Equestria's Ray of Hope

by The_Darker_Fonts

Heroes

There was a certain air about the castle that night, one usually felt when there was a secret being held in plain sight. He kept finding himself looking over his shoulder that night, even as he was being led to his guest room by a young stallion maid. The purple unicorn kept assuring him that he was completely safe from any harm there, and while it wasn’t harm Ray feared, it was something else.

It seemed that half of the time he looked at somepony, he saw a bloodied corpse. It was beginning to drive him partway mental, but there wasn’t any real cure to it, simply solidifying to himself that there was no reason to fear that fate yet. Instead, he focused on the fact that he had an army now, be them undead or otherwise, and that they could do more than talk. He caught himself muttering such things under his breath, earning odd looks from the maid. They would be horrified looks if they understood, he thought morbidly to himself, almost smiling. Another strange look.

The pony didn’t ask any questions as they went along their way, just observed. That seemed to be the other part of his job, observing him as if he were a timid animal that would run away at the first opportunity. While he knew it wasn’t Twilight’s intention, it did annoy him to a degree.

To distract himself from such thoughts, he made jokes to himself mentally, something he’d picked up during long work hours late into the night. They weren’t necessarily funny, in fact, that was half of the point. If he was distracted by his own terrible sense of humor, then how could he be mad at anyone during the workday? Then, there were the occasional times they were actually humorous, and he’d end up laughing at seemingly nothing, causing him to look foolish. Those times, though, were probably the best times, because it meant someone was actually questioning what they’d missed.

Or my sanity, he thought, which caused him to smile roughly. That was one of many perks of not being completely sure himself. It was a dark joke, yes, but an especially funny one, considering the context.

The maid was outright staring now, obviously concerned as to exactly what his humor was about and where it was coming from. That was fine. There were many times he forgot that he was the only human in this world, from both the ponies’ reactions to him and the lack of much definition in this world. Well, until the most recent hours. Most likely though, he would eventually forget he was even human, given how many times already he’d forgotten. Then again, constant reminders of his diet and physique were there to keep him human.

They had arrived at his room suddenly, the maid holding the door open dutifully for him. He nodded in appreciation, entering. Before he could vocally give his thanks, the door had closed, leaving him alone. Pursing his lips, he once again nodded, this time though in acknowledgement to his situation.

He looked around the room, which was large even for human proportions. Well wrought white marble made up the room, much like the entirety of the castle, realistic engravings of vines lining the inner walls. A large bed, big enough for him twice over, lay in the center of the lefternmost wall, facing out to great double door-windows. It faced not towards where the sun would rise in the morning, but where the sun had set not long ago. Great scarlet curtains were drawn, allowing what little light the night sky had to offer into the room and across the bed. A balcony lay out of the windows, allowing him view of the city beyond.

Inside of the room, a large, full body mirror stood, and despite being designed for pony use, was big enough for him. Beside it was an intricate desk, though its size wasn’t increased enough for him to actually use it. On top lay a tri-handed clock, reading the time as nearly nine in the afternoon. Large candelabras chiseled into the wall lit the room now, spaced out evenly from each other enough for them to be both practical and stylish. In between them, great bouquets of tiny, soft blue flowers hung. For some reason they called out to him, asking him to give them a sniff, as weird as the thought was.

He walked across the foot-thick red rug to the nearest bouquet. Taking a few of the flowers between his fingers, he held them up to his nose. Inhaling deeply, he smelled near nothing. However, on a second intake, he found there was a faint, almost milky, scent to it, like a creamery across the street. Instantly, he felt a drowsiness come over him, weighing down his eyes. He felt an involuntary yawn force his mouth open, and lazily he began to move to the bed. Stripping off his shirt, he fell onto the bed, and before he even had finished pulling the blue satin coverings over him, he had fallen asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ray’s sleep was dreamless, completely devoid of anything resembling thought or coherency, and it stayed so until the early hours of the morning. He rubbed his eyes wearily, staring out of the window and at the moon, still to have set. Glancing to the desktop clock, he saw that it was almost three in the morning. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he sat up, looking around the room. It was dark, but the moonlight flowed onto him and the path to the window, where his discarded shirt lay.

He pulled it on lazily, too tired still to care much, but too awake to go back to sleep. He walked over to the balcony exit, staring out the window doors and into the great city beyond. There were virtually no lights on at this late in the night. Or this early in the morning, depending on how you think of it, Ray thought to himself nonchalantly. He rubbed a hand through his hair, still rubbing his face with the other one.

He found a wonderful cowlick on the back of his, the result of the soft pillows and night of restless sleep. It was sleep nonetheless, and it left him with enough energy in the morning to get started. Given, he’d probably need some sort of assistance in the form of light or natural sugar to keep him going, but a start was a start.

Backing up to the bed, he looked around the room, trying to decide what to do next. A shower sounded like a good idea, but there was the problem that from where he stood, he could see into the bathroom and to the shower. It was large for a pony, to be sure, but it seemed like it’d only fit him if he were kneeling and crouched. He smiled at the imagined image, almost scoffingly so. He went into the restroom anyways and did about his business.

As he washed his hands, he looked back over to the clock. With it being so early in the morning, he doubted many, if any, of the staff were awake at this point in the day. If they were, he hoped that there were no regulations on guests wandering their way out. He looked around, trying to see if there was anything he might’ve forgotten, but instantly smacked himself over the head. He purposely hadn’t packed anything so that he wouldn’t have to stay the night here. Well look at how that worked out, he scolded himself.

Turning to the double doors, he saw that the candelabras were devoid of flame. It was easy enough to assume so since the room was dark, but something else caught his attention. The flowers beside the door were missing. Spinning a full one-eighty he saw that every other flower holder was full, not even wilted the slightest from their overnight placement. His brows furrowed. He had fallen asleep near instantly after catching the scent of one of them. They had to be some sort of medicinal type. So why would someone, staff or otherwise, take one, and only the one closest to the door.

It was a sign, he realized. Somepony wanted his attention, and they wanted it subtly. Frowning, he scoured the ground, finding a singular flower on the ground right in front of the mahogany door. He picked it up, checking the tiny bit of stem remaining on it. It was still wet from the water within its core. Ray’s frown deepened. This was a fresh occurrence.

Standing straight up, he opened the door, ducking under its frame as he exited his room. There wasn’t a flower immediately out of his room, but several feet down the hall, one lay in the center of a shining white tile, a speck of blue on a golden veined sea of pristine white. He walked to it slowly, looking down the wide hallway. The tile was in the middle of an interval leading both left and right. An easy place for an ambush. Curling his fists, he slowly proceeded to the edge of the passageway.

He pressed himself against the wall to his right, creeping forward slowly as he stared in the direction of the left passage. As it crawled into his field of view, he saw nothing and no one in the hallway, and no incriminating flowers. He hadn’t crept all the way to the edge of the hall, only a foot or so away so as to not let his messy hair give him away should the one behind all of this be in the other side of the hallway. Seeing nothing, he silently crept back a ways, only a couple feet away from the door to his room, before proceeding to press himself against the other wall.

He continued with the same process as he had with the other hallway, silently stepping along the polished tile ground. As he came into view of the right hallway, he instantly saw the tiny, soft blue flower, also in the center of the tile it was stationed on. Taking a deep breath, he rushed out to the center of the interval, right to the tile where the other flower from earlier was. Looking both left and right quickly, he saw nothing and no one, until at the next turn of the hallway.

There was another flower there, in the very center of the turn. Luckily, this was a singular turn to the left, and not a two-way like the one in which he stood. Taking another deep, steadying breath, he began down the hallway, ensuring his footsteps were silent. He sped up his pace, crouching down slightly as he did so, until he approached the edge of the left wall. As before, he pressed himself against it, only about a foot away from the turn, before suddenly whipping around the corner.

Nothing. Relaxing his shoulders slightly, he looked down the corridor. Another flower in it, not at the end, but at the first turn in. The hall continued after it, but no flower, only another one-way turn inwards, just windows slightly lighting up this hall. He distinctly remembered that he had come from that hallway, and that the maid that had escorted him to this room had sped up ever so slightly passing by it. Of course that was where whoever wanted to meet him would be. The one place that the maid staff was scared of, or at least, wanted to avoid.

Chewing his lip, he walked towards it. He continued with his cautious routine, pressing himself against the cool marble. He hadn’t seen into this corridor passing by it on his way to his room, so he had no clue what to expect when he abruptly turned the corner, fists ready.

In his path, instead of a corridor, was a door. Muttering a curse under his breath, he studied it. It wasn’t old or unkempt, which meant that at least somebody was taking good care of even this avoided part of the castle. Either someone was really dedicated to their job, or whoever was beyond wished to save face. Or more likely, this was a commonly used place with some other purpose that would make a maid rush past. No matter, it was where Ray needed to enter it.

Inhaling slowly, he grasped the door handle, turning it slowly. Putting his foot against the hinge-side of the door, he jerked it open. His foot kept it from slamming against the wall and creating disruption, but also meant slight pain. It didn’t matter to him though, as his eyes searched the scene in front of him.

At first, he was slightly confused at the sight, but quickly came to the realization that he was staring at a circular stairwell. Muttering an even fouler curse as his eyes landed on the stair at eye level. A single, threatening blue flower lay on it. Grimacing at the thought of what might lay beyond, he picked the tiny flower up, and crushed it.

Taking the first step up the stairs, he slowly crept forward, steadily making his way up the bland stone steps. At first he took no notice, but soon he came to realize a creeping cold across his neck, the same kind he got when his scarf slipped too low during a blizzard. His teeth clenched. This was obviously no good sign. For once, he felt that some of that bullcrap at home about feeling the air might actually be true.

His fists became tighter, whitening at the knuckles. He kept count of how many stairs he had traversed, becoming slightly more concerned as ten became twenty, and twenty forty. This portion of the castle was high up, one of the towers he’d seen as he had walked to the castle. The stairs he were climbing also had to be some sort of lesser used passage too, as all of the towers had outdoor stairs leading up to them. That and the fact that despite his earlier assessment of how used the passage had to be, there was still a thin layer of dust on the steps.

Dust, he realized suddenly. He stooped down to the steps, scouring the ground in the pitch darkness, but was unable to see anything that low. There was a window every fifteen steps that provided the only light, but in the stairs in between, there was too little light to actually see the steps. He was able to find the pattern of the steps easily. The designers of this stairwell were some sort of perfectionists, every step as even in dimension as the next, which allowed him to walk them without tripping.

As he came to the next window, though, he found not a disturbance in the dust, but another flower. Shaking his head in disappointment, he checked the next few stairs up, which were still within the soft stream of dim night light. There was nothing, not even a slight distortion caused by the air moving, just the same thick dust as every other stairstep. Muttering an angry curse under his breath, he began rushing up the stairs two at a time, tensed up in case of ambush. Although at this point, he was doubting ambush.

It just seemed illogical at this point. There had been several decent, if not adequate points for him to be ambushed, even with his precautions, but there hadn’t been someone there. This was an attempt to communicate with him, to get him where nobody would find him -no- them. This wasn’t Twilight’s work, that much he could deduce. She was subtle at some points, and while he had reason to doubt the integrity of her word, he didn’t. There was just too much at stake for either of them to not trust each other.

So this was the work of somebody else. Discord maybe? No, not chaotic enough, at least as far as he thought. Not enough… pizzazz to fit the draconequus. So who?

“Only one way to find out,” he muttered. He stood to his full height and began rushing up the stairs. There wasn’t reason to fear the person or pony behind this, not yet at least. So, as he passed over stair ninety, he disregarded the blue flower as he ran up the stairwell. He kept his pace constant and hurried, until at stair ninety six, he saw the vague form of the door. The perfectionist designer had kept to whatever self possessed neat nature. Ray came to a halt right in front of another mahogany door on step one hundred.

There was an old brass door handle on it, the polished wood grainy from years of abandonment and rare cleansings. Ray figured that knocking was pointless, and simply shoved the door open, revealing a clean room beyond. It seemed to be in some sort of use, and likely was, as he heard movement from somewhere in the corners of the room. Glancing around, he found he was in a relatively small room, the same chiseled marble making up every surface of it. It was bare, but shining in splendor.

He looked to the corner where the noise had come from suspiciously, glaring at the opening there. After waiting several seconds for something, anything to emerge, he began slowly approaching it. There was nothing coming to him, so whatever was making the noise wanted him to come to it. Involuntarily, he clenched his fists again, preparing to enact his fight or flight instincts.

As he exited the room and into the bigger one, he heard a voice calling out jovially, “Ah, the Hero of Equestria comes at last!”

Ray nearly embarrassed himself by jumping at the sudden calling, but was able to keep himself in control of his nerves. Moving deeper into the room, he saw a dark, near formless shape in the center of the room. It was then that he realized the room was lit not by the waning night sky, but by candelabras placed about much like in his own room. They lit up even the very center of the room, where the figure stood.

Staring hard at it, he found that indeed, the figure, which was waist high, was not formless, but in fact, shaped much like a pony. It was dressed in a deep blue cloak which furrowed at the sides and back. Underneath the coat was a thin, tight layer of paler blue, not quite light, but certainly not deep. It covered the rest of the body, including the face. That was, except for where the blue fedora lay on its head, which was marked with an uneven splatter of blue resembling something… obscure. Tipping it up, the pony revealed that even their eyes were covered by satin, though this satin was light blue and thin enough to practically see through the threading.

The pony -a stallion, he deduced through the voice and general build- held out a hoof with a sort of cheeriness he wouldn’t expect from one so mysteriously kept. “I’ve been waiting quite a while to meet you, Ray. you’ve caused quite a stir within the pony community, though I guess you could suppose so much by how alien you are.”

Every word the stallion stated was jovial, as if they were friends chatting over dinner, and not newly acquainted.

“Excuse me,” Ray began in confusion, “but who are you, exactly?”

The stallion tipped his head back in a short, happy laugh. “You probably haven’t heard of me much,” the stallion said, leveling a gaze to him. Ray felt as if the stallion were both smiling at him welcomingly, and observing him steadily, even though the mask remained neutrally expressionless. Well, he could very much return the gesture. “I haven’t done many great feats of wonder as of late, but if you should know, which you should, I am the Blue Knight, the Hero of Canterlot.”

“I’m sorry, who,” Ray asked, still not entirely caught up with this character. He was cheery and easy-going looking, severely contrasting the dark and vague appearance he took. He also couldn’t quite deduce whether this stallion was quite honest in his statements, seeing as how, well, descriptive he was acting.

“Sorry, this is fast for you. I had years, you only have one. My name isn’t to be heard, but you can call me whatever you can think of, or if needs be, the Blue Knight,” the stallion started, still holding out his hoof. Ray took it and began to shake it with him while he continued. “I’ve been around for over five years, keeping this city, and as of late, Equestria, safe.”

“Okay, cool, but um, why,” Ray asked again, feeling slightly duped.

“Well, why what?” the Blue Knight countered with an unseen raise of the eyebrow. “Why am I the Hero of Canterlot? Why does this concern you? Why am I able to fight? Why what?”

“Um, yes,” Ray responded, still unsure.

Chuckling at his confused manner, the cryptic stallion spoke as cheerfully, and softly, as if he were speaking to a child. Might as well be, because I don’t understand crap right now, Ray thought dumbfoundedly to himself. This seemed anything like the hero type. Cheerful, definitely easygoing, and all around relatable to a teddy bear, this was not somepony he would figure for a hero. Then again, Equestria.

“Well, you see, I’m not your average stallion, not at all. Being here for the reason that you are, you surely know about Celestia’s mental block: the great peacekeeper of Equestria. Well, unfortunately for me, I was born without it. It’s a rare thing, nigh on one in two hundred thousand, but alas, I was born without it. In order to hone in my violence to keep from exploding, Celestia took me under her wing and helped me find a way to control it.

“Turns out, I wasn’t the only poor soul born without her blessing. There are several dozen others, and a good number of them in Canterlot. Which means that I had a purpose, some way to use my violence for something good. I stop them, and the regulars; the robbers, con artists, and foalnappers. That's how I became the Hero of Canterlot. Violence, and a good deal of bruises.”

The stallion chuckled at the morbid joke as if it were another common street joke, signifying very clearly that this stallion was, indeed, no stranger to violence. In fact, he seemed to have accepted that that was that, and there was no way about it. Ray smiled earnestly with the joke, kneeling down to the ground to be face level with the pony.

“Ah, now isn’t that humbling, the Hero of Equestria kneeling down to be face level with me,” the stallion muttered, giving Ray a pointed tip of the hat. Taking a deep, almost sighing breath, he continued. “Now, as to how it concerns you exactly, well, that’s a more complicated story. The base of it is, this place, Equestria, it isn’t perfect. There aren’t as many problems as there are in your world, or so I’ve been told by Twilight, but there are still big ones. The main ones; corruption and anarchy.

“We’ll start with the simpler ones. The nobility, for the most part, are a respectable, if not snobbish class of ponies that are the spine of Equestria. A good deal of them are good, or at least, okay ponies. They follow the laws, keep in touch with their ponies, and contribute well to each class of ponies. Now, there are a small percentage of them that, like with any position of power, take advantage of their work, and the ponies with them. Now, the majority of them are taken care of and out of power, but there are still a few remaining that I can’t seem to pin down.

“Now, the anarchy, and its founder, on the other hoof, that’s a whole other matter. You see, that started a while back, but on a smaller scale. What was going on then was only a… a shadow of the threat to come. There wasn’t any warning, wasn’t any rhyme or reason, just a sudden… snap. And then that was that. It was started. Whatever this is, it isn’t pretty, and it isn’t your concern. That’s why I’m telling you all of this.

“Take this as you will Ray, but I don’t believe you to be the type that needlessly rushes into the heat of a fire. Well, while you're in Ponyville, if you ever glance at the news, you’ll see and hear all about the fires burning through Baltimare, Whinneapolis, and Manehattan. Don’t bother with those.” The Blue Knight’s cheerfulness had dropped, as had his pitch. He seemed to be staring down Ray now, staring at him and daring him to oppose what he was saying. “That’s my forte. I fight in Equestria, but you, you fight abroad. Together we make up a complete defense of Equestria. Me from interior threats, you from exterior threats. That is how we will save this land, right? Together, but apart.”

Ray licked his lips, staring at the ground now. The Blue Knight was still expectantly waiting on his response, but he was too deep in thought to bother at the moment. This pony seemed smart. He seemed like he could handle the army, the whole of the war, so why not use him for it, rather than him, a kid out of Pittsburg. The answer, of course, was right in front of him.

This pony was the interior protector. He was the one that kept the country from collapsing on itself, that much he had made clear to Ray. But there was something more to it. This pony seemed to be exactly who Ray had assumed on first sight, but different too. There was too much at stake for him to leave his position, and for somepony else to take it over. He wasn’t a police officer or something, no, he seemed to be something else entirely for Equestria, a certain thing. He was the one, Ray now knew, who had to kill whoever or whatever was behind what was going on in those other places.

And thus, the need for Ray. Taking a breath, he nodded at the Knight. “I understand completely.”

“Good,” he responded, a sort of tight cheeriness returning to his voice. He turned to a window, much like the one in Ray’s own room. “It’s time I go,” the Knight said, almost regretfully. Turning back to Ray, he spoke softly, “I hope this isn’t the last time we talk, but who knows? Our duty is a dangerous one.”

With that, the Knight silently turned to the window, walked over, and pushed it open. The cool night’s air blew in, causing his cloak to flap lightly in the wind. “Go back the way you came. Make sure to shut the door completely. If you’re lucky, you can still get a few more hours of sleep.”

Ray was unable to respond as the Blue Knight ran up to the edge of the balcony and leapt off. Chuckling slightly, Ray turned away from the sight of it, knowing full well that the mysterious stallion would be alright. He walked back into the room where he had come from, opened up the door, and quickly began his descent down the stairs. He pondered briefly the words of the Blue Knight, but put them aside quickly as he remembered something suddenly.

Today he was supposed to be receiving training from Skalos. At six. And it was currently almost four, if his estimations were right. He began flying down the stairs, and within only a couple of minutes, he had reached the bottom of the steps. Carefully opening the door, he rushed out of the stairwell. Hastily shutting the door behind him, he rushed further down the hallway.

He began running through the castle, hoping blindly that his memory of the route he had taken from the dining room to his room was correct. If not, he hoped that one of the staff was going to be out wandering late in the night, and would be willing to lead him to the train station.

With a sudden realization, and curse, he remembered the train ticket fee. He reached into his pockets after stumbling to a halt, hoping to find a coin or two. Instead, his fingers brushed against something stiff and papery. Pulling it out of his pocket, he inspected it.

It was his train ticket from the day previously. Reading it quickly, he saw the words “round trip” and gave a sigh of relief at his obliviousness of this world. He hadn’t meant to buy a round trip ticket yesterday, and hadn’t even known that he had, but now that he did, he felt a slight bit better about his situation. Only slightly, though, as he still had to rush out of the castle and to the train station and hope that it left and arrived in time for him to reach the meeting point with Skalos. What a look, to be late on the very first day of training, after everything he’d said to the Fallen.

He continued to run down hallway after hallway, until suddenly, at one turn, he practically ran over a mare. Giving a yelp of surprise, he leapt over her before sliding on the slick, polished marble tiles and landing on his back. Grimacing as the wind was knocked out of him, he laid still for several seconds before trying to push himself up. His hands found grip on the slick tile, but he was still too sore from the sudden slip to actually rise.

“Are you okay, mister?”

The sudden question from behind his head reminded him that he wasn’t alone. A pink muzzle leaned over his face, concerned etching her features, lips thin. Rolling over and pushing himself into a sitting position, he answered with a tight voice, “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. That was… just a fall.”

The mare seemed satisfied with his answer and his actions, and held out a friendly hoof. “Alright then, mister. Pleasure to meet you! My name’s River Lily, but you can just call me Lily.”

“I’m Ray,” he said, getting up off of the ground slowly.

“Well, hi then, Ray. You gave me quite a scare, y’know. Nearly dropped my flowers.” The mare spoke with a friendly manner, her head steadily rising to keep eye contact with him.

“I don’t mean to offend by asking, but are you a, uh, member of the maid staff here?”

“Oh no, though I might as well be. I’m here all of the time,” the mare answered with slight exasperation. She tipped her head in curiosity at his question. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m a guest here, and, well, I need help getting out and to the train station,” Ray muttered in slight embarrassment. He was like a child again, lost in the supermarket and looking for the parking lot. Only he didn’t have the age excuse. It didn’t seem to be so with the mare though, as she stood thoughtfully for a moment, chewing a hoof and looking back the way she was going.

“Yeah, I guess I can. Prince Blueblood’s flowers can wait a while longer,” Lily admitted slowly. She turned back to him and gave him a bright smile, gesturing with a hoof for him to follow her. “So, why are you here? I can’t imagine you're from any of the other nations. I don’t know, you might be a scaleless dragon, but that seems too much of a stretch, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Ray responded with a short chuckle. “I don’t breathe fire or anything. Um, I guess I’m here on business with Twilight.”

“I see,” she said without turning around. They turned a corridor as she asked, “So where do you live currently? I mean, Canterlot’s a big city, but I think the news would have covered a strange creature in Equestria.”

“Well, I live in Ponyville currently, but probably not the case in a year or so,” Ray answered cautiously. “I mean, I’ll move on to my old home hopefully, or if not, find a new place somewhere to live. I like it here, but… it just isn’t my place.”

“Ah, so you’re a loner,” she commented, looking back at him with a smile. For a moment, her look and smile became forlorn, as she stated, “I think I know someone who would understand.” She glanced somewhere behind him briefly, before letting out a sigh and continuing on.

Soon enough, they came upon a set of large double doors.

“Wait a minute,” Ray said in confusion. “Aren’t these the doors out of the castle?”

“Why yes they are,” Lily affirmed confidently. Looking at him as she pushed it open, she asked, “Why?”

“It’s just… oh nevermind. It was a bit odd to me, but… nevermind.”

Chuckling lightly at Ray’s confusion, she continued to hold the door open for him as he passed through and into the chilled early morning air. He shivered slightly at the cold, but kept moving with purpose. The doors shut soundly behind Lily, as she caught up with him, silently observing the cool night. He looked up from the cobbled path and to the sky, watching the multitude of blinking stars candidly. There wasn’t much out of the usual, other than the fact that they were slightly brighter than in Pittsburg. The result of less light pollution, he guessed.

Before he knew it, Ray was following Lily through the abandoned streets of Canterlot. Nopony was out in the early hours of the morning, leaving the streets bare and hardly lit. Even empty, though, they had a sort of haunting magnificence to it, the eloquent streetside houses and businesses empty but living, in their own way. Even the lampposts, which were slightly more than two feet taller than Ray, seemed to give the city life in the dark, taking the place of the usual city-goers. Every other one was lit, presumably to conserve oil and labor. Whatever the reason, the lighting gave the street a ghostly affect, the light spreading out evenly, but not really brightening anywhere.

As they came to a fork, he recognized it as the area where he had come from so much earlier today. Looking hard in the distance, he saw a lamp lighting up the station, and in the ghostly light, he could see the shadow of the train. A they turned wordlessly down the street and approached the train station, he could see the dimly lit windows, and even a shadow here and there in them. The smokestack had a small trickle coming from the top, signifying that the engine was starting up to leave.

The two companions came to a halt in front of the wooden platform to the station, looking to each other silently for a moment before Ray spoke up again.

“Thanks for the help, especially as late as it was,” he said, looking down to the pink gardener pony.

“Oh, no problem,” she responded with a short, dismissive wave of the hoof. “Canterlot’s a big city, like I said. Sometimes you just need a good guide and friend to get you through it!” The whistle to the train blew quickly, piercing the otherwise still night air. “Well, I guess that’s your signal to go, isn’t it? You don’t need any bits or anything, do you?”

“Uh, no,” Ray answered after a moment of recollection. “I think I’m good. Thanks again for the help.”

“Yeah, no problem. Hope to see you soon, but if not, I hope you find that good place to live,” she cheerfully encouraged. The conductor’s call of “All aboard” cut their goodbyes short, leaving Ray to nod curtly to her before running up to the train car door.

Showing his ticket, the conductor nodded him in. Traveling three cars down to an empty one, he took a seat by the Canterlot side windows. Looking out, he could see the figure of Lily waving the train off as it jerked forward, initiating the start of the journey back to Ponyville. Resting his head against the glass pane and settling back into the cushion of the seats, Ray allowed sleep to overtake him once again.

Author's Note:

Well, this was a doozy to write, especially since it was written and edited over the past four days. On to the next chapter!

Comments

[Derpybrony890]

Okay, I can't lie, I was laughing and smiling through the whole conversation of Ray and the Blue Knight, mostly because to me this is what I assume to be a crossover. And I absolutely love crossovers (that make sense of course)! However, a question... When are we going to, if we are, see Celestia in this? I have been wondering if she will show up and maybe help Ray out. And because my sleep-deprived brain cannot get the image of Ray riding Celestia in war yelling "Onward my noble steed!"

[The_Darker_Fonts]

No. There is no Ray riding anypony in this book or others. By my description, even Celestia is too small.

[carrs88]

There was a certain air about the castle that night, one usually felt when there was a secret being held in plain sight. He kept finding himself looking over his shoulder that night, even as he was being led to his guest room by a young stallion maid. The purple unicorn kept assuring him that he was completely safe from any harm there, and while it wasn’t harm Ray feared, it was something else.

you didn't mean butler? or maybe mare maid?

[The_Darker_Fonts]

10507551
Nope. Stallions (and men) can be considered part of the maid staff, depending on job and culture.

[Xadses]

I forgot how controlling Celestia can be I didn't realize she would be willing to geld her subjects as a easy way out then true leadership.

[The_Darker_Fonts]

11164653
Well, we all foolishly said we wished for world peace, not realizing what exactly that might entail...

[Solar_Wolf]

Why fallow flowers on the floor in the Castle in canterlot I wuld of egnord theam a wast of time not important and maby told some 1 about how the maids dropped flowers on the floor