on her back, she walked over to Stephen at the wheel wearing a pirate hat and eye patch as she flew the ship with Red Beard at his side, looking through a spyglass. She turned around one last time to watch the airborne archipelago shrink in the distance.