Veil
Morning came accompanied by headache, leg ache, muzzle ache, and other signs of minor concussion and exhaustion.
Straw Basket wasn't in the best shape today but the constant whimpering from the next cell warmed him up nonetheless. The unicorn from last night... Leo, was it? He was measuring the ex-drunks busy fighting hangover around him with the expression of a janitor sent to sweep a rodeo track after heavy rain. To Straw, the best part was that the unicorn mare, Holly, who had let him in, considered Leo the same as the drunks around him.
"Wakey wakey!" yelled Holly loudly, watching the groaning ponies in the drunk tank with a sadistic grin, "That should teach you to drink responsibly. Also, it's twenty bits a head so grab your money pouches."
The annoyed grunting got louder and then much quieter as the noise sparked more pain in the temporary inmates.
Straw started rummaging through his backpack.
"Not you, kid," Holly waved her hoof dismissively, "You and the satyr girl were more like... evidence. Yeah, that's what I'm sticking with."
"Speaking of which," Straw looked around his empty cell, "Where is she?"
"She left about an hour ago. It's not like you were being detained or anything," Holly shrugged, "You'd better go though, I don't want anypony sniffing around and spreading rumors I let strays stay here for free."
Saluting, or more like putting his talons to his forehead while trying not to fall over, Straw smiled at the unicorn mare of the same color scheme as him.
"If things go right then I'll be a Guard recruit soon so there won't be any trouble for you, ma'am."
"Oh yeah," Holly realized, "a new batch is coming in today. Are you one of those?"
"I hope to prove worthy," Straw stood to attention, at least tried to since he had no idea what it really meant. Luckily, him flexing his chest muscles and imitating a stern expression more resembling constipation put a small smile on Holly's face.
Leaving the drunks to gather themselves, Straw followed Holly through the guardhouse.
"It's pretty rare to see somepony with enthusiasm in the Guard these days," Holly let him out and waved at him, "Off you go!"
Something clicked inside the hippogriff after yesterday.
"What, no breakfast?" he grinned.
Holly gulped and threw her front legs to the clear sky.
"You let Cromach near foals once, ONCE, and they're gone forever!" she cried theatrically.
Smiling widely, Straw took to the skies.
From the sun barely up he knew he still had more than enough time to make it to the recruit meeting. Breakfast was in order then. He had some long-lasting supplies which would have to last until he found out how much money he would need to live in Canterlot. With that in mind, he landed on the upper Canterlot city walls and grabbed some pressed hay biscuits to munch on. The remains inside his water bottle soothed his thirst and with the new day dawning and ponies slowly filling the streets he decided to have a casual stroll.
Wild Bastion, Straw's hometown, was a collection of thirty or so houses with the town hall and the tavern in the middle. The common houses were built from wood and the official places of business were at least partially from stone.
Lower Canterlot wasn't THAT different, although much more cramped. The wood gave way to bricks, the stone walls were covered by plaster to keep heat inside, but deep down it was just a collection of houses where ponies just hid away from the night.
Canterlot city, on the other talon, was... nothing like that. There were common houses, of course, but even those shone white and had windows decorated with wood or cast iron ornaments. What was more interesting were the large estates belonging to nobility, white mansions surrounded by gardens imitating the Canterlot castle itself. With the entire city built in a half-circle, the street layout was very simple - concentric half-circles criss-crossed with straight ones leading from the city walls towards the mountain, which meant there had to be a plaza where all the straight streets converged.
Straw's curiosity remained unsatisfied in that respect because he kept being distracted by EVERYTHING about the waking city. He waved at a passing group of schoolfillies, he drooled at the sight of Donut Joe's pastry shop, he spent an untold amount of time just sitting on a bench in a park and watching unicorns jog or play with their foals, he...
...almost choked when the clock on a nearby tower struck noon.
For once the overabundance of white spires rimmed with gold was annoying rather than stunning because now he had to fly towards the castle. The panic attack was averted as he realized how quickly he could get there while flying. The castle was in the eastern corner of the half-circle, which meant that getting there on hoof from the city gates had to be quite a chore as one couldn't take the straight route, but with wings that became trivial.
Canterlot wasn't a big city, its splendor made it look important, its location made it overlook large stretches of Equestria majestically, but it wasn't big. No amount of magic could overcome the logistics necessary to build a city halfway up the mountain.
With that in mind, Straw's eyes got used to seeing the important details about the white fortress. The buildings housing less wealthy ponies were situated either near the city walls themselves, mostly family houses, or near the mountain where large apartment complexes prevailed. Still, not even finally taking the rose-tinted goggles off and seeing the darker part of the city subdued Straw's excitement as he circled in the skies above.
When the clock tower above the castle entrance showed ten to one, he descended towards the official entrance. Several early visitors wearing strangely cut clothes looked at him with disdain but when he didn't try to get ahead in the queue they lost their interest. It seemed that every day the long gravel road from the outer walls to the castle entrance was filled to the brim. Finally spotting the helpful chocolate guardsmare from yesterday, Straw trotted over.
Dawn was sitting on the lawn and watching a bunch of ponies casually standing around. Some were scarred soldiers, who seemed more at ease than anypony else, and some were young ponies nervously stomping the grass. Right now, Straw felt somewhere in the middle. He'd met Dawn already, but he still had no idea what the future held. Thus, he decided to break the tension and act.
"Good morning, miss Dawn. Is this the gathering spot for the new recruits?"
"Oh hey! Hay Barrel, was it?"
"Straw Basket."
"Oops, I knew it was some container. Yeah, this is the place. We'll be starting in twenty minutes to give some more time to those who got lost in the city."
Following the calm mare's example, Straw lay down on the lawn and simply looked up at the sky.
The general orientation was nothing but boring. Straw would be shocked though if any of the newbies actually remembered something from it because they spent most of the time watching Bucket and gossiping. The pre-training group was surprisingly small, consisting of thirteen ponies, one satyr, one minotaur, and one griffon. Unfortunately for Straw, it also consisted of Leo Goldhorn, who wasn't exactly thrilled to see Straw on the training grounds. Aside from some angry mumbling, the unicorn didn't pay Straw any attention though. Straw could take a breath of relief when he saw Fortune, at least somepony would be on his side if Leo tried something then.
Dawn simply showed them a large stone building by the castle which had the glorious view of a stone wall on one side and a stone mountain on the other. The design was neither comfortable nor eye-pleasing, but it served its job - accommodating guards who had no place of their own. The inside was just a long hall with small rooms on both sides and a staircase at the end. As a bit of flavor information Bucket told them that since there were no latrines anywhere near Canterlot, the punished recruits would be cleaning the entirety of the barracks instead. Each room, while small, had a bunk bed fit for two ponies, but since there were so few recruits every one of them got their own place. For Straw, who was raised in a room just like that with the only difference being it hosted FOUR ponies, it felt like home.
There was little time to rest though. After showing the recruits their rooms, their guides led them back out and around the castle onto large tracks of lawn on one side of the road leading to the main gate where two guards were waiting for them already.
One was a middle-aged grey earthpony, whose stare was harder than a guy's rod in the morning- than steel and whose entire being screamed he was used to breaking ponies and reshaping them to a new purpose. He was wearing an official gold-plated armor, which Straw associated with the Royal Guard.
The other one was the white griffon from yesterday and with him not having his black jacket now Straw could see he was missing a front leg. In its place he had a mechanical prosthesis ending in talons, which looked more hi-tech than anything Straw had seen before and reminded him of Bucket. In contrast to his earthpony colleague, he wasn't wearing anything aside from a harness with a double-headed battleaxe on his back and an another, unattached, prosthesis hanging next to it.
"Perhaps a spare one?"
"Legacy of a traitor, a murderer," the growl in Straw's head came in a voice which would spit if it could.
Straw shook his head. He didn't intend to argue with a voice inside his head, which had saved him, probably, but the griffon had not seemed like a bad guy at all yesterday.
The grey earthpony came forward, making the recruits twitch and end their hushed conversations.
"Rookies, attention!"
His loud and firm voice killed any cocky thoughts that might have still been hanging in the heads of some younger newbies. The more experienced-looking ones simply saluted.
"My name is Rising Thunder and it falls to me to welcome you, at least temporarily, to the Royal Guard. Some of you are here because of family tradition, your own experience, or your military education," he looked at the more organized and saluting ones, "Others might not have any background to speak of. It doesn't matter. As long as you try hard enough, you will stand on even ground after a year's worth of training under me and agent Cromach. Now, due to the current state of the Guard you will get to know both of us more than well, you will learn to hate us, but, most of all, you will learn to obey us. Agent Cromach will be in charge of your physical exercises while I will teach you the basics of combat."
A raised taloned leg from the griffon recruit stopped Rising Thunder's monologue.
"Yes?"
"What weapons are we allowed to use?"
"During the first months, in order not to mess up the training schedule for those who will join after new year, you will undergo training with various weapons to make you comfortable using them or going against them. During the second half of your year you will get to choose your weapon and practice under a specialist. As for unicorns, you will attend a special class dedicated to the use of magic and telekinesis in combat. Teaching of less common weapons for griffons and pegasi, such as wing razors, is being negotiated with the Nightguard. Anything else?"
The lack of movement would make an unemployed tumbleweed jump at the opportunity.
"Good, that's all for now from me then. Agent Cromach will tell you the details of your physical exercises. See you at sixteen o'clock."
Rising Thunder saluted and left, leaving the recruits to watch the griffon.
"So, now that most of you are probably thinking about running away," Cromach smiled, "let's reinforce that. Fifty push-ups, everyone, and I'll be talking while you get your blood flowing."
When a blonde-maned white unicorn stepped up and opened his mouth Straw facetaloned.
"Not pony enough to exercise with us? I guess the rumors about griffons are overrated after all," Leo grinned wickedly.
"Is that your concern?" Cromach simply raised an eyebrow, "Sure, I'm up for some warm-up."
His easy approach only served to enrage Leo further, but he channeled his racism- speciesism into sass. The griffon doing push-ups and ignoring him was just enough to make his self-preservation instinct go on a vacation.
"Well, that mechanical leg seems like cheating-"
"Okay," Cromach shifted his weight and raised his flexible mechanical leg up. He was now pushing himself up at the same pace but only on three legs, "Now, most of the others are already halfway done while you are standing and watching. This isn't the Canterlot opera, colt. This is the Royal Guard and if you want to stay here you better start working out."
Leo closed his mouth before something flew in and, with eyes wide, joined the others.
Cromach finished first and wasn't even breathing heavily so he went straight up to his lecture.
"So, guys, you'll be seeing me every morning at eight for two hours of exercise every other week. Don't worry, after that you'll have a chance to rest at the law lecture. We don't want you to just start beating citizens senseless because they looked at you funny. Got anything else to ask of me, your Highness?" he smirked at Leo.
The unicorn took a step back, grinding his teeth. After a moment of thinking he hung his head low and said:
"No, I apologize, sir."
"See, the power of inspiration!" Cromach ruffled his mane, "If you want to be in charge, then inspire those around you by being better, not bully them and shout at them that you are."
Leo glanced sideway at Straw and Fortune. The hippogriff could swear he saw a hint of wetness on Leo's face.
"One last thing, don't try this on Rising, kid."
"Huh, why?" Leo blurted.
Cromach sighed.
"I mean, why not specifically on him, sir?" the unicorn corrected himself meekly.
Scratching his head, Cromach noticed the small change in Leo's attitude.
"Well, I might not be the one to ask, since I'm not a pony, but you DO need all your teeth, right?"
"Yes, I suppose so..." Leo snickered.
Straw couldn't believe it, but the evil bastard from yesterday was now tame without any need for unpleasantness. The white griffon earned a lot of respect in his eyes just from those few words.
"Umm," he raised his leg, "sir?"
"Yes?" Cromach turned to him, "actually, no. We're not here to chat, we're here to train. EVERYONE, ONE CHILL LAP AROUND THE CASTLE, NO WINGS! We can talk while running."
"You're not a Royal Guard, are you?" said Straw between breaths. The group was running very slowly as everyone was curious about who they're working with, "You're here but you weren't wearing the official armor yesterday."
"Good observation...?"
"Straw Basket."
"Straw. No, I'm not a guard, I used to be one though. I work for the Order of the Silver Sun in Manehattan, but I have my responsibilities here in Canterlot as well so I help out when I can. That's why I'm here only every other week."
"You're really strong."
"Griffon Legion training. If you had to survive in the desert while carrying double your weight in equipment you'd be as well... or you'd be dead, either works."
Straw's eyes stopped on the mechanical leg.
"I've never seen anything this complicated before."
"You're not from a big city, are you?"
"Erm... no," Straw blushed.
"I didn't mean it that way. Sorry if it sounded like I thought you were stupid. You're just more open than most. Well, I can't tell you much but not many ponies or griffons, or no one else actually have ever seen technology like this. It's unique."
"And the spare one?"
"Spare one? I don't have a spare one," Cromach looked confused.
"The one on your back."
"Ooooh!" Crom snorted, "That old thing. It's a good luck charm. My... friend used to need it, I just feel like he's covering my back when I have it. Plus, it gives me hope that when I try hard enough things will work out somehow. You could say it reminds me to always give one hundred percent into any effort no matter how much it hurts."
"Sorry, didn't mean to pry, sir," it was getting hard to talk and run for Straw.
"You can't have known, it's fine. You better focus on your breathing now though, we're still only halfway there."
"Yes... sir..."
To Straw's utter horror those two exercises were really just a warm-up and the real training came after. Almost passing out in the end, he gratefully slinked back to his room at the barracks and collapsed on the bed. The promised lunch looked better and better as his muscles with the same amount of strength as noodles refused to restart.
"Fortune..."
After the training session, Cromach waved the satyr over to him.
"Yes, sir?"
"I... don't know where to start."
Fortune sighed.
"What went wrong this time?"
"We found out what happened to Apple squad. As a result, the Baker squad deployment is on hold."
Gasping, the brown-legged satyr almost jumped before coming to the conclusion that nothing good would be said today.
"Did at least somepony make it out?"
Cromach shook his head.
"You are the only one left."
Smiling sadly, Fortune sat down on the grass and hugged her knees.
"I guess closure is the best I could have gotten. So, what happened?"
"I went to the Manehattan slums myself after you escaped with the information about the cultists. It was a trap, which would have worked if we sent another group of trainees or called the guards, but they weren't ready for me. I... I have no idea who the cult were but at least one of them had to be a unicorn necromancer because your mates from Apple were waiting for me."
"You killed them?" Fortune rubbed her eyes.
"Would it be enough if I said I did?"
"No," she said firmly, "I want to know everything."
"Your friends weren't alive when I got there. Something was done to them after you got out. They weren't really ponies anymore. I really don't want to go into detail, sorry. I needed sedatives to be able to sleep for the next few days."
From what rumors Fortune had heard, the griffon in front of her had gone through unimaginable horrors during his rather short life and he was visibly shaken just talking about the events.
"Perhaps you should take a vacation, sir," Fortune's hand patted the griffon.
"I need to keep the Order together. Heavy Hoof has enough trouble on his plate after having his first training group killed and Blaze wanted to shut the operation completely, saying it should be me and him tackling this and not..."
"Who, us?"
"His words were: A bunch of foals with something to live for."
"That's stupid," Fortune scowled, "I mean, yes, that would have worked, but what if something were to happen to the two of you? We need the training only you can provide otherwise... otherwise more ponies might end up like my squad."
Crom hugged her.
"Thank you, I needed to hear that. I wasn't sure about it myself but, please, tell Blaze the same thing when you come back to Manehattan. He took it really bad and blames himself... like he always does."
"Don't worry," Fortune forced a smile, "As soon as I can mouth off to an alicorn I'll do it."
Snorting, Cromach helped her stand up.
"How are things here, anyway? Has the target been acting strange?"
"Not at all. Is it possible your source made a mistake?"
"No, he can see dark energy directly, something nopony else can. Keep observing then. Orders are still the same - kill him if he acts up. We can't afford another host to arise."
"Yes, sir," Fortune saluted and went to rest before lunch.
Rising Thunder's lesson was completely different from what Straw was expecting although it explained what Dawn had said yesterday. Rising split the group into pairs and told them to face one another while he would observe and show each pair the ropes with either a practice sword or a staff. Unfortunately, Fortune refused to pair up with Straw, saying she would kick his rump so hard he wouldn't learn anything. That, of course, gave chance to Leo.
"Up for a challenge?" the unicorn sneered at Straw.
Well, at least he's not calling me names anymore.
"Ehm sure," Straw wrapped his talons around the hilt of a heavy stick with a guard serving as a practice sword. Rising's opening lecture had explained the reason for the dummy weapon being heavier then real one was to build the right sort of muscles, ones that standard physical training didn't focus, "I've never really done anything like this before though."
"There is no point then," Rising trotted over and pointed at a different unicorn getting ready to spar with an earthpony, "You, unicorn, switch with that guy."
"Why?" Leo frowned.
"Unicorns have much easier time using weapons early in the training, especially swords. Telekinesis is quite something in that respect. There's no way the hippogriff could stand against you without previous experience."
Straw shuffled aside nervously.
"So, why does the Royal Guard accept non-unicorns?" Leo pressed the subject.
"First, unicorns can't fly, at least not without significant use of magic. Second, earthponies are much better in terms of stamina no matter how hard unicorns train. Third, most weapon trainers are NOT unicorns, care to guess why?"
"I don't see a reason. Telekinesis triumphs over any physical agility. Shield spells work better than armor and don't slow the user down," Leo stood his ground.
"Have YOU ever tried using telekinesis and magic at once?"
"Errrm, no. I haven't been in a real combat before."
"Then you will see it is much more difficult than it seems. The only unicorn I've ever met who was really good at swordfighting was unable to use magic whatsoever. Unicorn strength lies in melding both abilities together or focusing purely on magic. Still, the point stands. Right now you would easily win. Later... things usually change. All of us have a place in this world."
Shooing Leo away, Rising paired Straw with an experienced looking earthpony, a military academy graduate as it turned out.
Expecting having his ass handed to him, Straw was warmly surprised that both Rising and his opponent spent most of the time showing him standard parries and attacks rather than beating him up.
On the other hoof, what would that achieve? He was there to learn after all, not to be a punching bag for somepony better.
A less pleasant surprise awaited Straw after the training. As it turned out, due to the lack of guards the recruits were to go on patrols like a normal guard would. They would, of course, be paid half of guard salary, which was great and all, but it also meant Straw wouldn't get too much rest tonight.
Looking at his name on the pinboard back at the barracks, he just sighed sadly when his schedule sent him out on an eight-to-midnight patrol inside the castle. His mood improved slightly when he saw he would be paired with Dawn. It seemed that every recruit was paired with a more experienced guard who would show them the usual beats.
Hurting all over, this time not only from exhaustion, he set the alarm clock in his room, firmly decided to have as much rest as possible before evening.
Groaning and limping, Straw made his way to one of the staircases leading up from the ground floor of the castle. Dawn was already waiting for him, her light brown coat sharply contrasting with the official golden armor. She apparently still had some trouble with her mane as there were strands of dark brown hair sticking out from underneath her helmet. In contrast to Straw trying to stop his nervous shaking, she was simply leaning on the railing and whistling a lazy tune.
"Here you are... Grass Crate?"
"Seriously?" Straw sagged and facetaloned. Sadly, his cynicism wasn't strong enough and thus couldn't cover the fact that he managed to dislodge his helmet which tilted over his muzzle, "Stra-MHHHMPH!"
A pair of brown hooves released him from his predicament. A moment later Dawn remade the straps under his muzzle so the helmet could finally fit. Together they went up the stairs and Dawn led the way through the tall corridors of the castle.
"You looked like you needed a distraction."
"Thanks, I guess," Straw shook his head slowly, "It's just all new to me, I can barely move, and now I have to watch everything around because if somepony steals something it'll be on me. How do you deal with the pressure?"
Dawn's eyes bulged, soft snorting followed and ended in open laughter resonating within the empty halls.
"It's not THAT bad, especially when you get the castle duty. Just wait till you get to patrol lower Canterlot or the mountainside, then you'll have to keep your eyes peeled."
"I heard the Guard was understaffed."
"The Royal Guard is, the Nightguard not so much. Batponies aren't exactly welcome everywhere so they find their place by princess Luna's side in the Nightguard and most of them stay there no matter what happens. For Royal Guards it's just a job though."
"Batponies?"
"Huh, never met one before?"
"No. There are mostly earthponies where I come from."
"A frontier town?"
"Yeah."
"A big city like Canterlot must be pretty exciting then?"
"More like terrifying. Did you grow up here?"
"Mhm, my mom was princess Celestia's maid. She died a year ago and I had nowhere to go so the princess herself allowed me to join the Guard. I must say that since then I've seen my fair share of weirdness but I wouldn't trade it for anything."
"Do you mean the mechanical pony... Bucket?"
"Bucky? For one, yes. He 'joined' the Guard shortly after I did and I sort of got stuck watching over him. I think I made princess Luna mad about something, can't really remember what it was," Dawn blushed and coughed, "But hey, we've been to the Griffon Empire and back, fought a possessed alicorn, got shot at by Legion soldiers, and ran away from immortal zombies. Bucky's awesome!"
Straw felt the presence inside his head shift uncomfortably. He tried something.
"Know anything about that, whatever you are?"
"Save your questions, pawn! And yes... I do. None of your concern though."
The presence inside him felt strongly annoyed by that simple question so Straw didn't push it further. He had no idea how much of Dawn's little tale was true but since he got sort of a second opinion on that he had to admit it was a little surreal.
"That's... quite something."
"Yep," Dawn grinned, "Aren't you happy you're here watching empty hallways now?"
He couldn't help but brighten up with Dawn's contagious smile by his side. As they walked through the lower floors Straw noticed some of the windows were more ornate decorations than daylight sources. In this part of the castle the pictures on them were easy to see in the flickering light of torches hanging on the walls every few paces.
"What are these? They look important," he pointed to a window depicting six ponies sending beams of light at a black alicorn.
"This one, exactly, is the memento of the Elements of Harmony purifying princess Luna from Nightmare's control."
"A big mistake you ponies will pay for soon," growled the voice.
"I thought that was just a legend," Straw's head spun from the information. That can't have happened more than four-five years ago.
"Nope, all true. I've never met any of them aside from princess Twilight Sparkle herself though. You know what's funny? She's the one who built Bucky."
"Wow, really? Isn't she, like, about our age?"
"Mhm, she's super smart and... sort of a shut-in which would explain some stranger of Bucky's... parts. Let's leave it at that."
Straw had never had enough time to consider the usual mare-stallion chemistry so it took him a while to decipher what Dawn said. He blushed profusely when he did.
"How-how do you know?"
Dawn looked at the ceiling and whistled innocently. Straw was now threatening to set air around him on fire.
"So, ehm, what about that one," he pointed to an another ornate window, turning his head everywhere but to Dawn. This one showed a purple alicorn fighting a strange four-legged beast with minotaur torso and head.
"That's princess Twilight fighting Tirek, a dark beast locked in Tartarus who could steal magic and divine power from ponies. The princesses gave Twilight their power because they knew Tirek would go after them first. Without stealing their magic, Tirek was vulnerable and princess Twilight found a way to defeat him. That was... a year and something ago, if I remember correctly."
Their slow-paced patrol through the lower floors led them to another staircase where the white and gold decorations gradually turned into dark blue and silver ones. The halls grew considerably darker as the amount of torches on the walls went lower. Even Straw, as lacking in knowledge as he was, could make the connection that the upper floors were the domain of the princess of the night.
As the darkness thickened Dawn pulled a small lantern out and hanged it on her belt. Her eyes stopped on another window painting for a moment, making Straw take notice. He couldn't recognize any of the ponies there...
...at least not at first. His mouth was agape.
"You... you have a window here in the castle?" he kept looking from Dawn to the window.
The scene was mostly theatrical but Straw could make out an airship on which a laughing white pegasus was standing while watching a group on the ground. Dawn was there, the chocolate mane and brown coat being the greatest clue. Cromach was there, the white of his body contrasting with his bright green eyes. Bucket was there as well, making Straw wonder how the artist managed to make him easily distinguishable from the real ponies and a griffon. The last three, no... four, ponies were unknown to him.
Straw was going to ask about them but then he saw the next picture and stopped.
"TRAITOR! MURDERER! THIEF! HE WILL BRING ETERNAL SUFFERING TO ALL LIFE."
Groaning, Straw was seeing double as the waves of pure hatred and rage rammed against his skull from the inside. He was about to fall but when his legs gave up he just leaned against Dawn's side.
"You okay?" her voice was weak but it still made its way in.
The pain was gone as quickly as it came. He nodded carefully.
"Just... just tired, sorry."
"We can have a break if you want. It's not as if anypony would sneak in here anyway. As far as I know there's a Nightguard on watch up here as well."
They sat down by the wall and Straw looked at the window which had set whatever was inside him off.
Four ponies and a griffon were the focus of that one but in much greater detail than the last one. It was simply an ornate portrait rather than a scene with an alabaster griffon, a blue-maned, white earthpony, and a red-eyed, red-maned, black pony with bat wings sitting in front of an orange, blonde-maned alicorn with wings spread around them. One of the wings was made of fire and the other of black ice. By the alicorn's side there stood a blue-maned, black unicorn looking at the group shyly.
"So, the griffon is agent Cromach, right?" Straw pointed his talon at the window, "Despite him having both front legs."
"Yeah, he lost his leg just over half year ago."
"Who are the others though? I haven't heard of an alicorn other than the royal sisters."
"Well, most of what I can tell you about the alicorn is hearsay and gossip. Remember the previous picture, the airship one? Me and Bucket accompanied Heavy Hoof, the blue-maned earthpony, on a rescue mission to find Cromach, commander Darky, and Blazing Light who got lost in the Griffon Empire. The pegasus on the airship got all of us out of there... well, almost all of us."
"So, commander Darky... she's that batpony you talked about, the wings and sharp teeth?"
"Yeah, Heavy Hoof is now a baron who leads some strange order in Manehattan. Darky is the head of the Nightguard here in Canterlot but I heard she was looking for a replacement. Can't really tell you anything about the alicorn, sorry."
"What about the shadow unicorn?"
"Oooooh... can't help you there either. Apparently, his name is Mistake, that's all I know."
"A name befitting an abomination created from stolen power. Stand up and get out of here! Ths place makes me sick."
Not waiting for another fit, Straw stood up.
"Well, we're not gonna finish our rounds by sitting here."
"If you're feeling better," Dawn just shrugged and led the way again.
The night progressed and a clear white orb brightened up the sky. Moonlight and torches lit the top floor of the castle as the duo walked onwards. A quick glance around made Straw take notice of a strange shimmer behind a clear window. It looked as if a long, see-through vine was hanging outside.
Straw opened his mouth to ask about it.
"Be quiet!"
The pressure in the voice reeked of... despair?
"Don't let it know you see it."
"What is it?"
"Look deeper into the hall but, no matter what, don't look straight at it."
In the same way as the invisible vines there was something moving further down the hall. Dawn went on and on about some servant gossip without noticing it whatsoever. He had no choice but to follow her. Stopping here would mean acknowledging the presence slowly getting closer.
"WHAT IS IT?"
Straw tried not to look, he really did, but when invisible tendrils slid over Dawn's back he couldn't help himself. As soon as he looked in the direction of... shimmering nothing it stopped. The air tensed and the shimmer moved closer to his neck.
"Fool..."
Dawn shivered and sneezed.
"Whoa, it's drafty in here. Somepony must have left a window open."
Straw jumped at the lifeline thrown to him. He had no idea whether it would work but it was the only chance. He turned his head from the shimmer onwards and squinted into darkness.
"Yeah, I was looking around to see if there was one but I can't make anything out in this darkness."
The invisible tendrils moved and left Straw. It meant the creature understood their language and felt safe again.
"Hmm, weird. Perhaps the Nightguard saw somepony outside and followed them through the window."
Trying not to imagine a strangled batpony hanging from the 'vines' outside, Straw mustered his self-control and simply answered:
"Probably."
"Okay. Talk."
"Do not address me like that, servant!"
"TALK! It almost snapped my neck and ate her."
"They are called observers. No one and nothing can see them other than those who came directly in contact with them before. You can see them because of me."
"What are you?"
"The one who has saved you multiple times now."
That topic was closed.
"What do those things want here then?"
"They herald the coming of our kin. Our grasp over this world is weakening and there are those who want it."
"Can't we do something?"
"When I think of something I will act. Right now there is nothing we can do to stop their incursion. Fortunately, they will not threaten anyone unless engaged or seen."
"That's at least something."
Apparently, smalltalk wasn't the voice's strong side.
Looking straight ahead and barely listening to Dawn, Straw got through the patrol and returned to the barracks. Then, he drew the curtains, locked the door, set the alarm clock, wrapped himself in a blanket, and hid his head under a pillow.
Somehow it didn't feel enough.
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Wait... this is Nightmare, right..?
And yet it not only can't conceal its own thoughts... AND it is being half honest, with something it never really needed to?
...curiouser and curiouser.
...uh, wines? So... a thing made out "an alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice." attacked him? ...what even are you talking about?
Invisible tentical monsters that hate being seen....
"fun"
Why is he still take it with himself?
Wha... When did he?!..
Straw, you are in trouble. But this isn't the bigger one...
Funny.
Well that’s Sombra then not the nightmare
Edit: or maybe not I’m not sure what to make of this because the voice while seeming to belong to nightmare isn’t acting as it did in the past
11270531
I'm not going to say "Soon(TM)" but I'll say "Eventually(TM)".