A Steady Wind - Part II
A steady wind carried minuscule frozen flakes from the heavens down to earth, so lightly adding to the amounts of snow already blanketing the trees and grass, coating the rooftops of little sleepy cottages and shops around the village of Hollow Shades. No mind was paid to the snowflakes as residents went about their yearly festivities. A rumor had been said at one of the merchant stands that these early Hearth's Warming celebrations went on throughout the night until the sun were to crest the eastern horizon.
While ponies played and danced about the town, having the time of their lives, a group of nine ponies retreated to the inn located less than a block from the very center of town. Cold and exhausted from the lengthy day, a good night's sleep was in order. Tomorrow would be no different.
The group almost evenly divided by stallions and mares exchanged their good-nights, parting ways to head into their own separate rooms neighboring each other. In spite of the mass of noise from down a few buildings, no one pony was spared by the spell of sleep. Some passed out the moment their bodies collapsed to the bed, the rest at least managing to tuck in completely before dozing off themselves.
As soon as all went black, a crescent moon rose up above the horizon. Stars twinkled around them, scattered in all directions, even beneath Night's hooves. A strong breeze blew across the imaginary field, forcing his mane and tail to bounce gently before it subsided.
He sat down carefully, eyes gazing up at the moon as it settled in the sky above him. Night's lips pursed with a warm smile, eyes closing as he took in the gentle light it emanated, even if he was already aware that this was a dream.
Ears perking up, he opened his eyes, looking curiously up at the moon as a shadowed figure began descending from it, wings gently flapping at its sides. In the light, the shadows faded away, the silhouette revealing itself to be Princess Luna, her voice sooth as silk as she spoke.
"Night Shadow..." She smiled, like any other warm smile he knew, approaching the seated stallion.
"Luna..." Night replied, returning the smile and bowing his head.
They each looped hooves around each other in a brief embrace in advance of the night alicorn sitting inches from Night's hooves.
"We did not get a chance to talk before thou left with his squad mates, so we arranged this meeting in thy dreams!" Luna declared, her hooves overlapping before her.
But, in an instant, her tone changed. "Why are you here, Night?"
Night blinked twice. His heart began pounding a bit faster now. He could not risk lying, for Luna would catch his bluff almost immediately. She was in his mind, speaking to him through dreams, after all.
"Something strange occurred to me in Baltimare, something I, on my best day, can't explain or even come close to," he responded with obvious angst.
Worriedly, Luna scooted closer, resting one hoof on Night's. "I sense your turbulence, your dire need for answers. What happened, Night?"
"A pony... just out of the blue... up and disappeared when I engaged in combat with him! I heard him rob a mare, no, I watched him rob a mare in her own home, then run off!" He explained as best he could. "I caught up with him, he fought back harder, Red Knight came in and took him down, and poof, he was gone. Just like that, into a cloud of dust."
"Magic, perhaps?" Luna suggested, forming a mane brush out of pure particles, gently fixing up the stuck-out strands of his mane.
"He was an earth pony. There's no way it could even be possible, but that's... not the strangest part."
"Then, tell me. What was?"
"We went back to the home to check up on the mare, and... there was no mare. The pony who lived there was sleeping the entire time, and he was alone!"
Luna briefly froze, but then continued to brush his mane. "Yes? What else?"
"I don't know. Luna... did I imagine it, was I hallucinating?" Night looked up at her slowly, his eyes soaked with tears and concern. "Am I going crazy?"
Luna stopped what she was doing, letting go of the brush from her magical grip. It slowly dissolved into a breeze that wasn't there. The night matriarch began to stroke her hoof down his back slowly, between his folded-up wings.
"If such a silly idea came true, how would you assume your friend feels after watching the exact same thing you did?"
She did have a point. Red Knight was a witness, too. At least he finally realized he wasn't alone. Not that it made him feel much better in the long run...
"But can he come up with a reason behind his disappearance?" Night added.
Luna frowned at his question, nonetheless continuing to stroke his furry back. "Occurrences such as these are not nearly close to things an entity such as Discord could conjure up. For all we know, this could very well be his own doing as a joke."
"Maybe... but, why me? Why would he target me out of the blue for his pranks?"
"There is no real logic behind his actions. He seems to do what ever he wishes, as long as it is within tolerable limits to Equestrian law," Luna softly sighed. "He is no longer evil, although, it seems his thirst for laughter is never quenched, and may never be until the end of time."
"Will he ever stop? If he is truly behind all of these... strange things?"
Luna nodded. "At some point, yes. He will move on to the next unfortunate pony. He seems to have a habit of choosing ponies within Equestria's royalty and its security detail."
Night let out a gentle sigh. "I simply hope it ceases soon. You know how well I tolerate anxiety."
Luna moved her hoof up to stroke Night's mane. "Yes, yes. I know."
Her chin lifted slightly, ears perking to a faint, distant humming. Night's ears latched on soon after, his head lifting and eyes scanning around the starry eternity. "Do you hear that?"
"I hear everything you do, Night. I believe you should find the source and speak to whom it leads to," Luna said, standing up and beginning to levitate back up towards the moon, a breeze brushing back over the stallion.
"Wait... where is it? Am I going to wake up?!" Night called after her, standing and raising his hoof up to her, in hopes of keeping her for just a moment longer.
A bright light grew as Luna disappeared into the moon, the light enveloping Night completely as he began to squint and cover his eyes with a hoof.
***
Eyes blinking open, Night sat upright, hoof on his forehead as he stared forward. The room around him was extremely dark, window curtains overlapping each other and muffled chatter and clutter from outside as the Hearth's Warming festivities resumed without him.
Glancing to his side, he saw Lodestar asleep in his bed, back turned to him and snoring softly. He breathed a quiet, relieving sigh, prior to perking once more as the mysterious, faint humming returned.
Find the source and speak to whom it leads to, Night repeated mentally, tossing the sheets off of his lower half.
He set a hoof down on the floor beside his bed, his other coming down atop his gear back, steel briefly clanking within the bag and forcing Night to freeze in place, turning to make sure he hadn't startled the dark cyan pony out of his slumber.
Relieved again, Night cautiously avoided the bag, standing in place to listen for the source of the humming. Carefully, he determined a direction. It was coming from a few rooms down.
Without waking Lodestar, he exited the room, striding down the lantern-lit hall to Scarlet Iris' room, knocking on the door twice. It opened following the second knock on its own, leading into the half-darkened room, gradually becoming lighter the closer to the window he went.
Pushing through the door, Night did not have to look around for long, finding the dark grey thestral mare standing on the small balcony, just outside the sliding door that separated it from the room itself. She hummed softly to herself, mane bouncing in the frigid breeze.
He knew of her as a karaoke singer, much less so a vocal one. Karaoke was just for fun, though it was already evident she had other singing talent. Her voice was wonderful. Beautiful, even.
"You should sing like that more often, it really is quite nice," Night said with a weak hint of sleepiness behind his smile.
Scarlet jumped slightly, a hoof lifting as she snapped her head back to look at him. Her cheeks exploded with red, her hoof scratching behind her head. "Oh, I-I'm sorry. I didn't think I would... actually attract you here."
Night strode up slowly, closing the room's door behind them. "Let's just say a friend told me to follow the voice."
Her deep red eyes darted off to the left, cheeks still heated as Night now stood beside her on the balcony. "Who was it?"
"Oh, just a friend," Night teased. "What's got you up and out here?"
"I should ask you the same for the real reason, but I won't," she sighed softly, resting her forehooves on the balcony's railing, overlooking the energetic center of town as it remained lit up with activity.
"I haven't been here in so long, Night. I never thought I would get to see it again," she admitted lowly.
Night's smile faded away, too leaning up on the ledge. "So, you are from here?"
A pin could have dropped at this very moment from outside the closed suite door and be loud as a cannon for how silent they became. Scarlet's chin lowered as she rested against the railing, nasally sighing.
"You want to know why I never told anypony?" She asked, eyes faintly glassing and reflecting more nearby light than moments ago.
"As long as you feel it's appropriate," Night kept his eyes on her, his ears swiveling back.
"I've said enough already, might as well spill the beans, am I right?" She gently nudged him, trying to crack a joke out of it, but failing this one time. Her frown quickly returned. "To keep it short, I hated it here."
"But, why? If you ask me, if or when I leave the Guard, this definitely makes the top five places I'd retire to."
"It's not the scenery, Night," Scarlet sighed. "It's the ponies."
Night blinked twice, puzzled. "What about them?"
"They're superstitious. They're... old fashioned. They're everything ponies aren't meant to be in this day and age."
"What is that supposed to mean? Besides, the way Duskbloom put it earlier... is none of that true?" Night's head cocked to the side.
"I never said I was denying it. He just... had it better. Believe it or not, in our small colony, we'd never crossed paths, nor have me and Halfmoon. I'm not talking about wealth, either, because everypony was equally rich... or poor," her deep red eyes scanned over the village and to the frolicking ponies.
"So, the ponies here. Why are they not what they're supposed to be?" Night questioned, still stumped by all of this.
Scarlet let out a deep sigh, turning to briefly glance at Night. "Despite the lengths we went to ensure peace between us and the town folk, many of us were still treated like outcasts, like our ancestors before Equestria was founded. It was like you said, this town is frozen in time. No pony here cares about the world around them."
"Perhaps it's for the best, but... I prefer to think of it as for the worst for how my family was treated," she closed her eyes.
"Were you ever..." Night froze, proceeding to not finish his question. "Never mind."
The two of them rested across the railing, overlooking the town from the second story balcony, moonlight trying to peek through a break in the snow clouds above.
"You really... should be in bed, Captain," Scarlet's tone instantaneously changed. "It's late already."
"I won't sleep until you do," Night replied.
"Then you will be up a while," Scarlet turned to face away.
"Better than ignoring your feelings and leaving you out here by yourself," Night weakly smiled.
A very faint blush crossed her cheeks, thankfully, to her, hidden by the darkness and her coat color. "You're really sweet."
"Is that a bad thing?" Night's ear flicked gently.
"Only if you think of it that way," Scarlet answered quietly.
Night stared in silence at the turned mare, easing himself off of the railing to stand up straight. "Well... if you really want me to leave..." he began to turn.
Scarlet's heart began pumping faster in her chest, mind racing in all sorts of directions. She didn't want him to leave just yet. She didn't want him to leave.
A hoof rested on Night's shoulder, causing him to stop. He was turned to face a pair of stunning red eyes. Before he could speak, their maws met, Scarlet pressing into a deep kiss with Night, ultimately stunning him as his golden irises shrunk to pinpricks and cheeks bursting with heat.
His lids closed gradually, pushing back into the kiss, head slightly tilting as Scarlet begun to make out with him. His own heart thumped in his chest, wings fluttering at his sides.
Holding the kiss, Scarlet pressed Night back inside, Night slipping onto his back with Scarlet on top, not once parting their muzzles. Night reached his hooves up, stroking up and down the thestral mare's shoulders and down her back, whilst Scarlet let out a soft noise he'd never heard in his life.
For a mare who always flirted with him, this was all too real.
He loved it.
***
"All right, double check your bags, make sure you have everything you need. I would hate for one of you to force us to wait longer than we should have just because you missed one small piece," Night ordered, standing in the hall with the rest of his squad mates.
Each of them, including Night himself, went over the gear in their bags. Bows, arrows, swords, knives, medical kits, and every little thing in between. When all were certain nothing was forgotten, they perked up to face Night, who then led them downstairs, and out of the hotel.
"Where are we headed, Captain?" Halfmoon asked from the near-end of the line, with Duskbloom by her side.
"First, we are stopping by the head of the Hollow Shades' guard branch. He has requested to have a word with myself and Sergeant Lodestar before we move out into the forests away from town, that's where we will be spending our days here," Night explained, leading them around a corner.
"This place has a guard branch?" Zipline questioned.
"Believe it or not, yes, it does. Every town needs one. No place is crime-free," Lodestar was the one to answer this time. "Captain Night Shadow has been in close contact with him in recent weeks, he said."
Night unnoticeably winced at that. Putting up this act for much longer was bound for repercussions. Only a week longer and it would be behind him—hopefully.
Approaching a sturdy-looking concrete structure half-built on the outside of a short hill, two armored thestrals stood on either sides of the steel-reinforced door, one a mare and the other a stallion. One's eyes moved to the approaching group of stallions and mares and shifting to block the door.
"State your name and your business here," the mare shouted, the stallion wincing and turning to her.
"There's no need to yell like that, they are right in front of us," he grumbled.
"We are here to meet with Lieutenant Colonel Norealis. He has asked of us to have a word with him this morning," Night replied, bringing out his guard badge from beneath his armor. "Captain Night Shadow, Lunar Zodiac Guard."
The stallion took the badge, examining it thoroughly, then handed it back. "All right, you may go in. All of you."
"Thank you," Night nodded once, striding through the now-open door after the guards shifted out of the way, the rest of his squad following close behind as they entered.
Walking past the guards, three of them received suspicious looks, continuing on their way without saying a word. Scarlet Iris walked a little bit faster, receiving the look from the mare, Halfmoon ignoring their looks, and finally Duskbloom returning with a cold glare directed right towards the stallion.
Either side had their reasons to be suspicious of each other. These were unknown ponies, three of which looked like they were from here. This was unknown territory, especially where it sounded as if some sort of violence was a normality.
Another armored pony joined them in their walk, guiding them toward a set of all-glass doors that led into a windowless room with a large chair-surrounded table in the center, with maps and projection screens all around.
Night paused just a few steps from the door, turning back to the others, excluding Lodestar. "Wait out here, perhaps? This shouldn't take much longer than a minute or two."
The guard stuck by the others as they stood in line in the hallway, setting their gear down to relax for this moment. Night and Lodestar continued through the doors, allowing them to close before Night spoke.
"Nice weather we're having today, isn't it?"
A pair of tufted ears perked up, the taller thestral pony in a black suit facing a topographical map on the wall turning, his strangely circular-irised dark lavender eyes setting on Night. "Yes, but, I always bring an umbrella."
Smiling softly, Night walked around the table to the stallion, eyes briefly darting up to the backwards-curved horn sticking up through his iron-colored mane. The two met half way, shaking hooves firmly.
"It is stupendously wonderful to have you here, at long last," nodded the pony. "You must be Sergeant Lodestar," he reached his hoof out.
Lodestar nodded once, shaking his hoof. "Aye, that's me. Pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine, gentleponies. You are here for training exercises, yes?"
The two armored ponies nodded. "Yes, that is correct, Lieutenant Colonel. Team bonding, to be more precise," Night responded.
"Ahh, yes, team bonding, the best type of operation. Focusing more on each other than what you were originally there for," Norealis smirked slightly, one of his fangs showing off. "I wish the best for all of you. If I may, I would like to send two of my own to accompany you and watch over your training to ensure nopony interferes."
"That would be fine," Night nodded with a smile.
"Splendid," Norealis smiled. "On a slight change of subject, I have heard of your actions in your own colony, Captain, what you have done for your colony."
"Oh yeah? Was it good, or bad?" Night chuckled softly.
"All good things," Norealis waved a hoof. "You have performed an outstanding duty for our race. I also wish the best for your future in reuniting all of the colonies and restoring ponies to their original state of peace and harmony."
"Thank you, sir," Night bowed his head slightly. "Now, there was something you wanted to ask us both?"
***
Regrouping with the others, the same guard escorted the squad out of the structure, watching over each of them carefully as they left, the two guards at the entrance doing the same, tossing looks at the thestrals in the group, and the ones of their own who now accompanied the squad.
A nearby split-off took the group away from town, leading them out towards the snowy countryside. A suitable spot would be at least a mile or two from Hollow Shades to ensure nopony not a part of the exercises would accidentally be injured.
Minutes passed, and with the town a short distance behind them, they had come across a widely-open, hilly area with some small clusters of trees scattered in between the clearing. This was the most perfect of areas, where some of the trees could replace targets for arrow shooting.
Slipping a folded map and a pencil from his bag, Night spread it out, gripping the pencil between his teeth as he marked over the area carefully.
"All right, briefing time," he said, receiving a few groans from the group and bringing a soft chuckle out of some others, including himself.
From there, Night began going over the plans for the day, pointing out what areas would be used for specific tests day by day, as well as watch positions for the guards Norealis assigned with them.
Little did any one of them know, they were being observed like mice in a maze.
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Dang. I didn't know you would actually make their interactions go that far. Nonetheless, I didn't know Scarlet would actually make a move like that. That's my girl!
Also, I noticed this pretty little gem:
Nice Captain America reference.
7667581 Glad you caught it!
I didn't go wrong with her little move though, did I?
7667642 While Scarlet's advance on him was surprising, I do approve of her decision. Besides, how much tail does Night get?
7667658 Only one way to find out. ;)
7667675 I can't wait to see what more happens between them.
Way to go Scarlet! But aren't romantic relations in the guard kind of taboo?
7668077 With Night's rank, exceptions can be made.
7668085 niiice.
Sorry I somehow missed this.
Wait... the first sentence makes it sound like these things are too hard to Discord, but the second sentence makes it sound like he could do it...
Luna is a shipper. That is so adorable....
Except when the volcano erupted. It was much higher then. Your author's notes have been sounding sarcastic as of late...
Wondering where you are going with this, and hoping it'll be awesome!
7681150 Couldn't conjure up as in he wouldn't do it in an evil kind of way.
Boutta get real nasty up in here, my booty is ready!! Also I love that romance, Thundy.~ Keep. It. Up. :^)