//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15: Thestral Involvement (slight re-edit) 
// Story: The (Mis)adventures of Nava: Book One 
// by Navanastra 
//------------------------------//

                                                                         Chapter 15: Thestral Involvement
Edited by: Chrome Masquerade  
Proofread by: Midnight Gear 


“Two days ago, a strange and abrupt magical anomaly almost caused a city-wide disaster in Cloudsdale.” I read the reports out loud.

“Though thankfully no casualties have been filed besides a few bumps and bruises from local investigators and a lot of property damage. Though the populace was still in a panic even after the magical field has dissipated… AHH screw this! Such small pickings are the jobs for the Garden statues of the day guard and NOT the night guard.” I huffed in annoyance as I simply threw the report files into a bin beside my desk.

“Pff… ponies nowadays, panicking at every little thing. Back in the old days Equestrians were much more hard-shelled and magic anomalies were FAR more disastrous than just lifting a bunch of crap into the air for a few minutes. Bloody ponies now a days don't even know how seriously good they have it now compared to back than.” I muttered as I leaned back on my chair and rested my hind legs onto the desk.

“More ridiculous is the fact that such an anti-gravity anomaly happened in perhaps the BEST possible city it could occur. Some ponies, or should I say, Pegasi, still refuse to leave their homes in fear of getting lifted back into the air against their will! PEGASI!!!” I ranted mentally.  

“But seriously now; back during the time of the old kingdom, ponies -or Equestrians in general- were a force to be reckoned with… more or less thanks to us Thestrals who taught those ponies how to fight in the first place. Home of some of the finest legions and armies the world had ever seen. Proud and strong, always ready for a fight. But since Princess Luna’s banishment her sister, princess sun-butt has transformed a pervious professional military and magic imbued powerhouse into a nation full of scared little sheep who immediately start running away from any form of trouble and seeking the help of their shepherd A.K.A Princess Sunny Days for protection and advice.

Also bad for her, since she now has ALLOT more responsibilities and work on her shoulders. 

How is she still sane after a 1000 years of doing that? 

But I can kind of understand why she made the change in the first place. Having her diplomatic skills secured a pretty long-lasting good relationship with all the other nations and races and wanting to prevent showing her little ponies the horrors and hardships of war...and the past of equestria in general. And, to be fair, there a lot of other problems that cropped up, she did deal with them directly, without mercy.

But still, this action has resulted in making Equestrians soft and vulnerable, turning warriors into carriage pullers and namby-pambies! The worst example of that being the sorry excuse of a royal guard, who act more as palace decoration than actually guarding something.

Hardships make ponies -or whatever species- strong, it teaches them how to survive, how to take care of themselves and also has the potential to forge companionships stronger than any “Magic of Friendship” can do. One of the reasons why I eventually followed Luna into her campaigns and eventually became her dedicated and loyal captain.

And most importantly Blood sisters in battle. 

If only these ponies here would know the truth of the cruelty and hardships the rest of the world has to suffer through outside their little kingdom paradise. Then, they would understand that the world is vastly more black and white than they like to believe.  

I wouldn’t be surprised to one day see Canterlot completely fall in the next invasion because the guards being unable to even pick up a spear properly, let alone swing it!

A 1000 years ago the night guard disbanded and eventually returned, and this is the Equestria we are returning TO? This is really just spitting in the faces of the Thestral Guard. We are warriors, not riot control.” I muttered angrily as I remembered the shock I felt when I bore witness to the sorry-ass pacifistic state Equestria has turned into.

Makes me even wonder why the night guard was even re-enlisted in the first place. We are trained and bred for combat, not sitting on our flanks and pretending to look pretty.

Oh yeah, because of mistress Luna, the silly mare. I am very glad that she has finally returned from her 1000 year exile and that the darkness inside her has finally been banished for good. But… it’s still such a shame that such a skilled and talented war-maiden is forced to return to a nation she will most likely no longer recognize.

Which also means I won’t be able to join her in any glorious campaigns and battles anytime soon. More’s the pity.

I sighed as I remembered the glory days of old, and the warrior bond the Princesses shared in the past. Also remembering our lady’s orders, as she had mentioned to us today; She wished to go and investigate the anomaly herself, simply because there was no other pony more knowledgeable with magic anomaly than her.

But instead, she chose me to do so, at her sister’s urging, for a similar reason.

“Huh… most ponies would think it’s weird that a simple Thestral knows more about magic than most unicorns. If only they knew.” I chuckled to myself.

“Well, might as well get this task over with.” I muttered a bit annoyed as I finally got up from my seat and made my way over to the door to leave my office.

The guard stationed in front of my door immediately saluted me as I went through, though i ignored him. I made my way across the long corridor that would lead out into the training grounds and barracks of the Night Guard.

Again, every Night Guard saluted as I casually strode by them.

I quickly reached the outside of the main training grounds as I saw a dozen of my guardsponies sharpening their skills and tricks in the ways of war and the traditional martials arts of our race and homeland.

“Good, at least they do spend their free time training with one another, I wouldn’t expect any less of my fellow warriors.” I thought proudly as I finally reached my destination on the other side of the grounds.

The local armory and workshop of the night guard. The two Thestrals stationed in front of it stood straight and saluted as well. I was about to knock on the door when a sudden explosion from inside stopped me from doing so.

Both me and the two guards raised our eyebrows at that before all three of us sighed, already used to this and the pony responsible for them.

“Ugh… it’s too early for this, I just hope that he hasn’t torn another hole through the wall or I am going to tear his flank hole wide open.” I muttered as I began knocking on the door.

I waited patiently for a few moments before the door finally unlocked and opened from the other side, revealing a lot of smoke (which forced me to cover my muzzle) and a small young Thestral stud behind it… coughing heavily and covered in soot.

“What in the God's name are YOU DOING?” I angrily asked out of reflex.

The young stallion in front of me immediately stopped his coughing as he tensed up in fear in front of me.

“Oh… um… h-hi ca-captain…Glade...I, um… it's…it’s not what it lo-looks like… I swear. I… I was ju-just working on… on new…” The dark gray coated and navy blue maned stud in front of me stuttered before I abruptly stopped him by shoving a hoof into his mouth.

“Mister Midnight Gear I am currently NOT interested in whatever invention or contraption you are tinkering around with at the moment.” I say before removing my hoof from his mouth. “I came here to ask IF my lance is ready and fixed up, and if the new enchanted crystals are inserted as well.” I continued while looking at Gear.

Gear immediately began to shuffle nervously in place after I said that while looking at the ground.

“Well…” He began nervously. “I only… ma-managed to… fi-finish up the… repairs so fa-far… but…not the… crystal parts.” He stuttered while smiling awkwardly at me.

I really wanted to get angry at him for probably just taking up most of the time tinkering around with all his other machines rather than doing what was asked of him, but I just couldn’t.

For one, despite his failures and inventions sometimes causing holes through the walls, he was still a genius and an irreplaceable asset to the guard, always providing for the equipment and coming up with really useful and inventive ideas that would give us the edge in a pinch. He is one of the reason why the newly re-formed Night Guard is vastly better equipped than the Day Guard (secretly, of course). 

The other reason why I can’t be really mad at the guy is, well, Gear is the shyest most socially awkward pony I have ever seen, which means it’s very easy for someone to make him cry, though it’s also very easy to make him beyond pissed off and dodging earth-eating swords and magical laser cannon fire when somepony makes fun of his inventions.

“I made that mistake once. Who knew that such an awkward little wimp can become berserk so quickly.” I thought, remembering our first time meeting back at our home county.	                

I sighed. “Fine… I guess I can go out again without my trusty lance by my side. But it better be done when I come back.” I announced before turning around and trotting away

“Wa… wait captain.” I suddenly heard Gear call out which forced me to stop and look at him.

“What is it now, Gear?” I asked impatiently as the shy stallion approached me.

“Where… uh… exactly are you going captain?” He asked while looking off the side a bit.

“Cloudsdale, to investigate something under Lulu’s wishes.” I casually reply.

The little stud’s demeanor suddenly changed from shy to excited with a flick of a switch, which really took me by surprise, to say the least. I was about to question his sudden switch of motivation as he beat me to it.

“Oh, you mean you are going to investigate the magical incident that happened in Cloudsdale? If so then I’ve got the perfect device to test out.” He announced gleefully, in full unbroken sentences, which was rare for him.

“What device?” I questioned, skeptical.

“This one.” he announced, while holding out his empty hoof at me.

I simply raised an eyebrow at that as I stared at his empty hoof. “Gear… all I see is an empty hoof.” I pointed out with a flat look.

He simply looked surprised before chuckling nervously. “Oh… yeah. Uh... I-I will be… back, captain… give me a minute.” he stuttered before dashing off back into his shop.

I waited patiently for the little stallion to return with whatever invention or contraption he pulled out of his plot this time, while again thinking back to the report I read.

“Investigators theorized that the source of this anomaly might be from Nightmare Moon herself, remnant magic of her “Eternal Night curse” that might be the cause of this unnatural magical phenomenon.” I re-capped the text of the report in my head, which again made me simply shake my head at how naïve some ponies are nowadays.

“Huh… some investigators these are. That is NOT how the Elements work. When they cleanse something they freaking cleanse something, which means that whatever magic was at work is completely neutralized. Look at what happened to Discord's chaos when he was defeated by them.” I again mentally argued as I slowly turned my head over to the direction Cloudsdale is in. “No… it’s really not that at all. There is something more to it, I can already sense it from here.” I muttered before a set of hooves stepped up and broke me loose of my muddling.

“Th-this is… what I wa-was talking about… ca-captain.” Gear again stuttered as he came back holding something this time.

“…And what is it?” I asked curiously after noticing the small watch (or compass) shaped thing with a large blue crystal in the middle.

“It’s a physical magic tracking device that can pinpoint any form of magic in a designated vicinity.” He explained, again talking coherently. He usually does talk normally when explaining his inventions or science of whatever.

I raised a curious eyebrow at this. Sure this… compass-like thing of his could easily be useful for anyone who has no natural magic-tracking senses. IF IT WORKS. But again, this idea of his is somewhat useless to ME because magic tracking and sensing has basically become second nature for me for all these centuries.

“But still… if this thing actually works the way I imagine, it could be highly useful for anypony without that skill, especially for my men here, when it comes down hunting unicorn fugitives.” I mentally noted as I rubbed my chin in thought.

“Let me guess… you want to tag along with me so you can take your new toy out for a spin?” I ask with a flat stare.

“Well… yes, if… if you don’t mind… cap-captain?” He shyly asked while looking at his hooves.

I began to think on it for a while before giving off a sigh. “Fine… you can come along, as long as you follow two rules. Keep up. Shut up.” I answered before switching my gaze over to a pony to my left.

“Hey, sergeant Shadow Blade. You’re in charge while I am out and about. Keep the men busy while I am gone!” I shouted, to which the pony in question saluted.

“Don’t worry, ma’am. I will keep this place tight and working in your absence. Good luck on your investigation captain.” He replied before going back to his task in drilling the new recruits into shape.

“Alright, quickly pack whatever stuff you need Gear, because we are leaving in 5 minutes.” I ordered before turning around and trotting off.

“Wa-wait… we… we are not going to… ta-take a chariot to Cloudsdale?” He suddenly asked before I could even get far.

I stopped again to look behind my shoulder with a smirk. “Nope. we are going to fly the old fashioned way. You could actually use some exercise too, my little Gear. All that “locking yourself up in your shop” is neither good for your your wings or your stench. Plus I prefer flying on my own power anyway. Besides, chariots are way too noticeable, even at night.” I answered.

I smirked and chuckled to myself when I heard a pathetic little whine coming from him as I finally made my way back into the main building.

“Not really the task I was hoping for, but at least it’s something that will keep me busy for a while.” I thought to myself as I trotted down the same old corridor that leads to the captain’s office.

“Let’s see what pony I get the chance to bring back home this time. Hope the poor thing can at least put up some sort of resistance against me, otherwise it will be way too easy… and a waste of my time.

The hunt... is on.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Night time…the perfect environment for creatures of the dark, creatures such as myself. Arriving at Cloudsdale at night was perfect, not only have you the freedom to fly all across the city without anypony screaming at the sight of a night hunter like me, but it also means I can keep low from all the Pegasus guards roaming and flying across, on and above the dimly lit streets.

My night sensitive eyes scanned the layout of the city as I stood above the roof of a tower.

I can still remember the days when Cloudsdale was more of a fortress than a city. The current look and layout not foreign to me, but still somewhat…. different too, especially since I spent most of my time since Luna’s banishment back in my home country far in the north from here.

“Quite impressive how things can change in a thousand years.” I thought to myself as I continued to scan the city.

I closed my eyes in calm and collected concentration as I let my ears and other senses do their thing. Listening to every noise, smelling every smell and sensing the invisible magic winds gust by my coat ever so gently, in hopes of getting a clue on where to look and where to start.

I continued to stand there, in my element, when all of a sudden a noise -a lot of noise- quickly broke me from my concentrated state.

“So-sorry… sorry. I-I accidentally dropped… the thing… and knocked ove-” Gear behind me started to apologize as more distracting noise came from behind.

“What was the second rule?” i said, irritated. 

“So-sorry again.”

I began to grumble in annoyance. “Why did I agree to bring this this sorry excuse for a Thestral again?” I thought as I could hear even more ruckus from behind me.

“Why don’t you just make yourself useful and use that little device of yours, if you are going to make so much noise anyway?” I asked while looking back at him.

“Do…do I have to do it… now? Can’t we just… take a rest?” Gear behind me complained while rubbing his obviously looking sore wings.

I scoffed, but didn’t correct him again. “Well, it’s not MY problem that you are so heavily out of shape. Now, seriously, make yourself at least useful or I’ll throw you off the edge of the city.” I announced glaring at him.
Gear thankfully took the hint as he frantically started to get his magic detecting device working, only for him to start juggling it in between his hoof while trying to get a hold of it in panic.

I simply facehoofed and shook my head before he eventually managed to hold it up on one hoof while activating it with the other.

“Well, about damn time.” I muttered as the crystal on it suddenly began to glow.

It started to gently hover above its compass like case as it began to spin around.

“J-just give it some time… to… get sorted… out.” Gear nervously said with a sheepish smile as the crystal was still going crazy.

Eventually, though it finally started to slow, then stopped as it pointed its long sharp point at a random direction behind where I stood.

I followed the crystal’s direction only to find out that it was pointing at a large part of the city itself, probably on the other side from where we stood.  

“There.” Gear announced while looking at his device. “The crystal… seems to be…pointing at the… cloud district of the city. That area is mostly… residential… as far as I’ve heard and seen on m-maps.” Gear announced as he looked off towards the other end of the city.

I smirked before turning my head back to gear. “Very nice there, Midnight Gear. I am impressed.” I credited. “Once again you delivered and didn’t just make something that explodes or tears holes through walls.” I added.

Gear began to smile at that as his eyes began to glow in the dark a bit. “Th-thanks cap-captain. I think”

I nodded before switching my gaze back at the target ahead. “Well, let’s go and follow your device, then.” I announced as I spread my wings. “And for the love of the gods, be more stealthy or I am going to lock you out of your shop for a month.” I added as I took to the air.

“Wha-What? No!” He replied as I heard him take off as well.

“So help me, I will. But only AFTER you finished up my lance. I feel naked without it.” And with that the two of us silently flew above the empty night skies of Cloudsdale and made sure to stay away from any street and air patrols as we passed them.

“For some odd reason I have this strange feeling that it won’t go as smoothly and quickly as i plan it out to be. I don’t know if i should feel good or indifferent about it.” I thought to myself as we continued our way towards the clouds district of the city.

“Yup, now I am actually starting to sense something as well… and it’s… it's… By the gods.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………

In a large house family house in the middle of the cloudy district, a set of three ponies were happily sleeping in their beds as the night passed by. One of them was an alicorn stallion who was happily snoring away in his bed, as his horn suddenly started to faintly glow, illuminating its room in its soft glow.

The alicorn in question began to turn in his bed as his horn continued to hum quietly through the night, adding its shine to the light of the full moon shining through the curtains.   


“Gotcha.”