Behind Closed Doors

by OrphiusOlyandra

Chapter 12

These two gryphons were pretty, much too pretty. A lot prettier than I was in fact. I scowled at them, pacing back and forth in front of them.

That pretty female with her pretty eyes and face, and those elegant wings and silky fur with her perfectly groomed feathers. She seemed fairly old, like she was in her thirties, but she still looked graceful and perfectly formed, even with her tear stained eyes and beak gagged shut.

The male was just as pretty, looking more feminine than I did, and I seethed at that look in his eye. Pitty. How dare he pity me? What was there to pity? He shouldn’t be feeling sorry for me, he should be feeling sorry for himself.

Mistress liked pretty things. Pretty decorations, pretty carpets and curtains... pretty mares, pretty stallions... pretty gryphons...

My glare turned back to the two chained in a room with me.

The female didn’t seem scared, just sad. The male was just staring at me, those pitying eyes following my movements.

Growling, I reached for my knife and talked towards him. Let’s see how pretty he was without those pitying eyes of his.

“Aurry!” My mistress barked, and I cringed.

With my wings and head drooping low, I slunk to the corner of the room and watched as perfection stepped into the dungeon. Some said her smile was scary, but my heart fluttered as I saw it. Then I felt a stab of jealousy as I realised she wasn’t smiling at me, but at the pretty gryphons.

Then her smile dropped, and her eyes turned towards me displeased. Whimpering, I shrunk deeper into the corner until eventually, mercifully, her gaze turned back to the other two.

The grin came back after a moment and she stepped towards them. “Aurry, here.” Her wing pointed at the space right next to her. I scrambled to stand right where she pointed, staring up at her lovingly. Smiling, she lightly stroked my crown feathers with her hoof, and I leaned into her touch. It took me a moment to realise it, but she wasn’t looking at me as she did it, she was looking at the pretty gryphons.

The female was sobbing. Tears streaming from her eyes and unable to watch as she choked gut wrenching sob after sob into her gag.

Mistress’s grin just got wider at the reaction. “Kill him,” she whispered.

Instantly, I crossed the distance between myself and him. His white feathers turned red as my knife punched through his ribs and straight to his heart. Blood leaked down his chest, mixing with his brown fur and colouring my claws. Hurt and betrayal stained his face with tears as he stared at me, the lights fading as the voids in his eyes grew.

Turning around to look back at my mistress, I found her smiling at me, fanged teeth gleaming. Her eyes invited me towards her, and I obediently approached, careful to wipe the blood over my beak as I did. I know she loved that flavour.

Her lips touched my beak, and she drew me into a long kiss. When we broke apart, she smiled and glanced at the female, who wasn’t even able to support her own weight anymore, overcome with grief.

“Iit’s just enjoy pretty things I enjoy, Aurry...” Mistress whispered with a massive grin on her face. “Now, skin him, and feed him to her. If she refuses to eat, well... be persuasive.”

Smiling, I grabbed a pair of pliers before bouncing over to the dead gryphon. She certainly wouldn’t be as pretty in a moment or two.

I woke up with a start, throwing the blankets off myself and Trixie. It looked around the room, blinking at the unfamiliar place before I realised we were still just in Canterlot Castle. Well, not just in the Castle, I hadn’t been here often enough that that didn’t feel like a big deal, but it was a lot more comforting than being in a dungeon with Nightmare Moon and killing Grace.

“Again,” he added over my shoulder.

I flinched and turned around, falling out of the bed as I did. I landed on my tail, making me hiss with pain, and I groaned when I saw that except for Trixie I was alone in the room.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered as I rubbed the part of my tail I’d hurt. “Another goddess damn nightmare.”

I stood up and found Trixie still snoring happily in bed. And yes, Trixie totally snores. I wasn’t gonna tell her that because I thought it was as cute as anything. Plus if I did she’d deny it anyway. She looked so beautiful right then, with her mane all messed and poking everywhere, lying on her back with her forehooves in the air.

The bed smelled terrible, I smelled terrible, Trixie smelled fucking wonderful, like a mix of sweat and sex. They’d have to burn the bed sheets if they ever wanted to use this room again.

One thing that was good about these Palace apartments was there was more than one room to it. We had our own kitchen, bathroom and shower in here. Speaking of the bathrooms, I should probably clean myself before Trixie wakes up.

The water in Canterlot was hot and the pipes worked perfectly. It barely took any work to get it to the right temperature, which was great, but the shampoos they had all smelled like lavender and other flowery crap. Whatever. It was better than smelling like I’d just had an all day sex romp with the hottest mare alive.

Which I had.

And it was awesome.

Chuckling to myself happily, I stepped out of the shower and dried myself with the fluffy white palace towels. Wiping the steam off the mirror, I was pleased to find my face staring back and not my brother’s. Looks like this was gonna be a good morning.

Wiping my face and eyes with the towel, I turned around and damn near screamed when I saw Grace standing right there. I slipped on the wet tiles, and fell backwards into the mirror.

“Fucking again!” I cursed and clutched the back of my head. When I stood up, I was alone again and the mirror was cracked. Growling to myself, I walked out of the bathroom and into the loungeroom.

The kitchen was well stocked, which surprised me because I half expected all the food in the castle came from servants and chefs and stuff. I guess they just gave everyone the option to cook for themselves, or maybe Luna was just trying to do us a favor.

I decided I wanted to believe it was the first one, as I set a pot on the stove with some butter and mushrooms inside. Putting a lid on the pot, I turned around and grabbed a handful of spices, nothing special, just enough to give it a little flavour, before mixing those in the pot too. There was some feta cheese in the fridge, which I cut into cubes and set aside for when the mushrooms were closer to being done. I considered adding tomatoes to the mix, but decided against it after a moment or two. Trixie never really liked that sort of flavour anyway, she preferred it bitter or savory.

By the time I was done, I had some nice mushroom sauce on toast with a glass of milk. Setting it all on a tray, I walked back into our awful, wonderful smelling room. I set the tray of food down on the bed next to her, before gently shaking her shoulder.

“Trix, wake up. I made breakfast.”

“Hm...?” She shifted before yawning as she stretched, wincing slightly. “Oooooh... I don’t think I’ll be able to walk today.” She blinked blearily at me before sniffing the air. “Breakfast in bed? You’re the best hun. How’d you manage to walk at all?”

I shrugged. “I’m feeling a lot better today actually. Yesterday my insides were like they’d been sandpapered, but today I’m fan-fucking-tastic.” I stood on my hind hooves and stretched my arms and wings, popping a few joints. “No clue why.”

“You know what I meant,” she said before glancing down at the food before cocking an eyebrow at me.

It took me a moment to realise she couldn’t use her magic, and was asking for my help. “Oh, right... uh...” I grabbed the knife and fork, cut off a piece of toast and held it out to her.

“Reminds me of that time you came down with the avian flu and I had to nurse you back up to health,” she said as she took a bite out of my breakfast, moaning happily. “This tastes-” She suddenly grinned at me impishly, “Almost as good as you.”

I blushed and broke eye contact as I felt a rush of blood to somewhere other than my cheeks. “Uh... thanks?”

“Just saying,” she replied cheekily. “And you smell nice this morning. Nicer last night though.”

“Yeah, I hope they weren’t planning on using this room for anything else anytime soon.” I took a deep breath, and smiled. “I could seriously get used to that.”

Trixie laughed at that. “You’ll need to change the bedsheets.”

“The castle has servants doesn’t it? That’s their problem.”

She merely rolled her eyes and looked at me curiously. “You’re not eating?”

“Not in the mood for vegetarian this morning,” I waved a claw. “I’ll get some real food later.”

“Alright.” With me helping out, she quickly finished her meal before swinging out of the bed, stumbling slightly before she began limping towards the bathroom. “Mind if I take a shower first?”

“Go for it,” I smiled at her. “But I kinda like the way you smell now.”

She paused at the door, obviously contemplating whether to go in or not.

“I like the way your mane looks, all...” I searched for a word. “Springy.”

She slipped into the bathroom and a second later her head popped out. “It looks like I just had a full day of sex.” She sniffled the air. “Smells like it too.”

“I know, it’s awesome.” I grinned.

She groaned and facehoofed. “Of course you’d say that.”

“You’re telling me you don’t like it?” I asked. “Fuck, just breathing in here makes me think of blurting out ‘sandwiches’.”

This time her face met the wall. Repeatedly.

“I’m not actually going to say it though,” I muttered.

“I’m just glad you didn’t say it yesterday,” she sighed before looking over at me heatedly. “Now, you gonna help me shower or will I have to do it myself? No magic and all that.”

I grinned and ran past her before jumping into the shower. When I turned around she just looked at me with something that was torn between exasperation and amusement.

I coughed into my claw and shifted where I stood, before I stepped out and held the shower door for her. “Uh... after you?”

“Thank you.” She limped past and stepped into the stall before tossing a grin over her shoulder at me. “Coming?”

I pulled the door shut behind us and quickly turned the tap on. Yelping as I got a faceful of hot water, I turned up the cold and cringed back. Instead of getting mad or annoyed at me, Trixie merely laughed and adjusted the water for me before leaning close, both hooves on my chest as she leaned up for a light kiss under the water.

“You’re so cute when eager,” she whispered before nipping my neck playfully.

After the greatest shower ever, we stepped back into the living room, and I was still grinning like an idiot.

“Well, at least the mess in there just washed down that drain,” I chuckled as I stretched my shoulders and felt them pop again. “Why haven’t we done this before? Seriously.”

“You almost sound disappointed.”

“I’m not disappointed at all,” I grinned. “Honestly, the wait was worth it.”

“Trixie certainly hopes so,” she said as she snuggled into me.

“So, that was your first... actually, second time, right?” I wrapped me wing around her. “How was it?”

“Hm... are we talking yesterday and today to be one time?”

“Well, I was taking it that way, so yeah.”

“It was... passable.” She grinned at me. “Though that just means more practise.”

“Passable?” I snorted. “Please, I heard the way you were screaming. Heck, I think everyone did. My ears are still ringing.”

This time it was her cheeks that turned bright red. “Sh-Shut up.”

Yes! I love it when that happens to her and not me.

We stood together in comfortable silence for a minute, before I found myself thinking of yesterday and why it actually happened in the first place. “Hate to kill the mood but... there’s kinda some stuff that we need to talk about.”

She sighed and crawled back into the bed. “Fiiiiiiine.”

I didn’t join her on the bed because I didn’t want to get distracted by... her. “So... I still think we need to go through with this. Last night was awesome, but... it didn’t change anything.”

“Trixie... knows this...” She looked away and sighed. “But you will visit every week? Promise?”

“I promise,” I nodded. “I’ll drop by most days if I can.” Shifting in my seat, I looked her in the eye. “I know this sucks, but... well, it’s something we need to do. And if my magic has a chance of killing me again, it’s important that I’m able to get to help fast, right?” To me, that last one really just sounded like an excuse.

Trixie’s eyes narrowed. “Well then Trixie will visit you. You’re not getting away from me that easily.”

“I’m not trying to get away from you.” It felt like a kick in the heart that she actually thought that. “We’re still going to see each other. I’m just trying to do what’s best for you, Trix.”

“Fiiiiine,” she sulked. “But Trixie is talking to Luna and making her give you the weekend off.”

“Sounds great to me,” I shrugged. “If you can talk her into it, that’d be awesome.” After a moment I said, “So... You understand why I think we need to do this, right?”

“Unfortunately,” she muttered. “Doesn’t mean Trixie has to like it.”

“But do you agree with me?” I pressed.

“Yes. Happy?”

“...Why would I be happy, Trix?” I swallowed and leaned back in my chair. “Do you think I’m going to like this anymore than you will? This is pretty much the absolute last thing I wanted to do.”

Her ears drooped and all I wanted to do right then was hug her. “Sorry... Trixie is just snappish this morning. She doesn’t, that is, I don’t like this at all. I know you’re just trying to do what’s right, but that doesn’t mean I need to like it.”

I nodded. “I just don’t want to walk away with you feeling like I’ve abandoned you.” We bother remembered what she almost did the last time that happened.

“You haven’t, but if you don’t visit...”

I blinked at her. Did Tixie really just threaten me with... that? She didn’t, did she? “I promise I’ll visit whenever I can.”

“Good, Trixie would hate to be forced to sleep without her favourite blanket.”

I snorted. “Yeah. When that ends up happening, that’s when we know shit’s gotten serious.”

“Oh shut up,” she chuckled.

Standing up, I sighed, “Anyway, we better get moving or we’re gonna end up spending all day in here. Do you have any plans for the day? Because if you don’t you could stick around. I’d really like it if you’re there when we talk to Luna. I still feel like stabbing her everytime she speaks.”

“Of course.” Picking up her hat with her mouth, she tossed it up into the air and it landed perfectly on her head. “Mind helping me into my cape?” A grin was suddenly tossed at me. “Unless you want to spend all day in here like yesterday...”

I coughed into my claw, before I picked up her cloak and stepped closer to her. Draping it over her shoulders, I couldn’t resist giving her ear a little nibble with my beak. “Don’t tempt me.”

A shiver ran down her spine even as a massive blush appeared on her cheeks. “I don’t think I’d be able to handle that again so soon.”

“Yeah... things did get a bit rough... sorry about that.” I stepped away from her and moved towards the door. Smirking back at her, I asked, “Sure you can walk on your own?”

The blush got even worse if that was possible and she trotted over to me awkwardly. “Why do you think I’ve been limping all day.” She brushed past, tail trailing along my cheek. “And who said rough was bad?”

“Well, we don’t want to hurt each other, right?” I followed her to the door and opened it for her. Was Trixie’s magic ever going to heal? I hope so. Her horn had taken a real beating over the years. I was worried what she’d do if she couldn’t use her magic at all.

“Rough does not equal hurting,” she replied with a smirk over her shoulder. “So you coming or not?”

I walked into the hallway after her, surprised that it was empty. “What happened to the guards?”

“Remember what we were doing all yesterday?”

I frowned and looked around. “I thought these rooms were sound proof.”

“Not my fault you’re so loud.”

“Half lion, remember?” I glanced over at her. “Not my fault I’m loud, either. Besides, it’s not like you were quiet.”

“I was quieter,” she shot back.

“I don’t know about that.” I grinned. “It kinda reminded me of Luna’s Canterlot voice.”

“S-Shut up!” She hid behind her mane and hat.

“Come on, let’s go find Luna. Maybe she can give you tips on breaking window panes.”

Even with the shadows hiding her face, I could tell she was bright red.

Smirking, I wrapped my wing over her shoulders and pulled her closer. “And I really liked the bit where you were saying ‘yes’ a lot. Never had someone agree with me that enthusiastically before.”

She sunk even further back, I swear, her entire body was just radiating heat and that I could use her face as a torch at night if I actually needed one.

Grinning, I led us down the corridor until we found a servant. “Hey, you!” I shouted out to him the moment I saw him.

The servant glanced around nervously, checking to see if I was talking to someone else, before stepping towards me.

“Do you know where Luna is?” Have to admit, I kinda liked the way I was making him nervous. I mean, it was racist and stupid, but still kinda cool.

“Most likely her own chambers.” His eyes flicked from me to Trixie. “Would you like me to get some guards to escort you there?”

“Nah, I know the way.” After a second I added “Thanks.”

We stepped past him, and he went back to doing whatever he was doing before. My sense of direction was as good as it ever was, and I only took one wrong turn before I found Luna’s door a few minutes after we left the apartment.

There were two nightkin guarding it, and they watched me warily as I came closer.

“Tell Luna, Gilda wants to see her about the job,” I told the two of them.

They glanced at each other, before one of them turned around and stepped through the door. We stood there in silence for a few moments, before the nightkin stepped back out followed by Luna. For once I was in a good enough mood that seeing her didn’t instantly put me in a bad one.

“Come,” she said and walked back into her room. “Make sure none disturbs us.”

The guards bowed at her as we stepped through the door. I had to fight down a little bolt of panic when it closed behind us. Being locked in a room with Luna was enough to make me clench my talons to try and calm down.

Luna’s room was exactly like I remembered it. All business, no pleasure. That mirror she’d broken and fixed last time was still there, and I couldn’t help but check if there were any cracks on it, and the closet she’d thrown me was back where I remembered it. It had been funny at the time, but now the idea of her throwing me around like that just made me pissed. Tearing my eyes away from it, I tried to focus on something in the room that wouldn’t make me angry, and I ended up just standing there, staring out the window at the castle gardens.

“So, thou have finally considered Our offer,” she said.

“Yeah, I’ll take the job.” I glanced at her, but looked back out the window.

“On one condition,” added Trixie. “She gets weekends free to do as she sees fit.”

“Yeah, that,” I agreed.

“Very well,” Luna inclined her head towards us. “Thou may stay in the room thou hast been using. We hath already organised gryphon armor for thee and for now thou art answerable only to Us.”

“You know my armour size?” I growled at her.

“Nightmare,” she said tapping her forehead. “Also, we require thy presence down in the sparring yards.”

“Don’t I need to sign something?” I frowned. “I’m pretty much joining the army here, and I know you had the nightkin sign a billion fucking wavers making sure they actually agreed to their jobs.”

“Thou art free to leave at any point in time. No contracts, no obligations, merely freewill.”

Some part of me wanted to demand to sign something, just because it was Luna telling me I didn’t have to. The rest of me knew how fucking stupid that was and shut that small part of me up.

“Alright, what do you need me in the sparring yards for?”

“Thou shalt see.” She stepped back into her shadow and began fading out of sight. “Follow if thou can.”

I glanced at Trixie. “Alright, that wasn’t as bad as I expected. I’ll see you down there, then?”

She nodded. “Stay safe and try not to get too angry at her.”

I nodded, before tapping into my shadow magic and stepping into the wall where she’d disappeared. I was surprised to see she’d left a massive magical trail in her wake, but it made it easier to follow her. Luna could move a lot further in one shadow walk than I could, so I had to step off her trail a few times and take a breath or two in an empty room before following after her again. By the time I got to outside the palace and into the gardens, I knew there was no way I could shadow walk from the outer wall to the sparring yards, and had to fly the rest of the way.

Seriously, I had no idea if it was even possible for a normal nightkin to shadow walk as far as she did in one hit.

At the sparring yard, I found ten or so nightkin hanging around, chatting amongst themselves while Luna sat in the middle of the ring, two ghostly blades in her hooves. When the nightkin saw me coming closer, they fell silent and watched me with faces varying from wary, to interested, to kinda scared on one tall mare.

I walked to the edge of the ring, glanced at the blades she had on her hooves then back at the other nightkin. Did she have them waiting here all day for me, or did she just call them together in the time it took me to get here? I couldn’t have taken longer than two minutes to travel here.

“Thou performed admirably.” She stood up and pointed a blade at me. “Thou knows what these are, no? With thy knowledge in mythology especially with reference to Slight.”

I shrugged and looked them over again. “The gryphon legend says she used ‘blades of glass and smoke’ that cut through the living like wisps of smog, except one was green and the other was blue. In ‘the End of Iron’, she had a sword made from the souls of the damned, and in ‘Madness Walks’’, she used a sword of shadow. None of that really tells me what those are, though.”

“Ghost blades, forged in the war against Celestia to cut through the living as though they were not there. Perhaps Our greatest achievement or Our greatest folly depending on whom thou asks.” The two blades floated before her. “These were used by Slight herself. The blue, Our favoured one and the green, her mentor’s and perhaps Our second or third. Chase and Stygus have always competed for Our affections.”

“I have no idea who either of those dead ponies are,” I said flatly. “Why should I care?”

“Who knows. Who knows indeed. These are the very weapons wielded by Slight, or Curse as thou calls her.” The two weapons were blown apart by the breeze and in their place were two short swords before two more appeared in front of me. “No magic, no high altitude flying and we shall limit ourselves to two weapons. Thou prefers swords right?”

I glanced at them, then at her. “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

“Coming from thee, that is amusing.” She circled around me, both blades in defensive positions. “Tell Us, how is Trixie faring? Can she use magic yet?”

“That’s none of your fucking business,” I snapped, and every single nightkins’ jaw dropped.

“Wouldn’t it be such a shame if she lost her magic completely thanks to thy actions,” she chuckled.

“You’re just trying piss me off,” I growled at her. “What the fuck do you even want from me, Luna? A sparring partner? Is that it?”

“Did thou know We offered her a job as a nightkin?”

“I did, and don’t you fucking dare.” It took me a moment to realise my claws had closed around both sword handles. “Trixie is not becoming a nightkin.”

“Oh, We are not so sure about that. She would make a fine nightkin.” For a second, her eyes shifted to reptilian slits, and I was holding my swords ready. “A truly fine nightkin in Our opinion.”

I didn’t trust myself to say anything right then. In the back of my head, something uncoiled at the memory of that... that... awful Nightmare and what happened to Trixie. I remembered her nearly dying, me brainwashed, and her pounding on my chest as she begged me to stop killing. Those days when because of Nightmare, I lost control of myself and became addicted to the adrenaline, to trying as hard as I could to find something that was just put me out of my misery once and for all.

And more than anything I remembered Grace. How he died, and there was no one to blame but myself. I wanted to put that one at Nightmare’s hooves, but the Wide Eyes had been looking into those chemicals before Luna ever set hoof in the Kingdom.

I exhaled slowly, and dropped the swords. “Fuck off, Luna,” I spat as I turned around and walked away.

“Thou knows Trixie will never be able to use magic again correct? And that if she wished to, she must become a nightkin. Just as Eclipse there, he was a unicorn with a completely broken horn. Though why his mane is yellow and pink, We do not wish to know.”

“Well good for him,” I snapped back at her. “You’re just trying to bait me into a fight, and I’m not fucking falling for that!” I’m not going back to that. The two voices in the back of my head, screaming at me to just keep going and going, and me not even wanting to say no to them.

“Perhaps We should seek Trixie out then. Last We recalled, she was proficient in magic.”

She was fucking dead. One sword swung at her throat, while the other went for her heart. I couldn’t for the life of me tell you when I’d picked them up, or how long It’d taken me to get from the edge of the ring to her. She deflected both as though they were nothing before a hoof caught my chest, forcing me back.

“Thy loyalty is admirable, but misdirected. Thou cares only for one being out of hundreds. Millions even,” she said as she darted.

I stumbled back, bringing up both my swords to block hers and barely avoiding the next hoof strike. “I’ll rip your skin off and turn it into a fucking couch!” I shouted, as I ducked under the attack and slashed towards her neck with one sword, while keeping the other behind in case of another strike.

Skipping back she suddenly lunged forward, twisting at the last second to appear on my right. Attacking even faster than I remembered, I was forced to stumble back continuously, barely able to keep up with each blow.

“Thou lets thy anger rule thee. Thou art a fool, a tool, easily manipulated to do Our bidding. Thou art weak. Too weak to protect Trixie, too weak to protect her from herself. Too weak to protect her from you!”

It was like a vice had just been locked around my heart, and I found myself feeding on the pain as I blocked one of her strikes, and let her momentum push me back a step. I spun out of her attack range, and shifted stance so I was on my hind legs, one sword held underhand and the other in front of me.

I growled as I shifted forward, skipping around her as fast as I’d ever moved and striking at her legs and wings. She parried both, but I was on top of her, forcing her steadily back with constant feints and rapid thrusts. That look on her face was pissing me off. Fucking bored, uninterested, like I was barely worth her time. Even if I’d shifted it so I was on the attack and she was on the defence, there was no way I was getting through. She knew it, I knew it, and it was pissing me off even more.

“Is that the best thou hath? And to think thou thinkst thou can protect Trixie.”

Swapping up the tempo of my attacks, I shifted styles again, reversing the holds on both my swords, so the over hand turned under, and the under turned over. This moved me closer to her, inside striking range of her hooves and wings. Both her swords moved to the side and she dashed in hooves snapping out far faster than I expected.

It didn’t matter how fast she moved though, not when I slashed at her overextended hooves with my own swords. That had been the point, to cripple her when she tried to swap back to earth pony style. All too late I realised that was exactly what she wanted as my blade glanced off her horseshoe. A second later, it slammed into my chest and I was forced to move with the momentum or break a rib. I twisted as the blow landed, barely softening it enough and sending me spinning back a step out of her reach. Then she was on me again, pressing me across the ring with a mix of sword and hoof strikes as I struggled to keep up.

“Still so easy to manipulate, so easy to predict. Thou hast let thy emotions cloud thy judgement!” Her yell shoved me back. “Thou art weak, worthless, disgusting. How can thou protect anything let alone those who matter most to thee?”

A stupid idea came to me. A really really stupid idea, and I couldn’t help but grin at it. I stepped forward into her attack, and her blade stopped just mere inches from my neck. The cold steel bit into my neck, but no blood was drawn. She barely managed to block the attack I’d sent her way, and once more I was pressing her while she was on the defense.

She wasn’t willing to hurt me. For some stupid fucked up reason, Luna still failed to realise that I wasn’t her friend.

“Not fucking fun, is it?” I grinned. “Having someone turn your own feelings against you like that.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Dost thou still think everything is about thee? How sad.”

I just smiled wider, glad that I’d managed to piss her off. Then I had another stupid idea. I’d heard about someone doing it before, but I’d thought it made no sense at the time and hadn’t ever heard of it since. But still, I knew I couldn’t beat Luna normally, so why not try something stupid that she wouldn’t see coming?

My own sword slashed across my wrist, drawing blood but not cutting anything too important. I could still fight just as well, but now I was dripping blood everywhere as I did. All the while I kept up with the tempo of my assault, keeping Luna behind her safe defence.

Then one blade snapped out, sending a few drops of blood right at Luna’s eyes, while at the same time stabbing at her face. She blocked the sword swipe, but was blinded and only just managed to stop my next stab. Her hoof lashed out, but I ducked around it easily and snapped my wing up into her neck before kicking her remaining forehoof out from under her. Instead of stumbling, she just dropped like a rock and her hoof snapped out. Leaping back, her blade snaked straight for my stomach, forcing me to do an awkward block and stumble on my landing.

“Clever, but idiotic.” Luna stood up slowly. “This is not about thee, this has never been about thee.”

“Who gives a shit?” I growled, and rose up on my hind legs to the outsider stance. “What the fuck is even the point of this? I took your fucking job, and now what? You want to beat me in front of your new pets for the sake of an ego boost? Are you trying to get revenge because I cut your spine all those times?”

“You what!?” yelled one of the nightkin. “Princess, w-”

“Silence!” snarled Luna as she began walking towards me. “Dost thou not understand? If thou wishes to work under Us, thou needs to be able to work under Us and thus far, We have no reason to believe thou art capable of that.”

I dropped the swords and fell back to all fours. “So, basically, you thought that goading me into a fight and threatening Trixie was gonna convince me to take crap from you again? Have you gotten even more retarded?”

“That depends.” All of a sudden she was before me, her face far too close for comfort. “But We did learn what We know from thee.”

“How don’t you get it?” I growled into her face. “How don’t you understand just how much you fucked me up?”

“We know, We understand and We art sorry. We have done everything in Our power to help thee, but thou hates Us. We...” She looked away and sighed. “Thou wilt not talk to Us and We figured that on the field of battle thou wouldst at least open up and... We do not know. Perhaps it was folly as Our sister suggested.” The corner of her lips quirked up. “At least thou hasn’t severed our spine yet.”

I took a step back, blinking in surprise. I grit my beak and clenched a talon into fist. “What would you do with someone that did to you half of what you did to me?”

“Ask that to Our sister. Apparently the correct response is to blast the offender with the Elements of Harmony, allow for a genocide of all nightkin and erase an entire period out of the collective memory of what seems to be every nation.”

“That’s not the fucking point!” I snapped. “Before I met you I was done with this shit! I wasn’t killing anyone, I wasn’t a barely sane, suicidal, self-destructive mess! I was fine! I was a bitch, but I was fine!” I jabbed a claw at her. “Then you pulled me back into that shit again. I killed more fucking gryphons in the time I was hanging with you than I ever had up until that point! You fucking broke me, Luna!” I waved a claw around. “And now that I’m finally pulling myself back together and getting my life going somewhere other than an early grave, you want to drag me back into this?!”

“Yes.”

“Why?!” I snarled. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?!”

“Thou art the one who came to Us this time. Perhaps thou should ask thyself, why art thou so obsessed with Us?”

“That’s complete bullshit. You hounded me after you made me that goddess damn offer. I’m here taking it now because...” I swallowed and looked away. “Because Trixie needs it, because if I die then she does too. If I have to work for you to keep her safe then fine, I’ll do whatever I have to.”

“But thou did not have to accept the job. If thou asked, We would have helped. So We ask again, why come to Us? Why accept?”

I blinked in surprise and took a step back. “Because...”

That was a good question. Why the fuck did I take up her offer? Why didn’t I just get a job at an apartment closer to the Castle and move out from our apartment that way? It would have been the easier way to avoid Luna.

But there that was again. The easy way. The cowards way. The way where I just let myself off easy and died, despite what it meant to Trixie. The hardest way for me to deal with this situation would be to confront Luna. So why would I do that? Why would I choose the hard road and come here?

What reason would I have to take the hard road in this one? This wasn’t like back in the Kingdom where I had to choose between fighting for Trixie and fighting for the sake of dying. It wasn’t like that, was it?

The shadow of Grace standing over Luna’s shoulder said otherwise. I stared at him, and he stared back at me. I was broken, barely holding together anymore. Trixie had done everything she could for me, sticky taped me back together with spit, sand, and a whole lot of hoping for the best. But now it was up to me. I had to do something to fix me, or Trixie was gonna suffer for it again. She hid it well, but those months after Grace’s death had left her with scars. All the drinking I’d done, the suicide attempts, the hours I spent staring at nothing, it all hurt her.

I wasn’t going to let that happen to her again. I needed to deal with my issues, and be there for her again.

Luna was one of those issues, my anger was another. I couldn’t keep running, or eventually they’d catch up with me. Now was the time for me to turn around, put my ass one the line, and push back.

I was here because I needed to get over Luna.

“...Because I’m done with running away from you,” I said and looked up at her. “Because I’m sick of having to fight the urge to kill something every time I hear your voice, or see your face, or think of you. Because I need to be in control of me again, and you’re the thing that’s stopping me from doing that. I’m here to deal with my issues, and the only way to do that is to learn how to deal with you.”

She stared at me before nodding once. “And that is why We like thee.” Her horn glowed and she turned to face the nightkin. “Sergeant Eclipse, please escort our new recruit to the barracks.” She grinned at me. “We figure thou wouldst prefer our conversation to be private.”

“Gee, you think?” I replied dryly and walked out of the ring. “Also, you’re getting rusty again. Your stance is totally telegraphing half your attacks.”

“And thou over reached on over half thy blows,” she replied.

I glanced at the nightkin, frowning. “You all look the same to me. Which of you is Eclipse?”

One of the stallions stepped forward, the one with blond and pink hair. Watching me cautiously, he said, “That would be me.”

I waved a claw at him. “After you then, buddy. To the barracks or whatever.”

Eclipse’s eyes darted between me and Luna, before he nodded and turned away.

“What’s with the pink?” I asked as I padded alongside him, glancing across at his mane. “Got a problem with blue?”

“I needed to dye my hair in preparation for an upcoming mission,” he answered as he kept his eyes ahead.

“Why not dye it brown, or green or something? Two tone manes aren’t that common, and just make you stand out.”

“That’s a very good question,” he replied dryly.

The mare beside him meeped and hid on his other side.

He fell back, and moved forward so he was on the other side of the mare. Bumping her towards me with his hip, he said, “Why don’t you tell us both that, Bluey?”

“Because you’re boring,” she muttered under her breath.

“So you deliberately compromised the effectiveness of my disguise just for amusement?” He shook his head, and looked back ahead. “How did you ever survive?”

“The best disguise is one that people think is not a disguise,” she replied sagely.

“Yeah, but it’s also one that doesn’t stick out.” I glanced across at her. “People remember the blonde and pink maned stallion.”

“Maybe we should make you into a mare then,” she chuckled.

He just snorted and looked ahead.

We walked in silence for a few moments, before I stumbled and winced at my wrist. The bleeding had stopped, but it still hurt to walk on, and I’d probably need to do something to stop the wound getting infected.

“That thing I did with the blood?” I glanced over and found both of them watching me warily. “That was dumb. Don’t do that.”

“You’re the definition of stupid,” muttered the mare before adding, “though it’s nice seeing you again.”

“Again?” I frowned and glanced at her. “When did we meet?”

“Blue Moon at your service,” she said with a bow, “or maybe Bluey would jog your memory?”

I squinted at her, before I remembered where I’d heard that name. “...You were Vinyl’s friend, right? The one with the big mouth.”

“No bigger than Vinyl’s and definitely not bigger than yours or Trixie.” She leaned in close and said in an exaggerated whisper, “I was guarding your room yesterday and I can say, I’ve never heard someone yell loud enough to get through the castle soundproofing before.”

Blood rushed to my cheeks, and I looked away. “Trixie’s a stage magician. She does voice exercises.”

“Suuuuuuure.” Bluey nudged Eclipse, “Voice exercises.”

“Very loud, very enthusiastic ones no doubt,” Eclipse replied.

I glared at both of them as Bluey merely smiled at me innocently. “Maybe you should get Trixie to give Eclipse some lessons.”

Eclipse came to a stop and gave her a flat look, before shaking his head and continuing along.

Something about Bluey was off though. I found myself staring at her, something in the back of my head tickling and telling me that she was... off. “You used to be a unicorn, right?”

“Yep!”

I continued to stare at her. Something was just... I dunno. After a moment, I grabbed her leg and said, “Hold still a sec.”

She immediately struggled in my grasp, trying to get away.

Eclipse was there in a second. “What are you doing?” He glared at me.

I was still staring at Bluey. She wasn’t very strong, and her struggling didn’t make it any harder to get a good look at her. My eyes met hers, and I blinked in surprise as I realised it. I touched my claw to the top of my head, before keeping it level and moving it over to hers. She was just as tall as I was.

I let her go and took a step back. “You used to be shorter.”

“And now I’m hot,” she replied with a smirk.

“Vinyl’s a pretty short mare, right?” I frowned. “Yeah, I remember you were the exact same height as she was.” I looked Bluey up and down. “And the same body shape.”

“Hey, stop ignoring what I’m saying!”

“If the ritual makes you taller, why aren’t any of the other nightkin as tall as you are?” I glanced across at Eclipse. He was pretty average sized for a unicorn, and but seemed more shaped like a pegasus. My eyes turned back to Bluey. “What happened to you?”

“I took the ritual, duh,” she replied.

“Then why didn’t it make me taller?” I frowned. “And if the ritual made a fairly short mare as tall as you are, some of those other nightkin should be freaking giants.”

“Maybe it just knew how sexy I am on the inside,” she said and Eclipse snorted in amusement, earning him a smack on the back of the head. “Oh shut up.”

I gave her another look, before I shrugged and continued walking. “Whatever.” It wasn’t that big a deal, was it? “I thought the nightkin were only open to ponies in the military.”

“Open to anyone in the guard with more than three years active service to Equestria,” Eclipse recited.

I glanced over at Bluey. “Then why were you allowed to join?”

“State secret,” she grinned all too happily.

I snorted and looked back ahead. “You’re full of shit.”

“We just think she’s insane,” muttered another nightkin.

In a few moments we were at the barracks, and Eclipse led me to a little side room as all the other bat ponies settled in.

“This is yours,” He pointed at the chest. “Your armour’s in there, make sure it fits. If you have any questions, come find me.” With that he turned away and left me in the room by myself.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just jealous,” whispered Bluey.

“Doesn’t he get his own room?” I asked over my shoulder as I threw the chest at the bottom of the bed open. Inside was a light breast plate, made in the same style as Kingdom scout armour, but with Luna’s colours. My beak curling in disgust, I pulled it out of the chest and continued to search through the things Luna had prepared for me.

“He does, but he’s still jealous. I suggest you come to me if you need anything, I’m less likely to act like a grumpy pants.”

I glanced over my shoulder at her and repeated, “‘Grumpy pants’?”

“Yes. Grumpy pants, got a problem with that?” she arched an eyebrow.

“It makes you sound like you’re five.” I went back to searching through the chest. I was surprised to find just how many different choices in knives she gave me. “Is this all standard equipment?”

“Nope. But then again, you are her favourite.”

I glared at the blades. “Yay.”

“You sound disappointed, most would kill to be favored by one of the Princesses.”

“Most people have never met them,” I replied and closed the chest. Turning to face Bluey, I said, “Believe it or not, Celestia is a massive bitch.”

“Still, the favor of a goddess? Totally worth it.”

“You heard about the part where I stabbed her in the spine a bunch?” I sat down on the bed and watched her reaction. “That should tell you what I think of her ‘favour’.”

“Eh, that sounds pretty normal,” she replied with a shrug.

I raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never met a pony who thought anyone being stabbed in the spine was normal, and only a few gryphons.”

“Then they lead boring lives don’t they?” She grinned at me before standing up and walking way. “Anyways, need to prepare for the raid tonight. Come along if you want.”

There was nothing better to do, so I shrugged and followed after her. “A raid? So you guys actually know how to fight then?”

“We’re not just for decoration you know,” she replied with a smirk. “But none of us can fight like you.”

I shrugged. “It just takes training and experience, not like I’m the goddess’s gift at killing. Where are you guys raiding, anyway?”

“Some warehouse in the airship docks.”

“Specific,” I muttered.

“Secret.”

I rolled my eyes. “Great. This crap again.”

“Pretty much!” She began skipping away. “So like I said, feel free to come to me if you need anything. Also, your marefriend is here.”

“She is?” I glanced around the room. “Where?”

“Behind you.” The amusement was practically dripping from Trixie.

I turned around, and found myself grinning as I gave her a hug. “I swear, the ten minutes that you weren’t here were the longest ten minutes ever.”

“Missed you too,” she said as she hugged me back.

“This month is gonna suck,” I let go of her and took a step back. “Did Luna say anything to you?”

“Nothing important,” she replied as she kissed me lightly.

“So... Luna offered to turn you into a nightkin didn’t she?” I frowned. “Have you... thought about it?”

She looked away and bit her bottom lip. “Perhaps...”

“And... do you want to...” I swallowed, “do it?”

“Well it will give me magic. Not my magic, but it’d be magic and... well... you know I enjoy it when you take me flying.” She held me close and nuzzled my neck. “But I know you dislike the thought so I’m willing to not become a nightkin.”

“I... don’t like it, but... I mean, it’s not my decision is it? Lets... talk about it later, but I just... That was the worst thing I’ve ever been through... I just don’t want you to go through that.”

“I know.” She reached up and stroked my crown feathers and whispered in my ear, “Now I better leave before I decide to jump you one last time and let you mingle with your new comrades.”

“I don’t know about leaving just yet...” I grinned and shrugged. “We should totally go for another round.”

“In front of everyone?” She cocked an eyebrow at me.

“I thought you’d like an audience.” She turned bright red, far redder than I had ever seen her and when her mouth opened, all that came out was a cute little squeak. I was seriously getting a lot better at this wit, stuff. This was the most I’d ever flustered Trixie in one day. “I guess that means you’d really like an audience.”

Once more with that squeak before she buried her face in my shoulder in an attempt to get away from my gaze and hide that blush of hers.

I just grinned and ruffled her mane. “And you call me cute.”

“Shut up,” she mumbled into my feathers.

“Anyway, when you get home let Mum know that I’m okay and what the plan is. Oh, and you know the knife I keep under the pillow?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you drop that off for me next time you visit?”

“Sure...” She stepped back, a faint blush still present on her cheeks. “See you next week then...”

“...Yeah... I guess so.” I swallowed and shifted on my feet. “Hey, it’s only going to be four days, right?”

She nodded nervously, “Y-Yeah...” We stared at each other awkwardly before she kissed me yet again on the beak. “See you in four weeks then. Be nice and try not to break any of your new friends.”

“I’ll try,” I promised. I tried to think of something else that needed saying, something to keep her here but nothing came to mind. “Uh... bye then.”

She suddenly whirled around and glared at our little audience. “If any single one of you even thinks about touching Gilda, Trixie shall show them why she has the title ‘Great and Powerful’ given to her by Luna. Got that?”

That got a round of nervous nodding.

“Good.” With her head held high, she walked away, no doubt deliberately swaying her hips at me and I watched until I realised I wasn’t the only one watching. Almost every stallion in the room, and one of the mares, had their eyes locked onto Trixie.

“Eyes to yourself!” I snapped, and stepped into the doorway, blocking their view of Trixie. “And don’t even think about touching if you plan on keeping your hooves attatched.”

“I’d do as she says,” said Bluey as she walked back into the room. “Especially since she’s your new drill instructor.”

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at her. “Really?”

“Yep! Official as of three minutes ago when Luna contacted us.” She skipped on over. “Now, as for the rest of you, suit up! I want all of you ready and out front in two minutes. Got that?”

“Hey, anyone remember the days when Eclipse was the only one making everything suck?” Some stallion said loudly. “Yesterday? I miss those days.”

“You.” Bluey was suddenly before the stallion. “Congratulations, you just offered to take over cleaning the toilets and washing dishes for a month. Oh, and you’re now guarding Blueblood on his late night adventures on your free nights. Have fun.”

“...Buck.” He muttered and turned around.

“What’s that? Two months? Oh Blight, you shouldn’t have.” She giggled like a filly with a crush. “That’s so sweet of you. Hear that everyone? Two months of cleaning the toilets, you really shouldn’t have.”

This time he kept his mouth shut.

“Well?” She made an exaggerated glance at the clock. “Oh, one and a half minutes now. Tick tock everyone.”

“Am I included in that?” I asked her as everypony scrambled.

“Oh yeah, everyone, this is Gilda, special operations on loan from... well... above my pay grade apparently,” she announced before turning to me. “And nope, you can come along or not, it’s really up to you. Luna feels you might not have recovered yet and she doesn’t want to endanger your recovery.”

“Fuck Luna. If there’s gonna be a fight I’m totally coming. Heck with as green as you guys look, I’m surprised she isn’t just dealing with it herself.”

“This is an undercover operation,” she replied with a sigh, “so don’t go expecting any fights and don’t start any.”

I shrugged, “Still less boring than sitting around back here all night, and I need to check if my armour fits anyway.” Not that I even needed to check. No way Luna/Nightmare had forgotten from the time we visited the empire.

“Alright, I need to check up on Eclipse anyways.” She glanced down at herself and smiled sheepishly. “And get into my own gear.”

“Have fun with that,” I shrugged and walked back into my own room. Flipping open Luna’s chest, I pulled out the armour and began to strap that on. Damn it was creepy just how perfectly it all fit me. It took me a few false starts to get it on, it’d been a long time since I’d warned full plate, but I remembered how to put it on soon enough.

From the weapons she gave me, I went with the short swords and strapped a dagger under each wing. It wasn’t the best way to conceal a weapon, but most ponies who saw me would just see the swords and leave it at that.

When I looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t help but frown at the two silver vertical bars on the pauldron. Captain. Luna wanted to make me a captain. Was she completely retarded? With a growl, I cut off a square of cloth and tied them over each symbol.

When I walked back out, everyone was standing in front of their beds at attention while Eclipse walked between everyone, examining them closely. He didn’t say anything as he passed by each nightkin, before he arrived at the end of the row and turned turned around and made his way back to the front.

Standing there, he barked out, “Barely passable! The lot of you! There’s nothing here worth punishing, but I swear this has to be the sorriest line up I’ve seen from any of you in a long time!”

I glanced along the row, between all of them before frowning and looking back at Eclipse. “What’s wrong with them?”

Every nightkin at attention groaned.

Eclipse walked towards me, frowning. “Unpolished, dusty, some of them even still have grease flecks at the joints.”

“...And?”

“What do you mean and?” He glared at me.

I glanced back at the other nightkin, then back at him. Holding a claw out towards them, I said, “You’re worried about unpolished armour when they’re all... looking like that?”

“Looking like what?” he growled.

“Like a pack of dumbass greenhorns?” I shrugged. “I mean, they all look like they’re only halfway through basic, let alone a member of the nightkin. Aren’t you guys supposed to be elite? Well, being a good soldier doesn’t mean standing around all day or having stupidly shiny armour.”

Eclipse grit his jaw, and took a step back. “They’re the best.”

“They’re not ‘the best’, they’re not even halfway decent.” I waved a claw at them. “That Blight guy was just giving Bluey shit, like he expected that to be okay. If she’s your second in command, he should be too fucking scared to look crossways at her, let alone snark.”

Eclipse took a step forward, but Bluey laid a hoof on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. For a split second, it looked as though he was about the shrug her off and lunge at me, but in the end he merely snorted and shook his head.

“Bluey was my second in command since last night. Respect is earned and you cannot lead through fear,” he said. “Blight should not have said what he did, but not out of fear, instead it should have been respect.”

“Yeah, but he should respect the chain of command, which obviously he doesn’t. There’s plenty of time to worry about each individual officer earning respect, after they’ve figured out you don’t fuck with anyone that has a rank higher than you.”

“Maybe if there’s dozens of ponies higher than you, but this is the entirety of the nightkin. Personal respect is significantly more important because there are so few of us.” A small smile touched his lips. “I agree with you though and that’s a lesson Blight will now learn, but respect comes first. Respect for their rank over your’s.”

I snorted. “Look, I can tell you this much: Everyone in this room is freaking awful soldier. They’re undisciplined, uninvolved, and I can tell from here none of them are much good in a fight. Sure, they could deal with your average pony, or maybe your average guard, but you guys are the freaking nightkin, aren’t you? Standards are a lot higher than that.”

“Have you ever considered that’s why Luna dragged you here? Dragged me here? We are special operations after all.” Bluey smiled at me. “Perhaps it’s our job to make the nightkin into what they were. What they’re meant to be. Eclipse here is the one with experience commanding troops, we’re the ones with field experience.”

I frowned at her before I shrugged. “Whatever. The point I’m making is you’ve got bigger problems to deal then unpolished breastplates. What you really need to be thinking about, is-”

Just then barrack doors opened, and two nightkin stepped in, a stallion and a mare. The stallion had a weird blue goatee, and the mare’s mane was purple for some reason. They froze when they saw all three of us staring at them.

“And where have you two been?” Eclipse asked after a moment.

“Uh... on a secret mission from Luna.” The stallion said after a moment.

“Shiver?” Eclipse ignored him and glared at the mare.

“No comment sir,” she replied. I couldn’t help but notice the way she stood, the way she held herself. She’d had training and experience... so maybe the nightkin actually did have one halfway decent fighter.

“Get suited up,” he growled. “You have less than a minute. I’ll deal with the two of you later.”

“Totally worth it,” Pitch said under his breath as he walked away.

“Believe me, it won’t be.” Eclipse glared at him, before turning to Bluey. “Were they...?”

She merely smirked and shook her head. “While we wait for those two, why don’t we have a private chat.” She glanced over at me. “Including you.”

“Yes, we probably need to discuss how we’re going to manage this.” Eclipse replied, and glanced at me. “Mind if we step outside?”

I shrugged. “Fine.”

Eclipse pushed the door open, and held it for the two of us as we stepped out. Closing it behind us, Eclipse turned around and looked at Bluey.

“I assume you had something particular in mind?” he asked.

“Yes. Gilda, out of all those, who would you select for covert mission potentially involving fighting and you could only pick two?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Only got a glance, but that mare, Shiver, at least walks the right way... and maybe that stallion with his hair done in a ponytail.”

“Laurel Wreath,” Eclipse supplied.

I shrugged. “Whatever.”

“Shiver I agree with, but Wreath? He any good at combat or magic?”

“He hasn’t excelled at either,” Eclipse frowned.

“I’d still go with him, he’s got the right eyes and knife scars. Even if he’s not doing that well in training, he’s at least been in a fight before and shouldn’t hesitate. Trust me, it’s not much to make him better than the rest, but it’s something, and none of them really seem combat ready to me. Maybe Shiver... maybe... I dunno. I’d have to see her fight.”

“Alright. Shiver and Laurel comes with us then. Gilda, sorry, but you’re staying back and giving the recruits the living Tartarus experience. If they’re not combat ready, it’s your job to make them combat ready. Drill them until you think they’re worthy of being nightkin and if they so much as speak back, feel free to use them as a sparring partner. Just don’t break any limbs or send them to hospital.” Bluey’s grin was far too sadistic. “And then, once we get back, I’m going to drill them some more.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” I grinned and glanced at Eclipse. “But I thought you were in charge.”

“I thought that too,” he muttered.

“My operation, my rules. Plus, someone has to play good cop and that ain’t me. Playing bad cop is soooooo much more fun.” Ouch, I think I just got whiplash from how fast she changed moods. “And once we’re done, they’ll be begging for Eclipse to take charge and for Shiver to be second in command again.”

I looked her up and down. “Dude, your marefriend’s kinda scary.”

“She’s not my marefriend,” he said flatly.

“Like I said, special operations.” She grinned at me. “Just like you apparently.”

“Seriously, I gotta ask, if we’re working together where does a pony get cloak and dagger experience? I know things can be kinda rough in Manehattan, judging by your accent, but you act more like a field opp Wide Eyes in Zebrica than any pony I’ve ever met.”

“I can do a Zebrica accent if you like, but the whole rhyming thing is beyond me,” she said.

“That doesn’t answer my question. Seriously, you’ve got the whole ‘charming swagger’ and ‘over confidence borne of insanity’ down. What did you do before you became a nightkin?”

“Special operations~!” she singed. “Or to put it another way, I was in the Gryphon Kingdom last year and I know what actually went down and Eclipse, don’t ask, it’s beyond your pay grade.”

Eclipse rolled his eyes.

I frowned at Bluey. “And what do you know about me, and what I was doing?”

“Not much, but I thank you.”

“For what?” I asked.

“If I told you, you’d kill me,” she chuckled.

After a moment, I shrugged and glanced between the two of them. “If I’m gonna be in charge of getting everyone combat ready, that includes you two. Bluey, you seem... decent, but Eclipse, you really look like you need work. Both of you are going to have to work with me on this. We clear?”

“But in private. Morale is important,” said Bluey. “And seriously? Can’t I get out of this? I mean, I’m here for subterfuge not combat.”

“In private,” I agreed. “And no, not until I’m convinced you’re not going to need us to pull your ass out of the fire if something goes wrong on your end.”

“Fine,” she sighed. “And we should probably be getting back.”

“Agreed,” Eclipse said and turned around. Stopping at the door, he glanced at us, “Come on. We have an operation to prepare for.”

“Remember, let me do the talking,” I hissed as I knocked on the door. “And if I say ‘Hang on, let me check in with my boss’ it means get the fuck out of there.”

“Yes. I know. We’ve been over this.” He gave me a flat look. “Several times now.”

“Not my fault I don’t trust a greenie,” I shot back before knocking yet again. “Come on, come on, come on. Open damn it.”

And just like that, the door cracked open and a pair of green eyes stared out at us. “What?” the pony growled.

“Sorry to disturb you sir, but we’re with Dock Management.” I flashed him our totally legit badges. “Some of the paperwork you filled out is missing some information. Nothing really that important, but it’d just make importing and exporting an unnecessary hassle for you. Is it alright if we come in?”

“Wouldn’t want to deal with hassle,” he said with a glance between the two of us. “Is it normal for these inspections to happen past midnight?”

“Sorry sir, we were meant to arrive at about seven-ish, but one of the surprise inspections we ran ended up revealing an illegal cache of drugs. We came here hoping you to catch you before you left and, well, here we are.” I smiled sheepishly at him. “I hope we are not disturbing you.”

He glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. “Just a game of Blackjack.”

“Sounds like fun, what’s the betting pool like?” I asked as he let us in.

“Just a game between friends. Don’t need no more players,” he said over his shoulder as he lead us into the middle of the room. “This gonna take long? Want to get back to it.”

“Nah, a minute, two tops,” I said as I let Eclipse walk before me. With his body in the way, I was free to let my eyes wander without fear of being obvious about it. So far everything was as expected, there were crates up to the roofs, the second floor was mainly walkways and there were a couple large cranes here and there. Then again, if these were changelings, I didn’t expect anything different.

The pony we were following yawned and stretched, bones popping as he did. “Listen, any chance we can do this in the morning? We’ll still be here, and none of this crap is shipping out any time soon.”

“No problem.” I followed his example and yawned. “Hey, is there a bathroom somewhere around here? That raid earlier tonight was a killer.”

Eclipse smiled at him politely. “We can get most this done in the morning, but there’s still some stuff we need to get done right now. Just show me...” He checked the manifest, “Three B through to three C, I’ll make sure the stamps match, and we’ll be out of here in few minutes.”

The pony glanced between me and him, before shrugging. “Bathroom’s that way.” He pointed a hoof back to the door. “Outside, on the left, just past the last storage unit.” His eyes turned back to Eclipse. “Come on, I got a game to lose.”

“Thanks!” I immediately moved off in the direction he pointed in.

Once I was out of sight, I threw out my emotional net thingie and I could immediately feel five living creatures in the room. After all, living things had emotions and I could feel their emotions. Faintly, but it was there. Stepping into the shadows, I immediately changed my appearances into that of a unicorn before shrugging off the stupid vest.

Slinking along the shadows, I slipped up the stairs and crept along the walkway, looking down at Eclipse and the pony. From the looks of things, Eclipse was keeping him talking and I took a deep breath. Alright, either it worked or it didn’t and we were about to get jumped. I licked my lips and grinned, drinking down that adrenaline, fear and anticipation. I loved this taste.

I reached out with my magic, touching him gently, and when he didn’t react, I pushed a bit harder. Sweat dripped down my brow and I could feel a slight headache building already, but I was used to that. Slowly, tenderly, I drew out his emotions and pulled them towards. As soon as it met my lips, I spat it back out. Ash, it tasted like ash.

Scrambling along I soon found the others sitting around a table, playing cards, drinking and chatting. Once more I repeated the process and once more I gagged at the ashen taste. Without a second thought, I slipped over to the window and tapped on it. A second later Shiver stepped out of my shadow as did Laurel.

“Changelings,” I whispered. “All of them.”

“How did she know that?” Laurel whispered to Shiver.

“Above your pay grade, shut up,” she hissed back before turning to me. “How many of them?”

“Four. Three are at the middle table playing poker,” I said. “Keep an eye on them while I grab Eclipse.”

“Eclipse is terrible in a fight,” Shiver warned me. “Try to keep an eye on him.” Then both of them silently stepped into their shadows and I lost sight of them.

“Great,” I muttered as I began running back to Eclipse. Hooves totally silent against the metal frame, I found them just at the end of the final crate. I had one shot and one shot only. Knock him out before he could get a warning out and we were in the clear. Fuck up and we’d have the entire swarm on top of us if he was smart enough. Unless...

I slid down the railing, picked up my vest, morphed again and ran back.

“Hey!” I yelled as I came to a stop beside them, “Everything check out?”

“Just some mismatched location stamps, like we thought” Eclipse replied smoothly. “Easy enough to fix tomorrow.”

“Did you check the timestamps?” I asked as I began a feedback loop and broadcasting it out.

He looked back at me. “Do we really need to check the timestamps?” he asked.

“Sorry, he’s new he-” I punched the changeling in the face before pulling out my dagger and jamming it into his neck. “Sorry brother, but you lost.”

Eclipse seemed shocked for a moment, before he frowned at me. “You could have just said yes, and I would have done that.”

“Never, ever question while on the job. When I give an order, I mean it.” I ripped the blade free and the changeling crumpled onto the ground, bleeding ichor everywhere. Taking a deep breath, I shapeshifted so that I looked like the stallion. “Go ahead and grab the others, I should be able to distract them a second or two before they realise what’s going on.”

“If Shiver and Laurel see you in that disguise, they’ll attack you,” he told me as he moved towards the nearest shadow.

“Then tell them not to kill me,” I hissed as I removed the vest yet again and began moving towards the others. “Stupid Eclipse.”

“They can’t know you’re a changeling, remember?” he hissed back. “It’s going to be hard to explain how you changed into a stallion temporarily.”

“Just say you’ll take me out and then let me slip out,” I replied.

“Unnecessary risk,” he said back to me before he turned and stepped through the shadow.

“Whatever,” I growled under my breath as I began walking back to the others. As they came into view, I glanced up and saw shifting shadows, but nothing else. I doubt anyone would have picked up on it unless they were looking for it.

“Any problems?” one of the changeling around the table asked.

“Nah, just some nosey ponies. Actually saved us some hassle, fixed up some mistakes someone made on the forms,” I said.

All three of the changelings immediately dropped their cards and divided the bits among themselves. The pony disguises disappeared in a flash of green fire, and one of them hissed at me, “The forms were fine, I did them myself.”

“Oh really? Well then tomorrow you can explain why the fucking locations were mismatched!” I slammed my copy of the documents on the table. “It’s shit like this that gets us caught.”

He snatched up the documents, and frowned at them. “I know I didn’t mess this up, because I triple checked everything! Why would I even write Fillydelphia for the delivery?” A hoof was jabbed at the page. “I’m telling you I was careful, and I know that I did this right.”

“Of course you did,” I said. “I can see it right here. You did everything perfectly. Perfectly wrong that is!”

“Well why don’t you do them next ti-” The poker table he was sitting at suddenly flew upwards into his face, sending him sprawling as Shiver and Laurel dived out from the shadows that were under it, slamming into the two other changelings.

I immediately jammed their emotional panic signal before diving out of the way and raced away as fast as my hooves could take me. Eclipse yelled something and chased after me leaving the other two to clean up. I galloped back to the original corpse and as soon as I was there, changed back to my nightkin form.

“See? Easy,” I said.

“Come on, we better get back to them,” he replied as he turned around, moving back towards the table.

When we arrived back there, Shiver was slapping hoof cuffs to one, while Wreath was putting his own pair on another. I had to fight down the urge to flinch when I saw half of him was coated in green goop, and one of the changeling’s heads was completely crushed.

“You get the runner?” Shiver asked.

Eclipse nodded. “Yes, he’s just past the crates.”

Shiver glanced past him at me, “You got him, right? No way Eclipse took him down.”

“Yep.” I stepped towards the changelings, making sure my jammer was still working. “We need to get them back to the castle asap. Also, call in some guards to lock this place down. Subtly mind you. We don’t want them to know we’re here.”

“I’ll take care of the guards,” Eclipse replied and turned away.

“Seeing as how you made the mess, you can take the bodies.” Shiver said to Wreath as she pointed at the dead changeling.

“Am I dealing with children here?” I sighed. “Shiver, you’re with me, we’ll take charge of the prisoners. Wreath, inform the day guard and have them subtly set something up. If anyone comes in or out, I want them knocked unconscious immediately unless I’m around. We’re dealing with changeling’s here and their hive mind is a bitch to deal with. Eclipse, stay here and if anyone so much as sticks their nose in, knock them out.”

Eclipse shrugged and looked between the two of them. “We’ll go with Bluey’s plan. Do as she said.”

Wreath grimaced as he touched some of the gunk on his face. “Can I clean this off? It kinda smells.”

“Okay, remind me to pour blood all over all the recruits faces when I get back,” I said as I nudged the dead changeling. “I suppose you’ll have to clean yourself off since you’re going to inform the guards, but you’re not getting out of this.”

“Wasn’t trying to,” he replied and stepped through one of the shadows.

“...Am I the only one concerned by the fact the nightkin will now include bathing in the blood of our enemies as some kind of initiation?” Eclipse glanced at me with a frown. “I fail to see why that would be necessary.”

“This complaining? Can’t have it. You need to function as well as normal despite being covered in blood.” I sighed and rubbed my temples. “Damn it, I wish Gilda was here, she knows what I’m talking about.”

“It was your plan to leave her behind. Also, surely there are other unpleasant substances we can use. For example, the waste from the kitchen grease trap.”

“Blood has a smell to it and you’re herbivores. Trust me, it needs to be blood.”

“‘You’re herbivores’?” Shiver repeated as she tossed one of the trussed up changelings over her back, a magic suppressor over its horn.

Oh. Fuck.

“Well nightkin are omnivores and have any of you tried meat yet? I thought so.”

Shiver blinked and frowned. “Wait... you’ve eaten meat?”

“I’ve tried it. Don’t ask, it was a dare... and I didn’t believe Luna.”

“Do you eat it... often?”

“Never again.” I shuddered just for good measure. “I do not recommend it at all.”

Shiver shuddered to. “One of these days you’re seriously gonna have to tell us who you are.” She nudged the other living changeling. “Are you strong enough to carry him to the palace, or do you need me to take ‘em both?”

“Can’t shadow walk the entire way?” I asked.

She blinked at me. “What? No. Shadow walking more than forty metres is... dangerous. You know, drowning on your own feedback, or if you walk too far you just liquify? You’ve... used shadow magic before, right?”

“Still playing around with it, haven’t done much yet.” I paused before I turned around and began slamming my head against the nearby crate. “I am an idiot. Eclipse, contact Luna please and just get her to do everything.”

“That... would be easier, yes.” He frowned and moved towards his shadow. “Will you two be able to manage things here while I’m gone?”

“No problems,” I saluted.

Then he was gone.

“So...” Shiver turned to me. “You’re second in command now.”

“Er... yeah...” This was not a discussion I wanted to have right now, but from the way anger and frustration rolled off her, it was obvious it was going to happen. “And look, I didn’t want your job, I don’t even have experience, but you were not present. Twice now when orders were being given out. You can’t just get up and vanish like that.”

“Well wh-”

“No. Just don’t. You became a nightkin for a reason. Are relationships important? Yes, but for now your duty comes first. I agree with you, the whole dating thing is stupid, but unfortunately Eclipse is a bone head and an idiot.”

“I am not dating anyone!” she hissed.

“Regardless, if you want your job back, earn it. I’d much rather be the fun loving social bug that I am, but I can’t. You want it? Prove to Eclipse that you deserve it. Getting pissy and arguing with me won't help. Do you fucking job and you might get it back.”

She glared at me, but didn’t say anything. Instead she just slunk away.

Eclipse climbed up out of my shadow, making me jump. “Sorry, but there wasn’t a lot of energy left in this room, and I had to make do.” He coughed into his hoof, and a black puff of smoke came with it. “Luna should be here shortly.”

“You alright?” I asked, flashing back to Gilda smoking everywhere as she was rushed back.

“I’m fine. The smoke is just waste products from the magic, and is not harmful in and of itself.” He grimaced. “But if you use too much shadow magic over too short of a period in time, you can’t expel it fast enough and it starts to pool and turn to liquid inside you, which can lead to drowning. Though I’m nowhere near that stage yet.”

“Good. How long will she be?” I glanced down at the unconcious changelings. “Once they wake up, they’ll try to send out a distress signal and jamming that will be beyond annoying.”

“Hard to say. She could be here an hour from now, could be just a moment-” He blinked and looked past my shoulder. “Speak of the deity.”

“Princess Luna,” I said over my shoulder, “may I present the changelings. We require a subtle guard inside and for all the crates to be checked and analyzed. May we call on the assistance of the Day guard?”

She stepped past me, nudging the changeling on the ground. “We assume thou hast jammed their signal?”

“Of course,” I snorted. “I do have experience with changelings.”

That got a small bark of laughter. “Thou does indeed. Very well, We shall inform our sister of thy find and these changelings shall be most valuable. Well done all.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Eclipse bowed and Shiver did too.

I rolled my eyes, but did so as well.

“Come with Us little bug, let us discuss thy predicament,” whispered Luna as she gathered the changelings up. “Bluey, thou shall come with Us. The rest of thee, stay here until the Day guard comes.”

“Luna?” I asked.

“We believe thou shalt be instrumental in finding any information they may be hiding.” Even if I wanted to run away, her magic wrapped around me and dragged me close. We immediately began sinking into the shadows, and as my hooves passed through the floor it felt like I was sinking into ice.

“Whelp, see you back at the castle. I know what I’ll be doing, getting a nice long nap.” I grinned at them impishly. “Oh, and Shimmer, remember what I said.”

I clenched my eyes shut as my head was submerged. With a sudden snap, like I was ice being shattered, I felt myself shifting elsewhere and being pushed out of the shadow again. Shivering, I fell away from Luna and started rubbing warmth back into my limbs. Damn it, that was cold!

“Get some rest,” commanded Luna. “Thou shalt be required for the interrogation and We require thee to be functioning.”

“Aye, aye, captain!” I saluted before pausing. “Um... there’s no door.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. There was a flash of light and I suddenly found myself back in the barracks, the world spinning around me. Groaning, I stumbled back to the bed and laid down. Somehow, I just knew tomorrow was going to be so much fun.

Comments

[ForSpite]

Good chapter. A few typos, like calling Shiver "Shimmer" at one point, which was distracting.

“We figure thou wouldst prefer our conversation to be private.”

This line was a bit unclear. Does it and the horn shimmer mean Luna was blocking their conversation from the Night Kin? They seemed able to hear Gilda earlier (which suggests they might have heard Luna's taunts, which wouldn't pain the Princess in much of a positive light, the way she was going after Gilda).

I liked the way she summed up why she likes Gilda right around this bit, though.

[OrphiusOlyandra]

5358253
Basically, the earlier taunts were heard, but the later ones where things got more personal weren't. It wasn't super clear and that was my bad.