The Ties That Bind

by Scyphi

Night Guard

Gallus hadn’t been kidding when he’d said all of the possible disguises Gus brought them were for female griffons, and some were quite obvious. That made it somewhat embarrassing and awkward for the two, but Gallus eventually reasoned that maybe they could work it to their advantage.

“They are looking for a male griffon and not a female griffon after all, right?” he rationalized.

So Gallus eventually selected one of the less obtrusive outfits to wear, one with a long enough skirt so to still hide his obvious male traits, though he couldn’t resist adding a more masculine fez to top it off with. That done, he made the added effort of touching up his plumage, styling it in a slightly more female manner, before taking a reddish-colored powered “ink” and proceeding to rub it into the parts of him the outfit wasn’t going to cover, such as his tail, wings, hind paws, neck, and head. When mixed with his natural blue, this turned his coloring to a more red violet color. He then added in a bit of black to hide the yellow tips of his crest, altogether truly making himself look like a different creature.

Spike, however, proved to be a bit more complicated. Few of the disguises Gus provided really fit his smaller frame and those that did weren’t especially convincing. Plus, the inks didn’t stick to Spike’s scales very well, instead just smearing ineffectively. However, at the bottom of the box of supplies was a fake beak, and Gallus found, if they could also hide Spike’s spines and obscure the rest of his draconic body, he almost looked like a griffon fledgling with it. So with that in mind, Gallus pulled out a backpack-like pouch used by griffon mothers so to carry their swaddled young. Spike was a bit big for it, but once snuggly inside (his satchel squeezed in with him), all one could clearly see of him was his eyes and the false beak. Once Gallus pasted on a few loose downy feathers so to further cover up some of the surrounding scales as a precaution, they were ready to sneak into Griffonstone itself.

So they gathered their things and left the airship docks, resuming their original path leading into the city. Gallus had to do all the maneuvering himself since Spike was effectively left riding upon the griffon’s back, but Spike helped by watching for possible trouble. Approaching the border where the griffon authorities were patrolling was tense, but they still slipped through without raising the alarm so clearly the disguises were working. Nevertheless, they continued through the city and other griffons wandering the streets with caution, keeping themselves at a distance and doing everything they could to try and not draw any unwanted attention as they went.

Spike was quiet for most of it, resting on Gallus’s back in the carrier pouch. He must have been thinking ahead though, because eventually he quietly posed a question. “So I assume we’re heading to Gruff’s place?” The false beak over his snout muffled his voice somewhat, but Gallus could still hear him clearly enough.

“Why would we head anywhere else?” Gallus whispered back, the determination to confront the elderly griffon clear in his voice. “It’s past time we get answers for this mess we’re in.”

“I just hope we won’t end up in a deeper mess doing it.” Spike turned his head to eye a griffon authority passing by some feet away.

He didn’t seem to notice them, but Gallus could feel Spike tense nonetheless. “I’m more focused on getting there without being caught, but I can do that. I’ve done it before.”

“Yeah, so I’ve been hearing.” Spike’s voice didn’t sound confident though.

“Look, the authors probably aren’t going to try too hard to find us,” Gallus assured. “Never have in the past, at least. They aren’t paid enough to creature-hunt or are just too crooked to do more than the minimum. So relax—as long as we keep lying low, this stays doable.”

That was apparently enough to satisfy Spike because he didn’t comment further, allowing Gallus to focus on slipping through the streets without further event. And they successfully did so, which was heartening. Maybe, after the rotten day or so they’d been having, things were finally beginning to turn around. In any case, they were soon getting close to their destination. Gallus had kept it to himself, not wanting to worry Spike unnecessarily in case it was unfounded, but he’d realized their pursuers might’ve concluded they’d come to Gruff’s place and put it under guard so to trap them. So Gallus approached the house from a very roundabout direction and circled around the area once or twice to make sure as much as he could that this wasn’t the case. Once he was satisfied, he stepped up to Gruff’s small house at last.

It appeared to be the same as it always had—old and rundown but still habitable enough if one was okay with the faults. Gallus did note it seemed like Gruff had recently gotten it repainted, as it’s whitewashed walls seemed fresh, unstained, and with no signs of peeling, but otherwise Gruff hadn’t been bothering to mend the building’s various worn spots as usual, at least as long as its roof stayed over his head. The house also seemed quiet, but this wasn’t unusual as Gruff wasn’t especially noisy when left to himself. Gallus supposed there wasn’t much point complaining loudly about things if there wasn’t anyone around to hear it.

Nevertheless, there didn’t seem to be anything stopping them from just coming up to its front door, so Gallus did just that. “Well, we’re here,” he whispered to Spike as he walked onto its front step.

“You have any idea what we’re going to say to him?” Spike inquired back. “Just how are we doing this anyway?”

“I’m still deciding whether or not I’m just going to pin him down until he talks,” Gallus grumbled, looking up at the door and feeling his blood boil as he realized now was finally the time to confront the elderly griffon.

Spike’s distaste for that suggestion was audible. “Maybe try for the more civil approach, please? We are trying to avoid attention, after all.”

“Right, right,” Gallus relented, knowing Spike was ultimately right, and raised his talons with the intent of politely knocking on the door.

His body apparently didn’t get the memo though because his polite knock instead came out as pounding on the door with his fist. Wincing briefly at his lack of tact, he waited impatiently for Gruff to answer. After about a minute of absolutely no sign of anyone coming to the door though, Gallus’s temper flared again and he pounded heavily on the door a second time, this time fully intentionally.

“Open up, Gruff!” he called through the door as he pounded. “I know you’re in there!”

“Gallus!” Spike hissed, eyes anxiously scanning around to make sure this wasn’t creating a scene. “Trying to avoid attention, remember?”

Gallus disregarded this though, developing tunnel vision for confronting Gruff, and only proceeded to pound on the door a third time, demanding it be answered. But there was still no Gruff. Suspecting something was amiss, Gallus spread his wings and vaulted up to Gruff’s roosting perch on the second floor, poking his head to look inside.

“Gruff!” Gallus bellowed into it, “Where are you hiding, you wrinkly coward?”

Still finding no sign of his target, Gallus shot back to the ground and angrily started circling around the house, peering into every window for any sign of Gruff but still finding nothing.

“Gallus!” Spike continued to protest helplessly from his back, “I get you’re clearly angry about this, but…”

“But nothing!” Gallus snapped, only growing more frustrated the longer this dragged on. “That geezer isn’t escaping this, not this time, and I’m not leaving without—GAH!”

His outburst was finally stopped when his shoulders were physically grabbed by another creature and, before he could finish processing that, found himself bodily flipped around and pinned to the side of the house, squashing Spike as the dragon ended up squeezed between his back and the wall. Gallus shot a glance back at the dragon but focused his full attention on the creature pinning him upon realizing with a start that he knew his attacker.

“You wanna explain yourself here, twerp?” the familiar brown griffoness growled as she leaned threateningly at Gallus.

“Gilda!” Gallus exclaimed back in surprise, and hurriedly held up his talons in surrender. “It’s okay, it’s me, Gallus!”

“Wait, seriously?” Gilda replied while jerking her head back in surprise, having clearly not recognized him under his disguise. She spent a moment looking him over, raising a skeptical brow. She then snorted as recognition finally seeped into her face. “Okay, well, never knew you swung that way, but whatever.”

“Huh?” Gallus said, momentarily confused until he looked down at the griffoness outfit he was wearing. “Oh, that! It’s not like that, this is just a disguise!”

“Oh really?”

“Gus provided it, said it was the best he could offer!”

Gilda snorted. “Well, that’s what you get for trusting that crooked griff,” she pointed out, loosening her grip on Gallus so to not press him and Spike so hard into the wall but also not letting him go either. “What the heck you doing out here, Gallus? You’re supposed to be miles away from here.”

“And trust me,” Gallus responded back sternly, “we’d really love to be exactly there right now.”

“…we?”

Gallus sighed and turned to show Spike nestled in the carrying pouch, who removed the false beak long enough to give Gilda a clear idea of his real identity before making a sheepish wave. “Uh…hi?”

Gilda regarded Spike for a long moment, visibly befuddled, before turning her attention back on Gallus. “Do I want to know?”

“It’s a long story, but let’s consider the details q-blu for now,” Gallus answered for the same reasons he’d not wanted to explain it to Gus.

Gilda wasn’t quite as willing to let it slide though. “What, have you two got the authors after you or something?” she asked before groaning and answered her own question, giving Gallus a weary look. “You do, don’t you? That’s why so many authors are out and about today!” She pinched the bridge of her beak with one paw. “You’re big wanted!”

Gallus grabbed her paw with his own. “Try double big wanted, Gilda.”

Now Gilda stared at him with a look of horror before narrowing her eyes darkly. “Who the heck is that ticked off at you?” she demanded, as if ready to take on the culprit herself.

Gallus was actually somewhat gladdened she cared enough to. “That’s what we want to ask Gruff,” he nonetheless answered coldly.

Gilda gaped at him. “You think Grampa Gruff wants you dead?” she hissed, not quite believing it.

“Maybe,” Spike responded before Gallus could, which might be for the better since Gallus found he had a definite “yes” sitting on the tip of his tongue. It made him wonder if his answer was because he had actual evidence of that or because that was just what he wanted it to be. In any case, he didn’t stop Spike from continuing: “We suspect he might at least know what’s going on.”

“So where is he?” Gallus demanded, before realizing something else. “And why are you here anyway? Don’t you have better places to be yourself?”

“Ugh, yes, and I wish that I was, trust me,” Gilda promised, pinching at the bridge of her beak again. “But Gruff’s got me babysitting his house while he’s off on business instead of letting me see to my own, for which I intend to charge him out the wazoo considering I’m losing a whole heck of a lot of bits by the hour the longer I’m kept away from my scones stand, but…”

“Wait, wait, Gruff left on business?” Gallus interrupted, perking up. “When?”

“You kinda just missed him, he literally left early this morning,” Gilda replied with an apologetic wince. “He got called out to the Lord’s Manor. I don’t know why—you know he never tells anybody these things.”

Gallus groaned and now he was the one pinching the bridge of his beak. “And I don’t suppose you have any idea of when he could be back?”

“Not a clue, but you know how this works just as well as I do—he won’t be coming back until the lords don’t need him to be out there anymore and not a moment sooner.”

“Wait, what is this Lord’s Manor?” Spike asked, not quite following. “I mean, I’ve heard of it before, but I’ve never been totally clear on just what it is.”

“It’s this big fortified mansion all of the ruling lords of the Griffon Kingdom go to do business with each other,” Gallus explained, rubbing his paw over his face in frustration. “It’s really ritzy and basically everything you’d expect of a place where rich and egotistical griffons hang out.”

“…why would Gruff be called there?”

“Because he serves as the kingdom’s archivist and historian of all the various things they can’t be bothered to keep track of themselves, at least the ones that deal with the country on a whole or potentially affecting multiple lords and their respective territories. He usually gets called out there to pull out records for anything the lords might be squabbling about now.”

“Okay, so where is this mansion?” Spike then pressed. “Is it in Griffonstone?”

“No, it’s about four or five mountaintops thataway,” Gallus replied, jabbing a claw in its general direction.

“Not someplace you’re going to get to very quickly, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Gilda added. “It’ll a take a good couple of hours to get there by flight.” She glanced at the sun now well on its way back towards the horizon. “Too long if you’re trying to get there before sunset.”

“And we’re trying to lie low, so we wouldn’t want to fly anyway,” Gallus continued with another groan of frustration. “But hiking through those mountains on foot would take days.” He turned to Gilda again. “You’re sure you don’t have any idea when Gruff might get back?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, Gallus,” Gilda replied with a shrug. “He could be back in a week or he could be back tonight. If you’re right about him somehow being involved in whatever the heck the droppings you’ve gotten yourself into are, I’d bet my bits on the former.”

“It…does seem awfully convenient that he gets called away just in time for all of this to happen,” Spike admitted.

Gallus had gotten the same thought himself, and it only infuriated him that Gruff may already be a step ahead of them. “I’m not about to let him get away from this that easily,” he growled.

“Yeah, but you’re not going to want to go all the way out to the Lord’s Manor anyway,” Gilda pointed out. “It’ll be swarming with all of the mercs of the visiting lords, and they’ll be far more willing to shoot your face off than the authors around here will be.”

“Mercs?” Spike questioned.

“Paid bodyguards that the lords hire to protect themselves,” Gallus explained. “The more powerful the lord, the more of them they have employed, so it depends on which lords are at the manor, but if Gruff’s been called out there, there’s probably more than one currently. So Gilda’s right about how there’d be way more than we could ever hope to sneak past.”

Their conversation was interrupted when Gilda suddenly spied a griffon authority rounding the street corner and she swiftly dragged them back around to the other side of Gruff’s house so to keep them out of sight. “Look, as entertaining as this has been to discuss, it’s not getting you anywhere and you’ve apparently got creatures out to kill you,” she reasoned, lowering her voice to a whisper. “So I say you forget Gruff for now, cut your losses, and get the heck out of town. What do you need to get back to Equestria? A train ticket?”

“They’d be watching the trains for us,” Spike replied with certainty. “They aren’t going to let us escape that easily, at least.”

“Then we’ll smuggle you over the border on foot if we have to. I know a griff that…”

“Gilda, I appreciate the offer,” Gallus interrupted seriously, “but not only will less creatures who know about us be better, they already have patrol ships scouting the wilderness for us, so that route would probably be no safer.”

Gilda gaped at them both again. “Seriously, who the heck wants you dead that badly?” she insisted. But before either Gallus or Spike could answer, the authority they were avoiding was heard poking around near the entrance of Gruff’s house, drawing her attention. She started waving them on. “Aw, look, just get out of here. I’ll keep that oaf distracted and off your trail for as long as I can.”

“Thanks,” Gallus said, taking the hint and turning to go. “And Gilda, if they ask, ghosts for answers.”

“Obviously,” Gilda replied with the roll of her eyes. She motioned for them to get going. “Now go! And don’t die!”

They then last saw her vanishing back around the house where she could be heard confronting the authority much like how she initially had for them. Their cover made, Gallus used it to quickly put a couple of blocks between them before choosing to slow and discreetly resume talking. “Well, so much for that plan,” he grumbled quietly.

“To be honest it was a longshot anyway, finding Gruff,” Spike reasoned, but turning sympathetic, he added, “I promise we’ll find a way to confront him about all of this eventually, but for now Gilda’s right—we need to focus on getting to safety.”

“I guess that means we’re back to our original plan of finding a post office so to get word out to Equestria,” Gallus concluded.

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea anymore though,” Spike reasoned. He went quiet for a moment while they slipped past two griffon authorities conversing on a nearby street corner. “There’re too many creatures out looking for us on these streets and they probably won’t want us getting word out to Equestria anyway, so they might be safeguarding anything that’d easily let us do it.”

“Well, we definitely can’t stay out here on the streets forever,” Gallus pointed out. “So we should at least find someplace to hide until we’ve got a new plan.”

“Luckily, I think I know just the place,” Spike answered. “You wouldn’t happen to know where the Equestrian embassy for Griffonstone is, would you?”

---

As it happened, Gallus only had a vague idea of where it was at, since the embassy was still a relatively new addition to the city, built only a couple years ago as relations between the griffons and Equestria gradually improved. Fortunately, though Spike had never before visited it himself, he’d dealt with enough paperwork involving it since becoming royal advisor that he knew where to find it on the far side of the city, somewhat isolated away from the other buildings by design. Spike also explained that Equestria was “currently in-between ambassadors” assigned to the embassy, leaving it vacant and thus both safe and free for them to slip inside where Spike was confident they’d find means to securely contact Equestria and inform them of their situation.

But when they arrived at the embassy grounds, in time for the sinking sun to start casting long golden shadows, they were surprised to see the lights on inside the building—a sprawling cottage-like structure with an attached tower—and indications that someone was currently inside.

Gallus frowned at the sight as they looked on from the combination wrought iron fence and hedge surrounding the outer perimeter of the embassy grounds. “I thought you said this place would be empty,” he muttered to Spike.

“It should be,” Spike responded, twisting around in the carrying pouch so he could see too. He sounded very confused by this development. “I don’t know why anyone would be in there.”

This led Gallus to a worrying thought. “Could have somebody already thought we’d go here and are trying to cut us off?” he proposed.

Spike seemed hesitant about it though. “It’s not like some creature from off the street could just get inside without breaking in, as that should’ve set off the security alarms…it could be that a new ambassador was recently assigned and I hadn’t heard of it yet though.” He perked up slightly. “Or Twilight’s already dispatched ponies out here to try and find us.”

“How would we ever know, though?” Gallus questioned.

“The only way I can think of is to get closer, see if we can see for ourselves who’s inside.” Spike nudged Gallus’s back through the pouch. “Do you think you can sneak us there without anyone noticing?”

Gallus eyed the fence separating them from the grounds for a second. “I think I can climb over this if there’s not an alarm wired into it,” he reasoned. “Is there?”

“I…don’t think there is.”

“It’s a yes or no, Spike, or I’m not risking it.”

“…no, then.”

Gallus sighed but decided to trust Spike’s word. “Okay, but it’ll be on you if you’re wrong,” he assured before jumping to grab the fence’s upper support bar and hauling himself up its side. It was a bit harder with Spike on his back, weighing him down, but he managed to clamber over the fence simply enough.

Once on the other side and seeing no indications that they had alerted anything, Gallus swiftly scampered across the grounds into the thick decorative landscaping encircling the embassy building where there was better cover. Pressing himself close to the trunk of a tree, he then maneuvered around to try and see inside through the closest of the windows. It had its blinds fully closed, but they could make out at least two indistinct outlines of creatures inside as they happened to pass by.

“Well, there’s definitely someone in there, I just can’t tell who,” Gallus commented as he cautiously kept them within easy viewing of the window.

“Looked like they might be talking, so maybe they were meeting each other here?” Spike hazarded to guess. He nudged Gallus once they moved out of their view in the window. “Can you follow them, see where they’re going? They might be going for the embassy’s front hall, and if so, we might make out more there.”

Gallus nodded and, keeping low, slinked closer to the front half of the building. The front hall unfortunately had all of its blinds drawn as well, so they couldn’t make out any new details except that one of the two creatures was now somewhere out of their view. But Gallus’s attention was swiftly drawn away from that when he abruptly spotted what was parked in front of the embassy through a gap in the decorative foliage, leading to him ducking down again as a precaution. It was a full size coach with a trio of uniformed griffon guards standing ceremoniously around it, fortunately unaware that they were being watched.

“Well, guess that confirms someone is here visiting, for whatever reason,” Spike mumbled to himself. “Though I’m still not sure as to who or why.”

Gallus eyed how stylish and decorative the coach was, clearly an indicator of eminence. “It must be someone of high stature,” he guessed, “probably at the governmental level.”

“Makes sense, given this is an embassy,” Spike said, but he still seemed confused. “But…why would they be here if there’s no ambassador that I know of to meet?”

“I’m starting to think I was right to suspect it’s because of us,” Gallus concluded, deciding to chance peeking at the window again. However, he could still only make out one creature, the other remaining absent. “Wonder where that other creature went…” he muttered before starting to turn to find another window to peek through.

He instead found himself suddenly face to face with a crossbow pointing at his head. “Don’t move,” the pegasus mare holding it advised firmly.

“Droppings!” Gallus reflexively cursed, startled by her sudden appearance, but he swiftly obeyed the instruction, planting himself to the spot and not moving except to put his forepaws into the air.

The mare then took a step closer, her aim lowering only slightly so to point the arrow on her crossbow—it’s head aglow with some form of cyan magic it’d been pre-casted with—at Gallus’s chest, probably so to allow her a better look at his face while still keeping him at arrowpoint. Gallus took the chance to better take in her appearance too, wondering how she’d so effectively gotten the drop on him like this. But other than the enchanted arrows in her quiver, the grey pony seemed to be casually dressed in a brown jacket with a thin black shirt just visible behind it. The only other article of clothing she wore was an eyepatch over her right eye, the thin strap of which vanishing from view within her blond mane.

She also seemed naggingly familiar. “Wait, have I met you before?” Gallus asked her without thinking.

The mare raised a brow back at him. “Have I met you before?” she challenged back.

Gallus was attempting to figure out how to respond when Spike nudged him in the back. “Let me try!” he urged. So since the mare was tilting her head to try and see the source of Spike’s voice anyway, Gallus swiftly about faced to present Spike in the carrying pouch to her, the dragon having already removed his false beak and holding out his royal advisor medallion in an attempt to make use of his authority. “By the order of the—” he abruptly stopped upon recognizing the mare though. “—Ditzy Doo?”

“Spike?” the mare, Ditzy, immediately responded back, also swiftly recognizing the dragon. When Gallus twisted his head around so to glance back at her in befuddlement, she caught his eye and suddenly looked amused. “Wait, is that you under all that, Gallus?”

“…yes?” Gallus responded hesitantly, still not sure if he actually knew this mare. He repositioned himself so both he and Spike could face Ditzy equally. “Seriously, have we met before?”

Ditzy lowered her crossbow. “Well, maybe this’ll clue you in,” she said knowingly, raising a hoof to flip up her eyepatch. Surprisingly, doing so revealed a perfectly healthy eye, save for the fact its golden yellow pupil did not quite line up with her other eye.

Gallus’s eyebrows went up in recognition, knowing of only one pony with that iconic wall-eyed look. “Waaaaait, aren’t you the mailmare?” He vividly recalled her picking up and delivering mail before back at the school.

Ditzy smirked at that. “Well,” she conceded with a cryptic shrug, shouldering her weapon, “part-time at least.” She shook her head though and turned serious again. “We’ve got bigger issues to focus on, but first it’s a relief to see you’re both all right. We’d only been able to make rough guesses as to what happened after hearing Gene Type had turned on you two.”

Spike immediately perked up at that. “You heard our distress call!” he realized with glee.

“We heard your distress call,” Ditzy reaffirmed with a wink. “And the moment we did, Twilight ordered to find and, hopefully, rescue you.” She smirked again, “Didn’t think it’d be you two finding me instead.”

“Honestly, we had no idea you’d be here,” Spike replied, but he likewise smirked. “Should’ve known Twilight would send you, though.”

Gallus was starting to feel very out of the loop by this point. “I still don’t understand though,” he interjected, squinting his eyes at Ditzy like this would unlock her secrets. “I mean, of all ponies, why you specifically?”

“Well, Twilight explicitly requested the Night Guard’s services for this,” Ditzy explained, “and since you were under the escort of a Night Guard when this all happened, we technically already had jurisdiction, so…”

“Yes, but what’s the Night Guard got to do with you?” Gallus asked, folding his forelegs in annoyance.

Ditzy just gave him a knowing smirk and waited for him to figure it out himself.

It didn’t take him long, his eyes going wide. “You gotta be kidding me,” he breathed in shock. “You’re a flipping Night Guard? I thought you were just the mailmare!”

“I said that’s only part-time,” Ditzy explained with an amused shrug. “But hey, you don’t have to take my word for it. Spike can back me up on this, can’t you, Spike?” Spike winced at that, looking put on the spot as Gallus then whirled onto him, his expression demanding an explanation. But Ditzy continued before that could happen. “Look, we can all explain each other later.” She motioned to the shadowy figure still visible through the blinds of the nearby window. “I left his lordship inside waiting for me once I noticed creatures sneaking around out here, so let’s get inside and fill him in on this.”

But Gallus didn’t follow her when she turned to lead them into the cottage, looking again at the shadowy figure through the blinds and noticing for the first time the outline of a beak. “His lordship?” he repeated, concern growing, “A griffon lord?”

Ditzy turned back to face him, looking confused. “Well yeah, we’ve been coordinating with the griffon authorities to try and—”

“But the griffon authorities are in on it!” Gallus hissed at her. “They want us dead too!”

To her credit, Ditzy turned deadly serious the moment he said that. “…what.”

“It’s true, Ditzy,” Spike confirmed a bit more apologetically but no less serious himself. “One of their patrol ships tried to blow us up last night.”

“And it was clear they had orders to do so, from someone high up, and I don’t doubt they’re still hunting for us now,” Gallus stressed emphatically. “Why do you think we’re sneaking around in disguise in the first place?”

Ditzy took a second to process this new information but then zipped to the hedge dividing their secluded spot from the coach and its guards parked in front, peeking out at them. Fortunately, the guards still seemed to have no idea they were there, but nonetheless, with a level of skill that seemed alien on the mare—at least to Gallus—she went back to Gallus and Spike and pushed them low to the ground, pressing a hoof to her lips.

“You two stay here until I get back and keep quiet,” she instructed firmly as she flipped her eyepatch back into place. “I’ll go and send his lordship on his way.”

She then vanished, slinking away through the foliage with such skillful stealth that Gallus was amazed this was really the same accident-prone mailmare he knew in Ponyville. “So you want to explain to me this whole Night Guard thing to me now?” he whispered to Spike as they settled in and awaited her return. “Particularly how you knew about it but I didn’t?”

Spike sighed in a way that, even though Gallus couldn’t currently see it, he could tell the dragon was rolling his eyes in exasperation. “She works undercover, okay?” he began explaining to the griffon. “There’s top secret nondisclosure agreements and everything for this, so it’s not like you can just go telling anyone about it. And she’s apparently been doing it for years. I didn’t even know about it until after Twilight’s coronation.”

“So the whole mailmare thing…?”

“…is just a cover, and always has been. It works out pretty well for her that way.”

“Cover for what, though?”

“These days, it’s usually to safeguard creatures that are connected with the Elements of Harmony or anything related to it. Hence why she’s been stationed in Ponyville for so long—that’s where those kinds of creatures keep ending up.”

This only made the reveal feel all the more jarring for Gallus though. It also made him a little suspicious. “And we’re sure we can trust her?”

“Absolutely,” Spike promised back, clearly having no doubts himself. “Like I said, I should’ve known Twilight would assign her to this case—Not only is Ditzy the one she’d trust the most for this, Ditzy’s also one of the Night Guard’s best.”

“Right,” Gallus replied, not sure if he was totally convinced, but still swayed enough to trust Spike’s word for now.

Spike must’ve sensed his lingering distrust though. “Gallus, not to put too fine a point on it…but her undercover work has already helped to keep us all safe, including both me and you. If she really meant us ill-intent, then why do any of that at all?”

It was a valid point, but Gallus was reluctant to acknowledge it. “Yeah, but if she’s really been some undercover agent this whole time, then why would that affect me directly? What am I involved in that’s so important it requires something like her sitting on the sidelines?”

“Do I really need to remind you of that treehouse out in Everfree you and your friends like hanging around?”

Gallus’s voice caught in his throat as he realized the connection Spike was suggesting. “You’re saying that safeguarding includes me and my friends?”

“It does.”

“But…we’re not Elements of Harmony!” Gallus’s eyes bulged. “…are we?”

“Ditzy’s of the opinion that even if you aren’t technically, you’re all still associated enough to deserve the precaution, or so I’ve heard from her reports since Twilight took the throne.” Gallus could just visualize the knowing look Spike was surely giving the back of his head by now. “Besides, aren’t you six the ones who’ve actually communicated with the Tree the Elements came from?”

Gallus thought about his own past encounters with the Tree of Harmony. To be fair, he’d always understood that this connection was significant, but he’d never really stopped to think it meant the government gave him and his friends special protection like this. “But if that’s the case,” Gallus said as he applied this new information to recent events, “then where was she when Gene Type made his move?”

“Because you already knew her as the innocent mailmare and would’ve wondered why she’d even be present for that, just like you did a few minutes ago,” Spike reminded. “To explain it away convincingly probably meant revealing her secret to you and that’d blow her cover, something that allows her to do her job so effectively without interference. That’s probably the real reason why Dream Chaser was selected to accompany us to begin with, now that I think about it.” Spike’s tone then turned sympathetic. “If it helps, Ditzy’s probably kicking herself for not being there to ensure our safety. Yet another reason to assign her to look for us—she probably insisted on it.” A moment of silence fell while Gallus processed this, so Spike used the chance to keep talking. “Look, I get how finding out like this probably feels. My own mind was blown away when I was told Ditzy’s a Night Guard, and I had the luxury of taking the time to process it that you don’t, given circumstances. And I get how seeing her real self probably seems like it should be suspect right now, but if there’s anything about this you can trust me completely on, Gallus, it’s this: Ditzy’s probably one of the safest ponies we could be around right now.”

Gallus blinked several times to himself as he continued processing all this, still trying to comprehend the idea that this klutzy pony he’d long known was around but never really thought twice about was instead a high-profile undercover Night Guard the whole time he’d known her. It put the chance encounters with her before now in a whole new light that definitely took some brain power to even comprehend. But while he was doing that, the embassy’s front door was heard opening and closing, drawing their attention back to the gap in the hedge so to watch the visiting lord, a stout and dark brown colored griffon, calmly depart.

Gallus recognized him immediately. “Huh,” he mumbled to himself in mild surprise, watching the griffon enter his coach, “That’s Lord Gestal.”

“Lord Gestal?” Spike repeated, intrigued, “The head of the ruling council of lords for the Griffon Kingdom?”

“That’s the one,” Gallus confirmed. “I suppose it makes sense though. If Equestria was really looking to recruit the help of the griffons, might as well go right to the top—since we currently don’t have a ruling king, that technically makes Gestal the next most powerful griffon, politically speaking.”

“…is that potentially a bad thing for us?”

“I don’t know.” Gallus thought about it while watching the escorting guards, their boss now securely seated in the coach, ready to drive off. “He still falls prey to the same sort of trappings like all the other lords do, but he is still one of the better ones who’ll actually attempt to think of the lower class citizens.” He snickered to himself while the coach drove off. “You know, I nearly got ran over by his coach once, few years back.”

He felt Spike twist around in the carrying pouch so to look at him better. “Really?”

“Yeah, I happened to be rounding a street corner the same time his coach was and had to quickly dive out of the way to avoid getting hit.” He snorted, grinning a little. “Guy actually stopped so he could get out and personally make sure I was all right. All of the other lords would’ve just kept going, maybe even flipped me off for getting in their way, so…I appreciated he did that, even if it was just a brief thing.” He let out a small sigh. “I’m sure he doesn’t remember that at all by now though.”

“Given circumstances…I suppose that might be preferred,” Spike reasoned solemnly.

Once the coach left the embassy grounds, a moment of silence fell upon the area. Gallus was just starting to wonder how much longer they were going to have to wait when he was startled by Ditzy suddenly reappearing at his side.

“So I have questions,” she began by getting right to the point, ignoring Gallus’s surprised jump, “but first of all is this: what, in the name of sanity…” she pointed towards Gallus’s crest, “…have you got on your head?”

Overlooking the question of how Ditzy was so good at sneaking up on him like this for now, Gallus glanced up and suddenly remembered the headwear he wore for his disguise. “Oh, it’s a fez,” he explained before returning his gaze onto Ditzy, “I’m wearing a fez. Why?”

Ditzy responded by giving him a flat look for a beat.

Then the next thing Gallus knew, the fez was skewered to a nearby tree by an arrow. “Okay!” he remarked sarcastically, having instinctively ducked when Ditzy fired her crossbow. “Not a fan of fezzes, I see.”

“The fez is a male griffon’s hat,” Ditzy clarified curtly as she put away her crossbow. “The rest of the outfit you’re wearing is griffoness attire, so wearing the fez with it just makes you stand out more. Consistency is key when developing a disguise, after all. You’re lucky nobody seemed to have thought too hard about it on your way here.” She motioned for them to follow her, leading them not to the front of the cottage but rather the back. “A hood to cover your head probably would’ve been more preferable anyway, as you wouldn’t have to artificially color as much of your face that way.” She glanced back at Gallus. “What is that, anyway? Some kind of face paint?”

“A type of powdered dye, actually,” Gallus explained as he distractedly followed her. “It’ll scrub out though.” He rubbed at his temples for a moment, still amazed by this secret side of the mare so plainly on display now. “So to be clear, you’re really not pulling my tail about this?” he asked Ditzy one last time, just to be absolutely sure. “You’re seriously some secret grunt for the Night Guard?”

“Lieutenant commander, actually,” Ditzy corrected smugly before turning a bit more serious. “Look, I know it’s a bit much to take in, but we’ve got bigger concerns at the moment.”

“So what did you tell Lord Gestal to make him go away?” Spike interrupted so to change the subject. Now that Ditzy had returned, he’d slipped himself partway out of the carrying pouch so he could see better what was going on.

“Recognized him, huh? Well, I hadn’t told him why I’d popped out in the first place, so I when I returned I just played it up as nothing and quickly wrapped up our meeting, which he was very cooperative with.” Ditzy gave the pair a serious glance. “You’re sure he could be involved in the attempt on your lives?”

“Maybe not him specifically,” Gallus admitted, “but at least someone around his level of authority probably is.”

“And until we know for sure who, better to play it safe,” Ditzy concluded with a satisfied nod. They arrived at a small servant door in the back corner of the cottage which the pegasus opened and motioned them through first. “What about this patrol ship you said tried to attack you? The griffons have several currently in service, so you have any idea which one?”

“Uh…” Spike hesitated, unsure.

“Reliant,” Gallus however swiftly replied, recalling overhearing the name from their pursuers last night. “The ship’s name was Reliant.”

“The Reliant?” Ditzy repeated as she immediately halted in the doorway, brows going up. Then they swiftly narrowed into a scowl. “…oh, those absolute mongrels!”

“Well, they certainly weren’t friendly, no,” Spike remarked, taken aback by Ditzy’s sudden outburst.

“You don’t understand,” Ditzy angrily elaborated as she more slammed the servant door behind her than closed it. “The Reliant was returning to port the same time I arrived here in Griffonstone. I interrogated the command crew as they disembarked, to see if they had found anything while on patrol. I even spoke with the griffon in charge of the mission, Commodore Garrett himself!” Noticing the significance of the name was lost on the two, she quickly clarified. “He’s basically the de facto head of security in the Griffonstone area. And he said, to my face, that they had found nothing, had seen nothing, and that absolutely nothing of note had transpired during their entire flight! He lied to me!” She pressed her hooves to her eyes in frustration. “I knew I should’ve trusted my gut and gotten the accounts of the general crew too because there was no way they could’ve gotten all of them to stay silent, but I didn’t have enough reason to at the time!”

Spike winced sympathetically as he finally hopped down from Gallus’s back, hurriedly stretching his legs as he did so—no doubt they had gotten cramped after so long in the carrying pouch. “Well,” he said, trying to find a positive, “at least you know now.”

Ditzy sighed, but nodded. “You’re right,” she agreed and motioned for them to follow her again. “So tell you what, let’s go spread the word.”

She led them deeper into the otherwise empty embassy. Though Ditzy had clearly turned on a number of the lights all throughout, she’d otherwise left most of it untouched and as it had been left when it last vacated, clearly not having much need for it. However, when she brought them into the spacious dining room, it was clear she was using the room as a makeshift command center, with the table covered with documents of information and boxes of equipment she must’ve brought with her from Equestria.

Gallus surveyed it all, impressed. “Well, you’ve been busy,” he noted aloud.

“To be fair I overpacked as a precaution, seeing we’ve had to glean information about what’s been happening on the fly,” Ditzy explained as she proceeded to pull out a specific box from the stack. “Now here’s the plan—we’re going to report in that you’re here, arrange for transport back to Equestria, and get you two to safety. Any questions?”

Gallus raised his paw. “So why the eyepatch anyway? You clearly don’t need it.”

“It’s magicked. Long story short, it helps improve my aim.” Ditzy gave Gallus an annoyed look. “Now any relevant questions?”

“What had you figured out before we got here?” Spike asked as he hopped onto a chair so to better see what Ditzy was doing. Gallus, meanwhile, took the chance to start stripping out of his disguise at last. Spike suddenly remembered the feathers pasted to his face and started picking them off too.

“Admittedly, not a lot,” Ditzy replied, opening the box. “We didn’t even know anything had gone wrong until a trade ship near the Griffish Isles heard your distress call and relayed it on to us in Equestria. I was sent with a squad of other ponies to investigate, but by the time we arrived, that major storm had blown over the area and seriously hampered efforts. We were able to determine from a couple eyewitness accounts that what was almost certainly Gene Type’s airship had flown into the storm, where we couldn’t easily track you. So we actually lost your trail until that evening when we heard account of what was probably your airship being spied heading towards the Griffon Kingdom. I arrived here this morning with orders to coordinate with the griffons on starting a search. Like I said, until you showed up here, we didn’t have any good ideas on what’d happened to you. The possibility had been raised about needing to fear the worst, even.”

Gallus and Spike exchanged uncomfortable glances at that.

“But that’s why we’re doing this next,” Ditzy continued as she pulled out a black and polished stone carved in the shape of a beetle. She made a warm grin as she set it on the table. “I know someone who’ll love hearing otherwise.”

Once the stone beetle was in position, she tapped it once on its elytra with her hoof. It proceeded to make a cricket-like chirping sound for a second before the elytra suddenly sprang open and released a green glow of magic which in turn formed a small swirl of energy above it. An image swiftly materialized within of Princess Twilight Sparkle, appearing to be standing in someone’s office at the palace in Canterlot. Her eyes immediately locked upon Ditzy once the image had formed.

“Ditzy!” she declared with anxious eagerness. “I assume you’ve got something to report?”

“Actually, I’d almost want to just say mission accomplished,” Ditzy quipped back as she motioned Spike and Gallus closer to her.

Twilight noticed them next and though her brow furrowed for a brief second at the inks still in Gallus’s coat, she visibly brightened. “Gallus, Spike! You’re both okay!”

“Hey, Twilight,” Spike called back with a big grin on his face, clearly relieved to see the princess of friendship himself. “Thank goodness Thorax convinced his brother to let us have some of these communication beetles, huh?”

“You would not believe the past couple days we’ve had, by the way,” Gallus added, also unable to keep himself from grinning in relief. He had to admit, it was good to see the princess’s familiar face again after everything that’d happened.

“They actually came and found me here at the embassy, if you believe it,” Ditzy added. Was that a hint of pride Gallus heard in her voice? “But we’re not out of the woods yet—they’ve both confirmed that Gene Type wasn’t acting alone and given me reason to believe that at least one high-ranking griffon is in on this conspiracy too, with enough authority to have a patrol ship try and attack them.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in alarm. “What?”

“Don’t worry, we escaped,” Spike assured her.

“…though Gene Type’s airship certainly didn’t…” Gallus mumbled to himself.

“In the interest of ensuring their continued safety though,” Ditzy continued, “I request we be sent Equestrian transport back to the palace as soon as possible.”

Twilight winced at this news, but immediately nodded in agreement. “I’ll have a Night Guard craft come pick you up. Should it meet you there at the embassy?”

“Best have them meet us at wherever I have my transponder transmitting from, just in case,” Ditzy advised, pulling out just such a device from a nearby box and switching it on.

Twilight nodded. “Understood, we’ll get on that.” She turned to look at something outside their view. “You heard all that Kibitz and Raven?”

“Indeed, your highness, we shall make the necessary arrangements immediately,” a stallion’s voice was heard replying back.

Twilight faced them again. “Myself, Kibitz, and Raven have been busy going through Gene Type’s office here at the palace, searching for any clues,” she explained quickly.

“Find anything?” Ditzy inquired, hopeful.

“Not much, but we did find a letter that likewise suggests other creatures are involved in this, giving what seems to be vaguely phrased instructions on how Gene Type should prepare for their plans. But it’s cryptic, uniformly typewritten, and we haven’t been able to determine where it was sent from, let alone who by.” Twilight turned somber next. “But even more telling than that was word from the squad sent to search Gene Type’s apartment that they’d found the local fire brigade had already beaten them there.”

“The fire brigade?” Spike repeated, alarmed.

Twilight nodded. “They’d gotten the call to come when neighbors reported the apartment was ablaze.”

“What?” Ditzy exclaimed, shocked. “How?”

“The fire is still being put out, so there hasn’t been time to determine a cause properly…but it seems that arson is likely.” Twilight sighed. “Either way, I can safely say that the damage to the apartment is extensive.”

Ditzy slammed her hoof into the table, frustrated. “There goes any evidence that was in there,” she muttered.

“Sounds like someone’s trying to cover Gene Type’s tracks then,” Gallus reasoned coldly.

“Which is what we’ve been concluding over here,” Twilight agreed with another nod. “Whatever the scheme was, they must have found out it didn’t go as planned for Gene Type and are now doing damage control.” Her attention focused on Spike and Gallus again. “What did happen to Gene Type, anyway? You two clearly managed to escape him.”

Ditzy glanced their way as well, realizing she hadn’t asked herself. But Spike and Gallus exchanged uncomfortable looks at the distasteful memory. “He…didn’t survive,” Spike finally admitted very apologetically. It was still clear he partly blamed himself for it.

“He blew up the ship’s radio to try and keep us from using it,” Gallus elaborated, wanting to make sure the record was straight. “In the fight for control that followed, he…stumbled and fell upon the broken circuits that were left over, electrocuting himself.”

“Darn,” Ditzy murmured, then upon getting looks from the others, added, “Of course I’m glad you two defended yourselves, but…that pony was still our best lead for getting to the bottom of this whole mess.”

“Not unless you two managed to figure out something that could explain all this,” Twilight added.

Spike and Gallus again exchanged knowing glances at this, Spike reaching around to grab at the backpack still carrying evidence of just that. “Actually, we have,” Gallus confirmed before wincing, not having the foggiest idea of where to start explaining. “But it’s…kind of a long and complicated story.”

“Then tell Ditzy and pass it on to me once you’re safely back here,” Twilight instructed with the wave of her hoof. “As much as I want to hear the whole tale now, the drawback of these communication stones is that they can only stay active for a set number of minutes then have to recharge for some time before being used again.” She glanced at something outside of their view again, probably a clock. “In fact, we’ve probably just about used up what time we have for this session.” She looked back at them. “So is there anything else we need to discuss before I lose your signal?”

A split moment passed as they quickly considered it. Then Spike asked the question: “What happened to Second Lieutenant Dream Chaser?”

Both Ditzy and Twilight looked at him simultaneously. “You don’t already know?” Twilight asked in surprise.

But one look at the expressions of sorrow both mares had was all it took for Gallus to put two with two, feeling a chill run down his spine. “He’s dead…isn’t he?”

There was a split second of hesitation before Ditzy solemnly nodded her head. “I’m afraid he is…or at least he was by the time we found him.”

“The autopsy showed he had been injected with a lethal chemical called somulose,” Twilight explained soberly. “Gene Type must’ve caught him unaware because there was very little sign of a struggle.”

“It was like he had dropped dead where he stood,” Ditzy added with a sad sigh.

Gallus noticed Spike, horrified by this news, had curled up on himself and trying to hold back tears. Sympathizing, Gallus caringly wrapped a wing around the little dragon in an attempt to comfort him. “That chemical, is it used for euthanization?” he then asked, needing to know despite this terrible news.

Twilight nodded. “It is.”

Gallus sighed. “Gene Type tried to inject us with the same stuff right before we fought him off,” he explained.

“Clearly, we were the luckier ones,” Spike mumbled bitterly to himself.

Twilight sighed, also sympathetic. “I know this news isn’t good, but—” however she was cut off by her image suddenly wavering and starting to break up, forcing a subject change. “—we’re starting to lose your signal, so we’ll have to continue this later. We’ll send that transport to you straight away, and Ditzy, you make sure they stay safe until then!”

Ditzy saluted confidently. “You know I will!” she promised.

Twilight nodded, having just enough time to promise to talk again soon, hopefully in person this time, before the image collapsed entirely and the stone beetle went inert again. Once it had, Ditzy scooped it up in her hoof and returned it to its box, presumably where it could recharge.

Gallus slumped into a nearby chair with a heavy sigh. “Well, that was a mixed bag,” he mumbled aloud.

“Mm, but hopefully this still means we’re past the worst of it,” Ditzy reasoned in an attempt to find the upsides, taking a seat at the table herself. She studied the two for a moment. “Are you two going to be okay?”

Despite being the one who was the most emotional at the moment, Spike worked to try and regain his composure. “…we’ll live,” he managed to respond genuinely before putting on a brave grin. “So what do we do now?”

“Well, it’s probably going to be a few hours before our ride can get here, so we have some time to kill,” Ditzy reasoned. “With that in mind, if you two feel up for it, I’d like to hear the whole story of what happened from the beginning. You indicated you learned something about the motive for it?”

Gallus and Spike exchanged glances again before nodding to each other in silent agreement to relate the tale. “We do,” Gallus told her as Spike proceeded to pull out the bloodline stone and photo album from his bag, “though I imagine you’re going to have as hard a time believing it as we have.”

Author's Note:

Back in 2021, I wrote a story called "Night Ditzy" in which the idea of Ditzy being a Night Guard was introduced--I'm sure some of my more long-time readers remember this fic. It was a well-received tale, but some readers did express some disappointment that we more only got to hear of Ditzy in action and not see it. Agreeing, I thus kept on the lookout for chances to correct that in some future fic, and eventually decided this one would suit the need perfectly.

My only regret is that the direction the story ultimately settled into meant introducing all this was going to have to be a bit abrupt. I would've preferred doing more to hint and allude to it coming before the reveal, but the plot up to now just didn't provide many good opportunities for that, not unless I delayed it for a few chapters more into the story. But that meant less chance to show Ditzy in action, defeating the whole point of doing this, so...hopefully this compromise works well enough.

Comments

[LtMajorDude]

Yay, Derpy Ditzy is a night guard and unlike Grief is the Price We Pay (spoilers) Twilight isn't a hopeless bad guy!

Aw, but Dream Chaser's dead. :(

Well the plot thickens until Monday then.

[Yuri Bacon]

Oh, what a relief! I thought they were going to be trapped "homeless" in griffonstone with no money and no place to sleep. They really dodged a bullet there.

[SpikeSmolder fan]

I knew meeting Gruff wasn't gonna be easy but at the very least with the help of both Gilda & Ditsy (Night Guard? Really???) things are more than looking up for our feathery/scaly duo, even going so far as sending out word to Twilight of what happened to them up to this point!

Course not all was sunshine & rainbows as sadly Dream Chaser of the Night Guard was silenced by Gene at least karma got him on his sorry fried flank!

Still not out of the woods yet as I feel things will get dicey again on the next couple of chapters, at least they got a good ally on their side!