Everfree

by Dusk Quill

Rating: teen
Tags: Other, Original Character, Adventure, Violence, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death, Alternate Universe
Length: 60743

Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.

A Soldier's Memoirs Saga
The Griffon War | Skyfall | Treason | Everfree | Overture
Retribution

The Everfree Forest. The myths that surround that dreaded place are just that: myths. Tales of monsters, cursed creatures, and evil magic are just stories made to scare foals at night.

But every story comes from some truth, and some answers are better left in the dark.

Inspired by Story of the Blanks.

Special thanks to my pre-readers Jake The Army Guy, irobern2857, Treilacl, and USMCbrony0311.

Characters and locations belong to their original creators.

Published 2013-08-14 23:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-12 21:32:17 UTC

Prologue

Shady Daze let out a mirthful shriek as he jumped from rock to rock, evading Rumble’s tackle. The two foals pranced about the open field in the warm sunshine in a game of tag. All across Ponyville, ponies were enjoying the mild spring day. The foals of the small town dashed and played across the many fields and parks, enjoying the sunny weekend. School was almost out, and after spending a long winter mostly cooped up, it was a godsend to be playing outside again. Life had once more returned to the picturesque town.

Nothing portrayed the vibrant life more than the two colts practically tumbling over one another in the dirt. The rough horseplay was nothing strange to them. They had joined in a group game of hide and seek, but when Rumble had found Shady, and Shady promptly bolted, the chase was on.

Now he had him within his grasp. Pushing his legs as hard as he could run, Rumble leapt off the ground and threw his body around his friends. Both colts screamed and laughed as they went tumbling down a slope in the ground, rolling over one another until they hit the bottom.

The second their spill came to a stop, Shady was out of Rumble’s grasp and was gone in a flash again. Rumble scurried to his hooves to give chase—and froze like a statue in place. He could see Shady Daze disappearing in a grayish blue blur just beyond the timberline of the Everfree Forest. His muscles seized up and his chest grew tight as nervous fear gripped his heart.

Shady continued to run a short distance, leaping over high roots and bounding over rocks. He risked a glance back over his shoulder and came screeching to a halt when he realized he was no longer being followed. He could see Rumble, just sitting at the forest’s edge. He was staring at him with eyes as wide as dinner plates, like he’d caught the colt doing some horrible deed. Shady groaned and rolled his eyes as he trudged back toward his friend.

“What’s the matter? Why’d you give up?” he asked, noticing the foal’s gaze was not at him, but at the woods at his back. He turned around, looking into the darkening trees. “What? They’re just trees. You’re not scared or anything, are ya?”

Rumble was absolutely petrified. Yes, of course he was scared. They had all been told the stories of darkness and danger that lived in the forest. They knew the myths and legends surrounding those woods. Shady Daze lifted a brow, and laughed at the paralyzed pony.

“You are! You totally are! Look at your face!”

“Shut up!” snapped Rumble, breaking himself out of his stupor. Already he could feel his face flushing. “I’m not scared! We’re just not supposed to go in there, is all.”

Shady Daze didn’t look convinced in the least. “Yeah, right! Come on, you big baby, I’ll show you there’s nothing to be scared of.”

With that, the colt turned tail and began to traipse back into the Everfree Forest. Again, Rumble lingered at the tree line. He could hear his older brother’s voice, cautioning him about this place. He wasn’t supposed to go in. It wasn’t safe.

“Okay, fine!” said Shady with a huff, making his way back out. “If you’re really gonna be such a scaredy cat, we can go do something else. I’ll try to not tell everypony what a chicken you were.”

“Hey, I’m no chicken!” Rumble said defiantly, puffing his chest out in a dramatic manner. Deep down, he could swear he felt his legs quaking. “I’m not afraid! Watch me!”

With a deep breath, he took the plunge. Rumble closed his eyes tight and barreled head first into the thicket of trees and undergrowth. Behind him, he could hear Shady Daze laughing and cheering him on. When he felt a sufficient amount of distance had passed, Rumble slowed to a stop and slowly peeked one eye open. He had gone much further than Shady had gone originally. The beams of sunlight streaking through the trees at the far edge of the woods felt miles away now.

“That was awesome!” Shady Daze cheered as he came galloping beside his friend. “See? It ain’t that bad! It’s kinda cool in here.”

Rumble couldn’t shake the anxiety twisting his stomach into knots. “Yeah, I guess…”

“Oh, lighten up! Come on, let’s go see what kinda neat stuff we can find in here!”

With a youthful laugh, Shady Daze took off deeper into the forest. Rumble took a few deep breaths to steady his nerves before following on at a much slower gait. The further into the forest they went, the more the sunlight began to disappear. The foliage was so dense it blocked out the rays of Celestia’s sun, and cast the entire place in a cool darkness. No birds sang up above in the branches, and no signs of woodland critters could be seen. It spooked the little colt.

“Shady?” Rumble called out into the expanse of trees and shade. “Shady? Where’d you go?”

From somewhere up ahead, he heard his friend’s laugh echoing softly. He couldn’t be too far behind.

“Come on, Rumble! Try to keep up!”

“It’s getting really dark, Shady. Maybe we should go back,” he said, hoping to Celestia that Shady Daze would agree with him, and they could leave this place far behind them.

No response came to him. Rumble slowly stepped over an uprooted tree, looking around for the colt he had followed so brashly into the forest. Shady Daze was nowhere to be seen. Taking one last glance back at where he knew the sunlit meadows of Ponyville were, Rumble dared to take another step forward. The bushes had grown thicker here, with dense vines and branches that seemed to tug at his coat as he pushed past them.

“Shady? Come on, let’s go back. I can barely see anything in here.”

Again, only silence greeted him. Rumble felt a twinge of fear plunge into his heart like a dagger.

“Shady? Where are you?” He fought back a scared whimper in his voice. “Shady?”

“Boo!”

Rumble screamed out loud as Shady Daze leapt out of a bush at him. The pegasus colt toppled backwards over himself in the dirt, his heart hammering at his ribcage in pure terror. Shady’s light-hearted laughter broke the silence, and he fell over as well, doubled over in laughter.

“Y-You should’ve… should’ve seen your face!” he said between raucous laughter. “You were s-so scared!”

“That wasn’t funny!”

Still, Shady Daze continued laughing. Rumble grumbled to himself and began dusting himself off. He looked up at his friend again—and felt the blood drain from his face. Standing just over the bushes where Shady had been hiding loomed a dark silhouette cloaked in shadow, shaped like a pony.

“S-Shady…” Rumble choked out.

A low, rumbling growl from behind him caught the terrified foal’s immediate attention. His head snapped around to locate the source of the noise. All he could see were tree trunks and darkness. A thin fog had begun to creep in between the trees, spanning out like ghostly spider webs weaving through the forest.

Shady Daze screamed. The sharp, shrill noise made Rumble’s heart skip a beat. He quickly turned back around. Shady was gone. The foal sprung to his hooves, looking around hastily for his missing friend. He had just been there a second ago!

“Shady?! Shady, where are you?!” he cried out into the empty darkness. “This isn’t funny, Shady! Where’d you go?”

Rumble stood his ground, too afraid to move or give chase. He didn’t even know where Shady would have gone. The pony had just vanished into thin air, and he was left alone, scared, and confused. He wanted to go home.

“Shady?!”

Another scream, this one much, much further away, reverberated around the trees. From where he was standing, it sounded like the cry came from all sides. Rumble looked around while pacing fitfully in place.

“Shady?! Shady!”

A hooffall behind him locked the panicky foal in place. The noise was dense and weighty, and it made Rumble’s heart drop into his stomach. He began his turn, the movement so slow that for a moment, he didn’t even realize he was moving at all. And then he had turned, and the creature behind him sent ice running through his veins. He tried to yell for help, but fear had stolen his breath away from him.

Rumble saw the creature’s blood red eyes burning in their empty sockets. He saw the jaw contort into a sickening, macabre effect of a smile. He screamed.

Chapter 2: Foreboding

It was substantially cooler beneath the shady treetops of the Everfree Forest. Sunlight filtered down through tiny pockets in the endless blanket of dense leaves overhead, filling the groves and twisting paths with beams of shimmering golden sunlight. The first dozen meters or so was so idyllic, Fleethoof found it hard to believe that anypony was afraid of such a place.

However, once the search party got past the scenery the shade began to grown into darkness. With every few passing minutes, Fleethoof could detect the changes in ambient light. He had to strain his eyes a little more to see details, and though he could still see fine, it was certainly a night and day difference from being outside the forest. Now, hours into the search, he began to notice even more little nuances. Birds sang somewhere off in the distance, but the Everfree Forest itself was eerily still. Save for the snapping and crunch of leaves and twigs underhoof, the woods were dead silent.

The Guards, both Solar and Lunar, walked cautiously onward. Each step was deliberate, and they took great care making their way over roots and other obstacles. Fleethoof and Midnight took it like a stroll in the park. Anything they came across, they merely bypassed with ease and indifference. Caution was not a word presently in their vocabulary.

Fleethoof glanced back at the mare following closely behind him. Since they had left Ponyville, she had stuck close by his side. Not that he was surprised. He had expected as much, and had already mentally accepted it without protest. Now, walking blindly through the dimly lit forest, looking all around for any signs of activity or clues, all they had was time.

“How have you been, Midnight?” he asked, jumping over a large root and carrying on like he had skipped a puddle on a rainy day. “Been keeping out of trouble, I hope.”

A laugh came from Midnight. With a flutter of her leathery wings, she joined him on the other side of the root. “Oh, you know me, Fleety. When have I ever been able to behave?”

“Fleethoof,” he said. He was starting to get irked at how she abused her privilege of the first name basis. Again, he shouldn’t have been surprised. “I’m actually surprised you haven’t been kicked out of the Nightwatch yet.”

“Hey! I’m playing nice, so you have to as well.”

“Okay. You stole my picture.”

Midnight hesitated in her response. “…Yeah? So?”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t bring my camera with me to Canterlot,” she answered in earnest. The pair of ponies ducked beneath a fallen tree, crawling through a dirt ditch beneath the trunk. “I like taking pictures of my friends, and I didn’t know when I’d get my next chance to see you again.”

Midnight’s answer was so… normal. It threw Fleethoof through a loop. “Fair enough…”

There was a lull in the conversation. The ponies followed a short distance away from the rest of Ghost Team, scouring the ground for anything even resembling a clue. Sounds from the creatures that inhabited the forest echoed softly from somewhere around them. While he had to admit the whole place felt a little unusual, Fleethoof didn’t see any valid reason for the horrific myths and ghost stories. The Everfree Forest was just that: a forest. Nothing more, nothing less.

“So how have you been, big guy? Canterlot still treating you good?”

“Can’t complain.” Fleethoof brushed a few leaves off his jacket as he pushed through a bush. “We got a new building for my team.”

Midnight pressed to keep the conversation going. “Oh yeah? How is it?”

“It’s nice.”

Fleethoof was still as succinct as ever, she noted. Still, she was determined to play catch up and keep him talking. “I bet it is! A whole place just for you. Wish I had something like that.”

“Don’t be sour. We need it, you know that.”

“Still can’t tell me why though?”

He shook his head resolutely. “Nope, sorry.”

They could hear the calls of a few ponies off in another clearing. They were checking something out. Maybe they had found a clue. Fleethoof began to push his way through the dense foliage, leaning against a pile of logs for balance.

“I think they found something, Midnight.”

“Hey, Fleety.”

Fleethoof growled under his breath and turned around in a flash. “What did I tell you about—”

“Smile!”

It took Fleethoof a moment to recognize the camera in the mare’s hooves. Where had she been keeping it? Before he could say, do, or even think anything, Midnight pressed the shutter. A blinding flash caught the surprised pegasus in the eyes. He yelled out and fell back against the logs, thankful that somepony had left them stacked so neatly in the middle of the woods.

“Celestia dammit, Midnight! What was—?”

“Hey, you’re the one who said I should get a more recent photo of you,” she said with a wide, triumphant smile on her happy face. “And now I have my camera on me, so I did!”

“I didn’t tell you to blind me in the middle of the woods!” Fleethoof stumbled over something on the ground. He couldn’t even tell what it was with the large black spots still obscuring his vision. He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to clear them up as quickly as possible.

“Aww, come on. It wasn’t that bad.” Fleethoof just grumbled in response. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. My bad.”

“I’ll say…”

Midnight shrugged and helped the stallion back up. “Look, if it makes you feel any better, I—”

Something shifted beside the ponies. It caused the earth beneath their hooves to quiver gently. Whatever it was, it was big, and had a lot of weight behind it. What is that? thought Fleethoof, looking around for the source of the seismic shifts.

That was when he noticed the pile of logs that had once been his saving grace begin to slide away from them. Fleethoof and Midnight watched in bewilderment and awe as the large chunks of wood began to realign into a shape amongst the trees, rising high above the two ponies. A deep, rumbling growl came from the creature, and then it slowly turned on the ponies.

Glowing green eyes glared with feral hunger at them. Fleethoof didn’t believe in the horror stories of the Everfree Forest. But he did believe in the creatures that lived there. He recognized a Timberwolf when he saw one. It must have been asleep when Midnight’s camera went off. The Timberwolf growled again, its foul, putrid breath washing over the ponies as it crouched low, preparing to pounce.

“Run,” Fleethoof said in a low whisper, and took off in a blur towards the group in the clearing. Midnight was hot on his tail, and behind them, the threatening growl had turned into a full-fledged snarl of bloodlust. The Timberwolf was giving chase, darting lithely through the thicket of trees. Even in the dimmed light, its glowing eyes were like something out of a nightmare, ever persistent and never getting further away, no matter how hard Fleethoof pushed his legs off the ground.

With a flap of his wings, he was airborne, avoiding the roots, rocks, and bushes as he propelled himself through the air and around trees. He could hear the flaps of Midnight’s wings as she followed close beside him. Both ponies were breathing hard as adrenaline pushed their bodies forward, just barely keeping them ahead of the ravenous mouth of the predator in full pursuit.

They broke into the clearing at breakneck speeds, coming down for a hard landing beside the group of ponies. Everypony looked up in alarm when the two ponies came crashing down to the earth, kicking up a cloud of dirt and dust in their wake.

“Timberwolf!” Fleethoof shouted, using the momentum of his fall to pivot and turn just as the large lumbering lupine broke the tree line and emerged in the sunlit clearing.

The ponies recoiled in terror as the Timberwolf let loose an ear-splitting howl. From the darkness of the forest, two more sets of eyes lit up between the trees as a couple more Timberwolves entered the fray, circling around the group of pony soldiers now forming a tight circle in the clearing. Midnight clenched her teeth in fear as she eyes the surrounding predators. The rest of the Lunar Guard and Royal Guard had their weapons raised, waiting and watching.

Fleethoof’s hoof rested on the grip of his rifle at his side. He locked gazes with one of the wolves, feeling his heart racing. The creature made a sound crossed between a hiss and a snarl. His hoof tightened around his gun. He saw the pony beside him shift uneasily, dropping his guard for even just a split second.

The Timberwolf reacted, and made a lunge forward. Fleethoof had his gun up in a flash and put several bullets into the creature’s face. The bullets peppered the wood and deflected harmlessly. The Timberwolf yelped and retreated back to circling the perimeter of the clearing, but was otherwise unharmed.

“Open fire!” somepony shouted, and the entire clearing was filled with the sound of furious combat. Bullets flew in every direction as the ponies shot aimlessly at any part of the wolves they could hit. Time and time again, each round did naught to harm the creatures of the Everfree.

The wolves attacked, diving for the ponies nearest them. Fleethoof found himself in the crosshairs of one such attack, and barely had time to dive out of the way. The large pair of jaws snapped down on the ground where he had been standing just moments before. He hit his side hard and rolled to his back, shooting from his position on the ground.

The group of ponies had all dove out across the clearing. Now that they had been scattered, the wolves snapped blindly at any pony that happened to be near them. Midnight rolled to her hooves and took a few shots at a Timberwolf chasing Echo and Eclipse. Her rounds hit low on the wolf’s leg, making it yelp and stumble, giving her teammates some breathing room.

She heard a growl and saw a wolf on her peripheral vision. It was coming right at her. Flapping her wings as hard as she could, Midnight Dasher took to the air like a shot moments before the wolf took a chunk out of the earth she had been standing on. Turning in the air, she opened fire on any wolf she could draw a bead on. Echo flew up beside her, aiding Midnight in her target shooting. They winced as a few bullets snapped past their heads from wide shots.

“Check your fire! Don't clip the airbornes!” the Guard leader shouted out amidst the combat.

Fleethoof cried out as he cartwheeled out of the way of another would-be life-ending bite. He was breathing hard while reloading his empty weapon. None of his shots had been good for anything. All the wolves now sported some devastating looking injuries to the bark of their wooden skin, but none of them had been harming to the creatures themselves. They were getting nowhere.

The wolf withdrew again and turned on the pegasus. Fleethoof licked his lips, eyeing the creature cautiously. He heard a snarl to his side, and turned to see a Timberwolf leaping at him. With no time to react gracefully, Fleethoof threw himself across the ground, feeling the earth shake as the wolf’s jaws collided with the dirt and grass. He looked to his side. The wolf still had its fangs sunken into the ground—mere inches from where he had landed.

He grunted as he delivered a swift kick as hard as he could into the Timberwolf’s snout. It felt like bucking a tree. The wolf yelped and recoiled only slightly, recovering quickly and snarling at the downed stallion. Fleethoof took careful aim with the few precious seconds he had left. The wolf lunged at him, and he squeezed the trigger.

The round found purchase in the creature’s right eye. The Timberwolf howled in pain and reared up before collapsing to the ground. Wasting no time, Fleethoof sprung up and fired two more bullets into the wolf’s other eye. The predator whined and gave a spasm on the ground before it lay still. The green glow dimmed and faded from its eyes, and then its wooden body crumpled into a disjointed pile of logs.

“The eyes!” Fleethoof said to the scrambling soldiers. “Aim for the eyes!”

Midnight and Echo heard Fleethoof’s shout and immediately changed tactics on a dime. Spotting Starlight and Nocturne literally holding a Timberwolf’s jaws open to keep from crushing another Royal Guard, the fillies dove down like a bolt of lightning. They landed on the furious wolf’s head. It looked up at the bat ponies just as they brought their guns down to its eye sockets. A spray of bullets later, Midnight was being thrown from the writhing Timberwolf as it too disintegrated into nothing more than lumber. Echo took back to the air, aiding her friends from above.

The last Timberwolf snorted, pawing at the ground like a bull as it charged at the ponies. Everypony dove out of the way as it barreled like a train through the clearing, nearly trampling a few of the Guard. The beast turned and made another pass again, snapping at a couple of the bat ponies in the air. This time, they were ready. As it ran by, the ponies on the ground went for the legs, and with a few well-placed shots, the Timberwolf yelped and fell face-first into the ground. It skidded to a halt in front of a pair of Royal Guards, who ended it with a short barrage of gunfire.

Fleethoof picked himself up and dusted off his jacket and fur. Nopony had been killed, and most had gotten away with a few cuts or scrapes. Without any major injuries, he considered it a decisive victory. Breathing a sigh of relief, he lowered his gun and rejoined the rallying troopers.

“Where did they come from?” a pony asked, his voice still shaking.

“The Everfree Forest is a dangerous place,” another one said.

“It doesn’t matter where they came from. Nopony got hurt. That’s what’s important,” said Fleethoof. A couple ponies nodded assent. “Did we at least find anything yet?”

“Yeah. We found a body.”

A body? Fleethoof felt his heart plummet into his stomach. Was it one of the missing foals? Swallowing back a lump in his throat, he and the rest of the ponies followed the ones who had made the discovery to a far side of the clearing. There, half hidden by the bushes it had either collapsed or been pushed into, lay the body of a Royal Guard.

It was a grim sight, even by Fleethoof’s standards. The soldier’s armor had all but been torn asunder, the metalwork scratched and bent at odd angles, clearly with a lot of force. His face and body were bruised and bloody from deep cuts. His jaw and neck looked like they had been broken, and his throat had been gouged out in a gristly mess. The pony’s eyes stared off into space, a final look of dread and gut-wrenching terror frozen in them for all time. Oddly enough, no blood had soaked into the nearby grass or ground.

“He’s one of the ones who got lost earlier,” a Royal Guard noted with some surprise.

“What could have done such a thing?” Echo asked, her voice weak with horror. Behind her, somepony began retching.

Daybreak asked, “Was it one of the Timberwolves?”

Fleethoof shook his head. “Timberwolves kill to eat. If it had been one of them we wouldn’t be finding the body.”

“But what would kill a pony just to kill?” Midnight’s question was one that was presently disturbing Fleethoof. He felt sickened by the thought of what that poor pony endured in his final hour. Whatever it was, it was definitely one of the most gruesome aftermaths Fleethoof had ever seen.

Starlight shook his head, fighting back the bile rising in his throat. “We need to be getting back. It’ll be time for the next team to go in, and we don’t wanna be out here when the sun goes down.”

The ponies began to slowly move away as two carefully lifted the body of their friend. Fleethoof watched as they carried him through the clearing, only following once he was sure there was nothing else to find here. He turned to follow the group back out, lingering as he stared out into the forest. Had he just heard a foal’s laughter on the breeze? Stillness greeted his searching gaze. His brow furrowing in distress, Fleethoof moved to catch back up with the group.

Although he couldn’t place his hoof on it, he felt like something was watching him from the forest.

“That’s it! We can’t risk sending any more ponies into that forest!” one of the detectives in charge of the investigation cried out. “With Cloud Breaker’s body, that makes six Guard ponies killed, and four still missing! Something is telling us to stay out.”

“We can’t just abandon those foals!” another pony said. “If they were kidnapped, it may be the culprit trying to scare us away from getting any closer.”

Fleethoof rolled his eyes as he leaned back against one of the supports keeping the tent held upright. The debates had been going on like this since they had returned to Ponyville. The Guard seemed to be divided in two: those who wanted to pull out, and those who wanted to keep pressing forward. He had to admit, both sides had valid cases. It didn’t make sense to keep sending ponies on a wild goose chase to possibly meet their deaths. But on the other hoof, the group of terrorized Ponyvillians that seemed to mob the camp every other hour wouldn’t just let them walk away with their hooves washed of this.

The first detective that had spoken cast a sideways glance at Fleethoof. “You’re one hundred percent sure it wasn’t an animal attack, Captain?”

“Positive.”

The detective scowled and muttered a curse beneath his breath. The ponies around the tent were all the leaders of teams involved in the investigation. None of them seemed to have a plausible solution. The rescue effort was cleaved in twain.

“I’m not sending my ponies back in that cursed forest if they’re just going to be killed,” the Hoofington leader said firmly. He punctuated his sentence with a shake of his head. “We came to help you find a bunch of foals, not throw our lives away.”

“We could be getting closer though!” The Ponyville detective seemed the most reluctant to lose hope—and for good reason.

“We could also be getting further away. We haven’t even found any traces that the foals are even still alive.”

“We’re not giving up the searches,” Starlight spoke. “As long as my team is here, we’ll keep looking day and night.”

“As will we.” The Canterlot leader threw his support in with the Nightwatch.

Fleethoof sighed and felt his spirits fall. Looked like his hopes for a quick in-and-out was coming to an end. Starlight looked over at him.

“You’ll stay and help too, won’t you, Captain Fleethoof?”

He shrugged. He didn’t have any say in the matter. “I’m here as long as you are. I’ll do what I can.”

The Hoofington detective laughed. “You ponies are all mad. That forest is evil!”

“That forest is nothing more than a bunch of trees and wild animals,” replied Fleethoof sternly. He was getting very tired of the superstitious nonsense very fast.

“Hey, if you want to go back in there, be my guest. It’s your funeral.”

“And it’s your job.” Fleethoof turned a cold glare on the chicken-hearted detective. “Maybe if you took two steps outside this tent and gave a shit, then we might be making some more progress.”

“What did you just say to me?”

The two stallions turned on one another, each taking a challenging step towards the other. He had no patience for deserters, especially in a time of crisis. He had met ponies like the detective before—the kind that like to flash their shiny badges and act tough, but cower out when the job gets tough. Starlight stepped in to keep the ponies apart with his hooves.

“Whoa, whoa! Easy, colts.” He looked between the two. “Let’s try to keep it civil. We can keep looking. Whatever the detective decides to do… well, that’s his call.”

Fleethoof bit his tongue to keep from letting himself lash out. He exchanged a bitter look with the pony from Hoofington and nodded to Starlight. He turned briskly on his hooves and walked out of the tent without another word.

The sun had begun to go down over Equestria. Another day had come and gone fruitlessly. What did that make now? Twenty-three days since the first of the foals had gone missing? Twenty-four? It was grossly unacceptable by his standards for the Guard. They were just foals, and there was nopony alive besides the princesses who could navigate the Everfree Forest successfully! By all rational logic, they had to still be in there.

Midnight Dasher looked up from the conversation going around the table when Fleethoof approached the loitering bat ponies. She smiled, but dropped it quickly when she saw the grimace on his face. Undeterred by his evidently sour mood, Midnight tapped the back of the empty chair beside her, flashing him a wide attempt at an alluring smile. Much to the mare’s delight, he circled around the group and came to rest sitting in the chair, slouching against the table.

“What’s going on in there?” Daybreak asked Fleethoof as he took a seat with the group.

“They’re debating whether to call off the searches or not,” grumbled a very unhappy Fleethoof.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Ooooh yeah.” Fleethoof reclined back in his seat, staring blankly up at the sky as it transitioned from bright blue to warm orange.

“But we just got here!” Eclipse said. Her whining voice was so high pitched it almost hurt his ears.

“Yeah,” said Echo in agreement, pounding her hooves against the table. “They could at least give us a chance! Just because they’re ready to give up doesn’t mean we are!”

“Nopony’s giving up,” Fleethoof said sharply. “Even if the Hoofington ponies pull back, we’re staying and getting the job done. Starlight isn’t budging from that.”

That seemed to settle the anxious bat ponies a little. Fleethoof had to admire the bold audacity of the ponies of the Shades. When they were given a job, they really saw it through to the end.

“I hope those foals are all right,” Midnight said after a moment, her voice so soft and caring that it surprised Fleethoof.

He gave her a small smile, and looked out at the border of the Everfree Forest. “We’ll find them, Midnight.”

Midnight gave a soft sigh and leaned her head against Fleethoof’s shoulder. With her chair pulled up close, she snuggled up to the stallion. He cast a quick glance at her with an amused smirk.

“Comfy?”

She gave a quiet murmur in response, letting her eyes slowly close. “You’re comfy, and your jacket is soft. I like it. How come you’re so casual and out of uniform?”

“I didn’t see a need to bring it,” Fleethoof said. “I’m off duty as far as I’m concerned. This is charity work. Besides, it still gets chilly at night, especially so out there, I’d wager. A jacket seemed more practical.”

“So Fleethoof, how long have you and Midnight been going out?”

Eclipse’s question caught Fleethoof so off guard, he didn’t respond right away. All he could do was stare dumbfounded at the filly, shell-shocked from her bluntness. Beside him, he heard Midnight’s hooves scraping against the ground as she struggled to right herself again.

“Wha—? We’re not going out,” Fleethoof said, very quick to correct her. “W-Where did you get that idea?”

Eclipse looked thoroughly confused now. “Oh, I just thought you were, since Midnight said something about you two sleeping together and stuff.”

Fleethoof felt his jaw hit the ground. So many questions ran through his mind in an instant, but none made it to his mouth. He had lost all control of his tongue, and speech evaded him. All he could do was stare at the blushing, flustered Midnight beside him. She looked as shocked as he felt.

“Eclipse! I never said we were sleeping together!” she snapped, feeling the blood pooling beneath her cheeks and her ears burning like they were on fire.

“What are you talking about? You said you were in his bedroom a bunch of times when you were in Canterlot!”

“I said I broke in! That does not mean we’re sleeping together!”

“Well what’s the difference?!”

Fleethoof’s gaze didn’t turn from Midnight. “What does she mean ‘a bunch of times’?”

Midnight Dasher’s eyes hastily darted between Fleethoof and Eclipse, smiling sheepishly at one while leering at the other. Echo was giggling to herself, and Daybreak just shook his head.

“Why do you always have to destroy such good friendships like that, Eclipse?” Daybreak asked, still shaking his head disparagingly.

Eclipse flicked her long, pale blue mane over her shoulder, batting her eyelashes innocently. “Who, me? I’d never do anything like that!”

“I am never telling you anything again, ever,” Midnight growled out, baring her fanged teeth at the snickering mare seated across from her. She turned back to the still staring pegasus next to her, smiling as sweetly as she could. “I’m sorry about her. She’s a little incorrigible.”

“We really need to stop hanging out,” Fleethoof said.

Midnight feigned a heartbroken look as she reeled back from Fleethoof. A hoof clutched over her chest dramatically, acting like he had stabbed her right in the heart. She made a scene of groaning in pain before flopping limply over the table. Fleethoof sighed and rolled his eyes. She was hopeless.

“So what is your relation to Middy then, Cap'n?” Blackjack asked smoothly, giving a jesting smirk to Midnight. “Have you been keeping an eye on our lil sis up in Canterlot, or vice versa?”

A furious blush overtook Midnight's cheeks as she shot a look at him. “Blaaack, come oooon, cut it out!”

Fleethoof was actually enjoying turning the tables on the teasing bat pony. “Well, she's been a wily one, that's for sure. She likes making fun of our guards and beating them up.”

A loud, booming laugh came from deep within Blackjack. “That sounds like our Middy! Although seeing her turn this red isn't something I can say I'm used to.”

“Knock it off...” grumbled Midnight, burying her face in her hooves to hide away.

“Not a chance.” Blackjack turned his gaze on Fleethoof next, his smirk dropping a little. “She hasn't been getting into too much trouble, has she? I hope you've been keeping an eye on her.”

“Both eyes, as often as I could spare them.”

“And you haven't taken her out yet because...?”

“Black!” Midnight's head snapped up sharply, her ears folded against her skull and her entire face a shade darker.

The bat stallion merely shrugged. “I'm just saying, it's pretty obvious to me and Eclipse—”

“Okay! That's enough! No more talking about what did or did not happen back in Canterlot!”

“Why Middy, I've never seen so get so flustered.” Blackjack chuckled softly at the disparaging look she gave him.

Fleethoof couldn't help but laugh as well. “I've never known anypony rile her up like that.”

Starlight emerged from the tent a few minutes later and made his way over to the ponies. He looked as pleasant as Fleethoof had when he walked out.

“All right, Ghosts, listen up,” he said as he got closer to the group. Everypony looked up at the team leader while he spoke. “Once the sun sets and the other teams get back in for the night, we’re gonna do a night run through the forest. We can’t afford to lose any more time in finding those foals.”

“What about the other ponies?” Blackjack asked. “The ones from Hoofington?”

“They’re staying, for the time being. For how long, we’ll see—but right now, we just stay focused on tonight. We’ll be in our element, so this should be a walk in the park for us. Nevertheless, keep your guard up and be careful. We don’t wanna run into more Timberwolves out there with no backup.”

“So none of the Royal Guard is coming in with us?” Eclipse let out an airy, mocking laugh. “What foals! Are they scared of the dark or something?”

Daybreak grinned, flashing his sharp teeth. “With us in the dark, maybe they should be!”

“The Canterlot Guard is actually going to do a once-over around the edge of the forest to see if they missed anything while we look deeper in. They wanted to keep pressing further—hell, their CO was all raring to go, but with night coming, they're gonna have to wait till dawn before they storm the castle, so to speak. So we've got the first run.”

Fleethoof raised his hoof suddenly. “How deep are we going in, and how are we getting there?”

“Back around where we were today, so fairly far in. Make sure you have plenty of supplies and spare tools,” said Starlight, pausing for a moment. “Can you manage all right in the dark, Fleethoof? I was gonna suggest just flying there, but we can walk if that’s better for you.”

“I can do just fine in the dark. And if I may make a suggestion”—Fleethoof grinned broadly—“I have a better idea to get us back out there a hell of a lot faster.”

Starlight nodded, and the table had turned all ears toward him. “If you have a faster way than flying, be my guest. What do you need?”

Fleethoof just continued to grin his knowing grin. “A radio.”

Chapter 3: Monsters

Almost all of Ponyville had rallied around the base camp once the moon had risen. The scene was getting egregiously out of hoof faster than Fleethoof would have liked. Most of the Guard was now being used to quell the cries of the ponies demanding action while the rest grudgingly geared up for another trek into the foreboding forest. With the sun gone, the Everfree had turned into one gigantic mass of twisting branches, gnarled roots, and shadows. From where he stood, Fleethoof could see the fear gripping the hearts of the ponies.

However, if they uttered a single complaint, he hadn’t heard it. The spinning of the helicopter blades drowned out every other sound with its heavy thrumming. When the copter had landed just outside Ponyville, nopony knew what was going on. The bat ponies actually looked scared at first, much to the amusement of the pegasus that had called it in.

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t ya, Fleethoof?” Starlight said with a laugh.

He shrugged coolly. “I do what I can.”

“Aw yeah, this is gonna be awesome!” Midnight squealed in joy. “Dibs on a window seat!”

With much more gusto than Fleethoof had been expecting, the bat ponies clambered into the helicopter like a bunch of foals going on a school trip. He shook his head—and found Starlight doing the same. He glanced back at the wary ponies beginning to plod along the outside of the Everfree.

“They were never really going in during the night, were they?” he asked the Nightwatch leader.

Starlight smirked a little. “Nope. They weren’t sure yet, at least.”

“You just said that to get us to go back out?”

“Yep.”

Fleethoof nodded, half smiling. “I love how crafty you bats can be.”

“Thank you, pegasus. After you.”

Still grinning, Fleethoof and Starlight boarded the helicopter, taking their seats as it began to lift off the ground. Hovering above the ponies on the ground, the helicopter took off over the treetops of the Everfree Forest, skimming low while shining a floodlight down into the dark shroud of trees below. The ponies stared down at the ground, the bird’s-eye view and intense beam of light proving to be an effective way of searching the forest in haste.

“Where did you get something like this?” Daybreak asked Fleethoof, shouting above the rotors.

Fleethoof grinned widely. “I have friends in high places in Canterlot. This one is ours.”

“What the hell do you do up there?!”

“It’s classified,” Midnight spoke for the stallion, all-too used to his response by now. Fleethoof pointed to her and nodded.

The helicopter gave a wide pass around the western edge of the Everfree Forest. Nothing was turned up. After a few more fruitless passes, the ponies inside were beginning to get restless. Starlight kept checking and rechecking his gun. Midnight was shuffling her hooves anxiously. Eclipse had given up the search altogether, and had settled for staring at something on the ceiling in boredom.

“Shouldn’t we be getting down and looking on hoof or something?” Nocturne eventually spoke up. “We might be able to find more that way.”

Starlight opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. He was starting to agree with the sentiment of his team. He glanced across the cabin at Fleethoof, turning the question over to him.

“One more pass, and then we’ll hoof it,” he said after mulling it over momentarily.

The helicopter circled around for another pass, this time deeper over the woods. If he was to be honest, he had hoped searching from a helicopter would have been enough of a thrill to last the Lunar Guard for the night. The thought of being on their own in the middle of the Everfree at night left a sour taste in his mouth. They would be completely isolated. What if they ran into another pack of Timberwolves?

Please find something, he prayed, searching through the darkness in vain. As the minutes slipped by, and the copter came back around to bear, Fleethoof felt his hope die. They couldn’t see enough through the trees. They’d have to put down—but at least they wouldn’t have to trek through the forest in the dark too much.

“Put us down over there,” said Fleethoof to the pilots, motioning to a clearing large enough for the helicopter to safely land.

“Is this where we’re supposed to be?” Starlight asked, checking the map in his hooves. “This looks deeper than where we were supposed to go.”

Blackjack laughed and said, “Hey, just means we’ll be closer to finding something new if there’s anything to be found out here, right?”

The helicopter circled around the clearing once, shining the large light down into it to make sure it was suitable to land it. There was no debris in the way, and no creatures as far as they could see. Slowing to a hover above the glade, the copter began to descend down into the trees. The forest rose up around them. The trees were dark pillars like teeth poised to snap down around the ponies.

Fleethoof felt the skids hit the ground, and the light outside shut off. Darkness surrounded the aircraft—and then the doors were flung open. Warm, slightly humid air rushed into the climate controlled cabin and hit the ponies like a sticky wall. One by one, they bailed out into the forest, weapons up and scanning the area like they were in the middle of a warzone.

“Keep an eye out for our signal. We’ll mark our pickup location,” Fleethoof said to the pilots, who nodded in response. He grabbed a few flares from the kit in the helicopter, and then disembarked. The rest of Ghost Team was waiting for him. The moment he shut the cabin door, the helicopter was up in the air again, making its ascent out of the trees and vanishing from sight. It was painfully clear that even the pilots were afraid of this place. Superstitious bastards…

The sound of the helicopter got further and further away, and when it was finally out of earshot, quiet stillness met the ponies. A few crickets chirped somewhere nearby, but that was it. All at once it hit Fleethoof where they were. They were alone in the Everfree Forest. He would have been lying if he said the notion didn’t worry him a little bit.

In the near pitch-blackness, it was difficult for him to see. Under Luna’s half moon, silver light illuminated outlines and silhouettes. His vision could make out some detail, but much of it was obscured and hidden. Drawing his rifle and flipping on the flashlight attached to it, he swept the beam of white light around the area. Sure enough, the ponies were completely alone. At least he could see now.

“Okay, Ghosts, we’ve got a job to do. It won’t be easy, but we’re gonna get it done,” Starlight said to the gathered ponies. “This is roughly where the Royal Guards went missing, so this is where we’ll find some clues, if anywhere. Stick close so we don’t lose one another, keep your eyes peeled, and for Luna’s sake, somepony keep an eye on Fleethoof. We don’t wanna lose him in the dark.”

“Fuck you too, Starlight,” Fleethoof remarked passively.

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” said Midnight Dasher while eagerly bouncing over to stand beside the pegasus.

“We can’t let Dasher go off with Fleethoof,” Eclipse said, grinning mischievously from ear-to-ear. “We won’t see them again till morning. They’ll be too busy ‘catching up’, wink wink.”

Midnight’s glare would have killed Eclipse if looks had the capacity to end lives. “Eclipse, I would worry that bashing your head in would ruin your good looks, but then I remember it’s you and I can’t ruin something that’s not there.”

Daybreak and Blackjack both burst into laughter, staring at Eclipse’s scowl and shouting, “Ooooh, buuuuurned!”

“Midnight, I swear, I’m gonna—”

“Okay, foals! The time for ridicule is over!” Fleethoof announced, stepping in to assist Starlight. “You two are gonna attract something that’s going to eat us, and I would really like to not die tonight. I can't begin to tell you how much I would love to not die tonight. So let’s get this over with and get back before the sun rises.

“Now, these flares are for signaling the helicopter to pick us up”—Fleethoof handed a flare to Starlight and Daybreak—“so don’t lose them. It’s going to be making rounds around the Everfree to help out the rest of the Guard, and we’ll need these to get back. Got it?”

The bat ponies nodded. Fleethoof stowed his flare in a strap on his vest, just beneath his jacket. Checking to make sure his weapons were loaded and ready to go, he gave a single nod to his partners.

“Ghosts, listen to your leader, and keep your eyes peeled.”

Starlight and Blackjack took point, leading the group of ponies south through the clearing. They disappeared into the darkness of the trees, the rest of the Nightwatch following in close behind them. Fleethoof took a deep breath and risked a glance at Midnight. She was looking at him as they made their way toward the tree line.

“Are you gonna be all right out here?” she asked, her voice hesitant.

“I’ll be fine,” he said with a forced smile. I don’t have a choice now…

And then they vanished into the night. Fleethoof kept his gun raised, shining the thin beam of bright light around to guide his path. The light wove in between the tree trunks like a laser, creating a very restricted vignette of view he had to work with. He found that by pointing the light slightly downward, he could see in front of him and the ground in front of his hooves.

The bat ponies worked their way through the woods without any trace of difficulty. Their night vision allowed them to see the surrounding forest as well as if it were daylight—maybe even more so in their case. Midnight took the lead, helping to guide Fleethoof around trees and other obstacles while keeping an eye on her friends as they fanned out to widen their search parameters.

The task was slow and arduous, with every set of eyes checking every inch of ground they covered. Not a single stone was left unturned, literally. The deeper they got into the forest, the quieter it became. Soon, even the crickets no longer chirped in the still spring night. A slight chill settled over the air. The treetops obscured their view of the moon and stars, greatly limiting the already little light that filtered down to the ground. To Fleethoof, it felt like some sort of bad game, trying to walk through the black forest with only his flashlight to show him where to go.

Midnight noted how quiet everypony was being. It was strangely uncharacteristic of her team to be so serious about a job. Granted, it was important—but there was more to it than that. Something must have had them on edge. She felt the same tension, like there was some sort of looming threat they were unaware of. She scanned around the woods, looking through bushes and between the gnarled branches of trees. The Everfree was utterly silent.

She had lost track of time. How long had they been out here now? An hour? Two? A glance down at the watch around her hoof confirmed it was the latter. How far had they gone into the forest? Did Starlight even have any idea where they were anymore? He was being very quiet as well…

Starlight had long since lost their projected path. In the disorienting blackness of night, the map they had been given was all but useless. The fact that they had been put down well off their route hadn't helped much either. So onward they plodded, hoping to find something along their way. By his logic, if they were in any part of the forest that had yet to be searched, they were on the right path.

The eight ponies spread out and walked on line, weaving between anything that got in their way. The trees had gotten so dense and the branches overhead so thick that flight wasn't even an option anymore. And then there—up ahead. The trees began to thin out, and silvered light streamed down in columns. It was another clearing. Starlight and Daybreak pushed forward through the undergrowth a little faster, leading the ponies hurriedly out into the open.

The clearing was much smaller than the one they had landed in, with not even so much as a bush or rock dotting it. It made it all the easier to spot the crumpled mass of black in the center. Fleethoof felt his breathing catch in his throat. As the group got closer, details could be made out—namely the broken glint of golden armor in the moonlight.

Daybreak trotted up to the mass and poked it a couple of times with his rifle. It didn’t move, but it was definitely organic. He rolled the body over, and instantly recoiled back from the sight. The corpse was as beaten and broken as the other they had found earlier, with its skull smashed to a pulp and throat ripped to shreds. Strikingly, the pony’s cutie mark was also torn from its skin.

“What the hell is doing this?” Midnight asked with a hint of gagging in her voice.

Eclipse turned away quickly and shielded her eyes. “Oh goddess, I can’t look…”

Only Fleethoof and Starlight stepped up closer. Fleethoof shone his light across the body. The blood had clotted long ago, and the darker stains on the grass were dried. This was not a recent kill.

“She’s been dead for some time,” said Fleethoof, looking around the surrounding area. The patches of flattened grass and disturbed dirt hinted to signs of a struggle. “She must be one of the missing Guards. But where’s her equipment?”

“Maybe she dropped it?” Starlight couldn’t think of another option to suggest.

Fleethoof pursed his lips. He wasn’t convinced. “Maybe… But why would she drop her weapon?”

“Maybe she was running from something?” said Midnight, keeping her eyes averted to the ground.

“Running from what…?”

“Let’s find out,” Starlight said, standing up again. “Fan out, Ghosts. Find anything that can help us.”

The ponies fanned out across the clearing again, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Their span widened out towards the trees. Fleethoof couldn’t shake the tightening worry gripping at his stomach. He felt like he was being watched again, just like he had earlier in the day.

A faint laugh rippled past his ear, just barely audible on the wind. Fleethoof whirled around, his eyes darting to and fro. It had sounded like a foal's laughter again—but he was alone in the dark forest. There was definitely nothing around to make a sound like that.

Get a hold of yourself, Fleet… This forest is getting in your head…

A flash of sudden movement caught Nocturne’s attention as he checked around a tree near the edge of the clearing. His head snapped up swiftly, along with his gun, scanning the trees for whatever he had just seen. There was nothing in sight. Swallowing hard, he glanced back to see where the rest of his team was. They had all spread out, and were busy checking their own areas.

Nocturne steeled himself forward. Surely he could perform a routine check without somepony checking up on him. He was still the rookie of the team—the newest member assigned to them, and they never let him forget it. Now was his chance to be brave and take initiative. If he found something, then maybe they’d stop giving him so much grief.

He cautiously stepped over a fallen tree limb, sweeping left and right with his weapon. A thin fog had begun to slowly creep its way through the forest. Even if he didn’t necessarily believe in the stories of the Everfree Forest, he had to admit, this place was damn scary. He could think of a million and one places he’d rather be.

Just as he was about to give up and turn back, he heard something move in the thickets around him. Nocturne’s body tensed up, pointing his gun at the source of the sound. He waited, listening closely for any more signs of danger. Silence greeted him. A minute passed—then two, and three. His eyes never wavered from the bushes. Once enough time had passed to satisfy his nerves, he lowered his gun and turned back towards the clearing. He heaved a sigh of relief.

Must’ve been my imagina—

Something grabbed the pony by the hooves and dragged him to the ground. He hit the earth with a hard thud, and immediately felt himself being flipped over onto his back. Something was keeping a firm pressure down on his chest, pinning him down. When he first saw his attacker, his brain didn’t register what his eyes were seeing. When the creature bared its teeth, Nocturne screamed and fired his gun blindly.

“AAAAAAAAGGHHH!”

The blood-curdling scream echoed around the Everfree Forest, instantly alerting the seven other ponies. Fleethoof and Midnight turned on a dime, staring across the clearing into the darkness where the cry had come from. Gunshots went off like firecrackers, the muzzle flashes lighting up the trees on the complete other side of the clearing.

“Move!” Fleethoof shouted, and took off like a shot across the clearing with Midnight hot on his hooves.

As they ran, they could see the other ponies of Ghost Team running toward the sound with them. Blackjack and Echo were the closest ones to the scene. They darted into the trees first, followed by Starlight, Daybreak, and Eclipse. Midnight and Fleethoof ran in just as the last of the gunshots went off. Fleethoof and Midnight leapt over a downed limb and skidded to a halt to prevent themselves from crashing into the other ponies.

Fleethoof looked around quickly, trying to see what the source of the horrific scream had been, and found it almost immediately. Lying just beyond some dense undergrowth, a pony lay sprawled across the ground, a rifle clutched in its hooves. It continued to squeeze the trigger, getting short, sharp clicks as it tried to shoot bullets that were no longer there—the last lingering muscle spasms of a dying pony.

On top of the limp, unmoving body was what looked like another pony, if he could call it that. The traces of moonlight illuminated the form of the creature. It looked almost skeletal, like it was severely malnourished. The pony-like creature had just pulled away from its victim’s neck, and the disturbing, wet sound of tearing flesh was heard. It pressed a hoof to the dying pony’s head and pressed hard, twisting the neck with a sickening pop.

“Oh goddess…” Echo whispered, her whole body quivering gently.

All of Ghost Team looked shocked and terrified. In the darkness, Fleethoof couldn’t make out what it was clearly, but they could see it. Midnight wished she couldn’t. The dark, skeletal pony looked like something out of a nightmare or horror story. She could see Nocturne’s face in the dark, contorted in a look of fear and agony as he lay on the ground, very clearly dead. She had seen the sharp teeth of the creature as they tore her teammate’s windpipe out.

The creature must have heard them, because it slowly lifted its head in their direction, locking gazes with the ponies. Fleethoof felt himself tense up. The thing’s eyes were a glowing, menacing red, with no discernable pupil or iris. It spat the chunk of flesh out onto the ground and stepped coolly off of the body of its hapless victim. A low, guttural growl threatened the ponies as it skulked closer.

Fleethoof lifted his gun. He had to see this thing for what it was. The beam of bright light hit the creature and it instantly flinched back, letting out an agitated hiss. Fleethoof felt his blood run cold. The creature was exactly what he had thought it was: a skeletal pony. Its body was black as night, with hints of decayed flesh still clinging to it. Its mane was disheveled and scraggly, and its razor-sharp teeth were a far cry from the flat ones ponies had. Its eyes were gone, nothing more than two empty sockets where an unearthly, evil glow resonated. Nocturne’s blood had stained its muzzle and hooves a sickly red.

It’s not possible… Fleethoof thought in pure horror. He could feel his pupils dilating and his heart beginning to race. They’re just myths… They’re just myths!

The creature regained its composure and began making its way to the ponies again. Everypony felt frozen in place as it drew nearer and nearer. It picked the closest target, eyeing Midnight with a murderous grin.

“Get back to the clearing!” Starlight shouted as the bat ponies made a break for safety.

The creature lunged for Midnight. Fleethoof squeezed two rounds off, the bullets smacking into the creature’s body in midair. It screeched in pain as it tumbled off to the side, into the brush. Midnight just continued to stare slack-jawed in the direction it had fallen. She was in shock.

Fleethoof rushed up to Midnight, tugging at her to urge her away. “Come on! Let’s go!”

The ponies broke out into the clearing again, scrambling into a disorderly group. Everypony looked scared out of their minds, and several were already breathing harder.

“What the fuck was that?!” Daybreak asked in a fit, pacing tensely in place. “What the fuck?!”

“Calm down, Daybreak!” said Starlight.

“No way, Star. No way! I did NOT sign up for this! I signed up to shoot guns and get cute fillies, not deal with pony-eating monsters!”

“What the hell was that thing?!” asked Eclipse, looking like she was on the verge of a breakdown. “That was not a normal pony!”

“It’s okay, I got it,” Fleethoof said, trying to settle the panicking Nightwatch.

“How do we know it’s dead? It looked dead already, but there it was!” Daybreak had a disturbingly valid point. Fleethoof didn’t know if he’d killed that thing or not. “We’ve gotta get the fuck outta here!”

Starlight looked around quickly at the ponies around him. All of them looked visibly shaken, even Fleethoof. The stalwart stallion stood firmly in place, but his blue eyes quivered with something resembling fear. He knew he only had one option.

He nodded his head. “Everypony head north, as fast as we can. We’ll catch the chopper back where it dropped us off. Everypony go—go!”

No sooner had he spoken those words, the ponies were off again. Even Fleethoof didn’t hesitate to run for the woods due north, following close beside the bat ponies to help guide him. The ponies ran at a full tilt sprint through the dark forest, running from an unseen evil. Even though he continued to convince himself that he had got whatever had killed Nocturne, Fleethoof couldn’t shake the feeling of eyes on them. It was like they were being pursued by enemies that weren’t even there.

Dashing like her life depended on it, Midnight hurdled over branches and dove through bushes, just trying to keep up with the others. She prayed that the trees would thin out again so they could have enough room to take to the air and get away. In the presently constricting confines, it was hard enough to run around the trees. Flying up into the gnarled thicket of branches was just asking for trouble. Fleethoof was just a short distance ahead, but even that felt like miles to her as they ran like maniacs through the dark forest. All she could think about was Nocturne. Images of his violent death flashed before her mind’s eye, blinding her temporarily. She tried to shake them from her head to no avail. Her heart hammered in her chest as if it were threatening to burst right out of her at a moment’s notice. They had to get out of here—they had to.

Fleethoof was breathing so hard, his lungs had begun to ache and burn. He could feel the earth scraping at his hooves as he leapt through a thicket of gnarled branches, feeling them tug at his fur and jacket. The flashlight attached to the gun slung over his shoulder bounced wildly, sending the beam of light all across the forest and barely illuminating his path as he ran. He was running blindly in the dark, hoping they were headed in the right direction. Whatever that thing was, there was no way this could be real. This had to be a nightmare—some sort of bad dream he was stuck in. The stories weren’t true. They were just stories! Nightmares weren’t real!

The further they ran, the further Midnight felt away from the end. It seemed like they were running endlessly through the night with no objective in sight. Granted, they had wandered aimlessly for two hours, and covering that distance would take time, but in her fear-addled state, every minute felt like an agonizing eternity. She just wanted to get away. Every part of her body screamed to find safety.

And then there, right up ahead, the forest opened up again. Pale moonlight could be seen burning brightly through the trees. It was the clearing! They were almost there! Midnight dared to let herself smile, feeling relief wash over her like a wave as the ponies drew closer and closer with every second. She didn't even care if the trip back had seemed to take no time at all. They were home free!

“Almost there!” called Starlight loudly. “Go! Keep going!”

Fleethoof pushed his body as hard as he could. His legs ached with the effort. He stumbled over a root, but caught himself and continued going. He wasn’t going to let something like a trip be his downfall. Up ahead he could see the silhouettes of the bat ponies breaking into the light. Just a few more feet. He looked back, seeing Midnight Dasher close behind. Nopony else had been lost. With relief coming over him, he broke the edge of the trees at the same time as Midnight—and felt that ease die.

The clearing the ponies had just run into was much too small to be the one the helicopter had dropped them off in. In fact, he was sure it wasn’t. His calmness died and dread revived the moment he saw the dark mass of the Guard’s body lying out in the open. They had run back into the same clearing again.

Starlight looked around the glade, his eyes wide with fright as he took in his surroundings. How was this possible? They had just run in a straight line. Surely this couldn’t be the same place! It was just another one that looked identical. That had to be a different body. He rushed over to verify his hypothesis—and found his fears had come true. It was the same pony. It was the same clearing.

“What the fuck is going on here?!” Daybreak shouted, evidently starting to freak out. “I wanna get out of this damned forest!”

“Take it easy, Day,” Echo said softly, but was unable to hide the tremor in her own voice.

“No! Fuck this! I’m outta here!”

With that said, Daybreak flew up into the sky as fast as his wings could carry him. The higher he went, the safer he began to feel. The others had wings too, so they could follow him out. They could all escape!

But when Daybreak broke the treetops, his heart dropped into his stomach and his pupils dilated. The Everfree Forest seemed to stretch on forever in every direction. The trees had no end. But that was impossible! When they had been on the helicopter, he remembered he could always distinctly see some edge or landmark beyond the forest. Now there was just… nothing. No Canterlot up on its mountain, no Ponyville in the distance—nothing. He flew higher, hoping the greater altitude would reveal something. Nothing but endless forest greeted his sight.

“This isn’t right…” muttered Starlight, pacing in a tight circle. “This isn’t right… Something’s wrong…”

“There’s no way out! The forest just goes on forever!” said Daybreak fearfully when he touched down again.

“Calm down, everypony!” Fleethoof stepped in between the group. “Look, we still have a way out. We’ll shoot a flare off and wait for the helicopter to come back around. Even if we can’t see the exit, they’ll know the way out. We’ll just sit tight here and keep our eyes open until they get here.”

Daybreak was already a step ahead of the pegasus. Fumbling about with the flare Fleethoof had given him, the panicked stallion pointed it skyward and pulled the string with his teeth. The flare shot up into the nighttime sky like a rocket, leaving a thin trail of smoke behind it. When it reached its peak, it exploded in a flurry of bright red sparks that hovered in the air, lighting up a good portion of the dark, fog-covered forest around them.

“Good. Now we’ll just wait for—”

An unnatural screech echoed through the forest, the cry loud, and coming right for the ponies. Fleethoof turned sharply in the direction of the noise, staring intensely into the darkness. At first, everything was completely still. Then he saw the pair of burning red eyes leering out at them from the shadows.

“I thought you said you got it?!” Daybreak snapped, clutching tightly to his weapon.

“I did,” said Fleethoof, pointing his weapon at the hidden abomination. “It obviously didn’t stay down.”

Blackjack was unfazed by the return of the horrific predator. He took a couple steps ahead of the group and found a solid stance, taking aim at the thing in the darkness. “Let it come! We’ll just make sure it doesn’t get up again! We can take one monster.”

A throaty growl broke through the silent night behind them, forcing the ponies to look back. Another pair of deadly red eyes had appeared in the darkened fog. All around them, more and more eyes appeared, until six sets of eyes glared out at the trapped ponies from all sides. Fleethoof didn’t know where to point his gun. A thrill of chilling terror ran down his spine. There were more of those things out there.

Blackjack swallowed hard, his bravado shattered like glass as he slowly backpedaled until he was with the group again. Everypony slowly pressed tighter together, forming a close circle that covered each other’s backs. The creatures began to slowly emerge through the fog, stepping into the open moonlight. Their forms continued to haunt Fleethoof. They moved and acted exactly like ponies, but resembled living corpses.

“What are they, pegasus…?” Daybreak asked in a hushed whisper to the pony at his side.

Fleethoof didn’t even realize he been holding his breath the entire time until his lungs begged for air. He managed to shake his head. “I don’t know…”

“Zombie ponies…?” There was a brief hesitation in his tone. “Do zombies even exist…?”

That, Fleethoof didn’t even bother to answer. He couldn’t. He was too busy watching these strange creatures stalking closer to the huddled ponies, trying to deduce that himself. There’s no such thing as zombies… There’s no such thing as monsters…

“More visitors to our home…” one of the creatures spoke, its voice rough and raspy. The words it spoke sounded like a cross between a gurgling, guttural noise and a hiss.

“They bear the marks… They are all cursed…!”

“They will infect us all…!”

“They must not leave…”

Fleethoof swallowed hard, feeling how dry his throat had become. His hooves flexed on his gun, keeping a tight aim on the closest pony. He had no idea what these things were, but maybe if they were capable of speaking, they were sentient and rational.

“Who are you?” he shouted to the circling creatures. He prayed they didn’t hear the slight tremor in his voice. “Stay where you are, by order of the Royal Guard!”

“More soldiers… Come to take our new friends away…” came the response of one. Still, the monsters came closer, inch by painstaking inch.

“Do you know where the missing foals are? Answer me!”

Again, his demands fell on deaf ears. The pony-like creatures were now only a couple meters away from them—much too close for comfort. If they took another step, Fleethoof resolved to shoot to kill.

“Perhaps they can be cured… They can live with us…”

“Won’t you stay and be our friends…”

“… forever?”

Blackjack had enough of the taunting, the creepy voices, and of being surrounded. He shook his head. “Not on your life, pal.”

He squeezed off a burst of gunfire, training the shots into the nearest creature. The monster gave a choking squeal as its body began to spasm with each impacted bullet, and then it collapsed limply to the ground. Blackjack let a slow grin creep across his face, feeling relief cool the burning fright in his heart. So these things could be killed.

“See? They’re not monsters—”

“Blackjack!”

At Eclipse’s cry, the startled bat pony turned back around. The creature he had just put at least a half dozen rounds into was getting back up, its body twitching as it reformed itself. Those piercing red eyes snapped open again, and it snarled at the pony that had attacked it. Blackjack felt his heart stop beating and ice run through his veins.

“That’s impossible…”

“Light 'em up!” Starlight shouted and opened fire on the nearest enemy.

An instant later, gunfire erupted from all sides as everypony desperately shot at any creature they could see. Yelps and screeches broke through the endless firefight as the creatures would get hit, go down, and get back up again. The bullets did nothing to harm them in even the slightest way. It was like they were invulnerable.

Fleethoof bit his lip as he put another shot into a creature’s head, watching it flop to the ground for a few seconds before rising from the dead again. He silently wished he had the common sense to bring his more powerful ammunition. At the time, he saw it as a waste of a finite resource. Now, he would have given his left hoof to see if they would hurt these things.

Blackjack and Daybreak ran out of ammo. They reloaded as quickly as they could, leaving Fleethoof to cover their sides as well as his own. Behind him, he heard Midnight run out of ammo as well. A moment later, his gun went dry. Between the reloading, the pony-like monsters would creep closer, tightening the noose around them. They were wasting bullets and time. They didn’t need to win. They needed a way out.

“It’s not working!” Daybreak cried out. “What do we do now?”

“Close your eyes!” Fleethoof said, shouting above the noise to be heard. He pulled a flash grenade from his vest, the only one he had considered it necessary to bring. Now he was grateful he at least had the mental capacity to plan for that.

The bat ponies all dropped to a crouch, shielding their sensitive ears and eyes as Fleethoof pulled the pin with his teeth. He picked a direction and tossed the grenade in between the two skeletal ponies blocking the path, then shut his eyes. He heard the grenade make contact with the ground, and then came the bright light and bang. The creatures all around them screamed. When Fleethoof looked up again, he was surprised to see the light had caused all of them to shrink back a few feet and fall to the ground, their hooves clutching at their heads while they writhed about in anguish. The grenade had been more effective on them than he had expected.

Bright light hurts them. Gotta remember that.

“Break for the trees! Run!” he said, popping a round into each of the two ponies’ skulls to drop them before taking off in a mad dash for the trees.

Fleethoof leapt over the downed creatures, not wanting to risk letting one of them even touch him. The bat ponies took off right behind him, bolting into the darkness of the forest. Behind them, the cries of the enraged creatures sent chills down their spines. In the darkness of the woods they had claimed as their home, the ponies were the ones being hunted now.

Midnight’s chest felt like it was on fire as she hurdled over a fallen log. They had scattered, running in every direction with no checkpoint or goal. Their only mission now was to stay alive. She panted hard as she ran, and ran. She couldn’t let herself slow down even a little. Slowing down meant falling behind. Falling behind meant death.

She jumped another obstacle she couldn’t make out. The forest was vanishing in a blur around her, barely illuminated by her night vision. The fog obscured most of the ground, and every time she landed was like a craps shoot. She muttered an inaudible prayer, hoping her luck held.

Despite his instinctive need to, Fleethoof couldn’t risk a glance back to see if they were being chased. He had to keep his head forward so he could see where he was going. The trees just went on for miles. The Everfree Forest had become a labyrinth of death and darkness they couldn’t escape from, no matter how hard or fast they ran.

Something burst from the ground right in front of him. Fleethoof flinched to the side and kicked off into the air, trying to see what it had been. All he caught was a glimpse of two red glows before his body hit the ground. The creatures were coming out of the ground at them. His rifle flew off his shoulder and hit the ground, the light smashing and his weapon vanishing into the dark forest. What in the name of Celestia are they?! he thought in a panic while scrambling back up and hauling away.

Eclipse screamed as one of the monsters jumped out of the earth at her, barely able to dive out of the way as they galloped through the night. How the hell had they caught up to them so fast? Fleethoof drew his pistol and turned the light on, glad to be able to somewhat see again. Another pony tried to grab ahold of him from the ground. The pegasus jumped over the creature like it was nothing more than a large rock. Midnight mimicked his action, following as close to him as she could.

And then she saw another one jump out from a tree in front of them.

“Look out!” Midnight cried and threw herself into Fleethoof. With a grunt, both ponies fell to the side—and found themselves sliding into darkness.

Fleethoof tumbled downward, trying to figure out what had just happened. Only when they hit the bottom did he realize the ground had sloped into a hill at the side. Midnight had saved him from one of those things, and it was up there, glowering down at them. A burst of gunfire took the creature down with a yelp, and Starlight ran up to the side of the hill.

“Keep going!” he said down to the ponies. “We’ll rally when we can. Just stay alive!”

Another bout of gunfire and a screech broke the silence. Ghost Team was fighting back, it seemed. Starlight looked back, and fired a few shots, before he too ran off into the darkness again. Faster than he could think, Fleethoof felt the ground beneath him shift and shake.

“Move!” said Midnight with dire urgency. The two ponies rolled to the side a split second before another one of the monsters pounced out of the dirt where they had landed.

Fleethoof scrambled to his hooves and pulled Midnight Dasher up with him. They took off as the pony-like creature began pulling itself up out of the ground. Now separated from the group, they had nowhere to run but wherever those things weren’t. Midnight had never run so tirelessly in all her life, and Fleethoof couldn’t think of a time he had either.

The sounds of occasional gunfire began to get more and more distant the further they ran. They were getting away from the group. But those things were still behind them. Midnight could hear their hisses and growls. How could they be so fast? They were nothing more than skin and bones!

The longer they ran, the more hope seemed to slip away. Only adrenaline and survival instinct drove them on now, just trying to keep three steps ahead of their hunters. Midnight’s legs ached worse than they ever had before, and her entire body felt tired and sore.

And then, there—a light up ahead. A silvery glow pierced the veil of trees and brush like a beacon of salvation. Fleethoof saw it as well, and veered his course towards it. They had nothing left to lose.

“Come on, Midnight! Almost there!” he said back to her.

The ponies pushed themselves as hard as their bodies could go. When they reached the edge of the trees, the open area felt like a breath of fresh air in their lungs. A large section of forest was cleared away—and in it sat a small, dilapidated town. The houses were all made of dark, weathered wood that was mostly covered in moss and vines. The dirt streets had all but been overrun with weeds and other vegetation. A welcome sign hung loosely by one of its two chains from a gate, the other completely snapped off. The ghost town looked like it had been abandoned ages ago.

Fleethoof and Midnight slowed their run to a cautious trot as they approached the town. They looked around at the decaying structures with wary eyes. The entire place felt strange… like something they couldn’t see was warning them to turn back. Fleethoof had never known such a place existed in the Everfree Forest. He had studied maps of Equestria time and time again, and never had there been a single marker here.

“What is this place?” Midnight asked, apprehensively taking a few steps forward with her companion.

Fleethoof didn’t respond. He was too busy looking around at the destroyed cart and broken barrels outside one house. His eyes turned upward to the sign hanging from the wooden archway above the street. Across its ancient, battered surface ran a single sentence, engraved into the wood for all time.

Welcome to Sunny Town.

Sunny Town. Fleethoof had never heard of such a place before. It must’ve been abandoned hundreds of years ago…

“Fleet…”

Midnight’s voice caught him by surprise. He looked over, seeing the filly staring back into the Everfree Forest. Through the fog and the trees, the silhouettes of two figures could be seen approaching the town.

“Let’s go.”

Fleethoof turned and trotted quickly down the street with Midnight close behind him. It was creepy being in a ghost town. He didn’t like it. So far, this entire night had turned his world upside down. There were monster ponies killing Royal Guards, abandoned towns in the middle of the forest, and they still had no idea where the foals were. He hadn’t heard the helicopter in a long time either… Weren’t they supposed to be making rounds this way every hour?

Searching for a place to hide, Fleethoof gasped when he felt something clamp down tightly on his tail. The next thing he knew, he was being dragged backwards up a porch and into a building, the old decrepit wood creaking under his hooves. Midnight spit his tail out and quickly shut the door, pressing her body against its surface.

Both ponies were dead silent. Fleethoof slowly crept towards a boarded up window, holding tightly to his pistol. He turned the flashlight off, not wanting to attract the attention of the things outside. The sounds of hooves shuffling along the dusty road could be faintly heard just outside the building they were in. Fleethoof chanced a peek out through the boards. Those things were lumbering slowly down the road, sniffing about and searching for them.

He slowly dropped back down behind the safety of the wall. His breathing and pulse had quickened. He had been in some hairy situations with the armed forces before, but never had he been put up against something he couldn’t even fight. The thought terrified him.

None of this should be real! he thought, trying to get his heavy breathing under control again. None of this can be happening!

Midnight held her position against the door, straining to hear what was going on outside. She didn’t move, and scarcely dared to breathe. Where were those things? A thump on the porch and a creak of wood answered her question. Her heart missed a beat. A fresh wave of adrenaline ran through her bloodstream. They were right outside.

Both ponies listened as the creature outside walked about the porch, sniffing the air heavily, as if it could taste the ponies on it. A low, guttural growl came from the creature, and then it slowly made its way back to the stairs. Fleethoof only noticed he wasn’t breathing when he felt his lungs tighten up, begging for oxygen.

Leaning against the door, Midnight listened as hard as she could. There was nothing, not even the shuffling on dirt anymore. She let out a long, drawn out sigh.

The boards above Fleethoof’s head exploded inward and a skeletal hoof grasped wildly at the air. The creature it belonged to gave a feral snarl. Midnight screamed on reflex. Fleethoof rolled away from the window with a cry of surprise.

“Out the back! Go!” he said, and delivered a swift kick to the skeletal pony’s hoof.

The monster outside wailed in pain and withdrew from the window. All at once, Midnight and Fleethoof tore from one side of the dusty old house to the other. With both their strengths, they kicked off the boards from a window and hastily climbed out into the night again. They darted across the town, following the path solely on faith. Maybe they could find some better shelter to hunker down in until those things lost their track.

The road looped around the town in a S-shape, leading back out into the forest. With nowhere left to go, the two ponies followed it, running out of the limits of Sunny Town—and spotted their answer. Up ahead, nestled a short distance away in the dense trees, sat a large manor. Fleethoof hesitated, considering their options, when the shrieks of the ponies behind them made up his mind.

“Go! Head for that mansion!” The ponies hauled tail down the road, watching the trees around them disappear as they got closer and closer to the looming structure. Fleethoof didn’t know how close behind them those things were, but he certainly didn’t want to find out.

Without a moment’s pause, Midnight and Fleethoof sprinted up the expansive front porch and threw themselves against the bulky front doors. They burst inward into an impressive grand foyer, and hurriedly slammed the doors shut again, hooves clambering haphazardly to slide the two hefty deadbolt locks into place. With a pair of clunks, the locks slid satisfyingly home, sealing the two ponies safely within.

Fleethoof let his body collapse against the doors while Midnight fell to the tile floor, breathing hard and letting the momentary relief take them away.

They were alive, but now they were trapped in Sunny Town.

Chapter 4: Signs of Life

“What is this place?”

Midnight Dasher listened to her voice echo around the dark expanse of the foyer. The room was massive, towering up to a lofty second story with a high vaulted ceiling. The structure, in contrast to the rest of the town it resided near, looked like it was in fairly good upkeep. Despite the thick layer of dust and cobwebs, the woodwork wasn’t rotted away like the walls of the houses back in Sunny Town. It almost looked like it had never been lived in at all, and was just left empty for all time.

Fleethoof came away from the windows when he was sure those undead ponies weren’t following them any more. “Not your ordinary house, that’s for sure…”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Midnight scoffed under her breath, still taking in the sight of the winding grand staircase running up along the far wall to the balconies above their heads. “How could such a place exist without being discovered?”

“Maybe it was, and was forgotten for a reason,” said Fleethoof.

“Why would anypony forget about a place like this? It’s like a fantasy house.”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe they didn’t like the neighbors.” Fleethoof chuckled as the sarcastic words left his mouth. “Can’t say I blame them. Whatever those things are, they don’t like visitors.”

Midnight had moved away from him, looking up the large staircase. The red carpet that ran up each step still felt plush and cushy beneath her hooves. This mansion gave off an air of elegance and superiority. It was like it had been built for a king.

“Where do you think the others are?” she asked after a moment, letting the worry on her mind voice itself.

Fleethoof shrugged and sat down, leaning back against the banister of the stairs. “The hell if I know. If they’re lucky, they’re far, far away from this place, just waiting for the chopper to come back around or for the sun to rise.”

Midnight turned back to her companion. “So what’s our plan then?”

“I say we barricade the doors, hunker down here, and wait for the sun to come up. The pilots will worry when they don’t see our flares and start sweeps over this part of the forest more frequently. Then we get their attention and get the hell out of here. If we’re lucky, maybe the sunlight will even make those zombies melt or something.”

It was a sound plan. She couldn’t find any flaws with it. But despite the logic he made, Midnight felt compelled to disagree with him. Fleethoof was just looking out for their survival, and she had to help her teammates if they were still out there. But going back outside would be a death sentence, and she knew it.

“I say we check the rest of this place out,” she said in rebuttal, doing her best to ignore the look Fleethoof gave her. “If we’re gonna be here for a while, we’re gonna need some supplies. Maybe some of the others have found their way here too, and we can regroup with them.”

Fleethoof stared at the bat pony like she was mentally ill for a while. Did she really want to keep investigating the creepy, potentially haunted mansion in the middle of a killer forest with cursed ponies out for their blood? He scoffed, waiting for her to bring out a punch line or something. When she didn’t, he just shook his head vigorously.

“No way, Midnight. That’s insane, even for you. We don’t know if there’s anything else in here—or if there’s anything we actually want to run into! We should stay here and secure this room.”

Midnight’s eyes narrowed, her stubborn nature kicking in full throttle. “We’re going to check out the rest of the house.”

“No, we’re not.”

“Yes, we are.” Midnight’s head dropped as she glowered at the pegasus. “You were assigned to follow me and assist me wherever I go and whatever I do. And I’m going to go look around.”

For a moment, Fleethoof was stunned silent. “Are you really gonna pull that on me, Midnight? It’s not safe out there!”

“I don’t care. My friends might be out there, and if they are, we’re gonna save them,” Midnight said staunchly, already headed down the stairs to a door on the west wall. She gave a passing glance at Fleethoof over her shoulder. “Now are you coming or not?”

Fleethoof was trapped. Gaping at Midnight as if she had just damned his entire family to the depths of Tartarus, the stallion reluctantly got back to his hooves and followed sluggishly behind as she pushed the door open to the next room. Was he really taking orders from her now? He had to admit, she had him on that loophole. As long as they were together, she was in charge. Grumbling to himself, Fleethoof pushed through the partially open door.

I’m gonna fucking die out here… he thought grimly as he stared around the adjacent room. A long dining hall lay before them, adjacent to the foyer. A long rectangular table stretched from one end to the other, taking up most of the center of the room. Against the wall, a tall grandfather clock ticked noisily away in the darkness. Looming windows spanned all the way to the ceiling, letting the pallid moonlight stream into the hall.

While Fleethoof stood in the doorway, taking in the sight of the dining hall, Midnight had already begun making her way across the floor. She ran a hoof along the surface of the table, grimacing at the amount of dust and grime that had accumulated on it. She proceeded carelessly across the room, studying two places that had been set at the far end of the table. It looked like somepony had been ready to sit down to a meal, though the film of dust marring the shiny surface of the silverware and plates insisted that the meal had been long, long past due.

“Midnight, you should really think about this again,” Fleethoof said, hoping to urge her back. When she didn’t respond, he cautiously made his way around the table towards her. “Midnight, please, this is very dangerous.”

With a huff, Midnight Dasher turned to Fleethoof, glaring daggers at the nagging pony. “Okay, Fleet! Why? Tell me why we should go back instead of searching an abandoned house for my friends?”

Fleethoof’s own eyes narrowed in response to Midnight’s outburst. “For starters, this house is clearly not abandoned.”

A laugh rose from the mare. “Oh yeah? How do you figure? Did the two dirty dinner plates give it away? Because they look pretty unused to me!”

“No, you dense filly!” Fleethoof snapped, pointing at the clock behind him. “Because if it was abandoned, then who’s been winding the clock up?”

Midnight opened her mouth to response, and found she couldn’t. Her golden eyes turned away from Fleethoof, looking past his shoulder at the ominously ticking clock. In the oppressive silence, each tick sounded like a clap of thunder. He was right. Those clocks had to be wound at least every week to keep them running. There was no way this place had fallen into such a state of dishevelment in only a week. Despite its structural integrity, it looked like this place had been left to decay for years, at least.

So why was the clock ticking?

“Run! Keep going!” Starlight shouted as the bat ponies sprinted through the forest.

A wailing cry behind them alerted them of the proximity of their pursuers. They were close—much too close. They had already lost track of Midnight, Fleethoof, Blackjack, and Eclipse. Eclipse had fallen down another slope a short while after Midnight had taken off with Fleethoof, and Blackjack shot off into the night to help her. He didn’t know where those four had gone to now.

But he couldn’t spare a moment to worry about them. He still had to worry about the ponies with him, and himself.

Hooves thundered across the grass and dirt. The aimless ponies were running out of ideas. All around them, the forest just seemed to go on and on to the ends of the earth. There was nowhere for them to go.

Echo took a glance back—and yelped as she suddenly sank into the ground. Her hoof had penetrated a patch of soft, muddy dirt and had found a small sinkhole. Despite her struggling, she couldn’t free herself, and her teammates were unaware of her predicament. She watched helplessly as they continued to run ahead, ignorant that she was no longer with them.

“Wait! Starlight! Daybreak! Please, help!” she cried out into the darkness, but they were already gone.

An ear-splitting shriek of feral rage pierced the night. Those monsters were closing in behind her. A thrill of real fear kicked her heart into overdrive as Echo fought and struggled to pull her hoof out of the dirt. The harder she tugged, the more she felt the earth beneath her shift and shake.

Another cry sent a fresh wave of adrenaline coursing through her veins. She couldn’t even fight if she couldn’t get herself out. With no way to move or reload, she would be a sitting duck, left with however many bullets she had left in her weapon. Echo couldn’t even recall how many that was. Terror had completely blanked her mind.

Feeling on the verge of tears, Echo gave a strained cry as she pulled with all her might—and felt her hoof pop free of the ground. Her joy was short-lived as, when she freed herself, she also dislodged a chunk of earth, and the ground around her crumbled into nothing, sending her tumbling down into darkness. Echo cried out as she fell down the tunnel, barely able to see where she was going.

With no way to stop herself, Echo closed her eyes and prayed for the best.

Blackjack and Eclipse stood in awe of the desolate town nestled perfectly in the middle of the Everfree Forest. They had emerged somewhere to the far west end of the town, squeezing down a narrow alley between two buildings. As far as they could see, the entire place was empty. The fog that had begun to blanket the forest when those monsters had shown up had quickly turned into a dense veil, cloaking almost everything in sight.

“Where are we?” asked Eclipse, checking inside a house through a broken window.

Blackjack just shook his head. He had no words to answer with. He stepped out into the middle of the dusty street, looking left and right down its length. The fog had consumed most of the road, and what little he could see to all looked the same. Even still, with one road, the town couldn’t have been very big.

“Do you think the others are here?”

“I don’t know,” Blackjack muttered, keeping his hearing strained for even the slightest sound. “But I don’t trust this place. It doesn’t feel right…”

“Well, do you wanna get out of here then?”

“No, I want to look around.” He slowly trotted up the dirt road, trying to discern anything through the fog. It was an impossible feat. “I can’t see a damn thing in this fog though.”

Eclipse blew her mane out of her eyes, following shortly behind her partner. “We’re not gonna get out of here, are we…?”

In an instant, Blackjack had frozen where he stood. He turned quickly to look very seriously at Eclipse. But despite his professional demeanor, a gentler look softened his gaze.

“Hey, don’t say that. We’re all getting out of this, you hear?” he said, giving her a small smile. “Come on, we’re the Nightwatch. There’s nothing we can’t get out of. We’ve just gotta be brilliant and hang in there, okay?”

His speech actually did make Eclipse feel a little better. With the faintest trace of a smile, she nodded and replied, “Okay.”

Blackjack’s smile grew in sincerity—until he looked up past her. Eclipse watched as his grin faltered and fell from his mouth. Dark horror clouded his purple eyes. That was when she heard the rasping hiss behind her.

“Come… Let us cure you of your disease…”

It was the same guttural voice of those creatures. Eclipse turned around. A zombie pony stood no more than a meter away from them, its skeletal silhouette shrouded by wisps of fog. Eclipse felt like they were trapped in a scene from a foal’s nightmare. Things like this just weren’t real.

“Eclipse, get behind me…” Blackjack growled under his breath.

The mare obeyed as he requested, dashing behind her teammate as he faced off with the monster. The pony hissed again, a deep, rasping exhale that sent chills down her spine. Blackjack’s wings flared as he glared back at the pony, refusing to back down.

“Stay with us… Be one of us…”

“If you take one step over here, I’ll snap every bone in your body,” said Blackjack in dark threat.

Eclipse took a couple slow steps backwards, putting some space between the standoff and herself. Her hooves clutched at her gun, ready to protect Blackjack if things turned sour. She took another step back, and felt a pair of cold, clammy hooves wrap around her neck from behind. Eclipse screamed as she struggled against the second zombie, fighting to keep its snapping jaws away from her neck.

Blackjack heard her cry and immediately spun around. “Eclipse! Don’t move!”

Before another moment could pass, Blackjack brought his gun up and put a round into the creature’s face. The pony yelped and flew backwards off of Eclipse. But the move had left him vulnerable, and no sooner had he taken the shot, Blackjack felt two hooves around him. The next thing the bat pony felt were dozens of razor sharp teeth sinking through the tender skin where his neck and shoulder met.

Blackjack cried out in pain, feeling his own warm blood beginning to flow down his leg as the creature thrashed at his shoulder. His leg seized up, and he was unable to fight back. Eclipse reacted next, taking exceptionally careful aim and putting a bullet in the zombie’s eye. Blackjack felt the pony’s jaws go slack, and the figure crumpled to the ground. He was breathing hard, burning pain searing through his flesh.

“Go, Eclipse! Go!” he shouted and took to the air. Walking on his leg was much too painful to bear right now.

The ponies took off down the road into the fog, completely unsure of where they were going. They followed the trail at their hooves as fast as they could. Any second now, those unnatural beasts would be getting up again and coming after them. As if on cue, a gut-wrenching howl tore through the air. In the fog, the sound seemed to come from every direction, not just behind them anymore.

“Blackjack! Look!”

Up ahead, the ponies could see dim, orange lights shining through the dense fog. A sign of life right now seemed like a danger and a relief, but at the very least, it meant shelter from the demons in the night.

“Head for the light!” Blackjack took a glance back, and saw two silhouettes chasing swiftly after them. “Hurry!”

Eclipse pushed her legs as hard as she could. Blackjack silently cursed his ill luck as another stab of pain shot through his shoulder. Bat ponies were notoriously faster on their hooves than with their wings. Even though he was still mobile, he felt crippled.

The closer they came to the specks of light, the larger they became, until the dark, shadowy form of a large house loomed out of the haze and trees. Warm light spilled out from a couple windows, though most of the building was dark as far as they could tell. Eclipse bolted up the porch and threw her body against the door. She hit the solid wood with a grunt, and collapsed where she stood. The doors held firm, gently trembling on their hinges, but otherwise remaining sturdy.

Eclipse jerked on the handles a few times. “It’s locked!”

“Eclipse, look out!”

The filly turned in the nick of time to see those things lunging up the stairs at her. With a cry, she took to the air, barely diving out of the way as the zombie collided with the doors.

“Scatter! Find a way in!” said Blackjack, fluttering around the second level windows. He had already lost Eclipse in the fog, and hoped she had heard him.

Blackjack flew backwards, keeping his eyes on the snarling ponies on the ground beneath him. With each flap of his wings, he felt the muscles around his shoulder and upper back tense with pain. He wouldn’t be able to stay airborne very long. The ponies circled like ravenous wolves, waiting for the stallion to drop out of the sky to them.

Muttering a silent curse under his breath, he felt a twinge run through his wings, and he lost a couple feet of altitude. The ponies made a strange sound of glee down below. His eyes darted around, looking for a balcony, or open window, or anything! His wings tensed up again, and he struggled to stay upright.

Fuck this! he thought and, with the last of his strength, hurled himself at the nearest window. The glass gave way with a cracking smash, and then he felt wood smacking into his face. Blackjack tumbled across the hardwood floor, coming to rest up against the opposite wall of the hallway he had landed in. His body was sore and aching, and small cuts lined his face and chest. But he was safe for now.

Fleethoof quickly glanced up above his head as the muted sound of breaking glass came through from the floor above. Midnight had apparently heard it too, and had her gun raised to the ceiling. What was that? he thought with trepidation. The two ponies had been searching a small bar and lounge when the noise had startled them. So far, their search had turned up nothing but empty rooms and corridors. But now, they knew someone—or something—was inside the mansion with them.

“Fleet—”

“I don’t know,” he answered quickly, anticipating Midnight’s question.

Midnight swallowed back her fear and dropped her guard again. “I think I’m ready to go back and wait in the foyer now.”

“Too late now,” Fleethoof said with a dark chuckle. “We’re this far into the house, and now something else is here with us. We’ve got to keep moving so we aren’t found.”

His peace said, Fleethoof made his way back towards the only door in the room. He stepped out into the dimly lit hallway. Since they had left the dining hall, he and Midnight had stumbled across a couple more disturbing signs of recent life in the otherwise empty house. One included the lit candles in the corridors that he was now eyeing cautiously. When they had first seen them, he had nearly gotten sick with fright. Now the dim, warm light that cast long shadows down the hall just seemed like another threat in this endless nightmare of a night.

Midnight followed him out into the hallway, and the two ponies proceeded back the way they came. Neither of them spoke, too busy keeping an ear and eye out for anything suspicious. Fleethoof stepped through an open doorway into a dark sitting room. The two long windows against the far wall showed the timberline of the Everfree now almost fully engulfed in white fog.

Creepy house, or invisible forest… He shook his head at the impossibility of the situation. It’s like fate is conspiring to try to kill me.

They crossed the sitting room and pushed through another door. A short hall led over to a winding staircase. It looked like this was the end of the west wing for the first floor. More candles burned in their holders on the walls, making Midnight creep low and slow across the ground, trying to make herself as small of a target as possible. Fleethoof rolled his eyes at the mare’s display, and proceeded brashly forward into the light.

Their hooves made soft clops across the wood as they walked. The silence that claimed the mansion as its home just further amplified the unsettling atmosphere, and Midnight found herself wondering if she was more afraid of the killer ponies, or the environment. She settled on the thing that could actually kill her.

“Are we going upstairs?” she asked. Fleethoof nodded his head once. “But that’s where we heard the noise come from.”

“Exactly. That’s why we’re going to investigate.”

“Are you sure?” Midnight stepped up beside the pegasus. “You are pretty scared of this place. You’re the one who wanted to hide.”

Fleethoof shot a glare at his companion. “I’m not scared. I would just really like to live past tonight.”

“Well, like you said, the only way to stay alive is to keep moving forward,” said Midnight, flashing a wry smile to mask her apprehension. “So let’s go then.”

Midnight bravely took the first step up the stairs. The wood groaned beneath her weight as she trotted almost merrily up to the next level, with Fleethoof following behind at his own leisure. The only thing at the top of the stairs was another door, which Midnight Dasher slowly cracked open and peeked inside.

Surprise, surprise… Another hallway… she thought as she opened the door entirely. But unlike the other one, this corridor was brightly illuminated with many torches running along the walls.

“Just how big is this place?” Fleethoof muttered, walking warily ahead of Midnight.

A door came up a short distance ahead on their side. Fleethoof stepped up to it and turned the handle. The handle jiggled tightly in place, and refused to open. He pursed his lips in thought as he pushed against the locked door.

“Looks like we’ll need to find a set of keys. If there are more locked doors, we won’t be getting very far.”

Fleethoof gave a short, hard laugh at Midnight. She looked at the smirking stallion, confusion painting her features.

“We won’t be needing any keys,” he said, taking a step back from the door. “No locked doors are going to get in my way.”

With a grunt, Fleethoof delivered a powerful kick to the center of the door. His hoof made contact with the surface, and didn’t even budge. The sturdy wood door remained intact while the pony cried out and collapsed to the floor, doubled over and clutching at his leg while making soft noises to himself. Midnight raised a brow and snickered.

“So… about those keys…” Fleethoof said from the floor, a pained tone in his voice.

“Come on, you silly stallion. Let’s go find ‘em.” Midnight stepped coolly over the collapsed pony, sauntering down the hall as he slowly got back up and hobbled after her.

Midnight glanced back at the limping Fleethoof, giggling as she watched him shake his hind leg like it had fallen asleep. He was ridiculous, but she was glad it was him she had gotten lost with. Anypony else, and she might’ve already lost her mind. Midnight turned back forward as she opened another door—and shrieked as one of the undead ponies sprung out at her. She fell to her back, her hooves pressing up against the weight of the zombie as it snapped its jaws at her.

“Midnight!”

Two shots broke the silence, smacking wetly into the creature’s skull. As had become routine, the thing’s eyes faded to black and its body went limp. Midnight tossed the corpse to the side and scurried away from it across the floor until she came to a stop wrapped around Fleethoof’s legs.

“H-How did that thing get in here?!” she cried out in terror.

“There must be more than one way into the mansion—and they clearly know it,” said Fleethoof, hurriedly stepping past it into the room it had come from. “Come on, Midnight. Let’s go before it gets back up!”

Midnight Dasher did not need to be told twice. Scrambling to her hooves, she galloped around the dead pony and into the room as Fleethoof shut the door securely. A moment later, the zombie’s leg twitched, and the red glow of its eyes sparked back to life.

Starlight tilted his head and perked up his ears. Had he just heard gunshots? Ever since they had lost Echo in the woods, he felt like he was slowly losing his mind—and this spooky house in the middle of nowhere did little to calm his fears. Daybreak seemed ignorant of everything as he skulked down the corridor, his eyes darting left and right for any danger.

“Did you hear that?”

Daybreak looked back at him with a puzzled expression. “Hear what?”

“…Never mind.”

The stallions trotted down the dark hallway, checking a door as they came across it. A warmly lit lounge invited them in. Starlight quickly shut the door. He wasn’t about to be tempted by false safety. They were all in danger, and needed to find a way out. The next door opened up to a small bathroom, and the next led outside to a fenced in courtyard.

Daybreak lingered back behind Starlight, practically trembling in his horseshoes. Every shadow looked like one of those things, just waiting to slaughter him—especially that shadow of a pony… wait. Daybreak stared at the pony-shaped shadow in the pane of silvered light spilling in from the window, and turned towards it. The glass shook as one of the skeletal ponies rapped against it with a hoof.

Daybreak screamed and jumped backwards. Starlight spun around in time to see the pony smash the glass inwards and crawl over the windowsill. He grit his teeth and shot the creature, watching it drop to the floor. A window a little further down burst inward as well, and another zombie leapt into the house. It was quickly dispatched as well.

“Daybreak, come on, let’s—” He turned, and Daybreak was nowhere in sight. “Daybreak?”

The door behind him was flung wide open. Light from the adjacent corridor spilled into the dark hall he stood in. Daybreak had taken off in fright and left him alone. Starlight growled under his breath. Coward… I’ll make sure he regrets leaving me behind when we get out of this… he thought.

A low growling behind him cut off all thought in an instant. One of the ponies had gotten back up, and spat out a bullet that had gotten lodged in its jaw. Starlight calmly pointed his gun at the pony as it righted itself, and put it down again with another shot. That was when the second pony began to stir again.

Fuck this reviving shit, he thought angrily and walked into the next hall, making sure to actually close the door behind him. He scowled at the thought of Daybreak leaving him behind to die again. Setting off into the mansion, Starlight began his search for his missing teammate.

Chapter 5: Secrets

Echo blinked her eyes open as she slowly came to again. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the absolute darkness, but when her night vision kicked in, she could see everything. She was in some sort of underground chamber—a cave of some sort. Her head was pounding and her shoulder ached from when she landed on it. She had no idea where she was, and no idea where to go, but she was alive and alone.

At least those things didn’t follow me down here, she thought, trying to find the silver lining to her situation. Now, how do I get out of here?

Echo walked slowly through the cave, checking for any signs of life or a way out. She eventually came across a tunnel carved into the earth, and, with no other choice, followed it through to another large chamber. This one was more than twice the size of the one she landed in. From the other side of the cavern, she could hear running water. There must have been an underground river nearby.

“Hello?” she called out into the darkness. Echo listened to her own voice echo around the caves for a few moments before deciding there was nothing else here.

She trudged across the cave, following another tunnel for a long while. These caverns just went on forever. Hell, she didn’t even know if they would let out anywhere at all, but she carried on, not willing to think such a way. There was always a way out.

Following the tunnel led Echo to the river she had heard earlier. An underground stream cut through another cave, this one taller than it was expansive. She looked up, noticing the spiraling paths of rock carved out almost deliberately like a path to the top. That had to be her ticket out of here. She began her ascent, climbing up the rocky slope higher and higher while listening to the soothing sounds of the running water.

She began to wonder about where the rest of her team had gotten. She worried about them, and hoped they had all found safety. She quietly wondered how Midnight was doing with Fleethoof. Midnight was her best friend in the group, and they had spent most of their time together, confiding in one another. She knew why Midnight wanted to work with Fleethoof so badly.

Her thoughts shifted to Starlight and Blackjack, but quickly put them aside. Both stallions were some of the best fighters she had ever seen. If there was any question as to who was going to survive, it was going to be them. She more worried about Eclipse, who had a tendency to overlook or underestimate the severity of situations, and Daybreak, who freaked out the second something went awry.

No, I need to have faith in my friends. They’ll be fine—they’ll all be fine.

Rising to the top of the cave, Echo peered down into the chasm again. She had fallen a lot deeper than she originally thought. Yet another tunnel lay at the top of the ramps, but this one had one striking difference: torches dotted the walls at even intervals, providing minor illumination of the path ahead.

Echo didn’t know what put her off more: the fact that somepony had clearly been here before her, or the fact that the torches were freshly burning. It didn’t matter though. She had no other alternative. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Echo patted the side of her gun and proceeded down the tunnel.

Fleethoof smiled as he pushed on a door, and found it opened without any resistance. The last few doors he and Midnight had come across had been locked as well. Despite another whole-hearted attempt at breaking and entering, the search for the keys continued. So finding an unlocked door had quickly become a godsend for them.

He pushed the door inward, peering around the dimly lit study. Cases overflowing with old books and scrolls covered the walls. A desk sat in a state of disarray up against one wall, and a small table in the opposite corner looked equally disorganized. Whoever had resided here had clearly put the room to good use with heavy research.

Fleethoof walked over to the desk while Midnight began examining some of the contents of the bookcases. The desk was literally covered in reports and papers detailing complex experiments. Books of all sorts of ancient magic were stacked in the upper corner, bookmarks spilling out of their pages from all sides. A book about aether pools and world magic lay cracked open on the desk, a passage about tapping into the raw power of magic underlined for future reference.

“Whoever lived here, they were interested in some really dangerous stuff,” Fleethoof muttered, rifling through the papers on the desk. “It looks like they were dabbling with old magic—powerful black magic, and a lot of it.”

“There’s books about literally everything here!” said Midnight, scanning the titles as she walked by. “Equine anatomy, physics, astronomy, geology, myths and legends, other races… You name it.”

Fleethoof shook his head. He couldn’t make heads or tails of what was scrawled on the sheets of paper. “What was going on here?”

Midnight stopped beside the table, looking over the items. A small chessboard lay in an unfinished game. She studied the positions of the pieces closely, her eyes tracing the outlines of each. She lifted one of the pawns, surprised by how weighty the pieces felt. It was a close game—but whoever was playing black had been a move from victory. Smirking mirthfully to herself, Midnight picked up the black bishop and slid it along the board, placing it to checkmate the white king.

“Checkmate,” she said in a melodic tune.

Something on the board clicked as the bishop sank down into the square she had placed it on. The sound made both Midnight and Fleethoof jump. A side of the chessboard had popped open, revealing a secret compartment. Peeking inside, Midnight reached in and produced a small, silver key.

“Reckon this opens some of those doors?” she asked Fleethoof with a grin. He smiled and nodded.

“Worth a shot. Good job, Mid. How’d you figure that out?”

Midnight tossed the key in the air and caught it again. “I didn’t, I was just bored and fooling around.”

Fleethoof couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “What else is new…?”

He turned to head for the door with Midnight, and stopped when he glanced down at the papers he had set aside. An inky hoofmark marred one of the pages. Fleethoof furrowed his brow. That hadn’t been there before. A quick check of his hooves revealed ink on one of them. How did he…?

His eyes narrowed as he looked at the papers again, hurriedly sorting through them. This was impossible.

“Fleet, what’s up?”

“This ink is still wet,” Fleethoof said, finding the culprit and lifting the paper up. He touched the ink on the page. Sure enough, it smudged beneath his hoof. “This was written no more than an hour or two ago.”

Midnight’s eyes were wide in shock. “That means whoever lives here… is still here?”

“Maybe…” Fleethoof scrutinized the papers a little more. The markings and words in them flew way over his head. He knew nothing about magic. But he could read, and the title of the freshly written pages caught his attention.

Etatis Magicum: Controlling the Flow of Time Through Aether

“Controlling time? With magic?” Fleethoof had never heard of such a notion before. It sounded preposterous. But if it was true, then whoever was researching this could have powers over the natural world nopony should ever have.

“Somepony was controlling time?” Midnight asked. “How is something like that even possible?”

Fleethoof shook his head. “It isn't—I don't think... But these notes, they're so... thorough. Hell, I don't recognize half these symbols, but they go on for pages and pages!”

Midnight tried to peek at the sheets from over Fleethoof's shoulder. “What does it say?”

“Just things like how the flow of aether might be tethered to the flow of time... Listen to this: 'If one had the ability to manipulate the direct flow of natural aether, it is possible that one may be able to manipulate the current of time.' What the hell?”

“I guess whoever was researching this stuff really wanted it then. They wanted to be like a Time Lord or something.”

Unless they already have them…

The thought chilled Fleethoof. If they already had control of that magic… He glanced up at the clock on the wall, studying the hands on the face. He watched, counting off the seconds in his head, and then his chest began to feel tight.

“Midnight…” The mare was still staring intently at him. “When we were in the dining hall, do you remember what time the clock said?”

Midnight was deeply confused, but racked her brain nonetheless. “Um… A quarter after midnight, I think.”

“And how long ago would you say that was?”

“Gosh, that’d have to have been at least an hour ago by now.” She cocked her head to the side. “Why?”

Fleethoof nodded slowly, the color fading from his face. “What time do you have right now?”

“It’s…” She glanced down at her watch, and felt her jaw drop open. Her mouth quivered as she shook her wrist, bringing the watch up to her ear. It was still ticking—still functioning.

“Twelve fifteen, right…?”

“That’s impossible…” she whispered.

Fleethoof shook his head. “No, not impossible… We’re stuck in a time loop. Somepony must've found out how to freeze this part of the forest in time. That’s why the candles are still burning, the clocks are working, the ink is wet, and nothing’s changed.”

“But how? Nopony is that powerful!” Midnight said, rushing over to where Fleethoof was and skimming the papers on the desk. “How would the princesses not know about this?”

“Because we’ve fallen out of step with time somehow,” Fleethoof replied, reading it from the paper in his hoof. “Somepony was experimenting with powerful time magic, and they messed up a big chunk of the Everfree, making it its own separate world. Which means we’re not going to be rescued at dawn—because dawn will never come here. If I'm reading this right, I don’t think we’re in the Equestria we knew anymore.”

Midnight was truly terrified now, scared to her core. If they were in some demonic alternate universe, what were they supposed to do? “How are we supposed to get home then? What do we do?”

“We need to break the spell and escape this world. The creator has to have made a way out for them. We just need to figure out where and what it is, and we’ll be free.” Fleethoof looked over at the key in Midnight’s grasp. “The only way outwards is forwards. Let’s keep going.”

“But what about the others?” asked Midnight, following Fleethoof back out into the corridor. “They don’t know about this. They’ll be trapped here forever.”

“We’ll find as many of them as we can before we leave,” Fleethoof said. “We won’t leave them behind, Mid. I promise.”

Midnight Dasher took a deep breath and nodded slowly. “All right… Then let’s get a move on.”

Eclipse had landed in some sort of attic. After Blackjack had disappeared into the fog, all she could think to do was fly to the roof. Surely those things couldn’t get up there. Hiding safely on the roof, Eclipse listened to the sounds of the zombie ponies growling and stalking around the mansion. The number of different sounds steadily grew in frequency. The others must have found their hiding spot, meaning everything that wanted to kill them was present and accounted for.

She listened as they broke windows to get inside, and couldn’t stand it anymore. Eclipse wandered around the upper level until she found an open window and slinked inside. What she found was the dark, dusty attic she was now sitting in the corner of. There had been nothing useful in any of the boxes. Old clothes and books were all she found.

Curled up tight on herself, Eclipse listened to the sounds of gunfire somewhere distant in the mansion. It must have been Blackjack—but he sounded so far away. How had he gotten so far? How long had she been sitting up here? Gathering herself up, Eclipse stalked over to the only door and gave it a tug. It was locked.

Big surprise, the empty old house is locked up tight, thought Eclipse. She pulled a small utility knife out of her armor and set to removing the hinges, popping each one out of place until the door swung open. Smirking at her own handiwork, Eclipse trotted out into the candlelit corridor. Two doors presented themselves to her, challenging her.

She picked a door through a quick eenie-meeny-miny-moe session—and then changed her mind when the winning door proved to be locked. The latter opened with ease, opening to a living quarters. A table and chair sat in the middle of the room, and an adjacent room held a small bed and dresser. A closed door sat at the opposite end of the room, a sign labeling it as the closet.

Eclipse did a quick sweep of the room, checking for anything remotely interesting. Of course, nothing stood out. Stepping into the bedroom, her eyes ran over a row of photographs on the dresser. A unicorn stallion dressed in an old-fashioned tuxedo was prominent amongst all of them.

This must’ve been the butler’s quarters, she reasoned, realizing sadly just how long ago that life must have been. Well, maybe the servant has something interesting to hide… Jackpot!

Eclipse laughed out loud as she pried a brass key from the middle drawer of the dresser. Perhaps this would set her free to go find her friends. In her jubilance, Eclipse didn’t notice the closet door slowly swing open.

She kissed the cold metal key, then stashed it in her armor. The last thing she wanted was to lose it. Turning and practically bouncing across the floor, Eclipse pushed the door open—and ended up colliding with the now locked door. She stared in confusion as she tried the door again. Sure enough, it remained locked.

How? I just came through here!

Eclipse muttered a silent curse as she tried it again, and then sighed, reaching into her armor and producing the key. It fit in the lock, and the resounding click of the deadbolt opening made her smile. This was turning out easier than she expected.

The next thing Eclipse knew, she was on the floor, her body smashed up against the wall and her head pounding. Something had hit her from behind, hard enough to concuss the pony. She groaned, trying to get her world to stop spinning as she rolled over to get a look at her attacker. She wished she hadn’t.

The pony—if the thing had ever been a pony—was horribly mutated. Its legs were stretched and deformed, making it stand almost as tall as an alicorn. Its coat was shedding in spots, revealing sickly gray skin beneath the pallid fur. The creature’s eyes were a glowing red, much like the ponies of Sunny Town, though this creature wasn’t as skeletal as they were. She recognized the ripped and tattered tuxedo the creature was clothed in. But what struck fear into her heart the most was its hooves. Long, scythe-like claws sat at the end of each of its forelegs. How this thing had come into existence, Eclipse couldn’t even guess.

With icy dread gripping at her heart, Eclipse reached for her rifle—and found it had been knocked from her grasp in the initial attack. She could see the dark metal weapon lying back near the door, a good distance from where she was now. The butler hissed and approached the downed mare. Eclipse drew her pistol as quickly as she could, fumbling with it for a moment before popping half a dozen rounds into the monster’s torso. The bullets smacked into its flesh, splattering black blood across the wood floor, but the creature was unfazed.

As it drew its bladed claws back, Eclipse’s brain shut down. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t move. Terror had completely paralyzed her. This isn’t happening… This isn’t happening…

Eclipse screamed for all of a second, and then her voice vanished into a viscous gurgle. Another second later, silence took the mansion.

Starlight had been investigating a room filled with portraits of ponies he didn’t recognize and landscape paintings when he heard the gunshots, followed by Eclipse’s chilling scream. She was on the floor just above his head. Oh no… he panicked and bolted out of the art gallery. He burst through the doors at the far side of the room, emerging in a dark, grand foyer. He took the grand staircase two steps at a time, running as fast as he could to the door above the gallery on the second floor.

All but kicking the door down, Starlight found himself in another hallway. Where had that scream come from? He mentally tried to map out the mansion, guiding himself to a door a few steps down the hall. It was open, and the stallion rushed through and rounded the corner, coming to another door.

How many fucking doors are in this place?! He grit his teeth and pulled at the door. It was firmly locked. Oh hell no. I am done playing games!

Starlight leveled his rifle with the door handle and splintered it apart with a short burst. He bucked the door in, kicking it off its hinges with a loud boom. He could see a door in front of him already open, leading into what looked like an attic. To his left was a short hall, with another door at the end. He rushed for it and threw his body against it. The door flew inward, and he stumbled in.

Eclipse was a ghastly sight. She lay slumped up against the wall, her head dangling from her shoulders. Her once luxurious indigo fur was soaked in her crimson blood, the fluid heavily staining her purple armor. Something had very nearly decapitated her. It was not a merciful death.

Starlight fought his gag reflex as he stepped over beside his deceased teammate. Eclipse had been one of the first members of Ghost Team. They had shared fond memories together. Now, staring at her corpse filled the stallion with dark fury and unimaginable pain. Tears stung at the corners of his eyes as memories flashed in his mind.

“Ghost Team is gonna be the best of the Lunar Guard! Those other bats aren't gonna be able to keep up with how incredible we are!”

“You got that right, Eclipse! Come on, let's go meet the others.”

Starlight's hooves tightened into fists while his body quivered with unbridled torment. He would find whoever did this to the poor pony—and he would make them pay. As he gingerly ran a hoof through Eclipse's messy mane he wished he could take her body back home. As it stood, with monsters prowling around, it would have been too great of a risk to drag her along on his back.

“I’m sorry, Eclipse…” he spoke in a whisper, shaking his head.

A glint of something shiny caught his eye. Inside her armor lay a small brass key. She had died holding onto it, helping Starlight even in death. He reached into the bloodstained armor and retrieved the key—and saw a blur of movement in the corner of his eye.

Starlight’s head snapped up quickly, looking around the room. There was nothing there, even though he could have sworn he had just seen something. Tucking the key in his armor, Starlight cautiously backed out of the room, never turning his back on it until he was back out in the hall. Releasing the breath he had been unconsciously holding, he turned down the hall, and froze.

At the other end, where he had just come from, stood the most horrifying sight he had ever witnessed. A pony-like creature with razor sharp claws was blocking his path, just leering at him. Starlight saw the fresh blood on its claw and felt his heart stop beating. This had been the monster that killed Eclipse.

The butler gave a low hiss as it studied Starlight. Neither side moved an inch. And then the butler charged at Starlight. The bat pony drew his rifle, peppering the monster with shots before diving back into the room, narrowly dodging the pair of sharp claws as they embedded into the wall where he had been standing. The butler hissed again and clambered back into the small apartment space as Starlight drew a bead on its head.

He squeezed the trigger putting half a dozen bullets into its face. The creature flinched back and let out a pained hiss. Starlight scowled and continued his attack with another squeeze of the trigger.

Click.

His expression dropped. His gun was empty. Before he could look up again, the butler brought its hoof around, smacking Starlight in the chest with the broad side of its clawed leg. Starlight grunted as he flew through the air, crashing into the old bed and falling to the floor. He shook the stars from his vision and looked up. The monstrosity of a pony was coming at him again.

Starlight ejected the empty magazine from his weapon, and then dove out of the way of another attack. He was now in the small space of the bedroom with the butler. With barely enough room to maneuver, he jammed a fresh magazine into his gun and loaded the first bullet, just as a claw swung wide and scraped against the metal plate of his armor.

Starlight grunted again as the force knocked him back out of the bedroom. A deep scratch ran across the breadth of his chest piece. He scrambled backwards away from the abomination while it tried to realign itself to get out of the tight bedroom. Starlight trained his sights on the butler’s head again, and as it stepped out, he lay down heavy fire into its brain.

The butler hissed and flailed as the bullets made contact with its skull, but it still continued to remain standing. When Starlight’s gun clicked empty again, he realized the futility of his attempts, and bolted for the door. He heard the snarl of the monster behind him and turned sharply—realizing only too late that he’d gone in the wrong direction when he found himself in the attic.

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck! He could hear the butler coming in after him as he backed up against one of the beams supporting the rafters and roof.

When the monster crawled its way through the door, Starlight could feel his time slipping away from him. He drew his pistol and continued to shoot it out of lack of a better idea. The butler continued its advance, drawing its claw back when it was within striking distance just as Starlight’s gun ran dry.

Timing his jump, Starlight leapt out of the way as the claw sliced through the beam like it was a twig. Wood splintered everywhere, and a fine mist of dust fell form the ceiling. Now on his back, Starlight stared up in horror as the butler turned on him, hissing its bloodthirsty cry. It drew its claw back again, and Starlight saw his life flash before his eyes.

That was when he heard a creaking, followed by a loud snap and crash. With the support beam severed, the rafters above the butler had collapsed, sending heavy wood rods down like spears into the creature. The butler hissed sharply as the wood impaled it, pinning it in place as it thrashed and struggled. Black blood seeped everywhere, pooling beneath the abomination as it gave a spasm and collapsed to the floor in a heap.

Starlight lay where he was, staring in disbelief at his dumb luck. He waited, and waited some more, just to make sure the thing was actually dead and he was still alive. He gave a weak, disbelieving chuckle and scrambled back to his hooves. Somehow, he had escaped by the skin of his teeth.

“That's one way to bring the house down,” he remarked and gave a hard kick to the butler's head. “That's for Eclipse, you ugly son of a bitch.”

Grasping tightly to his prize, Starlight stumbled his way out of the attic and back down the corridor he had come from. It was time to find out what Eclipse's key opened up.

At first, Blackjack had welcomed the calming silence and dim candlelight of the mansion. It felt like a beacon of sanctuary compared to the murderous forest he had barely made it out of. Now, the longer he spent in the monstrous house, the more the eerie stillness and hard lighting patterns put him on edge. The long, dark shadows cast by every single object seemed to creep in around him from every angle. The weight of his gun in his hooves had never felt so grounding before.

He limped slowly down the corridor, leaning against the wall for support as he trudged ever forward. He needed to find a safe room to lie low in for a bit and patch his wounds. The stinging in his shoulder had intensified, spreading to the neighboring muscles down his back and leg. He momentarily wondered if those undead ponies had some sort of venom.

A dull thud from somewhere nearby made the stallion tense up, freezing in place as he looked around swiftly. There was nothing behind or in front of him. The noise must have come from a nearby room.

Gotta move faster… he told himself and plodded along, gritting his teeth as he fought back a flash of agony. Blackjack walked to the end of the hall and rounded the corner, surprised to find not another passageway, but a small flight of stairs. Feeling like he was making progress after all, the bat pony lumbered unsteadily down each step until he came to the bottom. There, just behind the stairs and off to the side, was exactly what he had been searching for. A door lay mostly hidden out of sight by a stack of crates, marked as supplies. He quietly wondered how long those had been sitting there.

Testing the handle, Blackjack breathed a sigh of relief when it clicked open. He pushed the door in, and could have cried. The hidden room was a small medical station, with cabinets and shelves of assorted vials and medical instruments stacked neatly side-by-side. A cot lay pressed up against the corner, and a desk sat covered in various medical textbooks.

He kicked the door shut behind him and shuffled over to the shelves, pulling down a roll of gauze and cotton pads. He grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol in his teeth and proceeded to set up his equipment on the bed. Blackjack was surprised by how much his wound was still bleeding. He would have thought by now that it would have clotted at least a little.

Pressing a patch of cotton against the open wound to stem the flow of blood, Blackjack cracked the bottle of alcohol open and poured a generous amount on a fresh patch. Taking a deep breath and mentally preparing himself for what was about to come, he swiftly replaced the now bloody cotton with the alcohol-soaked rag, hissing sharply in pain. The antiseptic stung like a thousand needles being driven into his tender flesh.

He took a couple heavy breaths to steady himself again, fighting a wave of lightheadedness from the blood loss while beginning to wrap the gauze tightly around his shoulder as best he could. Decently satisfied with his field dressings, Blackjack held the bandaging together with a tight knot and went over to the cabinets, finding a bottle with the name of a type of painkiller he recognized and popping a couple. He wondered for a second if he was going to start transforming into one of those things, but brushed it off. That sort of stuff only ever happened in cheesy horror movies.

Then again, this whole night had begun to feel reminiscent of a thriller.

The Thestral sighed with relief. Although the stinging burn in his muscles remained, blood no longer dripped freely down his leg, and most of the pain had been dealt with. Still, he felt woozy from the effects of the medicine and the loss of blood. That bed suddenly looked very tempting.

No, I can’t afford to fall asleep now, he thought, mentally willing himself to remain standing strong. My friends are still out there. Gotta find them and find a way out. I can sleep when I’m dead.

Before he left, Blackjack limped over to the desk and tore a sheet of paper out from one of the books. It was part of a table of contents, and had a fair amount of blank space. He scrawled a quick message out, letting his friends know he had been this way and was still alive, should any of them stumble upon this place.

Blackjack slung his rifle over his shoulder and stepped back out into the hallway with the stairs. He had no idea where he was or where to go, but starting anywhere was a good start in his book. He slowly hobbled down the corridor, walking past a row of windows towards a door at the far end.

The moment he was past the windows, the sound of smashing glass made him nearly jump out of his skin. In a blur of motion, he had spun around, staring wide-eyed at the all-too familiar zombie pony as it righted itself, standing amidst a pile of shattered glass. It glowered at him and hissed. Blackjack’s eyes narrowed back.

“Oh, hell no… You've gotta be kidding—”

The pony charged at him while Blackjack tore the door open and slammed it shut the moment he was through. He heard the creature make contact with the surface, then felt the entire door shudder as it threw its weight against it. Blackjack grunted and braced the door with his body, keeping it held shut until the pony’s hoof smashed through the wood.

He recoiled back and shoved the barrel of his rifle through the hole, pulling the trigger until he ran out of bullets. He heard the monster on the other side screeching like a banshee. Taking the momentary advantage, Blackjack began running as best he could with his injured leg down the dark corridor. It was a second later that he heard the door behind him explode inward, and the sound of pounding hooves came closer and closer.

Blackjack took a hard corner and dove through another door, just barely kicking this one shut before taking off like a rocket again. That thing was hot on his tail, and he was in no condition to fight it. If he wanted to stay alive, he’d have to stay one step ahead in this chase.

The key clicked sharply in the lock as the teeth fit perfectly into the tumblers. Fleethoof gave a short and triumphant laugh as he opened the previously locked door. The room that lay beyond was a dark space. Fleethoof drew his pistol for the light as Midnight Dasher walked casually into the shadowy room. She peered around at the sets of armor, each one uniquely designed and ornately decorated from the old days of renaissance Equestria. Fleethoof danced the beam from his flashlight around the room, looking for anything of value.

“You know, this house is really weird,” said Midnight, rapping a hoof against a breastplate and listening to the soft metallic echo it made. “Whoever lived here had a pretty eclectic taste in décor.”

Fleethoof scoffed and checked an empty suit of armor from head to toe. “Eclectic is putting it nicely…”

“I like it.”

“Of course you do. It’s right up your alley.”

Midnight smirked back at him, knowing he wouldn’t be able to see her in the dark. “What, are you saying I’m weird, Fleety?”

The stallion moved down the rows of armor, murmuring, “Your words, not mine… Did you just call me Fleety again?”

“No.”

“Don’t make me come over there.”

Midnight stuck her tongue out at him behind his back. She wandered down to the other end of the room and sighed. There was nothing in here. As she waited for Fleethoof to finish checking his side of the room, Midnight studied the suit of armor at the very end. She silently wondered if anypony had ever worn it before, and who they were.

She looked up at the helmet, brushing a bit of dust from the reflective surface and straightening it back on the mannequin. That was when she felt something twist in her hooves and heard a loud click. At her side, stone began grinding against stone, making both her and Fleethoof spin around on the spot. The wall beside Midnight had moved aside, revealing a secret chamber to another room.

“You need to stop messing with things,” Fleethoof said, exasperation heavy in his voice. “That’s why things like this keep happening.”

“We keep finding secrets because I mess around,” Midnight remarked, and stepped into the room as Fleethoof made his way towards her.

The second Midnight was through the new doorway, she felt the floor shift beneath her hooves, and another click was heard. A pressure plate! In the blink of an eye, the wall slammed shut behind her, separating the two ponies.

“Midnight!” Fleethoof cried out and ran up to the wall, searching desperately for a seam or anything to pry it open. He beat his hooves on the wall, but the solid stone refused to budge. On the other side, Midnight began wailing on the wall as well, crying out for her partner.

“Fleethoof! Fleet, what happened?”

“Don’t worry, Midnight. I’m coming. Just… Just stay where you are—or try to find a way around. I’ll meet up with you!”

“Okay, but be careful!”

Midnight could hear his hooves beating as he galloped away, hunting for a way to rescue her. Letting a lungful of air out in a slow breath, she turned back and gathered her bearings. She was in a much smaller room, with nothing but a pedestal near her. Focusing her vision, she approached it and cocked her head. A key lay neatly set into an indentation in the pedestal.

Oh, this doesn’t seem like a trap at all, she thought darkly. Grim visions of the room collapsing in on her, or the floor disappearing, or poison dart traps from the cliché novels of Daring Do flashed in her head. There was no way she was going to fall for something so obvious.

But, as she looked around again, she realized she had no other option. The room was nothing but solid walls all around. The only way forward was to take a leap of faith.

Sucking in a slow breath through her teeth, Midnight closed her eyes and reached a trembling hoof forward, grasping at the key. With a little force, it popped out of its home with a soft sound. Midnight tensed up and covered her head with her hooves, waiting for death to embrace her.

Nothing happened.

She blinked her eyes open, looking warily around the room. No dart traps had gone off, or anything. Half of her felt relieved, while another part felt robbed. Then the pedestal began to slide to the side, revealing a ladder running down into a dark hole.

Now here come the deadly traps, she assured herself as she began her descent down to wherever this ladder led.

Chapter 6: Winnowing

Starlight pushed open the door he had just unlocked, sticking his gun through first and sweeping the room from the entryway. After his run-in with that unholy monster, he wasn’t taking any more chances. All he wanted to do was find his team and get the hell out of this forest.

The room that had previously been locked up was a laboratory of sorts. Beakers and flasks lined the many desks and tables in the long room, all filled with various colored liquids. Papers and journals lay strewn about between the glassware, and the floor was littered with broken quills by the dozen. Somepony had clearly been hard at work in here at some point in time.

Starlight trotted slowly around the edge of the room, taking in everything he could in stride. Half of the papers he saw seemed to be written in a language he didn’t understand. Symbols and shorthand notes that meant nothing to him jumped in disarray across the pages. The more he studied the notes, the more subtle hints he began to pick up on.

The first was the date written on each of the experiment reports and personal notes. The year was from the beginning of the third age, just shortly after the exile of Nightmare Moon—hundreds of years ago, if he remembered his history correctly. That can’t be right, he thought. It looks like somepony’s been here much more recently than that. The second thing he noticed was the difference in hoofwriting between some of the reports. There were at least two individuals working in here. Something told him those undead ponies running around outside weren’t the ones behind this…

Starlight set the papers down again and began examining the desks. One of the two was piled high with test tubes, each a varying shade of either green or purple. The papers accompanying each detailed an experiment for testing blood for some sort of disease, and what the colored results meant. From what he gathered, the blood in the vials was all in different stages of infection and decomposition.

Whoever’s blood they were testing, they were dying fast, Starlight surmised and felt grim pity overcome him. Perhaps this place had been a hospital? But then where was all the medical equipment? He moved quickly on to the next desk. This one was scattered with semi-transparent crystals, also of different colors and sizes. Some were as small as a paperweight, and others as big as his head. The sealed scroll next to a pair of crystals detailed a hypothesis on how the different crystals could amplify different types of magic. He didn’t understand a lick of it, but it must have made sense to a unicorn.

So unicorns were working here… I wonder what they were trying to accomplish…?

Starlight snagged one of the smaller clear crystals and tucked it away in his armor. Maybe somepony else could shed some light on what they were, and what exactly had been going on here.

With a roar of anger, Blackjack brought his hoof across the pony’s skull in a harsh kick. He felt the bone give way under his horseshoe, and heard the snapping pop of bones dislocating, and then the creature dropped his other leg and went limp. The bat pony crawled across the wooden floor away from the temporarily incapacitated enemy, trying to catch his breath as he pressed himself up against the wall. This thing was relentless, he had to give it that. Since it had begun chasing him, he had been unable to lose it for more than a minute. It was like the pony had locked on to him, and wanted his blood alone.

Blackjack winced as he pulled his leg up to his body, inspecting the wound. The zombie pony was certainly after his blood, that was for sure. The deep gash in his leg from where the pony had tried to take a chunk out of his muscle was bleeding badly. His face and upper chest had been scratched and clawed up in the other scuffles he’d had with his persistent nemesis, though they weren’t as severe as his leg and shoulder were. He’d probably have to hobble back to the medical station again when he lost his pursuer.

If I can make it that far… He had never thought so gravely before in his life. Blackjack had always been the optimistic one on the team. Whenever the others lost sight of the light at the end of the tunnel, he pushed them on. But now, sitting bleeding on the floor in some uncharted town in the middle of nowhere, he couldn’t help but wonder who was going to push him on when he needed somepony to lean on.

He heard a soft hiss of air to his side. He didn’t need to look up anymore to know the zombie was getting up again. His moment of respite was over, but the wooziness he was starting to succumb to begged him not to keep running. His survival instinct was stronger, however, and using the wall for support, he rose uneasily to his hooves. His legs trembled as the strength was literally sapped from him.

He shot a smoldering glare at the skeletal pony also struggling to get up again. “You ready to keep going, partner…?”

The pony growled back in response while it snapped its neck back into place.

“That’s what I thought…” Blackjack all but threw himself down the corridor as the chase started up again. It hurt to keep running on his injured leg, but adrenaline did its best to mask the pain and keep him going.

The pony hissed and charged after him. It was much faster than the crippled stallion, and within moments, it had caught up again. Blackjack spun and lifted his pistol, firing every shot he had into the pony until it collapsed with a yelp to the floor. His rifle had long-since run out of bullets, and he was on his last magazine for his sidearm too. It was almost as if he could literally feel his sand of time slipping out of his hooves at an alarming rate.

Blackjack stumbled down the hall and turned the next corner. A staircase in front of him led up to the second floor again. He had been running around blindly in a circle. A snarl behind him let him know it was too late to go back and find another escape route.

Propelling himself forward as fast as his hooves could carry him, the panting, struggling stallion limped up the stairs. Just as he reached the top, he heard the clatter of steps coming up hastily behind him. That pony was right on his tail. Giving another shout, Blackjack bucked his good leg out, catching the pony in the jaw just as it lunged for his flank. He heard the satisfying sound of bone breaking, followed by something heavy tumbling down every single step to the landing below.

This time, Blackjack didn’t waste any time in looking over his fallen opponent. He took off, practically breaking down the door at the top of the stairs and barreling down the corridor it led to. He had never been to this section of the mansion before, and had no idea which way to go. He took a blind guess, and ran around a corner, down a little further, and pushed through a solid metal door.

Cool air hit his body like a wall, a stark contrast to the stuffy warmth inside the house. The door had led to a balcony on the west side of the mansion. Hurriedly throwing the door shut behind him, Blackjack muttered a silent curse at the lack of a lock on it, and hobbled down the length of the balcony. The balcony wrapped around a corner of the building, and when Blackjack rounded it, he saw that it led absolutely nowhere. The wrought iron balustrade ended the narrow path at an old, mossy bench.

A sharp twinge in his leg sent Blackjack collapsing to the cool stone floor of the balcony. He cried out and grunted as he fell, every single muscle in his body feeling like it was on fire. His lungs hurt, and his head was throbbing. He couldn’t continue any longer.

The bat pony crawled across the floor to the bench and pulled himself up into the seat. He let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes. A light rainfall had begun, and the misting drizzle felt glorious against his sweaty, clammy skin. His heart was racing faster than he thought it should be, and quietly contemplated if he would ever see his friends again, or his home, or anything outside of this damned place.

Blackjack slowly lifted his hoof, reaching into his armor and pulling out a shiny brass necklace with a medallion on it. A symbol of a cutie mark lay etched into it. It was his fiancée’s—it had been her engagement gift to him. His entire body felt heavy and fatigued as the life literally ebbed away from him in a steady flow of blood that pooled around his hooves. He thought of the life he was losing, and everything he never got to live for, all because of those cursed creatures.

The door opened with a loud noise. Blackjack’s ears twitched slightly, listening to the sound of slow, deliberate hoofsteps getting closer and closer to him. His hoof tightened around his medallion and his pistol simultaneously. He didn’t know how many bullets he had left, but he was going to make them all count for something. If he was going down, he was going down swinging. He wouldn’t have expected any less of himself.

A low, violent hiss broke the quiet. His pale green eyes slowly opened again, and he glared down at the zombie pony standing a short distance away from him. It had him trapped. In the cooler air, he could see the creature’s breath hanging like a fine, deadly mist before its sharp teeth. He vowed not to give it the satisfaction of an easy kill, and if he could still escape, he would.

The zombie gave a twitch and took a slow, threatening step towards the collapsed bat pony.

“All right, partner. You wanna fight…? I’ll give you a fight…” he muttered, his voice dark and gruff.

As the pony took another step closer, Blackjack cocked the hammer on his gun.

Daybreak whimpered quietly to himself as he cantered aimlessly down the long corridor. This mansion seemed a lot bigger on the inside than he had anticipated. He suddenly wished he hadn’t run off without Starlight. The passageway was cast in a dim orange light from candles spaced intermittently along the walls, throwing warm light across paintings of ponies and landscapes of the surrounding forest.

He didn’t know where the hell he was, but it had to be somewhere in the mansion’s basement level. He distinctly remembered running down a flight of stairs, and a few minutes later, here he was. Maybe I should go back, he thought as his hooves carried him forward regardless. He hadn’t seen any of those monsters in forever. Perhaps Starlight had actually killed them, and there were no more?

It was wishful thinking, but it was what kept him moving. At the end of the hall, Daybreak could see a door, ominously framed with brightly burning torches. The door was made of some kind of darker wood, or had been painted black. Either way, it looked the opposite of inviting.

Daybreak warily approached the door, kicked the padlock off, and opened it with a shaking hoof. He bit at his lower lip, cringing when the door squeaked on its old hinges. The room beyond was not what he had been expecting. A large, square room made of stone and tile lay mostly cloaked in darkness, with only a faintly burning chandelier overhead, tossing rays of fiery light around. The walls of the room were made entirely of mirrors, and reflected everything, giving the room an impossibly infinite appearance.

The stallion stepped around the door, shutting it as quietly as possible behind him. The side of the door facing into the room was scratched up, deep claw marks flayed into the solid wood. Daybreak felt the blood drain from his face. He reached for the handle again, deciding against hiding in this room in a split second, cowardice making his decisions for him.

A low hiss came from the ceiling above his head.

Daybreak yelped and stumbled backwards a few paces, pointing his gun up into the shadows. There was nothing there. His weapon trembled in his quivering grasp, and he could feel himself beginning to hyperventilate. Ever so slowly, the pony eased himself backwards toward the center of the room, sweeping his eyes left and right as he moved.

“H-Hello…?” he called out into the emptiness. “Is somepony there…?”

He got no response. Daybreak swallowed back the knot in his throat and tried to steady his breathing. If he couldn’t see anything, there must have been nothing there. His mind was playing tricks on him.

Daybreak hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until his lungs began to hurt. He let out the air in a drawn out sigh, dropping his weapon and sitting back on the cool tile floor. This place was getting in his head and playing with him… Left with time to his thoughts, guilt began to gnaw at his conscience. Maybe I should go find Star…

A flash of movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Daybreak spun around hastily, gun up and pointed everywhere. His reflection stared wide-eyed and terrified back at him, pointing a mirage of a gun into space. Mirrors—it had just been the mirrors fooling him. With a sigh, he calmed himself down, setting his gun to the side as he took a few relaxing breaths.

He stared at his own reflection in the mirror for a while. His mane looked disheveled, and his coat was covered in dirt and mud. Ordinarily, he would’ve considered them trophies of a job well done. In this case, they looked more like scars, reminding him just how hard he had to try to just stay alive. He sighed. It would be good to get home, find the nearest shower, maybe a good meal…

Somewhere in between his homeward bound thoughts, something had dropped down behind his reflection. Daybreak looked up curiously into the mirror. It looked like a long, thin strip of flesh. Feeling his heart miss a beat, he spun around quickly and saw—nothing. There was nothing but empty space behind him.

He furrowed his brow, but the mirrors on the other wall showed the same reflection, with something hanging down beside him. What the…? he thought, looking all around the room. It was completely empty. So what is that in the mirror?

Daybreak peered closer at the mirror, trying to discern what he was seeing. And then he noticed something shift just slightly up at the top of the mirror, on the ceiling. He looked up, and still saw nothing. Then he felt something squeeze tightly around his neck.

With a choking gasp, Daybreak was hoisted off of the ground and suspended in midair. He tried to breathe, but it felt like somepony was tightening a rope around his neck, trying to garrote him. Daybreak could feel warm, wetness pressing into his throat, cutting off his oxygen intake. He choked and wheezed, his hooves scrabbling at his neck. He couldn’t see anything though!

What—? His eyes darted around, and settled on the mirror. There, in the shiny surface, he could see his reflection, being suspended in the same position he was, with the strip of flesh coiled like a snake constricting around his neck. His eyes dropped to the ground, spotting his gun lying what seemed like miles away.

Daybreak’s muscles began to feel like lead and his vision faded to a black blur. He could hear his heart pounding in his head, strong and slow, as his heart rate dropped. In a matter of moments, he knew he would be dead. Struggling and squirming in the air only seemed to burn the oxygen in his blood even faster. A few seconds later, his hooves dropped from the thing choking the life out of him, and he hung limply in the air. Another second later, he had accepted his fate.

The next, he heard a cry and a gunshot, and then the world came rushing back to him.

Midnight Dasher felt an invigorating rush of relief hit her when her hoof finally touched down onto solid ground. The ladder seemed to have gone on forever, and at some point she wondered if she was climbing into the center of the earth. Still lost in the darkness, at least she had the luxury of terra firma beneath her again.

With a soft hum, Midnight trotted down the narrow passageway, following the one direction she could go until she could progress no further. The passage had led to a dead end. What? But that’s impossible, she thought, and began checking the walls for buttons or switches, or another puzzle. Amidst her frantic searching, she pressed against the walls, and then against the one in front of her. It began to shift a little.

Grinning widely to herself, Midnight pushed the wall with all her strength, and, a few pushes and grunts later, warm light flooded into her eyes. She slinked out from between the gap she had created—and gasped in horror as the sight before her. The room she had entered was made entirely of mirrors, with nothing in it aside from Daybreak, hanging in midair. His wings were beating, but they moved in strange patterns, certainly not what was keeping him airborne. His face had flushed a purplish color, and his legs swayed weakly in the air, as if some invisible noose was hanging him.

“Daybreak!” she cried out, confused and terrified at the same time.

That was when her eyes caught the mirrors. In the reflections, Midnight saw what looked like a long tongue wrapped around her friend’s neck, and the shape of something on the ceiling by the chandelier. Wasting no time to consider what was going on, Midnight lifted her gun and fired a single bullet into the space where the reflection showed the creature. The bullet vanished with a dull thwack and a high-pitched wail echoed around the room.

Daybreak dropped to the ground hard and lay sprawled across the tile. Midnight rushed up beside him, looking over the stallion as he coughed and gasped for air. It looked like she had made it in the nick of time. A sound crossed between a hiss and a screech came from nowhere, the noise hurting Midnight’s sensitive ears.

“Wh-What the hell?!” Daybreak said, scrabbling for his gun.

Midnight chewed on her bottom lip, eyes darting to every corner of the room rapidly. “I was about to ask the same thing.”

The room was silent and still for the longest time. Midnight slowly got back up, checking for whatever had attacked her teammate. It was like the monster had just vanished. And then she caught a blur of motion in one of the mirrors, and turned quickly. In the mirror’s sheen, she could see the back of something. It was scaly and hard, and looked almost reptilian. But there was nothing in front of her.

“Oh, my sweet Luna…” she heard Daybreak say in a terrified whisper.

Her head turned around. He was staring at one of the mirrors behind her. Midnight glanced back, and felt her blood run cold. The mirror showed the creature staring right at her. It looked like it might have been a pony—if ponies could crossbreed with lizards. The pony’s fur had been replaced with reptile-like scales. It had no discernable facial features: no nose or eyes. The pony was grinning at them—a sort of macabre smile carved into is face. Its teeth resembled those of the Sunny Town population: jagged, twisted fangs like steak knives gleaming at them in the light. From the pony’s maw, a long, vile tongue extended well beyond normal length, almost as long as the creature itself.

“What in the name of Equestria…?”

The pony in the mirror leapt upward, springing impossibly high and disappearing from sight. Midnight spun around, searching the other mirrors for it. She could just barely make out glimpses of it in the tops of the mirrors, crawling around on the ceiling like a spider.

“Where is it?!” Daybreak asked, his voice cracking. “Where is it?!”

Midnight didn’t respond. She was too busy trying to track the creature. The room had fallen silent, and she heard a soft sound of a hoof on stone above her head. She glanced up, and felt a force strike her chest hard enough to send her flying back with an oof. She hit the ground hard, and looked up, only seeing Daybreak on the other side of the room.

The mirrors told a different story. That creature was standing between her and the stallion, now advancing on him. Midnight lifted her gun and fired a short volley of shots where the thing supposedly was, and was rewarded with another shriek of anguish. She watched the reflection of the invisible creature bare its teeth and lunge at Daybreak, catching the stallion between the ribs and hurling him through the air and into the wall. He impacted the mirror, shattering it instantly, and collapsed to the ground in a heap.

“Day! Are you all right?” Midnight asked from across the room, keeping her eyes and ears alert for any signs of their unseen foe.

Daybreak coughed and eased himself back into a standing position. “Y-Yeah, I think so.”

“We need to end this, now,” said Midnight, pressing her back up against the cold surface of a mirror.

“Screw that! We need to run!” Daybreak made a run for the door.

“And what’s stopping it from chasing us? At least in here we can see it!”

Midnight’s words held validity, and froze Daybreak in his tracks. She watched him for a few moments, wondering if he was going to come back and fight or run off.

“Day, I need your help. I can’t see it anymore.”

Still, Daybreak refused to move. Shooting an angry glare at the pony, Midnight saw the pony twitch, and felt her anger die instantly. Blood was trickling down his chest, like something had pierced his flesh. He wasn’t moving because he couldn’t move. That thing had him!

“Daybreak, no!”

The pony’s head snapped grotesquely to the side, and the sickening sound of the stallion’s vertebrae popping out of place turned Midnight’s stomach over. Daybreak’s head hung limply to one side as he remained frozen by the door. She looked behind her at the mirror opposite the door, and saw the monster holding her teammate’s throat in its jaws, its head twisted in motion. It had broken Daybreak’s neck.

No mirror by the door… Couldn’t see it… Daybreak…! Midnight’s thoughts were a flurry of guilt and fear. Daybreak’s body dropped to the floor like it was nothing more than a puppet. The creature hissed and bared its teeth at Midnight Dasher, Daybreak’s blood staining its fangs—and making it visible.

Clenching her teeth in blind fury, Midnight took aim at the semi visible head, and fired every shot left in her rifle into her enemy. The creature snarled and flopped to the floor, flailing about for a moment before leaping to the ceiling again. Midnight had had enough of this. She was going to kill this thing if it cost her every bullet she had.

Another empty room. Fleethoof suppressed an irritated growl as he slammed yet another door shut and took off down the corridor. His search for Midnight Dasher had been fast and frantic, hastily checking every room he came across on both levels of the mansion. So far, he had turned up nothing.

Where would a secret passage even let out? he wondered as he came across a dusty storage closet. Nopony was inside. His teeth gnashed together so hard it hurt, and down the hall he went again. He had considered simply shouting her name into the void and seeing if he could hear anything, but the chances of attracting unwanted attention were far greater than the possibility of finding his partner.

Hell, I don’t even know if she’s in this side of the mansion anymore—let alone in the mansion at all! Fleethoof checked the last room in the first floor corridor. It was locked tightly.

That was when he heard the subtle laughter of a little foal on the air. His ears perked up. It was the same sound he had heard in the Everfree Forest earlier. He strained his hearing, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. It almost sounded like it was coming from the end of the corridor.

He bolted to the end of the hall and rounded the last corner—and flinched as he nearly ended up tumbling headfirst down a flight of stairs. A scene of flailing hooves and beating wings returned his balance, and the pony took the stairs at a much more graceful rate. He hadn’t realized there had been a basement level.

The basement ended up being a long, dark corridor with nothing but a door at the far end. How ominous… Let’s see what’s behind creepy door number one… Fleethoof hurried in his approach, and as he drew nearer the door, an unshakable feeling of dread overcame him. Something didn’t feel right…

Pulling the heavy wood door open, Fleethoof felt solace replace the tension. Midnight Dasher was sitting in the corner of the room, her back pressed up to a wall of mirrors, clutching her gun for dear life. When he stepped past the door, her wide, golden eyes darted to him, and a smile spread across his face.

“Midnight! You’re okay!”

“Don’t come in, Fleet!”

But Midnight’s cry was far too late. The next moment happened in slow motion to Fleethoof. His brow furrowed in confusion, and he saw a dark mass on the floor just in front of him. He looked down, and only caught a glimpse of the shiny purple armor of a Lunar Guard. That was when something squeezed around his throat and lifted him off the ground.

Fleethoof gave a strangled cry and fought with all his might against his attacker. His hooves kicked wildly in the air, trying to find purchase with whatever was holding him. He looked around, anxiously trying to see what was happening. There was absolutely nothing around him. The sticky, warm pressure threatening to crush his windpipe spoke otherwise.

Across the room, he could see a look of pure terror in Midnight’s eyes. She must’ve known what was happening, and looked utterly powerless as she pointed her gun aimlessly around him. Fleethoof beat his wings in frenzy—and felt the tips of his feathers brush against something cool and scaly above him.

Not like this! His hoof going for the knife on his vest, Fleethoof brandished the blade and swung it with all his strength through the air above his head. He felt the knife slice through something solid, and heard an ear-splitting shriek like a banshee as he dropped to the ground. He landed flat on his hooves, breathing hard while stumbling across the room to the far wall beside Midnight.

“What… the… fuck…?” he spoke between gasps of air.

Midnight said, “The mirrors!”

The mirrors? Fleethoof’s eyes turned to the walls of reflective mirrors, and saw what had so nearly ended him, and had killed another Nightwatch soldier. The gray, scaled pony was completely invisible to the eye, but its reflection gave away its position. It was lying on the floor, blood spilling from its mouth as it clutched at its extensive, dismembered tongue. So that’s what was choking me.

Fleethoof drew his pistol and followed the reflections, drawing down on where the pony was and squeezing off two shots. The bullets hit the creature in the chest and sent it stumbling back into the wall. Fleethoof grinned, and trained his sights where its head was. Gotcha, you son of a—

The pony disappeared as it leapt to the ceiling again, just out of sight from the mirrors. Fleethoof felt his expression drop, and icy fear stung at his heart. Where had it gone? He spun around, checking the ceiling and the mirrors all at once. Beside him, Midnight was doing the same.

And then a mirror from across the room shattered into a thousand pieces. The ponies spun around, staring at the broken mirror. What had happened to it? Midnight had just begun to ponder that, when another mirror behind them broke as well.

“It’s breaking the mirrors!” Midnight said as she realized what was happening.

“Stop it!” Fleethoof’s shout was punctuated by another breaking mirror. This time, the pegasus spun to face it and fired three shots blindly at the destroyed mirror. They impacted the wall harmlessly.

The room was quiet again for a long, tense moment. No more mirrors smashed, and no sound was made from any of the living beings in the room. Fleethoof held his breath, feeling his pulse race as he tried to anticipate the creature’s next move. His hoof flexed over his pistol. Midnight was breathing slow and hard, staring down at the floor as she strained her hearing to pick up on something—anything.

Fleethoof heard a sound behind him, like something gently tapping against glass. The fur on the back of his neck bristled and every muscle in his body tightened up. As fast as he could, Fleethoof spun and pointed his gun at the mirror. The reflection showed the underbelly of the creature. It was poised on the mirror’s surface, ready to strike.

The monster hissed intimidatingly and pounced the pony. Fleethoof grunted as he felt the invisible force make contact with his chest. He hit the floor hard, his gun going off and cracking another mirror. With no way of telling what was happening, Fleethoof’s hooves shot instinctively into the air above him, and felt the cool skin of his enemy press down against his grasp. He could hear the snapping of its teeth and smell its hot, musky breath washing over his face.

“Fleet!” Midnight’s cry caught the pegasus’ attention for all of a second.

“Midnight, don’t shoot it!” he said through clenched teeth, pushing against the monster with all his might. “No more bullets! Just—grr, just finish it!”

Midnight was confused. “How?!”

“Stab the motherfucker in the heart!”

Midnight paused for a moment, letting his command sink in. If bullets couldn’t do any damage to it, maybe piercing its heart would do the trick. Eyes narrowing, Midnight pulled a serrated combat knife from her armor and rushed up to Fleethoof. She didn’t need the mirrors to know the thing was right on top of him. Estimating where its chest was, she gave a loud battle cry and drove the blade down through the air. The blade of the knife vanished into thin air as she felt it penetrate something solid, and a gurgling gasp came out of thin air.

With Midnight doing severe damage to it, Fleethoof was able to force the invisible predator back enough to lunge up at it. He wrapped his hooves around its neck with a growl, and with all his strength, twisted in opposite directions. It took a tremendous amount of force, but he was rewarded with the sound of bones popping out of place. The creature gave a choking cry and gave a spasm in Fleethoof’s grasp.

Fleethoof pushed the creature aside with a grunt and grabbed his knife as well. With a quick glance to a mirror to confirm where the body was, he yelled and drove the blade down into the front of the pony’s chest. It gave a sound like a ball deflating, and lay still. Fleethoof waited a few moments to confirm it was dead before drawing back again, his breathing shallow and fur damp with cold sweat.

Midnight stood behind Fleethoof, pointing her gun past his shoulder at where the dead creature lay, making sure it didn’t move again. With a soft grunt, Fleethoof pulled his and Midnight’s knives out of the corpse, giving it a kick for good measure.

“I’m ready to go home now…” he muttered under his breath as he passed the knife back to Midnight.

As he stepped away from the scene, he heard Midnight Dasher put two bullets into the body. She spat angrily down on it and said, “That’s for Daybreak.”

Fleethoof gathered up his fallen gun and glanced over at the crumpled corpse of Daybreak on the floor. Pity overcame the stallion. Daybreak had probably died terrified and confused. He wished there was a way they could bring the body with them, but knew it was impossible. At least you don’t need to be afraid anymore, Daybreak, he thought, trying to bring himself some solace as he and Midnight trudged back to the door and made their way back up into the mansion.

Chapter 7: Dearly Departed

A single gunshot put the zombie pony flat on its back. Starlight leered down at the undead creature with loathing and disgust. He had had enough of their games. Stay down this time, fucker… he mentally chided and gave the body a hard kick. There was only one other room he hadn’t checked that the key Eclipse had found could open up. He stood before the double doors, eyeing them suspiciously. He had come to swiftly learn that nothing was ever as it seemed in this place.

So when he saw a set of unassuming, locked doors, he immediately feared the worst.

Slipping the key into the lock, he turned it slowly, listening to the click it made, and pushed them both open. They flew inward, and bright light glared into his eyes, making the bat pony recoil a step. He shielded his eyes with his hoof till they had adjusted, then took a good look at what he had uncovered.

A massive library lay at his hooves. Tall bookcases dwarfed everything else in the room, each one filled to capacity with a tome of some sort. Long tables stood in two rows down the length of the room, covered with an assortment of materials and a heavy layer of dust. A large chandelier hung from overhead, illuminating the entire archive with bright, welcoming light.

Starlight was impressed. For the first time since he had set foot in the Everfree Forest, he felt safe here. The sound of the zombie pony shuffling back to life behind him begged to differ. He rolled his eyes and cast a disparaging glance over his shoulder at the shambling creature.

“Oh, just stay down, why don’t ya?” he muttered and put another bullet in its head, watching it collapse to the floor before shutting himself in the library.

Locked away in the silence of the library, Starlight took a moment to collect himself. His situation was not looking good, but he wasn’t in dire straits just yet. He was down to his final magazine in his rifle, and his pistol had a full mag to go, with a hoofful of bullets still currently loaded in it. Starlight cursed himself for not being more preemptive and conservative with his equipment.

Perhaps he should’ve scavenged some ammunition from Eclipse’s body. The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind at the time given the circumstances, but now that he had a chance to reflect, it had been stupid to waste the opportunity. I wonder if I could get back over there, he deliberated, then decided against it. It would probably cost more bullets than it was worth just to fight his way back.

Starlight listened to the soft echoes of his steps as his hooves clopped against the hard floor. He trotted calmly and collectedly across the library, staring in awe at the massive collection of knowledge somepony had clearly accumulated over a great period of time. There had to be a book for just about everything in here. He momentarily considered how the collection stood up to Canterlot’s Royal Archives.

Somepony’s been keeping themselves busy. He smirked at his own thought while he passed a table strewn with books on geology and practical applications of magic. At the end of the table, a single sheet of paper lay beneath an odd, octagonal paperweight. A short note lay scrawled across its surface.

Ordinarily, Starlight would have paid such a trivial, commonplace item no thought. However, the unassuming little letter stood out in the sea of archaic literature and pages completely covered in studious notes. He set his gun on the table and, gently removing the paperweight, Starlight lifted the letter and read.

Isingoma,

I couldn’t seem to catch up with you in this labyrinth of a house, so I’m just going to leave this here for you to find, considering you all but live in the library these days. I will be spending most of my time in my study or down in the caverns beneath the mansion, performing my experiments. I would greatly appreciate any assistance you would like to offer. I think I may have finally found the solution to our problems, so another issue like the ones with Chameleon and the butler should no longer arise.

I’ve left your key on top of this letter. You’ll need it to access the caverns now that I’ve bolted it up tight to keep anypony out of. Please don’t lose it again. I truly do not enjoy having to hunt down such a small object in this place…

— Silence

Starlight cocked his head as he read the peculiar note. The names were strange—foreign and enigmatic. He had never heard ponies called by such names before. Perhaps they were more common centuries ago. His eyes turned from the letter back down to the paperweight he had tossed carelessly across the table. He lifted the heavy stone object, looking at the emblem embossed in it. It was an eight-pointed star.

This thing is a key? he thought, questioning how such an object would even function as a key. He shrugged, and tucked it away in his armor. If somepony was saying it was a key, who was he to doubt them? If nothing else, he was sure he could find some use for it.

Caverns beneath the mansion, huh? Starlight grabbed his weapon again and made for the door. Guess I know where I’m going next.

Blackjack had given up the ghost. Midnight felt her heart leap up into her throat as she tried in vain to swallow back the wave of emotions that rocked her body like a wayward boat in a monsoon.

The stallion that had once been so full of life and vitality now lay slumped over on the bench out on the balcony, cold, pale, and lifeless. Dozens of bites and scratches covered his body, and thin, drying trails of blood from each told of each agonizing infliction. The skin around a couple wounds had begun to turn a purplish color, as if they had begun to bruise before he died. It looked as if he had exsanguinated slowly and painfully.

Midnight retched and leaned away, taking slow, deep breaths to calm down her churning stomach. Blackjack had been a close friend ever since she joined Ghost Team. Seeing her comrade broken and bloody only made everything that had happened up until then that much worse.

“He had just gotten engaged…” she whispered to the pony standing just behind her.

Fleethoof felt the empathy tug at the corners of his mouth. His dark eyes stared with pity at the deceased soldier, looking into his glassy, empty eyes. He had been dead for some time now. Strangely, the whites of his eyes had turned a pale red. Probably from whatever killed him… Poison, maybe… he concluded.

“Poor bastard…” Fleethoof muttered while shaking his head. He looked down at the pistol in the pony’s hardened grip. The slide sat locked back, indicative of an empty weapon. At least half a dozen brass casings littered the ground. “He went out giving one hell of a fight.”

“It wasn’t enough…” Midnight Dasher was clearly beyond consolation. Her honey-gold eyes shut tight. Try as she might, she couldn’t block out the reality of what had happened.

“I’m sorry, Midnight.”

The filly shook gently as she choked back a sob. Fleethoof felt his heart wrench as he watched her break. With sympathy twisting at his insides, he sat down on the cold, damp floor beside Midnight and embraced her, cradling her gently as the first wave of warm tears cut through her fur. She grasped onto his side, holding him tightly, as if he was the only thing keeping her grounded to the world.

Fleethoof slowly rubbed Midnight’s back as she cried into him, glancing back at the pony on the bench. He had clearly been a good friend to Midnight to get her to react like this. He could empathize as flashbacks to the war danced in front of his eyes. He knew the anguish of loss she was feeling.

“Please…” Midnight said, mumbling so softly into his jacket that he almost didn’t hear her. “Please… Tell me we’re going to get out of here… Please, I just… I need to know we’re gonna get out…”

It took Fleethoof a moment to reply. “We’re going to get out—”

“Mean it!” Midnight’s words had come so fast and harsh, it took the pegasus by surprise. She looked up at him, golden eyes ablaze with desperation and torment. “Say it and mean it. I can’t hold on to empty promises, Fleet… I just… I need to know—honestly…”

A moment of silence passed between them as the tension ran like electricity in the rain.

“Are we going to be all right…?”

“I’m going to get you home, Midnight. I promise.” Fleethoof spoke with such conviction in his smoldering eyes, Midnight instantly felt relief begin to untangle the knots in her stomach.

She managed to force a small smile. Between sniffling back the tears, she hugged Fleethoof tighter and nuzzled her face into his shoulder.

“Thank you… Can we please go now…? I don’t wanna look—” She paused, her voice breaking. “I don’t wanna be here anymore.”

Fleethoof nodded, and gently urged her back to her hooves. He made sure to keep his side pressed to hers, corralling her back towards the door they had come through while diverting her eyes from the ghastly scene Blackjack had become. The balcony had been a dead end for progress, and left them with only a couple rooms left to search on this side of the mansion. Still have the whole other side to go…

As they approached the door, a shuffling noise behind them made both Fleethoof and Midnight stop where they stood. The ponies turned to look at one another, and then turned around when they heard the noise again. There, standing just behind them, was Blackjack.

Midnight could feel the blood drain from her face. Blackjack was standing up as if he had been alive the whole time. That’s not possible. I checked his pulse! she thought in a frenzied panic. To her side, Fleethoof looked as petrified as she felt.

Fleethoof knew something was wrong with Blackjack immediately. The bat pony wasn’t standing up properly, and opted instead to hunch over slightly on his right shoulder where it had been wounded. His head hung slightly to one side and he twitched whenever he moved. The pony’s eyes had become completely overcome with an ethereal red glow, replacing the pupils and irises almost entirely.

“Black…?” Midnight spoke timidly, too afraid to take a step toward her friend. “Is that you? Black, are you all right?”

The pony didn’t respond. It took a shambling step closer to the two. Fleethoof instinctively lifted his weapon—only to have Midnight’s hoof push it back down. She was giving him a cold glare. Fleethoof stared at her like she was insane, their eye contact and expressions speaking volumes.

“He could be okay,” said Midnight Dasher.

Fleethoof gave a hard laugh. “Midnight—”

“At least let me try!” She turned back to the pony. “Blackjack, please, say something. It’s me, Midnight. Don’t you recognize me?”

Blackjack stood completely still, eyeing the two ponies in a manner Fleethoof didn’t much care for. It was quiet for what felt like ages, with nothing but the soft falling of rain breaking the silence. Then the pony gave a deep, guttural growl. Fleethoof saw the muscles on the pony’s back ripple with tension.

Without a word, Fleethoof grabbed Midnight and tore the door open as the pony lunged at them. He tossed Midnight roughly against the far wall and brought a hoof up into Blackjack’s face. He made contact, and the pony’s skull snapped backwards as he flew through the air across the balcony. Fleethoof slammed the heavy door shut and turned the lock. A second later, hard scratching was heard on the other side of the door.

“Blackjack…”

“He’s gone, Midnight! He’s acting like one of those things!” said Fleethoof. “I’m sorry, but Blackjack is gone. He’s being controlled by something else now.”

Midnight looked pleadingly at him, her eyes desperate for some solution. “But maybe I can reason with him—”

“Midnight!”

The glass from a window behind them flew inward in a flurry. Fleethoof turned on reflex, even though he knew Blackjack would be standing there amidst the sea of debris. The pony growled and turned on the two, crouched like a predator, ready to strike.

“I changed my mind,” Midnight said quickly.

“Run!”

They took off down the hallway like the building was on fire. Fleethoof could already hear the thundering hoofsteps behind them. Blackjack was fast—much faster than he expected a pony with an injured leg to be. Whatever was happening to him must have been preventing any pain or damage from being felt.

They rounded a corner, and Fleethoof waited behind. He listened as Blackjack came hurdling after them.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

Thwack!

Fleethoof timed the swing of his hoof with the steps. He ended up taking Blackjack down with a hard clothesline to the head, watching with satisfaction as the pony ended up flat on his back. The moment Blackjack was down, he tore down the corridor after Midnight. The filly had gotten a decent lead on him, and was running right for a small stairwell. She dove over the railing and charged down them. He was right behind her, hurdling the railing—and slipping on a step.

OH FUC—! Fleethoof felt the wood make contact with his face before he could finish the mental profanity. His world spun, and the next thing he knew, he was collapsed, twisted upside down on the floor. His body ached, and he groaned as he struggled back to his hooves. His vision was spinning out of control.

“Fleet, this way!” Midnight cried out, pushing him in the direction of a room just beneath the stairs. She helped him in past the door while the sound of heavy steps shook the floor up above them.

Once inside, she kicked the thick door shut and fastened the deadbolt lock. The room looked like some sort of medical station. Fleethoof stumbled over to the desk and leaned against it while closing his eyes. He had to let his equilibrium readjust, and fast.

“You all right?” Midnight asked, stepping over towards him. “That was a nasty spill you took—”

The door shook violently as something hit it with great force. Midnight shrieked in surprise and jumped backwards, bringing her weapon up. Fleethoof grit his teeth. Blackjack had found them—and had them trapped, as far as he could see. He heaved a deep breath and stood up again, spotting something right in front of his eyes. A note from Blackjack, stating he had been here prior—how ironic.

“Black, please, stop this! Please!” Midnight’s voice was shaking, and she was clearly more scared than she ever had been. “What do we do, Fleet? We can’t get out!”

“So we fight,” Fleethoof said in reply, pointing his gun at the door.

“No! We can’t— I mean, it’s Blackjack. I can’t—” Midnight’s voice cut out again and she collapsed against the small cot behind her. She had a pained, conflicted expression on her face.

Fleethoof glanced at her briefly, not taking his steely gaze away from the withstanding door. “Midnight, he’s trying to kill you! Why can’t you?”

“Because he was the only pony to actually like me when I first joined the Lunar Guard, okay?!”

That got Fleethoof’s eyes off the door, even as it buckled inward from an especially powerful strike. He could see the inner turmoil behind Midnight’s glassy eyes and defeated posture as she curled up on the bed. Crystalline tears were spilling down her cheeks again, a sight unlike any he had ever seen from the typically boisterous mare.

“It took the others a lot of getting used to my jokes and pranks before they started warming up to me… But Blackjack was just always nice. He said I was like a little sister to him, always bugging him, but in an affectionate kinda way…”

Fleethoof’s posture dropped. He lowered his gun and slowly trotted over to the bed. Midnight glanced over at him as he climbed up and joined her, sitting down beside her.

“You two were that close, huh?”

Midnight flinched as the door rattled on its hinges and a frustrated growl was heard. “Yeah… He's my best friend...”

Aside from the constant assault on their barricade, silence overtook the ponies. Fleethoof didn’t know how to respond right away. The pony that Midnight endeared so much had just been killed and was now trying to murder her. He would’ve been more surprised if she hadn’t gone into shock.

“And now we’re gonna die out here because I can’t do anything and it’s my fault and I’m sorry, Fleet, I just can’t. I’m sorry!”

All at once, Midnight began to cry again. She bit her lip so hard that she tasted blood. She quivered lightly, screwing her eyes shut in a dramatic attempt to stop the tears. Fleethoof set his gun down at his side and pulled Midnight back into his hooves, holding her close. He gently rocked back and forth with her, humming a soft tune from his childhood as she came crashing down.

He wanted to tell her that they were going to be all right. He wanted to let her know that everything was fine, and they were going to get out of this. But in his heart, he didn’t even know if that was the truth. Blackjack had become one of those creatures—to what extent, he didn’t know. If he was bulletproof as well, they were done.

“I never got to see all of Equestria…” Midnight murmured between sniffles after a moment. “I’m gonna die, and I never got to see much of anything beyond the Shades…”

Fleethoof took a deep breath and ran a hoof through Midnight’s mane. The gentle rubbing on her head seemed to calm her down. Talking seemed to help too.

“I never got to see Trottingham…”

Midnight looked up slowly as Fleethoof spoke, a baffled look on her face. “W-What…?”

“Trottingham. I have friends that say it’s one of the most beautiful towns in Equestria, right on the coast, surrounded by woods…” He shrugged slightly. “I always wanted to see it for myself… Never got to see the Shades either.”

Midnight gently grasped at one of Fleethoof’s arms around her. “I never got to know what it is you do.”

He chuckled. “You’re gonna die never knowing.”

“It was worth a shot,” she said, getting another laugh from the pegasus. “I never got to go to the Grand Galloping Gala…”

That one took Fleethoof by surprise. “The Gala? You want to go to the Gala?”

Midnight nodded, a small, wistful smile on her face. “It’s every filly’s dream to go—even for a filly like me. One night in a beautiful castle, with royalty and dreamy gentlecolts, living like a fairytale even for just one night…”

Fleethoof was silent for a long while, just listening to the pounding on the door. The wood had begun to crack and groan under the weight of the battering it was enduring. He was surprised it had held so long.

“Do you want to go…?” He looked down at Midnight with a little smile when she gave him a confused look. “To the Gala, I mean. I’ve been invited—all military officers typically are. I wasn’t going to attend, but if you wanted to go so badly, I’d take you.”

“You mean that?”

Fleethoof nodded. “If we get out of here, I’ll let you live your dream for a night.”

A genuine smile slowly crept over Midnight’s lips.

“I’d like that… When we get out of here.”

A chunk of the door flew off as a hoof broke through. Blackjack’s enraged snorts could be heard clear as day now as the pony threw his entire body against the barricade. Fleethoof cast a glare at him, and Midnight just closed her eyes. Another heavy attack later sent the door flying inward off its hinges.

“Just… please make it clean…” Midnight said, and buried her face in Fleethoof’s chest.

Fleethoof was no longer paying attention to her. He slowly reached across the bed and picked up his pistol. Blackjack gave a growl and advanced on the ponies as Fleethoof drew a bead on his head.

Please, Celestia, let this work…

Blackjack tensed for the kill. Fleethoof squeezed the trigger. The explosive gunshot sounded particularly loud in the confined room. Midnight jumped in his hold. He had fully expected some sort of death rattle from the pony, but Blackjack just took the bullet right above his left eye and dropped like a ton of bricks. He lay on the floor, his hoof twitching once, and then he was still.

Fleethoof held his breath, just waiting for Blackjack to get back up again. He never did. A pool of dark blood had begun to form beneath his skull. His transformation into one of those cursed creatures must have not been completed.

“I’m sorry…” he heard Midnight whisper against his skin to her dead friend. “I’m sorry…”

Setting the pistol down again, Fleethoof hugged Midnight as she quivered with each quiet sob.

Chapter 8: Answers

The mansion felt even more oppressive and daunting now. Fleethoof and Midnight Dasher walked without so much as a word to one another. Midnight was still grieving for her lost friend, and Fleethoof didn’t know how to ease her suffering. Time healed all wounds, but time was not something he could conjure up—though it had become dreadfully clear that somepony could. After an indiscernible amount of time had passed and Midnight had cried herself nearly to exhaustion, they had set out from the medical station. Now there was nothing but lingering stillness.

The corridors were completely silent as they traversed the mansion. It was like all the zombies had vanished without a trace—or they were expertly avoiding them without intent. They had searched this entire half of the building for a door that Midnight’s key would open, but it was to no avail. Every room was surprisingly open now. It brought hope to Fleethoof. It meant somepony else was looking for a way out too.

Maybe the others found their way here, he dared to hope. He sincerely hoped they were, and that an escape would present itself soon. They were running dangerously low on ammunition, and they would have greater strength in numbers. He knew that Blackjack, Daybreak, and Nocturne were dead, but that still left about half of Ghost Team alive.

They trekked across the foyer’s upper level, making their way across to the other side of the mansion to begin their search for the hidden door the key would open. Midnight was silent as ever. A look at her expression told Fleethoof that she was lost in thought. He didn’t want to disturb her.

“Can we play a game…?”

Midnight’s voice startled Fleethoof in the otherwise deathly silent corridor. He turned to look at her quickly. She was still staring at the floor in front of her hooves, but she had definitely just spoken.

“A game?”

She nodded. “Blackjack and I would play a guessing game with one another whenever we had to pass time on a mission. It used to help make me feel better when I first started out on difficult missions, so… maybe it'd help now…?”

Fleethoof was quiet for a moment, and then he nodded. Anything that could help bring her comfort would be worth it. “What’s the game?”

“We make statements trying to guess the other pony’s life, history, things like that, until we get something wrong. Then the other pony goes, and so on.”

Fleethoof was apprehensive, but agreed. “Okay. Go on then.”

Midnight looked over at Fleethoof, looking him over from head to tail. “You’re twenty-two years old.”

“You read that in my file,” said Fleethoof with a hard chuckle. “Is that the best you can do?”

The mare was quiet for a moment, contemplating her next move. “You’re an only child.”

Fleethoof didn’t respond, so Midnight continued again. “You grew up without a parent.”

Again no response. Midnight pursed her lips, her brow furrowing as she tried to think of something to ruffle his feathers.

“You’ve never been mutually in love before.”

Something shifted in his eyes and he opened his mouth, but again, Fleethoof remained silent as the grave. It was starting to get incredibly frustrating for her—but Midnight still had a few tricks up her sleeve.

She grinned mischievously. “I’m gonna follow that with you’re probably a virgin too.”

That got his attention. He came to a stop, and Fleethoof’s gaze snapped quickly to Midnight, locking his eyes with hers. Much to her delight, she saw his wings bristle slightly, but still, the pegasus refused to speak.

“Oh, come on! If that didn’t get you to say anything, what will? You’ve gotta play along!”

“There was no way I was responding to that,” said Fleethoof in calm reply, carrying on down the hall. “And I am playing. I haven’t said anything because maybe you haven’t been wrong yet.”

“Are you serious?!” Midnight asked, her pitch elevated in clear amusement and glee.

Fleethoof opened his mouth to speak, but opted instead to push ahead of her without a word. Midnight giggled to herself and followed closely behind. She could feel her spirits pull together enough to keep herself from falling apart again. Playing the old game she and Blackjack had played together made her feel like her old self again, and put the dark thoughts out of her head. But more importantly, she was learning things about him.

“Hmm… Okay, I’m gonna say your favorite season is spring.”

Fleethoof gave an exaggerated motion of rolling his eyes as he checked a door, scowling as it opened without resistance. Open doors were useless. “Come on, how can you even guess something like that?”

Midnight Dasher gave him a wide, self-satisfied smile. “That was an easy one. Most ponies prefer the spring.”

He groaned and rolled his eyes again. They proceeded further down the hall, coming to a flight of stairs and taking them down to the ground level.

“After tonight, that might remain to be seen…” he muttered.

“Okay, still my go… Let’s see… I’m gonna say that you’re fiercely protective of your friends to the end.”

“No, really?” His sarcastic remark made Midnight roll her eyes. They progressed to another door. “All my time in the Guard didn’t give that away?”

“I meant before the Guard. You’re a stickler for rules and order, but you’ve gotten into serious trouble for a friend before, haven’t you?”

Fleethoof stood as still as a statue. His hoof lingered on the handle and Midnight could see his shoulders tense up. Something she had said had struck a nerve deep in the stallion’s mind. He pushed the handle down, and muttered a silent profanity as it opened into a small cubby space filled with cleaning supplies.

“Now then, let’s see—”

“I’m never going to get a turn, am I?” asked Fleethoof teasingly as they stepped through a door into another dark corridor.

Midnight giggled to herself. “You have to wait until I get something wrong first.”

“Guess something about my job, then it’ll be my turn forever.”

Midnight Dasher gave a perfect deadpan laugh and followed him down the dimly lit hallway. “I’m not that dumb. I’m gonna guess that even though you pretend like I bug you, you really do like me deep down.”

“’Pretend’?” Fleethoof shook his head with a chuckle. “Midnight, there’s no pretending to be annoyed by you. But you’re right, I do appreciate you being here and looking out for me—so yes, I suppose I do like you.”

An excited squee came from the filly. “I knew it! I knew you really did like me, Fleety!”

“Don't push it.”

“Do you like me enough to break whatever laws you did for your other friends?”

Fleethoof furrowed his brow. “Who said I broke any laws?”

“Nopony. I’m just really good at this game.”

“That’s an understatement…”

That drew another giggle from the bat pony. “So you’d die for your friends… Would you die for me?”

Again, Fleethoof came to a full stop in his tracks. He turned to look at Midnight's intense and eager eyes, his own gaze cool and professional, but with a softness behind it that she hadn’t seen in the stallion’s eyes before. He looked at her with a half-cocked smile.

“I guess we’ll have to see if that moment ever comes up…” He turned to the nearest door, and paused as he scrutinized the emblem carved into it. “Midnight, that key you have—what symbol is on it?”

Midnight produced the key from her armor, studying the emblem on it. “It looks like an eight-pointed star… Why?”

With a triumphant grin, Fleethoof pointed at the door they had come up to. An eight-pointed star was carved into the wood. Midnight felt a smile creep across her face as well, and hurriedly rushed up to open it. They key fit in perfectly, and with a twist, the lock opened.

Midnight Dasher pushed the door open and took a look around the room. It was a small, cramped study, with little more than a couple of cabinets and a desk. She scrunched her muzzle as she inspected the office space. It smelled faintly of dust and tobacco.

Fleethoof slowly stepped in behind her and shut the door. It was definitely not what he had been anticipating to find. So much for an exit… Why can’t we have nice things? he thought despondently as he studied the contents of the nearest cabinet. It was filled with old knick-knacks and photographs—mementos left behind by whoever occupied this room.

He picked up one of the photos as Midnight began to examine the desk. In the yellowed, grainy photograph, two unicorns—a stallion and mare—and a zebra stood in front of the mansion. Something had been written in the corner of the picture, and once Fleethoof had removed it from its home, he read: Obsidian Spell, Melody, and Isingoma founding the Everfree Mansion.

So these must have been the ponies who lived here… Fleethoof thought as he set the picture down again. He screwed his eyes to focus on the blurred cutie mark on the flank of the stallion. And this must be Obsidian Spell’s study.

“Find anything?” he asked Midnight. His partner merely shook her head. “Don’t give up. This place was locked for a reason. I’d bet my life on it.”

Midnight heaved a sigh as she tossed a hoofful of papers aside. “I’m not finding anything here. Just a bunch of journals and reports all by the same pony.”

“Let me guess… Obsidian Spell?” Fleethoof asked in passing while rummaging through the second cabinet. It had been filled to the brim with an assortment of peculiar crystals he had never seen before. They reminded him of the power crystals Quarter Master had discovered and used as power sources.

“No,” Midnight said, looking over the signature on the papers again. “They’re all from some pony named Silence.”

Fleethoof felt his heart miss a beat. It resumed, slow and heavy, pumping cold dread through his veins. Did she say…? He turned around to look at Midnight, still going through the books on the desk.

“What?”

“See for yourself,” she said, nonchalantly passing a journal back to him.

Fleethoof all but tore the cover off the book. Sure enough, she was telling the truth. The signature inside wasn’t that of an Obsidian Spell, but Silence. But the insignia on the cover of all the journals was Obsidian Spell’s eight-pointed star from the photograph. It can’t be… he thought over and over again. These journals are dated hundreds of years ago. It can’t be the same pony.

“I’m not getting any of this, Fleet. Are you— Fleet?” Midnight had turned to stare at the petrified pegasus, looking at him with growing concern. “Fleethoof? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” he lied, skimming through the book as fast as he could. “Is this the most recently dated journal?”

She laughed and looked at the pony as if she was questioning his sensibility. “It was the one on the top of the pile, so I guess so. Fleet, what’s got you so riled—”

“It’s nothing.” This time, his voice had a hard edge to it. Midnight flinched a little and watched the pony read feverishly through the book.

The further he read, the more Fleethoof delved into Obsidian Spell’s lunacy. What had begun as an intricate study into the healing properties of aether had degenerated into a madpony’s hunt to stop time. The final few entries were what really made Fleethoof’s heart stop though.

Entry #1493,

Beginning an account on the properties of aether when transmuted into physical life energy. Potential to unlock immortality with limitless aether supplies.

Hypothesis: Aether can be fused with living organisms to create infinitely regenerating cells and energy. Ergo, aether can be used to instill immortality and endless life into living organisms.

Tests have been prepared in the caverns at the aether pool beneath the mansion. Must remember to have prolific quantities of crystals to store excess energy during rituals. Procurement of test subjects is required before final application to patient. Entreat Isingoma with procurement of subjects from Sunny Town while I continue tests on mansion staff. Ensure entry to caverns is left undisclosed and undiscovered behind main stairwell.

Fleethoof swallowed back the lump in his throat and skipped a few entries ahead.

Entry #1501,

Experiment #4 results: catastrophic failure.

Subject exhibiting similar symptoms to previous experiments. Resulting infusion with aether causes unstable mutations of the body and diminishes mental capacity to basic survival functions.

So far, the butler and Chameleon have been the only survivors of the infusion. The other two subjects were terminated during infusion. The butler’s mutations have been documented in his experiment report and I have had to lock him away. Chameleon became increasingly paranoid, followed by hallucinations and respiratory distress. We locked him in the mirror room to isolate any further incidents. The following day resulted in abnormal ability to suspend himself from the ceiling and physical mutation of limbs and appendages. The next day, he vanished. I don’t know where he is now. Mirror room to remain sealed until his whereabouts are uncovered.

Isingoma’s useful knowledge in foreign potions and poisons may prove useful both as catalysts during aether infusion and in treating the subjects and patient. Hopefully it can buy us some more time.

So that’s what happened to the pony in the basement, Fleethoof realized with disgust. Obsidian Spell—Silence—was experimenting on living ponies, trying to create immortality. But why? What was he hoping to accomplish?

Fleethoof turned the page again, and felt his heart drop as he read the single line in the entry.

Entry #1502,

Melody died today.

The page was stained in odd splotches. Tear stains, he deduced. He was looking for a way to cure his dying friend…

Entry #1503,

The experiments will continue as planned. Isingoma has begged me to abandon my studies and my home, but I’m too invested now to back out. I have dealt with him. See the following entry and corresponding report.

“Oh no…” Fleethoof murmured, realizing he was speaking out loud.

Midnight looked up quickly. “What is it?”

“The pony that lived here… He was experimenting with raw magic, trying to create immortal life,” he said, reading the grim entry that followed on Isingoma’s fate. “His experiments were failures though. They turned the ponies into the monsters in this place.”

Midnight felt her stomach churn as she processed this discovery. “Is that what created those things out in the town too…?”

“I don’t know… Let me see if it says…”

Entry #1505,

The ponies of Sunny Town have begged me to find a cure to the blight of Cutie Pox encroaching on nearby towns. They are still unaware of the experiments I've been running behind their backs. Perhaps my experiments need to be performed on foals for the aether to properly take effect. Perhaps whatever magic instills a pony with its cutie mark is what has been my undoing. I shall begin my experiments on the foals tomorrow.

Fleethoof felt sick to his stomach as he could only imagine what was to follow. He turned a few pages to the last entry, and felt like he was going to throw up.

Entry #1512,

I can hear the screams coming from Sunny Town. The aether took to the foals as I had hypothesized, and they survived the infusion—but they partially mutated as well. Every so often, I see them shift into creatures of decayed flesh and bone, reverting back to base primal instincts. These mutations only seem to occur at night. They attack indiscriminately at anything that differs from them: namely ponies with cutie marks. They must be eviscerating the town as I write this.

I do not know what further mutations will occur, but I am not staying. I have failed. Celestia has damned me to this hell, and I will have my righteous vengeance someday. But this town… my town… I have condemned them all to Tartarus. The last thing I can do is lock their forms away in this time, and pray the Great Alicorn has mercy on their souls. This is my last shred of decency and kindness in this life. They can live out their lives away from the real world in a time lock. One last spell, and one last test of myself…

Melody, forgive me…

— Silence

Fleethoof bit his lip and shut the journal slowly. Everything had begun to fall into place now. Obsidian Spell’s experiments with aether and magic had created the monsters of Sunny Town, and his magic had been what had locked this town in an endless time loop to try to keep them hidden away.

It must have been too strong, and affected the ponies as well as the town, Fleethoof thought. It must’ve given those creatures the ability to pass through the time lock spell. That’s how they could get out into the forest. That’s why ponies can stumble in, but not out. It’s like a flytrap.

“He created those zombie ponies, Mid,” Fleethoof said after a moment. Midnight’s eyes dropped to the floor. “The magic that mutated and destroyed them was infused with their bodies. When they bit Blackjack, some of it must’ve carried over into him and changed him too.”

Midnight Dasher could feel the overwhelming fury mounting inside of her again even as her head spun from this assault of information. Somehow, it had calmed her to think of those ponies as mindless creatures spawned by some dark force of nature. Now that she knew a pony had manufactured them, it infuriated her.

“Why are they always talking about friends and stuff then?” she asked, her voice hoarse with anger.

“They’re foals, Midnight. They were all changed when they were foals and were stuck that way. It’s why they act impulsively and on raw emotion. They’ve been cut down to their baser instincts and grown without any sort of guidance. The immortality magic must’ve worked on their aging, but not on their growth, so they grew up to be like regular ponies and just froze for hundreds of years.”

“So if we’re stuck in some sort of alternate time dimension or whatever, how are we supposed to get out?”

Midnight’s question had been one Fleethoof had spent most of his time pondering. “I think I might have an answer to that. Obsidian’s journal says he put the town in a time lock by using a spell at an aether pool in the caverns beneath the mansion. If he isn’t physically here to keep casting it, he must’ve left some sort of totem or ward to keep it going. So if we get rid of it—”

“We break the spell and return home,” Midnight said, realization dawning on her. “That’s brilliant. But if we do that, won’t those things come back with us?”

“It hasn’t stopped them before,” Fleethoof noted darkly. “And Obsidian’s journal said something about ‘containing their forms to this time’, so maybe they won’t. It’s worth a shot though.”

“I agree.” Midnight nodded her head, making for the door. “So how do we get to these caverns?”

Fleethoof tucked the journal into his jacket pocket safely. “We have to go back to—”

The door flew inward suddenly. In a flurry of motion, both Fleethoof and Midnight had their guns up. Staring down the sights, Midnight was shocked to see not a zombie, but a pony she knew.

“Starlight! You’re alive!”

Starlight lowered his gun, and an expression of joy graced his features. “Midnight! Captain Fleethoof! Sweet Luna, you have no idea how good it is to see you two.”

“Likewise,” Fleethoof replied, stowing his gun again. “How did you find us?”

“I heard voices nearby and thought it might have been somepony still alive. Daybreak and I found the mansion when we were running through the woods, and found a way in around back here. I lost him a while back, and I’ve been looking for anypony ever since. You haven’t seen the others, have you?”

Fleethoof and Midnight exchanged a look. Starlight felt his heart sink into his stomach.

“I see…”

“Day and Black are gone, Star…” Midnight said mournfully, her ears folded back against her skull. “Have you seen Echo or Eclipse?”

Starlight’s darkening eyes told a similar story. “Eclipse didn’t make it either. I don’t know where Echo is. We lost her in the forest somewhere.”

“Dammit…” Fleethoof cursed and pounded a hoof against the wall. “We have to assume the worst… It’d be impossible to search for her now in the fog and rain.”

“I know… Right now, we need to work on finding a way out of here.”

Midnight’s expression brightened instantly. “We may have found a way out. There are caverns under the mansion, where a time spell keeping us trapped here is being cast. We just have to stop it and we’re free.”

Starlight looked between the two ponies, staring at them like they had just spoke of assassinating Celestia. “Whoa, whoa... Back it up. What the hell? Spell? What—?”

“It's a really, really long story, and I'll explain everything on the way,” Midnight interrupted. “But we can get out, and I think we shouldn't wait around for those things to catch up to us before we do.”

“No. Nuh-uh. No way. Somepony explain to me what's going on now. Time spell? What the hell is going on?!”

Midnight sucked in a deep breath, and spoke in a flurry, “Okay, so basically the evil zombie ponies are actually ponies cursed by the magic of some insane pony looking for immortality, and he cast a time spell on the town to keep it locked away and hidden so they'd never be found, except now we've been pulled into it and we're trapped, so we gotta find a way out and Fleet thinks the way out is in the caverns.”

Both Fleethoof and Starlight stared blankly at Midnight Dasher. Even though he knew the truth from discovering it himself, Fleethoof had to admit, hearing it spoken out loud did sound pretty farfetched. Then again, this entire night had been one messed up nightmare. Put into context, perhaps it didn't seem as crazy as it did aloud.

“What... the... fuck...?” muttered Starlight.

“I'll try to clarify on the way,” Fleethoof said in suggestion. “But Midnight's right. We need to get out of here as soon as possible before anypony else gets hurt.”

“All right, fine. But I want the full story—no skipping anything.” That was when something sparked in Starlight’s eyes. “Did you say caverns beneath the mansion?” At Midnight’s nod, he pulled the hexagonal object from his armor. “I found this. It’s supposed to open the gate to the caverns.”

For the first time since he’d left Canterlot, Fleethoof felt like things were actually going their way. “Perfect! Let’s get out of this Celestia damned place and warn the rest of the Royal Guard before anypony else gets lured out here. Then maybe we can get back to finding those lost foals.”

“Um, do you know where the caverns are?”

Fleethoof half smiled. “Just follow me and we’ll be home by dawn.”

Chapter 9: Blood for Blood

The entrance to the caverns was little more than a wrought iron gate tucked neatly away behind the grand staircase. An archway ran around back of the stairs and led to the gated off passageway. Through the bars, the three ponies could see a stone stairwell descending into the earth. Torches lit the narrow passage, but beyond the first few steps they could see nothing. It just went down into the endless chasms of the earth.

The gate had been easy enough to open. Starlight found an indentation in the gate where the bizarre hexagonal key fit perfectly. The moment it slipped into its home, a snap and a click was heard, and the gate pushed right open. The hinges squealed noisily in the quiet foyer. Fleethoof didn’t see it as an omen anymore. This entire night had been an omen.

Starlight took the plunge first and stepped slowly down each stair. Midnight followed next, and Fleethoof brought up the rear. He prayed that Echo had found her own way out. He perished the thought of leaving the mare somewhere out there.

The descent into the caverns was a slow process. The stairs just seemed to go on into the darkness without end to the ponies. Finally, their hooves touched down on wood instead of hard stone. Midnight looked around as Fleethoof shone his light about. They were on wooden scaffolds in a large underground chamber. The sound of running water was heard somewhere very close by. At the base of the scaffolding was a line of torches running down a spiraling path into what looked like an endless dark abyss.

Nothing ever goes halfway here, does it? Starlight thought with a touch of satire as he studied the expanse of cave. He stepped slowly along the rickety old scaffold, listening to the wood creak and groan under his weight. Perhaps they should just fly down.

“Starlight, look!”

Midnight’s cry caught the stallion’s attention. He followed Midnight’s pointing hoof and saw what had caught her interest. Trudging slowly up through another tunnel towards their cavern was another bat pony. Her armor was smudged with dirt and mud, and she looked absolutely exhausted. He recognized that coat and mane.

“Echo! Echo, up here!”

Down below, Echo nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard something shouting her name. Darting around, she saw a flash of motion out of the corner of her vision. There, up on some unstable looking platforms, was about half of her team, frantically waving to her.

Echo breathed a sigh of relief and smiled before waving back to them. That was when a rumbling growl was heard echoing throughout the cavern. Everypony froze in mid-motion. Fleethoof searched frantically for the source of the noise.

Behind her, Echo heard the sound of rock shifting and sliding over itself. She turned around quickly—and felt something sharp cut straight across her face. In an instant, her world went dark, and fiery pain shot through her brain like burning needles. She screamed as she felt herself lose balance, and then her back was on the ground.

From above, Midnight Dasher and Starlight watched the scene as it happened. Echo turned around, and from what looked like a pile of rocks from excavation came a swipe from something that caught the mare across the face. She screamed and hit the ground. That was all it took.

“Echo! Don’t move!” Starlight shouted and took to the air in a heartbeat with Midnight close behind him.

Echo screeched in pain as she clutched at her face, feeling the blood wetting her fur. She heard two sets of hooves land nearby, and felt something pulling her up into a sitting position. The mare was hyperventilating and trembling, still looking around in a daze and wondering where her sight had gone.

“It’s me, Echo. It’s me.” Starlight’s voice calmed her down a little. “I’ve got you. You’re all right.”

“S-Star! I… I can’t see!” she cried out.

“Shh, here. Let me take a look.”

Echo whimpered and dropped her hooves from her face. Starlight grimaced at the sight of his teammate’s face. A deep slash tore across the orbits of her eyes from side to side, spilling blood in shallow trickles down her cheeks. But where the most damage had been were her eyes themselves. They had all but been ripped apart and destroyed. Medical magic only went so far. He knew Echo would probably never see again.

“It’s okay, Echo. You’re gonna be all right,” he said, trying to reassure her as he held the shaking pony close. “We’re gonna get you outta here, okay?”

Midnight stood beside her teammates, gun lifted as she scanned the area for whatever had attacked Echo. Whatever it had been, it was gone now. She looked up at the scaffolds, spotting Fleethoof still up there as he searched the area from above with his light.

Fleethoof tried to focus his breathing into steady, controlled breaths. Whatever had attacked Echo seemed to have disappeared. But it was here. He knew it was. Tightening his grip on his pistol, he shone the light around the cavern, looking for anything that seemed out of the ordinary.

The scaffolding suddenly shook violently, nearly throwing the pony from his hooves. Fleethoof grabbed tight to the side as it rocked to and fro. He clenched his teeth, eyes darting around for what was causing the tremors. Before he knew what was happening, the sound of snapping wood filled the cavern, and the scaffolding came crashing down.

Fleethoof cried out and kicked off the platform he had been on, extending his wings and taking to the air. He narrowly dodged a few pieces of flying debris as he came to a glide near the bat ponies. Midnight stared in shock as the entire platform system crumbled into dust.

“What the hell was that?” Midnight asked.

Gritting his teeth, Fleethoof slowly moved towards the broken wood and beams. It had been over here, and it had tried to kill him. He was going to get it first. Beside him, Midnight followed close. She didn’t want to leave her friends, but if Fleethoof was walking off to fight this thing, she sure as hell was going to help him.

Fleethoof stepped over beside the splintered wood, looking it over briefly. His eyes turned upward, and he spotted deep claw marks in the rock walls of the cavern. His eyes dilated in horror.

It can climb the walls…

He turned sharply, eyes moving in frenzy as he scanned the walls and domed ceiling of the cave. Midnight mimicked his action, not entirely sure what she was even looking for. She stepped over towards the path downward, peering over the side. The path seemed to just spiral down the massive hole forever.

Swallowing back his fear, Fleethoof looked over at Starlight and Echo. They were both still fine, and Starlight was lifting Echo up on his back. He wanted to get out of the open as quickly as possible.

And then he heard the laughter of a foal again, echoing quietly around the cave. He turned to face the source of the sound—back to Midnight—and terror stole his voice away.

Midnight had moved over toward the rubble again, and from the cavern wall, a massive insect-like stinger hovered threateningly in the air.

Fleethoof moved on instinctive reaction. He kicked off the ground, his wings propelling him the rest of the distance between him and the bat pony. He made contact with Midnight just as the stinger tore through the air towards her. He simultaneously heard Midnight cry out and felt something sharp tear through his side, just below his ribs. Fleethoof gave a gasping grunt as the air was knocked from his lungs and sharp pain ripped through his body and he collapsed to the ground.

“Fleet!” Midnight shouted and dove to his aid. She immediately pressed her hooves against the wound, hoping to compress and subside the flow of blood.

“You dense filly…” he muttered between groans of pain. “Behind you…!”

Fleethoof winced as he lifted his pistol up. Midnight looked over her shoulder, and saw the creature that had attacked them latched onto the cave wall. Fleethoof’s light illuminated the whole thing. It looked like it might have been a zebra once, but it had sprouted an additional pair of legs, and had a wicked-looking stinger similar to a scorpion's protruding from its backside. A long claw grew along its right hoof like a sword, both of the creature’s weapons dripping with fresh blood from its attacks.

“Isingoma…” Fleethoof said darkly, keeping his sights trained on the deformed monster.

The thing that had once been Isingoma gave a hiss that Midnight imagined a vampire might make and then leaped over the ponies. It landed square between them and Starlight and Echo, cutting them off. With two injured ponies to tend to, Starlight and Midnight felt caught between a rock and a hard place.

“Fucking monsters! I've had enough of this!” Starlight said with a snarl and unloaded every bullet he had in his rifle into the creature’s backside. Isingoma gave a shriek and jumped away, landing on a nearby wall.

“This way! Hurry!” Midnight called to Starlight as she lifted Fleethoof, letting the stallion lean on her shoulder as they began trudging down the ramp into the pit.

Starlight ran as fast as he could with Echo on his back. The process was slow and arduous, but they had no choice. They couldn’t fight that abomination with their wounded friends lying about. Behind him, he could hear Isingoma crawling along the walls, chasing after them. Fleethoof groaned as his legs gave out from under him, a fire burning in his muscles. Midnight skidded to a halt and ran back to help her fallen partner back up again, adrenaline pushing them on.

The four ponies darted beneath a stone archway as they ran down the sloping path. The rock exploded into a cloud of dust and debris as Isingoma smashed it to pieces, still in full pursuit. Starlight managed to turn mid-stride and pop a few shots at it with his pistol. Fleethoof mimicked the action, letting Midnight guide him as he fired at the mutated pony.

A couple bullets struck Isingoma in the face, and with a whistle of air, it jumped across the gap. It landed in front of the ponies, blocking their path. Midnight skidded to a halt with Fleethoof, wincing as its stinger slammed into the rock just in front of them. Midnight and Fleethoof opened fire on the creature while Starlight tried to catch up.

“S-Star…”

Starlight glanced back at Echo. She was leaning up to him, clutching something in her hoof. He slowed down to take the cool, metal object from her. It was a hoof grenade.

“I took your advice… Always bring spares…” she said with a weak smile. “You always said everypony forgets the essentials.”

For once in his life, Starlight was glad somepony had actually listened to him. “Midnight, get back!”

He pulled the pin with his teeth and tossed it across the ground as Midnight backpedaled as fast as she could. The grenade rolled beneath the creature and detonated, the resulting explosion flinging Isingoma into the air and knocking it into the pit with a screech of primal fury. Midnight carefully peered over the edge into the darkness.

“Is it dead?” Midnight dared to ask.

Fleethoof shook his head weakly, breathing hard as he spoke. “I doubt it…”

With a heavy breath, Fleethoof’s legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground. Midnight Dasher gasped and immediately set to tending to the pony as he groaned and tensed up. His breathing was labored and he looked to be in an excruciating amount of pain. The wound in his side was still bleeding freely and needed to be tending to.

“Midnight, over here!” She turned and saw Starlight waving from a crevice in the cave wall. “Set him down in here.”

Midnight led Fleethoof over through the fissure in the rock wall and into the small chamber it led to. Starlight had already set Echo down and was working on bandaging up her eyes. Fleethoof collapsed against the wall with a groan of agony, clutching at his side. The pain had become extraordinarily worse than when it had started. Stabbing pains ignited in his skull behind his eyes, making his world spin. It felt like somepony had set fire to his blood.

“Hold still, Fleet. I’ve gotta get you patched up,” said Midnight, reaching for the first aid kit Starlight had. A sudden hoof on her shoulder caught Midnight by surprise.

“Midnight… It won’t do any good.”

Fleethoof’s words worried Midnight. He didn’t look like he’d been hit in any vital organs, and he hadn’t been severely injured to a point beyond aid.

“But I can help you! Just let me—”

“Midnight, it’s more than that…” Fleethoof screamed out in pain as it felt like every drop of blood in his body had turned to a lake of lava.

It took her a moment to catch on, but when she did, her eyes darkened in grim realization. “Poison…?”

Fleethoof’s mournful eyes gave all the answer she needed. His breathing had become shallow and uneven, and he kept writhing about in discomfort and pain. Nausea and dizziness sent his world spinning into a vague kaleidoscope of colors—all save for Midnight. It was working much faster than he had feared. Of course Isingoma’s mutation would make use of his knowledge of powerful and potent poisons. The sight tore Midnight’s heart to pieces—far worse than Blackjack had.

“Fleet, please hold on. We can get you out of this,” she said, trying to urge the stallion on with her characteristically cocky grin. There was no persuasion behind it though. “Come on, you promised to take me to the Gala, remember? I know you’re not gonna give up now.”

Fleethoof gave a weak chuckle amidst heavy breaths. Even that sounded riddled with agony. His blue eyes met Midnight’s golden ones, seeing the confliction and suffering in them. In his, she saw nothing but searing agony. It was taking all of his strength to keep from screaming out loud again. He managed a half smile back to her.

“I guess we have our answer now…” Midnight looked confused. “If I’d die for you… I guess it's a yes…”

He began to laugh, a sort of slow, pained moan that made Midnight tear up even as she giggled along with him. His chuckle cut off in a loud cry as his body arched and writhed against the stone wall, seeking any sort of respite from the fire burning through him. Starlight stood off to the side, watching the two as he urgently searched the first aid kit for some kind of antivenom that would help. Much to his dismay, there was none. The Royal Guard didn’t have protocols for giant poisonous monsters.

“Well, you’re wrong, because you’re not dying today,” Midnight said with absolute certainty, even as her voice cracked a bit under the strain of convincing herself. She tried to lift the pony up again. “Come on, you’re Captain Fleethoof! You’re the strongest pony I know. One little sting isn’t gonna do you in.”

As if to prove her wrong, a sharp bolt of pain struck every muscle in Fleethoof’s body. He cried out sharply and doubled over, his body tensing up as the fire burned through him. A loud, gut-wrenching scream of pure anguish left the pegasus as his body twitched violently, followed by a weak cough as every breath of air was forced out of his lungs. Midnight grabbed him by the shoulders and sat him upright again. Despite her bravado, she couldn’t keep the tough façade up any longer. Worry painted her face and her heart was racing.

“Oh, shit... Star, the medkit! Now!”

“I always knew you’d be there when I died, Midnight… But to be honest, I really expected you to be the cause of it…” Fleethoof laughed softly again.

“Hey,” she remarked, flashing her teeth in a rueful grin as she took the medkit from Starlight, pressing the patches of dense cotton against his injury. “Be nice. I’m trying to save you here.”

Fleethoof clenched his jaw as he fought another wave of pain. His nerves were beginning to dull from the constant attack and he could feel his senses slipping away. His vision had begun to blur. Each breath felt like a battle. He had never known what to expect out of death. Now he knew. He tried his hardest to focus on Midnight, only barely able to keep her in his darkening eyesight.

“You know how to get home, Mid… Get them back safe, and keep the Guard the hell away from this place… Don’t let anypony ever return…” he said, pausing to take a few light breaths. “And find Sharp Shot. Tell him”—he stared blankly into space for a moment—“he was right about the Everfree.”

Midnight shook her head as she applied fresh padding to his wound. She refused to believe that this could be happening again. Not to him—not to Fleethoof of all ponies.

“You tell him yourself when we get you home, Fleet. Okay?”

Fleethoof retched a couple of times, gasping for air like he was being strangled. His face contorted into a grim expression of the pain his body was racked with. He was afraid, but he couldn’t bring himself to dwell on it as the beating of his heart pounded much too fast and strong against his ribs, fighting to keep him alive even as his body weakened with each rhythmic pulse.

“Midnight… I wanted to tell you...” he growled out through gritted teeth. He looked back down into the filly’s tear-filled eyes. She was the last thing he saw in the world before his vision went black, and then Fleethoof was gone.

“Fleet…?” Midnight asked, forcing a smile as she looked at the pegasus. She saw him look up at her, and then he moved no more.

Her eyes stayed locked with his for a moment, seeing the light of life fade away into glassy darkness. Worry gripped her heart like a vise. His chest wasn’t rising any more. In a panic, she checked his pulse, desperately searching for it before realizing she couldn’t find what wasn’t there.

“Oh, no… No, no, no! No! Fleethoof, no!” she cried out, swiftly laying him on the ground and beginning the chest compressions associated with CPR. “No, no, don’t you give up on me! Fleethoof, stay with me! Please!”

She counted the motions exactly, and gave her breath to the lifeless pony. He remained still. She repeated the actions again, each time getting more and more despairing.

“Midnight…” Starlight said from beside her.

“Wake up, Fleet! Wake up, dammit!” Another exhale into his lungs, and the compressions began again as her tears flowed freely and her motions became more frantic. “Come on, you tough pegasus bastard—wake up!”

“Midnight—”

“Shut up, Star!” she snapped, attempting another bout of CPR before simply collapsing on his chest and breaking down. “No… No, Fleet… Please come back… Come back…”

Midnight’s shoulders rose and fell as the floodgates opened and she openly wept over the body of her friend. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It was supposed to be me. He wasn’t even supposed to be here, she thought as a terrifying mix of anguish, guilt, and rage overtook her soul. She clenched her teeth together so hard it began to hurt her jaw, but she didn’t care. Her friends were gone. Fleethoof was gone. Survival was the only thing left, and even now as she clung to Fleethoof’s jacket that didn’t feel like much of a consolation prize.

Starlight cleared his throat and said, “Midnight. We have to get moving, before that thing comes back.”

Midnight Dasher didn’t reply. She didn’t even move. She just lay across Fleethoof protectively, clinging to the slowly fading warmth of his body.

“Midnight, we can’t stay here.”

He was right. “I know, Star… I know, just… Please…”

Drawing a shuddering breath past her lips, Midnight stroked Fleethoof’s mane gently, looking through blurry, tear-drenched eyes at the pained expression frozen on his face. She gently closed his eyes, unable to look into the frozen blue pools any longer. After a few long moments, she gradually heaved Fleethoof’s body across her back. Starlight lifted Echo up—and shook his head in disbelief when he saw what Midnight was up to.

“Midnight, he’s gone.”

“I’m not leaving him,” said Midnight tersely. Her words were so sharp and her tone so adamant and iron that it took Starlight by surprise. “He didn't leave us. I’m taking him back, even if it kills me.”

Starlight started to object again, but the vicious glare from Midnight cut him off immediately. Her violent gaze told him everything: it was not up for debate. He shut his mouth and followed her as she squeezed back out into the cavern. Together, the three bat ponies began to descend into the chasm again.

Other than Echo’s soft whimpers every now and then, the cavern had become utterly silent. Down and down they trotted. Then Echo lifted her head suddenly, looking towards the pit.

“Wait,” she spoke softly, surprising both of her teammates. “I hear something… Scuffling, getting louder—one o’ clock and low.”

Starlight exchanged a look with Midnight Dasher, who merely shrugged and followed Echo’s directions. One o’ clock put her right at the edge of the abyss. She peered down—and saw the creature that had killed Fleethoof clinging to the side of the pit. It glared up at her with glowing orange eyes and hissed. It was still alive.

“Oh, hell no, you’re not getting up here,” Midnight said. She pointed her pistol down at it and popped off round after round. The bullets smacked into the creature’s torso, and it uttered a shrill, guttural noise and began climbing up the sides of the pit after them again.

“It’s still alive?!” asked Starlight in shock as they took off down the path again. “How?!”

Midnight glanced back at the monster now crawling onto the slope behind them. “You didn’t think it would really be that easy, did you?”

Weighted down with the ponies on their backs, the two fleeing ponies were unable to take to the air without risking falling to a gruesome demise. They ran as fast as their hooves could carry them, pausing only whenever the monster would get within striking range to unload a few bullets into it and bolting off again.

“Midnight, look out!”

Midnight looked behind her at Starlight’s yell just in time to see Isingoma scuttling along the wall close to them, its stinger poised to strike. Midnight yelped as she dove forward, hearing the rock shatter behind her. It had taken a massive chunk out of the ramp, cutting off any route back up.

Starlight could see the bottom of the chasm coming up at them now. They were running out of places to go. Dashing down to the bottom, Midnight and Starlight took a second to observe their new surroundings. The bottom of the pit was entirely flat and circular with high walls reaching as high as the eye could see. A small passageway carved into the cave wall was the only way forward.

“Hurry! This way!” Midnight called to her teammate and made a break for the exit.

No sooner had the ponies made a sprint for the exit, the monster Isingoma leapt from the wall, landing right between them and salvation. Midnight skidded to a halt, her hooves kicking wildly as she tried to brake as fast as possible. Isingoma’s claw sliced through the air mere inches in front of her face, sending Midnight tumbling to her back.

Starlight skidded to a stop as well, firing every bullet left in his pistol into the abomination. He snagged a magazine from Echo and loaded it into his rifle, laying down enough fire to suppress the creature while Midnight dragged Fleethoof’s body back to a safe distance.

Isingoma screeched and crawled through the gunfire towards the ponies. Midnight began shooting at it as well, running her pistol dry before switching to Fleethoof’s. A round clipped the mutated pony’s eye and turned it into a screaming mass. It flailed and recoiled back, slamming into the wall.

“We can’t fight it here! It’ll kill us in a second!” Starlight shouted above the gunfire. Midnight was inclined to agree.

“Well what’s your plan then?”

Starlight looked about hurriedly while the monster thrashed against the wall in pain. The only option they had was to get through that passage somehow. Unfortunately, only one grim idea came to mind.

“Midnight, take Echo and break for the door,” said Starlight as he set Echo down on her hooves and gently pushed her into Midnight’s side. Midnight scrunched her forehead in confusion.

“What? Why? What’re you—”

“Just do it, please. No matter what, don’t stop running.” Midnight could see the loyalty smoldering in the stallion’s eyes. Her mind quickly put the pieces together.

“Star, no. There’s gotta be another way. Enough ponies have died!”

Starlight cocked a grin and reloaded his rifle. “Then I’ll just have to outfly death. Now go!”

He was in the air before he had even finished speaking, hurdling towards the monster in their way. Midnight urged Echo along, still lugging Fleethoof on her back as they made their way slowly but surely toward the door. Isingoma had just recovered when Starlight’s hooves made contact with its face, snapping its head back with a snap.

“Hey! Over here, you ugly motherfucker!” he shouted in taunt, popping a couple bullets at it.

Isingoma hissed violently and scurried after the airborne bat pony. Starlight strafed about in the air while dodging the swipes of his enemy’s claw and stinger. He had seen the lethality of the monster’s venom and had no intention of getting hit. He would fire a few bullets and then fly off to another side of the cave, dancing around it to give his teammates enough time to escape.

Midnight and Echo rushed as fast as they could to the hole in the wall. No matter how hard they ran, the distance never seemed to get any shorter. Midnight’s ears drummed with each pulse of blood her heart pumped. Adrenaline surged her forward through the fog of fear. The sounds of combat behind her reminded her of the risk they ran by being too slow.

Please, dear Luna, let us make it, she prayed in her head. Step by step, they got closer to the door. A chunk of rock exploded behind them as Starlight narrowly avoided another fatal strike. The next thing Midnight knew, she was leading Echo through the archway and into the tight tunnel.

“Star! We’re clear!” she shouted from the entrance, and fired a few shots off to ward the monster away.

Starlight breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the ponies breach the entrance. They were in the clear. He flapped his wings and took off for the tunnel—only to feel something break the skin on his flank and send him spiraling into the earth. He grunted when he crash-landed, feeling a searing pain being to burn into his leg.

He muttered a profanity as he took to the air again, flying as fast as he could for the tunnel. Midnight was still shooting off rounds, and Starlight could hear the bullets snap past him as they flew into the monster he knew was indubitably chasing him.

Midnight watched in horror was Starlight flew past her into the tunnel, blood dripping from a cut across his left flank. Isingoma was charging at the tunnel. Though it was much too small for the creature, it didn’t slow down in the least. Midnight turned and ran while Starlight pushed Echo forward. Isingoma collided with the tunnel, and Midnight felt the world shake around her. Tremors ran through the ground and walls, shaking rock loose as the passageway came down on top of the creature—and on them.

The ponies ran as fast as they could, hearing and feeling the debris coming down right behind them. The tunnel was not very long, and the moment Midnight saw the exit, she leapt through the air, tackling Starlight and Echo and pushing them out just as the collapsing tunnel gave in.

Chapter 10: The Aether Pool

The three survivors coughed, breathing heavy amidst the cloud of dust left behind. Midnight glanced back at the tunnel, and saw nothing but a hefty pile of rubble blocking the way. That was too close… she thought, brushing some dirt off her coat.

“Is everypony okay?”

“I’m okay,” Echo answered in between light coughs.

“Starlight?”

There was no response. Starlight was busy looking down at the wound on his leg. It didn’t look particularly deep or devastating, but it was bleeding a fair bit. He gave it an experimental poke and winced at the incurred stinging.

“Star…?”

“I’m all right, Mid. It’s just… just a scratch.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, approaching him. “If it got you with its stinger—”

“I’m fine.” His words were hard and abrupt. As if to prove his point, Starlight got back to his hooves, albeit shakily, and smiled at Midnight. “See? Fine.”

Midnight simply nodded, and helped Echo get back to her hooves.

“I… I think I can do this on my own,” Echo said, rising to stand again. Even though her sight was gone, her keen hearing remained, if not strengthened by the loss of her other sense. She could hear every little noise around her, and could get a general mental image from the sound waves. She navigated a few slow steps, her ears swiveling about as she issued a few vocal chirps.

“The ramp continues up ahead…” She paused for a moment, getting her bearings. “And curves around like a U-shape. We’re in another large cavern… right?”

Midnight and Starlight were both impressed. Echo had described the general gist of what the new chamber looked like. The path curved down to a lower plateau in the towering cavern, and down below a tunnel could be seen.

Midnight stared in awe at Echo's ingenuity. “Using sound to move... just like navigating through the Shades.”

“I haven't done it in some time, but I think I still remember how to work it...” Echo said as she took a few more confident steps.

“All right, Echo. If it’s working for you, go with it,” said Starlight, taking the lead gradually down the ramp. “But you let us know if you need any help at all.”

Echo nodded, smiling a little now that she didn’t feel entirely crippled. The ponies trotted leisurely down to the lowest level of the cavern and approached the only doorway in the entire cave. They stepped through into the adjacent cave, and the sight floored Midnight.

A large domed cave housed a pool of water that overtook most of the chamber. An altar-like platform carved out of stone sat slightly above the water. But what was most striking was the atmosphere. The air felt as if it were charged by electricity, mystical energy crackling around them. Midnight could feel the fur on the back of her neck stand on end as they approached the platform.

This must be the aether pool thing Fleethoof was talking about… she surmised. As the ponies trotted up the steps onto the platform, archaic runes and symbols could be seen drawn on the stone, left there for all time. Crystals like the ones they had found in the mansion lay scattered about. A book sat alone in the center of the platform and abandoned rope lay carelessly strewn across the floor. Midnight wondered how many ponies had found themselves bound down here.

“Take a look at that…” Starlight murmured as he approached a small podium at the edge of the platform. An amber crystal sat perched on the dais, faintly glowing and pulsing with infused magical energy. Every so often, the crystal would emit a spark, and the glow would return as bright as ever.

“This must be what’s keeping the time spell in place,” said Midnight, studying the crystal from a distance. “That’s gotta be our key home.”

Starlight ducked his head down till he was eye level with the crystal. “So, what do we do? Just smash it or something?”

Midnight had already begun looking through the book left behind by the ponies that had performed the unholy rituals down here. “I guess so. I mean, none of us are unicorns, so smashing it makes— Wait.”

A passage in the book had caught Midnight Dasher’s attention. The book had been a roster of spells that had been performed and what their effects were. Many of them were the botched immortality spells she and Fleethoof had already discovered, but one was different. It had nothing to do with life or immortality or curses.

It was a spell to reverse time.

Midnight’s heart skipped a beat. If there was a spell to rewind time, then maybe they had a chance to get Fleethoof back from the dead. Even though she had no idea how it would work, the mere prospect of saving him brought a swell of excitement.

“Star! We can save him!” she said happily, all but bouncing in place as the stallion looked at her like she was insane. “There’s a spell here for reversing time! It undoes everything that happened to anypony within this circle in the last hour. It looks like it might have worked before, but it wasn’t what whoever wrote this was looking for. Maybe we can save Fleet with this!”

Starlight looked at the mare with deep skepticism in his eyes and shook his head. “Mid, that book was written by deranged ponies who practiced black magic in underground caves. We can’t trust a word it says.”

“But isn’t it even worth a shot? I mean, we have nothing to lose!”

“Oh yeah? But what about him?” he asked, pointing to Fleethoof's body on Midnight’s back. “What if we mess the spell up? What if it brings him back like one of those undead monsters? Could you really do that to him? Do you think he’d want you doing something like that?”

Midnight shook her head stubbornly. “I don’t care. I can save him. Too many ponies have died tonight. If I can bring one back, I’m gonna do it.”

“Midnight, think for a second. We’re not even unicorns! We can’t cast spells!”

“But that’s the beauty of it—this spell doesn’t use any actual magic!” Midnight flipped the book open again, skimming the spell. “These crystals we've seen all over the place already have magic infused in them! It’s just a certain combination of crystals, the right timing with this aether stuff, and—”

Midnight drifted off into silence. She reread the last step over and over again, feeling hope slipping away through her hooves again. Starlight winced as he leaned against the dais, taking some weight off of his aching, burning leg. He cast a hard look at Midnight, waiting for her answer.

“And what, Mid?”

“…A blood sacrifice…”

Starlight gave a hard laugh, the expression on his face pure incredulity. “So you need to sacrifice one life to save another? No, not even save a life—reverse an hour. See? They were madponies!”

Midnight Dasher chewed on her lower lip for a moment. Of course there would have to be a catch with something this good. But Fleethoof had given his life to save hers and let them get away. They had gotten away—so maybe she could return the favor.

“I’ll do it…”

Starlight looked up in a flash and stomped a hoof down. “No way. No! Not a chance, Midnight! Like you said, we’ve lost enough ponies today, and I’m not about to let you throw your life away to save somepony who’s already dead.”

“He’s dead because he was protecting us, Star—protecting me!” Midnight snapped angrily, her eyes burning intensely. “And it’s not up to you. It’s my decision. And I want to do this.”

“Why? He’s just a pony, Midnight! It’s not worth it!”

Midnight gave a rueful smirk as she set Fleethoof’s body down gingerly in the center of the runes. “He’s always been worth it…”

Despite his protests, Midnight continued to set up the scattered crystals in the pattern the spell book described. Across the platform, Echo looked up suddenly, staring off intensely at the tunnel they had come through.

“Midnight, stop this nonsense now!”

“You can’t make me do anything, Star. We rank the same. Plus I wouldn’t listen to you anyway.”

“Guys…?” Echo called out softly.

Midnight placed the last crystal in its place, double checking all the positions and nodding at her handiwork. “Okay, it’s all set. Now, I just need to wait for another energy spark from the big yellow crystal, and it’s done.”

Echo raised her voice a little more. “Guys?”

Starlight had still refused to back down. He grunted as he limped across the platform to stand beside his teammate, ignoring the numbing tingling spreading through his leg. “Please, Midnight. Just think for a second of everything you’re throwing away.”

“I’m thinking about everything I’m saving, Starlight.” Midnight’s smile was nervous and unsure, but her eyes showed an iron will and unwavering resolve.

“Guys!”

“What?” both Starlight and Midnight snapped in unison.

A loud screech tore through the otherwise silent cave. Starlight’s hair stood up on end. Midnight felt her chest tighten and blood turn to ice water. Everypony recognized that noise all too well by now.

“How did they get down here?” Starlight muttered, unslinging his rifle from his shoulder.

Midnight followed his lead, chambering a round in her weapon. “We should’ve known they wouldn’t make it easy for us.”

The stallion scoffed. “This was easy?”

The sound of many hooves thundering down the rocky path towards them put the ponies on edge. From the darkness, the undead ponies emerged like shadows given physical form. They molded perfectly out of the dark, their red eyes glowing and burning with wicked bloodlust.

“Those with the mark must be cleansed…” one hissed from the mob as they skulked up towards the platform.

“You cannot leave… Nopony leaves…”

“Stay with us… Stay…”

“As soon as Fleet is back, break that crystal and go home,” Midnight said to Starlight. “Don’t stop to check on me, and don’t try to save me. Just go, got it?”

Starlight’s eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched, tensing for the fight while ignoring the stinging in his leg. “You giving me a choice in the matter?”

“Nope.”

He smirked. “Didn’t think so. It’s been an honor, Dasher.”

“Save your goodbyes, Star. It ain’t over yet.”

The gunfire started all at once. Both ponies unloaded into the horde of enemies, knocking the zombies back with shrieks and yelps. Echo leaned against the railing of the platform, her pistol clutched in her hooves. She listened for where the cries would come from, and then release a few shots in that direction, hoping to either hit them or hold them back for her friends.

Even though their efforts kept the horde of undead at bay, the bat ponies knew they couldn’t win. Their enemies were invulnerable, and their ammo reserve was running low. Each shot fired brought them closer and closer to their inevitable doom.

Gotta hold them off long enough to bring Fleet back and let the others escape… Midnight grit her teeth as she kept the plan in the forefront of her mind. She had accepted her life as forfeit. The survival of the others was all that mattered now.

Starlight, however, had other ideas. He kept glancing over at Midnight Dasher, making sure she was thoroughly distracted by the fight as he slowly slunk towards the crystal dais. She wasn’t thinking clearly. She was stricken with grief and wasn’t making rational decisions. He had to tear her away from the dead captain if he was to save her.

He continued shooting as he backed up towards the spell crystal, now halfway across the platform. A little further and they would be free. They could go home, and the nightmare would finally be over.

Starlight inched across the floor—and a searing jolt of pain shot through his leg. He cried out and collapsed to the cool stone beneath his hooves. His heart was racing, and he had broken into a cold sweat. His world began to sway before his eyes like he was on a wayward ship adrift at sea. For some reason, it had become more difficult to breathe.

No… No, I was so close…! he thought and looked down at his injured leg. Not now! Please, don’t let it be true!

“Get back, you freaks!” Midnight shouted as she kicked one of the advancing monsters off the platform and reloaded her weapon. The gunfire resumed shortly afterward.

Lying across the floor, Starlight groaned as a tight pain gripped at his chest. He felt like he was having the beginnings of a heart attack. His breathing was labored and shallow, stuttering with each inhale. He glanced over at the corpse of Fleethoof, dark horror shrouding his mind like a cloak. Is this what he had experienced?

Starlight felt his hoof nudge something under his armor as he rubbed his tightening chest, and furrowed his brow as he pulled the object out. His eyes widened in recognition. It was the flare Fleethoof had given him from the helicopter.

“No!”

The scream from Midnight had been so blood curdling, it shocked Starlight back into reality. At first, he didn’t know what had happened—until he noticed the scattered arrangement of crystals. One of the undead ponies must have knocked the crystals out of place.

Midnight gave another cry as she forced the ponies back again. They had already pushed the two fillies back about halfway, and were eagerly advancing up the stairs towards them. Starlight took a deep breath and held it in. This was no easy decision.

“Midnight, Echo, move!” he said.

At his call, Midnight glanced back, and then quickly dove to the side when she saw the flare in Starlight’s hooves. The stallion took aim at the mass of ponies rushing up the stairs and pulled the release cable. The small rocket flew across the platform and impacted into the chest of one of the zombies before bursting in a bright explosion of brilliant white light. The ponies shrieked in terror while the one caught fire, tumbling down the stairs in a cascade of flames before tearing back out through the tunnel. The others backed away, shielding their eyes from the bright light before retreating into the darkness after their brethren.

“No! No! I was so close!” Midnight wailed as she stared down into the water beneath the platform. The crystal was nowhere in sight. “I can’t— I…”

“Mid, what happened?” asked Starlight.

“Those things, they... they knocked a crystal off. I don't have enough now. I don't... I can't...”

Starlight could see traces of crystalline tears welling up in the corners of Midnight's eyes while she stared hopelessly down into the misty water below. He pursed his lips tightly, fighting back a wave of nausea that hit him like a wall. He knew he would be unable to convince the stubborn Midnight to leave otherwise, even without a way to rescue her friend. But Starlight's guilty conscience wouldn't allow him to deny her the opportunity.

“Mid...”

Starlight’s call went unheeded. She continued to stare with anguish and defeat down into the pool. They did not have time for this.

“Midnight!”

This time, she turned around. To her amazement, Starlight was holding another crystal, the one he had taken from the mansion. With a flick of his hoof, he tossed it across the distance to her. Midnight grasped it eagerly, handling the precious stone with delicate hooves.

“Go on. Save him if you really think it’s worth your life.”

Midnight exhaled slowly, her shoulders drooping with release. The momentary respite was exactly what they had needed. She set the crystal back in place and ejected the empty magazine from her rifle, realizing she had spent her last one and switched to her pistol. All she needed was one bullet now…

Across the platform, Starlight slumped against the stone dais holding the spell crystal. His whole body felt like it was running a high fever, and his vision had begun to blur. Try as he might to deny it, he knew the truth: he was dying as well. He swallowed to try and wet his dry, arching throat. Visions of his team flashed before his eyes. Nocturne, Eclipse, Daybreak, and Blackjack… He had let them all down.

He glanced back over his shoulder at Echo, and then at Midnight. His eyes dropped slowly to Fleethoof’s body.

He could still save her though, and as team leader it was his responsibility to keep his ponies safe—no matter the cost.

“This stallion of yours…” he began, struggling to get back to his hooves. He had to use the dais for support, his weakened muscles feeling ready to give in again at a moment’s notice. “He’s really worth it, huh…?”

Midnight was quiet for a while. Starlight’s question brought up so many thoughts and emotions attached to the answer. A wistful smile touched her lips, and she nodded her head. She did her best to ignore the dampness in the corners of her eyes.

“Yeah… he is.”

Starlight swallowed hard again and nodded his head in understanding. He stared blankly out into the expanse of the aether pool while his life began to flash before his eyes. The pain had yet to reach the excruciating levels Fleethoof had endured, and he planned to keep it that way. He had made up his mind. If he was going out, it was on his terms.

Echo remained quiet as she listened to the scene unfold. Midnight Dasher had confided her secret with her when she returned from Canterlot. She knew the truth behind the nocturnal guard and pegasus captain. She heard the intent behind Starlight’s words as well.

A soft crackling filled the air with electric tension again. All at once, the runes began to glow with a faint blue light, and the crystals Midnight had arranged began to hum with life, absorbing the magical energy in the air. She looked at them in bittersweet joy. The ritual could actually work—and she was really going to die for it.

“Okay, I guess this is it then… Star, do me a favor. When you get home, just tell my mother and brother—”

Bang!

A single gunshot went off behind Midnight’s back, making her jump in fright. She spun around and stared in shock. Starlight lay across the floor on his back, blood starting to pool beneath his head from a gunshot wound running through his temple. His pistol lay clutched tightly in his hoof.

“Starlight!”

The runes began to glow brighter as the crystals sparked as bright as the sun. Pure white light flooded the chamber from the pool of water, and electricity arced through the air around the platform. Echo ducked down on reflex while Midnight watched in a mixture of awe and horror as the spell took form. Fleethoof and Starlight’s bodies were encapsulated in a pale purple aura, and with a loud sound similar to a lightning strike, light engulfed the cavern.

Midnight shielded her eyes with her hoof and listened to the spell pop and snap before fading away gradually. When she was sure the light had dissipated, Midnight dropped her hoof from her face and looked anxiously at the two prone ponies before her. Neither of them stirred.

Without waiting another second, Midnight Dasher ran first over to Starlight. Much to her horror and expectations, he was most certainly dead. She checked his pulse to confirm the spell hadn’t affected him in any way, and found that he had definitely expired. Midnight bit her lip and caught a sob in her throat. Her own friend had killed himself to spare her life—she had to make sure his sacrifice hadn’t been in vain.

Midnight turned and hurried over to where Fleethoof lay. She crouched beside his body, lifting him up in her hooves as she waited nervously for some sign of life. To her amazement, his injured side had been healed, and it looked as if he had never even been scratched.

“Fleet? Fleethoof? Can you hear me?” she whispered, holding her breath unconsciously between every sentence.

Everything was still for a minute longer. And then Fleethoof’s chest rose and fell slowly. Midnight felt her breathing quicken, and when his eyes slowly opened her heart skipped a beat. Fleethoof stared blankly up at the ceiling for a moment, blinking his eyes a couple of times before turning his head to look at the mare that held him. He saw the smile on her face and the relieved, pained tears in her eyes.

He stared up at her with distant, glassy eyes. “I was dead, wasn't I…?”

Midnight gave a sound crossed between a happy sob and a laugh. She pulled the weak pegasus into a tight embrace, the giddiness so foreign to her in this dismal place. Fleethoof took a few deep breaths, his lungs aching as they got used to inflating again. He groaned as Midnight’s legs tightened around him, threatening to crush the renewed life out of him again. His gaze swayed around the chamber, taking in where they were and what was happening.

“I thought you were gone,” she all but sobbed into his shoulder. Fleethoof clung onto Midnight’s back with a small smile.

“For a while there, I was. Starlight... did he...?”

Midnight didn't say anything at first, still reeling from the cataclysmic emotions of what had transpired. Echo smiled as she listened to the emotional reunion. But the moment was ruined when she heard the flare extinguish and a shuffling of rocks coming from down the tunnel, followed by a low, rasping breathing. Her head snapped up and turned in the direction of the tunnel. The sounds were getting louder.

“Midnight, they’re coming. We have to go.”

Midnight Dasher looked over at Echo just as a high-pitched cry of rage echoed through the cavern. Fear gripped at the mare’s soul, and she clung protectively to the stallion in her arms. The darkness had returned again, and so were the ponies.

“We have to get out of here right now.” She looked down at Fleethoof again with worry in her honey-toned eyes. “Fleet, are you all right if I take care of the crystal—”

Fleethoof was well ahead of her. He was already reaching into his jacket to draw his weapon. Squirming out of her grasp, he sat upright and racked his pistol.

“I’m fine. You go get us out of here. Echo and I will hold them off.”

Midnight didn’t look convinced. “But you—”

“Midnight, I’m fine! But I’m too weak to do much and Echo can’t see. It's up to you. Now go!”

Fleethoof stood up, albeit while shaking, and stumbled over to the railing of the platform. Echo had already taken up a spot beside the stairs, and was listening keenly for any signs of activity. Her ears swiveled about, picking up every little detail of sound.

Slumping against the balustrade, Fleethoof turned the flashlight on his gun back on and trained it at the tunnel. His head was spinning and pounding like he was hungover. He felt like he was going to be sick at any moment. Just hold out a little longer… he thought while shaking his head to try and clear the daze. Almost there… Almost out…

Midnight had scrambled across the platform, eyeing the amber crystal suspended in the air slightly above the dais. She watched as it pulsed with magical energy like a heart, maintaining the integrity of the seal they were trapped in. Snatching it up form its home, she cast one last glance down at Starlight’s body. She’d never be able to repay him for the sacrifice he’d made in her stead.

The gunfire started up out of nowhere. Fleethoof saw the first set of glowing red eyes emerge from the tunnel and didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. The recoil made him flinch more than usual in his groggy state, and his shots went wide, hitting the rock all around the creature. It was still enough to make it draw back with a hiss.

Echo followed the captain’s lead and listened closely for where the hooffalls from each pony hit the earth. She turned her gun in the general direction and fired. The bullets struck around the monsters’ hooves, and they fell back again, still trying to push forward and surround their prey.

Midnight’s eyes narrowed and she looked long and hard at the crystal in her hoof. Starlight’s death would not go in vain. Nopony’s death would. With all her might, Midnight lifted the crystal above her head and threw it down hard onto the ground.

Clink!

The crystal hit the stone floor and bounced about for a bit before settling on its side. Midnight stared in horror, her mouth agape. It had barely chipped! She looked up as the gunfire picked up again. Anxiety began to close in around her. Why hadn’t it broken?

Picking it up again as quickly as she could, Midnight threw it down against the floor again. A few pieces broke off, but it remained mostly intact. Dread gripped at her heart and soul as she brought her hooves down on it again and again, the metal horseshoes she wore slowly taking pieces off it off at a time.

Things were looking grim. Fleethoof grit his teeth as he stumbled backwards from the stairs while reloading his gun. The zombie ponies had started pushing their way up towards them, and they were running out of time and ammo. Echo had just spent the last of her rifle rounds and was popping off shots with her pistol. Fleethoof glanced over his shoulder at Midnight, watching as the bat pony assaulted the magic crystal with everything she had.

Fleethoof snapped the slide closed again and resumed shooting as he and Echo backpedaled closer to Midnight. She had gone into complete crisis mode, proceeding to just wail away at the object underhoof. Thin, spindly cracks had begun to weave their way through it, but still it refused to break.

“Midnight,” Fleethoof called back to her.

Midnight Dasher brought all of her weight down again and again. She could hear the sound of the crystalline object beginning to break and it gave her hope and spurred her on. But their time was up. Fleethoof and Echo had completely fallen back to her side now, and the zombie ponies were stalking across the platform towards them.

Fleethoof put a bullet through a pony’s skull and felt his heart sink when he saw the slide of his gun lock back. He was completely out of bullets. Beside him, Echo fired off the last of her ammo too. Midnight heard the gunshots stop and redoubled her actions.

“Midnight!”

She could see the cracks almost completely through the crystal now. Just one more good hit would do the trick. Fleethoof looked up and saw the entire population of Sunny Town surrounding them, leering like rabid wolves. They were cornered. They were out of time. They were done for.

The pony nearest Fleethoof gave a hiss and lunged, leaping through the air at the pegasus. Fleethoof gave a cry as he anticipated the strike. Midnight Dasher brought her hooves down once more, and felt the crystal give way. The sound of the gem shattering reverberated around the cavern, and a blinding light consumed the world. Time stood still as whiteness overtook everything.

And then there was nothing.

Chapter 11: Everfree

It was silent—the kind of silence that settles over a place that hasn’t seen life in many years. That was the first thing Midnight Dasher noticed when she came to. Her honey gold eyes fluttered open and gazed ahead at the wall in front of her. She was lying on a cold, dusty stone floor, definitely not the one she had been on a moment ago. The room she found herself in was much more confining than the cavern of the aether pool.

Midnight groaned softly while she lifted herself off the ground. Barrels and crates sat in various states of decay around the walls, and moss had overtaken much of the stonework. The room looked like a small, unused basement or storeroom of sorts. Fleethoof and Echo lay facedown a short distance away, neither stirring in the least.

“Fleet… Echo…” Midnight called out to them, slowly rising to her hooves. Her body ached like she’d just gone through a particularly strenuous workout. That must be what crossing dimensions feels like… or whatever the hell we just did… she thought.

She heard Fleethoof give a low groan and slowly began to move as well. Echo flipped herself leisurely onto her back, letting out a long breath as she came back to the world. They seemed disoriented, but appeared to be fine otherwise.

“Ow, my head’s killing me…” said Fleethoof, crawling back to a standing position. “Where the hell are we?”

“I don’t know. Do you think the plan worked?”

Fleethoof shook his head, unsure. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Midnight helped Echo get back up before the three ponies took the old, weathered stairs up out of the basement. Fleethoof pushed open a trapdoor and stepped up into a familiar sight.

They were in the large foyer of the mansion—but there were a few drastic differences from before. The torches that had been burning brightly all sat extinguished, and the once-mostly-cared-for room was smothered in a combination of dust and debris. Vines crept in through the smashed windows. The grand staircase looked rotten and the vivid red carpet had dulled in luster. All in all, the mansion looked much more aged than it had previously.

“Is this the same place?” Midnight asked.

“It sure looks like it.”

“I can hear birds,” Echo said suddenly.

Fleethoof furrowed his brow and exchanged a look with Midnight. Sure enough, after a moment of silence and straining his hearing, he could hear the distant chirping of songbirds just outside. He took this in, and felt the wheels in his head begin to turn as his hopes soared.

“Midnight, what time is it?”

Midnight glanced down at her watch—and felt the smile grow across her face.

“Just before dawn. We’re out. We did it!”

Fleethoof nodded and embraced the cleansing wave of relief that overcame him. The nightmare was almost over. He heaved a sigh and tried his best not to let his emotions come out just yet. They still had to get home.

“Okay, let’s get the hell outta here,” he said. “We’ll just head north, see if we can hear the chopper, and try to—”

“I hear crying,” Echo interrupted again, her ears perking upright. “It’s close. To the right, about three o'clock.”

Again, Fleethoof found himself floored by the bat pony’s impeccable sense of hearing. If it were anypony else, he would have immediately doubted them. But going two for two, he had no reason to doubt the mare's enhanced capacity of detection. So far, Echo’s blindness had proven to be an advantage instead of a handicap.

“Where, Echo? Guide us.”

Echo nodded and led the others back through the decrepit mansion. They pushed their way through the dining room again, Fleethoof pausing to stare in awe at how different the house looked now. The large windows were all smashed inward, and through the trees outside, he could see the bright rays of the morning sun beginning to peek up and light up Equestria. He stopped by the silent clock, smirking at the frozen hands on the dust-covered face, lost in time forever.

The ponies walked down the long, dark corridor until they reached a door. Fleethoof tried the handle and found that it was locked, though the aged mechanism felt frail. On the other side, he could hear soft whimpers and sobs. He drew his gun. Even if he had no bullets, perhaps he could still intimidate any threat into submission. With a deep breath, he kicked the door inward and rushed in.

A barrage of shrieks and screams assaulted his eardrums, startling the pegasus and bat ponies. Fleethoof turned to the source of the sound and again felt relief take a hold of him. Thirteen sets of terrified eyes looked up at him from a corner of the room. It was the foals—the missing foals from Ponyville. They all sat huddled together at the far corner of the room, looking as scared as he imagined they’d be. He couldn't tell if they had been locked in here by their captors, or if they barricaded themselves in as an attempt at sanctuary.

Fleethoof could feel his expression soften and a gentle smile touch his face. He put his gun away and slowly trotted over to the group of small ponies, crouching down to their level. The one nearest him, a small gray pegasus colt, looked him over and took a couple steps closer.

“Hey, little guy,” he said in a tender, warm voice as the colt came up to him. “What’s your name?”

The colt looked him over again, obviously trying to size up if he was a friend or a foe. “R-Rumble.”

Fleethoof’s smile widened. “Well, Rumble, my friends and I are here to take you home. We’ve been looking all over for you.”

“You’re not one of them, are you…?” asked Rumble warily. Something in his eyes tipped off Fleethoof’s suspicions.

“The ponies that took you? No, we’re not. We’re with the Royal Guard.”

Rumble nodded his head slowly. “My brother told me the Royal Guard are the good guys and I should always trust them.”

Fleethoof chuckled softly and nodded back. “Your brother sounds like a smart pony. Yeah, we’re the good guys, and we’re on your side. Come on, let’s get you all home.”

Fleethoof stood back up and gently ushered the foals out towards Midnight and Echo by the door. Rumble stuck beside Fleethoof, hugging his leg tightly as the others corralled the foals out into the corridor. He smiled, and then glanced over at Midnight. She was grinning at him as she watched how he handled the scared foals.

“You’d make a good father, ya know that?” Midnight teased as they walked down the hall, following behind the group of little ponies being led by Echo. “I’ve never seen you soften up like that before.”

Fleethoof scoffed gently and rolled his eyes. “Please, I’d be a terrible father. I’m never around anywhere long enough, and I’d be way too overprotective.”

“Yeah, but I think that’s why you’d be a good one.”

Fleethoof just smirked and let the conversation drop. The group walked across the foyer towards the front doors. Fleethoof and Midnight made their way to the front and, with a couple of strong kicks, bucked the doors open. Bright light filtered through the trees into the mansion, and cool, crisp air greeted them welcomingly.

The foals all but bounded down the porch, eager to be free of the nightmare. The three soldiers took their time, savoring each step down the front porch and into the freedom of the living hell they had fought tooth and nail through. For Fleethoof, each step seemed to come in slow motion. The feel of lush grass around her hooves felt alien to Midnight Dasher now that she wasn’t running for her life. Sunlight felt like a warm blanket being wrapped around her shoulders for Echo, and though she could no longer see it, no dawn had ever been more beautiful in her book.

But the reprieve was short-lived when Fleethoof saw the town just down the bending road. Sunny Town had become a stark contrast to the first time he had seen it with Midnight. The broken-down, dilapidated old village had been brought back to life. The houses all looked well cared for. The dirt road was clean and clear of any debris and weeds. A bright pink and blue morning sky hung above the town as sun bathed down on it from the tree-laden horizon.

The foals had all stopped at the edge of the road, frozen in their tracks. Midnight looked to Fleethoof, noting the concerned look in his eyes.

“So what's the plan, Fleet? We could cut around the back of the mansion and swing wide through the trees—”

“It's too dangerous to lead the foals through more forest than we have to. We don't know if those ponies are in the town or still out in the woods. We’re walking right out the front gate, and at least this way we'll know where they are,” said Fleethoof with hard resolution. “If our plan worked, then they're no longer a threat, and I want those ponies to see us trot right out with the foals so they know not to mess with anypony ever again. If it didn't... then we're already dead in the water.”

Midnight Dasher saw the look in his eyes change, and he turned to her, as if seeking approval. She smirked a little, and nodded her head. “Now that sounds like my kind of plan.”

Fleethoof gave a half smile. “You and Echo stick close to the foals at all times. I’ll take the lead. Whatever happens, just get the foals out of here and find the helicopter. Don’t worry about me.”

“Yeah, like that’s gonna happen. I’ll shoot the whole damn town before I leave you behind.”

It was Fleethoof’s turn to chuckle and grin. “Now that sounds like my kind of plan.”

The three ponies took their positions around the foals, covering them as they took the first few steps down into the town. As the group stepped into the limits of Sunny Town, Fleethoof's fears became reality. From the houses, ponies began to step out and take notice of them. A trio had gathered around one corner: a white mare and two stallions, orange and earthly brown respectively. The Sunny Town ponies looked no different from anypony else, but Fleethoof could feel something amiss with them still. They stared for a while as the ponies walked past, hard, blank stares on their faces. The stallions whispered something to one another. Fleethoof cast the coldest glare he could muster at them.

Midnight did her best to avoid looking away from the path in front of her. She did not want to make eye contact with the ponies around her, especially not when she knew what they really were. Horrific images continued to flash before her eyes. She refused to give them even the slightest attention.

The group rounded the corner and continued to the next corner, passing by an older gray mare. She looked up at the ponies as they passed, making eye contact with Fleethoof for a moment. He couldn’t be sure, but he could almost swear he saw a trace of a relieved smile on her face as they passed by with the foals in tow.

They took the corner and followed the long road through the heart of Sunny Town. This was the part Fleethoof had been most worried about. They were in the dead center of everything, with nowhere to run to if things went south.

“They’re following us.” Fleethoof glanced over his shoulder when he heard Echo speak. Sure enough, the astute filly had been right. The three ponies they passed earlier were following a short distance behind them, shooting concerned looks at them and making a few of the foals whimper with fright.

“Just keep moving. It’s okay, little ones. Stay close to us,” said Fleethoof.

The group of ponies reached the end of the long path and took the last corner. Up ahead, Fleethoof could see the arching gate that marked Sunny Town’s entrance. They were so close. But up ahead, he could see two more ponies standing on the path, unintentionally blocking their way as they chatted, oblivious to the scene approaching them.

It was now that Fleethoof got a good look at them. The two ponies, a gray stallion and green mare, looked exactly like any other pony—but shockingly, neither bore a cutie mark. He could only assume the others following them didn’t have their cutie marks either.

That’s why they chose to take foals, Fleethoof realized as he looked back at the group of unmarked foals. That’s why they killed the soldiers with cutie marks and ripped them off. They think they’re that disease or whatever happened before.

“Grey Hoof! Three Leaf!” a pony behind them shouted.

The stallion and mare in the road looked up, right at Fleethoof and the entourage. He saw shock cross both their faces, but where the mare’s remained, the stallion just gave a wide grin. It sickened Fleethoof. That monster was grinning at him like he was welcoming a tourist. This was the same creature that had slaughtered his comrades and Midnight and Echo’s team.

“Oh look! Our new friends have brought us even more friends!” the gray pony Fleethoof could only assume was Grey Hoof said happily, and quickly trotted up to him. “Welcome to Sunny Town, friend! My name is Grey Hoof, party planner extraordin—”

The stallion went spiraling to the ground as Fleethoof's hoof made contact with his face, the sharp blow knocking him flat on his back. He heard the hoofsteps behind him come to a stop as Midnight and Echo stopped the group. Three Leaf gasped and came galloping up to help Grey Hoof. He was rubbing his aching jaw while trying to right himself, shooting a confused and upset look at the pegasus that had just hit him.

“What was that for?!”

“That was for killing my brothers and sisters,” Fleethoof said with a dangerous growl in his voice, glaring daggers at his enemy. “And for taking these foals from their families.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Grey Hoof remarked, but the look in his eyes tipped off Fleethoof, even as the stallion glanced down at the mark on his flank. “These are our new friends and neighbors! They live here now—and you can too, as soon as we rid you of the curse—”

Grey Hoof made a motion towards him. Fleethoof stopped him dead when he brought his pistol out, level with his forehead. He saw Three Leaf tense up out of the corner of his eye, and heard some sounds behind him. He could only imagine Midnight was covering him. Grey Hoof’s eyes darkened as he looked up into the frigid blue gaze of the captain.

“Oh, you recognize the guns, do you? Makes me wonder how many times I killed you with this.” Fleethoof cocked the hammer on his empty gun, hoping they wouldn’t call his bluff. “I survived your nightmare world. I wonder how long you’d last in mine.”

The two stallions faced off with one another for a long, tense moment. Fleethoof’s aim never wavered, and Grey Hoof didn’t move and inch. He could feel the electricity in the air, and quietly wondered how surrounded they were right now. They had to be outnumbered two to one, at least. But the tables had turned, and if they could keep the cursed ponies in a state of bewildered caution long enough, they could escape.

After what felt like ages had passed, Grey Hoof slowly slunk back away from Fleethoof, moving over beside Three Leaf and out of his way. Fleethoof nodded to Midnight Dasher, and the bat ponies hastily urged the foals past them and out the gate into the Everfree Forest. Fleethoof held his position, his gun drawn down on Grey Hoof and Three Leaf as he looked back at the other three watching from a short distance back.

“I know what happened to you all, and I know why you’re scared of ponies with cutie marks,” he said aloud to them all. “And I am very sorry. But if I ever see any of you outside this town again, I will fight my way through Tartarus again to end every single one of you. You will not take any more foals, and you will not harm another pony again. Do I make myself clear?”

Nopony answered him. Fleethoof took it as an apprehensive agreement. He slowly stowed his weapon and cantered out of Sunny Town.

“Grey, he’s taking our friends! He’s going to curse them! Stop him!”

As he passed through the gate, a victorious smile spread across his face.

Fleethoof dashed through the undergrowth of the Everfree Forest in the direction he had seen the others run. His legs propelled him around the trees fast and powerfully. They couldn’t have gotten too far ahead, but the longer he ran, the safer he felt. The more distance he put between himself and Sunny Town, the better.

Midnight Dasher had led the foals out to a nearby glade and hunkered down. She knew either Fleethoof or those ponies would come after them, and she was prepared for a fight. When she saw the flash of crimson burst through the dense green bushes, her heart soared in her chest. Midnight lowered her weapon and galloped up to Fleethoof in revered welcome.

“Are they coming after us?” she asked, apprehension tinting her voice.

“Oh, I’m sure they are. But they won’t do anything outside of their element,” Fleethoof said. “We’re almost home free, Mid.”

“Good… I just want this to be over…”

The two ponies formed up with the group and moved north again as the sun finished peeking up over the horizon, chasing away the last bastions of the cursed night. Midnight and Fleethoof took the lead again and pushed through the dense foliage. Each step felt painful to the weary soldiers and homesick foals, like the journey home would be a thousand miles.

“What are you going to do when you get back?”

Fleethoof glanced back at Midnight as she spoke. “Probably go find a therapist, get kicked out for being too complicated, find another therapist, and try to repress everything. It’s how I handle myself.”

“That doesn’t sound very healthy, Fleet.”

The stallion gave a hard laugh. “Have you seen my lifestyle? I wouldn’t say anything I do is good for my health.”

Midnight giggled softly. “Fair enough.”

“But what about you?” he asked, shifting the conversation on her. “What are you going to do now?”

“I’ll probably get reassigned to another team, assuming they deem me fit for service after all this. I can hear it now... discharged due to mental illness,” said Midnight with a little dejected sigh. Her eyes drooped to the ground. “Echo will probably get discharged. I don’t think they’ll have a use for a blind bat.”

Fleethoof scrunched his forehead in contemplation. “But Echo’s hearing has become extraordinarily powerful. Couldn’t they find some use for that instead of just labeling her a cripple?”

“I can hear you, you know!” Echo called from the rear, as if to emphasize Fleethoof’s point.

“Maybe, but I doubt it. They Lunar Guard may be small, but there’s always somepony clambering for a position. They’ll see a perfectly fit candidate, and then they’ll see Echo…”

Silence settled between them for a moment as Fleethoof processed that information. He could sympathize with the fillies’ dilemma. Had it not been for his opportunity with Skyfall, he probably would have been discharged for posttraumatic stress long ago. But he didn’t see Echo’s blindness as a handicap—he saw it as a powerful advantage to add to a team’s arsenal.

As if to prove him right yet again, Echo suddenly said, “We’re being followed.”

Fleethoof stopped, frozen like a statue. His head turned slowly, eyeing the trees behind them. Sure enough, he could see the orange and brown stallions standing just behind a bush several meters behind them. He looked to his side, and just barely caught a glimpse of Three Leaf hidden amongst the foliage.

“Keep moving,” Fleethoof said adamantly. The group continued their trek through the forest, climbing over any obstacles while pushing forward. He could hear a few soft whimpers coming from the frightened foals. They had to get them out of danger—that was their one and only objective.

“It’s okay, little ones. We’re almost home. Just keep walking straight ahead and follow the red stallion,” Midnight cooed softly to the foals as she let them pass ahead of her, covering their side from the lurking threats in the forest.

Fleethoof’s eyes narrowed threateningly at the ponies skulking around at the edge of his sight, just daring them to make a move. They acted like a pack of predators assessing their quarry. But in the daylight, they had lost the one advantage that had put them on the offensive.

A blur of gray in the corner of his eye caught Fleethoof’s attention. He locked steely gazes with Grey Hoof again, leering at the pony partially obscured by a thick tree trunk. The two exchanged a bitter look, and then Fleethoof pushed onward. As he turned his head, he could’ve sworn he saw Grey Hoof’s eyes shift to a red hue momentarily.

“Fleet…”

“Just keep going, Midnight.”

“They’re getting closer,” Echo murmured. She tried to keep her voice low, so only her allies could hear her.

This is not good… Midnight thought, already beginning to worry. She had no idea how much further they had to go, or what they were even heading for. She just prayed that Fleethoof had a plan—some sort of ace up his sleeve that would save them all.

He didn’t. Fleethoof’s goal had been to push north until they found the clearing they had landed in, and then wait for the helicopter. Now, he didn’t know how far away that destination was. He looked to his left and saw the orange stallion again, now much closer to the group than before, much too close for comfort.

And then a distant rumbling buzz began to fill the still forest air. The sound made Fleethoof’s heart leap in joy. Helicopter rotors. Up ahead, he could see the trees beginning to thin away. With any luck, it just might be their ticket out.

Fleethoof picked up the pace to a hurried canter. It forced the foals to run after him, but it got them moving a lot faster across the mossy ground. The closer they got to the light shining through the scattered trees, the more his heart raced to pump adrenaline through his veins.

Midnight was frequently glancing back now, trying to maintain constant visual with the ponies pursuing them. By her logic, if she could keep them in her sight, they couldn’t spontaneously flank around them. That logic had caused her to almost run into a tree twice now, but it was working thus far.

The group of ponies broke the timberline first and emerged into a wide clearing. Bright sunlight bathed the area in warmth and welcomed them in. Fleethoof couldn’t tell if it was the same clearing as before or not, but it was more than enough to meet their needs.

“Midnight, keep an eye on the trees. Echo, keep those ears sharp,” Fleethoof said in command as he herded the group of foals together as close to the center of the clearing as possible. He pulled the flare out of his jacket and fired it off into the air. The rocket exploded with a satisfying pop up in the sky, the brilliant red light shining ostentatiously overhead.

“Fleet. They’re here.”

Midnight stared with apprehension at the line of six ponies hidden beneath the shade of the trees. Oddly enough, they refused to set hoof into the clearing after them. But why? Are they afraid of us, or just afraid of being vulnerable now? she wondered.

Fleethoof eyed the ponies as well. Though he would never admit it, he was petrified. They were so close to the end—but if the monsters of Sunny Town decided to be brash and attack them now, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Midnight was the only one with bullets left, and though he trusted his close quarters skills, he had seen what those things had done to Blackjack. They were remorseless killers, no matter what form. He wasn’t going to chance it with the foals at stake.

For the longest time, neither side moved. Midnight crouched in position, her pistol trained at the six foes cloaked in shadow. Echo stood protectively beside the thirteen foals. Fleethoof had positioned himself between the two and had his hoof resting on the hilt of his knife. If they wanted a fight, then by Celestia, he’d give them hell.

It was Grey Hoof that pushed the envelope. Sneering at the soldiers, he took the first daring step out into the sunlight—and then another. Slowly, the gray pony emerged into the clearing. Encouraged by their friend’s boldness, the others began to make their way into the light until they were advancing their way across the clearing.

Fleethoof swallowed hard, slowly brandishing his knife as he drew the blade inch by slow inch out of its sheath.

And then the thrumming sound of the helicopter got louder and louder until the sound completely engulfed the forest. The Sunny Town ponies looked alarmed, backing up into the sanctuary of the shade again as they searched the sky frantically for the source of the noise. Fleethoof gave them a snide grin just as the large black frame of the helicopter emerged above the clearing.

The pilots wasted no time putting it down. The helicopter came to a gentle landing in the center of the clearing, its doors open wide to welcome its passengers with open arms.

“Go! Get the foals onboard!”

At Fleethoof’s order, Midnight dropped her gun and rushed with Echo and the foals to the aircraft. One by one, the foals were lifted into the cabin. Fleethoof lingered back a bit, still staring down Grey Hoof from the shadows. He could swear he heard the hostile growl of the pony, even from the distance he was at. 'This isn't over' it spoke threateningly.

Half smiling mockingly at him, Fleethoof pointed his gun at the pony, cocked the hammer, and squeezed the trigger. The gun dry fired, snapping sharply where a bang of a shot would have been. If only he had one more bullet…

His metaphorical warning issued, Fleethoof ran to the helicopter just as Echo and Midnight had boarded and pulled himself in. He pulled the cabin door shut, sealing away the forest outside. The foals had taken to the seats and were staring around in awe, all making random comments about how cool the helicopter was and remarks of ‘what’s this do?’ and ‘oooh, what’s that?’. Fleethoof opted for the seat beside the door, right beside Midnight Dasher.

In the next moment, they were all airborne as the helicopter hovered out above the clearing and took off back toward Ponyville. Fleethoof stared out the window at the early morning sun glistening over the dense treetop canopy of the Everfree Forest. Somewhere out there, six bitter ponies were crying out in fury.

Midnight quivered lightly in her seat, fighting back the wave of emotions that had hit her out of nowhere. She was coming down from the adrenaline-fueled high of survival, and reality was finally catching up to her. They had survived the terrible ordeal and saved the kidnapped foals. Mission accomplished. But the triumph had come at the ultimate price. Her team was dead—her friends were gone forever. Once the captain of the Nightwatch got wind of what had transpired, he'd definitely release her from service. In one night, her world had unraveled entirely.

Fleethoof took notice of the stray tears falling down Midnight’s cheeks and the way she shook. He recognized the familiar face of trauma when he saw it. With a gentle smile, he slipped out of his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She looked at him in surprise as he wiped a stray tear from the end of her nose.

No words were spoken. The silence said more than they ever could. Midnight let a deep sigh free and rested her head against Fleethoof’s shoulder as she sank into the jacket. The warmth and familiar scent put her at ease, even if only enough to calm her down. Within a minute, her golden eyes had slid closed, and she finally let her body crash into sleep.

With another warm smile to the resting bat pony, Fleethoof turned his gaze out the window again. All he could see was the expanse of the forest, stretching far and wide across the Equestrian countryside. Much like his thoughts, it just seemed to run on forever and ever.

Finally letting himself breathe easy, Fleethoof gave a subdued smile of reprieve as they headed home, far away from the Everfree Forest.

Epilogue

It was a lie. His reflection could certainly not be the pony he actually was. It had to be some sort of magic trick, or illusion, or something.

Yet, as Fleethoof tugged at the tie around his neck, he came to the grim realization that the mirror was not lying. The stallion dressed in the formal uniform of the armed forces was, in fact, himself. He frowned as he looked himself up and down. He actually liked the way he looked in his formal attire, but it still felt wrong. He was used to the combat uniforms and heavy kits, crawling through dirt and sand and water with dozens of pounds of gear while dodging death left, right, and center. He was used to slipping through shadows, taking out Equestria's enemies while surreptitiously avoiding getting caught. Going to a gala just didn’t seem like his persona.

But he had to admit, Luna did have sharp taste when it came to designing uniforms. He placed the black service cap atop his head and affixed his medal of honor to his jacket to finish the ensemble. Yeah, he liked the way he looked.

Dammit, I think Cadance is starting to rub off on me, he thought with a smirk. The Grand Galloping Gala would be starting any moment. He was ready—but he wasn’t sure how ready he was to face the music, literally. Might as well get this nightmare over with…

Nightmare… The word brought flashbacks to his memory. Grisly images of the mansion and haunted town flashed before his eyes. He shook his head, exiling such thoughts from his brain. Now was not the time to be harping on them again.

The Everfree incident had been almost a month ago, but to Fleethoof, it felt like it had happened just earlier in the day. The moment the helicopter had touched down and the foals bounded out of the cabin, Ponyville became a scene of emotional reunion. Families bawled as they embraced their missing loved ones, thanking Celestia and the loyal soldiers for their safe return. The search parties were all recalled, and within the day, life had returned to normal.

Fleethoof smiled as he stared blankly at his reflection, gazing past the mirror into the past. He could still hear the sobbing cries of joy and see the looks on everypony’s faces. He could remember the look on a pegasus' face in particular—a Thunderlane—when Rumble ran from his side up to his brother, safe and sound. For all intent and purpose, the mission had been an absolute success. In his eyes, seven ponies had lost their lives to the horrors of the Everfree. There was no such thing as absolute success to him—no perfectly happy endings in a world of shades of gray. A price always had to be paid.

A soft rapping at his door broke the spell on Fleethoof, freeing him from his profound thinking. He opened the door, half expecting Midnight to have tracked him down again. It came as a major surprise when he saw not a bat pony, but an alicorn.

“Cadance, hello,” he greeted, his expression instantly brightening with a wide smile. “I thought you’d already be downstairs, I—” He paused, staring at the long, elegant blue dress she wore, mouth hung slightly agape in mid-sentence. “You look lovely tonight.”

Cadance smiled warmly as she saw Fleethoof in his dress uniform. “I could say the same for you, Captain. Though I think ‘handsome’ might be a more fitting word.” Her smile widened a little as she lifted a hoof to the medal on his chest. “I remember this.”

Fleethoof chuckled beneath his breath. “I should hope so. You did give it to me, after all.”

“That I did,” said Cadance with an airy laugh. “Are you attending the gala by yourself tonight?”

“No, I’m bringing a friend—Midnight Dasher. You met her once before.”

She nodded. “Yes, I remember Miss Dasher. You two are close?”

“You could say that now, yes.” Another brief flash of dark images clouded the stallion’s vision. “It was mostly because she had never attended, and wanted to.”

“That’s very generous of you, Fleet!”

“What can I say, I aim to please.”

Cadance laughed again. “So, shall we?”

“By your leave, milady,” Fleethoof replied, giving an exaggerated bow and a wave to the door that made the princess giggle once more. “I need to stop by the guest quarters and pick up Midnight, though. I have something I want to talk to her about before the gala starts.”

The princess raised a brow and gave him a sideways glance. “Oh? Is it a matter of business, or pleasure?”

“Business,” he spoke plainly.

“Regarding the Everfree incident you two were involved in?”

Fleethoof could feel his breath catch in his throat. All he could manage as a response was a short nod of his head.

“Whatever happened out there, anyway? You never spoke about it.”

Cadance looked curiously at Fleethoof as he gave her a strange, uneasy look. “Do you really want to know…?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll tell you… later though. It’s not really something I want to discuss on my way to being tortured.”

Princess Cadance gave an exaggerated motion of rolling her eyes at him. “The gala won’t be that bad. Who knows, you might actually have fun!”

“That remains to be seen…” muttered Fleethoof under his breath.

“Lighten up, Fleet. It’s a party. Have fun.” She gave him a wry little smirk. “And go pick up your fillyfriend before she thinks you stood her up.”

“She’s not my fillyfriend.”

“All the same, I’m sure she’s waiting.” Cadance gave him a whimsical smirk and straightened his lapel with her magic. “I’ll see you downstairs.”

With that, the princess parted ways from the captain, headed for the castle foyer. Fleethoof watched her go until she was out of sight, and then he set off down the hall. He had long-since memorized Canterlot Castle’s many winding corridors, and with practiced steps he soon found himself in the spacious guest wing.

He approached the room he knew Midnight Dasher had been put up in for her stay and knocked twice on the door. Through the wood, he could hear some frantic shuffling about. She was apparently still getting ready. He smirked and rolled his eyes. Typical Midnight…

The quiet giggle of a foal whispered through his ears.

Fleethoof whipped around sharply, scanning up and down the corridor he had just come. There wasn’t a soul in sight. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, and his heart rate had spiked. Surely he must’ve been hearing things now.

The door clicked and opened inward, catching his attention again. Fleethoof glanced at Midnight—and then did a double take. Midnight Dasher looked positively stunning in a sleek, dark indigo dress that hugged her form and showed off the curves of her body. Her typically messy mane had been brushed and straightened, and now fell elegantly around the left side of her face. The subtle scent of jasmine and vanilla clung to her coat, the hallmark smell he had come to associate with the mare. She had clearly gone all out for the evening, sparing no expense.

She smiled coquettishly at Fleethoof and gave him a once over, followed by a sharp whistle and a nod of approval. “Fleety, you clean up nicely! I like what I'm seeing.”

Fleethoof was too speechless to say anything at the moment. In all his life, he never would have guessed he’d ever see Midnight in such a way. Anypony who said the bats were rowdy, uncultured heathens had clearly never seen the one before his eyes. She did a little twirl, showing off every angle to her date.

“So, how do I look? Gala appropriate?”

It took him another moment to reply. “Midnight... wow…”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’. So, where are you hiding your weapon, Mister Captain? Shoulder holster?”

Fleethoof stared long and hard at Midnight, trying to discern if she was being serious or not. When she kept gazing intently at him, waiting patiently for an answer, he assumed the former. “I'm not...? It's a gala, Midnight. I'm not planning on killing anypony tonight.”

“Oh, well don't I feel foolish,” said Midnight with an innocent smile as she removed her pistol from a garter belt strapped to her hind leg, concealed by her dress. “Guess I won't be needing this! I tell ya, Canterlot is a lot different from the Shades. I dunno if I could ever get used to it.”

Fleethoof stared, mouth agape at the bat pony while he quieted his overactive imagination. He instantly took back his previous thought on bat ponies ever being cultured. “You were actually going to bring a gun to the Grand Galloping Gala...?”

Midnight just gave an indifferent shrug while placing the gun on her nightstand. “Hey, you never know when you're gonna need it. Better to have than go wanting. Okay, now that I won't get arrested walking through the door, let's get going! We're gonna be late!”

“Wait a moment, Midnight. I have something for you.”

Midnight cocked her head to one side like a curious puppy. Fleethoof pulled a couple of deep cyan folders out of his jacket and handed them to her. She recognized the unique file color, and the symbol embossed on the front. She had seen it on Fleethoof’s uniform and on papers all around his room before.

She looked up at him, an inquisitive glint in her honey eyes. “What is this?”

“An opportunity,” he said. “I heard the Lunar Guard discharged Echo and put you on leave after we got back.”

“Indefinite leave, for mental recovery purposes…” Midnight grumbled.

“Which I take as a way of letting you go. So I want to talk to you about something.”

Midnight’s eyes darkened skeptically. “Okay… about what?”

“I can’t tell you about it right here. There are a few details inside, but I need you to come to the address in these files as soon as you can if you're interested.”

“Are you gonna tell me anything then?”

“No.” Fleethoof chuckled at her crestfallen look. “Not yet, at least. I took the liberty of filling out one for Echo as well. I don’t know how well she handles paperwork nowadays, but she has a skill I think my CO could find very valuable.”

Midnight chewed on her lip for a moment as she set the files down on the edge of her bed. Her eyes traced the insignia on the cover with awe and intrigue. As much as she wanted to act on her naturally impulsive character, she knew that with the enigmatic Fleethoof, the offer could be just about anything under Celestia's sun. While fine print wasn’t her favorite reading material, this was one exception she was willing to make.

“Do I have to give you an answer right now?”

Fleethoof gave a short laugh and shook his head. “No, I didn’t expect one right this minute. Take some time to think about it. Tell Echo, and you two can consider this together.”

“Okay, good. Because I really wanna get down to the gala!”

“That makes one of us…”

Midnight Dasher gave a playful grin as she bounded back to Fleethoof and snatched his hat off his head before setting it down lopsidedly on hers. Fleethoof rolled his eyes and scoffed while escorting her down the corridor towards the foyer. As they trotted past the long rows of tall windows, he couldn’t help but cast one last glance out into the darkness. The lights of Ponyville glistened like stars in the dark down below at the base of the mountain, and beyond that laid the blanket of blackness he knew was the Everfree Forest.

For a fleeting moment, Fleethoof could almost swear he heard a foal laughing.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading!
— Dusk Quill

Bonus Chapter: Omnia nam Honora

Midnight Dasher gawked as she and Echo trotted through the spacious lobby of Skyfall Headquarters. The establishment sat on the upper level of the new Royal Guard precinct, and looked as if it could be an addition to the castle instead of an office space. The floors, walls, and domed ceiling were made of pristine white marble that echoed the sounds of their hoofsteps as they crossed the floor.

In the middle of the floor lay a mosaic of the Skyfall insignia made out of colored stones. A set of double doors was the only way to proceed, and even those looked ornate and lavish. The wood was a rich, varnished mahogany. The princesses had clearly spared no expense on the new precinct. Considering the importance it carried, it was really no surprise. Above the doors, a single phrase was etched into the marble for all time.

Omnia nam honora.

With Echo by her side, Midnight pushed the doors open—and ducked as a paper airplane narrowly missed flying right into her face. What the…? she thought as she watched it float gently away and turned back to the sight before her. The room was a little larger than the lobby they had come through, though the floors were made of hardwood instead of stone. The walls were made of light gray granite, a noticeable contrast to the bright white that lay outside. Five desks sat spaciously arranged around the room, three of them occupied with ponies.

“See? I told you that you were gonna take somepony’s eye out!” a sandy pegasus snapped at a sheepishly grinning unicorn, then waved to the fillies. “Sorry about that, fillies. He can’t help himself sometimes.”

“You’re just jealous that mine went further than yours,” the unicorn said and stuck his tongue out at his friend.

Midnight smiled timidly and trotted with Echo about halfway into the room. She didn’t see Fleethoof anywhere—but he had told them to meet him and his unit’s commanding officer here. Where were they?

“Do you fillies need some help?” another unicorn asked, setting a book on botanical remedies down on his desk.

“Um, yes. We’re here to see whoever’s in charge here,” said Midnight, trying not to look too much like a fish out of water.

The unicorn furrowed his brow a bit. “What clearance do you have?”

Now Midnight felt very put on the spot and fell back to the only defense she knew held any merit. “Fleethoof told us to come here.”

All at once, the atmosphere in the room changed. The unicorn’s eyes lit up, and the other one holding a paper airplane leaned back in his chair and yelled, “Hey, boss! A couple cute fillies are here for you!”

Midnight heard the sound of hooves clopping coming from inside a vault at the back of the room. The largest pony Midnight had ever seen stepped out into view, towering over the rest of the room. Yet, despite his bulky appearance, the smile on his face was something reminiscent of a teddy bear. Just behind him, Fleethoof appeared and gave the two bat ponies a huge grin.

“Midnight, Echo! You’re right on time. Perfect, that’ll be important from now on.”

Midnight instantly felt her worries disappear when she saw his familiar face. “Well, you’re one of the few ponies I actually listen to.”

“I highly doubt that, since you don’t ever listen to me, but it’s the thought that counts.” He chuckled, and then motioned over to one of the empty desks. “Did you bring your papers?”

Without missing a beat, she pulled two files out of her saddlebags and set them on the desk Fleethoof had pointed out. She swept her eyes quickly over the personal effects on the surface, and read over the shiny gold nameplate. Captain Fleethoof. So this is Fleety’s desk…

“So where’s your CO?” she asked enthusiastically, practically bouncing on her hooves. “I’m all ready for my interview.”

“Oh, that’s me,” he said placidly as he double-checked all of the paperwork. “I’m in charge of Skyfall.”

A smirk crossed his face as he watched Midnight’s jaw hit the ground out of his peripheral vision. He had purposely led her astray just to see how prompt and serious she would take the job if she didn’t think he was in command. That, and he wanted to have a little fun with her. She did not disappoint. Now satisfied on both fronts, he shut the files and pushed it aside before looking over the next one.

“How are you doing, Echo?” he asked as he skimmed through her file.

Echo wore a small smile on her lips, standing upright and proud before the officer. “Never better, sir.”

“Been adapting to life well?”

“Yes, sir. I think I'm pretty comfortable with myself now, sir.”

“Well, everything seems to check out. Your records are in order, and you have all the proper authorization for the transfer. All that’s left is to put you two through the physical and mental assessments over the next couple of months and you’ll be good to go.”

Echo raised her hoof like a student in class. “Captain Fleethoof—what will we be ready to go for?”

“I am very glad you asked that, Echo,” he replied. “Skyfall Team is a Special Operations task force designed for the protection of Equestria and prevention of global devastation. Basically, if something threatens our safety, we go in. If a world war is about to break out, we go in. If a garrison somewhere needs reinforcing, we go in. If somepony needs to be removed from a position of power, we go in. We’re strictly top secret, and the missions we run are often black ops and kept off the record. The only ones who really know what we’re up to are ourselves, the princesses, and anypony else they deem necessary.”

“So what, you’re basically super soldiers who are above the law?” Midnight asked. Fleethoof smirked again, and a couple others snickered.

“Not quite. Yes, we are given a lot more leniency with the law, but we still have to keep it quiet. We’re elite soldiers that do what the regular Guard cannot. We’re not untouchable, but we’re a step above the regular pony, understand?”

Midnight nodded her head.

“That said, we do take operations of... questionable legality and morality. If either of you have an issue with bending some civil and ethical laws to get the job done, I would not blame you for walking away now.”

Neither pony moved a muscle. Midnight was resolute in her decision. Echo was equally ready to continue to serve any way she could. Fleethoof smiled and nodded slowly.

“Good. Now, I’ll have Quarter Master come up and get you two outfitted for uniforms and vests, maybe get you some new equipment and weapons too. You won’t need to completely move to Canterlot, but for the next few months, you’ll have to stay here to complete your training. After that, you can go wherever you want, so long as we can get in touch with you when our call comes in.”

He turned towards the ponies across the room. “Let me introduce you to the team. Colts! When I call your name, please be friendly and at least say hi. Except you, Sharp. I don't want to know what's gonna come out of your mouth.”

The unicorn that had been throwing paper airplanes dramatically threw his hooves up in the air. “Oh, come on!”

“First, we have Valiant, the only other pegasus in the team. The two unicorns are Sharp Shot and Blue Shield, our sniper and medic. Lastly, we have Cupcake, our explosives and demolitions expert. Don't let his size intimidate you, he's as cuddly as a puppy and a kitten rolled into one. Isn't that right, big guy?”

“Da! Is pleasure to be meeting bat ponies!” Cupcake greeted with a jubilant grin.

“I'm excited to be getting new members!” said Valiant with equal enthusiasm. “Plus I think Sharp might have a crush on one of 'em.”

“Go fuck yourself, Val.” Sharp Shot then cleared his throat loudly. “Hey, boss? I thought we weren’t taking any more ponies after the Union incident?”

“Yes, I did, Sharp—but these two are an exception. I’ve been thinking of expanding our task force anyway. More ponies means we can do more,” he replied.

Sharp rolled his eyes and muttered, “It means less secrecy too…”

“This is my call, Sharp Shot.”

“Yeah, but…” Sharp Shot got to his hooves, stepping over to the three ponies. He examined the bat pony with a black bandana tied around her eyes. He waved a hoof in front of her face. “No offense, miss, but you’re blind, aren’t you?”

Echo’s ears flattened against her head as she nodded. “Yes… but I don't need eyes to know you're waving your hoof right in front of my nose.”

Midnight snickered, and Sharp Shot gave Fleethoof an exasperated look. “Boss, come on…”

Fleethoof was unmoved. “She’s going to be a valuable asset, Sharp—especially to you.”

“Oh yeah? How do you figure?”

“Try to hit her.”

For a moment, nopony moved or spoke. They scarcely breathed. Sharp Shot stared at Fleethoof, as if contemplating if his challenge was real or not. He just scoffed and shook his head.

“You must be out of your mind, Fleet.”

“No, go ahead. Try to hit her,” he said again with a roguish grin. “I bet you can’t.”

“I’m not going to hit a blind filly!”

“It’s okay, Captain Fleethoof. I expected ponies to be skeptical,” Echo said in her soft-toned voice. “Although if I’m fair, Sharp Shot does sound like a bit of a pansy.”

From across the room, Valiant and Cupcake made goading noises, teasing Sharp Shot as Echo burned him. The sniper felt his face go hot as he looked sharply at the blind bat. She was snickering quietly, an adorable little grin on her face.

“Look, miss, I'm not that stupid.”

Echo's grin widened a little. “Really? You could've fooled me.”

More laughter came from Valiant and Cupcake. Sharp Shot, for all his patience, was beginning to lose it.

“Miss Echo, I'm warning you—”

“It's okay if you're scared. I'd be pretty scared of a blind filly emasculating you in front of your friends too.”

“You want me to hit you so bad? Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Sharp Shot drew back, shifting his stance with a quick change of hooves. He brought his hoof down on Echo’s face—only he never made contact. The filly ducked beneath his swing and backed up a step, still grinning at where he was standing. Valiant and Cupcake cheered from the sidelines while Sharp just stared in shock and awe.

“H-How—?”

“She’s blind, Sharp, not deaf. She senses tremors in the ground, disturbances in the air, and perceives sound waves much, much more sensitively than any of us ever could. She can emit a sound like the snap of her tongue and track everything in the room. Imagine she has an internal sonar. Hell, I bet she could hear a pin drop downstairs through the stone floor in a room filled with rowdy soldiers.”

“Wanna try again, big boy?” Echo teased with a light giggle.

Again, Sharp Shot swung at her with a growl—and again, Echo sidestepped out of the way with ease. He swung and missed again, and again, and again. The two twirled back and forth on the floor, Echo dancing around Sharp like a ballerina while he swung wildly like a drunken boxer.

“Do you wanna take back what you said, Sergeant?” Fleethoof called out to the winded sniper.

“Little bat pony is like wizard!” Cupcake declared with a boisterous laugh. “I like her! She must come live with Skyfall!”

Breathing hard, Sharp Shot turned to the beaming bat pony as he looked over her with a vindictive look. “This isn’t over, Echo. I'll get you somehow.”

“Aww, you sound so cute when you’re making empty threats.” Echo giggled and sauntered back over to Fleethoof and Midnight. Sharp Shot felt his face burn beneath his skin as the others continued to snicker.

“So, now that Echo has beaten my sniper into a winded mess, I’d like to officially bring you both in as the first mares ever inducted. It's going to be a hard job, with some pretty grueling work involved, but I have faith in both of you.” Fleethoof smiled proudly as he stamped an approval seal across both of their files, marking the covers with the insignia of Skyfall. “Welcome to Skyfall training, fillies. Let's get started.”

Chapter 1: Just Myths

Everfree

By: Dusk Quill

“Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.” — Aristotle

A calm, temperate breeze wafted through the large open windows of the new Skyfall Headquarters, rustling the silken curtains gently in place. Golden afternoon sunlight poured into the room as the day drew to a close. Construction on the new establishment had been finished a couple weeks prior, and the building was now completely furnished and functional. Modern, sleek desks and furniture had been brought in to style the building to match its occupants. Everything was practical with a slick edge to it.

The building itself was little more than a few spacious rooms, consisting of a lobby, office spaces, an armory, and an archive. The ponies of Skyfall adored their new personal space. It felt official, and something they could reside proudly and publicly in. There was little use for hiding under the castle anymore.

In quiet contemplation, Captain Fleethoof sat at his desk. Across the room, Valiant and Sharp Shot lingered at their respective desks. Valiant was busy sorting through a stack of papers in front of him while the less-busy Sharp Shot occupied his time by tossing paper airplanes and balled up sheets around the room at the other ponies. Valiant stared blankly down at his desk as a paper ball bounced off his left temple, doing his best to ignore the assaults of his teammate.

Fleethoof didn’t even bother to make an attempt to stop the sniper. He knew Sharp Shot’s behavior was incorrigible, and it would be a waste of time to try to reform him. Deep inside, he doubted if that pony would ever grow up.

He flipped to the next page in his newspaper, skimming the headlines of the latest news. Every so often Fleethoof would stop and glance up, his eyes running down the line of desks. It was still strange for him to think that Lightning Flash had left. Seeing places for only five ponies took some getting used to. But he hoped that he was doing better in his new life. With a soft sigh, Fleethoof turned the page again. The next headline took up most of the page, glaring at him with a heavy bold font.

FOALS STILL MISSING: ROYAL GUARD BAFFLED

The grim news made the stallion purse his lips tightly together. In the past couple of weeks, thirteen foals had gone missing from the quiet, unassuming village. Ponyville was never the topic of headlines unless some sort of catastrophic event seemed to happen, and even then either the Guard or the Elements of Harmony quickly resolved it. Fleethoof quietly wondered why Celestia only seemed to call upon those six ponies when things really got out of hoof…

Ponyville was a settlement without much in the way of a local police force. They simply had a volunteer brigade that kept watch over the town’s daily activities and the streets at night. From what he had heard through chatter and gossip, Ponyville was one of the nicer places to live. That was why when these mysterious disappearances began to occur, the populace went berserk.

The Hoofington Guard division had been called in a week after the first disappearances to aid the befuddled community watch, but still no progress was made. When the thirteenth foal had vanished under the Guard’s nose and a pair of troopers went missing, Celestia sent in the big guns—namely the Canterlot Guard. Now the search seemed to be at a standstill as the ponies literally combed the forest.

Fleethoof scoffed and shook his head slowly. How difficult could it be to track down a baker’s dozen of foals? There had to be some evidence left behind when they’d gone missing. And what sort of deranged pony snatched foals in broad daylight? The whole ordeal was very suspicious, and he hoped it would be wrapped up sooner rather than later.

I wish they would just send some more ponies out to bolster their numbers and get the searches done faster, he thought with a chuckle to himself.

“Would you cut that out, Sharp?!”

Valiant’s cry of annoyance snapped Fleethoof’s attention up. It was time to separate the children.

“Sharp, leave him be. He’s busy,” said Fleethoof, turning back to read the sports section of the paper. “Don’t you have work to be doing anyway?”

“Oh, yeah, about that… I was hoping I could ask a favor of you, boss.”

Fleethoof looked up at the stallion, waiting to hear what he could possibly need this time. “What did you do, Sharp?”

“Nothing! I just—”

There was a knock at the door to the offices, catching the attention of everypony inside. Princess Cadance stood at the door, smiling at the three as she trotted across the floor to Fleethoof’s desk. A small, silver envelope flew beside her, grasped in the aura of her magic. He smiled widely as she approached him and set the newspaper down.

“Cadance! Welcome to the new Skyfall Headquarters,” he said, leaning across the desk towards her. “What brings you by?”

“I’m playing messenger this time.” She beamed as she levitated the envelope toward him.

“What is this?” Fleethoof tore the seal open, and shook the contents out onto his desk. A pair of golden tickets fell onto the surface, along with an embossed sheet of cream-colored paper. He could literally feel his expression drop as he recognized the items.

“Your invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala, courtesy of Aunt Luna,” said Cadance, still all smiles and sunshine. “She wasn’t sure if you had been receiving them or not, since you never RSVP’d, so she asked me to make sure you got one personally.”

Fleethoof forced every muscle in his face to move and form a smile. It hurt.

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.” He chuckled and shifted the newspaper to conceal the other four silver envelopes he had carelessly left strewn across his desk. Cadance’s eyes were quicker than his hooves, though, and like a shot she magically pulled the invites out from beneath their cover.

“You have been getting them.” Fleethoof ignored her accusatory tone. She stared at the stallion in surprise. “You’ve just been ignoring them?”

“I really don’t want to go.”

“But it’s an honor and a tradition for all the captains to attend.”

“I really don’t want to go.”

“But surely you attended the last one, Captain.”

Fleethoof didn’t respond. Cadance just stared at him like he had two heads. “Are you serious?”

“Look, Cadance, galas really aren’t my thing,” he said in reply, just barely able to look her in the eye. “It was hard enough to pretend to enjoy it in Saddle Arabia, but willingly attending my own personal brand of torture? No thanks.”

Cadance was unmoved by Fleethoof’s plight. “Oh please, it’ll be fun! There’ll be food, and music, and dancing—”

“You had me, and then you lost me.”

“Fleethoof…” Cadance said, staring with a look of explicit exasperation at the stubborn pony. “Just go. Please? It’ll mean a lot to my aunts. I’ll be there if that makes it any better.”

Fleethoof looked up at the princess from beneath his eyelashes. A brow rose curiously as he examined the sincerity on her face.

“Who are you going with?” he asked.

“Shining Armor asked me to go. He didn’t get to attend with the chaos going on last year.”

“I heard last year’s gala was a disaster.” Fleethoof couldn’t hold back the smirk as he recounted the tales of destruction and discord that resulted in the end of the gala. “Somepony let animals loose into the castle?”

Cadance rolled her eyes. “I promise, no crazy animals this year.”

Again, Fleethoof pursed his lips as he stared down at the two golden tickets. He shuffled them back and forth between his hooves idly, considering his options carefully. At long last, he nodded, and reluctantly said, “All right… Tell Luna I’ll go.”

“You won’t regret it, Fleethoof!” said Cadance, her expression visibly brightening. She practically skipped out of the room, leaving Fleethoof to continue mindlessly passing the tickets between his hooves.

“Sharp Shot, do you want these?” he asked once he was sure Cadance was long gone. The pony laughed.

“I’m a thousand percent sure Cadance would kill us both if you flaked and I went!”

“Probably…” said Fleethoof in agreement. “Shit… I really don’t want to do this…”

“Just take somepony who really wants to go and get it over with,” Valiant suggested.

Fleethoof nodded his head slowly. It wasn’t a terrible idea, but it did still mean he had to attend. At this point, he didn’t see a way of dodging that bullet. Dammit all to Tartarus…

“Speaking of getting out of things…”

Sharp Shot had stood up now, and was slowly approaching the captain’s desk. Fleethoof only glanced up from leering at the tickets when he saw the form of the pony standing right at the edge of his desk. Sharp was folding something in a magical aura. He dropped the papers down in front of Fleethoof.

“This is a mission statement,” said Fleethoof, reading quickly through the body of text. “Where are you being sent off to, Sharp?”

Sharp Shot chuckled nervously and shifted his weight on his hooves. “Hopefully, nowhere, boss. This is what I need to get out of.”

With a deep breath, Fleethoof straightened himself up in his seat. He began to read through the text more thoroughly while attempting to ignore the fidgeting unicorn in front of him. Sharp Shot looked like a foal that had just handed a teacher a test he’d cheated on. Something was making the pony very anxious…

“They want to send you to Ponyville—tomorrow?” Fleethoof asked, rereading the passage to make sure he had understood it correctly. “They want your help to lead a team in the Everfree investigation and search for the foals?”

“Yeah, that’s why I need you to say I can’t go.” Sharp Shot grinned widely as Fleethoof cast a suspicious glance at him.

“And why can’t you?” Sharp Shot didn’t answer right away. “Mommy won’t let you stay out past your bedtime?”

“Har har. Good one, boss,” Sharp spoke in perfect deadpan. “No, it’s because… well…”

The pony mumbled something incoherent. Fleethoof furrowed his brow and leaned closer across the desk. “What was that?”

“I said… I’m… scared…”

There was a moment of pause. Fleethoof burst into laughter, and even Valiant chuckled under his breath. Sharp Shot’s face went red and he tensed up in place.

“You’re scared? Really?” Fleethoof’s laughter continued.

“Hey, it’s not funny!” Sharp Shot snapped, and looked down in embarrassment. He finally risked a glance back up at his superior after a moment had passed, a hurt and anxious look in his eyes. “Look, I’m just… superstitious, okay?”

“You’re seriously afraid of the Everfree Forest?” A slow nod came from Sharp. “Why? Sure, it’s got dangerous creatures, but we’re more of a threat to them.”

“It’s not timberwolves or manticores I’m afraid of.”

It took Fleethoof a moment to figure out what his teammate was referring to. He could see a genuine fear in Sharp Shot’s eyes, and it spoke volumes where he did not. Fleethoof’s mouth made an ‘o’ shape as realization dawned on him.

“You don’t really believe the stories about that place, do you? Sharp, they’re nothing but myths and old mares tales.”

“Doesn't matter. I still believe them,” he said, absolutely resolute on the matter. “And I’d really like to not take that chance. Please, boss. Don’t make me go.”

Fleethoof studied Sharp Shot for a long moment. The pony looked like he was on the verge of a break down. Were it a cartoon and not reality, he could swear Sharp’s legs would be shivering right now. He was truly terrified of the mere thought of going into that forest. Fleethoof chewed on his lip, mulling the dilemma over for a minute. If Sharp Shot didn’t go, somepony else would have to go in his place.

I’m way too fucking nice, he thought as he heaved a sigh and grabbed a quill. With a quick flourish, he signed his name across the papers. He would bite the bullet for his friend.

“You owe me, Sharp,” he said as he stacked the papers in the corner of his desk.

Fleethoof could practically feel the relief emanating from the unicorn. “Thanks, boss. Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you—I promise.”

“Yeah, yeah… Just don’t take anything from my desk while I’m gone. If something happens, Valiant is in charge.”

Valiant waved a hoof from across the room. “You got it, Captain.”

Fleethoof got up quickly and began heading for the armory. Sharp Shot followed the pony the entire way like a lost puppy. He watched from the door as the captain grabbed his equipment, walking right past the rack of weapons.

“Not taking a gun, boss?” he asked. Fleethoof shook his head.

“Won’t need it. It’s a search and rescue job, Sharp, not a fucking ponyhunt. Nothing’s going to require a gun.”

“You aren’t even gonna take a pistol or anything?”

Fleethoof made an exaggerated motion of rolling his eyes. “I have my knife, but that’s mostly for utility.”

“Boss—”

“Look, if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll take my weapons, okay? But I’m telling you, I won’t need them. There’s nothing out there.”

Sharp Shot didn’t look convinced in the least. “You don’t know that, boss… That forest, it isn’t natural… It ain't right...”

“The only thing unnatural about it is how afraid of it ponies are.”

“What about the stories, boss? Of monsters and dark magic haunting the Everfree Forest? Where do you think the stories come from?”

“Probably from superstitious ponies with overly active imaginations—like you,” said Fleethoof, scoffing at his own joke.

“Okay, I get it. Enough jokes about my beliefs. Just be careful, boss…”

“I always am, Sergeant. And you’ll see, when I come back safe with those foals, then you can stop fearing something that doesn’t exist. They're just myths.” He threw his vest and equipment over his back and turned to face Sharp Shot. “Keep an eye on the place for me while I’m gone.”

Sharp Shot nodded slowly. “Yes, sir.”

Fleethoof smiled at the pony and began making his way out of the building. “So, which team were you supposed to assist?”

“Ghost Team leader, Corporal Starlight, reporting.”

The Lunar Guard stood at attention, saluting his superiors in charge of the Ponyville investigation. The ponies looked up at the stallion. The bat pony dropped his salute and removed his helmet, tucking it beneath his leathery wing. His long, messy mane fell in silvery locks. A scar ran across his left cheek, a trophy from a long-past battle.

The ponies didn’t address Starlight right away. The Guard was still leery of the Nightwatch, especially the ones garrisoned around Ponyville. Public opinion still held them in a dark, fearful light. Local dissent had entered their hearts by osmosis, and distrust was still a typical sentiment. But they needed the bat ponies, especially with their ability to operate at night. Time was running short, and the searches could no longer wait till dawn.

“Corporal Starlight, your team will be running sweeps of the forest at night,” one of the officers said as he reviewed the schedule. “We won’t be needing you until dusk.”

“With all due respect, sirs, my team is ready to go now. We don’t need to wait till night. We can lend a hoof with the searches now.”

The pony that had spoken glanced up at the gung-ho Starlight. He studied the stallion, looking him over from head to toe, as if his appearance actually mattered in these situations. A moment and several pursed lips later, the pony nodded.

“Very well. Get your team setup and ready to go, and get to it. Has your Canterlot liaison arrived yet?”

Starlight felt his enthusiasm die a little inside. Liaison? They were being supervised? Of course, they weren’t trusted enough to handle themselves… He felt a twinge of bitter resentment at the notion, but kept himself in line. This was their chance to prove themselves.

“I don’t know.”

The officer gave a terse nod, and glanced at a roster. “It looks like your partner arrived earlier today. I’ll fetch him and send him your way. Go make sure your ponies are ready.”

Starlight gave a sharp salute, then turned on his hooves and marched back out of the tent. Blinding morning sunlight assaulted his eyes as soon as he stepped through the canvas flap and back out into the sunny spring day. The edge of Ponyville looked like a small military camp. Tents had been set up around the timberline of the Everfree Forest, used to house the loaned troopers and provide a base to operate out of. There had to be at least fifty Royal Guards present, including his team of seven.

The squad of bat ponies was easy to pick out from the rest of the Guard. Their purple armor stood out amongst the sea of golden cuirasses and helmets, and their dark fur was a stark contrast from the uniform white of the others. The Guard really put on a show. It made Starlight smirk a little as he watched the anxious ponies rushing back into the woods while another group came running out. Half of them looked scared out of their wits. The forest must have been getting under their skin.

He walked up to the six others, seated around a folding table. Two were inspecting their weapons while the rest lay idly around. The smallest in the group was trying in vain to shield her eyes from the harsh daylight.

“Holding up all right, Eclipse?”

The mare hissed something under her breath, and then looked up from under her hooves at Starlight. “Does it look like I’m holding up all right?”

Starlight chuckled. “Don’t worry, we’ll be going into the forest soon. The sun won’t be so bad in there.”

“When are we going in?” one of the other stallions asked, constantly loading and unloading his weapon. “I’m ready to get the fuck outta here already.”

“Soon, Daybreak. Very soon. We’re just waiting for our liaison.”

Eclipse looked up again. “What? Liaison?”

“Yeah,” said Starlight, rolling his eyes. “Canterlot sent us our own personal bodyguard to keep an eye on us.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“They seriously don’t trust us?!”

“What the fuck?!”

“I know, I know. I’m not happy with it either, but let’s just deal with it, get the job done, and go home, yeah?” Starlight could sympathize with his team’s disapproval. He grabbed a cup of coffee on the table and the shaker of sugar, pouring a generous amount in before taking a long swallow. He was going to need the caffeine to deal with this mess.

The moment the lukewarm liquid hit his tongue Starlight’s mouth was assaulted with the heavy taste of salt. His muscles all tensed up at once, fighting against swallowing the vile drink. He could feel his face contort in disgust while he spat the coffee across the table.

What the hell was that?! He checked the shaker of sugar, giving it an experimental taste. He flinched back. Somepony had replaced the sugar with pure salt.

“Dammit, Dasher!”

Across the table, Midnight Dasher was snickering silently to herself, her shoulders rising and falling with the subtle laughter. The other bats began to giggle and laugh at their teammate’s prank as well. Ever the practical joker, Midnight just gave him a passive glance over her shoulder with a nonchalant flip of her indigo mane.

“Aww, don’t be sour, Starlight. It’s just a joke.”

“Yeah, funny. I’m gonna be tasting salt for a week,” he muttered, trying to brush his tongue clean. “I swear, our foalsitter is gonna just adore you.”

“Oh, I know they are!” Midnight said in a sickeningly sweet tone of voice. She folded her hooves behind her head, reclining in her seat. She closed her eyes and let the sunlight warm her skin. It felt nice to sometimes get out of the gloomy Shades and into some real weather. “Does it say who our foreign exchange member is?”

Starlight glanced down at the itinerary the troop had been given on their arrival. It detailed search shifts and switches, as well as designations for teams. “Somepony named Sharp Shot. He’s some sort of special pony in Canterlot, or something.”

Sharp Shot. The name didn’t ring any bells. Then again, Midnight only really knew one pony in Canterlot. It was almost a tease, really, being down in Ponyville and looking up to see the capital city looming high on the mountain and just knowing he was up there. Life could be so cruel sometimes…

Eclipse groaned and lifted her head up. She had every intention to begin whining again, when she saw a pony walking over towards the group. The rest of the Guard gave them a wide berth, but this one was headed straight for them. He wasn’t dressed like the rest of the Royal Guard either. Something about him set off alarms in Eclipse’s brain.

“Hey, Mid,” she said, getting a passive murmur from the filly. “Remember you were telling me about that stallion you met back in Canterlot?”

Midnight’s ears perked up, even though her eyes remained closed. “Yeah? Fleethoof? What about him?”

“Remind me again of what he looked like?”

“Really? First you tell me to shut up about it, now you want me to go on?” Midnight laughed, and pulled a photograph out of her armor. She slid it blindly across the table in the direction of Eclipse’s voice. “He’s a pegasus. Red coat, golden mane, really, really blue eyes. Toned body, kinda husky voice—but the sexy kind, not the rough angry sort of husky.”

“Sexy, huh?” a shockingly familiar male voice responded.

Midnight practically fell out of her seat, she had been taken by such surprise. Her gold eyes snapped open in an instant while she flailed about to regain her balance, her hooves swinging wildly in the air. Spinning around in place, she stared slack-jawed at Fleethoof. He had just appeared out of nowhere, but there he was, standing and giving her that lopsided grin with his golden bangs hanging slightly over his eyes.

She tried to respond—to say anything, but her tongue felt twisted into a knot and her cheeks felt like they were on fire. The other Lunar Guards were laughing at her embarrassment, but she didn’t notice it. Midnight felt very much like a deer in headlights.

“I wondered what had happened to this. I gotta say, this is really not a flattering shot of me. I don’t even look like this anymore.” Fleethoof said, picking up the picture of himself taken from his service record. “Hello again, Midnight. Didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon.”

“Sergeant Sharp Shot?” Starlight asked, looking to the pegasus pony.

He shook his head. “Captain Fleethoof. Sharp Shot’s in my unit. I’m covering for him.”

The two ponies shook hooves. Starlight was taken aback by the pony’s presence. He had expected some stuffy Canterlot bureaucrat in gold armor to come traipsing along with them through the jungle, all protocol and no leniency. The pony before him wore no armor or uniform, and his simple brown bomber jacket was a far cry from anything standard. He carried a basic set of equipment on a vest around his torso, and a gun on his hip and rifle slung over his shoulder. A captain replacing a sergeant? he thought, the unusual protocol raising flags in his head. Whoever this stallion was, he was a cut above the ordinary Royal Guard.

“Fleety!” Midnight said in joyful exclamation, all but flinging herself over the flimsy table to throw herself into a tight hug around the stallion.

Fleethoof grunted as he took the brunt of the force, barely able to keep from tumbling over during her enthusiastic greeting. Were it any other pony, he would have been floored by the pony’s excessive displays of outward affection. As it were, Midnight’s little quirks and behavior had become an endearing part of her—albeit in small doses. He chuckled and rubbed the mare’s back while her hooves tightened around his neck.

“It’s Fleethoof, not Fleety…” Fleethoof gave a choking gasp for breath. “Midnight… you’re suffocating me…”

“Midnight, get off of him! Sorry about that, sir. I’m Corporal Starlight.” The bat pony gave the captain a short salute. “These are my ponies: Midnight Dasher, Eclipse, Echo, Blackjack, Daybreak, and Nocturne.” Each pony gave a gesture as Starlight introduced him or her. “Welcome to Ghost Team, sir.”

Fleethoof gave a shake of his head and a roll of his eyes. “You can drop the formalities, Starlight. I don’t run like the Guard, and if it’s all right with you, I’d like to keep it that way. Just call me Fleethoof, and operate however you work best. I’m just here to help.”

“I like this guy,” Eclipse stated excitedly.

Starlight gave a brisk nod. “Yes, sir. Fleethoof. Sorry. We’re about to head in and help the next search party. Don’t you want to grab some armor, or anything…?”

“I’ve got this.” Fleethoof patted the gun at his side, a wry smirk on his face. “I think I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? It’s pretty dangerous in there. Guards have gotten hurt in there.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

Eclipse giggled softly. “I really like this guy. Can we keep him?”

Starlight exchanged a look with Fleethoof. It was clear that the pony operated on his own terms and rules. He shrugged. There was nothing he could do.

“All right, Ghosts up! Let’s move!”

The squad of bat ponies clambered to their hooves, immediately snatching up all of their belongings. The bats were loaded for bear, carrying an assortment of weapons and tools. It almost looked like they were geared up for a fight. Fleethoof couldn’t decide if he felt under prepared, or if they were overly so.

Guess we’ll find out, he thought and followed the seven ponies as they made their way towards the group of Royal Guards entering the forest. The Everfree Forest was an imposing presence. It daunted the countryside with its size. The ponies that walked in seemed to get swallowed up by the undergrowth, as if the forest itself were alive and was trying to devour them. He could see why such a place got the reputation it had, though he was convinced the myths that accompanied it were completely unsubstantiated.

“Keep your eyes peeled, everypony,” Starlight said from the front of the group. “Let’s find those foals quickly and bring them home.”

Not soon enough… The thought slipped from Fleethoof’s mind just before he took that first step into the shade of the Everfree.