Chapter 20: Dawn
Chapter 20: Dawn
“You did fine, Star.” Stivers sighed, placing a hand gingerly on the pegasus’ shoulder. “You did fine. It wasn’t your fault.”
“I did what you told me to!” Star shrilled. He backed up slowly, scraping his forehooves against the rocks and stone, leaving long, bloody smears behind as he tried to wipe them clean. “He just needs rest, he said so himself!”
“Star—”
The pegasus jerked backward, then bolted forward, leaping over the body of his friend to where his spear lay in the dirt. “I got this, Shadow, don’t worry.”
“Star!”
Shining Star seized his weapon and turned around, his teeth bared, to glare at the hunched form of William where he had lain, almost forgotten. “I got this, no problem.” His wings flared, and he shoved himself skyward, launching himself toward the gryphon.
William had been lying almost sideways, propped up on one foreclaw, staring at Shadow’s motionless form. The fledgeling gryphon recoiled reflexively from Star and flopped backwards over into the mud, his hindpaws flailing and sending up ropes of dirty earth and water. “No! I didn’t—”
He slipped while trying to stand, and Star’s weapon slid through the air centimeters from his shoulder, slamming into the ground and ricocheting as it connected with the rock just below the thin veneer of earth. It flew back into the air, quivering, and landed crosswise on William’s lap. The gryphon made no move to touch it, but continued to slide backwards, blubbering, his wings and fur now coated in mud.
“Oh sweet Jesus,” Taylor moaned. He lunged forward and grabbed at Star’s hindhoof, the only part of the hovering pony within reach. “Star! Lay off! It won’t help!”
“The hell it won’t,” Gruebel snarled. “Hold on, Star, I’ll give you a hand.” The Marine started walking toward the downed gryphon, his fists clenched at his sides. “Hold him down. I’ll pull the little fucker’s wings off and stuff them down his throat.”
“Do it!” Thompson yelled.
Shining Star ignored them all as he retrieved his weapon, lining it up carefully as if he were a carpenter about to drive in a particularly troublesome nail. Taylor reached forward and grabbed hold of the forepart of the pony’s spear just under the metal tip, holding it fast. “Star! Back off! That’s an order!”
Midnight Arrow looked at the humans, then glanced over at Sword, a look of dread creeping over her face. “Captain?”
Sword stood motionless, his gaze slightly unfocused, as if the stallion was thinking over a particularly troublesome quiz question that had been put before him. He made no response, standing still next to Shadow’s body, the rain drizzling down the length of his drooping forelock and cascading in a chain of droplets from his chin.
“Piss on that, Lieutenant!” Gruebel yelled. “Let him do it!”
Stivers moved to stand up, slipping and catching himself with one hand. “Gruebel! You secure that shit, right now!”
Gruebel turned his head, opening his mouth to reply, and jerked to a stop as a hand descended upon his right shoulder in a firm grip. He glanced angrily around, his gaze travelling up the arm that had seemingly anchored him in place. “You gotta be kidding me. You gonna take up for that little bastard?”
Gallivan stared back at him calmly. “Captain gave you an order, Marine.” His grip did not lessen in the slightest. “Besides, you don’t wanna do this.” His voice rose. “Star! Stand down. Give us a hand and help secure the perimeter. Let’s make sure there’s no more bad guys waitin around to stick us in the ass when we move out.”
Star’s ear twitched, but the pegasus remained hovering in place, glaring down at William. The gryphon crouched motionless in the mud, face tucked under one wing, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. The pony motioned with his spear again, but Taylor’s grip held it fast.
“Star. Listen to me.” Taylor’s voice was low. “Don’t do this. You do, you’ll be waking up with the kid’s face staring at you from your dreams for the rest of your life.” He leaned in close, until his face blocked the guard’s view, staring the pony down. “Please, Star. I’m asking you, as a friend. Back off.”
“A friend?” Star’s jaw clenched. “My best friend is lying in the mud back there. And this dungheap helped make it happen.” He quivered, his tail lashing angrily at the empty air. “What if it was Lieutenant Midnight lying back there? What would you do to him?”
“I’d eat the little fucker’s liver.”
Star blinked at that, actually looking at the pilot for the first time.
“I understand, Star, I swear to God, I do. But it won’t make it better.” Taylor glanced over Star’s shoulder, and then back to the pegasus. “We still need your help, Star. Let’s go take care of Shadow and get the fuck out of here. Okay?” He locked eyes with the pony and deliberately let go of the spear hovering between them. “Let’s go home.”
Shining Star’s jaw clenched, the muscle rippling under his cheek for a moment. “All of you can just go straight to hell.” His voice broke on the last word and the pony backed air for a moment, moving away, then spun and descended back to the ground, his hooves making a squelching sound in the mud as he trotted back to where Shadow lay. Crimson Hoof stood aside to make room for him and moved over next to Gruebel and Gallivan.
Taylor watched Star carefully until the pony was well out of reach, then glanced down at William. The gryphon had opened one eye and was peering up at him, blinking rapidly as the rain pelted down on both of them. “Th-thanks, I thought ‘e was—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Taylor snarled, ignoring the stares from behind him. “Just hearing your beak clacking makes me want to finish the job myself. You want to tell me just why in the hell you decided to sell us down the goddamned river? Because that’s the only thing left I really want from you, you little shit. Why? Did they promise to buy you a fucking pint of beer?”
William flinched away, curling up into himself. “I ‘ad to!” he shouted back, his voice rising and falling in quavering tones. “‘Dey… my da’, ‘dey—”
“If you blame this on your dad again, I’m going to kick you like a fucking football,” Taylor hissed. “We heard that story before and it doesn’t wash.”
“No!” William howled. “I di’n’t lie t’ you, I swear it! I… they caught me, back at the pass, before you came. I thought they were gonna send me back home, but then Major Edric and that lot showed up.” He gestured at the ruined form of the gryphon guard commander. “Tol’ me I was to go find you, and follow along, be a guide, anyt’ing ta stay wit’ you and find out what you were actually doing ‘ere. If I di’n’t do the job right, ‘dey would’a killed me da… and me mum…”
“Oh for Christ’s sake.” Gruebel ran both hands through his dripping hair. “Why the fuck didn’t you say something? We coulda helped somehow! We could have given you some bullshit line, thrown them off!”
“‘Dey followed us from the moment we left Clawttowa,” William replied. “It wouldn’t’a worked. ‘Dey would have killed me and me family for that.”
“Well, one of our boys paid the price instead,” Thompson grated. He picked up a rock and flung it down the trail, his face contorted in a snarl. “Guess things worked out for ya after all, huh?”
William shrank back, his adolescence making his words break as he spoke. “I swear to you, I did na’ know ‘dey’d kill any of you, they just told me to find out why you’s was ‘ere an’ tell ‘em. I mean, yeah, I was hopin’ they’d scare you a bit before, cause I was mad at you before but I... ” He looked from one of them to the next, searching the eyes that stared back at him. Only Sword did not meet his gaze, the pegasus still sitting beside Shadow and staring out at the rain drenched forest beyond them. The gryphon’s voice dropped away to almost nothing. “I thought they’d just take the thing and lea’ me alone.”
Just a kid. Just a dumbass kid caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Jesus please us, what a balls-up. Taylor sighed slowly, glancing briefly heavenward before looking back at the others. Crimson Hoof had moved forward and was eyeing William speculatively, while the rest of the group had formed a circle around Shadow’s body. “Well, you thought wrong, buddy. That ain’t the way the damned world works.”
William’s chest hitched, his tears lost in the rain. “I’m sorr—”
“To hell with you and your being sorry, because it doesn’t mean a damned thing, now.” Hoof’s voice was almost conversational in tone as he moved up to stand beside Taylor. “My friend is dead, and sorry doesn’t help.”
Midnight’s ears arched in alarm as she saw the other pony’s body tense. “Hoof! Don’t—”
Hoof’s sword flashed out in a liquid gleam as he stepped forward, knocking into Taylor and sending the human stumbling backward in an attempt to regain his balance. The pony shoved William roughly over onto his belly and slapped a forehoof down, pinning the youngster’s left wing in place. “I have a better idea.”
Taylor reached out with one hand, grabbing at Crimson Hoof, and came away with a handful of hair from the pony’s tail. “Hoof! Wait!”
Ignoring them all, Hoof swung his weapon down at the exposed wing trapped beneath him. William screeched and jerked as feathers flew up from the strike, but the pegasus ignored him as he switched sides and repeated the motion on the gryphon’s other wing. The whole operation took perhaps six seconds, and the pony stepped away, a satisfied look on his face. “There.”
Taylor gripped Hoof’s shoulder, pulling him backward and away from the gryphon floundering in the mud. “What the hell was that?”
“He’s fine. I just gave him a little taste of something he’ll remember for a while.” Crimson Hoof regarded William evenly from where he stood. “I clipped your wings, Willie. Nice and even on both sides, because I really hate sloppy work. And you’d better remember that, because you have something to do now, and if you screw it up, so help me I’ll hunt you down and make a cape out of you.” He took a step forward his voice ramping up to a shout. “LOOK AT ME!”
William had stopped flailing about and was sprawled ungainly several feet from the pony and human, his breath coming in rapid gasps as he stared at the rent in his wings. He jerked at the shout, his gaze snapping up to lock onto the pony’s face.
“That’s right. Now you walk away from here and get out of my sight. Shag your little ass back to the monastery and you remember what you did here with every damned step you take. You remember how it feels to have something important taken away from you.” Hoof leaned closer. “Feathers grow back. You’ll fly again.” He jabbed a forehoof back at where Shadow lay. “He won’t. You remember that when you take your next flight, and every bucking flight you ever make again, you remember what you stole from us.” His lip curled. “You wanna sing songs about history? You can start right there. Now get the hell out of here.”
The gryphon stayed frozen in place, trembling, staring at Hoof like a bird trapped in the gaze of a viper.
“I said get OUT!”
Hoof lunged forward, and William recoiled, scrambling backward and tripping over a protruding rock. He fell flat and lurched upright again, gathering his legs under him and sprinting away, shying away from the others as he shot back up the trail and vanished from sight.
“Gruebel, Hoof, Star, Midnight.” Stivers stood slowly, waiting until he had their attention. I want a full sweep of the immediate area. Make sure there are no leftovers out there. Move.” He watched as they moved sluggishly, as if they’d just awakened from some deep sleep. This is bad. The Marine took a deep breath and then crouched back down, placing a hand on Golden Sword’s foreleg, needing the physical contact. “Sword?”
The stallion blinked and looked over at him. “Hm?”
“Sword, we need to get moving. Are you okay?”
“What? Oh, yes, I’m quite fine, thank you.” The pony glanced down at himself reflexively. “A bit wet, but that’ll sort itself out.”
Fine, my ass. “Sword, we have to get moving. There could be another ambush out there, or God knows what. But we can’t stay here right now.” Stivers kept his voice even. “Do you want me to take care of it?”
“What?” Golden Sword blinked, then turned to look directly at Stivers. “No, no… no. I’ll… I’m fine.” He stood up slowly, peering around them and watching as Gruebel and the others swept the ground around them. “Thank you, Captain. Once they’re done, we’ll need to… take care of him.” He swallowed. “I’ll get Star and—“
“No. Not here. I’ll carry him, sir.” Gallivan stepped up and knelt down, pulling his pack free and pulling his bedroll from the mass of material inside. “Star can march with me, if you want. We’ll get Shadow out of here and someplace… better.”
The two officers watched in silence as Gallivan spread his bedroll out flat, the water soaking immediately into the thick material. The Marine stood and walked around them, then knelt down and picked up Shadow’s body carefully, rising with a grunt of effort. He moved over and lay the pony down on the material, folding it over him gently. He stopped to brush Shadow’s forelock back, smoothing it down, then covered the pony’s face with a flap of the bedroll.
“Hang tight, fella,” Gallivan murmured. “Just a little bit farther, and then you can rest, just like we promised.” He slid his hands under the bedroll and lifted the mass carefully, settling it on his shoulder, the pony’s form bending it into a sad “U” shape.
“Are you going to be okay carrying him?” Stivers asked. “I’d like to get to the main road before we stop.”
“I’m fine, sir.” Gallivan looked at them calmly. “I’ll carry him as far as I need to.”
“Very well.” Stivers looked behind him up the path and saw Midnight Arrow moving towards them. “Report.”
“Nothing, sir. If there’s any more of them, they’re long gone.”
“All right.” Stivers raised his voice. “Fall in! Let’s get moving, people. I want to be back to the road down there by sundown. Star.” He lowered his voice. “Drop back with Gallivan, help him if he needs it.”
Star glanced at the tall Marine with the bulky bundle over his shoulder, then looked back to Stivers, his cheek twitching. “Yes, sir.” The pony moved to take up station beside Gallivan and stood, waiting silently, for the others to begin moving.
Gallivan glanced down. “Don’t worry, Star. I’ll take care of him.”
“I know, Sarge.” Star kept his gaze locked forward as they began to move. “Just be careful, okay? He’s a big pony, and tough to handle if you don’t do it right.”
Golden Sword stood still for a moment, letting his gaze roam over the rocky peaks on the eastern side of the road. The lower faces of the mountains were cast in shadow, with the upper reaches of the precipices still bathed in the golden-scarlet light of late afternoon. The rain had cleared off, and the sun was finally peeking through rents in the clouds overhead. Far overhead, where they belonged.
They had at last descended back to the trading highway that the gryphons used, and the group had stopped there, as the wide open spaces and clear sightlines offered much better protection than the closeness of the mountain trail. They had actually made reasonable time getting back down here, which was well enough, for they had work that lay ahead of them before they could think about stopping to rest. For one of them would stop to rest here forever.
Sword drew in a deep breath and turned around to look at the others. They had begun to gather slowly, in the area they had chosen, a small group of trees that had all grown up around a large boulder. A deep gouge had been driven in the earth here, the freshly turned dirt piled neatly to one side. Shadow’s body lay at the foot of it, still wrapped neatly in Gallivan’s bedroll, and Sword’s group stood to one side of the open grave, in formation.
He heard a low voice utter a command, and watched as the humans approached, marching in a neat line. There was something slightly different about their appearance as they formed up on the opposite side of the grave, and it took him a moment to spot it. Each one of them had on a sort of odd cap or hat, flat on the sides and pointed at either end. The rays of the setting sun flashed off of metal on the ends of their caps; peering closer, Sword could see a small round ball with an anchor and an eagle on it, made out of a dull bronze metal. Only Taylor’s was different; his was made of gold and silver, and sported a shield and anchors with an eagle atop it as well. Stivers and Taylor also had a set of silver bars on the opposite side, which matched with the ones on their collars.
“Honor guard,” Stivers intoned quietly. “Parade rest.” The humans all placed their hands behind their backs and stood, waiting.
Golden Sword stepped forward, coming to a halt next to Shadow’s body. He looked at each of the humans in turn, then over at his own troops. “Soldiers. We are come at the end of day to lay our comrade to rest. Here in the eyes of Celestia and Luna we do this, so that they may know of his deeds.” The stallion paused. “What was his name?”
“Shadow.” The two groups responded in unison.
“How do you know this?” Sword intoned. “Speak, so that Celestia and Luna may know.”
“I know Shadow,” Midnight responded from her place nearest Sword. “He was one of my troopers. He never disobeyed an order and did his best.”
“I know Shadow,” Crimson Hoof spoke. “He was always willing to share and never argued. He was a good comrade.”
“I know Shadow,” Shining Star said. The words hung thick in the air for a moment. “He was my best friend, and trusted me. I would have died for him.”
Sword opened his mouth to respond, then stopped momentarily, the words he was supposed to speak in his mind, but not wanting to emerge. He tried again, and stopped in surprise as Stivers’ voice floated out over the group.
“I know Shadow,” Stivers said. “He always did his best, and was brave.”
Sword swallowed thickly and waited, looking at the next human in line.
“I know Shadow,” Taylor spoke. “He tried hard at everything I saw him do. I wish I’d known him better.”
“I know Shadow.” Gallivan glanced at the still form in front of them and nodded. “He was one of us.”
Thompson cleared his throat and stood still. “I knew Shadow. Semper Fi, fella.”
“I knew Shadow.” Gruebel stared across the open grave past Star and looked at the empty road beyond them as it wound northward out of sight. “He saved my life. I wish I could’ve done more…” He stopped, the muscle in his jaw rippling as he clenched his teeth.
Sword nodded at the Marine, then stood at attention. “I knew Shadow,” he said clearly. “He was one of my own, and I failed him. I swear to him now, I won’t let that happen to anypony again.” His breath moved in and out of him in slow tides as he fixed his gaze on the motionless form before him. “I swear in Luna’s name.” He tilted his head back and took a deep breath, then glanced at the lowering sun. It was time. “Detail.”
It was the only order he would give, and there was no further instruction needed. The two files stood at attention without a word and turned, moving toward him until they flanked Shadow’s body. Each side lifted carefully and soon the guard pony’s remains lay in the space they had prepared for him in the ground.
Sword waited until the first rasp of earth being cast upon the bedroll struck his ears and then he turned about, marching slowly away and heading back towards the area they had set up as their campsite. His trooper was being laid to rest, but Sword’s duty was not quite done just yet.
He had another letter to a family to write.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dusklight:
By the time you get my missive, I’m sure that you will have been informed of your son’s passing. I sincerely regret having to stir up the ashes of your grief with my own letter, but I would like to take a moment to speak with you of things that often get forgotten by others not connected with such events.
Shadow was, without a doubt, one of the finest troopers I ever had under my command. His specialities notwithstanding, he contributed greatly not only to the success of everything that was asked of him, but was an inspiration to others around him.
Service in the military is one thing. Service in the royal guard is another. Your son went above and beyond what was asked of him, and gave more than was ever expected. I cannot give you any details of the incident in which he lost his life, but I can assure you that his passing was with dignity, honor, and with the comfort of being with his friends and comrades.
Please remember this, and keep it close to you when the pain of your loss runs deep. You raised your child well. You should be proud to have had Shadow as a son.
I know I would have.
With deepest regards and respect
Golden Sword, Captain, Royal Equestrian Guard.
Golden Sword sat back for a moment, eyeing the parchment before him, then nodded and rolled it up neatly. Tying it off, he tucked it into his pack and withdrew a small volume. Picking up his quill in his teeth, he dipped it carefully into the small bottle of ink beside him and flipped the booklet open to the next blank page.
1930 hours
I have just laid to rest one of my troopers on this forsaken mission. I pray to Celestia and Luna that his sacrifice was worth all of this.
Have noted that Sub-Lieutenant Midnight is keeping her own journal against regulations. Upon further consideration, have decided that this is an excellent idea and have begun my own series of personal missives to myself and none other. That is, unless I’m struck down on this forsaken quest and somepony has to deliver this to my next of kin.
I don’t know how much longer I can go on with this. I swore to defend Equestria, not go treasure hunting in the hinterlands of civilisation. One of my own troopers was lost and I had no idea what to do next. The humans helped out... if they hadn’t been soldiers, I’m not sure what would have happened back there. I really wish I knew what Celestia and Luna meant with all their predictions and such back at Canterlot. All I really want to do now is go home.
G.S.
Sword wiped his quill carefully and placed it back in the holder clipped to his journal. He looked over his entry for a moment, then snapped the ledger shut and tucked it away. The pegasus closed his eyes, and in his mind he saw his comrades from long ago, waving as they headed off downriver to confront dragons. They had been singing an old battle march together, and he had stood there in front of the village of Sugarcube, watching them until they were out of sight, and then listening to the song until it had been lost to the wind.
Sword’s jaw clenched, and he slammed a forehoof down hard, glaring at the impression he had made in the dirt underfoot. “Never again,” he growled. “As Luna is my witness, never again, I swear to you.”
Midnight shifted and rolled over on her back, her eyelids flickering blearily as she took in the sprawl of stars across the night sky overhead. The moon rode serenely through the black ocean around it, almost touching the scattered peaks off to the west and riming their edges with a bitter silver glow; the night was old, and dawn was only a few hours away.
Hind watch, her brain supplied automatically. Better go check the guard. She was certain somepony else had seen to it, but one didn’t assume anything in this business. She pushed herself upright, rolling over and balancing on one forehoof, her ears flickering as muttered conversation reached her from across the campfire.
“Oh, sorry, Lieutenant.” Gallivan cleared his throat. “Was tryin’ to be quiet.”
“No, it’s all right. I need to make rounds anyway.” She flicked her forelock out of her eyes and blinked rapidly. “Star? I thought this was your watch.”
“It was, ma’am. Lieutenant Taylor said he’d relieve me tonight.” Star shrugged, staring laconically into the flickering light of the fire. “I was up anyway, and couldn’t sleep, so…” He trailed off.
“I was talkin’ to Star about Manila back when I was there.” Gallivan chuckled quietly. “He must be interested, otherwise I’d have bored him to sleep hours ago.”
“No! No, it’s really interesting!” Star glanced quickly at the Marine. “Please, keep going. You should hear this, Lieutenant. Especially about this ‘Po City’ place. It’s wild!”
Midnight glanced questioningly at Gallivan, who went into an abrupt fit of coughing. His eye caught hers, and she spotted the subtle shake of his head. “Um, maybe another time,” she offered diplomatically. “I’ll just go check on Taylor and make sure he hasn’t nodded off on us.”
“Oh, okay.” Star glanced away from them both and toward the west, where the ground rose sharply. “He’s up on that little crest a ways, where those two rocks almost touch. Seemed fine to me… I don’t think he felt much like sleeping either, I guess.”
The tone in his voice struck Midnight to the core; Star apparently shared the sentiment. “Very well. I’ll be back in a bit, then. You two keep an eye on things, hm?”
Gallivan simply nodded, but Star sighed. “Ma’am… I’m fine. I’m not going to go kill myself or anything, okay?” He glanced at her for a moment, then over at the Marine. “I… I really appreciate it, Sarge. It… helps. The talking doesn’t make it better, but it helps.” He scrubbed at his face with a forehoof. “I’m sorry to be such a pain in the haunches about all this—”
“Bud, you got nothin’ to apologize for. Nothin’.” Gallivan’s voice roughened slightly as he placed a hand on Star’s shoulder. “I’m here cause I wanna be, not because I’m afraid you’re gonna go march off a cliff like Dingus McGee over there.” He jerked his head toward where Thompson lay, snoring obliviously. “We all look out for each other, huh?”
Star’s jaw trembled and he nodded with an abrupt motion, obviously not trusting himself to speak. His gaze was locked on the flickering motion of the campfire, the flames reflecting themselves in the liquid tracks that trailed slowly down from his eyes and along his cheeks. Wiping his face with a forehoof once again, he nodded again once more, then closed his eyes.
“As you were, then.” Midnight kept her voice level and turned away quickly, almost tripping over her helmet where it lay next to her bedroll. She walked away purposefully in the direction that Star had indicated, only slowing down once she was well away from the fire and out of sight. She paused for a moment, taking a series of slow, deep breaths and letting her eyes adjust to the darkness; the moon was just beginning to wane, and still cast a fine, silver glow over the ground around her. She could see the impressions where Taylor’s booted feet had dug into the hillside in front of her and she followed the trail carefully, idly noting the small signs where he had pushed through the bushes and scrub pine that dotted the hill. As she ascended to the top of the rise, a branch on one of the bushes scraped softly against her armor, and her ears flickered in irritation. Where was he?
“Gettin’ sloppy, there.” The voice was low and quiet, floating out at her from the darkness to her right.
Flinching reflexively, Midnight glanced over and saw the human sprawled out on his belly one one of the large rocks that topped the crest of the hill. “Well, I’d rather you heard me coming instead of being startled into shooting me.”
“I wouldn’t do that. I’d never do that.”
The pain in his voice was surprising, and she peered at him curiously as she paced over to where he lay. “I know. I was just joking. Still, it’s common sense; I wouldn’t want to take you by surprise.”
“Yeah... yeah, I know.” Taylor drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Sorry. I’m still trying to get the hang of this ground pounder stuff. It ain’t exactly my forte, ya know?”
“I know.” Midnight glanced around for a moment, then looked back at him. “Still, you’re getting much better at it. This is a very good position, and you weren’t easy to spot.”
“Thanks.” He shifted position slightly, rolling to one side and propping his chin on one hand as he looked over at her. “So what brings you up here?”
“Couldn’t sleep.” Midnight sat down, peering idly out over the landscape below them. The road was in clear view below them, and the position offered a perfect view of anything that might try to approach their camp. “This really is a good position, Taylor. You did well.”
“Eh, it was Sword’s suggestion, actually.” The pilot looked around them for a moment. “He knows his stuff, that guy.” His voice dropped down to something close to a mutter. “How’s he doin’?”
“He’s fine.” Midnight replied automatically, then glanced back down the hill at the camp below. “He’ll be fine,” she added slowly. “He… we’ve been together for awhile, now. I don’t think he’s lost anyone under his command in some time. He won’t say anything about it; you know how he is. But it bothers him.”
“He wouldn’t be human if it didn’t.” Taylor frowned. “Well, I mean... he wouldn’t be mortal if it didn’t.” He glanced at the road below them for a moment, but it remained clear; the only thing moving were the bushes in the slow night breezes. “You never get used to it,” he said slowly. “You learn to live with it, but you never get used to it.”
The tone in his voice was melancholy, tinged with regret, and Midnight gave him a long, curious look. “You sound like you’ve had this happen before.”
“Yeah.” His face twisted in a wry expression. “C’mere for a second. I wanna show you something.”
Midnight stood and leapt lightly up onto the rock where the human sat, her wings flicking out for balance for a moment before tucking themselves to her sides once more. “What is it?”
He gathered himself and sat up, his legs crossing in an odd fashion that made Midnight’s fetlocks ache to see. Unbuttoning the top button of his shirt, he fiddled around with one hand for a moment before pulling free the small pouch that hung around his neck. “Old memories.” He opened it carefully and pulled free what looked like a small piece of paper, worn and folded with heavy creases. It crackled as he tweezed it apart with his fingers, unfolding it until it was almost as large as both of his hands held together. “Take a look.”
Midnight moved up beside him and peered closer, drawing in a sudden breath. “Oh my.” It was a photograph, an old one in black and white, and it showed what appeared to be a group of about two dozen humans, all in some sort of formal uniform. “Who are they?”
“That’s my flight school class graduation photo.” He grinned suddenly, poking a finger down toward one corner. “See him? That’s me.”
He tilted the photo so that the moonlight fell clearly across it, and Midnight craned forward, her nose almost touching the paper. “Oh! It is you!” She glanced up at his face involuntarily and then back down at the photo. “How long ago was this? You look so young!”
“Actually, it was only about four years or so… okay, almost five, actually.” His smile took a wry twist. “It was a few months before the war started… that kinda thing makes you old fast, I guess.”
Her ears flattened and she looked at him apologetically. “Oh, I didn’t mean it that way, I—”
“No, it’s okay, I know.” He laughed softly. “No worries, I’ve put a few miles on since then.”
Midnight glanced at the photo again. All of the humans were dressed in heavy, dark and formal looking clothing, with ties and white hats on their heads. A couple of older looking men stood near the back of the group, and they had three stripes on their sleeves. The Taylor in the photo, along with most of the others, had only one. All of them, however, had a set of wings pinned over their upper left chest, and she assumed they were all aviators like him, “So you went to school with those people?”
“Yep. Flight school in Pensacola, Florida. Did bomber training out in San Diego, and most of the guys here went with me; a couple went to fighter jock training though.” He tapped the photo with a forefinger and sighed. “Most of us shipped out together, too.” He pointed. “That’s Jake Eichert. Ed McEldowney… Chris Michaels. That is Willis Lee.” He snickered. “Lee couldn’t fly formation if you tied his ass to your plane with a steel chain, but by God, he could strafe better than any of us…” He trailed off, staring at the photo.
Midnight glanced at it, at the faces that seemed to mean something to the pilot beside her. “What happened?” she asked quietly.
“They’re all gone. All except me.” He stared at the photo as if his glare could make the facts undo themselves. “Most went at Midway. Fucking piece of shit Devastator bombers. Old airplanes we had. They had no fighter cover and got shot to pieces.” He swallowed, his throat making an audible clicking sound. “Jake got shot down over Truk while we were making bombing runs on a freighter. Lee… he and I were on a strike mission near Saipan and we had to make a long range attack. I barely made it back before running out of gas and had to ditch in the water next to the carrier. I never saw Lee again.”
Midnight glanced at the photo, appalled. All of them died? All of them? Sweet Celestia… “Taylor, I’m so sorry…”
“It was the way it was, then.” He flicked the photo lightly with a thumb, as if preparing to fold it back up, but continued to stare at it. “You all went out. Sometimes, most of you came back. Some didn’t. You ignored it and somebody new showed up and you just went on. It was as if the guy never existed. You never talked about it, but you thought about it, you know? Most of the time you never knew what happened, but sometimes, you saw it happen right in front of your eyes and you couldn’t do a Goddamned thing about it.” He rubbed his thumb against the photo once more, then folded it again carefully and put it away, tucking it back into the pouch around his neck. “They were my friends.”
Midnight nodded carefully, unsure of what to say. She belonged to a group of soldiers herself, and the Marines had fit easily enough into the group, but Taylor had always been aloof, and apart, possessing a set of skills that seemed relatively useless in the situation they’d found themselves in. But the pilot had seen his own share of things that he’d kept to himself, and she found a small core of shame forming as she’d realized they’d all treated Taylor as someone different, someone who didn’t understand the things they did, when he actually knew all too well. “I’m sorry,” she repeated. “It must have been rough for you.”
Taylor laughed shakily and sniffed hard, reaching up with one hand and rubbing at his nose. “You get used to shutting things like that away, y’know? It was the only way to stay sane. I ran out of friends in 1944 and decided I didn’t need to make anymore, they kept getting killed off too fast. So why bother? I had myself, and my airplane. When I got transferred stateside early in 1945, I had students. You teach students, they graduate and then they go away and you never see them again. Just like my friends. So things didn’t really change. I was used to it. And then I ended up here.”
Midnight stood still, afraid to say anything as she met his gaze. His eyes glimmered with tears in the moonlight, a silver trail sliding down one cheek.
“I’m sorry, Midnight. I know what you said back at the pass wasn’t meant for me, but I took it all wrong, because out of everyone I’ve met here, you’re the only real friend I have. I took it all wrong, and I took it out on you because I… I don’t—”
“I know.” Midnight reached up and wrapped a foreleg around his neck and pulled him into a hug. “I know,” she whispered. Her own eyes burned and she shut them tightly. “I missed you, too.”
They stood there still for a moment, and the night wind was the only sound around them. She felt him shudder briefly against her, and then he pulled back, sniffing hard and wiping at his face with one hand, laughing softly. “Look at me. Christ, I’m a fucking mess.”
“I know. I think I’ll keep you around anyway though.” Midnight waited as he regained his composure, feeling as if her armor had dropped away and she could fly anywhere within a second’s notice. “Thank you, though, for sharing that with me.”
“Yeah. I just… after Shadow, I… it makes you think, you know?” He finally looked up and directly at her. “I just didn’t want to take a chance on leaving stuff lying around unsaid.”
“I understand.” She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’d like to ask you a favor, though, if it’s okay.”
“Hell yes. What is it?”
“It’s very important, and you’re the only one I can trust with this.” Midnight glanced down briefly at the golden chain that hung around her neck. “Ever since we picked up this… thing from the monastery, it’s… something about it bothers me.”
“Yeah, I can understand that.” The smile was still on his face, but his eyes were serious again. “I was there when you got it, remember?”
“I remember very well. And that’s why I think you’ll understand why I’m asking this of you.” Midnight reached up with a forehoof and touched the jewel of the Pentachoron. “If this... thing... ends up causing something bad to happen, I want you to take my journal back and give it to Fluttershy yourself.”
Taylor blinked and frowned immediately. “Bad? What do you think it’s gonna do?”
“I really have no idea. But I don’t trust it. Ever since I put this thing around my neck it’s felt like a lead weight pulling at my insides.” Her cheek twitched. “It's like a knife or a sword, and if you aren’t careful, it can turn in your hoof and cut you. It doesn’t like the fact that I have it now; I’ve felt that ever since I got the thing. To be honest, I don’t think I’m going to make it home.”
“What?” Taylor eyed the jewel carefully, his expression darkening. “What’s it doing? Did it... did it talk to you again?”
“Not since you and I were there. I just know this.” She looked up at him. “Please promise me you’ll do what I ask?”
“You got it,” he said immediately. “But Midnight... really. Don’t let it mess with your head. We were both there. The thing likes to play mind games, but it’s all just games, you know?”
“No, I don’t,” she shot back. “I don’t know what it will do except that it hates me. Don’t you understand?”
Taylor rubbed a hand through his hair and sighed. “I guess so. Yeah, I promise. I’ll take your book back and give it to Fluttershy myself. Except I won’t have to.” His eyes gleamed as he looked at her, the lopsided grin appearing on his face again. “Because you’re gonna do it yourself.”
“Please don’t joke about—”
“This is no joke. This thing wants to play with you and all with its magic, right? Tough shit, cause Taylor’s got his own juju right here.” He reached out and tapped her nose gently with a forefinger. “Close your eyes.”
“What? Why?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I—”
“No, not that.” Taylor leaned closer and held her gaze with his own. “Do you trust me?” he asked again, softly.
Midnight looked at him, the blue eyes staring intently at her, and nodded. “Yes.”
“Then close your eyes and let me fix this.”
Midnight took a deep breath and closed her eyes tightly, dipping her chin down so that her nose pointed to the ground. “Okay.”
“Nope. Head up.” She felt his finger touch under her chin, lifting her muzzle until she faced straight ahead. “Now hold that thought.”
There was a rustling of cloth, and a small ting! sound of metal, and then she could feel him leaning close in front of her, the heat from his body welcome against the cool night air. His hands touched at the base of her throat, and she felt his fingers moving and fiddling about with the leather strap that crossed just below where her armor buckled together in front. “What are you doing?”
“Swiping your armor. I’m gonna make you run around naked until you say ‘Taylor’s the best!’”
“Oh don’t you dare!” Midnight laughed in spite of herself, fighting to keep her eyes closed. “Besides, I have fur, I’m never naked, you big sod.”
“Hm. Might have to think of something else even more degrading, then. In the meantime... damn, that strap’s tough... ah! There we go.” His hands released her, and she felt him draw away once more. “Okay, princess, open your eyes and see what Santa Taylor brought ya.”
“What in Equestria are you babbling abou—” Midnight opened her eyes and glanced down in reflex at her chest where he’d touched her, and stopped short, uttering a small gasp. Her armor buckled in front, and a leather strap passed just beneath the chestplate, passing under the hollow of her throat. Taylor had pulled the strap clear so that it was exposed.
Pinned to the strap was the small set of golden wings he had kept in the pouch around his neck. They gleamed brilliantly in the moonlight, the silver light ticking off of the wings and showing them in exquisite detail. In the center was a shield, superimposed upon an anchor.
She gaped at it for a moment, and then looked up to him, her eyes wide. “Is this—?”
“Yeah. Those are the wings you saw me wearing in that photo. I fed that zebra back in the desert a line of bullshit, because I had another set I keep and wear for everyday stuff. I was gonna give her those. But that set’s the real deal.” Taylor sat back, resting his legs. “I’ve carried that pair of wings with me everywhere. The only time I didn’t was that mission I splashed into the sea on, and almost drowned.” He looked at her directly. “Midnight, if there’s any magic in my world, there’s some in those wings. I had ‘em, and they always brought me home. And now they’re gonna bring you home too. I swear to God.”
“I... I can’t take these!”
“Bullshit. You can and you will. And you’re not taking them, I’m giving them to you as a gift.” He smiled gently, and touched the tip of her nose again with his finger. “Do this for me.”
Midnight brushed her forehoof across the golden wings and felt the tiny ridges in the metal feathers, the pin strangely warm to her touch. “I... of course I will. They’re beautiful.” She looked back up at him and felt a tear roll down her cheek. “Thank you, Charlie.”
“Sure thing.” He stretched his arms out, his shoulder joints popping dully with the motion. “Tell you what. You can pay me back by keeping me company up here til sunrise.” He waved a hand out toward the motionless ground below them. “It’s boring as shit up here, and I could really use the company. What do you say?”
“I say I’d like that very much.” Midnight moved over to sit down beside him and they looked down across the valley, talking quietly and keeping watch as the last bits of night slipped away. The moon slid down behind the mountains off to their left, and they watched together as the tips of the peaks began to glow rose colored with the approaching dawn.
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static.fjcdn.com/comments/Brotherhood+of+Feel+_32b80e9daa0acf06b5e8f8ac465e68db.png
3408777 I... don't see how this is related...
Taylor and Midnight's bromance is beautiful.
3408807
A damn fine tribute to Shadow, from both races. Though more and more, we're watching the boundaries break down between humans and ponies, and simply seeing these soldiers uniting under the conditions that make brothers and sisters out of all of us. And then, a little additional backstory on Taylor, along with a heartwarming and mending scene with both him and Midnight making up. Definitely made my evening. Great work Dave, Golden. And here's that link you were wanting.
http://shepard2185.deviantart.com/art/Flight-19-With-Royal-Guard-Missing-Man-Format-409763748
loving this story so much
3408795 Brotherhood of Feels.
Feels.
The chapter made me feel Feels.
I liked it.
3409824 Seen.
3409371
3409369 I'll be sure to change the A/N as soon as FF lets me.
I dunno offhand what to say about the chapter other than that it was good, and the parts that were supposed to be moving were. As for the author's notes, here you go, and you bet your ass I will.
Great chapter, can't wait for the next one! I get the feeling that William isn't really gone yet.
encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT99ZH4ohpZXhXHzXBEw8lHQa6Vz0fVSXai4bIaoNJDmVwIhkcl
What can i say other than please continue?
I'm tearing up at work and it's all your fault. Well, partly mine for reading it in my cubical. But mostly yours.
That scene between Taylor and Midnight, if she doesn't make it back I'm going to find you and cry all over you in person.
3410526 Pretty sure that stops in a couple of chapters... Blame 'new author who hasn't implemented any of his edits yet' syndrome.
3410652 Will what? Vague comment is vague.
3411080 Mmmm... delicious speculation.
3412196 Actually, it's all your fault for having emotions. Without those, you wouldn't be teary eyed, now would you?
3411093 "Dave, your words are like sex to mine eyes. If it wouldst pleaseth though, I wouldst likeith if you wouldst continue to make sex with my emotions.
3411779 What about them?
It's good to see this story continued
3412373
Dumb emotions!
I want to find out more about this so called Pentacorn (Pentacle, five ways, alicorn?) SO I can then break open the 7th seal on it sorry ass and show it just what humans are capable of.
Personally I have no military experience, just my computer club mates have been on the truely hot end, and have the 8mm home film to prove it. Me Grandad was a ,guest, of the Gestapo for 6 months during WW2 due to being SOE, me Grandma was a ,guest, due to being a polish jew, and a member of the resistance.
Ive had 6 dogs die on me, 2 in my arms, one I had to bury while still warm.
I think I might have the tiniest inkling of what you are trying to write here.
3412555 Yah... you don't want to be on the dangerous end of anything in the army...
3409369
Thank you for your kind words, and thank you more for the great artwork you created! It's always cool to see fan art, but to see fan art of a fan story...awesome!
3412196
What's funny (funny odd, not funny ha-ha) is that I've had that scene in the outline for months, and in my head for months, damn near exactly as it was written. GA and I talked about it a lot, really looked forward to it...and when it came time to finally write it down, I was like..."Oh, boy. I screw this up and I am so done."
I did my best. I hope it works for you.
3411093
This works for me.
3412716
Hey, happy to create some stuff for this excellent story. Should be more coming, too! Just need time to work on it.
3412686
If youve seen that microwave area denial system the army is trialing, I have a couple upgrades from many years ago for that. the first uses a phase array, which I could pretty much make a crude prototype myself, up to 2 megawatt output,a nd the other trick I found was adding in broadband modem coding to form pulse compression. Lets just say that that combination does intresting things to targets. Like theoretically pair production.
Dont worry, theres a research reactor in the USA where theyve been using neutronium containment forcefields for almost twenty years.
The techs there, they just havent got round to using it yet.
Im still waiting for the proof of concept experiment where they use the Aricebo radio telescope to tractor beam a few milligram of dust off the lunar surface and deliver it to the ISS for packaging and surface return. NASA has a demonstrator somwehere.
Figured I'd comment and say thank you for sharing the story. I've been reading it for a while, but waited for the last couple of chapters to come out before I caught up. Toasted to Shadow at the pub tonight. That was quite a touching send-off. Enjoyed the bits between Midnight and Taylor as well, and am certainly looking forward to more. So again, thank you for the tale.
3413166 ... What do you... ahh... do for a living?
3413252 No, thank you for enjoying it. We do it for the fans, as they say
3412373 Hmm, in retrospect, you're right: there are two things I could have been going to do in response to the author's notes. I meant I totally will fire a rocket in the unlikely event that I get a chance to.
This was and emotional chapter, but I really liked it. I'm glad to see you are doing well in the military, keep up the awesome work! Ill see you around.
3413970 Yay!
3414270
3413505
Ive been on university degree courses, such as polymer tech, college courses such as AC design, and CNC engineering apprenticeship, wrote up the info required for a public enquiry to close down two power stations, and made up the sealing glue for a major underwater road tunnel, All by the age of 20. Then followed a decade of unemployment no matter the courses and qualifications, Then after a minor, resolved, problem at one goverment training place, I went down to sign on sick. the person in charge of the city employment centre was my old primary school teacher. She effectively said, Its about time. That, was 15 years ago.
Things Ive seen published by research groups thatI have in my old uni notes? Vortex rocket motors, Plasma flight controls, hydraulic humanoid robots, and spectral heliograph data transmission.
Im still waiting on chaos coding, data braiding, RF surface field projection, and a few other things that are just a step or two away. Patents really, really slow things down, as I found out when I did a test for a printed solar thermal panel designed to create high pressure live steam from cloudy skies.
Dont worry, Im old, I ramble, I can be as dumb as a sack of badgers at a lawn party.
3412373 Dave, your words are like sex to mine eyes. If it wouldst pleaseth though, I wouldst likeith if you wouldst continue to make sex with my emotions.
For some reason it doesn't sound as sexy when i say it
3414358 ... We must talk at length about things.
3414556 keep on trying. You'll get there eventually.
Seems like I had more chapters backlogged than I thought. I kinda like the turn you took, even though it meant killing someone off. I wasn't expecting that at all, until now I thought they were all going to be fine. Good going here, I'm liking it.
3415220 Heh. Spoiler: Read the tags.
3418145 Were you at least led on a little bit?
3418535 your comment says it was posted on chapter 25. there are only 20 chapters posted. How are you doing this?
3419143 Magic. (first two chapters are admin stuff, google doc links, and the preface. The third chapter is the prologue. Somewhere after that are two interlude chapters, both of which pertaining to Midnight.)
This was a fantastic chapter - you couldn't have handled the situation with William in a better way, and the scene between Taylor and Midnight had me holding my breath. I can't wait for the next one!
3419485 Glad you enjoyed it. I look forward to the completion of another chapter.
3419573 Nope :) I do know a few people from the Philippines though. Can't speak for Dave.
3419485
I'm glad it worked for you!
3419573
I know stuff. Lots of...stuff.
3421823 [blowjob face]
3418535 no not really. just wishful thinking is all but Midnight is going for Fluttershy and I can't really see Taylor doing anything with a pony.
3412892
I really do look forward to seeing anything else you come up with. Obviously I have my own images in my head of what this world and the characters in it look like, but getting to peek at other folks' points of view is sincerely fascinating to me.
I'm still working on my own drawings; my artistic ability has deteriorated somewhat due to lack of use and I'm trying to ameliorate that by practicing. If I get anything worthy of posting, I'll certainly share it like you have.
One final note to you and everyone else who continues to follow this story...thank you. I'm really glad you enjoy it and I'll keep doing my best for you and myself. I've never worked so hard in my life on a story since I started working full time on this, and seeing the kind comments from you and others makes it very much worthwhile. So...yeah. Thank you.
As per your request I am commenting. Do not worry good sir, though it is often left unsaid I enjoy your story very much and hope you will continue with it. At least until we get a proper end^^ keep up the good work, and remember! Even if a story is popular, it's better to give it the ending you envisioned, the ending it deserves. Rather than forcing the story to continue for the sake of satisfying the screaming masses(fans)
Sincerly
~Terolie
3424171 Good advice however, I've had 90% of this story planned out since chapter 5, and I don't believe in taking fan suggestions.
The story might not be coming out exactly how I envisioned it, but this is probably better :)
Good day to you, kind sir.
Heh, I'm pretty bad at commenting for each new chapter at anything, but I'll try.
First off, I'm happy too see Midnight and Taylor reuniting again, and we got to see why Taylor reacted as he did back in the forest. That was a nice scene, really. Though the circumstances could be better, sigh. Poor Star, and Shadow. It's good that the human gang managed to calm Star down a little, becase that could have ended even worse.
But, as the fic has taken this turn, and everyone are getting more and more sour, and more and more dependent of eachothers patience, experience or friendship, I doubt it will be only sunshine and rainbows from here on. So, again, the fact that Taylor and Midnight made up with each other was a good sign, because it's nice to see the whole gang being able to cooperate without that many hardships, even during the more trying times.
The military-style funeral was also a great read, seeing how the two so different groups, kept their honors high for a fellow fallen ... well, friend.
In the end, as always, looking forwards to seeing more of this, heh.
M
Side-note, I saw a missing quotationmark and a word doubly-written, do you want me to mark them in the gDocs? (Or should I ignore such minor stuff? ^^ )
3425133 Do I have comments enabled on the Google docs?
3425311
Let's see, how did I add comments in gDocs... Um, wasn't it just to-...
"You don't have privileges to add comments", ah, I guess they aren't enabled, heh.
3425395 lol, I thought I did enable them at one point... Might have reverted when Google docs reformed.. Again.
Rest in Peace Shadow!
3434925 What makes you think they were on E?
3434928 I didn't necessarily mean "running on E" like I stated earlier, but I assumed that they were running low on fuel when Taylor mentioned that they "should've hit land by now" and instructed the other pilots to watch their fuel gauges for the ten gallon mark. Pilot's don't generally mention that until they're relatively close to that mark (roughly twenty minutes). That would not have been nearly enough fuel to make their journey across whatever world Equestria is in. They definitely couldn't salvage any fuel from the burned up aircraft Thompson came from, seeing as it was on fire and they couldn't find the wings.
It could just be me missing something, or my unwillingness to assume everything is okay. Still, I'm really liking the story. It's been on my read later for months and I finally decided today that I would read it. Awesome job you guys are doing. Keep it up.