Veil of the City

by BlueyWaifu

Chapter 14

Sunlight trickled in through the curtains of the room. As the rays of the rising sun poured in, it shone across Faltic's closed eyes. However, it wasn't that which caused Faltic to wake up. He already was, but decided not to open his eyes. No thoughts, no recollections, and no memories had returned to Faltic's mind... yet.

What pulled Faltic to attention was the sudden crashing thud he heard.

"Uugghhh... ow."

Sure enough, it was Restel. Faltic continued his façade of being asleep, however, he couldn't sell it well with the smile tugging at his lips.

"Restel? You up?" Klaven's voice sounded, causing Faltic's ear to twitch. His voice almost sounded a little muffled.

"Oh. I'm up. And down. Both." Restel didn't sound very enthusiastic.

Faltic couldn't help his smile from growing, and he chewed his lip with a fang to stop it from growing any wider.

Suddenly, something soft collided with Faltic's face. "Oh shut up." Restel's voice sounded again.

The soft hit to the face brought Faltic back to reality, as everything came back to him. Restel, Cyril, his own actions-

Yeah, yeah. Shut up. Faltic thought to himself.

Faltic finally decided to open his eyes, with Restel standing and yawning in front of him being the first thing he saw. Rolling over, Faltic now lay on his back, his head propped up slightly by the back of the bed and a pillow. To his left, Klaven stood with a toothbrush in hoof, brushing away at his teeth.

"Since when do you brush your teeth?" Faltic asked.

Klaven shrugged, and spoke through his toothpaste covered teeth. "Don't know, but I rather keep the holes on my body exclusive to my legs, rather than have them on my teeth too." Klaven ducked back into the small bathroom. Faltic and Restel shared a look at each other, and while Restel smiled and chuckled, Faltic found it hard to do so, his face remaining stagnant.

Restel's amusement had ceased, and he got back onto his bed, sitting on the edge of it. "Faltic, you coming with us today? We're going store browsing."

Sitting up straight, Faltic looked confused. "Didn't hear about that. Store browsing?"

Klaven rounded the corner from the bathroom door, joining in on the conversation. "Yeah, both Restel and I have no plans today, and since Cyril isn't available today too, we could all go!"

Two pairs of eyes fell upon Faltic, awaiting his answer. However, Faltic slumped back into bed. It almost felt inexplicable, but Faltic felt he had a pretty good idea as to why both his mind and body felt weak, and unwilling. "Ehh, I'll join you guys later." Faltic said, sounding groggy.

"You sure?" Restel started. Faltic only sighed, grabbing a book that he had gotten yesterday from his nightstand beside the bed, hugging it to his chest. "Yeah, I think I'm going to relax in bed today."

Both Restel and Klaven looked at each other from halfway across the room. Klaven was the one to break the silence. "That's understandable. Though if you ever feel up to it, come find us. We're going to go perusing through Coltumbus Circle."

That name rang a bell for Faltic, as his ear flicked, he turned to look at Klaven. "That's a big place. The one just on the corner of Celestial park?"

Klaven nodded. "That's the one. We've got all day, so we're going somewhere that'll take some time. Maybe elsewhere too, but that's where we're going."

Looking briefly at the book he had clutched to his chest, Faltic mostly stuck to his initial response. "Maybe I'll join in later. For now, relax time."

Restel hopped up from the bed to all fours, stretching his legs. "Well, suit yourself. We'll bring you something back if we find anything." Faltic watched as Restel and Klaven both made their way to the door.

"When you say we, you mean..." Klaven started.

"You. You have the money." Restel and Klaven shared a chuckle as they both shapeshifted into the respective disguises of a green earth pony, and a garnet unicorn. Before the two left the room, Restel turned back towards Faltic. "Hope you feel better!" After which, the door shut behind them, leaving Faltic in a silent, lonely room.

Second thoughts crept into his mind. Maybe he should have gone? Probably not. It couldn't be a terrible thing to want to take a little bit of solace, enjoying a comfortable bed and a good book.

Anything to distract his mind.

*****

The sun was still rising over the heads of the ponies who tread outside, flowing like a current on the sidewalks of Manehattan. A disguised Restel and Klaven were included in the herd, making their way alongside a chest-high brick wall to their left and the street on their right.

"That's Celestial Park right there, isn't it?" Restel asked, motioning his head towards the brick wall. A canopy of the tree line had been lingering overhead for a portion of their trot, providing shade.

Klaven nodded. "Yeah. We were literally here yesterday."

"I know! I've just not seen it from this angle. It's a huge place." Restel defended himself.

"Pfft. Well, where we're going is literally on the corner of Celestial park," Klaven continued.

"Neat."

Both Klaven and Restel weaved their way out of the path of other ponies when needed as they proceeded on.

Restel looked around. Many carriages, some hauling ponies, some not, thundered past on the road. Otherwise, other ponies trotted. Some making a quick dash across the street, some talking to others. Klaven's voice brought Restel out of his observation.

"I was thinking."

Restel was quick to jump on that. "You think? I didn't know."

The smug grin that had crept onto Restel's face was met with Klaven's scoff and look of disappointment. "I was thinking... we're scouts, right?"

Restel nodded, looking around. Surprisingly, hardly anypony was in earshot. It was even safe to bet nopony would be eavesdropping. "Yes."

"And... we're sent here to ensure our presence and have intel on notable locations, Manehattan being one."

Restel slightly turned his head to pay side-eyed attention to Klaven, raising his brow. "Yes?"

"How is us... doing what we're doing, fulfilling that. Shouldn't we be... I don't know, infiltrating any Royal Guard, gathering real intel?"

Restel was silent for a moment as he processed all of that. "Uh... I mean, do you really see anything going on?" Restel gestured a foreleg broadly in front of them. Klaven paused as he looked around.

"Not really, no."

Restel smiled. "Then consider this area observed, and intelligence gathered. We report back with how these bustling streets are densely populated and how ponies get around here."

Klaven put a hoof to his chin in thought. "Ohh, so we also know the layout, just in case. Like how the Canterlot one was carried out?"

Restel nodded. "Eeexactly. Now don't think about it too much harder, you'll hurt your head."

"You're one to talk. I must've hit you too hard at the arcade." Klaven puffed his chest out a little as Restel chuckled. "Fair enough. If anything, I should be glad it wasn't Faltic. He'd hit me a lot harder."

Restel's shoulder was nudged as Klaven spoke up. "Implying I'm weak and didn't hit you that hard. You were completely dazed."

"Psh, dazed enough to think you were strong." Restel started a small fit of laughter at his own joke. Klaven huffed, and decided to change the subject. "Speaking of, how come Faltic didn't join? He seemed like something was bothering him."

Restel waved a dismissive hoof in front of him. "Ah, he's fine. When he acts like that, typically it means something is on his mind, and I'd bet bits it's Cyril."

"What bits do you have to gamble?" Klaven asked.

"Yours." Restel smiled and huffed air from his nose after he said that, with Klaven joining in on it briefly.

The two came upon a crosswalk at a roundabout where several other ponies were already standing. Both disguised changelings remained silent until the indicator to cross flickered, and the herd of ponies marched, passing seamlessly through the opposing group of ponies crossing the opposite way.

"Oh, also speaking of, do you remember when Faltic asked about me getting her that vacant room next to ours?" Klaven began. Restel simply nodded his head before Klaven continued. "And I mentioned to you yesterday I had a surprise? Well, after pulling some strings, I managed to arrange for Cyril to move into that exact room."

Restel's head quickly snapped to attention, looking directly at Klaven. "What? How? Does she even know?"

A smug smile was tugging at Klaven's lips. "I may or may not have been, and still might be, writing letters to Cyril to arrange this with her."

"And how did you find out which busted up motel on Entrot was hers?" Restel asked.

"Hotel connections," Klaven simply responded.

After crossing another two lanes of road, Klaven and Restel had arrived at the front of Coltumbus Circle. A few slim trees dotted the middle of the wider sidewalk, and storefronts with windows and mannequins displayed inside lined the walls. The building formed a near half-circle, and the main entrance lay just ahead. A several story wall of glass marked roughly the middle. It was impossible to see inside with the glare and reflection of the sun shining on the glass.

"So, when is she going to be moving in?" Restel asked, holding the door open for Klaven.

"Tomorrow." Was Klaven's simple response as both he and Restel entered. The inside appeared just as big as the outside. Three stories of floors were visible in front of them, as was evident with other ponies walking along the glass railings higher up. An escalator going down was immediately in front of them, and more mannequins displayed the walls on either far side of them.

Restel halted in his path as he was taken by surprise at the sudden news. "To-" Restel cut himself off as he held a hoof to his mouth. "Tomorrow?"

Klaven stopped as well, and now stood by Restel, out of the way of hoof traffic. "Tomorrow. She's going to be moving in in the morning. I kept it from Faltic for obvious reasons."

"Oh boy." Restel lifted his hoof and idly adjusted his gray mane, a smile creeping its way onto his lips. "This'll be interesting."

"Hey, Faltic asked for it, and we said we'd support him," Klaven said.

Restel finally met eyes with Klaven, internally admitting that what he said was true. It was the furthest Faltic had ever gotten with Cyril, and who was he to let down his friend? Restel nodded his head, and motioned for Klaven to start walking with him. "You're right. So what's the plan tomorrow?"

"Like I said, she's moving in in the morning. I believe the plan is to help her get her stuff to the new room, and then let Faltic help her out with arranging it. That'll be their date tomorrow." Klaven wore a smile of glee, but Restel was still skeptical.

"Just kinda, stay home?" Restel asked.

Klaven nodded. "Yeah. You know, you don't always have to go out somewhere nice to enjoy spending time together."

Restel hung his head low. "Ugh, you're getting all sappy on me." Klaven's chucking reached his ears as he responded. "We don't always go somewhere and, I speak for Faltic too, I still enjoy our time together."

"Uuughhhgghhh." Restel continuously shook his head as Klaven kept up his amusement at Restel's expense.

"Alright alright I'll stop." Klaven's short lived laughter died down.

The duo of disguised changelings made a right, only to be greeted with a wall of bright glass in the short distance ahead. There were only a couple of shops before then, and a walkway above crossed the gap between the small couple of stores. The murmur and ambience of other ponies chatting echoed throughout the building wherever they went.

"Weird. It already ends here," Klaven mentioned, slowing down in his walking. Klaven began to look around, and couldn't immediately find Restel, not until he turned all the way around to find him staring at him with a grin.

"You look lost," Restel called out. He wasn't too far, but Klaven had to approach him to speak normally to reach his ears. Both disguised changelings now stood near the entrance once again.

"Did you let me wander?" Klaven huffed.

Restel was chuckling before his response. "Yes. I should really get those leashes that some parents put on their kids who tend to wander off."

Just then, both changelings looked towards the entrance as they saw a small foal, harnessed to a leash held by a very inattentive looking parent.

Restel nudged Klaven's shoulder and started chuckling, looking away to avoid staring. Klaven responded with his own push off of Restel's shoulder. "Oh shut up." Klaven couldn't shake off his contagious smile, and began walking again, taking the lead towards an escalator just behind them.

The ride to the next floor was slow. There was an adjacent escalator going down, where some other ponies were headed.

Restel broke up to end the brief silence. "Why this place? Out of all of them."

Klaven turned around, facing Restel who stood a step below him. "We've got some of those coupon books at the desk, and admittedly, I browse through them sometimes. This place had an ad, and it looked interesting."

Restel raised an eyebrow. "You mean those tourist-y books?" Klaven nodded in response. "Yup."

Restel blew a small puff of air from his mouth, chuckling. "Wonderful. I love living like a tourist." He didn't want to say it, but the end of the escalator was approaching. It would be funny to see if Klaven noticed or not.

"Hey, you never know what's around here until you live like a foreigner." The escalator began to level out. Apparently, Klaven had noticed, and lifted a hind leg in preparation. Though, Restel still watched.

"Plus come on, we have all dagh-" Klaven had set his hind leg down preemptively and it caught the edge of the escalator. He stumbled back a step before hitting the ground on his flank. Restel couldn't keep his chuckling in check as he held a hoof to his mouth, stepping properly off the escalator. "Good one Klaven."

Restel offered a hoof, and Klaven took it, pulling himself up with chagrin. Restel still wore his amused expression.

"Get over yourself." Klaven scoffed as he shook his head quickly, shaking off his fall. The second floor had a similar layout to the first, yet it felt more open. In front, and in both left and right directions were shops, as expected. Just a bit to the left and behind the escalator was an open space with a glass railing, allowing for a view of the ground floor. The sunlight poured into the building from the glass wall entrance, reflecting against the marble tiled floor.

"Pretty," Klaven stated.

The two meandered into the open space, making their way to the railing at the end of the balcony-like floor. It wasn't much higher up, and there were more floors to go, but it didn't stop Klaven from perching his two forelegs over the top of the railing and admiring what he saw. Restel, however, put his back to it and scoped out the stores.

Something caught Restel's eye, forcing him to double-take.

"Uh-" Restel nudged Klaven's shoulder.

"Yeah?" Klaven turned his head to look at Restel, who was looking away, smiling and pointing a hoof.

Before he spoke, a small chuckle escaped him. "I just saw a very pink pony in that store over there. You don't think..?" Restel trailed off as he turned to meet Klaven's eyes, just before Klaven tried to peek at what was being indicated.

"Don't think wh-" Klaven's eyebrows raised at the sudden realization. "Oh. Oh."

Restel's light chuckling picked back up as he began to walk in that direction. Klaven quickly caught up, falling in beside Restel. No amusement found its way onto Klaven's expression. "You're still a huge jerk for that."

"For what? Getting you to play dress-up for a date?" Restel was smiling the whole short walk to the store. "The fact you pretty much went on a half-date with some guy as well makes it even funnier."

"If we weren't in public, I would throw you over the railing," Klaven said quietly as they entered where Restel allegedly spotted the abnormally pink pegasus. The store was mostly dead, as there weren't any other ponies in there with them, aside from two. Various shirt racks were spread across the room, all displaying something related to Manehattan. "Good gosh-" Restel began. "First you have us acting like tourists, now you have us shopping like them. Look at this." Restel pointed out a shirt with the word 'LOVE' written on it, except the 'O' was in the shape of Manehattan's borders.

"Psh. Need I remind you that you brought us into this store?" Klaven shot back at Restel as they both snickered at the cheesy design of the merchandise. Taking a quick look around and at other shirts, Klaven immediately knew that everything else was on the same caliber of Manehattan related knick-knacks. While Klaven analyzed the room, Restel had taken a few steps away from him. It didn't take long to find him, as he was approaching the pink pegasus.

Klaven's expression flattened, knowing that it was inevitable now, and went to catch up with Restel. Before Klaven arrived, the pink pegasus looked slightly confused as Restel made small talk.

"C'mon. The changeling invasion?" Restel went on, only to have the pegasus shrug, idly adjusting her yellow and purple mane.

Klaven gently shoved Restel aside as he made his way beside him, and got straight to the point. "I put on the dress and did the first half of your date."

The sudden realization hit the pegasus as her brows raised and looked up at the disguised Klaven. "You're joking with me, right? How would you know that happened?"

Both Klaven and Restel flared a toothy grin, exposing both of their long fangs. For her, it waved off all of her doubts as she quickly became more friendly. "Oh my gosh, hi!" Klaven was taken off guard when she almost lunged forward, wrapping him up in a fast hug. For while it lasted, Klaven briefly hugged back, and donned a smug grin, looking over at Restel, who then pointed a hoof at his open mouth to mimic vomiting. The pegasus broke the hug and immediately looked sheepish. "Sorry. It's just been a while and-" She grew a little quieter. "-honestly, seeing you all get tossed away like that, I thought you died."

Klaven shook his head, smiling through the thought of being dead. "Nope. And uh-" Klaven nudged the pegasus' shoulder with his own. "-we trust you can keep a secret."

The pegasus motioned as if she were zipping her lips, before immediately breaking the zipper and talking again, this time towards Restel. "I never got to tell you, but you're a huge jerk tossing this guy under the bus like that."

Both Klaven and the pegasus began giggling at Restel's expense.

Restel, however, couldn't contain his own smile. "Oh whatever. I'm going eye-shopping." Restel turned hoof, and made a slow path around the store, occasionally stopping to browse the shirt racks and trinkets, leaving Klaven and the pegasus by themselves.

"So wait, if you live in Canterlot, what're you doing here?" Klaven asked.

"A little trip with some friends. Their train is getting here later, so I'm just killing time until then." Again, the pink pegasus adjusted her yellow and purple mane.

"Same boat here. Killing some time. Also, now that I think about it, I never got your name." It was still odd for Klaven, only ever having referred to her, at least in his mind, as this exuberant pink pegasus.

She held up a hoof to Klaven as she spoke. "Oh, it's Skywatcher. You can just call me Sky."

Klaven mimicked the gesture, and hoof-bumped Sky. "Klaven."

Sky looked at him skeptically. "Is that really your name? Or a cover up?"

Klaven rolled his eyes and smirked. "No, it's genuine."

"Suure mister changing pony." Sky mockingly stated. She took a half step away from Klaven in the direction of the exit. "Well, glad you're still doing well. I've got to head to the train station soon for my pals."

Pals... Klaven briefly made a scan of the room to find Restel leaning against the front counter where a cashier pony stood. A blue pegasus with a black and green mane, striking a similar appearance as the one Restel had mentioned in his Canterlot account. Suddenly, the thought of Faltic struck Klaven's mind. Faltic was back at the hotel, unknowing of Klaven's plan. With the surprise of it happening tomorrow, Klaven wanted it to be perfect. Or... as best as it could be. He already had the day planned out that Faltic and Cyril would be together in the newly moved-in room. Klaven perked up slightly. "Hey wait-" Sky halted. "-you're a girl, right?"

The pink pegasus before him froze. "Yes... last I checked."

"Oh good. Well, asking for a friend, from a girl's perspective, what's a good date idea for you?" Klaven asked the question quickly, eager to hear the answer.

The pegasus standing before him looked to give the question some thought before replying. "To me, it sorta depends on the situation, but there's nothing wrong with going nowhere."

Now Klaven paused for a moment. Her opinion exactly aligned with his, and it almost seemed unbelievable. "...Nowhere?"

"Yeah! Sometimes it's nice to just... stay at home, enjoy each other. Y'know not every date has to be out somewhere nice and fancy and whatnot."

Klaven smiled, internally pumping his hoof to the air in success. Being reassured that she was serious with her answer strengthened his belief that tomorrow will be great for Faltic. "Yeah, I can see that. Thank you."

Once again, the pegasus had begun to take a few steps towards the exit of the store, giving her smile to Klaven as she did. "I hope that helps. It was nice seeing you again."

Klaven waved as he watched her leave. "Thank you, and you too!"

There was a brief moment of silence as Klaven was internally filled with glee, trying not to show it too much.

Remembering where Restel was, Klaven quickly made his way towards the checkout counter, now within earshot of the conversation going on.

“Hope that hayburger you left work for was worth it,” Restel said.

The blue pegasus behind the counter smiled, and waved a hoof dismissively at Restel. “Oh yeah, it was. And the store wasn’t left unattended for long. I returned shortly after that bubble threw y’all out.”

Restel looked over, and saw that Klaven had wrapped things up with that pink pegasus. Retracting his weight from the counter, Restel blew a raspberry. “Ain’t that swell. I still await my compensation for my time spent in your position.”

“Hah, you’ll be waiting a while, pal. Thanks anyway,” The cashier pegasus said.

“One day.” Restel turned to Klaven, and motioned his head towards the exit of the store. “C'mon, let's get going. I've seen enough cheesy touristy merchandise for a week.”

For some reason, Klaven was wearing a proud smile that Restel couldn’t explain.

*****

Once again, complete darkness. This time, however, there was a reason behind it. The reason being a hardback and several hundred pages between it.

Faltic's ear twitched as he woke up. The book he had been reading before became an impromptu sleeping mask. The nap felt nice, and Faltic made no move to take the book off of his face, or to get up. The brief moment after waking up and not having any memories was oddly satisfying.

That is, until a small click noise caused his ear to twitch again, and spark his brain to work and remember everything.

Faltic immediately recognized the sound of the door opening and closing softly. If Restel and Klaven were trying to be quiet coming in, they were doing a terrible job. Not only with the door, but the swishing of a plastic bag gave them away even further.

"Is he really asleep like that?" Klaven's voice sounded.

"Oh, he's fallen asleep in weirder spots before," Restel’s voice responded.

There was a hushed chuckle between the two before Faltic decided to make them aware he was awake. He lifted the book from his face, and looked over at the two. "I'm awake," Faltic said, admittedly sounding groggy.

Restel reacted quickly, and scurried back a couple of steps. "AAH-!"

Both Faltic and Klaven watched Restel's fake panicking, having completely opposite reactions.

"What?!" Faltic piped up.

Restel was holding a hoof to his chest, panting as he did. "Jump scare. Warn me next time you reveal your face."

Klaven was amused, and not trying to hide it as he snickered alongside Restel. Faltic, however, was trying to contain the contagious chorus of laughs from spreading to him, managing to hold it to a smile. "Oh whatever."

Faltic closed the book and set it aside on the nightstand. The thought only struck just now, and Faltic quickly looked towards the covered window. "Wait, how long have I been sleeping?"

Restel made the first move to his bed, going around the one Faltic was laying on, setting the bag on the bed, and then hopping onto it himself. "Dunno, but it must've been a while dude. The sun is down."

Klaven backed up Restel's answer by making his way to the window and pulling the curtains, revealing a dark, street lamp lit Manehattan. After which, Klaven took a seat on the chair opposite of Restel's bed.

Faltic put a hoof to his head as he sat up. "Gosh, my body must have caught up on some sleep I didn't know I was missing."

"Hope you'll be able to sleep tonight," Klaven said.

Faltic rubbed his face before putting his hoof back down. "I hope so too." Faltic eyed the bag that Restel had set on his bed next to him. "So what'd you two get? Where all did you go?"

"Went to that Coltumbus mall first," Restel began. "We surprisingly killed a lot of time there. Also, guess who we ran into?" Restel ended his sentence with him smiling. Faltic thought the worst already, especially when Klaven's attention was now focused on the conversation. "Who?"

"That pink pegasus from the Canterlot invasion that made Klaven put on a dress." Restel was almost chuckling at the statement.

"Oh yeah?" Faltic started as he looked over to Klaven. Klaven however, appeared to have no chagrin to it anymore, as his demeanor didn't shift.

Klaven only nodded. "Yup. We chatted a bit while Restel was admiring all the Manehattan touristy merchandise."

That got Faltic to look back at Restel for a moment, giving him a smug grin, before looking back at Klaven.

"What'd she have to say?" Faltic asked.

"She's here in Manehattan to meet some friends. She also gave me a piece of advice from a girl's perspective on a date idea."

Faltic looked confused, and raised a scrunched eyebrow. "Date idea?"

Klaven nodded again. "Yeah. What are you and Cyril doing tomorrow?"

Faltic diverted his eyes downward in thought. "You know... I don't know. Only had planned to go to her place and go from there. I've been asleep or reading all day that I never thought about it."

Restel chimed in at that moment. "Mostly sleeping."

Faltic sarcastically rolled his eyes. "Oh psh. What was her idea then?"

Klaven picked back up. "She said to stay at home. You've spent some time at her motel and it went fine. Why not reciprocate and invite her to spend some time here?"

Again, Faltic became pensive. The last time they spent time alone in a small room did go pretty well. It was also before Faltic knew it wasn't Whimsy. It'd be a simple fix, no traveling or spending bits, it didn't sound bad.

What did sound bad was how close Cyril would be to Restel.

A moment passed before Faltic spoke back up and raised his hoof. "Fine. I'll pitch the idea to her when I get there tomorrow. However, one condition."

"Go ahead," Klaven said.

"Both of you need not be here. Let us be, please." Faltic had a difficult time conveying that confidently.

Klaven nodded once again. "Fine by me. I work tomorrow anyway. What about you, Restel?"

Both eyes landed on Restel, who shrugged in response. "Yeah, I can find time to spend out of here for a while."

A small piece of the weight lifted from Faltic's chest. "Good. Then I'll see if she wants to come here tomorrow."

The small piece of the weight returned itself to Faltic's chest as he saw both Klaven and Restel look at each other briefly, before looking back at him. "If you have a condition, we have one too." Klaven started.

Internally, nerves and angst were chewing away at Faltic. "Yes?"

"You tell her who you really are. Drop the disguise," Klaven stated boldly.

All of the amounting weight flushed itself across Faltic's chest at Klaven's proposition. Faltic was silent for a moment. Revealing himself to Cyril? She would absolutely hate him still. It was his firm belief that she still wanted nothing to do with him, and that wouldn't change tomorrow.

Thankfully, Faltic didn't have to respond, since Restel began talking again. "I'm... kinda with Klaven here. I think you've proven yourself as much as you can. You've been a real good pony to her and you've got a chance to have her stay and listen to your side now."

Faltic drew a deep sigh. It was a two against one, and if there was a way out, other than the window, it eluded him.

"If you two uphold your end of staying out... fine." Faltic was already in too deep. What was a little further?

"You won't have to worry about me," Klaven said as he got up from the chair, making his way to the bed that he and Faltic shared.

"Me either," Restel added, yawning afterwards.

The only thing more contagious than Restel's humor was his yawning. Faltic caught himself mid yawn before seeing it spreading to Klaven as well. The room fell silent as the trio all looked at each other, before a conjoined sound of laughter sounded out.

"You started it!" Faltic stated to Restel, who was climbing under the blankets.

"And you joined it," Restel pointed out. "Poor Klaven was caught in the crossfire."

Klaven joined in, as he himself was getting under the blankets as well. "The thing is, Restel and I are actually tired. I don't know how Faltic can be after sleeping so much today."

"I'll find a way to sleep. If I lay still long enough, it'll happen." Faltic defended.

*****

It had not happened yet. Not even an hour later.

Faltic laid still in a near pitch black room.

The faintest of light trickled in from the window. Klaven hadn't closed them back, so the only thing he could see was a portion of outside.

Whether it was the fact that he slept all day being the reason he couldn't sleep, or the immense amount of anxious feelings towards tomorrow holding his mind hostage, he still wasn't asleep.

Thankfully, the sense of sight wasn't the only thing being stimulated. Restel had begun snoring.

Which reminded him; what was in their shopping bag?

Faltic rolled his head over to see where he last saw it, which was on Restel's bed. It wasn't there. Not on the floor either. Restel must have put it somewhere and Faltic completely missed it.

Eventually, sleep would take over. Faltic now stared at the back of his eyelids, unmoving.

Just get through tomorrow. Cyril will either hate you... or really hate you.

At the very least, once Cyril is done being so abhorrently disgusted with Faltic yet again, he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

Comments

[Lost_Data]

"Tomorrow." Was Klaven's simple response as both he and Restel entered. The inside appeared just as big as the outside. Three stories of floors were visible in front of them, as was evident with other ponies walking along the glass railings higher up. An escalator going down was immediately in front of them, and more mannequins displayed the walls on either far side of them.

TOMORROW! Oh no. OH NOOOOO! Faltic you FOOOOOOOOOOL! I can only see this going well.

[Lost_Data]

"Just kinda, stay home?" Restel asked.

The tragedy is inevitable now.

[Lost_Data]

"Both of you need not be here. Let us be, please." Faltic had a difficult time conveying that confidently.

This might go better than I thought. Or not. Well shall see...

[DullLight]

I didn't expect you to bring back those ponies from Canterlot into the story. I wonder if Skywalker will have a more significant role in the plot, with her knowing that they're changelings and all

[BlueyWaifu]

11861747
Nah, just a couple of my friends' OC's who helped me stay motivated and encouraged me to keep writing ;)