Veil of the City

by BlueyWaifu

Chapter 3

After having returned their respective books to the elder mare at the front counter, a disguised Faltic and Klaven browsed the towering shelves of books that lined either side of them.

The Manehattan Public Library was almost akin to a vacation spot for both of them. Not only did they enjoy passing the time with fictional stories, but the quietness and ease the atmosphere provided could put anypony at ease. Despite there being many such visitors to the library, it could be a feat of its own how so many ponies could make a pin dropping sound loud.

The entire middle lane was rows of tables, resembling a mead hall of sorts, while immediately surrounding them were walls of bookshelves that had several layers and aisles behind them.

What made the public space feel like a getaway was how deeply immersed anypony was in their own actions. That was already a common theme with city-goers, but the blindness to others was seemingly elevated in here, which is what Faltic and Klaven loved.

Faltic already had a book in his grasp in one hoof, while Klaven still had none.

"Which one did you pick out?" Klaven asked in a more hushed tone, absently looking through the titles on the spines of books.

"Memoirs of a Royal Guard. Thought it looked cool." Faltic watched as Klaven browsed the shelves. Klaven then pulled one out to inspect it.

"The title sounds cool." Klaven tucked the book he had pulled into his leg, and looked over to Faltic. "I was just thinking about it, but how did yesterday go? I don't recall hearing much about it."

Faltic thought about yesterday. He'd told Restel everything, but not Klaven. "Oh right, all you heard was me saying she was meeting somepony at Eldergrove."

Klaven nodded as Faltic continued. "Well, yesterday morning we met at that same corner store I got you the soft pretzel from, and then from there we went to a breakfast slash lunch place called the 'Emerald Rooftop.' Imagine a sky bar, but a breakfast place."

"What would you call that?" Klaven asked. Faltic shrugged in response.

"We thought the same thing yesterday. But anyway, we ate there, and she really loved the view we got. She's an earth pony, so go figure."

Klaven gave Faltic a sarcastic grin. "How adorable."

Faltic hardly managed to keep his voice at a whispering level. "Shut up."

Klaven's smile remained as he held back a quiet laugh. "No really, that's quite the cute date."

Cute. The same word that Faltic had let slip when talking to Whimsy that same day.

Faltic continued. "She was looking out at the view a lot, and she told me where she lives: the eastern side of Manehattan, the rough area."

Klaven scrunched his brow in a similar fashion to Restel the day prior. "Harsh. Think there'd be any way to help her?"

His response was the opposite of Restel's. Having a love subject was nothing foreign to Faltic, he'd had many ponies to feed off of. Though, just something about Klaven mentioning helping Whimsy made him want to jump on the idea.

"If there is, I've not thought of one. I'd like to, don't get me wrong. I feel bad for her, y'know? I'd like to do something."

Klaven put back on his grin from earlier. "You even rant about her, you sound like you're catching feelings for her."

Faltic wanted to interject, and his face almost turned into a scowl, before dropping back to neutral. "Maybe, but you shut up. I've no interest in loving her."

Klaven scoffed quietly, almost as if he didn't believe Faltic, but went along with it anyway. "Says the changeling who's browsing from the romance sections."

Faltic craned his neck upwards, and saw the label "Romance" on the shelves, then turned back to Klaven with a scrunched brow. "Whatever."

Klaven wore his smile the whole way back to the front counter where they checked out their books. Through the front lobby, and outside, the sun hung about in the middle of the sky, signaling the afternoon was closing in. Faltic thought about Whimsy, and that they'd be together again soon. Did she consider yesterday a date? Would she consider today a date? Klaven used that word to describe yesterday. Faltic hadn't thought of it that way, and it had been a while since Faltic was genuinely in the dating scene, let alone having a hopeless crush on another changeling in the hive.

All of this overthinking was starting to grow unnerving on Faltic. What would they be doing today? What does Whimsy think of him? What does he think of her?

As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs that led to the sidewalk, Faltic stopped Klaven. "Hey, if I maybe asked for help later, would you be willing?" Faltic didn't like asking for help, but with an unusual sense of nervousness suffusing over him, he didn't want to fumble around Whimsy.

To Faltic's surprise, Klaven didn't poke fun at him. "Sure, what do you need help with?"

Faltic considered it for a moment. "Later, with Whimsy. I want to gauge what she thinks of me without directly asking, if that makes sense."

Klaven nodded his understanding. "It does, but really, me? You've more experience scouting than I do by miles."

"I know I know, but two minds are greater than one right? Plus you know Restel wouldn't be any help."

Klaven chuckled in agreement. "I'll tag along. I don't work today, so I'll help you out. What's the plan for later?"

Faltic, feeling somewhat relieved with the help, started to walk back to their hotel to drop his book off before meeting with Whimsy. Klaven followed as Faltic talked. "Well, the pattern seems to be that we meet at the corner store, then go from there. I don't know what we're going to be doing after that. Preferably somewhere free so I don't expunge all your bits."

"Mares? Free? Maybe in a perfect world." Klaven blew a raspberry into the air after he said that, then continued. "But if you ask me, the first thing that comes to mind is Celestial Park."

"The park? I could not think of a more stereotypical spot." Faltic chimed in.

"Hah, okay Restel."

Faltic was silent for a moment, internally admitting that he did sort of sound like him just then. "Fine, the park it is. We're going there right after we meet up at the store. I'm going to go wait there after we put our books back at the hotel."

Klaven nodded. "Alright, I'll go ahead and be at the park. You'll know me when you see me."

Faltic both did and did not want to know what he meant by that.

*****

Faltic sat in the familiar chair just outside of the corner store where he and Whimsy had started to meet up regularly. Klaven had stayed with him up until this point, where he then made his way in advance to Celestial Park.

Faltic's time talking with Klaven served as a bit of a boost of morale to ease his nerves, though they didn't assuage them entirely. Now the evening fell upon Faltic for execution. Doing everything the way that those romance books did seemed like a corny and cheesy approach, but if they worked in the books, they'd work in real life too, right?

Despite saying he wanted to do something that didn’t involve spending money, Klaven generously lent him enough bits to get him a blueberry slushy, and just a little more for whatever Whimsy might want.

His cup was nearly empty, and a quick inspection of where the sun was, it was starting to change the hue of the sky. As was the pattern lately, Faltic began to worry. He'd been sitting there for roughly an hour, at least he thought. A swift look at his wrist revealed the time-

I still need to get a watch.

-which he did not have.

As soon as the first thoughts of Whimsy bailing on him crossed his mind, a familiar cream colored mare with warm black clothing rounded the corner, immediately locking her eyes to where disguised Faltic sat.

The same warmth Faltic had felt when he was hugged yesterday returned to his chest, and he almost wanted to kick himself for it.

Whimsy happily trotted over to Faltic and took a seat by him. "You're so nice, always here before me."

Faltic shrugged and put on a smile. "Gotta display my manners for the mares."

Whimsy looked at him as if she knew something he didn't. "Pfft. Or is it because you don't pay attention to what time it is?"

Faltic stood up, ready to lead the way for Celestial Park. "My sense of timing is impeccable, Whimsy."

Whimsy stayed sitting as she looked up at Faltic. "Oh yeah? Then how long were you sitting here?"

Faltic looked away, masking the fact he was occupying that seat for what felt like an hour. "Only a few minutes."

The cream colored earth pony retained that all-knowing look on her face. "Right." She stood up as she continued. "So, where are we going to this evening?"

Faltic spoke while he stretched slightly. "I was thinking a nice sunset at Celestial Park. I know a good spot to see it too." Klaven had mentioned something about a meadow, and to go there. Celestial Park wasn't new to Faltic, though with how much the vast nature reserve spans, he hadn't exactly seen all of it.

"I like that idea! Believe it or not, I've never actually been to Celestial Park."

The blind will lead the blind then. Though, how difficult could navigating a park be?

*****

The journey to Celestial Park took a longer time than Faltic had anticipated, though spending the trip with Whimsy set his mind at ease. He didn't think about the soreness growing in his legs from the distance covered, just that they were finally here, and was with Whimsy again.

Such sappy thoughts made his mind clash with itself.

Celestial Park did an extraordinary job at masking as much of the city as it could. Though there were a few outliers of the taller buildings, the trees blocked a sizable portion of them. Faltic and Whimsy had found themselves walking along a gravel path where trees stood along either side of it. Despite the lower temperatures, the trees were still their lush green, yet leaves still littered the earthy ground.

Faltic had his snout dug into a map of the park, looking for a meadow.

"This is actually really nice. It almost completely hides you from Manehattan."

Faltic peeked away from the map to look at Whimsy briefly. "Yeah, it's about the only reprieve from it." Faltic looked at her for a moment longer, finding something nice to say. "I also like how your mane matches the trees."

It was something. Faltic pored the map again, not wanting to see the results of his compliment. Again, having a love subject and treating them like such wasn't new, but Faltic couldn't help the nerves of potentially having a genuine connection with them, ridiculous as it sounds.

It seemed to work well, as Whimsy chuckled slightly. "Thanks Enthrall." They fell silent for a few more steps until Whimsy picked back up. "What're you looking for so intently in there?"

"Huh? Oh. There's a meadow I heard about that would be a great spot to watch the sunset. I'm looking for that."

There was a moment where Faltic didn't hear any response. Then, she spoke to him in a weird tone. "Would that not be right here?"

Faltic looked up and saw her hoof half pointing to a sprawling field of grass just off the side of their trail. "Uh, yes." Whimsy let out another small giggle at the expense of his obliviousness. Being patronized was nothing foreign either, with Restel and Klaven being his friends.

The map was crumpled up into a ball wordlessly as Faltic followed Whimsy out onto the field.

For the most part, it was a flat open field with trees surrounding it from every side. In the not too far distance, buildings stood tall in their dominance above the tree line. The sun was hanging just above the city, casting long shadows across the stretches of the meadow. Other ponies in the meadow were scattered and few. Some lay on picnic blankets of their own, others ran about tossing frisbees or kicking a ball.

The map was pressed into one of Faltic's forelegs, until the realization hit that there were no holes to hold the map for him.

Whimsy was a few steps ahead of Faltic as her pace picked up from the open space. She halted for a moment and turned back to Faltic. "It's so pretty! Where should we sit?!"

That sense of watching Whimsy enjoy things came back. It was the same emotion as when he admired her staring off into the view on the Emerald Rooftop. Faltic drew a blank. Where was a good spot for this? Anywhere seemed fine. "Let's go to the middle, if there's a spot. You go ahead, I'm gonna find a trash can for this map." Faltic said as he held up the crumpled paper. Whimsy nodded, and they both turned away from each other.

It was just then that a rogue frisbee struck the side of Faltic's body, and he quickly turned his head in the direction it came from with a slight scowl. Immediately, a black coated unicorn with garnet red hair approached Faltic.

"Oh dude, I'm sorry!" The frisbee was levitated up in a haze of magic.

"Better be, learn to toss a frisbee." Faltic retorted.

The black unicorn wore a smile that wordlessly said he knew something. Faltic was skeptical of his countenance, until the unicorn flashed his teeth, revealing two long fangs. "Go easy on me, Faltic. I've hardly thrown a frisbee before."

Klaven.

"Don't lie to me. You used this as an opportunity to hit me with a frisbee."

The disguised Klaven laughed innocently and swatted his hoof at Faltic. "Noo, I'd never. Though hey, I told you that you'd know me when you see me."

A singular eyebrow raised. "You really just inverted your colors of your usual disguise."

Klaven gave a proud nod. "Yup, and no need to thank me, but I've set up a nice little spot for you and that mare I saw you walk in here with. That's her, right?"

Faltic nodded as he spoke, looking past Klaven to try and see her in the meadow somewhere. "Yes, it is. She's nice. Where's this little spot you set up?"

Disguised Klaven pointed his hoof towards the center of the field. "Right in the middle. I hear it's a great spot to watch the sunset."

A slight sense of panic crept into Faltic's mind. The center is exactly where he had sent Whimsy before Klaven's intervention. Already, his hooves started to make small steps in that direction. "Right, well, I'm thanking you anyway, and I'll talk to you as soon as we're done here."

With that, Klaven nodded and saw him off as Faltic took up a light jog to the center of the field. His eyes scanned for that cream colored, black jacket wearing mare.

It wasn't long until he spotted just that. Whimsy was sitting at the corner of a blanket on the grass. The blanket had a basket, and a little propped up sign on it.

Once Faltic arrived at the scene, Whimsy looked up at Faltic, looking as if she was holding back laughter and hiding a bigger smile than she wore. "Reserved for Enthrall plus his mare, smiley face?"

Faltic took one look at the smiley face drawn under the text of the paper sign. The immediate recognition of the subtle fangs drawn on the corners of the smile worried him if she noticed at all. Faltic took a seat beside Whimsy on the blanket. "Yes."

Whimsy adjusted herself and laid on her stomach with her forelegs in front of her. "You came out here before going to the corner store and set this up for us?"

"I did, matter of fact. Wanted to make sure we had a good spot." Faltic knew better than to object to anything. Going with it was the best option. Such a preemptive move from Klaven made him wish he'd thought of it, especially seeing how it made Whimsy act. She pulled the locks on her hair that escaped her toboggan from behind her neck to the sides of her face in an attempt to hide the blush Faltic had caught sight of for a split second.

"That's adorable Enthrall, thank you."

Faltic had his own feeling of warmth to mask as well. Not only was the siphoning of love keeping him fortified against the growing cold of the night, but there was a sense of genuine emotion from him to her in return.

It could've been assumed that Whimsy cares about him in the same way those encroaching thoughts want him to believe, but it was killing him that he still didn't know for sure. The only way to go was forward. Faltic peered over into the basket to see what Klaven had packed.

It was an assortment of familiar looking bags. Then it dawned on him.

This is stuff from the hotel vending machine.

Faltic took the basket and dumped it over, as multiple packaged bags of various snacks fell out. As grateful as he was that Klaven had done this, the nerves returned. Is any of this suited for... whatever this is?

The sound of Whimsy failing to hold back her laugh hit Faltic's ears. "You look like a foal dumping out his Nightmare Night candy onto the table."

Sarcastic jokes aside, Faltic felt some sort of relief as she didn't show any initial disappointment for the food being vending machine caliber.

Whimsy sat back up as she reached a hoof out to sort through the pile of assorted snacks. Faltic decided to help rather than watch. "This is all fine, right?"

She looked to Faltic for a moment. "Oh yeah, you don't have to be all fancy for this. This is perfect. Plus-" Whimsy scooped up a bag of trail mix. "-my favorite." She said as she ripped the bag open with her teeth.

Relief finally washed over Faltic's mind and body as she was content with what there was.

The sun continued its dive downwards into the horizon. It snuck behind the pillars of buildings as the meadow slowly succumbed to the shadows that blanketed it.

Thinking of it for the time being, Faltic looked down at their own blanket that they sat on. It escaped his inspection until now, and only now did he recognize it as the same quilt that their beds in the hotel use.

Klaven and his creativity...

Creative was only one way to describe it.

"The sky got about as rich of a blue as your coat. So pretty."

The compliment to Faltic caused his brain to stutter. She'd complimented him, so that was a good sign that she was having similar emotions, right?

No, she'd complimented Enthrall, not Faltic.

"My coat's more of a lighter blue, but that was cute of you."

Again, the word 'cute' was used for her. The side of his mind that said he probably shouldn't be going further with this was waning to the opposing force, the one that wanted to keep going.

The look of her toying with her mane didn't help at all. In Faltic's eyes, she was, in fact, cute. Calling her such felt like it took less effort than the last since there was meaning behind it.

Suddenly, Whimsy sat up and scooted closer to Faltic, and leaned her head on his shoulder. "You treat me so nice, and you're such a sap."

Faltic's body tensed a little, before relaxing to the weight and warmth of her on his shoulder. Despite how much the word 'sap' came from Restel, Faltic didn't care this time as it carried a new meaning.

Acting with his initial thought, Faltic decided to let the opposing force win the fight tonight. He lifted his foreleg closest to Whimsy and wrapped it around her shoulder.

The stars slowly revealed themselves as the sun let the moon take over for the night. The buildings in the distance lit up as windows shone with light. Street lamps in the distant path that ran adjacent to the meadow created light for the rest of the park. However, in the center of the field, in the hidden dark. Faltic felt safe and hidden with Whimsy as they watched the sky change in real time.

*****

"Hey, wake up sleepy."

A tranquil voice reached Faltic's ears as his eyes fluttered open. He felt a warm presence pressed to his side as memories flooded back to him of what he'd been doing. Quickly turning his head, Faltic saw that it thankfully wasn't a dream.

But, he had fallen asleep.

"I'm awake, I'm awake." Faltic blurted in defense. He shook his head to fully recover from drowsiness.

The same voice that'd woken him up giggled beside him. "Now you are. C'mon, it's late, we should get going."

Whimsy stood up and stretched, with Faltic following suit. "I fully blame all the walking for making me feel tired." It was the only reason that came to mind why he'd suddenly fall asleep on her like that, albeit it was a nice feeling. Whimsy was already stepping into the lead, making her way back to the gravel path that ran along the edges of the meadow. The basket and blanket stayed where they were as Faltic followed her back.

The hotel surely had more, so leaving them here shouldn't be a big deal.

The walk to the exit of Celestial park was dark, and quiet. The lack of other ponies around was rare, and only the street lights provided visibility .

The thought of him sleeping on top of Whimsy's head lingered in Faltic's mind. Hopefully that didn't leave a bad impression.

Did I snore? Did I drool? Ugh. Why did I even fall asleep?

"Say, Enthrall?"

Faltic turned his attention to Whimsy, snapping out of his thoughts. "Yeah?"

"Since you've been taking me out to these nice places, how about next time I take you somewhere?"

Anywhere with Whimsy sounded good to Faltic. He nodded his head. "Sure, I like the idea of that. Where to?"

Faltic's shoulder was nudged as Whimsy winked at him. "It'll be a surprise. You've not told me where we'd go, so I'm not telling you." She held her chin up in a pompous manner, though she still held a smile.

"Fine, fine. Then I guess I'll see you at the same corner store?" Faltic asked.

"Yup! Morning too, because I've got things to do later in the day."

Faltic would be going to sleep, and waking right back up to Whimsy. As long as she was okay with the meeting back up so soon, it seemed alright with Faltic.

"Deal,” Faltic declared.

The two came to a halt as soon as they left the perimeter of the park. They stood on the sidewalk next to the street, and the foliage of nature no longer surrounded them. Whimsy quickly gave Faltic a side hug. "Thank you again for tonight. I'm gonna split here to head back, I'll be alright."

Faltic's foreleg hesitantly, but eventually wrapped around Whimsy's shoulder again. Despite everything, his mind was still at war with itself on how far this should go. It was nothing but the same thoughts. Thoughts of how doing this wasn't anything new, but why it felt so genuine this time? The taste of affection from Whimsy was just... different.

After a couple of seconds that passed all too quickly for Faltic, Whimsy broke the hug and began trotting off, looking back at him. "See you in the morning!"

Faltic gave a half wave back at her. "I'll see you then." Then, turning hoof, Faltic began to trot alone back to the hotel.

At least, he thought he would be doing so alone, until an oddly familiar black unicorn with red hair approached. He was hard to make out not only because of the darkness, but because the quilt that he and Whimsy shared was draped over his back, and a basket was held in his teeth. Two fangs were exposed on either side of his mouth.

"Klaven? You're still here?"

Disguised Klaven nodded. "Mhm, and I watched you fall asleep." Even in the cover of night, Faltic could still see that sarcastic smile on Klaven's face.

"Uggh. I don't know how I did! I feel fine now after that power nap, but man, that walk here or something must've made me more tired than I thought."

A small chuckle escaped from Klaven, but he didn't pursue it. "Let's just get back. You're using this blanket too by the way."

It wouldn't have been the worst thing Faltic had ever slept under.

"Also, how'd it go?"

Faltic's brow scrunched slightly. "Weren't you there, eavesdropping?"

"A little! But I wasn't close by the whole time,” Klaven explained.

That was fair enough. As words formed in Faltic's mind, they all stumbled when making their way to his mouth. Not the first time it had happened when he was going to talk about Whimsy.

"It went nice. She actually complimented me, we used each other for warmth as the stars came out, and she likes trail mix. Thank you, by the way." Klaven nodded. "We've already made plans again for tomorrow morning. This time it's somewhere she's going to pick out, and she's keeping it a surprise to me."

Of course, there were a few details he was leaving out, such as him calling her cute again, and his chest still retaining warmth even after feeding off of Whimsy's affection.

"Oh I can't wait to hear all about that one." Klaven said. Neither could Faltic.

*****

The very first thing Faltic did when he and Klaven arrived back in their room at the Pegasus Cloud hotel, was drop his disguise, and dive face first into the bed. Returning to his natural changeling form alleviated him much more than he thought.

Klaven came in behind him, shutting the door and losing his disguise.

"Harsh, not even a hello." Restel piped up from the other bed that Faltic didn't dive on. Faltic turned his head to the side, only half revealing his face, as the other half was pressed to a pillow. "Hi Restel."

Restel crossed his hooves at his chest and smiled. "Thank you."

Just then, Faltic found in him the sudden strength to grab the pillow he laid on, and hurled it at Restel, thumping against his face quick enough for him to not defend himself. Faltic sat up, and found himself in a fit of chucking as Restel pulled the pillow off his face, peering at Faltic with a snarky smile.

"Ohoho somepony getting me back? Well-" Restel drew back the pillow behind his head, readying to throw it back to Faltic. Just as he released, Faltic ducked, causing the pillow to whiff and collide softly with Klaven, who still stood behind Faltic.

"Alright! You provoked it!" Klaven called out as he quickly dropped the picnic basket to the floor. Retrieving the pillow that had struck him moments prior, Klaven reeled back, and pitched the pillow for Restel. It only took a slight duck from Restel to have the pillow soar over him. Restel turned around, and all three pairs of gradient blue eyes watched as the overthrown pillow flew out of the window.

All three changelings quickly gathered at the open window and peered over the ledge, just in time to see the pillow soundlessly land on the sidewalk below.

There was a brief, somehow tense moment of silence as the three stared down eight stories at the pillow on the empty sidewalks. In almost complete synchronization, Restel and Faltic both spoke up.

"Not it."

"Not it."

Two pairs of eyes turned to look at Klaven, who gave out a grunt. "Fine. Why is the window even open?"

Restel and Faltic watched Klaven as he left the room, giving each other a hoof bump.

"I still got you back." Faltic said proudly.

"Ah you've only won the fight, not the war."

Faltic scoffed as he went back to his bed. "You've had that mentality ever since I've known you, which has been, like, my whole life. Grow up." He couldn't help but laugh telling Restel to grow up. Never. The blanket Klaven had brought back with him lay on the floor, and Faltic pulled it up to the bed and got under it.

"Exactly, and you'll never see the end of me. Now get some sleep, and sleep well." Restel proclaimed.

Sleep was quick to take Faltic tonight. Fast enough that he didn't remember seeing Klaven come back with the pillow, or that he wasn't sleeping on one. Though, one last thought crossed his mind before going under.

Restel never tells me to sleep good...