Umbrarum

by Wrat

A Chase at Midnight

The Canterlot clocktower was just sounding midnight as I skidded into the alley. It's not as though I enjoy running through alleys at midnight. There were plenty of places I would rather be. But something had come up, and it wasn't the sort of thing that could wait until morning.

I cast a quick glance around the alley. Piles of junk strewn about, but no sign of my quarry. I muttered a few colorful oaths, and was trying to plan my next move, when one of the piles of junk nearby shifted and transformed into a pony. His eyes were barely open, whether from exhaustion or booze, I couldn't tell. Probably both.

"What're you doing, waking me up at this hour?" He slurred.

"Sorry to interrupt your sleep, old timer, but have you seen a mare run by here recently?" I asked. "Bit on the short side, purple fur, blue mane?" The pony squinted, then grinned at me, showing his cracked yellow teeth.

"Lost your marefriend, eh?" He chuckled.

"Oh, no actually. See, I need to kill her before she can cause any trouble. Could you point me in the right direction?" The pony chuckled for a few seconds more, then stopped. He fixed me with a confused stare.

"Wait... what?" He asked. Before I could answer, I felt a tingling in my horn. Some pony had just used magic nearby. And considering how few ponies would be awake at this hour, odds were good it was my quarry. I concentrated for a few seconds to zero in on the location. It was less than a block away.

"Thanks for the help," I called over my shoulder as I ran off. The old pony in the alley stared after me for a few seconds, his mouth still open in shock. I chose to ignore him. He would probably forget the whole thing next morning. Hopefully.

And if he didn't, I might find myself in this same alley again with a different target.

As I raced towards mortal danger, something I had mentioned to him finally registered in my brain. I was not out to kill this pony. Not if that was not necessary. I decided to be optimistic and blame the slip on adrenaline, rather than my...more colorful issues.

I reached the place where I had sensed the magic. It was one of the older buildings in the district, a run down foundry from when Canterlot had been Equestria's industrial heartland. The door was covered in splintery two by fours, and the layer of dust on them suggested they had sat undisturbed for years. Another pony, less well informed, might have assumed the mare had run right past it. But I knew my enemy, and I knew that trickery was one of it's favorite weapons.
I waved a hoof over the planks. Sure enough, my hoof passed right through the illusions and into the empty space beyond.

I bared my teeth in a grin. It was a good illusion. If I hadn't known what I was looking for, I might never have found it.

I paused for a moment. Walking into hostile territory was a great way to retire early. So before I entered, I spent some time weaving a fairly complex protection spell around myself. Then I took a deep breath, and strode through the door.

It was dark. And I don't mean dimly lit nighttime dark, I mean utter darkness. This foundry must have been hell to work in, because there were no windows anywhere. I decided it would be a perfect place for an ambush.

Apparently, my quarry and I felt the same way, because a dagger flew straight at my head mere seconds after I entered. It was fast, and I was no warrior. The dagger was on course to carve a nice new hole right in my forehead.

Then my spell kicked in, and the shadows in the room instantly coalesced around me in a cocoon. The dagger fell to the ground, all forward momentum dead. I wasted no time retaliating. My horn darkened to utter black and a wave of energy roared out of it towards the mare.

Her attack had been subtle and precise. Mine was neither. The blow hammered her backwards, sending her into the wall. Her head struck hard, and must have disoriented her, because her disguise wore off.

A sickly green light descended across her form, and as it passed over her, she began to change. Her purple fur vanished, revealing a black, chitinous armor underneath. A pair of insectoid wings spread out from her back. Her pupils vanished, her eyes instead becoming a uniform blue.

A changeling. A changeling blood witch, to be precise. One of Chrysalis' own hand maidens. They were fanatically loyal to their old queen, and had chosen exile over reform when she was driven from her hive.

All changelings used blood magic to a degree. It was how they gained their shapeshifting abilities. But a blood witch was something else. Not only could they change their own form, but if they had even just a drop of some ponies blood, they could make that ponies life hell. And if what my boss had said was true, this particular blood witch had obtained blood from a very important target.

The princess of the Sun herself. Celestia.

I have to give credit where credit is due. The changeling recovered quickly and was on her feet in just moments. She threw another knife at me. I let my shield take the hit and calmly blasted at her again. But by the time I reacted, she had already left the room and raced through a narrow doorway.

I slowly followed her through the door. We had come to the main floor of the foundry now. Old pieces of rusted machinery rose from the floor as silent sentinels. The walls were stained a permanent black from soot and ash. Several old chains lay strewn about the floor. A nice place to hang out at midnight. I slowly made my way around the room, never letting my guard down.

A jangling sound from above drew my attention upwards. Nothing, but then a storm of rusty metal shards began to rain down on me. My shield formed above my head like an umbrella. That was when the changeling lunged from my left side with a long needle of bone in her hoof.

My shield was overloaded, and I was too slow to dodge. The needle scored a deep slice across my cheek, and then the changeling was gone. I raised a hoof to my face. Blood. And if the blood witch had my blood...

My fears were confirmed a moment later as my muscles locked up. I grunted and tried to move. I could not. A force stronger than any chain was holding me in place.

The changeling stepped forwards out of the dark, her eyes cold and unforgiving. "Foolish pony," she hissed. "You thought yourself a hunter. You and yours are prey, food for my brothers and sisters." I tried to deliver a witty retort, but whatever spell I was under held my mouth shut. "Still, your magic hurt." The changeling bared her teeth. "Few prey are capable of hurting me. I wish to return the favor." Pain, pure and agonizing, flooded my body. It was as though I was being crushed from the inside out by a hundred thousand angry hornets, while being forced to listen to poetry. The worst torture imaginable. I couldn't even scream to let the pain out, but I managed some pretty respectable grunting.

The changeling had positioned herself out of my line of fire. Despite all her bragging, she was still scared about what I could do. But if I couldn't aim my horn at her, there wasn't much I could do. I had to end her spell.

I found that I could still move my eyes. I searched around the room for something I could use to my advantage. My eye was caught by an old chain sitting on the floor. It sat less than two feet from the changeling's rear foot. I carefully lit up my horn, fighting off the pain every second. I caught the chain with my telekinesis, and began to drag it towards the changeling.

I had to go slowly. If I used too much power, the changeling would see I was using magic and kill me. If I dragged the chain too fast, the changeling would hear it and kill me. If the changeling decided she was suspicious, she would; well, you get the idea.

Slowly, second by agonizing second, the chain crept closer and closer to the changeling. She still watched me, amused by my suffering. I grit my teeth, thought up a small prayer to anybody that might be listening, then launched the chain. It wrapped around the changeling's rear legs and pulled back hard. She fell off balance, losing concentration on her spell
for just a second.

That was all I needed.

I whipped my head around to face her and lit my horn fully. I knew from experience just how fast she could recover. I had to put her down hard if I wanted to end this. I sent out my will, and every shadow in the room leapt to my horn. I gathered and shaped the energy into a lance, then sent it straight at the changeling.

I'm pretty sure it would have been less painful for her to get hit by a locomotive. The shadows crashed into the changeling, picking her up off her feet and hurling her against the wall. She struck with an audible crack, then slumped to the floor like a wet towel. I followed her example and collapsed, my chest heaving. After a rest that was far shorter than I felt I deserved, I rose and staggered over to the changeling.

"Alright. Now that we've established who is the predator and who is the prey in this situation, why don't you answer some of my questions." There was no response from the changeling. "Hello? Can you hear me?" Still nothing. I kicked her lightly. I'm no doctor, but the angle her head rolled to was definitely not healthy. Trepidation building, I reached down and felt for her pulse.

"Ah, fuck."
…

"Let me see if I understand this. You were told to take her alive...and so you threw her through a concrete wall."

I sat in a small office in the back of the royal palace. It was a nice office. There was a comfy couch for me to lay back on, and the various paintings adorning the walls gave me something interesting to look at. There was even a happy little potted tree in the corner. I had named it George. George was much more understanding than the pony behind the desk. I tried to explain the situation to the pony again.

"I told you, it was an accident. I was under some stress, what with the fact that I was being tortured and killed, and I made a tiny miscalculation." The pony behind the desk scoffed.

"Yes, a miscalculation. You certainly have had your fair share of those." My temperature seemed to drop a few degrees.

"Come again?" To any pony who did not know me, my tone might have seemed neutral. The few ponies that did know me knew that when my voice went like this, it was a good time to stop talking. George, for example, pressed himself back against the wall.

The pony behind the desk did not know me. "Reviewing your files, I have found an alarming number of casualties reported. It almost gives one the impression that you actually prefer killing your targets to leaving them alive. Why is that?" My hackles raised. This pencil pusher was getting on my nerves.

"You think I like killing?" I spoke the words slowly, methodically. For the first time in the debriefing, I turned to look at him. Something in my eyes must have warned him that he had crossed a line, because his skin flushed pale. "You want to know why so many ponies around me wind up dead?" I was suddenly standing up. A small voice in the back of my head seemed to tell me I was crossing a line, and George agreed, but I ignored them both. This pony was going to sit here and judge me? After everything I had done? I took a step towards his desk, my horn darkening.

"Soot Streak."

The voice filled the room like a thunderclap. Abruptly, my head cleared, all dark thoughts pushed away. There was only one pony I knew capable of doing that.

"Princess Luna. Always a pleasure to see you." I turned to the Princess of the Moon and gave her a slight bow. She inclined her head just a touch, then turned to the pony behind the desk.

"You are excused for now," she said calmly. He glanced at me once, gulped, then hurried out, barely pausing to bow to Luna. She waited until he was gone, then sighed and turned to face me.

"Soot, I know it's hard, but could you please stop terrifying the desk workers? Their jobs are hard enough already." I frowned.

"It's not like it's really my choice, your majesty."

"I know. How is your...other half?"

"Quiet, long as you're around. Pretty sure you scare him shitless."

"And when I'm not?"

I thought about it. "I don't really hear him as much as I used to."

"Because he's giving up? Or because his hooks are finally deep enough you don't notice them?" I didn't answer. Luna studied me for a second, then picked up my report from the desk. She studied it for a moment.

"Why?"

I didn't need to ask what she was talking about. "I was in a tight situation. It was kill or be killed, and I chose-"

"Bullshit." That made me start. Luna was infamous for keeping up a serious air. I could count on one hoof the number of times I had heard her swear. It occurred to me that as much as Luna scared the thing in my head, it might scare her even more.

"I know you, Soot," she continued. "I know what you're capable of. You could have found another solution."

"I didn't have time," I protested, but at this point, that excuse was even sounding thin to me. Luna's expression showed she agreed.

"Did you not? Or were you merely told that there was no time, and to kill the target was your only option?" Luna frowned. "I fear that he may have finally taken you fully, Soot."

So. It was finally that time. "Will I be executed?" Luna studied me carefully. I could see her eyes judging me, reading me like a report. She shook her head.

"Not yet. I still have faith that you can hold on." I released a breath that I hadn't known I'd been holding. Guess my retirement was going to be delayed a while longer. I wasn't entirely sure Luna's faith in me was justified, but I certainly wasn't going to argue. "For now, the immediate threat has been dealt with. Return to your room and rest. I will have need of you tomorrow." I bowed to her, bid George good night, and left.

Not every pony gets a room in the palace. I do. It's a charming little place. Roughly sixty square feet and only a musty old straw cot to take up any of that space. The thick cobblestone walls and heavy iron door kept out almost all the sound from outside, as well as keeping the room cool in summer. And best of all, it even had a small window overlooking the thousand foot drop outside of Canterlot, with convenient iron bars to keep me from falling. Home, sweet home.

The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon as I settled down for bed. My whole body felt stiff from the fight, and I knew it was going to hurt tomorrow. But for now, all I could do was rest. My Princess had a job for me tomorrow, and I couldn't let her down. I pulled a thin blanket over myself and hunkered down for a long sleep.
…
Nightmares in Equestria are exceedingly rare.

This comes from several factors. The first, and arguably largest, comes from the peaceful lives of the inhabitants. Most ponies can go their whole lives, and never once face anything particularly frightening or distressing. The second reason is that Princess Luna takes it upon herself to travel through the dreams of her subjects and banish their nightmares. This combination results in peaceful sleep for almost all of Equestria's inhabitants.

Except that my job involves coming face to face with those frightening and distressing things that cause nightmares. And requires me to do it at night. Which means that I sleep during the day, when Luna isn't there to patrol my dreams.

There's just no end to the benefits my job gives.

The dream I was wrapped up in was a familiar one. I stood in the center of a small, pleasant town. The normally plain buildings were decorated for a festival, with multicolored streamers hanging over every road. Tables were set up all around the town square, offering food, games, and other activities. A crowd of ponies performed a circle dance in the center, laughing and singing. I looked around, forcing myself to take it all in.

One of the ponies from the circle looked out and saw me. She was beautiful in every sense of the word. She gave me a smile that would have made a flower wish it was prettier, and reached out a hoof for me to join. I knew what would happen if I did. I saw it almost every night.

I took her hoof.

Immediately I was swept up into the dance, no longer in control of myself but being pulled around and around by forces beyond my control. I just rode the tide, waiting for the telltale signs of change.

They came soon. The ponies in the dance slowly began to lose their color, fading from vibrant shades of orange and blue to a uniform pale grey. Then their bodies began to dissolve, flecks of them floating off into the wind. And still they danced on, ignorant of what was happening. It was only when they were nearly gone that they saw. Then they turned on me.

"What have you done?" They moaned out. They crowded towards me, shambling forwards even as their bodies dissolved. "What have you done to us?"

I met their accusing glares without flinching, forcing myself to look at each of them and remember their faces. "I killed you. I killed you all." They continued to press in on me. A mound of ash began to grow around my hooves, coming up to my ankles, then my knees, then burying my whole body. The ash pressed into my eyes, my mouth, my nose, choking me, blinding me, crushing me beneath it's weight. I merely closed my eyes and let it happen.

When I opened my eyes, I was back in my room. A thin layer of sweat clung to my coat, and my chest was heaving with exertion. And in my head, I felt a presence returned. Even Luna couldn't keep him out forever. A faint mocking laugh filled my head.

Fuck off, I thought as I rose and looked out the window. The sun was less than an hour from setting. I returned to my bed and lay down. I knew that I wouldn't sleep again that night. I merely stared at the ceiling and waited. Waited until I would be told what my next assignment was.

Waiting to die.