Price of Life

Chapters

Sprouting Wings
A Second Chance
The Journey Begins
Night Guard
Ice and Fire
Proluge

Sprouting Wings

Chapter-1 Sprouting Wings

Blinking lights alerted Myst to the fact that her machines weren’t calibrated correctly. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, the gentle tapping barely audible over the massive cooling units. Finishing her adjustments she looked up. After doing so she immediately regretted it. The lead scientist on this project casually brushed crumbs off his coat only for them to be pulled into the cooling intake. A frown marred Myst’s face at the sight of such blatant disregard for sensitive machinery.

Despite the inauspicious start adrenaline and excitement filled Myst. She eagerly awaited the green light to begin their experiment. Even though she was a new member of this project she still felt like it was her baby. The humming of the machines she had programmed told her all was well, but she double checked all the indicators anyways. This was the big day; if their trial failed they would have to scrap the project. If it worked it could change the world forever. Nervously she rechecked everything another time. John, the teams physicist, gently placed a hand on her shoulder cueing her to finally start.

Her hands flew across the keyboard once again. This time she was running the warm up sequence. After a few minutes the room was at least five degrees warmer and the cooling units made conversation impossible. The screen blinked green a few times to indicate that all was well. With that Myst hit the start button. The machines got even louder, everyone had to put on ear protection or be deafened. The machines vibrated so powerfully that a few of the three inch bolts holding them down actually came free from the floor. Then, with a blinding burst of purple and green light the machines fell into a barely audible hum.

As her vision returned to normal, she realized that there was a strange orb of intertwined green and purple light in the center of the room. The six foot orb hovered in between two pillars. Arcs of blue electricity appeared to hold the portal suspended a few feet off the floor. The green and purple light swirled around each other casting strange patterns on the wall. The portal’s light was so brilliant that it was nearly impossible to look directly at it.

A broad smile split across Myst's face. At first she couldn’t comprehend the fact that everything had worked. But once she realized that they had actually created a portal to another dimension a very loud and unprofessional cheer left her throat. Seeing their success the room was filled with a celebratory mood. Though aside from a quick cheer and maybe a laugh the room was mostly silent. While everyone would like to have thrown a party on the spot they still needed to gather data on their portal. After several minutes of monitoring it was clear that the portal was not going to collapse, explode or destroy time and space as they knew it.

Seeing their continued success Myst was filled with a mix of excitement and trepidation. She was excited to see that everything was working—destroying time and space was not on her bucket list—but as Murphy once said, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” This saying was in the back of Myst’s head, nagging her as she prepared for stage two.

Stage two was to take a probe and push it through the portal, then hold it there for five minutes while it gathered data about the other side. When she first welcomed on to the project Myst had been challenged to a game of Rock Paper Scissors, at the time she had no idea what it was about. After she won she was informed that she had just won the honor of putting the probe through their portal. At the time it had seemed silly, really what is the likelihood of successfully creating a portal to a different dimension? But as it turned out they had done it, so with a pounding heart and butterflies in her stomach, she approached the rift, holding a long pole from which a probe hung. She pushed the probe through the strange vortex of color. If all went well the probe would tell them what kind of environment was on the other side. Hopefully they would be able to eventually draw energy from this other dimension.

To her surprise she met with some resistance. It was like shoving something through molasses. After steadily shoving for about thirty seconds she felt the pressure let up. Once the probe was through the portal, she started her count of five minutes, but she didn't even get to five seconds.

Without a chance to brace herself Myst was forcefully pulled into the vortex. Purple and green color swirled around her. Before she was able to process what had just happened pain filled her body. It felt as though her body was being compressed into a boneless, shapeless blob. The pain was almost unbearable. Myst screamed in agony, closed her eyes, and prayed that she would come out alive. In that moment she wondered what had brought this fate upon her.

As light swirled around her and pain consumed her it felt as though time stopped. In a sudden burst of selfishness Myst thought about her past and wished she had just kept killing. The only reason she was in the lab at all was because she had gotten cold feet. Her overseer had told her she was killing terrorists and other people that posed a serious threat to her country. Many times she had seen the terrorist’s plans to kill innocents, then tracked down them and their compatriots, leaving no threat alive. But it had finally become clear that not all of her targets really were threats to national security. Myst remembered clearly the day she found out the truth of the matter.

She hadn't been able to keep up with the news. So when she killed her targets she hadn't known who they were. But one time she examined the computer of a target and found that instead of a terrorist he was a politician who wanted to cut her organization's budget. He was no threat to the country. In fact he was one of the people Myst thought she was protecting.

After making this discovery Myst refused to kill anyone else. “Death is not the way to solve this problem,” she had said. In retrospect she realized she had been lucky she hadn't been killed on the spot. Insubordination was not treated lightly. Ultimately, Myst decided that she had no regrets. There was no question in her mind that she had done the right thing. Ironic—the first thing she did right with her life would in a roundabout way end up killing her. After finishing that thought the pain became too much and Myst blacked out.

When she opened her eyes, Myst was staring into the face of what appeared to be an orange pony. She closed her eyes and shook her head hoping that when she opened them she would be greeted with reality. No such luck. The pony was still there. Myst groaned and tried to stand up. Feeling dizzy she fell to a sitting position.

The orange pony now circled around in front of her and said, “I am mighty sorry to have pulled you out of the sky like that. Are you gonna be OK?”

“I think so,” Myst's replied.

“Well I am mighty glad to hear that! My name is Applejack. What's yours?”

The orange pony had asked this before Myst could really comprehend the fact that this was a talking pony. So when she responded she only paused to wonder if she should introduce herself as Kate or Myst. It had been so long since she was Kate, but it was her birth name. She decided, however, that this might some kind of trick her employer was playing, so she replied, “Myst is my name. What am I doing here?”

“Well...” the orange pony replied, “I saw this crystal hanging in the air above the pasture.”

She said this while gesturing toward a crystal that looked like her probe, except it was pink and see-through and crystal. Before Myst could say anything, the orange pony continued.

“That there crystal was scaring the cows. They said they were liable to stampede if that crystal stayed there. So I reckoned I should do something about it. What I done was lassoed it and gave it a pull. After that you came tumbling out of the air and hit your head on that rock over there. I came over to make sure you were alright. For what it’s worth, I am really sorry to have hurt you like that.”

The orange pony sounded sincere and offered Myst a hoof. Myst reached out to take the hoof. When she did so, she was hit with the sudden realization that she had a hoof as well. That was just too much for her to take. There was nothing in her training that prepared her for transformation into a pony. As such she did what all highly trained combat specialists do when they are in a situation with no protocol to handle it—she fainted.

When she woke up, she was in a bed. Her head was throbbing as she slowly opened her eyes. Seeing a white ceiling Myst was happy to realize that the orange pony had been a dream. But when she went to rub her eyes she found that her hands actually were hooves. The last hope she had of returning to normal life was shattered when the orange pony spoke.

“Looks like you really hit your head pretty hard. On the bright side it looks like your wings are fine, so you should be good to go once the swelling on your head dies down.”

Learning she also had wings was less surprising to Myst than learning she was no longer human. After all, what are some wings when you already have hooves?

Myst rolled out of bed, groaning as her head throbbed even harder. “Thank you Applejack. I really appreciate all the trouble you went to, but I really must get going.”

No solid plan of what to do had formed yet. But staying here and admiring the pristinely kept wood floor, the apple decorations everywhere, and the old fashioned wash basin wasn’t going to help her accomplish anything.

“It was no problem really. It was the least I could do after causing your accident.” Applejack replied. “Don't forget your crystal thing,” the orange pony called after Myst as she left the room.

As she left the room she could hear Applejack tidying the room she had just vacated. When she went downstairs she was greeted by the sight of three fillies playing at being pirates. She smiled slightly seeing an orange pegasus wearing an eye patch and trying to talk around a wooden sword in her mouth. The sight was ridiculous since she was wearing what appeared to be a purple bicycle helmet. Myst remembered a time when she was innocent and carefree, a time when she would not have analyzed the filly’s stance to see if she could pose a threat—assuming the sword was real.

Not wanting to interrupt them, Myst quietly crept through a door that led to the back of the house. She found herself in the kitchen, the smell of apple pie wafting from the oven. Myst was sorry she couldn’t stay to enjoy the homemade treat. Just by smelling it she could imagine the way it would melt in her mouth. Examining her surroundings she discovered that her crystalized probe was leaning next to the door.

As she approached the door a metallic glint caught her eye. On the counter was a small knife, it looked like a short steak knife. Realizing just how vulnerable and unprepared she was Myst grabbed the small knife. It felt very underhanded to steal like that, but she knew no other way to guarantee food and shelter for the night.

As she left Sweet Apple Acres the sun was midway through the sky telling Myst that it was just a little past noon. She knew that she did not have much time left if she wanted to find food and set up some shelter before dark. Myst’s training kicked in as she formulated a plan. Her first objective was to set up a small camp from which she could surreptitiously observe the locals. She also needed to become familiar with her new body. Stopping on top of a hill she looked around to get her bearings. To her left a dark looking forest spread out as far as she could see. She thought there might be a ruin of some kind deep within the woods. To her right she saw a small village.

Myst decided against entering the settlement. Until she was familiar with her pony body she knew she would be unable to properly deal with any complications that might arise. That left the forest as her best option so she quickly made for it. The tree cover in the forest was very thick, casting shadows everywhere. In fact it was so thick that Myst was amazed any plants got enough light to grow there. But as she walked there always seemed to be plenty of plants. Some of them she recognized, while others were completely foreign to her.

Myst continued through the forest until she found a small pond of crystal clear water. The pond looked like something out of a fairy tale. The sun filled the clearing making the water sparkle while all around grasses and flowers filled the rest of the clearing. The scene was perfect. It reminded her of her childhood dreams of the perfect spot to live. Seeing this scene fold out before her gave her a sense of coming home.

Myst drank deeply from the pond. Feeling refreshed, she took her knife and began to make traps for the small rodents she had seen all afternoon. After placing several traps she decided to start off by making sure she was still able to fight. It was difficult to do without some other pony to practice on. Instead she thought through her techniques and tried to practice them on whatever plant was available. Myst was shocked to find that despite the dramatic changes to her body all of her instincts and training had seemingly transferred without a hitch. The really strange part was when she realized that she no longer thought in terms of people. Instead of knowing mixed marital arts as she used to, she knew exactly how it applied to ponies.

After this startling discovery, Myst had to come to terms with the fact that whatever had happened when she crossed over had clearly been magic. There was no other explanation that made sense. No science could alter her knowledge so precisely and perfectly. This discovery left open many possibilities and only heightened Myst's interest in this new place.

Myst went and checked her traps, finding nothing. So she decided that it would be a good time to learn how her wings worked. Myst had no experience flying and as such had no idea what to expect. She started by spreading her wings. Myst closed her eyes and tried to imagine what it would be like to fly. At first it felt a little unnatural, but quickly it started feeling right. Without any conscious thought she flapped her wings—once, twice, a third time. Then Myst opened her eyes and saw the ground move away from her.

Instead of the panic that she had anticipated, the mare felt only exhilaration. The wind whistling through her feathers, the feeling of contracting her wings, the slight dip at the end of each wing beat. It was amazing. Before, Myst had had no real desire to fly. But now that she was airborne all she could think of was how wonderful it was to fly.

She started off slowly, simply rising in the air, trying to figure out how best to pace her breathing and her motions. She slowly winged over the small town she had seen earlier and then back over the forest. Then giggling with delight, all thoughts of her mission forgotten, the gray mare pumped her wings as fast as she could.

The ground flew past underneath her. There was no way to tell exactly how fast she was going but it didn't matter. All that mattered was the euphoria caused by the wind rushing past her face, playing thorough her feathers, and keeping her aloft. The urge to do something more than just fly in mundanely straight lines was overpowering as Myst accelerated high into the sky.

As she rose higher and higher she performed vertical loops. Quickly she started spinning straight up into the air. Her momentum spent, she began to fall. The wind rushed past her; she left her wings closed, only to snap them out just feet away from the ground.

The euphoric rush began to fade, but not before Myst tried one last thing. This time she soared straight for a cloud. She had wanted to feel what it was like inside of the cloud, but that didn't work out. Instead of passing through the cloud, her outstretched hoof shoved the cloud along in front of her. This strange occurrence snapped Myst out of the euphoria of her first flight.

Examination of the cloud revealed that it was a cloud. She even tried dropping a rock on it. The rock fell straight through. Yet when she sat on it, the cloud was solid underhoof. After experimenting, she found that all the clouds were the same. Myst was too hungry to give this much thought, and so she returned to the forest to check her traps.

There were a few squirrels in the traps. Myst skinned and prepared them. After that she started a fire and began to cook the meat. As she waited, she started absent-mindedly eating the surrounding vegetation. By the time the meat was done Myst was quite full. Only at this point she realized what she had done, and she panicked. Myst forced herself to vomit, the whole time praying that she had not eaten anything poisonous.

After cleansing her system, Myst greedily tore into the meat. But after she had eaten, Myst, promptly vomited again. This time it was completely involuntary. For a moment panic gripped the mare's mind, believing that she had eaten some poisonous plant. Then she remembered. A long time ago in a small classroom she had given a presentation on horses. At the memory Myst laughed. Despite having twice disgorged a meal it was good to know she was not dying. The fact that had slipped her mind was that horses—and, ergo, ponies—are herbivores. Realizing her mistake Myst gratefully filled her belly with the surrounding vegetation. After eating for the third time that night, Myst grabbed a cloud and forced it under the tree cover.

The day had not been at all what she expected. The way everything had changed right in the middle of an ordinary day reminded her of the day she had become an assassin. This time however the change had seemed mostly positive. Even if this land turned out to be hostile she could follow her conscience without fear of retribution from her previous employers. Satisfied that with the dawn she would have a new and better life, Myst slept. Her final thought as sleep took her was that clouds were undoubtedly the softest and most comfortable bed ever.

A Second Chance

Chapter-2 A Second Chance

Myst woke to find the sun cheerfully shining down into her clearing. Despite the softness of her bed, her back was extremely sore. It took a minute for her to remember where she was. Unfortunately it only took fifty-nine seconds to roll off her cloud. In the second before she hit the water Myst tried to use her wings. This attempt to save herself failed miserably; it actually made the situation worse. Everyone who has ever tried diving knows that belly flopping hurts. Wings are infinitely more sensitive than the human belly, a fact Myst found out firsthand when her awkward flapping put them in between her and the water.

With a pained cry quickly cut off by water rushing over her head, Myst let the world know exactly what she thought about wing flopping. Awkwardly Myst pulled herself out of the frigid water and tried to shake herself off. She was able to get some of the water off of her coat and mane, but her wings proved problematic. When she fanned her wings she could still feel the feathers sticking together. She couldn’t close her wings either since the feathers wouldn’t layer correctly while sticking to each other.

After shivering for a few seconds, Myst decided that now might be a good time to go visit the town. It would give her a chance to dry off in the sun and offer a feel of what this world was like. Before she left, Myst camouflaged her crystal to make sure that it wouldn't walk away while she was gone.

After walking to the town Myst had stopped shivering, and though they were still sore she could once again fold her wings. Myst began wandering through the town trying to get a feel for the place, looking for anything that might help her understand this society. She stopped and observed as several ponies approached an apple stand. After a little conversation they placed what appeared to be coins on the stand, took some apples, then left. It was then that Myst noticed that the pony running the stand was the same one whom she had met yesterday. Myst turned away quickly hoping that a missing knife wouldn't be tied to her. In her haste to escape Myst ran straight into a bouncing pink pony.

“Oh hi there! I am so glad to see you! I have been having these twitches for days and days and days and days, telling me that a new pony is coming to town, and here you are! I just have to throw you a huge Welcome to Ponyville party! What's your name?”

This information disturbed Myst. It wasn’t surprising to find that some ponies could sense the future; it was surprising that they would throw a party for someone they didn’t even know. Unsure whether the ‘party’ was actually a party or something else she hesitated before replying, “My name is Myst.”

“Oh goody! Here, take this cupcake. Be sure to come to Applejack's barn at three p.m. sharp. You don't want to miss your party!”

With that the pony shoved a cupcake into Myst's open mouth and bounced away. Completely at a loss for words all Myst could do was watch as the pony left. The cupcake was the sweetest thing that Myst had ever tasted. There was so much sugar that she was sure that she would have a heart attack and die if she ate so much as half of it. Spiting out the cupcake left Myst's head clear to wonder just what had happened. Before Myst could decide what to do about a party invite from a bouncing pink menace, a pair of orange hooves stopped beside her.

Myst looked over to see Applejack's stern face looking back at her. “Now listen here Sugar Cube, knives don't just up and walk away. Ponies also will do some strange things after getting hit on the head. So if after the party I walk into the kitchen and find everything the way it was before you came I won't have to talk to any pony else about this.”

Myst meekly nodded her head.

“One other thing. Pinkie Pie has been going on and on about some new pony that is coming to town. Normally she only notices things a short while before they happen, so I get the feeling that you are something different. Not sure just how yet—after all you only just showed up. I don't know why you are here, but know this: if you mean my friends any harm, you will have me to answer to.”

As she said the last words, she reached one hoof over Myst's shoulder in a friendly hug. At least that is what it looked like. In reality Myst was temporarily crushed by a pony much stronger than herself.

“Well, I got to get back to tending my stall. See you at the party!”

After that conversation, the orange pony's cheerful voice left Myst deeply rattled. It was all she could do to avoid retaliating during that hug. However it simply wouldn't do to hurt or kill a pony in public, especially when she still had very little idea of what this society was like. Myst decided that she had better make it to this party and hope that she would meet a sane pony who did not threaten her or stuff her full of sugar. Myst resumed her tour of the town, trying to find someplace like a library where she could hopefully find an explanation for all the crazy things that she was seeing.

Her search, however, was interrupted by a growling sound emanating from her stomach. At this cue, Myst decided to find something to eat. Seeing a large grassy park where a few families were spending the day she decided that was as good a place as any to sate her hunger. Myst had only taken a few bites of the luscious green grass when a white mare with a horn came up to her.

“Now really, darling, must you be so boorish as to eat the grass in the park? Don't you have any respect for keeping the place nice? Just think, what would happen if every pony started eating the grass? Why the whole park would become a mud pit! Besides, grass doesn't even taste that good! Really you should learn some manners.”

The tirade from this irate mare was just a little more than Myst could stand. She had only just started to come to terms with the idea that magic existed, that she was a pony, and had wings. To top this all off she had already been accosted by two ponies today. She hadn’t realized how much of a toll all of these incidents had taken. As she flared her wings aggressively pain seared through them reminding her just how bad this day had been. After two days in an alien world the pressure just became too much, so Myst yelled.

“Yes, I must be so boorish! Clearly you and your perfectly kept mane would know nothing of what it is like to live without anything! If you are so worried about this place looking nice then you can do some work one day in your perfect life and go get grass from outside the town to fill in the grass I eat. Clearly you have no reason to worry that I will turn this place into a mud pit since I am the only one eating here! I do agree apples taste better than grass, but they cost money! Furthermore I have no idea how you expect me to learn manners when I don't even have a house. Manners are all well and good when you can afford something other than a campground and aren't dependent on the generosity of stray plants for your survival!”

After shouting Myst felt a little better, but decided to drive home her point by defiantly taking another mouthful of grass, and chewing with her mouth open to thoroughly insult the mare. The mare looked completely mollified, much to Myst's satisfaction. But nothing could have prepared Myst for what was to follow.

“Oh, you poor dear. I am so sorry to have been so thoughtless. I really should have been nicer about this whole thing. Come along, I will make it up to you. After all, I wouldn't be bearer of the element of generosity if I didn't at least get you a proper meal.”

At first Myst was too surprised at the sudden change in this mare's attitude to follow, but she quickly overcame her surprise and followed the disappearing figure. Myst was led to a dressmaker's shop. There her guide stopped to open the door. Myst was surprised when instead of pushing the door, her guide's horn lit up and a blue aura enveloped the door's handle.

“We are here,” the unicorn said cheerfully.

The shop was split between pristine neatness and total chaos. About half of the store had dresses on display, the other half was obviously where the dresses were made. Bolts of cloth spilled over the floor. Mixed in amongst them were balls of yarn, spools of thread, and a cat who was determinedly making the situation worse by chasing odd scraps across the floor. Myst had no idea how the beautiful dresses on display could have come out of that chaos.

Myst followed her host through the shop and into the kitchen behind it. There the white unicorn mixed up some salad, then split it evenly between two plates. “Well, now that we have some food I should probably introduce myself formally. My name is Rarity. What's yours?”

In between bites of the most luscious salad Myst had ever eaten she managed to speak. “I'm Myst.”

At this revelation Rarity exclaimed, “Oh, how wonderful! You are the new pony that Pinkie Pie is throwing that party for. I simply must make you a dress, and style your mane.”

“Um... that won't be necessary.”

“Nonsense dear. It is your party. You absolutely must look your best. Besides I never pass up an opportunity to make a new dress.”

“Really I don't need a dress. Besides, if you remember, I don't have a house. A dress is the least of my worries right now. If you really must make me something a leather vest with lots of pockets would serve me much better. Furthermore it wouldn't get torn up when I go back to my campground in the forest.”

Myst finished her salad, then looked up at Rarity to find her with her mouth hanging open.

“How... How could you?”

“How could I what?”

“Leather. Camp in Everfree Forest. Are you crazy!? Everyone knows Everfree is dangerous. And leather! Why would you want to wear another animal's skin? It is barbarous! Just... How could you?”

Myst had not anticipated such a reaction, but in retrospect, the pony's objection to leather at least made some sense. How anyone could be so flabbergasted that someone would actually stay in a forest was beyond anything Myst could piece together. “Well, the forest doesn't seem that dangerous to me. I heard some wolves howling, but nothing a little fire won't take care of. Besides I slept on a cloud several feet off the ground. It's not like they can jump that high. As for the leather, it is durable and, I think, quite comfortable.”

This did not seem to alleviate any of Rarity's anxiety. “The wolves are only the start of problems with the forest. The weather isn't controlled by pegasi. The animals take care of themselves; it is a horrible place, so unnatural. And your parents—how could they raise you with leather? I have half a mind to go talk some sense into them.”

Despite her best efforts Myst started grinning, and by the time Rarity was done it was all Myst could do to avoid laughing in her face. “Where I come from everything you just called 'unnatural' is the natural way of things. And you might have a hard time talking sense to my parents seeing as they are dead.”

Rarity stopped. She just sat down and tried to gather her thoughts. Clearly she was having a hard time processing and accepting what Myst had said. Finally she spoke. “I am so sorry about your parents. If you don't mind my asking, where exactly are you from?”

“South,” was Myst's laconic reply.

“Just how far south? I have been as far as Apaloosa and it was nothing like what you described.”

Myst was unsure just where Apaloosa was, but she figured it had to be fairly close to the border if Rarity was using it a measure of south. Myst wasn't about to tell Rarity that she was a being from a different dimension, so she decided to adapt her life story and make appropriate substitutions. After all, a story with a grain of truth is far more convincing than a complete lie. So foster care became tigers, and shady government organizations became gryphons. “Well I was born about five hundred miles south of Apaloosa. I don't remember my parents. I was raised by tigers. I never really fit in, so I ran away. After that I met some gryphons; they took care of me and I did their dirty work. Finally I left them and came here.”

Rarity did something completely unexpected—she hugged Myst. “I am so sorry you had to go through so much. It must have been horrible doing the gryphon's dishes and laundry. I simply must help you get acquainted with civilization.”

Myst was too surprised by the hug to correct Rarity's misinterpretation of 'dirty work', and after thinking on it she realized that if leather had been a sore topic, assassination would be much worse. “It's ok. Really. I may just be getting to know about ponies, but I am fine I promise.”

Rarity finally released Myst, an act Myst was very grateful for. However, that was not the end of Rarity's quest to civilize Myst. “Myst darling, you simply must go the spa. After living in such dreadful conditions you simply must get yourself groomed properly. I will take your measurements. Then after you are done at the spa, come back here and I will have something ready for you. I promise it won't be too frilly. After that we can go to your party and introduce you to all the other ponies!”

Following this statement Rarity made Myst stand still while she measured her in every way imaginable. Myst was grateful that she had had training as a sniper. Otherwise she was sure she would have gone insane just standing there without moving. Her abilities were put to the test while the measuring tape moved across her body, tickling her. After that ordeal was over Rarity gave Myst some local currency—called bits—and told her where to find the spa. Myst left the dress shop and started walking towards the spa. Before she got there, she realized that she still had a few things to take care of. Myst flexed her sore wings tentatively before taking off. Her first stop was returning the knife she had borrowed. After that, she checked her crystal to make sure it was still safe. All told, she only took about five minutes to accomplish those quick errands.

Finally Myst entered the spa to be greeted by Lotus and Aloe. After paying them Myst was treated to one of the most luxurious experiences she had ever known. After having her coat brushed, and her mane washed she was treated to the best massage she had ever had. Overcome by weariness, and the relaxing experience, Myst found herself fast asleep. The spa ponies didn't see fit to wake her until after her mane was styled.

When Myst woke up she was greeted by her reflection. At first she could not believe that the beautiful mare looking back at her was herself. Myst had never really thought of herself as pretty, and had only had a few missions where good looks were important. Besides you don't go hang out with your friends and give each other makeovers when you are an assassin. So for the most part she had just ignored her hair. That didn't mean that she couldn't appreciate good looks, she had just never expected to see them on herself.

Her mane was pulled back behind her ears. It had been fastened on each side with some clips. It gently curled into very loose ringlets that fell down the side of her neck. The contrast between the deep purple of her mane and her dark gray coat was truly magnificent. Her tail had been braided and had a gray bow that matched her coat tied to its end. Still as her eyes roamed across her body, she noticed that her coat was marred by several scars. Each scar was a silent reminder that she was not immune to mistakes.

Myst sighed, realizing that each and every scar was a testament to the fact that she did not belong here. She could never truly be a part of this society. From what she had seen, these ponies were almost entirely untouched by the woes of her home dimension. It almost felt wrong to go to this party. Myst worried that some of her would rub off on these happy little ponies. The thought that she could corrupt them almost made her leave, never to see any of them again. A stray thought that perhaps these ponies needed a protector made her stay. She could never forgive herself if she ruined these ponies either through her action or her inaction. With that thought on her mind, Myst flew back to Rarity's shop.

When Myst arrived she was enthusiastically greeted by the unicorn. “You look so pretty! Come here and try this on, I think it will suit you quite well.”

Myst followed Rarity to a ponyequin that had a sky blue trench coat on it. Myst was surprised; she had expected something a little—different. But she obligingly tried it on. Myst was delighted to find that inside of the trench coat there were several pockets. Upon seeing that, she smiled. Rarity had been nervously hovering until that smile, worried that Myst wouldn't like her work. But after seeing her eyes light up as she smiled made all her efforts worth it. Rarity then smiled in relief before glancing at the clock. “We simply must get going. Otherwise we will be late for your party!”

With that, Rarity ran out of the shop. Myst quickly followed Rarity. As they approached the barn, Myst began to second-guess herself; she tried to understand why she was feeling so protective of these ponies. She hadn't even been aware they existed a few days ago. Since then she had only spent half a day in their company. But even as she tried to dismiss her feelings, she knew that it was a futile effort. In half a day she had seen and received more kindness than she had for five years. Myst knew her feelings were irrational, but after years of being treated like a tool and nothing more, the fact that anyone cared about her overruled all her logic.

As Myst entered the barn, she resolved to put her past behind her and embrace her new life as a second chance. Unfortunately, that plan fell apart almost as soon as she entered the building. For some reason a young filly thought it would be a good idea to jump on Myst's back. Startled, Myst reacted just like she had trained. She flung the filly to the ground then moved to finish her opponent. The filly was only saved because she slid under Big Mac. This resulted in Big Mac receiving a sharp blow to his ribcage as Myst dove at the frightened filly.

After impacting with the much larger pony, Myst realized what she was doing. She saw the helmeted orange pegasus filly look at her, eyes full of fear. She backed up only to be fixed with an angry glare by Big Mac. “I'm sorry—I'm so sorry. This was a mistake. I should go before anyone else gets hurt.”

With that, Myst fled from the barn. After leaving, she started flying. It was nothing like her first flight. Instead of a euphoric rush, she felt empty. She wasn’t sad, angry, or anything else. She was simply empty. Weather it was her training or a defense mechanism she didn’t know. Flying helped to bring a little peace, but the emptiness was still there, following her as she fled. Finally Myst landed in a tree. She sat there for a few minutes seeing nothing but the face of that filly contorted in panic. Myst remembered seeing her the day before happy and safe. When she realized that she had failed in her self-assigned mission as a protector something snapped inside. Instead of the emptiness she felt sorrow mixed with anger—sorrow about the pain she caused that filly and anger at herself for failing. She felt a warm tear slide down her cheek.

Myst completely gave herself over to her emotions, sobbing softly. She had been crying for at least a minute when a large purple wing wrapped itself around her. Myst half-heartedly tried to shove her unwanted companion away. But when the presence did not immediately leave, she leaned into the other pony and cried even harder with her head buried in her companion's chest.

The two ponies sat like that for some time. The purple fur offered Myst a sense of security and comfort. After a while Myst stopped crying. She simply had no more tears left. The pony who had embraced her gently asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Myst didn't know why, but she felt that she could trust the mare who had tried to comfort her, so she simply nodded. The purple mare led Myst inside of the tree. Now that Myst was not hysterical she realized that the tree had been hollowed out and turned into a comfortable home. There were pillows on the floor and shelves upon shelves of books around the central room.

Twilight led the strange mare into the library. She did not know what had upset her so much but she felt it was her duty to try to help her through whatever was bothering her. Ever since she had become a princess it was her duty to try to care for her subjects, and this mare seemed as though she really needed someone right now. As the gray mare sat down Twilight asked, “Tea?”

The mare simply nodded. While Twilight was getting the tea ready, she asked, “What is your name?”

“Myst,” was the quiet reply.

Twilight let silence permeate the air until the tea was finished steeping. She came back holding two cups with her magic. One she passed to Myst, and one she kept herself. After a few moments, Myst spoke, “What is your name?”

“Twilight.”

“Well then, Twilight, thank you for being there for me. Though I can't help but think you might have been better off to just ignore me.”

“Nonsense! You clearly needed some pony.”

“Yeah...” Myst's voice trailed off. “I just... just messed up big time. I hurt an innocent little filly. That is all I have done for the past five years—hurt others. Do you know what it's like to live with that on your chest? To be a monster so hideous you can't stand to look at yourself?”

Twilight was shocked. The mare before her was not at all what she had expected. She had expected a love problem, or perhaps the death of a family member. But not this. This was something that Twilight had no idea what to do with. But the pain that was written across Myst's face made it clear that she had to say something.

“No... No I don't. But I don't think you do either,” Twilight wasn't sure where her words were coming from. She felt lost without some quote or fact to help her. But she couldn't just stop, so Twilight proceeded.

“If you were truly the monster you think you are then you wouldn't be so worried about it. The fact that you realize you have done wrong is the proof that you aren't the monster you think you are.”

“Ha. That’s easy for you to say. You haven't tried to kill an innocent little filly! You haven't personally ended two hundred and one lives! The first one was five years ago. I was fifteen.” At this, Myst paused for a second and took a drink of her tea and a haunted look filled her eyes, only to be replaced by pain when she resumed her tale.

“My parents died when I was twelve. After that, I lived in foster care until I was fourteen. After I turned fourteen I ran away. I had learned to program in school. I turned that knowledge to making exploits and viruses. I sold them to people on the black market. Some paid me lots of money to hack banks and transfer large sums of money to various accounts.

I didn't do half bad for a criminal. I had my own apartment and was getting by quite comfortably. One day I got a call. On my fifteenth birthday in fact. I was asked to meet a client in an alley not far from my place. When I arrived, I didn't find a client, I found a pimp. He thought I wanted to become a prostitute. I told him no. He just got mad. He tried to rape me. I tried to run away, but I wasn't fast enough. He caught me. I pushed him away and got just enough space to pull out my knife. I stabbed him again and again and again. He fell down bleeding. He asked for mercy. Then I slit his throat. I am not sure if I did it because I was angry or if it was to end his misery. That moment is a little hazy. After killing him, I fled the ally crying.

Outside the ally there was a van waiting. Men wearing vests with the letters 'NSA' emblazoned on them. I later found out that it stood for National Spy Association. I came to hate those letters. The men wanted me to work for them. They’d set me up with the pimp to see how I’d react. I passed their test. For one year I was a trainee. After that I became an assassin. My job was to kill threats to my country, or at least that was what I was told. I know I killed several dangerous people. They had the documents and weapons to prove that they meant ill. But one time I later discovered that not all of my targets had been bent on harming my country. I found out that some politicians had wanted to shut down the NSA, so the NSA made them my next targets. I killed them.

After that discovery I refused to kill anyone else. The NSA decided to use my computer skills for a while longer. I was reassigned to a lab which made a portal here. I programmed almost all of the equipment. Not as exciting as hacking security systems to spy on a target, but at least I was not hurting anyone. After we made the portal I accidentally got pulled through. After that I got used to my new pony body and ended up here.”

Twilight was shocked. There was a lot of information to take in all at once. Many of the things Myst had mentioned were a mystery to Twilight. They were so far outside of anything she had encountered or experienced. Twilight had a range of emotions swirling through her. At first she felt disgust at the idea of a killer. Then the analytical part of her mind kicked in, Twilight wondered what kind of world would have a government that killed its citizens. After wrestling with her thoughts, Twilight was no longer disgusted, and for the time being she put her curiosity on hold. Instead, Twilight felt pity. She realized that this mare was at least five years younger than herself and had been little more than a filly when she was pressed into the role of an assassin.

Twilight could not help but feel sorry for Myst. She tried to imagine what Myst's life had been like, but couldn't even come close. In that moment Twilight realized that she really only had one option: help Myst adjust to life in Equestria. After hearing Myst talk, Twilight knew that she did not want to go back to her old life. So she decided to start by helping Myst get a job.

“You have given me a lot to think about,” said Twilight softly. “I think it would be best for everyone if you wait here. I am going to call my friends over and see if we can find you a job. After all, if you are going to live around here you will need money eventually. Oh, and don't worry about your party, I will put in a word for you.”

Myst was again surprised at just how kind and accepting these ponies were. She couldn't imagine being in Twilight's position and doing anything other than call the police to get rid of the crazy assassin.

“You would do that for me? Even after knowing what I have done?” Myst's voice trembled with emotion as she spoke.

“Yes. I wouldn't recommend telling everyone what your life was really like though. Some ponies wouldn't be so understanding. But from the way you were crying when I found you, it is pretty clear that you are sorry and want a different life. I can't imagine being forced into such a life as a filly, and I want to give you the best shot that I can at becoming something better.”

With that, Twilight flew away, leaving Myst to ponder what she would tell the other ponies when they arrived.

A few hours later Myst was surrounded by six ponies and a baby dragon. She had been introduced to all of them. Myst had already met Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight. She was introduced to Spike (the dragon), Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash and Applejack had both been angry with Myst when they arrived. Apparently the filly that had jumped on her back was an honorary sister of Dash’s, and the large pony she had collided with was Applejack's brother. It took some coaxing from Twilight to get them to sit still and listen.

Myst told them the same story she had told Rarity earlier. She left out anything having to do with an alternate dimension, or assassination. Myst also added that her fighting instincts were developed by the gryphons since occasionally their young would try to have her as a snack. That neatly explained her jumpiness and aptitude for physical confrontation without greatly offending any pony.

After her tale Myst was surprised that all the ponies felt sorry for her, especially Fluttershy. After that, came the question of what kind of job she would be good at.

“So what is your special talent?” queried Dash.

“Special talent? I don't know. I am pretty good at surviving in the wilderness. But I wouldn't say that it is a special talent.”

“Well, what is your cutie mark?” the rainbow-maned mare persisted.

“Cutie mark?”

“You know, the picture on your flank,” Applejack interjected and gestured to her own cutie mark of three apples.

Myst looked blankly at the expectant ponies. “I don't have a cutie mark.”

At this statement a collective gasp issued from all their mouths (except Rarity). Rainbow rushed over to inspect Myst's flank to see if she was telling the truth. Fluttershy said, “I am so sorry for you. It must be awful not knowing what your special talent is.” The sincerity of the pity in Fluttershy's voice left Myst confused.

“What’s the big deal about a cutie mark anyway? I have gotten this far in life without one. I don't see how a picture on my flank would suddenly make my life any better.”

At this, the other ponies seemed stunned. They all stopped to consider her words for a minute. Finally Applejack tried to explain. “Well a cutie mark shows up when you discover your special talent. It is how you know what you are good at. It is something that you can do better than any pony else. It is kinda like your place in the world.”

“Well that is dumb. What if I wanted to write books and sing songs? But I had a cutie mark for flying. Should I just give up on the others and spend all day flying? Seriously—you should just follow your heart and ignore the stupid magical picture on your flank.”

Everyone in the room seemed shocked by the idea. After a few seconds of silence, Myst followed up with, “Spike you are with me, right? You don't need a cutie mark to figure out how to spend your life.”

Spike squirmed uncomfortably for a moment before saying, “Well cutie marks are just how ponies have been doing things like for forever. I can't say if you are wrong or right.”

After that non-answer Myst was about to pursue the matter further when she was cut off by Rainbow Dash.

“Look, you eggheads can argue about this some other time. I don't really care what silly theorem or whatever you come up with. We were trying to find Myst a job and since she is a pegasus I think she should help out with the weather. Since I had two pegasi move away we have been shorthooved and Myst can do the work with or without a cutie mark.”

At that, any hope Myst had had of discussing the philosophy of cutie marks was dispelled as she accepted the offer. “Sounds good to me. When do I start?”

“Meet me at town hall tomorrow morning nine a.m. sharp! Now that we have that out of the way, I am going to go practice my flying.”

With that, Dash left. The rest of the ponies also began to leave one by one until Myst was left alone with Twilight and Spike. As the other ponies were leaving, Myst began to comprehend the sheer volume of books that surrounded her. Myst asked Twilight “So why do you have all these books?”

“Well, this is the library. So they aren't really mine. I am the librarian—though I think I use the books more than any pony else in all of Ponyville.”

“So what are they about?”

“Well, a lot of them are about magic, though we also have fiction and other non-fiction sections.”

“Have you read anything about crystals?”

“Well, crystals can be used to conduct magical energy. A unicorn's horn is made up of a variety of crystals and minerals that allow it to store and channel magic. Also, some unicorns will use crystals as a way of shaping magic. This is done by carving runes into the crystal so that when magic is introduced to the crystal it is shaped by the runes. It is kind of like casting spells with your horn but a little less precise. While spells are based on language, they can also be shaped by the caster's emotions and thoughts. So usually rune crystals are used for simple things like magical locks, and the indoor lighting. About one hundred years ago some unicorns came up with a way to power rune crystals with the sun. That is how all ponies and not just unicorns have lights and appliances. Though I always thought it was a little weird that all ponies have a little magic in them but only unicorns can really channel it. I mean pegasi can interact with clouds, and earth ponies are really good at growing things; but it still is just a passive effect. The closest I have ever seen to a non-unicorn actively using magic is Pinkie Sense.”

Myst was sure that Twilight would go on forever if she wasn't stopped. So before Twilight spent the rest of their lives giving a dissertation on magical theory, Myst interrupted. “I have this interesting crystal that I would like you take a look at. If what you have been saying about magic is correct, I think it may store magic. It used to be a probe. But it was based mostly around a large battery, and magic sounds similar to electricity. So if magic is what we saw here and thought was electricity, perhaps the electricity, which was stored in the battery is now magic. Anyway, let me bring it back here so you can have a look at it.”

With that, Myst left the library and went to go fetch her crystal. When she got back she found Twilight dictating a letter to Spike. It had something to do with learning about princess duties. What really fascinated Myst was that after she was done, Spike burned the letter. Myst was confused by this, and was even more confused when a few seconds later Spike belched out a small rush of flames and left unharmed on the floor was another scroll. Myst made a mental note to ask about that later, but her first order of business was to show her crystal to Twilight.

Twilight examined the crystal with her magic for some time only to have a perplexed look spread across her face. “Well it definitely holds magical energy but that doesn't make any sense. Every theorem made since Star Swirl the Bearded postulates that only unicorn horns are capable of actually holding large amounts of magical energy. Other species' magic is basically pulled out of the air and sourced from their own energy. Unicorns can actually store a little magic in their horn that they can use before they start to feed off of their own energy. Every attempt to replicate the effect in creating a magical container has failed miserably. But here this crystal is proving all those ideas incorrect.”

Twilight grudgingly gave the crystal back to Myst. “So what do you plan to do with it?”

“Well, I plan to learn about those runes you mentioned earlier, then use them to control the magic in this crystal. It sounds a lot like programming computers—something I have had loads of experience with, so if you don't mind could you show me all the books you have here on magic theory and runes?”

“Ok, but be careful with that. You should probably run your first few attempts by me before you do anything. It wouldn't be good if you accidentally turned yourself into a frog or something.”

After Twilight had given Myst a stack of books about introductory magic theory and runes Myst had just one more question. “I don't suppose you have any monsters in your fridge?”

“I don't think so. There are some monsters in Everfree Forest but none of them would be in my fridge. Why do you want a monster?”

Myst just laughed. It felt good after all the crying she had done to just laugh and not have to worry about anything.

“What's so funny?” Asked Twilight.

“I don't mean a live monster, I mean an energy drink. It is like coffee except it has other ingredients besides caffeine to help you stay awake.”

Twilight still seemed a little confused by the idea, but did offer Myst some coffee. Myst accepted. Though after receiving what Twilight called 'coffee' she realized that ponies were lacking any desire to stay awake or please their taste buds. “What is this? It tastes like dishwater! You need to let it brew twice as long and either get darker beans or add more of them. How are you supposed to stay up all night drinking this stuff?”

“We don't stay up all night. And we only drink coffee for the flavor.”

“You’re doing it wrong. Here, let me show you how to make a pot of coffee that will wake the dead, or keep you up all night while you cram a new programming language.”

With that, Myst took over Twilight's kitchen and made a pot of real coffee. Twilight remained skeptical until Myst finished and gave her a cup. It was a little bitter, but after adding sugar and a little cream it was actually a decent cup of coffee. After that Myst started studying the books despite Twilight's suggestion that she should sleep before her first day of work. Twilight herself went to bed, though at around midnight she came down to the library and admitted that the coffee Myst had made was a good study aid for all-nighters. So the two mares spent the night in company reading different books on magic, Twilight occasionally answering Myst's questions.

Both mares were so absorbed in their work that neither of them were aware just how much time had passed until a knock on the door interrupted them. After hearing the knock Myst looked up at the clock and panicked. It was 9:05; she was late. Myst ran out the door to find that Rainbow Dash was the one knocking.

“Hey there—you are late.”

“I know. I just lost track of the time. You see, I was reading this book about the principals of magical transference and cross referencing that with a book of basic spells and a book about runes. I am so sorry. I won't let it happen again.”

Dash smacked her hoof into her face and muttered, “Just what this town needs—another egghead. Twilight was bad enough, but with two mares constantly studying magic this town is sure to be the site of some huge accident that leaves it uninhabitable for the next thousand years.”

Myst decided to ignore that comment and went with Rainbow to learn the ropes of managing the weather. After a few hours, Myst got the hang of things and was arranging clouds with the best of them. After work Myst went out to Everfree and started work on a cloud house. She kept it below the tree line so that the uncontrolled weather didn't blow it around. By the time night had fallen, Myst had managed to finish the walls and roof.

So Myst's life fell into a routine. She would wake up and practice her martial arts to keep in shape, then she would go work on the weather. After that she would stop by the library and study more magic. After her first week, Myst had finished her house, and even managed to furnish it. The furniture was not perfectly crafted but she had made all of it herself out of compressed clouds.

On the second week she started to craft spells with rune crystals. One of the first things she did was take a hardening and strengthening spell and use it on some clouds. Her first project was a kukri. The hardest thing about the knife was the handle. Getting it to balance in her mouth and having a solid grip was difficult. In the end her work paid off. It was the lightest blade she had ever held and it cut through the plants around her house with ease. An interesting side effect of the spell was that non-pegasi could hold the blade despite the fact that it was a cloud. Though—as she discovered when she tried to make other things for some of the ponies around Ponyville—the clouds would slowly dissipate if they were not used by a pegasus. But the quality of her cloud items were so good that non-pegasi would buy them anyway. Soon Myst made enough money forging clouds she could quit her job managing the weather. Dash was sorry to see her go, but like everyone else was very excited about the new material.

Thus Myst made a name for herself while further studying magic and runes. Her life was uneventful aside from her experiments with various spells. That changed about two and a half months after she arrived in Equestria.

A blue unicorn showed up one day. That would have been unremarkable, except he kept looking over his shoulder like he was scared some pony was following him.

This pony asked, “Could you make me some weapons?”

“Well I suppose I could. What do you want?”

The unicorn seemed unsure how to answer, then said, “What kinds of weapons can you make?”

“Well, I can make bladed weapons. I haven't had much success with making bows, though I can make arrows. Perhaps you can tell me what you want them for and I can better help you.”

At this, the unicorn looked around the shop before leaning in to whisper confidentially, “I want to raise an army to overthrow Celestia.”

Myst was taken aback by this statement. She had not met a pony who did not love their princess. So it was strange to hear one was planning to overthrow the sun princess. “Well, in that case, I can't really help you out.”

The unicorn was visibly angered at that response. His horn started to glow. Myst had seen enough people about to attack that she recognized the intent written in his eyes and across his face. Myst drew her kukri. But before she could bring it to bear, the unicorn finished his spell. She felt the unicorn reach into her mind and take control. The first thing he did was prevent her from swinging her blade. Then he began to examine her memories. Myst tried to fight the invasion of her mind, but she couldn’t even slow him down. She felt his laugh inside her head. It was the most disturbing sound she had ever heard.

“So you are from a different world.” The voice sounded inside her head. “What luck, I could never have hoped to find someone so capable in the art of combat. I think you will do more than be a smith for me. Congratulations, Myst you have just been promoted to vice captain of the Bluebell revolution.”

“I will never serve you. You invaded my mind, I will bucking kill you. Release me and face your end like a man.” Unable to speak, Myst thought back.

“Calm down. You are quite cute when you are angry. But this hatred of me will just not do. I think it would be best if you were to like me. I will give you a chance to join me willingly, but if you refuse, you will be forced to serve.”

Myst struggled with renewed energy against the foreign presence in her mind.

“Tsk, tsk. You know better than to try and resist.” The voice responded. Now listen to me, and I think you will find my cause has some merit. I see in your memories that you have not always agreed with authority. You have even risked your life for what you believe. So please listen to my reason before you judge me. Celestia has been princess for time immemorial. And during her reign there has been peace and prosperity for ponykind. But that peace has come at a terrible cost. Those who have resisted her mandates have been banished or worse. My brother was one such pony. He was a free spirit. He believed that all ponies should have free access to all knowledge. He felt that it was wrong for Celestia to ban knowledge and decide what schools of magic should be studied and which should be left alone. Worse still was allowing a select few elite mages to read these scrolls while denying all others access. He felt this was wrong and so he sought an audience with Celestia. She turned down his request to open the forbidden archives to the public. So he tried to sneak in, in order to copy the knowledge held within for all to see. However he was caught. I was told that he was banished, but that was not the case. He is in the princess's garden, turned into a statue. I saw him there—trapped for all eternity. Death would be a kinder fate. As it is, his soul will never pass beyond this world, yet he can't live a life while a statue. That was his reward for seeking equality among all ponykind.”

During this speech Myst had stopped struggling. After Bluebell finished, Myst had one question. “So, what is this 'forbidden knowledge'?”

“Among other things, necromancy, mind magic (my special talent), power transference spells (which is taking the life force of a living being and using it as part of your spell or absorbing it), spells for time travel, and summoning—usually demons such as windigoes, though other creatures can also be summoned from other worlds and planes of existence.

Myst replied, “So in other words the magic that could empower crazy ponies to wreak havoc on the world has been banned. I can't say I object. After all—if that knowledge had never left those archives I would be in control of my body right now. So, BUCK YOU! I will never willingly help you to make more ponies like yourself who have no regard for others and the power to bend them to their will.”

“So be it. I had hoped that you would help me willingly. But, perhaps after you help me overthrow the princess you will come around and agree to rule by my side.”

With that, Myst's mind exploded in pain as she tried to resist Bluebell. Slowly but surely, just as he promised, Bluebell placed spells that forced Myst to grant his every request to the best of her ability. The pinnacle of Bluebell's spells was one which left Myst unable to harm him and obliged to do everything in her power to protect him.

With a satisfied smile, Bluebell said, “Well, let's go home. I don't have a place to stay, so I will join you in your house.”

With that Myst left her shop to lead Bluebell to her home. It was like a nightmare. Some part of Myst's mind was in constant rebellion against Bluebell, but she was powerless to stop. Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come.

The Journey Begins

Chapter-3 The Journey Begins

Myst had been told by Bluebell to start forging weapons for their army. That is what irked Myst more than anything else. Bluebell always referred to his plans as 'their' plans. It was as though he had forgotten that Myst was an unwilling compatriot in his schemes. He treated her like she had been on board with him from the start, instead of having been enslaved part way through. Myst was suspicious that Bluebell was acting that way to try to brainwash her into agreement with him.

It might have worked had Bluebell not greatly overstepped his bounds. Demanding the creation of a perfect soldier and enough weapons for an army was not so bad. The problem was that he also wanted Myst to love him. Somehow in his twisted mind he saw no reason that Myst couldn't love him. But after being rebuffed and refused for a few weeks, he lost patience and used his magic to force her to love him. It didn't actually cause Myst to love him, but she had to act as though she did.

This violated Myst in a way that she had never even thought possible. She was angry at Bluebell so deeply that words could not describe it. He had trapped her inside her own body—only the smallest part of her could be angry at Bluebell. But that piece was never allowed to become dominant. Instead Myst was forced to predominantly feel love toward Bluebell. All other emotions were stopped almost as soon as they started. Every time they kissed, every time they cuddled, every time they walked together, Myst had no choice but to enjoy it. The knowledge that this was somehow perverse was the only thing that kept her anger alive. Had she ever had any feelings for Bluebell before his spell, perhaps she would have become his pawn completely and totally. But as it was, she had the will to resist, even if that will was the smallest part of her. Therefore, despite her actions she was never fully Bluebell's.

But the living Tartarus that Myst had been subjected to eventually came to an end. When trying to create the perfect soldier for Bluebell, Myst had thought of the Wolverine—a man who could recover from almost any wound and who never aged. Myst knew that completely replicating his abilities was impossible, but she had an idea to get a similar result. Myst remembered that aging was caused by cells failing to properly copy themselves. So, Myst thought, if she could magically enhance ponies so that their cells' reproduction was magically supplemented, she could double the cellular regeneration rate as well as eliminate errors in copying. This would allow soldiers to recover faster from wounds and serve longer. In all the wars Myst had read about, eventually soldiers would get too old to fight. This would no longer be a problem. This army would always be composed of the best soldiers—those who could avoid getting killed.

It took three weeks to prepare her crystals to make the super soldier. After carving the seven thousand runes required Myst wanted nothing more to do with either crystals or sculpting tools. The hardest part was figuring out a way to nullify all magic other than hers. It took huge amounts of trial and error to come up with a solution that would actually create a null magical field. This was key for her spell to work. If any outside magic interfered with the modification of cells it could easily kill the pony being modified. The hardest part of the null field was avoiding nullifying her own spell.

It was with great excitement that Myst finally finished her work. She decided to be the first test subject. Recruiting rebels was not something that either she or Bluebell were particularly good at. This left it up to Myst to test the spell on herself. The mind magic Bluebell had placed on her made her want to take the risk herself. After all she couldn’t risk harming Bluebell. Therefore Myst went deep into the Everfree Forest and began to set up her crystals.

Myst set up her rune crystals in the middle of a large clearing. Trembling with excitement she positioned herself at the focal point of a large octagon. The octagon was composed of crystals of varying colors and properties. Placing the last crystal Myst felt the familiar crackle of magic as the crystals all around her began to glow, quickly becoming brighter. Soon a dome of pink magic cut her off from the outside world. Though she couldn't see it, she knew that the dome was just the top half of a spear that extended underground. The sphere crackled with power as all magic in the area was nullified. A sudden bolt of magic struck Myst. It caused no pain—quite the opposite: immediately her mind was freed from all the magic Bluebell had put in place.

As Myst laughed manically she realized that Bluebell had accidentally enabled her to end his control. He had prevented her from thinking about a way to free her mind, but this meant that she hadn't thought about how her spell would remove his magic. Had she thought about it, she would have been prevented from following through with her spell.

Still laughing, Myst flared her wings, enjoying the tingling sensation as magic coursed through and around her. Once the dispelling was completed the crystals began to glow brighter in a myriad of colors. Had anyone been there to bear witness they would have fled as fast as they could. A mare enveloped in a rainbow sphere laughing crazily is a disturbing sight. But to top it all off, her eyes seemed to be harder than steel. Any who beheld her would never think of challenging her; the lack of tenderness in her gaze could have caused a dragon to flee in terror.

It felt good to be free, to once again be her own pony, no longer subject to every passing whim of another. However, Myst's laughter was cut off when her head exploded with pain. It felt like her skull was having a hole bored into it. Myst screamed in agony, but she braced herself against the pain as it raced through her. Despite her best efforts, she could see darkness creeping up from the edges of her vision.

In the moment before unconsciousness took her Myst decided she would embrace who she was. No longer would she try to live her life as if her past had never happened. Every scar she bore was proof that it had, and a lesson she had learned. Bluebell had added one more to their number, though by far his scar was the worst that she bore. The lesson she learned from that scar was that—no matter what she wanted—Myst was not one of Celestia's little ponies. She knew that, no matter what, she could never truly be one of them. Too much of herself was born out of violence and death. For a moment some part of Myst told her that she could still become like these ponies. But Myst silenced that voice. She knew that if she was like those ponies she could not kill Bluebell. After what he had done, nothing could save him from her, and if that meant giving up a utopic life, then so be it.

When Myst awoke, the landscape had changed drastically. All around her scorch marks radiated in a large circle. The fragments of crystal that were left stuck out of the ground at odd angles. For all the world Myst was reminded of bones. That illusion was shattered when she realized that they were not only in the crater. They had been hurled outward with enough force to shatter all the trees for thirty yards in all directions. Myst had no idea why her spell had caused such an explosion. Considering the state of her crystals, she had no hope of figuring out what had happened. Remarkably Myst was unharmed; it was as though some force had saved her, though she didn’t know of any force that could have done so.

Examining herself she made an interesting discovery. She now had a cutie mark. When Myst saw it she chuckled slightly. It was a square split evenly into a grid of nine squares. In each of the bottom three squares there was a solid circle. In the row above that, the last square on the right also had a solid circle. The top row had a solid circle in the center square. The symbol of hackers was emblazoned on her fur in the same cyan color of her eyes. Myst had embraced that symbol as her own while she was out on the street. It had promised something better; it had promised a world without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias. And with every virus and zero day she developed, that is what she got—the world of the electron and the switch, and the beauty of the baud. That symbol was like an old friend, and since she had embraced it as her standard all those years ago, it seemed fitting that it would now live forever as part of her.

Myst got up and checked her kukri. As she drew it the hardened cloud was cold and reassuring against her mouth. She experimentally swung it a few times before returning it to its sheath. Satisfied that all was well Myst began the long walk back to her house. After climbing out of the crater, the rest of the journey was easy. As Myst approached her house, she approached cautiously, watching for any sign of Bluebell. She saw none until she entered her abode.

Entering the front door a neat interior was revealed. There were a few chairs and a couch, Myst had made all of them. After the events of the past few weeks she no longer looked at them fondly. Instead of being a testament to her skill as a craftsman they were a reminder of her pain at Bluebell’s hooves. As she passed through the small living area she heard singing coming from the kitchen. Entering the kitchen she saw Bluebell doing the dishes with his back to her.

Myst drew her kukri, wishing that the quiet hiss as it rubbed against its sheath was even quieter. But Bluebell didn't turn around—Myst did not give him the chance. She walked up behind him, the cloud floor muffling her footsteps. Raising her blade, she swung, pouring all her strength and anger into the blow. At that moment, several things happened. First she heard Twilight yell, “Myst!” Second, she saw Bluebell's head turn to look towards the sound. His eyes caught hers in the instant before the blade connected. They were filled with surprise, right up until Myst's blade flew through his neck with a satisfying resistance. Then those eyes stared blankly at her as they flew through the air before the severed head hit the wall with a dull thud

Before Bluebell's body had time to crumple, or Myst could turn to face Twilight, a light blue aura of magic sized Myst. She found herself unable to move as she was pulled to face not one but two very angry alicorns. One was Twilight. Myst had never seen the other before, but she knew from several descriptions that it had to be princess Celestia.

“You had better have a very good explanation for this!” Celestia shouted.

“I hant alk ith is ing im y outh,” said Myst.

Celestia roughly pulled Myst's kukri from her mouth, leaving her free to talk.

“Ah, much better. That corpse was Bluebell. Perhaps you remember his brother. Apparently he tried to access a forbidden archive and you turned him into a statue for his trouble. Anyway, Bluebell decided he wanted to kill you in retribution. Along the way, he took control of my mind. That mother bucking foal of a nag forced me to love him against my will. Now if you will kindly let me go, I will dig him a grave, defecate on his corpse, and leave a nasty hate letter on his unmarked grave every year instead of flowers.”

Both Twilight and Celestia were left agape by the venom in Myst's speech.

After a few seconds had passed, Myst continued. “I am sorry to have offended your highnesses into open-mouthed speechlessness. In case you couldn't tell, I am more than a little angry with Bluebell. Please forgive me if after being a prisoner in my own body I don't speak with the utmost decorum.”

After a continued lack of reaction, Myst tried again. “Whether or not you can forgive me for offending your royal ears, you can find the weapons I was forced to make in the basement. Also you will find his plan of conquest, with annotations by myself that describe how to make it something other than a suicide mission.”

Finally Celestia spoke, “Myst, you stay here, while I go investigate your claims. Twilight, if she so much as twitches, restrain her again.” With that, Celestia released her magical grip, resulting in Myst tumbling roughly to the ground.

“Y-you k-killed him,” Twilight managed to choke out despite her dazed state.

“Yes, I killed him. If I hadn't, many more ponies would have died. You would likely have been among them. He had it in for all you princesses. And that doesn't include all the royal guards who would have died. Probably a few of the rebels would have died as well. That still leaves out the countless lives Bluebell would have ruined with his mind magic.”

“I knew you were a killer, but somehow it seemed less real when it happened in a different world. Seeing death, it...” Twilight trailed off.

“I know, I know,” Myst reached out a wing to comfort Twilight. “It is not pretty. But sometimes it is necessary. I wish there were a better way, but I couldn't let him off, not after what he did to me, not knowing what he planned to do.”

With that, Myst stopped talking. She found herself in the same position as Twilight had been when she had showed up on her tree. It was odd to see an alicorn sobbing like a child, while a smaller pegasus held her trying to offer what comfort she could. That unusual sight is what greeted Celestia when she returned from examining Myst's basement.

Before coming here, Celestia had just received a letter from Twilight detailing all of her interactions with Myst. She had been upset that such important matters had been withheld from her attention for so long. She knew that it was important for Twilight to shoulder the responsibilities of a princess, but this kind of thing should have been brought to her attention. The letter she had received described a pegasus without a cutie mark. But the pony holding Twilight had a horn, and a cutie mark.

This puzzled Celestia. She had never heard of a pegasus getting a horn. Every so often a pony would be born with both a horn and wings—Cadenza for example. Occasionally a unicorn would come up with some way to grow wings. Sometimes it worked, other times it ended badly. Then there was Twilight who had become a true alicorn, embodying earth pony, pegasus pony, and unicorn. That was some magic that Celestia doubted would ever be used again—too few unicorns had the talent or magical reserves to cast such a spell.

None of that explained how a pegasus had gained a horn. Celestia thought back to the letter Twilight had sent her. She remembered that the pegasus had a crystal that she had been using to work magic. Then she remembered the explosion she had heard as she was flying over to meet Myst. The pieces fell into place in Celestia's mind. She wondered what exactly Myst had done, but decided it was best to wait until after Twilight stopped crying to start asking questions. In the meantime she quietly disposed of Bluebells remains.

Eventually, Twilight calmed enough to extricate herself from Myst, and stand beside Celestia. At this point Celestia began to question Myst.

“Unless I am greatly mistaken you were the cause of that explosion. What exactly did you do?”

“Well I was trying to magically enhance my cells. The end goal was to be able to heal twice as fast and stop the aging of my body.”

“So where did your horn come from?”

“Horn?” Myst felt the top of her head, and as her hoof contacted her new appendage a look of confusion filled her face. She spent a minute feeling her horn and trying to figure out how it had gotten there. Slowly a look of understanding crossed her face.

“You know how a horn is required to actively use magic. Well, the cellular enhancement has to be done actively. At least that is the only way I could think of to handle it. So unless I am mistaken, my magic decided that I needed a horn. The crystal was the only thing there that had the potential to hold magic the way a horn does. So the crystal must have morphed into my horn. That would explain why my head hurt so much after I activated the spell.”

Celestia's magic wrapped around Myst's horn, examining it. To Myst it felt really strange. It was similar to Bluebell probing her mind, except it wasn't her mind, and there was no malevolence in Celestia's magic. After a few seconds, Celestia decided to share her findings.

“Well it looks like your spell worked. If I understand it correctly, you actually absorbed several of the rune crystals as well. I can feel the runes carved inside the layers of your horn. They are shaping your magic almost as fast as you absorb it. Unless I am badly mistaken, you can now use magic like a unicorn, but its strength will be very limited. It will take quite a while to store magic since you are using it almost as fast as you absorb it. And your horn has less storage capacity than most; instead of storage capacity, most of your horn is taken up with runes.”

“Honestly, I am very impressed that you accomplished this feat, I highly doubt either my sister or myself could replicate your accomplishment, especially not if we were limited to runes. I would like to commend you, and perhaps offer you a position teaching others what you know. But that will not be possible. I can't let a pony that is prone to decapitate others go completely unpunished. In this case I believe you were justified, but that does not mean you handled it properly. You should have come to me with this instead of acting. I can't condone vigilantism if I want to maintain order.”

“You have put me in a very difficult position. Had this matter come to my attention, I would likely have sent some guards to arrest Bluebell, but not knowing his full capabilities that would likely have been condemning them to death or worse. So by your actions you have limited the casualties to one. But you also have broken a number of laws. Murder is the only one you are really guilty of. The rest were Bluebell acting through you. Even so, I can't let you go unpunished, and neither can I let you go uncommended.”

“So I will do both. I hereby promote you to specialist in the Night Guard, and I banish you to Broken Paw Island. You will stay there for no less than three years, or until the Isri conflict is ended. The Night Guard there will want all those weapons you have made. So I will send a pegasus cart here, help them load it, then accompany them back to Canterlot.”

With that, Celestia turned and left. Myst could hear Twilight asking Celestia what this Isri conflict was before they vanished in a sudden burst of light. As she waited for the cart to arrive, she cleaned her kukri, and began moving her stash of weapons out of the basement. While she was down there, she noticed that Celestia had taken the plans for rebellion.

Myst had just finished moving the last of the gear out of her house when the cart arrived, pulled by two nervous pegasus guards. Deciding it would be fun to mess with them Myst tried to imitate a fashion model as she approached them. In the most sultry voice she could muster Myst said, “So what has you two so nervous?”

After a moment of hesitation, one of them answered, “This is the Everfree Forest, and you are a Night Guard. The rumors about this forest are... less than pleasant.”

The second guard interjected, “And the rumors about the Night Guard are even more troubling. Every so often we hear rumors of fighting with gryphons and dragons. Worse still, there are rumors that they often combat rogue pony elements. Every so often the Royal Guard is called on to clean up after the Night Guard. We never see any bodies, but sometimes there are blood stains on the stuff we move. If this huge pile of equipment is anything to judge by, you were fighting at least a hundred of something. We hear about horrors in this forest, we hear that the Night Guard does lots of fighting, then we find a lone armed mare standing over a huge pile of weapons. We don't want to get on the wrong side of some pony who single handedly deals with a hundred armed beings.”

After that Myst was unable to get anything else out of either guard. They kept eying her nervously as they worked. Finally they finished loading the cart and all of them flew silently to Canterlot. It bothered Myst that these ponies were so willing to let rumors rule their feelings and actions. But she had to admit it was at least a little amusing that she could scare two guardsponies without doing anything particularly impressive.

When they finally arrived in Canterlot the ponies accompanying Myst left her with the cart of weapons just outside of a small gated compound. The gray stone was shrouded in the shadow of twilight as Myst approached the gate, pulling the cart.

A gruff voice called out, “Identify yourself.”

“Specialist Myst reporting for duty,” Myst yelled back.

“Well then, Myst, leave the cart in the yard, and head into the large doors across from the gate.”

With that, the large gate creaked open, and Myst pulled the cart into the yard. She was glad to be free of the weight as she stepped out from under the harness. Looking around she saw several wooden doors. A few lights could be seen in windows around the square. It gave the place an eerie look in the gathering shadows. Myst felt shivers crawl up her spine as she approached the door she had been directed to. An insignia had been carved onto the door. Two bat wings spread out from an eye with a slit pupil. Something about it put Myst slightly on edge.

After pushing the large door open, Myst was greeted by the sight of chaos. All around the room, pieces of parchment had been scattered. Some looked like they were maps, others looked like lists and ledgers. It looked as though years’ worth of information had been placed on the desk, and then washed out towards the door in a flood of paper, covering everything in its path. In the center of this mess was a dark blue alicorn. She was floating several papers in front of her face while taking notes on yet another parchment. Her mane looked like it was a nebulous cloud of stars. She chewed on it speculatively while rearranging her papers. Myst was awed by the presence of this mare, even more so since she looked so approachable. Celestia's face had been a mask. No matter what she was saying she had seemed aloof. But this alicorn looked far more approachable, like a real pony with a life, dreams, and aspirations—not an imposing royal figure.

Myst took a moment to drink all this in before announcing herself, “Specialist Myst reporting for duty.”

At this, the alicorn looked up while spitting her mane out. “Myst, I have been expecting you. Normally I would have been angry at Tia for assigning any pony a higher rank than private in my Night Guard. However I have been examining your proposed plan for revolution, and I find it incredibly well done. If you really have a kill count of two-hundred-two that easily makes you my most experienced soldier, and one of the best tacticians I have. Admittedly it doesn't help that the Night Guard is made up almost exclusively of unwilling recruits.”

“We don't get to recruit like the Royal Guard. We are given the criminals that Tia believes are not dangerous enough to become statuary, and are not gentle enough to be reformed with a little jail time. As a result, we are something of a mismatched hodgepodge collection of ponies. We do occasionally get a member of the Royal Guard who asks to be transferred, but those are rare, even more so since I have been gone a thousand years. I have tried to convince Tia that all ponies should be aware of the threats they face and be free to volunteer to help out. But every time, it is the same story; she does not want warfare to corrupt her little ponies.”

“Pardon me. That was out of place; I have no business pulling others into royal disputes. I am princess Luna, head of all foreign relations, chief of Equestrian security, and your most superior officer. I suppose technically princess Celestia has equal rank to me, but she keeps her nose out of the Night Guard as much as possible. Honestly I am surprised that she sent you my way at all. You must have really impressed her to avoid becoming a statue.”

Myst was unsure what to do with the very casual way in which her princess had just addressed her. She wondered if it was some kind of test. This feeling was amplified by the fact that she had heard Luna spoke very archaically. Even so, something about the princess before her made her want to trust her implicitly. She couldn't explain why exactly, but it felt as if she had just come home, a feeling she had not had since her parents died.

“Princess, why is it that you speak normally?” Myst wanted to kick herself for saying that, but it was too late.

Luna laughed. Her laugh was the most musical Myst had ever heard. “We did speak with the royal plural, and use much speech that today's ponies are unfamiliar with. To answer thine question though, we stopped talking in the manner of a millennium past for it did befuddle most of the ponies we spoke with. So I started talking 'normally' as you put it. After all, it is hard to tell ponies what to do if they stop every few sentences to try and figure out exactly what I said. It is kind of a shame though. The language now just doesn't sound quite as musical.”

“So what are my orders?”

“Well, you will start by going to Broken Paw island. There you will be sent to the training ground in Marescow. At that point your skills will be evaluated. After you have been evaluated, you will be assigned to a unit.”

“How am I supposed to get to Broken Paw?”

“Tomorrow night we will embark on a ship leaving from Los Pegasus. We will get to Los Pegasus on the Midnight Express. Which reminds me—we need to leave for the train station. Before we go, though, I would like to see these weapons you have made.”

With that, Luna got up and entered the courtyard with Myst following her. She began to examine some of the weapons that Myst had made. They were incredibly light compared to most weapons she had seen. Luna tested the strength of one blade on a stone wall. She had anticipated that the blade would either snap, or bounce off. Instead it buried itself about an inch deep in the stone. Surprised, Luna examined the weapons with renewed interest.

Turning to Myst, she asked, “How did you make these? I have seen several attempts at making weapons, tools, and armor from clouds, but none that come close to this. Most cloud blades would have shattered, or been bent beyond any real use.”

Smiling, Myst explained the process. “First you take a cloud, and then you compress it. You do this until it is solid enough to interact with objects besides clouds and pegasi. After that, you shape the cloud into whatever form you want. At this point you enhance the cloud with a spell to harden and strengthen it. The hardening doesn't do much besides make the blade hold its shape instead of deforming. The strengthening prevents the hardening from making the cloud brittle and prone to shatter. I have the spells I used if you want them. Just be aware that if some pony other than a pegasus pony uses anything made out of clouds it will dissipate after a few weeks.”

“Excellent. You will have to teach the smiths how to make more. But for now we must get going.”

Suiting her actions to her words, Luna ducked under the harness of the cart. She was surprised, however, when Myst joined her under the second harness.

“You have had a long day. Aren't you tired?”

“Perhaps a little, but I have always loved the night. The darkness always felt comforting, like a friend offering solace after a rough day. I was always teased about it, being called a creature of the night. It was always said it in jest, but the fact of the matter is I do prefer the night over the day. Quite often I would stay up all night and sleep for most of the day.” Myst chuckled softly remembering what her teachers had thought of her trying to sleep through class. With that, the mismatched pair flew towards the train station.

Night Guard

Chapter-4 Night Guard

After arriving at the train station, Myst and Luna stowed the weapons in a luggage car. Once they embarked on the train, Luna and Myst began searching for a good car to ride in. Most of the cars had a few ponies in varying stages of wakefulness. Wanting a little privacy Myst continued walking until she found an empty car at the end of the train. Seeing a large seat that looked soft Myst jumped on it bouncing slightly as the springs pushed back. Despite not being as comfortable as she had hoped Myst stretched out her wings reveling in the sensation of tension leaving her muscles. Turning her head she saw Luna trying to get comfortable without stepping on Myst, a task made difficult by the way she had sprawled over as much floor as she had seat. After Luna managed to sit down Myst asked her, “So, why are you being so casual about this whole thing? I would expect learning that an interdimensional being was in Equestria would inspire trepidation, and formality. I can't complain about being accepted here, but it just seems strange.”

Luna took a moment to try and find a more comfortable position on her seat before responding, “Well I can't speak for my sister or Twilight. But, as far as I am concerned I must admit my motivation is somewhat selfish. As I am sure you know, I was banished to the moon for a few years.” Luna chuckled before looking down and pausing.

Luna thought back over the time since she had returned from the moon. She felt an ache in her chest as she remembered all the thinly veiled abuse she had received since her return. Luna remembered what it was like to be cared about, the memory merely increased her pain since she was so vividly aware of how little she was currently loved. Her heart beat faster, as she nervously decided to lay bare her heart to the expectantly wating Myst.

“No matter what my sister and the other ponies say, they haven't really accepted me back. My sister has been the best, but most other ponies are still nervous around me. The Royal Guard are the worst. They treat me with the utmost respect, but when they think I can't hear they call me a usurper and a demon. Some even have a bet going to see how long I can refrain from becoming
Nightmare Moon or try killing my sister.”

“We are deeply hurt that such statements are made about our self,” Luna lapsed into her old way of speaking.

Luna sighed before continuing, “The worst part was that when I returned, several of my Night Guard offered to help me overthrow my sister. I had to execute several who had actually managed to poison some tea intended for my sister. It was not pleasant... in more ways than one.”

Luna relived her sorrow as she remembered the faces of the ponies she had executed. All of them thought they were doing the right thing. The pity in their eyes as she incinerated them had nearly shattered her resolve. She knew they thought she was just misguided and wanted to help her once again become Nightmare Moon. She wanted so badly to offer them some way out, to give them another chance. But she couldn’t, not as long as they believed she was destined to rule all of Equestria.

Shoving her memory aside Luna continued, “I see you as a new chance. Eventually, other ponies will only see me as Luna and not Nightmare Moon. But that will not come to pass for a generation at least. You are the one pony in all of Equestria that has not seen me as either a menace or an idol. As such, you will be the most open to accepting me for me. You can see me for what I am and not the Nightmare I once was. Also, if everything I have heard about you is true, you can relate to me in a way other ponies can't. Even if you were not evil by choice, you did terrible things and are sorry to have done them. I guess...I just hope that we can be friends.”

With that, Luna looked up, a pleading look written across her face. Internally, she felt no better. She had laid her heart bare to some pony she had just met. She had given her power to completely crush her hope of acceptance. It was the most excruciating thing she had had to endure since she returned. The uncertainty of what would happen was worse than either rejection or acceptance.

Myst was unsure just what to think about everything that Luna had told her. Then she remembered how she had felt when she had attacked the little filly—the rush of regret and sadness that had filled her. At that point, Myst realized how hard this must be for Luna. She also thought back to when she first saw Luna and the feeling that she was like a mother; she realized that there was no question as to what she would do. Myst met Luna's gaze and said warmly, “Friends.”

The smile Myst received from Luna meant more to her than she would ever have expected. She felt warm inside as she let the word ‘friends’ run through her mind again. After that, the two mares were content to sit in silence, as they drifted off to sleep.

Myst was awoken by the train lurching to a stop. “Los Pegasus!” the conductor called. Myst nudged Luna awake. Still half asleep, Luna mumbled something about fish and a cow. After being prodded again, Luna came fully alert. After that, Myst and Luna left the train and took their cart down to the docks. There they found the ship that was sailing for Broken Paw: the Star Flier.

As Myst approached the ship, she deeply inhaled the salty air, enjoying the clean, crisp smell. A slight breeze teased the ends of her mane and tail. The Star Flier loomed ahead of Myst. It seemed as though its purpose was to absorb all the happiness that surrounded it. On most parts of the dock there were ponies working cheerfully, but all around the large ship there was hardly any pony to be seen. Those who were there seemed tense and rushed.

The exception was found in the form of two guards standing at the foot of the boarding ramp. At first Myst thought they were just unusually dark-coated pegasi. However, as she neared the ramp she could make out that there were a few small differences. Instead of the feathered wings that Myst had, they were endowed with leathery wings; for all the world they reminded Myst of a bat.

As Luna and Myst approached, the strange ponies silently slid apart. They didn't move like most of the other ponies; they were quieter and smoother in their motions. Myst couldn't help but think of a cat. The whole effect was slightly eerie. That feeling was amplified when Myst saw the slit pupils of their eyes following them as they boarded the ship.

Myst noticed the ship swaying slightly as she walked across the deck. The effect was comforting and left Myst with a small smile on her face. Luna managed to fit all the weapons in the hold of the ship. After loading the ship, Myst felt her stomach rumble. Luna, hearing the noise, turned to Myst and said, “Well, we are done here, let’s go get some food.” With that, they left to go eat and look around town for the rest of the day.

As dusk fell, Luna and Myst returned to the ship. Myst’s stomach was full as she boarded the ship for the second time. She wanted nothing more than to roll into bed and rest her weary hooves. However, as she wandered below deck to find a bunk, her nose was assaulted by the stench of sweat and grime. As her eyes adjusted, she could make out dim figures lying on bunks. Most looked a little downcast, but a few were talking excitedly.

As she looked for an empty bunk, she was treated to a few catcalls from a couple of unruly looking stallions. Ignoring them, she moved on to try to find a free bunk. She stopped when she felt a tail flick along her side. Turning, she saw a light red earth pony mare. “Hey there, want to share my bunk?” The sultry-voiced mare intoned.

“No,” Myst said flatly.

When she tried to continue, the mare placed a hoof on her chest to stop her. Myst’s heart beat faster as she contemplated dislocating the offending limb. Before she did so, a deep and melodic voice interrupted, “Really now Maven? You know it’s impolite to harass a newcomer.”

Myst turned to see the source of the voice. Her eyes roved over a pure white coat, lingering momentarily on some impressive wings. She noticed that her would-be protector had magenta eyes below a light blue mane. Myst was deeply impressed that he was able to maintain such a good appearance despite the filth all around him.

He moved between Myst and Maven. As he did so, he bumped Myst slightly. Myst’s heart fluttered slightly as she noticed that he had a very pleasant scent. On an impulse, she didn’t shove him out of the way, instead letting him play the gallant hero. He shoved Maven’s hoof out of the way and escorted Myst to a free bunk.

“What is the name of the pony who decided to show me a little kindness?” Myst said with a small smile.

“Klep. What is the name of the distressed mare I have the pleasure of helping?”

“Myst”

“A beautiful name to accompany a beautiful mare. While I would love to stay here and make your acquaintance, I think there is a bunk calling my name.”

With that, Klep settled on a bunk across from Myst, and within seconds a quiet snoring could be heard emanating from him. Myst didn’t find sleep as easily. For some reason she had the sudden urge to write a poem, so she looked through her bag and found a quill and some parchment. She wrote of her life. She couldn’t say why; she had never been much for poetry or writing in general. But for some reason, she just felt it was the right thing to do. After a while, she hit a mental block and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Myst woke to Klep’s deep voice saying,

“On a misty morning bleak and dreary
I pulled my boots from feet so weary
A long night it had been
As I stalked the night from home to glen
In that night so black and cold
I slew a noble so rich and old
I was told it was for the best
But it was lies that led him to his rest

I was the blade that struck him down
As such I could never return to that town
I had been tricked ‘tis true
But my action I will forever rue
After all, there is no chance
That I can ever pay recompense”

“Well that’s a rather negative view of things! You really should try to be more positive.”

Myst had been slightly groggy while her poem was being read, but once she was alert enough to realize what was happening, she snatched her unfinished work from the nosy pegasus. Rage began to build towards the pegasus who wasn’t quite the knight in shining armor he had seemed.

“What on earth possessed you to look through my stuff? Seriously—that is unacceptable!”

The white pegasus looked down and rubbed his hoof nervously along the planking of the ship.

“Well you came with Luna, and are kinda cute. I just couldn’t help myself. A tendency to collect things that aren’t mine, might sorta be why I am here. I may have wandered off with the vast majority of the stained glass windows from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Before that I might have just managed to collect all of the princesses’ royal gems. Though I ended up here after failing to get Celestia’s throne. Some guard pony got off duty just a few minutes too early. You would think that Celestia and Luna would be a little more understanding. It seems really unfair to banish someone for using their special talent, even if it is theft.”

The pegasus gestured emphatically to his flank where there was a black mask.

“After reading that poem, I am fairly sure I know why you are here. But things can’t be that bad, you’re here and not a statue after all.”

“I don’t need your opinion about my life! You should remember I am an assassin before you do something like this again.”

This irate reply earned a small smile and little snicker from Klep.

“If you really were going to kill me you would have done something already. Though you really should stop scowling; you aren’t as cute when you scowl.”

After that, Myst’s allowed her rage to burn through her. She wanted nothing more than to end the irritating pegasus’ life, but the thought of an orange filly cowering made her think better of it. Instead, she tried to pour all her rage through her eyes into the white pegasus. It was quickly clear that he didn’t care, so Myst decided to escalate things in the hope of scaring some sense into her antagonist.

Klep broke down laughing when Myst tackled him to the ground and tried to intimidate him with a fearsome glare. Eventually Myst gave up all hope of reforming the pegasus. When she got off the white nuisance she realized that she was being watched by at least ten of the other ponies who were also bedding in the hold of the ship. Her mood was not improved when some of her fellow travelers broke out into song: “Myst and Klep sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G, First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a foal in a little carriage.”

Myst felt her heart start beating faster, her face started burning. It didn’t help that despite her dislike of Klep she did find him attractive. Myst bolted out of the hold to try to escape the unruly ponies. As she walked up on deck, her nose was greeted with fresh salt air. On deck she found Luna looking sadly at an upcoming fog bank. Myst took a seat beside her. Luna acknowledged her presence with a slight nod, then went back to looking at the fog.

After a few minutes Luna spoke, “I know from personal experience that Klep can be a little frustrating. But really, you should think a little more carefully before you act. He obviously has a crush on you. Unless you wanted to lead him on, pinning him to the floor was not the best solution.”

“How did you know…? Never mind. What would you suggest to deal with his tendency to put his hoof where it doesn’t belong?”

“I am sure I don’t know, especially since you started off the way you did. You should have seen yourself when you came on deck. Despite your dark coat, your cheeks were visibly red. Before, just ignoring him might have worked. Now, though, I am suspicious he will try to follow you to the end of the earth. Whatever else he is, he is very persistent. Once he sets his sights on something, he doesn’t give up, not even when it is clear that he is going to lose. When a guard mentioned that a throne repairman had taken my throne, I was a little shocked. I flew out to confront him. Even when he knew the game was up, he played his part to the bitter end. I am surprised he told you about everything he stole. Even after being convicted, he was insisting that this was all a misunderstanding and that he really was an ‘honest throne repairman’. He must find you really attractive. That, or your poem intrigued him.”

“I hate to ask, but could you try to keep him in line? You are the only pony he has shown any inclination to respect even slightly.”

Myst sighed, as a wash of different emotions ran through her. She hoped that she would be able to resist both the urge to kill him and the urge to kiss him. It didn’t help that she knew all the other ponies on the boat would be harassing her about him for the remainder of their trip.

“Please tell me he is not joining the Night Guard.”

“No, he isn’t. He is supposed to join the weather detail in some small out-of-the-way place.”

At that information, Myst sighed gratefully, content to sit in silence and watch the wall of fog approach. As they entered the fog, the atmosphere changed slightly; the fog seemed far more oppressive than fog should. Myst shivered and had the feeling that she was being watched. When she turned around, she saw several bat ponies looking intently at her and Luna. They were muttering among themselves about something. Myst looked at Luna questioningly.

“Ignore them, Myst. They always act a little odd when we pass through the Wailing Barrier.”

Myst shifted nervously positive the bat ponies’ eyes were focused on her. After they passed through the bank of fog, she felt much better. The bat ponies bowed to Luna saying “Princess.” As they took wing, Myst could have sworn she heard the same voice whisper “Sister” in her ear. She shook her head and ignored it. After all there was no pony close enough to have whispered to her.

After passing the Wailing Barrier, the trip to Broken Paw was unremarkable. Myst did her best to avoid Klep, and it worked most of the time. However, she was concerned about the way he smirked whenever they did meet. She knew he was up to something, but could not discern what.

After they arrived at the island, all the ponies were told to head to a small office building to be sorted out. Myst was about to follow the others when a large hoof gently tapped her shoulder. She turned to see Luna hovering in the air, beckoning Myst to follow.

Myst took wing to follow Luna as she winged further west across the island. It felt good to stretch her wings after being limited to thirty minutes of flying a day on the ship. She enjoyed the sensation of power she had as she flapped her wings speeding over farmlands. It had been too long since she had been able to fly as fast and far as she wanted.

Breathing heavily, Myst stopped to admire the view. The small rivers and houses seemed insignificant from her altitude. She could see a few ponies moving around like ants on the ground. She heard a heavy flapping as Luna approached, then hovered with her. Myst had to adjust her wings slightly to compensate for the small gusts the princess created.

Eyes sparkling, Myst turned to Luna, “It’s so beautiful!”

Luna smiled sadly, “Nowhere near as beautiful as it used to be.”

Luna didn’t offer any explanation beyond that, content to hover for a minute. After a time, Myst grew tired of the view. She dove for a small town. Luna followed. They landed in the town square where the few ponies there looked at them curiously. Myst headed for a building that looked like a restaurant. The smell of food wafted out of the door, Myst’s stomach growled in anticipation of a good meal.

When she walked in, several ponies looked at her, then stopped talking. Soon the entire room was silent. When Luna followed, the conversation resumed a little uneasily. After being seated and ordering their food, the room sounded more like it had when Myst first came in. The difference was that she was now the object of attention. She heard some muttering about her combination of horn and wings. It wasn’t hostile, but Myst definitely felt out of place, and was glad when the meal was over.

During the week it took to reach Marescow, that scene and feeling became commonplace. Every day flying, then landing for dinner. There was never a sense of hostility, but Myst was almost always the center of conversation. It bothered her that she was always talked about, but never talked to. Myst hoped that this wouldn’t be indicative of her time in the guard.

Finally, Myst and Luna arrived at Marescow. From the air, the city appeared impressive. But it was only when Myst looked up at the large walls, after the gentle jar of landing, that she really appreciated the city’s magnitude. The stone walls dwarfed all the castles that Myst had seen. As tall as Luna was, she still seemed like an ant in comparison. There were various siege weapons mounted on the walls facing the ocean west of the city. Despite the small cracks running along the aged gray of the walls, the wall looked impregnable. This was definitely a testament to the skill of the craftsmen who had shaped it.

Looking up at the arch over the gate, a small shiver made its way down Myst’s spine. She realized that if the portcullis were to fall, she would be crushed with no more trouble than an insect. Passing through the gate, a scene of stone buildings with thatched roofs spread before her. Unlike many similarly-sized cities she had seen before, Marescow was extremely neat. The smell of sewage was nowhere to be found. The cobblestone streets were kept neat and tidy.

The inhabitants of Marescow moved with a precision and purpose that was unmatched by any other settlement in Equestria. Several of them wore light leather armor with insignias sewn to the shoulder and chest. It was quickly apparent that Marescow was more a military base than a civilian center. Myst turned to Luna and asked, “Are there any ponies here who aren’t members of the Night Guard?”

“Not many. The families of the enlisted live in the heart of the city. Everything else is either a shop or a building of the Guard.”

Luna left Myst to explore while she took care of some business that needed her attention. She instructed her to meet at the Deep Flagon Inn in two hours. Myst wandered around aimlessly for a while. Finally her hooves led her to a large stone building. It reminded her of a cathedral.

Myst pushed open the large wooden door and found a maze of tapestries. The cloth muffled the echo of her hooves on the tile floor. When she looked at the tapestries she realized that they appeared to be in sequence. On the first tapestry she saw a large, blood red alicorn with a light blue mane and tail. He seemed to be happy. Celestia and Luna were there too, sitting on thrones while the other alicorn romped on the grass with little ponies. For a cutie mark, the red alicorn had eight arrows pointing outwards—the symbol of chaos.

It was odd she had never heard mention of a prince—just the princesses, especially since this tapestry suggested that there was another alicorn. As she walked along examining the pictures, it seemed as though life had been quite happy at the time they were depicting. But it didn’t stay that way. The colors of the tapestries became darker when a strange figure made an appearance. He seemed to be part dragon, bird, lion, goat, and a number of other things Myst couldn’t identify. A small plaque under the tapestry read: “Discord, corrupter of Pandem.”

Myst wondered who Pandem was, until the next tapestry answered her question. Discord sat on a throne in the center of indescribable chaos. Seated next to him on a fluffy-looking mushroom was the red alicorn. Myst inferred that he must be Pandem. In this picture he seemed darker than before. Something about his eyes and expression had changed. He no longer looked nice; instead he seemed half-crazed. It was a very disturbing image.

There were a few more tapestries of Discord and Pandem. In a final tapestry, Pandem was seen fleeing from Luna as Celestia turned Discord to stone. There were a few tapestries after that of ponies celebrating the end of Discord’s reign.

Myst had expected that to end the series of tapestries, but that was not the case. Instead, Pandem returned leading an army of felines. They overran Broken Paw. The slaughter depicted made Myst shiver. She had seen more than her share of death, but never had she slaughtered droves of children. The sight made her sick.

A lone ship with tattered sails and a shattered mast was loaded with refugees and being pulled by pegasi. Myst could almost hear the wood groan in protest as it cut through the water. She tried to imagine what it would have been like on that boat, fleeing from certain death. She couldn’t imagine it. She knew she would have stayed behind to slow the flood of enemies. Giving refugees a chance would be an honorable way to die.

Myst continued on. She let out a sigh. With that sigh she felt the anger she hadn’t noticed building up slip away. The gentle click of her hooves in this place seemed somehow hollow. Myst wondered what she could do about the Isri. A hoard of barbarians is not easy to defeat.

As she continued, the ship stopped dead in the water. The plaque beneath the tapestry read: “Final stand of Kal-im, the dragon child.” Myst assumed that Kal-im was the green unicorn standing proudly on the bow of the ship. His eyes looked like they held a depth of knowledge that Myst could never hope to fathom, much less have.

Myst wondered what it meant that this was his final stand. A refugee boat could hardly put up any kind of a fight. The next tapestry showed the boat slowly dissipating into mist. It became a cloud that expanded across the water. The Isri ships entered mist but never came out. Instead, bat ponies emerged. The final tapestry was a golden eye with a slit pupil held aloft by the wings of a bat. Beneath this were embroidered the words: “Thus the Night Guard was born. Tremble all ye who would threaten Equestria, for the guardians of night know not the meaning of mercy.”

This chilling statement seemed fitting. Myst would like to believe she was merciful, but as she thought about Mercy, the only definition that offered itself was killing someone quickly instead of slowly. She knew that most ponies would think of it as not killing at all. With this realization, Myst knew she was home. The Night Guard appeared to protect everything that Myst felt was worth protecting. She looked at her kukri and wondered how many lives it would take, and more importantly how many it would save.

A soft flapping caught Myst’s attention. She glanced at the cool reflective blue of her blade. In it she could see the reflection of a bat pony approaching her. The pony landed about six feet behind her, its hooves making almost no sound as they connected with the stone.

“What brings you here, sister?” Myst said.

Immediately after saying that, she wondered why she had said ‘sister’. After all, she didn’t even know this pony. A small tingling in her horn told her magic was at work, but she could not discern what it was. It felt vast, almost as if it were part of the universe itself. Myst’s attempt to figure out what was happening was cut short by the other pony’s reply.

“Luna has sent for you. It seems you have lost track of time.”

“Night is timeless. When all stars fade, nothing will be left but night. What are a few minutes to the princess of night when she will outlast even her sister, ruler of the sun?” The same tingling sensation returned when Myst said these words. It was really bothering her that she had no control over what she was saying.

Her companion, However seemed overjoyed at that statement. She bowed to Myst and said, “Elder Sister, what you say is true.”

“Elder Sister? What do you mean? Please just call me Myst and stop bowing.”

“It will be as you say, Myst. You spoke the words of the prophecy, which were given to the bat ponies nearly two centuries before. We are forbidden to speak it to those who are not of our kind. But if it is true and you are the Elder Sister then you will know all in time. It would be best if you meet Luna now, and speak not of our conversation.”

Myst flew slowly to the inn where she was to meet Luna. During her flight, she tried to make sense of her conversation. Remembering the strange tingling sensation, she decided that there might actually be some sort of prophecy. It was too much for her to figure out, so she decided to follow the bat pony’s advice and not speak of it.

Myst landed, feeling abashed for losing track of time. Luna, however, did not seem to care. Instead she greeted Myst in a very un-princess-like manner. With her mouth full she said, “Please sit down and have some salad. It is really really good.” Luna drove the point home by gesturing emphatically at the food.

The gesture turned out to be a little too emphatic. Her hoof connected with the table and turned it into a lever. As a result, salad flew everywhere. As the small leaves floated to the ground it was Luna’s turn to be embarrassed.

“What has you in such a good mood?” queried Myst.

Sheepishly trying to clean up after herself, Luna replied, “Well it turns out that things are not as dire here as I was led to believe. About two hundred years ago we lost contact with Broken Paw. It was a full decade before contact was reestablished. Apparently, they had decided to stop training ponies for the Night Guard. The reason there was no word was because they were scared of what would happen if they told Celestia. Even after they told her, there was apparently no training happening until a decade ago.”

“Obviously this news concerned me. It is one of the reasons that I was counting heavily on your experience to try to get the Night Guard back in shape. Fortunately, the bat ponies remained true to their calling. They trained any who were willing to fight. After a small landing party of Isri was repelled by them, the Night Guard was officially started again. As it turns out, it wasn’t being run by completely clueless ponies as I had feared was the case. Instead, the bat ponies and their trainees were placed in charge.”

“Anyway, to make a long story short, I think it would be best if you went through basic training instead of starting off as an instructor. The next wave of recruits arrives today at three. I want you in that group. I also want you to talk to our smiths about forging clouds, so you will probably be run a little ragged the first few weeks doing both.”

Myst replied, “Sounds fine to me. It shouldn’t be that bad. I am in better shape than anypony else I have seen here. Couple that with my fighting experience, what could go wrong?”

At four in the afternoon, Myst found out exactly what could go wrong. Instead of the expected physical training, Myst found herself in a suit of heavy metal armor. As a human this would have just been irritating, but as a pegasus it was unbearable having her wings stuck against her side. She felt feathers getting pulled out as she dodged attacks. She was certain she would never get her wings back into shape after this. A blow to the side of her helmet brought her out of her self-pity session.

The unicorn facing her was similarly covered in armor, but unlike herself actually had the magical reserves to use a sword telekinetically in combat. This was extremely frustrating to Myst. Right about now she wanted to strangle the drill sergeant who had paired her with unicorns instead of pegasi. After all, she was a pegasus with a horn, not a unicorn with wings.

Another sharp blow—this one to her torso made her focus carefully on her opponent. She noticed his key weakness: instead of twirling the sword to gain momentum, he would swing it like he was physically holding it. This meant that there was a moment when the sword was behind him, leaving an opening. Tired of sweat dripping into her eyes, she took the offered opening.

Lunging in, she knocked the unicorn back onto his haunches. From there, she placed one leg on the outside of her opponent’s right foreleg. Shoving her right shoulder into his neck, she felt him fall since he was unable to move his hoof for balance. Pulling her practice knife from the sheath on her armor, she held it to the eye hole of the unicorn’s helmet. “Do you yield?” asked Myst.

Before she could get a reply, an old light purple unicorn interrupted: “What was that recruit? Do you think your shoulder and knife are a sword? Half rations to help you learn the difference between sword practice and grappling!”

With a frustrated grunt, Myst let her opponent rise. Before she had to try again to wield her sword, the mess bell rang. Myst was too tired to pay much attention as she marched back to the armory with the rest of the unicorns to remove her armor. After removing it, she stretched her wings gratefully, though it was all she could do to avoid grimacing as she saw her damaged feathers.

She followed the others to the mess hall and was really looking forward to a hot meal after her afternoon. The food smelled excellent as Myst neared the front of the line. It was only when she saw her drill sergeant that she remembered the reduction to half rations.

Despite that small setback, Myst determined to enjoy her meal. After collecting her small plate, she wandered over to an uninhabited table in hopes of having a moment to think. However, all hope of making the best of her situation was ruined when a white wing brushed along her ruined feathers.

“Tsk, tsk. You really should take better care of your wings.” All the rage Myst had thought was gone came rushing back at the sound of that familiar voice.

“Klep! What are you doing here? I thought I was rid of you for good!”

Smiling, Klep replied, “Well there was this pegasus who was slated to join the Night Guard. Somehow our orders got mixed up right before we were supposed to show them at the sorting facility for new arrivals. I can’t imagine how that could have happened,” Klep winked.

Kelp took a seat next to Myst and raised his hoof to his face mimicking a fainting mare as he said, “Oh well. Guess I will just have to face the horrors of war.”

After everything Myst had had to put with that day, this was just a little too much. Myst struggled hard to try to suppress the fire of rage flowing through her, but to no avail. Disregarding all of her common sense, Myst took her plate of hot oats and shoved it into Klep’s face. It was oddly satisfying to rub the food across his smug face, at least until he came to his senses and retaliated punching Myst’s chest. With that, Myst felt a surge of adrenaline and lost the last shred of intelligent thought she possessed.

In a brief scuffle, Myst subdued Klep easily. She stood triumphantly on his wings, enjoying the way he winced in pain and tried to squirm free. However, her enjoyment was short lived. Standing nearby was a purple unicorn looking less than impressed. Fear washed thorough her when she realized that he was sure to come up with some awful torture for her as a result of her actions. Myst let her ears droop as she released Klep and looked at the ground in shame.

“Well, well. It looks like you two don’t get along very well. But here in the guard you need to be able to trust each other implicitly. Everyone needs to have everyone else’s back. Otherwise, there is no way that we can function. So you two will be buddies at least until the end of training. Furthermore, you will have to feed each other for a week. After that, perhaps you can find it in yourselves to get along, and not bother each other.”

Myst accepted the judgment quietly. She knew he was right. Knowing she was wrong didn’t make the situation any easier to accept, and neither did she start liking Klep. Instead she resolved to control her temper, and become a pony that could be counted on.

With the rebuke still ringing in her ears, Myst moved to refill her plate. This time she was given full rations, but it was a bittersweet victory. Never had Myst felt so ashamed as when she saw all the ponies looking at her and knowing she had failed every last one of them. An outburst like that could easily have gotten them killed if there had been an enemy present.

Myst and Klep looked at their food unenthusiastically. Neither relished the idea of being fed like a baby. But then, Myst had been acting like one. So, grudgingly, Myst scooped some of the oats onto her hoof and offered them to Klep. Klep awkwardly licked them off her hoof. It didn’t help that Myst kept twitching, making it difficult to eat. Klep discovered the reason Myst was twitching when, in turn, he felt her tongue dart over the frog of his hoof. It tickled so much it was all he could do to avoid pulling his hoof back.

Klep, for his part, was less than satisfied with the arrangement. He finally took the hint that Myst was not even remotely fond of him. He began to second guess his decision to come here. He never wanted to be in the guard. The only reason he had come was trying to feed him, after deliberately crushing his wings. He knew that he would be justified in feeling bitter, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. Something about the mare made him decide that even if she didn’t like like him, he at least wanted her to like him.

After their meal, Myst was informed that she had been reassigned to the 23rd pegasus division barracks. They walked back to the barracks in silence. Myst steadfastly ignored Klep while she tried to gather her thoughts. After she finished preening her wings she got into her assigned bunk, right above Klep. Before going to sleep, Myst sorted through all her emotions and thoughts. Right after the lights went out Myst said, “Klep, I am sorry.”

Klep had been worried about his newly assigned buddy’s silence. He wasn’t sure if she was planning some creative way to kill him, or was just trying to ignore him as much as possible. Right after the lights went out Klep heard three words that gave him hope, both for his life, and at least a friendship with Myst. With those words rebounding in his mind Klep fell asleep.

Ice and Fire

Chapter-5 Ice and Fire

A shrill whistle violently pulled Myst from her dreams. The confused pegasus rolled from her bunk trying to figure out what was going on. Looking from side to side she could see ponies rushing about, but the haze of sleep kept her from comprehending what she was seeing. It took a tendril of smoke wafting past her nose to bring her out of her stupor.

Myst half remembered what was supposed to be done in case of fire, but half a memory is useless in the middle of the night. Instead of trying to remember exactly what she was supposed to do she flew outside to assess the situation. Fire had almost completely consumed a barracks in a matter of minutes. The speed with which the fire spread made it almost certain that the fire had been set deliberately. On the roof of the building Myst could see a couple of earth ponies waving frantically for help.

Myst had no time to try to figure out the proper protocol. If there was any hope of saving the ponies trapped in the building it was essential that she act quickly. Turning slightly as she heard a flapping sound, she saw that Klep had joined her.

“Klep. Get some ponies to throw water on the surrounding buildings! That barracks is a lost cause.”

Wasting no further time Myst dove towards the ponies stranded on the roof. As she glided towards the roof, the heat from the fire caused small eddies to buffet Myst on her descent. As she neared the roof a groaning sound could be heard as the building started to sag. A large crack signaled the collapse of the roof. Fortunately for the stranded ponies their section of the roof did not collapse. Myst grabbed one of the ponies only to discover that it wasn’t there. Instead of meeting with the soft resistance of flesh, there was no resistance at all. Despite all appearances the ponies simply were not there. Myst’s hoof passed through them as easily as the surrounding air. Myst hesitated for a moment, wondering if she was interfering with a training exercise. Not wanting to interfere with any pony’s training Myst considered leaving the building to its fate.

The memory of Mouse’s death stopped her. He had been a fellow trainee, Myst had watched as the flames devoured the building he was in. She had been ordered to remain outside and cover the road. Myst did so until the screaming over her com stopped. The memory of those screams and the blackened corpse that came out of that fire spurred Myst to action. There was no way she would abandon someone a second time. Entering through the front door acrid smoke burned her lungs as she trotted across the threshold. Flames were everywhere. The shock of the heat they threw off caused Myst to pause for half a second before continuing. Whatever had caused the fire had done a good job of it. Almost no surface was free of the flickering blaze. Moving through the rubble Myst used some of her magic to keep the smoke from her eyes. Grabbing a discarded blanket Myst covered her mouth, sparing her limited magical energy for more pressing matters.

The cloth reeked of smoke and sweat. Despite the stench Myst pushed on. As she trotted through the building her hooves’ clopping was barely audible above crackling fire. As she neared the stairs to the second floor a beam fell directly behind her, barring retreat and pinning a portion of her tail. Myst yelped in surprise as she was pulled down into a sitting position. Steeling herself for the coming pain, Myst inhaled. Then gritting her teeth, Myst quickly stood up.

Myst hissed in pain, but the accompanying adrenaline rush quickly dulled her awareness of her throbbing hindquarters. Her search yielded the same results as her search of the first floor: nothing. However while running to the nearest window to leave the building a stray leg caught Myst’s eye. That leg was attached to a pony. It looked as though he might have a red coat but with all the flames and soot there could be no certainty.

Halting her dash to the window Myst turned to save the unconscious earth pony. Nearing the limp form Myst felt the floor boards start to give slightly under her hoof. Myst knelt down and maneuvered the limp form onto her back. She did this as quickly as possible, after all lingering on a weak floor is undesirable. Staggering to her hooves she discovered that he was a very heavy pony.

This realization was driven home when the floor boards gave out entirely under their combined weight. Upon falling Myst instinctively flared her wings to stop her descent. Instead she barely slowed it. The strain on her wings from trying to support the weight of two ponies helped her focus despite the sudden turn of events.

As she hit the ground Myst was crushed under the red stallion. The sudden weight knocked the wind out of her making it impossible for her to stand up. The heat which had at first been bearable was now so hot the air itself felt as though it could ignite paper. To make matters worse a groaning sound from above made it clear that what was left of the building was about to fall down.

Klep looked on in horror as what remained of the barracks collapsed. He knew Myst was inside looking for survivors; he also knew that the collapse of the building ended all real hope that she would come out again. As he continued fulfilling his part of the bucket brigade a silent tear made a clear white track down his soot covered face. Soon beneath each eye his white fur could once again be clearly seen.
The only reason he did not completely break down then and there was the constant, mind numbing, repetitive work of passing empty buckets back to the well and full buckets towards the flames. After about an hour there was nothing left but a smoldering mass of debris. Klep had been hoping that somehow Myst had beaten the odds and was safe, but looking at the blackened field before him it became undeniable. Myst was dead.

As this thought echoed in his mind he aimlessly wandered about kicking a pebble. He wished he had stopped Myst from entering the building in the first place. He wondered if perhaps she would still be alive had he gone with her. Finally he sat down, his vision too blurred from smoke and tears to see where he was, or where he was going.

Klep sat there for a few hours, some part of him still not willing to believe that Myst was dead. A gentle hoof on his shoulder urged him to his feet. Without looking to see whose hoof it was he leaned on the other pony and let himself be guided to bed. There, still in shock, Klep finally drifted off to sleep.

It was close to midday when Klep was roused from his slumber by Princess Luna using the Royal Canterlot Voice to express her displeasure about the occurrences of last night.

“What doth thou mean two ponies died in yon fire!? We were informed that fire was a training exercise! It is your job to train recruits, not to slay them! How could such a thing have happened? Mind that should we not find your explanation acceptable your head shall surely adorn the gate for your failure!”

Klep groggily raised his head to be greeted by the sight of a brown coated earth pony cowering in front of Luna. Klep could see his lips move, but unlike Luna he did not speak loudly enough to be heard. After a short time he was cut off by another outburst from Luna.
“General thou should learn to use thine head. It was bestowed upon thee for a reason! We are appalled at your lack of good sense!” Luna turned from the general to address the barracks she was in. “Get out of bed! There is little time!”

Immediately following her statement Luna sized the general in her telekinetic grip, floating him outside. Klep and the few other soot covered ponies who still occupied the barracks followed Luna to see what she needed done. Luna led them back to the smoldering rubble the fire had left in its wake. Stopping, Luna turned to address her makeshift search and rescue crew.

“We have been informed that two ponies were in the building when it collapsed: specialist Myst, and private Grandon. In most cases it would be safe to assume that they are now dead. However specialist Myst is a unique pegasus, in that she has a horn. Therefore we cannot rule out the possibility that through some magic either Myst or Grandon may still be alive. Since this is the case I need you to search the rubble until you find them. The longer they stay in there the more likely they are to die if they are not already dead. So start looking!”

Klep unenthusiastically joined in combing the rubble. As he stepped over fallen beams he thought Luna was greatly overestimating Myst’s capabilities. After all if she could have survived, couldn’t she also have gotten out of the building? Klep quietly wound his way through the rubble moving a beam here and there that he thought might have sheltered Myst. Each time his slight hope was crushed by the sight of an empty hole.

After searching for roughly an hour every pony was ready to give up. Some shred of hope clung to Klep despite his lack of all rational hope. This shred of hope led him to canvas the area one last time. As he did so Klep noticed something very strange: near the center of the rubble there was a cool draft coming out of the debris. It wasn’t much cooler than the surrounding air. Klep very much doubted that any non-pegasus would have felt it. Pegasi are acutely aware of the temperature. This extra sensitivity is crucial to predicting air currents and conditions. But right then Klep’s sense was telling him that there might still be hope.

“Get over here and help me!” Klep shouted.

Soon he had the other ponies and Luna gathered around him.

“Do you feel that? It is cooler over here! There is no way that is normal in the aftermath of such a large fire. Myst is here somewhere!”
The ponies quickly set to work trying to carefully remove all the debris from the area. Luna helped to coordinate their efforts so that they did not collapse the rubble on the ponies they were trying to rescue. Occasionally she helped move some of the larger debris with her magic. Klep tried to prevent himself from getting too hopeful. He was certain the sight of Myst’s body would break him completely if he allowed himself to believe she was still alive. Klep’s endeavor to squelch his hope failed miserably. As he worked to clear the rubble the shred of hope he had ignored earlier quickly overpowered him. Under each beam he moved he expected to see Myst’s smiling face.

Finally drenched in sweat Klep pulled yet another fallen board free from the heap of rubble. This one revealed two ponies: one grey, and one red. Seeing Myst Klep redoubled his efforts until the opening was large enough to fit through. Once it reached this point Klep rushed in and pulled Myst out. At first Klep thought she was dead. With that thought it seemed as though the world was going to end. But when a tear fell from his cheek onto Myst’s ear, it twitched. Seeing this Klep carefully lifted Myst over his head and let her rest across his back, right in front of his wings. Holding her to make sure she did not fall Klep strained his wings to get them into the air. It was no easy task, but he refused to lose Myst now that he had her. Pushing himself as hard as he could Klep winged towards the hospital silently praying that he would get there in time.

Klep was vaguely aware of Luna following him with Grandon. Reaching the hospital Klep was greeted by the emergency room staff who bombarded him with questions about Myst’s condition. The questions flew by in a haze. Klep wasn’t really thinking about them. Even as he followed Myst when the doctors took her to be examined he was only vaguely aware of his surroundings. A few chattering nurses, white walls and floor, a couple of children laughing. Nothing seemed real to him except Myst.

As he thought about her he regretted how he had treated her on the boat. At first Klep had been intrigued by a prisoner without chains who was chatting congenially with Luna. Then he had seen an opportunity to impress a beautiful mare, and so he had interfered with Maven. After that an urge to use his talent led him into her bags. Reading her poem left him doubly intrigued. At that time she had been little more than a puzzle to solve. After all, how could a killer of innocents still be alive, and in favor with Luna no less?

Somewhere on that trip Klep’s perspective had changed. Thinking about it now he wasn’t sure exactly when. Perhaps it was when Myst tackled him. Perhaps it had been the way she smiled while flying. Maybe it was even how cute she sounded when she growled at the other prisoners for singing that kissing song.

Even if he couldn’t quite identify what had triggered it he now felt a great attachment for Myst. His mother had always said that he would know when he fell in love. But right now watching over Myst as she slept he wasn’t sure exactly what it was he felt for her. There was no doubt in his mind that he cared for her, but he wasn’t sure just how, exactly. That philosopher who said you never know how much you value something until you lose it was wrong. After losing Myst he was even less sure than before exactly how much he valued her.

Myst opened her eyes to see Luna’s face looking back at her. It was a comforting sight after the falling roof. It meant that she was not dead. It also meant that she had no idea how she survived.

“Are you feeling well?” Luna gently asked.

“I am alive, and feeling. I think that is a good thing after a roof falls on you. How is the pony I was with?”

“He will live. He inhaled a lot more smoke than you, but the doctors say he will recover. When he does I am sure he will want to thank you.”

“I am glad to hear he is going to be okay.”

“I have to ask. What did you do that allowed you to survive that fire? I must admit that I never really expected you to come out of that rubble alive.”

“To be honest I really don’t know. I had the wind knocked out of me. Then I saw the ceiling falling. At that point I panicked. I hugged that stallion and just channeled emotion through my horn. I don’t know any other way to explain what I felt. One moment I felt the ice of fear gripping my heart, the next I was perfectly calm but all around us there was a wall of ice. It sounds like those legends of the pegasi before Hearths Warming Day. They were said to be able to channel their magic in the form of weather. Sometime since then the secret to how that is done was lost. I guess having a horn removes the need for a trick.”

Finishing her explanation Myst sat up and looked around the room. It was a plain hospital room. There was a table with some flowers on it. Next to it there were a couple of padded chairs. What drew Myst’s attention, however, was the white pegasus curled up asleep on the end of her bed.

“What is Klep doing here? Shouldn’t he be out training or something?”

“I tried to convince him of that. All he had to say on the matter was, “No.” He carried you here and only left your side when a nurse convinced him to go clean up. I have no idea how he was convinced but when I next checked in on you, there he was curled up on your bed. I decided to let it slide since the normal training regime was thrown off by a day anyway.”

“Why would he do that for me? After I attacked him at dinner I expected him to at best bear a little grudge. It is kind of sweet. I am just surprised after all the effort he put into tormenting me.”

“In my many years I have often seen that when a pony loses something they realize exactly how important it is to them. He believed you dead after that fire. I found him dazedly crying in the middle of the road. I led him back to the barracks. The whole way he was muttering, “She can’t be gone.” I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant until I found out you had been in the fire. I expect he is only just coming to terms with what he feels for you himself.”

Myst wasn’t sure what to make of that. After all she had risked her life for a total stranger, so it wasn’t surprising that Klep might go to great lengths to protect someone he knew. Even so Myst doubted that she needed protection from doctors. She also doubted that Klep was there just as a friend. After all Luna had not stayed by her every minute until she woke up. Myst couldn’t help but think back to the boat ride where Luna pointed out that Klep likely had a crush on her. But even so that explanation seemed unlikely. A grown pegasus doesn’t say ‘no’ to the princess of the night over a little crush.

Finally deciding to figure out Klep’s motives at a later date, Myst got out of bed. Stretching her wings she felt every muscle in her body cry out in pain. If she hadn’t known any better she would have sworn that a few muscles she didn’t have were also complaining. Even so it was good to know that they were all there and working.

“How is that stallion I tried to save?”

“He is recovering thanks to you, though his commanding officer is being demoted. Apparently he thought it would be a good idea to have a fire drill with an illusion of fire. He then woke up a few of the new unicorn recruits and told them to make the building appear to be on fire. Apparently they thought they were supposed to actually ignite the building. His goal was to see how well all the recruits followed orders in an emergency. The result was both you and Grandon trying to save an illusion and almost getting yourselves killed. Overall this has got to be the most poorly planned and executed drill in the history of the Night Guard.

Specialist Myst, you are now relieved of duty until tomorrow. You will be back at the barracks by 09:00 hours. I recommend that you come back this evening instead of partying all night long. Normally I would not be concerned about you doing anything like that, but after you survived that fire there have been at least fifty different requests to see you. Whether you want to be or not you have become popular, and popular people tend to get invites to all the parties. Use good judgment and be back by tomorrow morning.”

Luna smiled at Myst, then turned and walked away to attend her duties. Myst watched Klep breathing softly for a few minutes before deciding to depart as well. For a second Myst considered waking Klep, but a mischievous voice in the back of her mind suggested that it would be more fun to make the bed and slip out without saying a word.

Listening to the voice is exactly what Myst did. The hallway outside her room was white and sterile looking. Here and there a picture hung from the wall. Some were famous ponies, and others were landscapes. A few nurses moved up and down the halls attending to their duties. With so few ponies in the hall their hoof steps reverberated through the building making it sound cold and empty.

As Myst moved through the hall in search of an exit one room caught her eye. There was a paper name plaque next to the door which read “Grandon.” Recognizing the name as that of the stallion she had saved Myst entered the room. The blinds were closed leaving the room in a dark yellowish haze. On the bed was a grumpy looking stallion with a dull red coat.

“Come to gloat about how you ruined my life?” The stallion said gruffly.

“Um. No. Actually I just wanted to see for myself that you were okay after that fire. You were unconscious when I found you so you must have inhaled a lot of smoke. I was just concerned about your wellbeing. Would you mind explaining how I ruined your life?”

“I am the son of a noble-pony. It is family tradition for the oldest to join the Royal Guard and serve for at least a few years. However my esteemed older brother, Prince Blueblood, decided he did not care to uphold the tradition. Much like he does not care to do anything besides be a royal pain to every pony around him. In an attempt to salvage something of the family name I joined the Royal Guard. However I quickly found out that they were not much of a guard and that the Night Guard does all the real work.

Since my brother does everything in his power to avoid work someone needed to step up and offer a real service to Equestria, and so I asked for a transfer to the Night Guard. I had hoped to be recognized for outstanding service, or at least be remembered for dying while fighting for a worthy cause. By saving me you ruined both possibilities. The first because even if I am remembered, my name tale always be told with the addition of being so incompetent a mere recruit had to save me. I am sure that it won’t slip anyone’s minds that that recruit also happened to be a mare.

Had you let me die at least I would be remembered for trying to save other ponies. Now if I die doing anything like that I will be looked down on for not being as good as the mare who saved me from that fire. Whether you meant to or not, you have successfully ruined my life and all hope of salvaging the family name.”

“That does sound awful when you put it that way. So let me set you straight on a few things. First, I am not a ‘green recruit.’ I am in fact a Specialist. This means that you were saved by a superior officer, even if Specialist isn’t far superior to Private. Second, being dead is not a good thing to strive for. If you are dead then there is no way to redeem your family’s name. Furthermore if you are dead you can’t help any pony. If you die while attempting to save some pony you will not be remembered as fondly as if you actually save some pony. Third if the only reason you are here is to salvage your family name, please leave. I don’t want someone watching my back who only cares about being a hero. The odds of you leaving me exposed while pursuing your own glory are too high. Think about what I said.”

With that Myst turned to leave the room. Before she got more than a few steps Grandon’s voice interrupted her.

“How did you get promoted to specialist?”

Myst hesitated for a second before responding. “I grew a horn, I killed a unicorn. His blood was not the first I spilt, and I doubt it will be the last. If you stick with the Night Guard remember that how many ponies or monsters you kill is not a badge of honor. Far more important is how many lives you save by your actions. Don’t let me catch you seeking glory or I will kill you myself. A pony who can’t follow orders is as much a danger to friend as to foe.”

Without waiting for a response Myst left the room. Walking down hallway after hallway Myst soon realized that she was lost. Each hallway looked the same. The only difference was what paintings had been hung on the white walls. Deciding that finding the proper exit was a lost cause Myst entered the next room she saw that had a window. Throwing it open she breathed in the fresh air savoring its sweetness. After the stale air in the hospital it smelt full of life. A breeze blew over her, gently ruffling her feathers. Embracing the freedom the sweet air promised Myst leapt through the window and spread her wings.

As her wings caught the air all thought of her sore muscles was washed away in the rush of the air across her wings. The breeze created by her passage through the air caught in her mane blowing it back from her face. Myst smiled broadly as she flapped her wings quickly to gain momentum. The sensation of air under her wings never got old. No matter how Myst felt before taking wing she was always calmed and soothed by the rush of air past her face. The unparalleled freedom of flight was the greatest thing Myst had gained in her unexpected trip to Equestria.

After frolicking in the air for several minutes Myst came to land outside the armory. Entering the building Myst was instantly hit by a wave of heat from the forge. A large brown earth pony was working the bellows while a yellow unicorn mare used her magic to hammer a sword. Myst watched curiously as the unicorn finished an elegant looking scimitar. After the unicorn had set the blade aside to be sharpened Myst announced herself.

“I am Specialist Myst. I was told to teach you how to craft blades from clouds.”

“We didn’t expect you so soon.” The earth pony replied.

“I am so glad to see you!” The unicorn enthusiastically greeted. “We are very impressed with the blades you brought with you. I am eager to learn how to make such light yet durable weapons.”

“Well I am glad to oblige. Do you have any clouds here or do I need to go get some?” asked Myst.

“Actually we have a few over in the closet. I was intrigued by the weapons I saw so I sent a pegasus up to get some clouds. No matter what I tried I couldn’t figure out a way to make a usable blade from them.”

Myst walked across the dirt floor to the specified closet and took out a cloud that felt like it had been abused and was about to fall apart in her hooves. Ignoring the sad state of the cloud Myst gathered it together and crushed it between her hooves. After the cloud began to feel solid Myst brought it over to the anvil and pressed it out flat. Using her teeth Myst bit away pieces of the cloud until it was in the shape of the scimitar that the unicorn had been working on when she had entered.

“That part of the process you will need a pegasus to complete for you. It isn’t very difficult unless you want a really complex shape, so you shouldn’t have to work too hard to train a pegasus helper. Now comes the part you will need to do. First what you want to do is harden the cloud. Any hardening spell will work, though my preferred spell is Clover the Cleaver’s spell of Stone Skin. It is the most powerful spell I could find. Just be careful with the cloud after you harden it. At this stage it is extremely brittle and easy to shatter.”

The unicorn’s horn glowed with a light pink aura as she concentrated on her spell. After a few seconds she stopped casting the spell and tentatively touched the cloud. It was obvious that she was half expecting it to dissipate at the slightest touch. Instead it held firm. Sighing in relief the unicorn asked, “What’s next?”

“Now that you have hardened the blade the next step is to strengthen it. If the blade is left like this it will shatter on impact making it all but useless. So what you need to do is cast a spell of strengthening, but not a normal strengthening spell. Most unicorns think of hardening something as strengthening it. What you actually want is for the blade’s component parts to be strongly attracted to each other. So what you need is a spell that heightens atomic attraction. The only spell I know of that does that is Star Swirl the Bearded’s spell of shrinking. It shrinks the subject by bringing the atoms closer together. The side effect that is useful here is that the atoms are also made much harder to separate.”

The unicorn looked at Myst skeptically, no doubt finding it hard to believe shrinking a weapon could in any way improve it. Despite her skepticism the unicorn’s horn glowed once more causing the cloud to compress in on itself. The result was a scimitar that looked like very slightly blue tinted glass. The blade was about two hoof lengths and the handle was one. The earth pony who had been working the bellows picked up the blade and brought it down on the anvil expecting it to shatter. Instead much to his surprise and dismay it cut into the anvil and stuck about an eighth of the way through.

Myst let out a very unprofessional snicker at the look of shock on the stallion’s face. “I hope this method of smithing meets with your approval. Just keep in mind that anything you make like this will slowly dissipate if a non-pegasus uses it.” While the two ponies struggled to remove the scimitar from the anvil Myst left the forge and made her way across the cobblestone courtyard to the archery range.

Once there Myst asked for a crossbow to practice with. While she had never been the best sniper she hoped that her skills would still carry over and that she could at least become proficient even if she was not the best archer. Shouldering her weapon Myst walked over by the benches where a few other ponies were also practicing. Instead of sitting like the other ponies she lay prone on the ground. Carefully Myst took aim at a target roughly fifty feet away. After her tenth bolt landed about six feet from the cat cutout Myst sighed and prepared to go retrieve her projectiles. However before she could do more than sit up a white figure landed beside her and unexpectedly embraced her.

“I am so glad to see you are all right! I woke up and you were gone. I was really worried that something had happened to you, or even worse I had only dreamed that you were still alive.”

“Relax Klep. I am fine.” Myst said as she gently pushed Klep away from her.

“How am I supposed to relax when I think that the only reason I am here died? Besides if you were to die who would I have to torment?” Klep grinned mischievously before continuing, “Seriously though I don’t want you dead, so from now on I will not obey any orders to go away from danger if you are going into it.”

“How gallant of you. But what would I do if you were to die on my account? I doubt I could have saved any more than two ponies in that fire. Should you die I am sure I would faint from shock and be bedridden for the rest of my life.” To accompany her words Myst stood up on her hind legs and fell over backwards. Klep rushed in and caught her before she hit the ground.

Myst giggled and gently punched Klep in the chest. “Seriously you need to relax and obey orders. I really don’t want you to die because you didn’t listen. Crazy as this may sound I can’t do everything. I couldn’t search the building and contain the fire. If you had gone into the building with me the fire might have spread, and you almost certainly would have died. It was the best thing for everyone that you were outside and I was inside. I appreciate you watching my back, but always make sure that every pony else is safe first. I am here to protect Equestria first and foremost. What is my life compared to the hundreds or thousands who might die if you don’t do what you’re told? So feel free to watch my back, but never do so at the expense of others, okay?”

“Fine, but try to be careful. Don’t throw your life away. Even if no pony else cares about you I do, and I would like to see you in one piece and dying of old age instead of crushed in a fire, or being eviscerated.” A pleading tone filled Klep’s voice, and his eyes felt as though they were about ready to unleash a flood as he made this request.

Myst nodded, taken aback by Klep’s seriousness. She had always fought to protect others so that they could enjoy their lives and loved ones. Somehow in her quest to defend others it had almost never occurred to her that someone might actually care about her. “Alright Klep, I will try not to risk my life unnecessarily. Just make sure that you don’t make my life a higher priority than the safety of Equestria.”

Klep nodded and smiled. He was not entirely happy with the situation. He would much rather have gotten a promise that Myst would stay away from any risk but he also knew that she wouldn’t be the mare he loved if she did. Klep paused for a second to rethink his last thought. Did he really love Myst? Once again he tried to decide exactly what it was he felt for Myst. His mother had always told him that he would know love when he was in love. But how could you just know something without a real basis for comparison? All his thoughts left him with more questions than answers. Finally deciding that the only way to sort out his feelings was to spend more time with Myst, he spoke.

“So on a more pleasant note, would you like to get some dinner? I hear that the Apple Tavern has some really good food.”

“Sure. I would love to get some dinner. Near death experiences always make me hungry.” Myst laughed merrily and winked at Klep.
This left Klep even more confused than before. He wasn’t sure what Myst’s feelings toward him were, and he was even less sure of just what he felt towards Myst. The way she smiled and laughed always made his day a little brighter. But her tendency to solve problems violently coupled with her seeming lack of any sense of self-preservation set Klep slightly on edge. On the surface she seemed noble, but he wondered if there was something deeper that he was missing.

Klep was shaken from his thoughts when Myst said “Are you coming? Or should I bring the food back here?”

“Oh sorry. I was lost in thought.”

Blushing in embarrassment Klep ran to catch up with Myst. They made small talk as they walked to the tavern. At first their conversation felt a little forced. But as the evening wore on they became more comfortable talking. The food was very good indeed. Myst thought the apple cider left a little to be desired but nothing is perfect—not that it matters when you are spending time with a good friend. Myst was a little surprised to realize that she had completely forgiven Klep for all the trouble that he had caused her. In a way she was grateful to have attacked him at dinner. If she hadn’t she would not have realized that he was actually quite an enjoyable pony to be around. After finishing their meal they walked outside and spent a couple minutes admiring the stars.

As they walked back to the barracks they walked in silence mulling over their evening. They had told each other a number of little things and a few larger ones, like the time Klep stole all the windows from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. So as they walked they felt that for the time there was nothing more to be said. They merely enjoyed the cool night air and each other’s company. Back in the barracks they wished each other good night and fell asleep.

Author's Note

I am sorry to have taken so long to update, but school got in my way. Hopefully I will get another chapter out by the end of break. Enjoy!

Proluge

Prologue

A dark gray mare with a deep purple mane woke in her bed. There was nothing unusual about that, most ponies wake up in the morning. However most ponies do not climb out of bed and put on armor. Myst began her morning cinching down the leather straps that held her light armor in place. She looked into the mirror to see if she had missed anything. She saw her cyan eyes staring back at a buckle that was not aligned correctly. She quickly rectified her error. After all, it would be bad if her armor came off in the middle of a fight.

To ensure that she hadn’t missed anything, she flapped her wings and reared up; her armor held. Satisfied that she was not going to die due to incorrectly worn armor, she sat on her bed for a second to try and clear her head. Her magic flared for a second, displaying the time hovering before her face. She missed digital clocks here, but at least her half-baked magic could give her a sense of home, even if she would never see it again. She glanced at her flank and saw the hacker symbol that was her cutie mark. She sighed at the sight, remembering the world that she would never see again. Since Myst was not expected at breakfast for another few minutes she indulged herself by remembering all that had led her to this point. It still felt like she was an alien here, even after several months. Myst thought back, wondering if she could have done anything differently on that fateful day when she had arrived; hornless, confused, and lacking any sense of direction or purpose.